Abstract:
An Improved Glove Dispenser is disclosed. The disclosed dispenser will automatically open a pair of standard disposable gloves in response to a user request, preferably by voice. The dispenser further includes a shuttle assembly that will retrieve and position a pair of gloves for donning. The preferred dispenser will accept glove cartridges that can be loaded into the dispenser without being touched by the hands of the person installing the cartridges. In other embodiments of the disclosed dispenser, there is the capability to provide two or more different-sized or configured gloves for donning by users. The preferred dispenser further includes an embodiment whereby the gloves are inflated prior to being donned, in order to further assist the user in donning the gloves. The preferred dispenser further includes a glove donning rack assembly that has a unique glove release assembly for releasing gloves onto hands inserted into them when desired.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/531,395, filed Mar. 21, 2000, now pending. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates generally to disposable sanitary gloves and, more specifically, to an Improved Glove Dispenser  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    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 that the exterior of the first glove and the glove dispenser 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.  
           [0006]    A Nosocomial infection is any infection acquired while one is in the hospital. Nosocomial infections can be transmitted from person to person by health care workers who do not wash their hands properly between treating patients or by improper procedures, such as inadequate disinfection or sterilization of equipment. Approximately 2.4 million such infections occur each year in the United States, directly causing about 30,000 deaths and contributing to nearly 70,000 deaths annually. Hospital patients are particularly susceptible to nosocomial infections because their immune systems are often suppressed or compromised due to age, immunosuppresive medication, or other underlying causes, such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Nosocomial infections, which progress rapidly and are frequently resistant to antibiotics, generally involve bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Enterobacter, or Pseudomonas or fungi such as Candida. In addition, some microorganisms that reside in a person&#39;s body and that normally cause little or no harm may start a nosocomial infection if the individual is treated with an antibiotic that destroys beneficial organisms, thus allowing disease-causing organisms to take over. 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.  
           [0007]    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  
         [0008]    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. The preferred dispenser will automatically open a pair of standard disposable gloves in response to a user request, preferably by voice. It is a further object that the dispenser include a shuttle assembly that will retrieve and position a pair of gloves for donning. It is a still further object that the dispenser accept glove cartridges that can be loaded into the dispenser without being touched by the hands of the person installing the cartridges. It is another object that embodiments of the dispenser include the ability to provide two or more different-sized or—configured gloves for donning by users. It is yet another object that the dispenser include a glove donning rack assembly that further has a unique glove release assembly for releasing gloves onto hands inserted into them when desired. It is still another object that the dispenser include an embodiment whereby the gloves are inflated prior to being donned, in order to further assist the user in donning the gloves and reduce or even eliminate the need for powder in the gloves.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    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:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the improved glove dispenser of the present invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1 depicting a glove cartridge loading method;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of internal components of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a cutaway side view of the shuttle assembly and cartridge designs of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 3;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a glove cartridge of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 4;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a preferred embodiment of the shuttle assembly of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 5;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a preferred glove-donning rack assembly of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 6; and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIGS. 8A and 8B depict the operation of the glove release assembly of FIG. 7;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 9 is a cutaway perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention that includes a vacuum glove inflation feature; and  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 10 is a side view of an individual&#39;s hand engaged in donning a glove via the preferred device.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]    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 inventors of carrying out their 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.  
         [0021]    The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the improved glove dispenser of the present invention. We see the Improved Glove Dispenser  10  currently comprises a housing  12  through which are formed one or more windows  14 , behind which gloves  16 A and  16 B are mounted (for donning). The gloves  16 A and  16 B are provided for the user in such a way that the user need simply insert his or her hands through the window  14  in order to don the gloves  16 A and  16 B. In this way, the gloves are donned in a clean environment without the need for the user to touch the outside of them. Also formed in the housing  12  are plurality of doors  18 A,  18 B, and  18 C. In its preferred form, each door  18  will also include an aperture  20 ; these apertures will be discussed more fully later, but essentially they provide the user with the ability to observe what size or style of glove is held behind each door  18 . Still further, the device  10  may include one or more display screens  15  for displaying pertinent information for viewing by the user. For example, the screen  15  might instruct the user to speak certain words in order to activate the glove loading process. The screen might also provide functional status indication and even touch-sensitive switches represented thereon for operation of the unit  10 .  
         [0022]    Still further, one or more viewing apertures  17  might be formed in the housing  12 , adjacent to the window  14 . If, as depicted here, a viewing aperture  17  is above the window  14 , the user can peer through the aperture  17  while the gloves are being donned. The aperture  17 , therefore, will provide the user with additional dexterity and control during (and probably comfort) with the improved donning process. Now turning to FIG. 2, we can explore the present invention more fully.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dispenser of FIG. 1 depicting a glove cartridge  24  loading method. As can be seen here, the door  18 C has been opened to reveal an inner surface  22  to which a glove cartridge  24  can be attached. It should be obvious that the glove cartridge  24  includes a label depicting the size of gloves attached to there, such that it might be viewed through the apertures (see FIG. 1) by the user. It should be appreciated that in the present embodiment of the dispenser  10 , there are three doors ( 18 A,  18 B, and  18 C) provided, in order that three different sizes of gloves might be installed within the housing  12  to provide a variety of different gloves. In other embodiments, there may be only two doors  18  or even a single door  18  version; depending on the particular application involved. Furthermore it should be understood that whoever is stocking the dispenser  10  with gloves has the choice of loading whatever sizes are most desirable for the environment.  
         [0024]    In another (non-depicted) embodiment, the glove cartridge  24  will actually be inserted directly into the housing  12  through an opened door  18  (i.e. rather than being attached to the inside surface of the door  18 ). In either embodiment, the device  10  may include a feature of being able to determine what type of cartridge (e.g. glove size, glove type, etc.) is inserted into the housing  12  (or attached to the door  18 ) by interpreting a feature on the cartridge  24  itself. For example, the cartridge  24  may include a protrusion on its surface that is readable by the device  10  to indicate a particular feature of the gloves; another example includes the inclusion of an electronic data storage device/chip embedded into the cartridge  24  that can be read by the logic systems incorporated within the device  10 .  
         [0025]    Also depicted in FIG. 2 is the cover  25 . In the present embodiment, the cover  25  shall preferably open and close in response to the donning of gloves. In the closed position, the window  14  will be covered (and possibly sealed) to prevent contamination to the inner workings of the device  10 . The cover  25  shall open prior to the user inserting his or her hands into the gloves, and thereafter shall close once the hands have been removed. If we now turn to FIG. 3, we can further explore the benefits of the present invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of internal components of the dispenser  10  of FIGS. 1 and 2. Within the housing  12 , we can see the glove cartridge  24  and a glove donning rack assembly  26 . The glove donning rack assembly is, very simply, a location for a pair of gloves  16  to be attached, and through which the user might don them. A further unique aspect of the present invention is how the gloves  16  are transferred from the cartridge  24  to the rack assembly  26 ; this step is accomplished by a shuttle assembly  28 . The shuttle assembly  28  is preferably mounted within the dispenser  10  on an upper rail  30 , a lower rail  32  and a vertical rail  34 . In such a manner the shuttle assembly  28  can travel both on vertical path  36  and on horizontal paths  38  such that it can transit around the entire interior of the housing  12 . The shuttle assembly  28  will be more fully described below in connection with later figures. If we now turn to FIG. 4 we can study the relationship between the glove cartridge  24  and the shuttle assembly  28 .  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 is a cutaway side view of the shuttle assembly  28  and cartridge  24  designs of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 3. As can be seen, shuttle assembly  28  is configured to cooperate with the glove cartridge  24  to remove gloves  16  therefrom. As can further be seen in this example, it is possible to attach a series of gloves  16  to a glove mounting means  40  that extends from the face  42  of the cartridge base  44 . As will be discussed more fully below, the gloves  16  are removed from the glove mounting means  40  by a plurality of manipulative finger assemblies  60  extending from the facing side of the shuttle assembly. If we turn now to FIG. 5, we can examine exactly how this unique glove mounting means  40  operates.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a glove cartridge of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 through 4. As can been seen in FIG. 5, glove mounting means  40  are dispersed across the face  42  of the cartridge  24 . Each mounting means  40  preferably comprises two pair of crimping rails  62 , respectively arranged in spaced relation. The rails  62  are provided to removably hold the cuffs  52  of the gloves  16  hanging from the base  44 . In this embodiment, the rails  62  include a plurality of notches cut into their edges; the cuffs  52  are easily pressed into, and pulled out of these notches. Although not shown here, it should be understood that the cartridge  24  (including a full load of gloves  16 ) is sealed by a sterile or sanitary (and disposable) casing or sheet. In another (non-depicted) embodiment, the cuffs  52  might actually be lightly glued or otherwise adhered to the face  42  or the cartridge  24  (for example to the rails  62 ); the choice of attachment means is one of manufacturing cost and convenience. We will now turn to FIG. 6 and discuss the operation of the shuttle assembly  28 .  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6 is a preferred embodiment of the shuttle assembly  28  of the dispenser  10  of FIGS. 1 through 5. It can be seen that the preferred shuttle assembly  28  comprises a housing  54 , from which preferably extends a plurality of finger assemblies  56  (two shown here). Each finger assembly  56  comprises one or more actuator(s)  68  from which a number of arms  70  extend. The actuators  68  control the arms  70  such that the tips  74  (and the arms  70  themselves) travel out and in, in the direction depicted by arrows  76 . As further can be seen, the first arm  70 A and third arm  70 C are each paired with a stationary finger  72 A and  72 B, respectively. These moveable arm  70  and stationary finger  72  pairs provide a means for the assembly  28  to grasp the two sides of a glove (not shown). The arms  70  need simply move away from the stationary fingers  72  in order to release the pinching force being applied to the gloves (not shown).  
         [0030]    In this embodiment, each finger assembly  56  further comprises a second arm  70 B located between the first and third arms  70 A and  70 C, respectively. This center or second arm  70 B is used to pull and release the center portion of the cuff of the glove (not shown), such as when stretching the gloves over the lip of the donning rack assembly (see below in connection with FIGS. 7 and 8). The actuators might be solenoid-operated-gear-operated-rams, or other well-known mechanisms for pushing and pulling the tips  74  with respect to the housing  54 .  
         [0031]    Once the gloves (not shown) are detached from the glove cartridge (not shown), the shuttle assembly transits to the glove donning rack assembly. It is at the glove donning rack assembly  26  that the gloves are released from the finger assembles  56  and placed upon glove donning rack assembly  26 , as discussed below in connection with FIG. 7.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 7 is a preferred glove donning rack assembly  26  of the dispenser  10  FIGS. 1 through 6. The preferred donning rack assembly  26  comprises a base  64  that has a face  66  from which extend a pair of throats  78 . The throats  78  terminate in an oblong rim  80 , which is further defined by a underturned lip  82 . The underturned lip  82  is generally provided in order to retain the cuff  52  of a glove  16  stretched over the end of the throat  78 . As shown, the rim  80  forms the periphery of a window  68 ; it is through this window  68  that a user inserts their hand in order to don a glove  16  (that is stretched over the end of the throat  78 ).  
         [0033]    Once the cuff  52  is securely held on the end of the throat  78  by the lip  82 , it will not release its grip simply by inserting one&#39;s hand into the glove  16 ; additional release assistance is necessary—this is provided by the glove release assembly  84 . The glove release assembly  84  comprises a first actuator linkage  88  for driving the end of a second actuator linkage  90 , thereby translating translational motion to rotational motion. the second actuator linkage  90  then rotationally drives a shaft  86 , which then causes a pair of third actuator linkages  92  to operate. From the distal end of each of the third actuator linkages  92 , flexible strips  94  extend to the rim  80 , where they are attached. Two things should be casually obvious from the depicted design: (1) when a glove  16  is stretched over the rim  80 , the flexible strip  94  must be in a curved or slackened condition (as shown); and (2) if the third actuator linkage  92  is rotated so that the distal end is moving downwardly (in this depiction), then the flexible strip  94  will ultimately be taut. At or before the point that the flexible strip becomes taut, the portion of the cuff  52  overlapping the flexible strip  52  will be lifted off of the rim  80 , cascadingly causing the rest of the cuff  52  to be released from the rim  80 . If we now turn to FIGS. 8A and 8B, we can examine the operation of the glove release assembly  84 , alone.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 8A and 8B depict the operation of the glove release assembly of FIG. 7. In FIG. 8A, the flexible strip  94  is in the “idle,” or “slackened” position; the glove release assembly  84  would be in this position prior to a glove (not shown) being stretched over the end of the throat  78 . FIG. 8B depicts the glove release assembly  84  in the “release,” or “taut” position, where the flexible sheet has been made taut in order to force that portion of the cuff of the glove (not shown) off of the lip  82 , presumably after the user had inserted their hands into the gloves. It is a simple matter, then, of the user removing his or her hands from the windows (see FIG. 1) with the newly gloved hands.  
         [0035]    In a preferred embodiment, some actions of the shuttle assembly and glove donning rack assembly will be provided by stepper (or other suitable) motors. It is also preferred that the control of the apparatus be automated through employment of microprocessor, progammable logic controller or other electronic controller means. Still further, activation of the glove-providing process by the shuttle and glove donning rack assembly will preferably be by the user&#39;s voice, although push-button-activated systems (or hybrid systems) are also preferred embodiments.  
         [0036]    An alternate embodiment of the glove dispenser of the present invention is also conceived. The device of the alternate embodiment adds the additional feature of inflation of the glove in order to facilitate the donning process; this device is first depicted in FIG. 9.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 9 is a cutaway perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention  11  that includes a vacuum glove inflation feature. Within the housing  12  of this embodiment, there shall be found vacuum pump means  80  for drawing a vacuum on the chamber formed by the housing  12 , such that the gloves that have been placed in position for donning and will inflate with ambient air. While an internal vacuum pump is shown here, it should be understood that the vacuum source may, in fact be external to the housing  12 , in which case, a simple vacuum port will be needed opening to the chamber formed by the housing  12 .  
         [0038]    If we turn to FIG. 10, we can see a general depiction of how an individual would insert their hand into a glove inflated by the device of the present invention. It should be apparent that much of the structure of the present invention has been eliminated in the depiction of FIG. 10 for the purposes of clarity. As shown then, once the device  10  of the present invention has caused the glove to inflate  108 , the force of the inflation will cause the glove to extend outwardly away from the glove donning rack assembly  27  (to which the glove is attached by its cuff). In this way, the open cuff of the glove will present a very simply conduit into which the user need simply insert his or her hand, as shown. Since the glove is inflated  108 , the walls of the glove will not catch on the user&#39;s hand as he or she inserts the hand into the glove (unlike the prior donning methods).  
         [0039]    Finally, it should be understood that one substantial benefit to the design of the present invention is the reduction in need for powdering of gloves. Powder is applied to the gloves to assist in the manual donning process; since it will now be much easier to don the gloves, less (or no) powder will be necessary. By reducing or eliminating the need for powdered gloves, there can be expected to be a reduction of both nosocomial infection as well as allergic reactions to the powder itself. Furthermore, even with eliminating the powder, it has been demonstrated that the time necessary to don a pair of gloves is reduced by at least 50% by the present system over the manual donning process.  
         [0040]    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.