TWI890604B - Automatic glove donning machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic glove donning machine comprises first and second frames, a door panel, a stopper, a clip, a retractable member, and a sensor located on the top wall. The front wall of the first frame is provided with a front opening, and the bottom wall, front wall, rear wall, top wall, and first wall define a space connected to the front opening and a side opening. The rear wall has a downwardly extending slide near the top wall for mounting the retractable member. The second frame comprises a base wall located on the bottom wall, a second wall closing the side opening, and rods extending upward from the base wall at intervals. The rods have truncated conical sections arranged in sequence upward and truncated downward. The stopper is located on the first wall. The door panel has a side wall facing the first wall and provided with a slide groove, and a front wall connected to the side wall. The limiting block is in the sliding groove so that the door panel can close or expose the front opening. The clip is limited at the fixed side of the truncated cone section and the clip side extending toward the rear wall.

Description

Automatic glove donning machine

The present invention relates to a glove donning machine, and more particularly to an automatic glove donning machine.

Medical sterile gloves are a crucial piece of protective gear used by healthcare professionals to prevent the spread of microorganisms and infections from contact with patient bodily fluids during medical care. Donning sterile gloves is often the first step for healthcare professionals during procedures such as surgery, invasive procedures, and wound care. Therefore, contamination of sterile gloves can easily lead to infection and inflammation, compromising the quality of care. Studies have shown that the complex steps involved in donning sterile gloves result in a clinical compliance rate of only 73.3%. This increases patient infection rates and can lead to complications such as bacteremia, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections.

For example, the Republic of China's new patent application No. TWM632349 (hereinafter referred to as the "previous application") discloses a glove donning device (not shown), which includes a base, a bracket extending upward from a side of the base and provided with a vertical rail, a lifting plate mounted on the vertical rail of the bracket and adjacent to the base, a glove box mounted on the lifting plate and containing a plurality of gloves, a rotating arm mounted on the vertical rail of the bracket and adjacent to the glove box relative to the base, a moving arm mounted on the vertical rail of the bracket and located above the rotating arm, a lower suction member mounted on the rotating arm and facing the glove box, an upper suction member mounted on the moving arm and facing the rotating arm, and a sensor and a controller mounted on a top edge of the bracket.

When a medical staff member actually uses the glove putting on device to put on sterile gloves, the sensor transmits a sensing signal to the controller after receiving the medical staff member, so that the glove box on the lifting plate rises to a position close to the rotating arm, and the lower suction piece provided on the rotating arm adsorbs a first side of a top sterile glove in the glove box and then rotates 180 degrees, so that a second surface of the top sterile glove is set upward. Then, the movable arm moves downward to a position close to the top sterile glove and adsorbs the second side of the top sterile glove through the upper suction piece provided on the movable arm, thereby opening an opening of the top sterile glove for the medical staff member to put on.

Although the glove donning device disclosed in the prior case can simplify the cumbersome steps for medical personnel in donning sterile gloves, continuously improving the structure of the glove donning device to facilitate medical personnel in donning sterile gloves is an issue that relevant practitioners in the relevant technical field need to continuously address.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an automatic glove donning machine that can facilitate medical personnel to wear medical sterile gloves.

Therefore, the automatic glove donning machine of the present invention includes a first frame, a second frame, a door panel unit, a plurality of clips, a telescopic member, and a sensor.

The first frame includes a front side and a rear side disposed opposite each other, a bottom wall connecting the front side and the rear side with a first side and a second side, a front wall extending upward from the front side and having a front opening, a rear wall extending upward from the rear side, a top wall connecting the front wall and the rear wall, and a first wall extending upward from the first side to connect to the top wall. The bottom wall, the front wall, the rear wall, the top wall, and the first wall collectively define a space connected to the front opening and a side opening, and the rear wall is provided with a downwardly extending slide rail adjacent to the top wall.

The second frame is movable within and outside the space and includes a base wall on the bottom wall, a second wall extending upward from one side of the base wall to close a side opening located at the second side, a door handle disposed on the second wall and located outside the space, and two spaced-apart rods extending upward from the base wall. Each rod has a plurality of truncated tapered segments arranged in sequence upward, with one truncated end of each truncated tapered segment of each rod facing downward.

The door panel unit includes a door panel and a stopper disposed on the first wall and outside the space. The door panel has a front wall and a side wall connected to each other. The side wall is located outside the space and faces the first wall and has a slide extending from a bottom front side toward a top rear side. The stopper is positioned within the slide to enable the door panel to reciprocate between a closed position that closes the front opening and an open position that exposes the front opening.

Each of the clips is correspondingly arranged on each of the truncated conical sections of each of the rods. Each of the clips has a fixed side limited on the corresponding truncated conical section, and a clamping side extending from the corresponding fixed side toward the rear wall.

The telescopic member is arranged on the slide rail of the rear wall and can move up and down in the slide rail.

The sensor is arranged on the first frame so as to be located outside the space and can be connected to the telescopic member via a signal.

The utility of the present invention lies in that the door panel can move between the closed position and the open position to close and expose the front opening of the first frame, and the telescopic member can move up and down within the slide rail. When a plurality of sterile medical gloves are sequentially fixed to the truncated conical sections of each rod member through the clips and are placed in the space, a medical staff member only needs to stand in front of the sensor after cleaning his or her own hands, and the door panel can be moved to the open position to expose the front opening so that the sterile medical gloves can be easily put on.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals in the following description.

Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 3, one embodiment of the automatic glove donning machine of the present invention is fixed to a wall of a sterile room (not shown) to allow a medical worker (not shown) to don multiple sterile medical gloves 9, as shown in Figures 7B and 7C. To clearly illustrate the lines in Figures 7B and 7C, only one sterile medical glove 9 is shown in Figures 7B and 7C. The automatic glove donning machine of this embodiment of the present invention includes a first frame 2, a second frame 3, a door panel unit 4, multiple clips 5, as shown in Figure 7B, a retractable member 6, and a sensor 7.

The first frame 2 includes a front side 211 and a rear side 212 arranged opposite to each other, a bottom wall 21 having a first side 213 and a second side 214 connecting the front side 211 and the rear side 212, a front wall 22 extending upward from the front side 211 and having a front opening 220, a rear wall 23 extending upward from the rear side 212, a top wall 24 connecting the front wall 22 and the rear wall 23, and a first wall 25 extending upward from the first side 213 to connect to the top wall 24. The bottom wall 21, the front wall 22, the rear wall 23, the top wall 24 and the first wall 25 together define a space 20 and a side opening 200 connected to the front opening 220, and the rear wall 23 is provided with a downwardly extending slide rail 230 adjacent to the top wall 24.

3 , 4 , and 7A , the second frame 3 is movable within and outside the space 20 and includes a base wall 31 on the bottom wall 21, a second wall 32 extending upward from a side 311 of the base wall 31 to close the side opening 200 located on the second side 214 of the bottom wall 21 of the first frame 2, a door handle 33 disposed on the second wall 32 and located outside the space 20, and two spaced-apart rods 34 extending upward from the base wall 31. Each rod 34 has a plurality of truncated tapered segments 341 arranged in sequence upward, with one truncated end of each truncated tapered segment 341 of each rod 34 facing downward. In this embodiment of the present invention, the rods 34 are adjacent to the front opening 220 of the front wall 22 of the first frame 2 .

As shown in FIG2 , the door panel unit 4 includes a door panel 41 and a stopper 42 disposed on the first wall 25 of the first frame 2 and located outside the space 20. The door panel 41 has a front wall 411 and a side wall 412 connected to each other. The side wall 412 is located outside the space 20 and faces the first wall 25, and has a slide groove 4120 extending from a bottom front side toward a top rear side. The stopper 42 is located in the slide groove 4120, allowing the door panel 41 to reciprocate between a closed position (see FIG4 ) that closes the front opening 220 and an open position (see FIG5 ) that exposes the front opening 220. It is worth mentioning that in order to avoid contamination of the embodiment when the door panel 41 moves back and forth between the closed position and the open position, when the door panel 41 is in the open position to expose the front opening 220, the front wall 411 of the door panel 41 faces an outer surface 221 of the front wall 22 of the first frame 2 and is spaced apart from the outer surface 221 of the front wall 22.

6 , 7B , and 7C , each clip 5 is correspondingly disposed on each truncated tapered section 341 of each rod 34. Each clip 5 has a fixed side 51 positioned on the corresponding truncated tapered section 341 and a clamping side 52 extending from the corresponding fixed side 51 toward the rear wall 23.

3 and 4 , the telescopic member 6 is disposed on a slide rail 230 of the rear wall 23 of the first frame 2 and is capable of moving up and down in the slide rail 230 .

The sensor 7 is arranged on the first frame 2 so as to be located outside the space 20, and can be connected to the retractable member 6 by signal. Specifically, the sensor 7 is arranged on the top wall 24 of the first frame 2 so as to be located above the front opening 220. In this embodiment of the present invention, a servo motor and a row of gears that are interconnected are used to assist the retractable member 6 in moving back and forth toward or against the front wall 22 of the first frame 2. For example, the operating concept of the retractable member 6 can adopt a retractable assembly that is configured in a claw machine and can drive a clamp of the claw machine to produce a relative displacement. In addition, the sensor 7 of this embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by taking an infrared sensor as an example, but is not limited to this.

Before actually using the embodiment, the medical staff must first remove the second frame 3 from the space 20 of the embodiment in the sterile room (see FIG. 7A ), fold the wrist section 91 of each sterile medical glove 9 toward the palm section 92 thereof, and then sequentially install/replenish the sterile medical gloves 9 on the two rods 34 of the second frame 3 (see FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C ); wherein, a sterile paper is covered between each pair of adjacent sterile medical gloves 9. Specifically, each medical sterile glove 9 must be equipped with four clips 5, and the clipping sides 52 of each of the four clips 5 are respectively clipped on the upper and lower layers of an inner side (i.e., the thumb side of each medical sterile glove 9) and the upper and lower layers of an outer side (i.e., the little finger side of each medical sterile glove 9) of the folded wrist section 91. After installing/replenishing the medical sterile gloves 9, the second frame 3 is pushed into the space 20 of the first frame 2.

Referring to FIG. 8 (also referring to FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C ), in actual use, the sensor 7 can receive a sensing signal from a medical professional in front of it and wirelessly transmit the signal to a control unit (not shown) to activate the door panel 41 of the door panel unit 4 to move downward to the open position, thereby exposing the front opening 220 of the first frame 2. After the door panel 41 moves to the open position, the control unit can instruct the retractable member 6 to move up/down within the slide rail 230 to a predetermined height (i.e., at the topmost layer of sterile medical gloves 9), move toward the door panel 41 to the folded wrist section 91 of the topmost layer of sterile medical gloves 9, and then move upward to open an opening 90 of the topmost layer of sterile medical gloves 9. At this point, the medical staff member can insert their palm into the opening 90 of the topmost medical sterile glove 9 and move toward the slide 230 to begin the donning process. After the medical staff member's palm is completely donned on the palm section 92 of the topmost medical sterile glove 9, they continue to move toward the slide 230 to disengage the wrist section 91 of the topmost medical sterile glove 9 from the clamping side 52 of the clips 5. The medical staff member can then remove their palm from the space 20 of the first frame 2 while wearing the topmost medical sterile glove 9, and flip the wrist section 91 of the topmost medical sterile glove 9 back to their wrist, thereby completing the donning process and moving away from the sensor 7. After the medical staff moves away from the sensor 7, the control unit can instruct the door panel 41 to move upward to the closed position to close the front opening 220, and restart the door panel 41 to move downward to the open position when the next wearing procedure is performed, so that other medical staff can wear the remaining medical sterile gloves 9 in this embodiment.

It should be noted that to enhance the fit and stability of this embodiment of the present invention and prevent the second frame 3 from dislodging from the space 20 of the first frame 2 due to excessive movement when the medical staff is donning the sterile medical gloves 9, the base wall 31 of the second frame 3 and the bottom wall 21 of the first frame 2 of this embodiment of the present invention are each provided with a latch (not shown) to allow the second frame 3 to interlock with each other after entering the space 20 of the first frame 2, thereby enhancing the stability of this embodiment during use.

Although the sensor 7 of this embodiment of the present invention is illustrated as an infrared sensor disposed on the top wall 24 of the first frame 2, it can also be implemented as a pressure sensor disposed on the first wall 25 of the first frame 2 and located outside the space 20.

As can be seen from the detailed description of the embodiment of the present invention, after the medical staff has cleaned their hands, they only need to stand in front of the sensor 7, and the door panel 41 will automatically move down to the open position to expose the front opening 220 of the first frame 2, and the retractable member 6 can automatically move to the predetermined height to extend into the wrist section 91 of the top layer of medical sterile gloves 9 and move upward to open the opening of the top layer of medical sterile gloves 9. The opening 90 is provided for the medical staff to perform the donning procedure. When the medical staff's palm is completely donned on the palm section 92 of the topmost medical sterile glove 9 and the wrist section 91 is separated from the clamping side 52 of the clips 5 to move out of the space 20 of the first frame 2 and away from the sensor 7, the door panel 41 will automatically move upward to the closed position to close the front opening 220 of the first frame 2, ready for the next donning procedure.

In summary, the automatic glove donning machine of the present invention can facilitate the medical staff to don the medical sterile gloves 9, and thus can truly achieve the purpose of the present invention.

However, the above description is merely an example of the present invention and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. All simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application and the content of the patent specification of the present invention are still within the scope of the present patent.

2: First frame 20: Space 200: Side opening 21: Bottom wall 211: Front side 212: Rear side 213: First side 214: Second side 22: Front wall 220: Front opening 23: Rear wall 230: Slide track 24: Top wall 25: First wall 3: Second frame 31: Base wall 311: Side 32: Second wall 33: Door handle 34: Rod 341: Truncated tapered section 4: Door panel unit 41: Door panel 411: Front wall 412: Side wall 4120: Slide track 42: Stopper 5: Clip 51: Fixed side 52: Clamping side 6: Retractable element 7: Sensor 9: Sterile medical gloves 90: Opening 91: Wrist section 92: Palm section

Other features and functions of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the automatic glove donning machine of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view from a viewing angle opposite to that of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the detailed structure of a first frame of the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in Figure 1, illustrating an embodiment of the present invention in which a door panel of a door panel unit closes a front opening of the first frame; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to Figure 4, illustrating an embodiment of the present invention in which the door panel exposes the front opening of the first frame; Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating a sensor of the embodiment of the present invention causing the door panel to expose the front opening of the first frame after receiving a sensing signal from a medical staff member; Figure 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating the detailed structure of a second frame according to this embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7B is a perspective diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention using multiple clips to attach a folded medical sterile glove to two rods of the second frame. Figure 7C is another perspective diagram similar to Figure 7B. Figure 8 is a front view diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention using a retractable member to unfold the folded medical sterile glove.

2: First Framework

20: Space

220:Front opening

230: Slide rail

3: Second Frame

34: Rod

4: Door panel unit

41: Door panel

5: Clip

6: Telescopic parts

7: Sensor

9: Medical sterile gloves

90: Opening

Claims (3)

An automatic glove donning machine comprises: A first frame including a front side and a rear side disposed opposite each other, a bottom wall connecting the front side and the rear side with a first side and a second side, a front wall extending upward from the front side and having a front opening, a rear wall extending upward from the rear side, a top wall connecting the front wall and the rear wall, and a first wall extending upward from the first side to connect to the top wall. The bottom wall, the front wall, the rear wall, the top wall, and the first wall collectively define a space connected to the front opening and a side opening. The rear wall is provided with a downwardly extending slide rail adjacent to the top wall. A second frame, movable within and outside the space, comprises a base wall on the bottom wall, a second wall extending upward from one side of the base wall to close a side opening located on the second side, a door handle disposed on the second wall and located outside the space, and two rods extending upward from the base wall at intervals, each rod having a plurality of truncated tapered segments arranged in sequence upward, with one truncated end of each truncated tapered segment of each rod facing downward; A door panel unit comprises a door panel and a stopper disposed on the first wall and outside the space. The door panel has a front wall and a side wall connected to each other. The side wall is located outside the space and faces the first wall and has a slide extending from a bottom front side toward a top rear side. The stopper is positioned within the slide to enable the door panel to reciprocate between a closed position that closes the front opening and an open position that exposes the front opening. A plurality of clips are disposed on the respective truncated conical segments of the respective rod members. Each clip has a fixed side that is retained by the respective truncated conical segment and a clamping side that extends from the respective fixed side toward the rear wall. A telescopic member is mounted on a slide rail on the rear wall and is capable of moving up and down within the slide rail; and a sensor is mounted on the first frame so as to be located outside the space and is capable of signal connection to the telescopic member. The automatic glove donning machine as described in claim 1, wherein the sensor is arranged on the top wall of the first frame so as to be located above the front opening. An automatic glove donning machine as described in claim 1, wherein, when the door panel is in the open position to expose the front opening, the front wall of the door panel faces an outer surface of the front wall and is spaced apart from the outer surface of the front wall.