Abstract:
A multi-finger protective glove carries one or more physiological sensors in respective fingers. An elastomeric sleeve is positioned in a respective sensor carrying finger to maintain the sensor in proper position relative to a user&#39;s finger inserted into the glove, adjacent to at least one of the sensors. The sensor can be attached to a distal end of the sleeve, adjacent an end of the finger of the glove.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The invention pertains to safety equipment for use by first responders, such as firefighters or hazardous materials control personnel. More particularly, the invention pertains to gloves usable by such individuals which can feedback physiological information to other local personnel, for example situation commanders, as to the health of the respective first responder. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Various types of protective gloves usable by first responders are known. One such glove has been disclosed in published US Patent Application No. 2008/0263745 A1 entitled, “Protective Glove” published Oct. 30, 2008 and owned by the assignee hereof. The &#39;745 published application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0003]    While quality protective leggings, coats and gloves as noted above are available to protect first responders in dangerous environmental situations, such as fires or the like, they provide no information as to the health or condition of the respective first responder. While such individuals may work in groups or teams, the group members are going to be occupied with addressing the subject environmental condition and will usually not have time to monitor one or another&#39;s physiological condition. The safety of such persons in the presence of dangerous conditions is an important consideration. 
         [0004]    Thus it would be desirable to be able to extract physiological information in an unobtrusive way from such individuals and make it available to supervisory personnel who could direct a person exhibiting adverse physiological symptoms to leave the location of the fire or other hazardous condition and report for treatment. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is an overall diagram of an apparatus which embodies the invention; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a glove in accordance with the invention; and 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  is a side sectional view taken along plane  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]    While embodiments of this invention can take many different forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described herein in detail with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention, as well as the best mode of practicing same, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated. 
         [0009]    In one embodiment, a protective glove can incorporate a physiological sensor such as a pulse oximeter such as a CO-oximeter, blood pressure sensor, temperature sensor, pulse rate sensor or the like without limitation. The respective sensor can be wirelessly coupled to a displaced, or remote, monitoring unit. Individuals at the monitoring unit can view physiological conditions of a group of first responders in real-time to be sure that none of them are exhibiting adverse physiological symptoms. 
         [0010]    In one aspect of the invention, a glove carried sensor can be coupled to a wireless transmitter, carried by the glove. Where the glove includes a pulse oximeter, a variety of hemoglobin derivatives, as would be understood by those of skill in the art, can be sensed including oxygenated hemoglobin or carboxyhemoglobin. Others can also be sensed. All such information can be wirelessly transmitted to the remote monitoring unit and processed to establish the condition of the respective first responder. 
         [0011]    In a preferred embodiment, the respective sensor(s) can be located in a ring finger of a glove adjacent to a ring finger of the individual&#39;s non-dominant hand. An elastomeric sleeve can be located into the finger cavity of the glove overlying the sensor(s). The ring finger of the individual using the glove extends through the sleeve and is positioned in contact with the sensor. 
         [0012]    In one aspect of the invention, the sensor(s) can be attached to the tip of the sleeve adjacent to the end of the finger of the glove. The sleeve advantageously keeps the sensor(s) from rotating or shifting relative to the finger. 
         [0013]    In another aspect, a fiber optic cable can be used to couple the sensor(s) to the glove&#39;s transmitter. Both the sensor and the transmitter can be energized with a local battery. It will also be understood that each finger of a glove could be equipped with a different sensor, coupled by a cable to the transmitter. In yet another embodiment, multiple sensors can be associated with a selected glove finger, and associated user&#39;s finger. 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  illustrates an apparatus  10  which includes a protective glove  12  with a ring finger  12 - 1 . An elastic rubber sleeve  14  is positioned in the ring finger  12 - 1 . An oximeter sensor  16 , or any other type of physiological sensor, examples noted above, can be attached to an end region of sleeve  14  and also positioned in ring finger  12 - 1 . 
         [0015]    An electrical or a fiber optic cable  18 , having one strand or multiple communication strands, can couple output electrical signals, from sensor  16  to a local glove carried transmitter  22 . Transmitter  22  can be in wireless communication with a displaced monitoring unit  30 . 
         [0016]    A plurality of sensors such as  16   a,    16   b  can be carried by respective glove fingers, such as  12 - 2 ,  12 - 3  and coupled to the transmitter  22  by one strand or element of the cable  18 . If desired multiple sensors such as  16 ,  16   a  can be carried in a single glove finger, such as  12 - 1  without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
         [0017]    The unit  30  can include a programmable processor  32   a  and associated control software  32   b.  The software  32   b  can be stored on a computer readable storage medium in the unit  30  for execution by the processor  32   a  in evaluating results from sensor  16 . 
         [0018]    Unit  30  can also include a graphical user interface and visual display  34  upon which information from the various glove carried sensor or sensors, such as sensor  16 , can be presented and associated with the respective first responder. A battery B can be carried by the glove  12  to energize the above components of the glove. 
         [0019]    Those of skill will understand that neither the transmission protocol, nor other more specific details of the unit  30  are limitations of the invention. FIGS.  2 , 3  illustrate additional details of the relationship of the elastomeric rubber sleeve  14  to an attached sensor  16  and the respective finger of the glove  12 - 1 . It will be understood that neither the types of physiological sensors, nor the arrangement of one or more in a selected glove finger are limitations of the invention. 
         [0020]    From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.