Glove port safety mechanism

A safety device for a glove port mounted in a frame, comprising

• (a) a hatch providing access to the glove port and including a hatch portion extending beyond the frame and a freely rotatable roller;
• (b) a hinge connecting said hatch with said frame and including a pivot assembly including a first cam, said hinge providing linear displacement of said hatch along an axis between a closed position where said hatch is adjacent to the frame for preventing access to the glove port and an intermediate position where said hatch is linearly displaced relative to the frame, said hinge further providing rotation of said hatch about said axis between said intermediate position and an open position where said hatch is away from the frame to allow access to the glove port, said roller and said first cam preventing rotation of said hatch in said closed position and axially displacing said hatch during rotation of said hatch about said axis;
• (c) a sensor mounted adjacent the glove port and engaging said hatch portion when said hatch is in the closed position, said hatch portion being disengaged from said sensor when said hatch is in said intermediate position and when said hatch is rotated to said open position, said sensor generating an alarm signal when said hatch portion is disengaged from said sensor, wherein said pivot assembly further comprises a second cam symmetrical to said first cam with respect to a middle reference plane orthogonal to said axis, wherein the second cam forms a unitary body with said first cam.