Patent ID: 7049967

Claim:
A safety system for protecting an operator of a machine having movably mounted metal machine members, the machine members all being electrically connected to one another and including at least one metal tool, an electric motor being coupled to the metal machine members for moving said tool, said system comprising: a pair of gloves to be worn by the operator and each provided with an outer surface of dielectric material and an electrically conductive inner surface that will contact a respective hand of the operator when the gloves are being worn, so that the operator's body presents an electrical impedance between said electrically conductive inner surfaces, an alternating current signal generator connected for supplying an alternating current to said conductive inner surface of each of said gloves, a processor unit connected to the machine for interrupting machine operation in response to an alarm signal, and a safety circuit connected to form a current conducting path between the machine members and said processor unit, wherein the alternating current from said alternating current generator has a first amplitude value and flows through the operator's body between said electrically conductive inner surfaces of said gloves when neither of said electrically conductive inner surfaces is in contact with any metal machine member, and the alternating current has a second amplitude value when either one of said electrically conductive inner surfaces is in contact with a metal machine member, and the alternating current flows to said safety circuit to cause said safety circuit to produce the alarm signal when the alternating current has the second amplitude value, which alarm signal is sensed by said processing unit.