Patent Description:
Flame-retardant protective gloves are a prerequisite for certain professions in order to be able to handle certain occupations that are part of the performance of duties with sufficient security. Examples of such occupational groups are fire fighters, the military, police, ambulance personnel etc. Flameproof gloves are generally known. For example, a protective glove is known from SE <NUM><NUM>. The protective glove has the shape of a finger glove. The glove consists mainly of leather whose inner surface has been provided with a plastic coating. In addition, the glove is provided with a lining of refractory and heat-insulating material. Such a protective glove becomes relatively awkward due to the plastic-coated leather becoming relatively rigid. In addition, the combination of materials makes it difficult to wash and decontaminate. A similar design is known from <CIT> for <CIT>.

From <CIT> and <CIT>, there are known flame-retardant protective gloves that aim at providing similar properties as the glove mentioned above, but without use of leather. A general problem with this known kind of gloves is that the grip in wet conditions may become bad and therefore may jeopardize safety for users. Further, from <CIT> there is known a protective garment, e.g. for gloves, that aims at providing protection against noxious gases.

It is an object of the present invention to find a solution to the above-mentioned problem complex, which is achieved by means of a flame retardant protective glove as defined in claim <NUM>.

Thanks to the invention, a flame-retardant protective glove is obtained which in a surprising way at the same time provides good comfort, good protection, good grip ability, good wear resistance and which may securely be washed and decontaminated.

According to a further aspect of the invention:.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:.

<FIG> shows a preferred embodiment of a glove according to the invention from above and below, mainly intended for fire fighters and similar use. The glove is partly made of elastic material, which makes the glove easy to put on and take off and provides good comfort. Through many years of testing of different types of designs and materials, the inventors have arrived at a preferred combination of layers for use in the palm side <NUM> of an elastic multilayer material, which well meets these complex requirements for fire fighter gloves and similar uses, e.g. meeting the requirements of European standards <NUM>,<NUM> and <NUM>.

In <FIG> there are shown two perspective views of an exemplary fire figter glove in accordance with the invention. The glove comprises a palm side <NUM>, a backside <NUM>, an outer side <NUM> and a thumb side <NUM>. The thumb is marked with reference sign <NUM> and the remaining fingers are given reference number <NUM>. Further, there is shown that the glove also includes a cuff <NUM>.

The glove basically includes three different materials in the outer shell. There is a first material M1 that is used for the backside <NUM> in the form of a relatively large backside piece <NUM>. There is also a part <NUM> made in the first material M1 that is used as one of a plurality of pieces for the thumb <NUM>. Further, the first material M1 may also be used for the cuff <NUM>.

The second material M2 is used for the major part <NUM> of the palm side <NUM> and also for an inner piece <NUM> for the thumb <NUM>.

The third material M3 is used in the form of a first side piece <NUM> on the thumb side <NUM> of the glove and a second side piece <NUM> on the outer side <NUM> of the glove. Furthermore, the third material M3 is used for a plurality of finger side pieces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. Finally, the third material M3 is used for a third piece <NUM> of the thumb <NUM>.

There may also be made use of a fourth material <NUM> for the cuff edge and for the transition zone between the cuff and the glove part. Preferably, made of the same fourth material there is positioned an eyelet device <NUM> along the palm side of the cuff <NUM> to assist in putting the glove on.

In <FIG> there is shown a cross-sectional schematic view of the glove according to <FIG> along line A-A. It is shown that the glove basically comprises an outer protective shell and an inner protective insert <NUM>. Preferably, the insert <NUM> is fixated to the outer glove shell by means of seams (not shown) at the fingertip points and also a resilient seam/s <NUM>, preferably Nomex thread, corresponding to a position adjacent the wrist.

In <FIG> there is shown a more detailed cross-sectional view along lines B-B in <FIG>, in order to in more detail explain the different materials used for a glove according to the invention. Firstly, it must be mentioned that the inset <NUM> may be produced in a large variety of different materials in accordance with the invention, depending on different needs for different uses of a glove according to the invention. In the shown exemplary embodiment the glove is intended for firefighting purposes and provided with preferred combination of materials, without any limitation to such a combination, wherein the combination of materials of the glove <NUM> may provide protection against harmful biological agents, cuts by hand-held chainsaws, high-pressure jets and bullet wounds or knife stabs.

Starting from the backside <NUM> there is a first shell material M1 comprising an outer protective layer part <NUM>, se <FIG>, comprising a basic protective layer 30B and coating 30A. In the shown preferred embodiment the first shell material M1 comprises a basic protective layer 30B including <NUM>-<NUM>% aramide fibers, suitably Para-aramide fibres, and <NUM>-<NUM>% other strong fibres, e.g. polybenzimidazole fibres, preferably in the form of a half cardigan stitch-knitted fabric. Preferably the aramide fibers are para Aramide fibers. The coating 30A preferably comprises silicone. The weight of the first multilayer material M1 being in the range of <NUM> - <NUM>/m<NUM>, preferably at least <NUM>/m<NUM> and a thickness of between <NUM>,<NUM> to <NUM>,<NUM>, preferably larger than <NUM> and maximum <NUM>,<NUM>. The elongation at break ε is of at least <NUM>% in all directions, preferably at least <NUM>% in all directions. Preferably, the first multilayer material M1 has a larger elongation at break εW in a width wise direction W than the elongation at break εF in a length wise direction W, wherein preferably εw > <NUM>,<NUM> - <NUM>εF.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG> also the cuff piece <NUM> and a thumb piece part <NUM> may be made in the same material M1.

As shown in <FIG> the outer shell of the palm side <NUM> of the glove comprises two parts <NUM>, <NUM> made of the second material M2. The large palm part <NUM>, see <FIG>, covers most of the palm of the hand and also includes an inner part for the fingers <NUM>. Preferably also a thumb piece part <NUM>, see <FIG>, is also made of the second material M2, to provide a really good grip.

The second material M2 comprises a multilayer, cohesive material, having an outer coated layer 20B of a flame retardant resilient material comprising Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene and a second, base layer 20A including at least <NUM>% aramide fibers, suitably Para-aramide fibers, preferably at least <NUM>% Para-aramide fibers and more preferred <NUM>% Para-aramide fibers. Preferably the Aramide fibers are para Aramide fibers. The second layer 20A preferably is in the form of an interlock knitted fabric, which provides very good bond for the coated outer layer 20B.

The second material M2 has a surfacic mass of between <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM> and a thickness of between <NUM>,<NUM> to <NUM>,<NUM>, preferably <NUM>,<NUM> - <NUM>. The elongation at break ε is of at least <NUM>% in all directions, preferably at least <NUM>% in all directions. Preferably, the second multilayer material M2 has a larger elongation at break εF in a length wise direction F than the elongation at break εW in a width wise direction W, wherein preferably εF > <NUM>εW, more preferred εF = <NUM> - <NUM>εW.

The second multilayer material M2 has a tensile strength σ of at least <NUM> daN/<NUM>, in all directions, preferably at least <NUM> daN/<NUM>, wherein preferably the tensile strength σF in a length wise direction F is larger than the tensile strength σW in a width wise direction W, more preferred σF > <NUM>σW, and even more preferred σF = <NUM> - <NUM> ow. Hence, preferably the second multilayer material M2 has its largest elongation at break εF in a length wise direction F, whereas the first multilayer material M1 has its largest elongation at break εW in a width wise direction W.

The third material M3 in the outer shell also comprises a multilayer, cohesive material, having an outer layer of a flame retardant material comprising Polyamide fibers and a second layer comprising aramide fibres. Preferably the Aramide fibers are para Aramide fibers. Preferably the third material M3 includes around <NUM>-<NUM> % Polyamide fibers and <NUM>-<NUM>% Para-aramide fibers, Preferably the amount of Polyamide fibers is larger than the amount of Para-aramide fibers. The third multilayer material M3 has a surfacic mass of between <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM>, preferably <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM>.

The seams between the parts are preferably made as double seams, and by the use of a sewing thread made from <NUM>-<NUM>% spun meta aramid fiber, preferably using a vertically integrated aramid manufacturing system.

As shown in <FIG> regarding the insert <NUM> there is positioned a membrane <NUM>, arranged as an outer layer all around the insert <NUM>. Preferably, it is a copolyamide membrane <NUM> that is elastic in all directions with high vapor permeability, having a melting temperature above <NUM> ° C, suitably up to <NUM>° C, and a wash resistance of at least <NUM>° C. Conveniently, the membrane is also completely fogging-free.

Next, the insert <NUM> at the back side <NUM> includes two layers 91A, 91B of a heat resistant material, preferably PAN/PES of about <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM>.

Closest to the hand there is a liner <NUM>, preferably including about <NUM> -<NUM>% Aramid and <NUM>-<NUM>% glass, of about <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM>.

Moving to the palm side <NUM> preferably exactly the same layers are being used as for the backside except for using merely one layer 91A of heat resistant material and that the outer shell includes a palm piece <NUM> that comprises a specific composite layer 20A and a specific coating 20B in accordance with the invention. Hence, the insert <NUM> preferably has a larger amount of heat resistant material at the back side <NUM> than at the palm side <NUM>.

Thanks to the invention there is achieved an extremely good grip ability by means of using the novel material M2 in the palm side <NUM> of the outer shell, e.g. for the pieces <NUM>, <NUM> at the palm side <NUM>. There has surprisingly been identified that the grip ability when using the material in accordance to the invention is extremely much better than conventional non-leather materials, especially in wet conditions, as presented below.

As noted above a glove according to the invention presents a surprising combination of desired properties for a flame retardant glove, for which there has been a long felt need.

The invention is not limited by the above shown but can be varied within the scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art will recognize, for example, that the exact design of various components may be varied in many ways. Thus, it is understood, for example, that the glove also retains its basic functionality if having two or more of the fingers integrated to form a common space for two or more fingers, e.g. in the form of a thumb glove.

One variant is, for example, to leave only the index finger and thumb free while the little finger, ring finger and middle finger are combined in a wide finger. Another variant is that only the little finger and ring finger <NUM> are integrated into one and the same space.

Claim 1:
Flame retardant protective glove (<NUM>), preferably in the form of a finger glove, having an outer shell comprising a palm side (<NUM>), a back side (<NUM>), an outer side (<NUM>) and a thumb side (<NUM>), wherein the material in the back side (<NUM>), outer side (<NUM>) and a thumb side (<NUM>) comprises at least one first multilayer material (M1, M3) comprising an outer layer (30A) of a flame retardant material and said palm side (<NUM>) comprises a second cohesive multilayer material (M2) different than said at least one first multilayer material (M1, M3), characterized in that said palm side (<NUM>) comprises at least one palm part (<NUM>) made of said second cohesive multilayer material (M2) having an outer coated layer (20B) of a flame retardant material comprising Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene and a second layer (20A) including at least <NUM>% aramide fibers, suitably para-aramide fibers, wherein said second layer (20A) is in the form of an interlock knitted fabric and said second cohesive multilayer material (M2) has a surfacic mass of between <NUM> to <NUM>/m<NUM>, and a thickness of between <NUM>,<NUM> to <NUM>,<NUM>, and is resilient having an elongation at break (ε) of at least <NUM>% in all directions.