Abstract:
An Improved Glove Dispenser is disclosed. Also disclosed is a device that permits a user to don gloves without first touching their exterior. The disclosed device includes a plurality of gloves attached by their cuffs to a filament, with the filament and cuffs being dispensed from an exchangeable glove cartridge. It is a further feature that the dispenser may be responsive to a user&#39;s voice. Furthermore, the invention provides a new method for donning gloves that will prevent user contamination of the gloves by touching the exterior of the gloves during the donning process.

Description:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/531,395, filed Mar. 21, 2000, now pending. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to disposable sanitary gloves and, more specifically, to an Improved Glove Dispenser. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Individuals in the health care industry regularly don disposable sterilized gloves in order to prevent the transmission of bacteria or other contaminants to themselves and to others. It is typical for these gloves to be dispensed from a common cardboard box similar to those used to dispense disposable facial tissues. In order to don a pair of gloves, the individual typically grabs a glove and pulls it from the box using an uncovered hand. Using one ungloved hand, the user slips the glove on to the other hand, after which the gloved hand is used to grab the second glove from the box and then to don it upon the ungloved hand. If we analyze the steps in this process, we can see that while the gloves originally started out being clean and antiseptic, by the time they are actually on the user&#39;s hand, they are likely to be anything but clean. In particular, the current (widely used) method requires the first glove and the glove dispenser to be touched by ungloved hands. As such, the first glove donned can no longer be expected to be sanitary. Furthermore, the user then uses this potentially soiled glove to grab the second glove in order to don it. It is not a stretch to believe that both gloves are no longer sterile and clean. In particular, it has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that an estimated 260,000 patients a year actually acquire a staff infection while they are in a hospital (that they didn&#39;t have before entering the hospital). This amounts to approximately 13% of all the infections acquired within hospitals. These staff infections in particular are believed to be transmitted easily between the faces and the hands of human beings, and as such, would be easily transmitted in the aforementioned glove-donning process. 
     What is needed is a system that permits a user to don sanitary gloves without the need for them to first touch the outside of these gloves. In this way, the gloves would remain sanitary, even through the donning process. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior devices, it is an object of the present invention to provide an Improved Glove Dispenser. It is an object that the device of the present invention permit a user to don gloves without first touching their exterior. It is a further object that the device include a plurality of gloves attached by their cuffs to a filament, with the filament and cuffs being dispensed from an exchangeable glove cartridge. It is yet another object that the dispenser be responsive to a user&#39;s voice. It is still another object that the invention provide a new method for donning gloves that will prevent user contamination of the gloves by touching the exterior of the gloves during the donning process. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved glove dispenser of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the dispensing mechanism of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 and 2; 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B are partial cutaway side views of the dispensing mechanism of FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 5 is a partial cutaway front view of an alternative glove cartridge of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 4. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide an Improved Glove Dispenser. 
     The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration of FIG.  1 . FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved glove dispenser  10  of the present invention. While a variety of different shapes and configurations might be provided, the one depicted is a preferred configuration. As can be seen, the dispenser  10  comprises a housing  12  which includes a window  14  formed within it into which a user may insert his or her hands into a pair of gloves  16  and  18 . As can be seen, the cuffs of the gloves  16  and  18  are held open such that the user need not touch the outer surface of the gloves  16  and  18  prior to donning them. Once the user&#39;s hands are fully inserted into the gloves  16  and  18 , these gloves are cut free and the user can resume his or her tasks. A variety of other features may be provided on the housing  12 , including an aperture  20 , which will be discussed more fully below in connection with other figures. If we now turn to FIG. 2, we can examine exactly how the preferred system works. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway perspective view of the dispenser  10  of FIG.  1 . As can be seen in FIG. 2, the dispenser  10  preferably includes a replaceable glove cartridge  22  from which a first filament  24  and a second filament  26  are dispensed. After exiting the cartridge  22 , the filaments  24  and  26  preferably pass through respective guide means  28 A and  28 B. These guide means are preferably a pair of rollers in this embodiment, but it should be understood that a first and second feed paths  25  and  27 , respectively, may comprise the guide means  28  described herein, or they may comprise some other arrangement, including a simple track design. 
     After entering the feed paths  25  and  27 , the filaments  24  and  26  then pass in front of the window  14  and then through two more guide means  28 C and  28 D, after which the filaments  24  and  26  are coiled around first and second drive wheels  30  and  32 . As can be seen, the filaments  24  and  26  have gloves  16  and  18  attached between them, such that when the guide means  28  spread, the two filaments  24  and  26  (and therefore the gloves  16  and  18 ) are stretched in order to provide a wide opening into which the user can insert his or her hands. Once the user has inserted the hands into them, the gloves  16  and  18  will be cut free from the filaments  24  and  26  by an apparatus disclosed below. Once the gloves have been cut free, the filaments  24  and  26  can advance through the second set of guide means  28 C and  28 D where they are taken up around the first and second drive wheels  30  and  32 . 
     The drive wheels  30  and  32  are preferably driven by first and second motors  34  and  36 , respectively. The motors  34  and  36  are controlled by first and second control means  38  and  40 . The control means  38  and  40  are responsive to a variety of inputs. They essentially dictate to the motors  34  and  36  when the filaments  24  and  26  should be advanced. For example, the control means  38  and  40  may be responsive to a foot pedal, a push-button, and they may further be responsive to a voice command, after which the control means  38  and  40  will command the respective motors  34  and  36  to advance the drive wheels  30  and  32 , such that a fresh pair of gloves is stretched open for donning. 
     It may further be desirable to include first and second detector means  42  and  44  that are situated to detect when a glove has reached its donning location within the window, at which time the motors  34  and  36  will be commanded to stop. By providing two separate detector means, the first and second filaments  24  and  26  can be advanced independently until the gloves  16  and  18  are in exactly the right position and to account for any filament stretching or differences in the guide path for the filaments  24  and  26 . 
     As a final attribute, we can see that the cartridge  22  includes an aperture  21  formed within it through which the height of the unused glove level can be observed. The aperture  21  is preferably aligned with the aperture in the housing (see FIG. 1) such that a user can visually check the amount of unused gloves left in the cartridge  22 . If we now turn to FIG. 3, we can further examine the improvement of this present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the dispensing mechanism  46  of the dispenser  10  of FIGS. 1 and 2. As can be seen in FIG. 3, within the cartridge  22  is a stack of gloves  48 . These gloves are essentially laid back and forth on top of one another such that when the filaments  24  and  26  are pulled, the gloves are dispensed out through the side of the cartridge  22 . The filaments  24  and  26  then pass through the guide means where the gloves  16  and  18  are stretched open for donning. Once the hands are within the gloves, they are cut free from the filaments  24  and  26  by command of the user. In its preferred form, the gloves  16  and  18  are cut free by first and second shears  50  and  52 . These preferably mechanized shears  50  and  52  will cleanly cut gloves  16  and  18  from the filaments  24  and  26 , after which the drive wheels  30  and  32  can advance the filaments  24  and  26  until the next pair of gloves is stretched and ready for donning. When the last set of gloves has been dispensed and the cartridge is empty, it is a simple matter of exchanging the expended cartridge  22  with a fresh cartridge. Each fresh cartridge  22  should be provided with a pair of lengths of bare filament (as leaders) to permit the user to thread the filaments through the guide means  28  and around the drive wheels  30  and  32 . The system is then closed up and the drive wheels  30  and  32  advance the filaments until such time as a glove is detected by first and second detector means  42  and  44  which indicates that the gloves are in the donning position. 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B are partial cutaway side views of the dispensing mechanism  46  of FIG.  3 . As can be seen in FIG. 4A, the glove  16  further comprises a cuff  54 . The cuff is typically a reinforced area of the glove  16  to give it additional strength where it wraps around the user&#39;s wrist and further to prevent rolling when the user is inserting their hand into the glove  16 . As can be seen, the cuff  54  is stretched between the first and second filaments  24  and  26  at the point of donning. As can further be seen, the shears  50  and  52  preferably comprise a pair of inner blades  56 A and  56 B and a pair of moving outer blades  58 A and  58 B. As can be seen, the outer blades  58  are designed to be movable towards the inner blades  56 , thereby cutting the cuff  54  free from the filaments  24  and  26 . 
     The shears  50  and  52  are preferably motor or otherwise mechanically-operated to provide hands-free operation to the user. As can be seen, once the cuff  54  is cut free, the user can simply pull his or her (now gloved) hands out of the dispenser thereby permitting the filaments  24  and  26  to advance and expose a fresh set of gloves. It should be noted that the gloves are not specifically right- or left-handed, and as such, gives the user the flexibility to only don a glove on a single hand without disturbing the glove queue. 
     FIG. 4B depicts an alternative embodiment of the shears. As can be seen in FIG. 4B, the guide means comprises a pair of channels  60  and  64 . These channels  60  and  64  provide a path through which the filaments  24  and  26  are spread apart and thereby stretch the cuffs  54  of the glove  16 . In this case, the alternative outer blades  59 A and  59 B have to cut the cuff  54  free from the filaments  24  and  26  by crimping the cuff  54  against the edge of the channels  60  and  64 . Since the material of the gloves is thin, it should not require much force to cut through the cuff  54 . It should be understood that these are simply two examples of preferred shears. Other embodiments might include manual shears and/or shears that cut through application of heat to the cuff  54 . If we finally turn to FIG. 5, we can examine yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a partial cutaway front view of an alternative glove cartridge  23  of the dispenser  10  of FIGS. 1 through 4. As can be seen, the alternative cartridge  23  comprises a shaft  66  around which a string of filaments and gloves are wrapped to form a glove reel  68 . The glove reel  68  is dispensable through guide means  28 E, after which the filaments  24  and  26  separate and pass through another set of guide means  28 A and  28 B. The benefit of this alternative glove cartridge  23  is that the glove reel  68  can be wrapped fairly tightly and may provide improved control of the dispensing of the gloves. Furthermore, the shaft  66  may be used to create tension on the filaments  24  and  26  to ensure that they are stretched tightly apart at the donning station. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.