Elastomeric gloves having improved donnability
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsShanti Modha, Mary Elizabeth Kister
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An elastomeric glove that contains a donning layer containing waterborne polyurethane and a lubricant formed from a silicone emulsion is provided. It has discovered that the application of a waterborne polyurethane donning layer and silicone emulsion lubricant to the inner surface of the glove may provide both damp and dry donnability to the resulting elastomeric glove.
Claims37
An elastomeric article having wet and dry donnability, said article comprising:
- a substrate body including a layer made of an elastomeric material, said substrate body having an inside surface and an outside surface;
- a donning layer overlying the inside surface of said substrate body, said donning layer being formed from a water-soluble polyurethane;
- and
- a lubricant that coats the donning layer, said lubricant being formed from a silicone emulsion.
An elastomeric glove having wet and dry donnability, said glove comprising:
- a substrate body including a layer made of an elastomeric material, said substrate body having an inside surface and an outside surface;
- a donning layer overlying the inside surface of said substrate body, said donning layer being formed from a water-soluble polyurethane that is formed by reacting a polyurethane prepolymer with a chain extender, said polyurethane prepolymer being formed by reacting an aliphatic polyisocyanate with a polyester polyol;
- and
- a lubricant that coats the donning layer, said lubricant being formed from a silicone emulsion, said silicone emulsion having a solids content of from about 0.1 weight % to about 10 weight %.
A method for enhancing the wet and dry donnability of an elastomeric glove, said elastomeric glove containing a substrate body, a donning layer overlying the inside surface of the substrate body, and a lubricant that coats the donning layer, said method comprising:
- providing a hand-shaped former;
- dipping said hand-shaped former into a bath containing an elastomeric polymer to form the substrate body of the glove;
- dipping said hand-shaped former into an aqueous polyurethane solution to form the donning layer of the glove;
- applying a silicone emulsion to form the lubricant of the glove.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.