Patent Application
20050204452
The present invention relates to plastic gloves and an apparatus allowing such gloves to be easily dispensed.
Plastic gloves are used in a large variety of situations. Take, for example, the case in which a nurse has to wear a pair of gloves before entering a ward. Currently, the nurse may, bare handedly, pick up one of the gloves, open the opening and insert one of his/her hands into the glove. He/She may then open the remaining glove and insert his/her remaining hand into the glove. As discussed above, the nurse will touch the outside surface of the gloves with his/her bare hands before the gloves can be worn. In case of high sanitary requirements, such may defeat the purpose of wearing the gloves, as the outside surface of the gloves may thus be contaminated by the hands of the user. In addition, both hands of a user must usually be used in wearing the gloves. This may not be possible when one of the hands of the user is being occupied, e.g. holding other implements or articles. In such a situation, it will be very difficult for a user to wear a pair of gloves.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide plastic gloves, and a glove dispensing apparatus, in which the aforesaid shortcomings are mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the trade and public.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pair of integrally formed plastic gloves, wherein said gloves are detachable from each other.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glove dispensing apparatus including at least one engaging member engageable with at least a pair of plastic gloves.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The gloves 10a, 10b are joined with each other via an intermediate part 12, which is also formed with the gloves 10a, 10b integrally. Openings 14a, 14b are formed during production of the glove pair 10, which openings 14a, 14b allowing insertion of a hand of a user into the interior of the respective glove 10a, 10b. The surfaces of the glove pair 10 are embossed, so as to allow easy separation of the plastic layers forming the gloves 10a, 10b, thus facilitating insertion of the user's hands. Two parallel rows of perforations 16a, 16b are provided on the intermediate part 12, and run across the entire width of the intermediate part 12. Between the rows of perforations 16a, 16b are two circular holes 18, the function of which will be discussed below.
As shown in
To further facilitate the easy dispensing of the gloves 10a, 10b, a dispensing apparatus is provided, as shown in
In use, a user can easily insert each of his/her hands into a respective glove 10a, 10b and thereafter detach the gloves 10a, 10b from each other, and from the intermediate part 12, along the respective row of perforations 16a. The intermediate part 12 will be left fixed on the spine 26 of the dispensing apparatus 22, via the pins 28. It can be seen that by way of such an arrangement, the outer surface of the glove pair 10 will not be touched by the hands of the user before use, thus maintain their cleanliness. In addition, both hands can be inserted into the respective glove 10a, 10b simultaneously, without the assistance of another hand.
It should be understood that the above only illustrates examples whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention. It should also be understood that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any appropriate sub-combinations.
