Claims
- 1. A natural rubber latex article intended for use in contact with human tissue, wherein the article is exposed to a reactive gas to modify the characteristics of the article and improve its barrier resistance to passage of harmful agents therethrough without the use of separate coatings.
- 2. A natural rubber latex article as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
the article comprises a glove.
- 3. A natural rubber latex article as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
the article comprises a condom.
- 4. A natural rubber latex article as claimed in claim 2, wherein:
the glove is exposed to a halogen gas in a treatment process in which a plurality of gloves intermingled in a container are placed in a treatment chamber for simultaneous treatment of all the gloves at the same time.
- 5. A natural rubber latex article as claimed in claim 3, wherein:
the condom is exposed to a halogen gas in a treatment process in which both the inner and outer surfaces of the condom are exposed to fluorine gas.
- 6. A natural rubber latex article as claimed in claim 5, wherein:
the condom is in a rolled up condition when treated.
- 7. A process for treating natural rubber latex articles to alter the characteristics thereof and improve the resistance to passage therethrough of harmful agents, without requiring the use of separate coatings, wherein:
at least one said article is placed in a chamber, the chamber is sealed and purged of extraneous agents, and a suitable reactive gas is introduced into the chamber under predetermined pressure and temperature, and at a predetermined concentration and for a predetermined period of time, to alter the characteristics and improve the barrier to passage therethrough of harmful agents.
- 8. A process as claimed in claim 7, wherein:
the suitable reactive gas comprises fluorine gas.
- 9. A process as claimed in claim 7, wherein:
the suitable reactive gas comprises a mixture of fluorine gas and another gas or gasses.
- 10. A process as claimed in claim 9, wherein:
a plurality of said articles are placed loosely in a container, and the container of articles is placed in the chamber.
- 11. A process as claimed in claim 10, wherein:
the articles comprise gloves.
- 12. A process as claimed in claim 10, wherein:
the articles comprise condoms.
- 13. A process as claimed in claim 12, wherein:
the condoms are rolled up.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/339,497, filed Jun. 24, 1999.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09339497 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Child |
09770251 |
Jan 2001 |
US |