Work gloves and manufacture thereof

Work gloves having a flexibility that is improved by the restriction of the degree of infiltration of the coating so as to produce a thin coating when the outer surface of a knit glove is covered with a coating made of vinyl chloride resin, rubber or the like, and subjected to an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment by a facilitated manufacturing technique. Yarn processed by an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent and a water and/or oil repellent agent and non-processed yarn are combined together. A glove is knitted such that the processed yarn appears on the inner surface side of the glove, and the outer surface of the glove is coated with a coating material such as a vinyl chloride resin paste or natural rubber while the infiltration of the coating material into the inner surface is suppressed by the water and oil repellency. Thereby, a flexible coating is obtained, and the inside of the glove that comes into contact with a hand is subjected to an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to work gloves and a manufacturing method thereof, 
in which the outer surface of seamless knitted gloves which are subjected 
to an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment is provided with a 
flexible coating such as a vinyl chloride resin coating, a natural rubber 
coating, or a synthetic rubber coating. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
There are gloves manufactured by sewing knit fabrics together and work 
gloves covered with a resin film or a rubber film by applying a vinyl 
chloride resin paste or a natural rubber latex on the outer surface of the 
gloves with allowance for an improvement in durability. These gloves have 
been widely used heretofore. 
When a coating material such as a vinyl chloride resin paste and a rubber 
latex is applied to the surface of either the sewn gloves of fabrics made 
by knitting yarn as mentioned above or the knitted gloves made by directly 
knitting yarn into the shape of gloves, the coating material becomes 
easily infiltrated into the fabric or stitches if a viscosity of this 
coating material is set low. This causes the coating material to penetrate 
through the knitted gloves into the inner surface thereof, thereby 
impairing a feeling of the gloves. To prevent this, it is necessary to 
suppress the infiltration of the coating material by setting the viscosity 
of the coating material to be used relatively high. 
However, when the viscosity of the coating material is set high, a 
resultant coating film becomes thick, thereby leading to a lack of 
flexibility which is essential to work gloves. This affects workability 
when the work gloves are worn by a user. 
In respect of the foregoing problem, it is effective to produce the coating 
film as thin as possible in order to improve the flexibility of the work 
gloves. However, when the viscosity of the coating material is set low for 
this reason, the coating material infiltrates deep into the fabric or 
stitches of the foregoing gloves. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly 
control the viscosity and applying conditions of the coating material, 
which prevents an improvement in productivity. 
As a means for resolving the above problem, there is adopted a technique 
which improves the flexibility and feeling of gloves by subjecting sewn or 
knitted gloves to water or oil repellent treatments so as to suppress the 
infiltration of a coating material and, hence, the penetration-through of 
the same. The water or oil repellent treatments are effected by 
impregnating treatment agents In the gloves after the gloves have been 
made by sewing or knitting. 
Gloves that undergo water or oil repellent treatments in a post process as 
mentioned above cause manufacturing processes and manufacture managements 
to be complicated and troublesome. This, in turn, leads to a drop in 
production efficiency and a rise in cost. 
The water or oil repellent treatments may encounter a problem that the 
excessive water or oil repellency afforded to a glove material hinders a 
coating material, such as a vinyl chloride resin paste and a rubber latex, 
from attaching itself evenly to the surface of the glove material, and the 
resultant uneven application of the coating material leads to a coating 
with a lack of a predetermined thickness or the formation of pin holes. 
By the way, work gloves with the surface thereof coated with a resin or 
rubber film, as mentioned above, are poor in air permeability because of 
the presence of a plastic coating or the like on the surface of the glove. 
This causes the inner surface side of the glove to become stuffy when the 
glove is used, and also microbes (Staphylococcus epidermidis, 
Staphylococcus aureus, coliform, or the like) to proliferate because of 
sweat and dirt on the skin attached to the glove. This causes the glove to 
give off a bad smell, and occasionally causes skin to be chapped. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing descriptions and observations, the object of this 
invention is to provide sanitary work gloves and a facilitated 
manufacturing method thereof, in which gloves are covered with a flexible 
coating without the penetration-through of the coating when a coating 
material such as a vinyl chloride resin paste and a rubber latex is 
applied to the outer surface of knitted gloves, and also the gloves are 
subjected to an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment. 
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides work gloves, 
comprising: 
knitted gloves which are knitted by the combination of non-processed or 
untreated yarn and yarn processed or treated by an antimicrobial and/or 
deodorizing agent and a water and/or oil repellent agent such that the 
processed yarn appears on the inner surface side of the gloves; and 
a flexible coating such as a vinyl chloride resin coating, a natural rubber 
coating or a synthetic rubber coating formed on the outer surface of the 
knitted gloves. 
In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing work 
gloves comprising the steps of: 
combining non-processed yarn with yarn processed by an antimicrobial and/or 
deodorizing agent and a water and/or oil repellent agent; 
knitting gloves such that the processed yarn appears on the inner surface 
of the gloves; 
applying a coating material such as a vinyl chloride resin paste, a natural 
rubber latex or a synthetic rubber latex to the outer surface of the 
knitted gloves under no or low hydraulic pressures by means of a dropping 
coating, spray coating, inclined dip coating or the like; 
heating the coating film so that the coating can be melted, and gel 
completely, or can be vulcanized; and 
cooling the gloves, so that a flexible coating such as a vinyl chloride 
resin coating, a natural rubber coating or a synthetic rubber coating is 
formed on the surface of the knitted gloves. 
Fibrous yarn produced from natural or synthetic fibrous yarn or breached 
natural or synthetic fibrous yarn is used as the previously mentioned 
processed yarn and non-processed yarn. In this preferred mode, it is 
desirable that the yarn should be subjected to both the water repellent 
treatment and the oil repellent treatment. However, it is possible to 
subject the yarn only to one of them. Moreover, in this preferred mode, in 
view of sanitation, it is desirable that the yarn should be subjected to 
both the antimicrobial treatment and the deodorizing treatment. However, 
it is possible to subject the yarn only to one of them. The processed yarn 
is subjected to a water and/or oil repellent treatment by impregnating a 
water and/or oil repellent agent into the fibrous fibers, and concurrently 
to an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment by impregnating an 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent into the fibrous fibers. A fluorine 
resin having an oil repellency is used, as the water and/or oil repellent 
agent, with a plasticizer of a vinyl chloride resin paste. Meanwhile, a 
fluorine resin having a water repellency is used, as the water and/or oil 
repellent agent, with a natural rubber latex or a synthetic rubber latex. 
In addition, organosilicone quaternary ammonium salts or the like are used 
with the antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent. 
In the work gloves, according to the present invention, the gloves are 
knitted such that the yarn processed by the water and/or oil repellent 
agent appears on the inner surface side of the glove, and the outer 
surface of the gloves are covered with a flexible coating. The processed 
yarn suppresses the infiltration of the coating into stitches, and hence 
the coating is adhesively impregnated into the surface of the glove 
without penetrating through the glove. Hence, the resulting coating is 
thin and very flexible, thereby leading to an improved workability when 
the work gloves are worn by a user. In addition, since the yarn processed 
by an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment appears only on the inner 
surface side of the knitted glove that comes into contact with a hand, the 
proliferation of bacteria is suppressed by the effective antimicrobial 
and/or deodorizing effect, thereby preventing the emission of a bad smell 
and rendering the gloves sanitary. 
In the method for manufacturing work gloves, according to the present 
invention, the infiltration of the coating material into stitches is 
suppressed by means of the processed yarn by covering, with a coating 
material, the outer surface of the knitted glove which is knitted such 
that the yarn processed by the water and/or oil repellent agent appears on 
the inner surface side of the glove. The coating material infiltrates into 
the non-processed yarn on the surface of the glove without striking 
through the glove, and is retained by the knitted glove. Thereafter, the 
coating film and the knitted glove are completely adhered to each other by 
a heat treatment. In addition, the suppression of the infiltration of the 
coating material makes it possible to set the viscosity of the coating 
material low. As a result of this, work gloves having plenty of 
flexibility are obtained by the formation of a thin coating film. Also, 
this makes a wider usable range of the viscosity of a coating material 
available. Thus, a strict management of fluidity becomes unnecessary, and 
hence a manufacturing management technique is simplified, thereby leading 
to a rise in production efficiency which, in turn, involves a reduction in 
the manufacturing cost.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of this 
invention will be described hereinbelow. FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away 
front elevation view showing a work glove according to one embodiment of 
this invention; and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of that glove. 
A work glove 1 is composed of an outer flexible coating 2 and an inner 
knitted glove 3. The flexible coating 2 is produced from a vinyl chloride 
resin coating, a natural rubber coating, a synthetic rubber coating or the 
like. The inner side of this flexible coating 2 is infiltrated into 
stitches and fibers of the outer side of the knitted glove 3, and hence 
they are integrated with each other. 
As shown in a partially enlarged manner in FIG. 3, the glove 3 is knitted 
into the shape of a glove with combined yarn 6 by means of a known glove 
knitting machine or the like. As shown in a further enlarged manner in 
FIG. 4, the combined yarn 6 is composed of a strand of processed yarn 5 
and two strands of non-processed yarn 4 and 4, and the glove is knitted 
such that the processed yarn appears on the inner surface side of the 
glove. 
The processed yarn 5 is made of natural or synthetic fibers which are 
employed as material, and is subjected to a water and/or oil repellent 
treatment and an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment. In tills 
embodiment, it is desirable that the yarn should be subjected to both the 
water repellent treatment and the oil repellent treatment. However, it is 
possible to subject the yarn only to one of them. Moreover, in this 
embodiment, in view of sanitation, it is desirable that the yarn should be 
subjected to both the antimicrobial treatment and the deodorizing 
treatment. However, it is possible to subject the yarn only to one of 
them. On the other hand, the non-processed yarn 4 is ordinary yarn made of 
natural or synthetic fibers or bleached natural or synthetic fibers, and 
is subjected to neither the water and/or oil repellent treatment nor the 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment. 
The treatment of the processed yarn 5 is specifically illustrated. A cheese 
on which a single yarn with a number of 30 is wound is rewound into a cone 
by setting a winding density to 0.3. Next, the rewound cone is set in a 
cheese dyeing machine, and a processing liquid is introduced into this 
dyeing machine. This liquid is then circulated by a pump. This processing 
liquid Is a solution composed of fluorine resin emulsion having a water 
and oil repellency, organosilicone quaternary ammonium salts serving as an 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent and a leveling agent. The input of 
the processing liquid is set to, For example, fifteen times as large as 
the amount of yarn, and the temperature of the processing liquid is 
increased to 40.degree. C. The cyclic pressure of the processing liquid is 
adjusted to be about 7 kg/cm.sup.2 such that the processing liquid 
circulates from the inside to the outside of the cone. Reverse operations 
for inverting the flow of the processing liquid from the outside to the 
inside are carried out every five minutes. These operations are repeated 
three times to cause the processing liquid to impregnate into the yarn. 
Thereafter, the cone is taken out of the dyeing machine, and is set in a 
blow pressure dryer. The cone is then subjected to drying for thirty 
minutes under a vapor pressure of 4.0-4.5 kg/cm.sup.2 at a temperature of 
110.degree. C. After the drying, the yarn is rewound around a wooden 
bobbin, whereby the processed yarn 5 is obtained. 
When the glove 3 is knitted by a knitting machine, a yarn aligning 
instrument 7 is used, whereby, one strand 5 of the processed yarn made of 
the single yarn with a number of 30 is passed through an inside thread 
guide passage 8 of the yarn aligning instrument 7, and two strands 4, 4 of 
the non-processed yarn made of the single yarn with a number of 30 are 
passed through an outside thread guide or passage 9. As a result, the 
strand 5 of the processed yarn and the strands 4, 4 of the non-processed 
yarn are fed in combination, in the form of combined yarn 6 while the 
strand 5 of the processed yarn is kept positioned on the inner side of 
this combined yarn 6 due to the specific arrangement of the inside thread 
passage 8 and the outside thread passage 9 in the yarn aligning instrument 
and the glove 3 is knitted by of the knitting machine using this combined 
yarn 6. In the glove 3 knitted by the use of the yarn aligning instrument 
7, the processed yarn 5 appears only on the inner surface or the outer 
surface of the knitted glove according to the arrangement or orientation 
of the instrument 7, and the opposite surface of the glove is made of the 
non-processed yarn. Now, this knitted glove 3 is used on condition that 
the processed yarn 5 appears on the inner surface of the glove. When the 
glove is knitted in such a manner that the processed yarn 5 appears on the 
outer surface of the glove, the glove is used with its inside surface 
facing out. 
Subsequently, the knitted glove 3 is arranged on a hand-shaped metal mold 
(aluminum mold), and the flexible coating 2 is applied to the outer 
surface of the glove. This flexible coating 2 employs a different 
manufacturing process depending on whether the coating is made of vinyl 
chloride resin or other synthetic resin or made of natural or synthetic 
rubber. The manufacturing processes are described independently of each 
other. 
The application of the flexible coating 2 made of vinyl chloride resin is 
effected by the steps of: preparing a vinyl chloride resin paste, the 
viscosity of which is adjusted to be about 3000 cp; coating the outer 
surface of necessary parts such as the palm, back, fingers of the glove 3 
with this vinyl chloride resin paste without the application of a 
hydraulic pressure by a dropping application; and removing excessively 
applied resin paste by natural dropping. 
In the application of the coating material with the use of a plasticizer 
dispersed system vinyl chloride resin paste, the non-processed yarn 4 
appears on the outer surface side of the knitted glove 3, and the yarn 5 
processed by a water and/or oil repellent treatment appears on the inner 
surface side of the glove. Thereby, the vinyl chloride resin paste 
infiltrating into the non-processed yarn 4 on the outer surface side of 
the glove. The oil-repellency of the processed yarn 5 inside the glove 
prevents the paste from infiltrating into and penetrating through the 
glove. The inner surface of the glove 3 is left with its feeling of a 
fibrous yarn kept intact. 
Next, after the coating, the knitted gloves are introduced into a hot air 
circulating furnace at an atmospheric temperature of 180.degree. C. The 
gloves are heated for fifteen minutes, so that the applied vinyl chloride 
resin paste is melted, and gels completely. Then, the gloves are taken out 
of the furnace, and the gloves are removed from the hand-shaped mold after 
they have been cooled. Thus, sanitary work gloves 1 having plenty of 
flexibility and a superior feeling are manufactured, in which the yarn 5 
processed by an antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment appears on the 
inner surface side of the glove, and the outer surface of the knitted 
glove 3 is covered with the flexible coating 2 made of vinyl chloride 
resin. 
The application of the flexible coating 2 made of natural rubber comprises 
the steps of: preparing a natural rubber latex, the viscosity of which is 
adjusted to be about 400 cp; coating the outer surface of necessary parts 
such as the palm, back, and fingers of the knitted glove 3 with this 
natural rubber latex without the application of a hydraulic pressure by a 
dropping application; and drying the gloves in a hot air circulating 
furnace at an atmospheric temperature of 90.degree. C. for ten minutes. 
Subsequently, the gloves are subjected to a second coating by an inclined 
dipping application by immersing at an angle of 35.degree. in a natural 
rubber latex whose viscosity is adjusted to be 50 cp such that only a 
small hydraulic pressure is exerted on the coating. 
Even in the application of a coating material made of a water-dispersed 
system natural rubber latex, the non-processed yarn 4 appears on the outer 
surface side of the knitted gloves 3, and the yarn 5 processed by a water 
and/or oil repellent treatment appears on the inner surface side. For this 
reason, the applied natural rubber latex infiltrates into the 
non-processed yarn 4 on the outer surface side of the glove, but the 
further infiltration of the rubber latex is hindered by the water 
repellency of the processed yarn 5 on the inner surface side of the glove, 
thereby preventing the penetration-through of the coating. Hence, the 
inner surface side of the knitted glove 3 remains with its feeling intact. 
This glove is then introduced into a hot air circulating furnace at an 
atmospheric temperature of 100.degree. C., and is dried for ten minutes. 
Further, the glove is introduced into another hot air circulating furnace 
at a temperature of 120.degree. C., and is heated for fifteen minutes, 
thereby effecting a first vulcanization. Then, the glove is cooled, and 
removed from the handshaped mold. Thereafter, the glove is heated in the 
hot air circulating furnace at an atmospheric temperature of 120.degree. 
C. for seven minutes so that the heating can serve as a second 
vulcanization and drying. The glove is taken out of the mold and cooled. 
Thereby, sanitary work gloves 1 having plenty of flexibility and a 
superior feeling are manufactured, in which the yarn processed by an 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment appears on the inner surface 
side of the knitted glove 3, and the outer surface side of the glove is 
covered with the flexible coating 2 made of natural rubber. 
On the other hand, when the synthetic rubber coating made of the synthetic 
rubber latex is formed, fundamentally its application should be carried 
out in the same manner as in the case of the natural rubber as mentioned 
above. Processing conditions such as the viscosity, drying temperature and 
vulcanizing temperature of a coating material depend on the material of 
the synthetic rubber latex. 
An organic solvent dispersed liquid such as ethylene chloride trifluoride 
resin, ethylene tetrafluoride resin, fluorinated polyacrylic resin, 
perfluoroalkoxyethylene or the like or an aqueous suspension can be used 
as the water and/or oil repellent agent. Particularly, they are usable as 
either a water repellent agent or a coagulating agent with respect to a 
processed yarn used with a natural rubber latex. Organosilicone quaternary 
ammonium salts which act as the antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent are 
medicine which are not subjected to elution, and the composition of the 
salts reacts with cellulose of fibers, so that the agent is fixed. The 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent is not eluted by sweat, and shows 
an antimicrobial action. A sufficient effectiveness is obtained by the use 
of one strand of processed yarn on the side of the glove that comes into 
contact with hands, but another known antimicrobial and/or deodorizing 
agent may be used. 
In the above embodiment, the glove is knitted by using the combination of 
one strand of processed yarn and two strands of non-processed yarn. 
However, if necessary, the combination of yarn can be changed, for 
example, to the combination of two strands of processed yarn and one 
strand of non-processed yarn or the combination of two strands of 
processed yarn and two strands of non-processed yarn. 
The change of the combination of yarn changes the degree of infiltration of 
a coating, and hence the flexibility of the glove can be set 
appropriately. A similar result can be yielded by changing the 
concentration of a processing liquid, that is a water and/or oil repellent 
agent. 
According to work gloves of this invention, yarn processed by the 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent and the water and/or oil repellent 
agent and non-processed yarn are used in combination. Also, the processed 
yarn appears on the inner surface of the glove, and the outer surface of 
the glove is covered with a flexible coating made of a vinyl chloride 
resin coating, a natural rubber coating, or a synthetic rubber coating. 
Resultant gloves are provided with a thin coating, and have plenty of 
flexibility and a superior workability when the gloves are worn. Moreover, 
the gloves are sanitary, because they are subjected to an effective 
antimicrobial and/or deodorizing treatment. 
According to the method for fabricating the work gloves of this invention, 
yarn processed by the antimicrobial and/or deodorizing agent and the water 
and/or oil repellent agent and non-processed yarn are combined together, 
and a glove is knitted such that the processed yarn appears on the inner 
surface of the glove. Also, the outer surface of the glove is covered with 
a coating material under no hydraulic pressure or a low hydraulic 
pressure. This glove is then subjected to a heat treatment, so that a 
flexible coating is adhesively formed. This makes it possible to set the 
viscosity of the coating material low, and render a wider usable range of 
viscosity of the coating material available. Thus, the present invention 
is superior in practical value, because this makes it possible to simplify 
a manufacture management technique, and to raise production efficiency 
which involves a reduction in manufacturing cost. 
FIGS. 7 through 14 illustrate various combinations of strands of treated 
yarn and untreated yarn to form a combined yarn. More specifically, FIGS. 
7 through 10 illustrate how two strands of treated yarn 5,5 and one strand 
of untreated yarn 4 are combined together in a method according to the 
present invention. In FIG. 7, the combined yarn is formed by feeding two 
strands of treated yarn 5,5 and one strand of untreated yarn 4 in a 
specific arrangement by utilizing the yarn aligning instrument 7 and by 
joining the strands together through a needle 10 of the knitting machine 
grasping the errands from thereabove and pushing them downwardly (see FIG. 
8). FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrated the two strands of treated yarn 5,5 and one 
strand of untreated yarn 4 combined together by the method of FIG. 7. 
FIGS. 11 through 14 illustrate how two strands of treated yarn 5,5 and two 
strands of untreated yarn 4,4 can be combined together into a combined 
yarn by a method of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the 
combined yarn herein is formed by feeding the two strands of treated yarn 
5,5 and two strands of untreated yarn 4,4 in a specific arrangement by 
utilizing the yarn aligning instrument 7 and by joining them together 
through the needle 10 of the knitting machine grasping the strands from 
thereabove and pushing them downwardly (see FIG. 12). FIGS. 13 and 14 
illustrate the two strands of treated yarn 5,5 and two strands of 
untreated yarn 4,4 combined together by the method of FIG. 11. 
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention 
is susceptible to various modifications, changes, and adaptations and that 
the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of 
equivalents of the appended claims.