Patent Application
20050189384
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Inception of Invention
The inception of this invention arose from my personal experience in the Pearl and Construction industry in Japan. I spent too much of my break time turning rubber gloves inside out by hand to clean and dry them. I discontinued this practice because it was too frustrating and time consuming, and as a result, I began to have serious health problems with my hands including redness, itching, chaffing, etc. not to mention the stress accompanying such discomfort I searched for a device to invert rubber gloves at numerous outlets that cater to industries utilizing industrial, heavy duty, lined, rubber gloves; but to no avail.
2. Technical Field
The present invention relates to inverting glove appendages, especially but not limited to industrial, heavy duty, lined, rubber gloves. It can also be used for any thick material glove. Moreover, this invention facilitates the expeditious inversion and subsequent efficient cleaning and rapid drying of the lining of the gloves.
Perspiration soaked, lined rubber gloves are extremely difficult and frustrating and time consuming to invert by hand for efficient cleaning and rapid drying. Also the bacteria and fungus that thrive and multiply in moist, unsanitary rubber gloves precipitates a plethora of health complications ranging from mere discomfort due to itching, chaffing, sore hands, to more severe ailments associated with improper sanitation and desiccation; not to mention the stress, the reduction in concentration, diminished efficiency and lower productivity associated thereof.
3. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,572 to Smith is the closest prior art related to the present invention. Even though it performs the same function as the present invention, it consists of 3 components and requires twice as many steps and requires at least twice as much time to perform the function of inverting glove appendages. Moreover it incurs an added expense to manufacture an additional component. Accordingly, the present invention costs less to manufacture and is more efficient and requires less time to perform the function of inverting glove appendages. Also the present invention is lighter and more compact.
The purpose of the present invention is to promote a healthy, morbidity free environment in relation to the hands in the workplace and at home by offering an expeditious and trouble free method for inverting glove appendages, thereby facilitating efficient cleaning and rapid drying of the lining.
It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a device to invert glove appendages that is easy to use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device to invert glove appendages that eliminates the frustration and difficulty altogether of inverting glove appendages by hand.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a time saving device to invert glove appendages.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a device to invert glove appendages that facilitates efficient cleaning and prompt drying of the lining.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a device to invert glove appendages that is durable and easy to manufacture.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a device to invert glove appendages that is extremely inexpensive to produce.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a device to invert glove appendages that can be used on a variety of gloves and glove sizes.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a device to invert glove appendages that is detachable thus making it portable.
In accordance with the present invention, my glove inverter comprises a base and a pushrod. This is a device for inverting glove appendages; especially but not exclusively, industrial-heavy duty-lined-rubber gloves; expeditiously thereby facilitating efficient cleaning and rapid drying thereof. The present invention promotes healthy, morbidity free hands in the workplace and at home.
The present invention will be described hereafter with reference to the attached drawings that are given as non-limiting examples only, in which:
Further characteristics and advantages according to the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment thereof.
The glove appendage-inverting device of the present invention is especially, but not exclusively, for industrial, heavy duty, lined, rubber-gloves. It can also be used with any thick material glove, such as ski gloves, leather gloves, semi-rubber gloves etc.
The present invention allows for the trouble free and expeditious inversion of glove appendages thereby facilitating efficient cleaning and subsequent rapid drying thereof.
The present invention consists of a small portable base (1) that has an opening (2) with a depth sufficient to receive and stabilize a pushrod (3) and a pushrod (3), the tip of which is concave (4) opposite to the end that fits into the opening (2) in the base (1).
The base (1) is a small-semi-circular shape that fits comfortably in the palm of a hand. The pushrod (3) is cylindrical and of a diameter that fits into the opening (2) in the base (1) and of a diameter sufficient to receive a glove appendage and a length sufficient to invert the glove appendage without hindrance or interference. The concave tip (4) of the pushrod (3) provides a means to insure continuous engagement of the tip of the glove appendage. Any material, rigid or flexible that is capable of withstanding the pressure necessary to perform the function of the present invention without fracturing or otherwise rendering it inoperable and can be molded, shaped, cut, cast, manufactured, etc. in the configuration according to the invention can be employed in the construction thereof.
Operation
The operation of the present invention is set forth as follows: fit the pushrod (3) into the opening (2) in the base (1). In the process of taking the glove off, invert it as much as possible. Engage the tip of the glove appendage with the concave tip (4) of the pushrod (3). Use the finger inside the glove appendage to maintain continuous contact with the concave tip (4) of the pushrod (3) as you peel the glove down over the pushrod (3) until complete inversion of the glove appendage is accomplished. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining appendages and to turn the glove back to the proper side.
Accordingly, you can see that the present invention eliminates the difficulty and frustration of inverting glove appendages by hand altogether and dramatically reduces the time necessary to perform the function of inverting glove appendages. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied much easier, considerably faster and more effectively than by hand. Further still, complete inversion of glove appendages is accomplished expeditiously thereby facilitating efficient cleaning and rapid drying. Even further, the present invention provides a highly reliable, lightweight, detachable, portable, yet economical device that can be applied by persons of almost any age almost anywhere. Moreover, use of the present invention ameliorates the condition of the hands by providing a healthy, morbidity free environment thus eliminating stress which affects concentration which affects efficiency which affects productivity in the workplace or at home.
Although the detailed description above contains specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof. Other variations are possible. For example, the size can vary, the shape can vary, the colors are variable, the material employed to construct the device can be any material; natural, artificial, composite, etc. Furthermore, all of the components of the present invention can be made from any material(s) that can be rigid or flexible, but capable of withstanding the pressure necessary to perform the function for which it is designed without fracturing or otherwise rendering the device inoperable. Moreover, this device can be used with or without the base.
