Dispensing Box For Flexible Gloves

Abstract

A dispensing box for flexible gloves has a plurality of removal openings, which are positioned in such a way that, when the gloves are arranged parallel in the dispensing box according to the present teaching, the gloves can be grasped for removal only at the glove cuff, or at the cuff edge, or at a gripping aid positioned on the glove cuff, and that, when the removal opening in question is open, the palms and finger regions of the gloves in the dispensing box are covered by the dispensing box. The dispensing box preferably has two opposite removal openings. In order to separate the glove stacks in the dispensing box, the dispensing box has a separating film or a separating bag, the separating film or the separating bag covering, at least on one side, the finger and palm parts of the glove stacks, which glove stacks are oriented substantially parallel.

Claims

1. A dispensing box for flexible gloves, has one or more removal openings, which are positioned in such a way that, when the gloves are arranged parallel in the dispensing box, the gloves can be grasped for removal only at the glove cuff, or at the cuff edge, or at a gripping aid positioned on the glove cuff, the dispensing box containing two or more stacks of gloves, oriented parallel at an 180° angle, wherein the dispensing box contains in its interior no mechanical positioning aids for the gloves, wherein, to protect the gloves from contamination in palm and finger regions, at least one separating film or a separating bag of flexible material is present in the dispensing box, wherein the separating film or separating bag covers the finger and palm parts of at least one glove stack on at least one side.

2. The dispensing box for flexible gloves according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing box contains at least two glove stacks, which are arranged parallel at an 180° angle, and comprises at least two removal openings, wherein at least one separating film of flexible material is present in the dispensing box to protect the gloves from contamination in the palm and finger regions, wherein the separating film covers the finger and palm parts of the substantially parallel oriented glove stacks on at least one side and is present in loose form in the preferred embodiment, wherein the length and width of the separating film are greater than the length and width of the base or covering surface of the dispensing box, and wherein the glove stacks are arranged in the dispensing box in such a way that they are completely separated by the separating film and do not touch one another.

3. The dispensing box for flexible gloves according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing box contains at least two glove stacks, which are arranged at an 180° angle, and includes at least two removal openings situated opposite either lengthwise or diagonally, wherein, to protect the gloves from contamination in the palm and finger regions, at least one flexible separating bag is mounted in the dispensing box, containing one glove stack, and wherein the separating bag covers the finger and palm parts of the substantially parallel oriented glove stack and leaves the glove cuffs and/or the cuff edges easily accessible.

4. The dispensing box for flexible gloves according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing box contains two glove stacks separate from one another, which are arranged parallel at a 180° angle, and includes at least two removal openings situated opposite either lengthwise or diagonally, wherein each stack of gloves is separately equipped with a short film which covers the finger and palm regions, at least on one side, wherein the width of the brief separating film is greater than the width of the base or covering surface of the dispensing box.

5. The dispensing box according to claim 1, wherein the flexible separating film or the flexible short separating film or the separating bag is made of paper or plastic.

6. The dispensing box according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing box comprises two diagonally opposite removal openings.

7. The dispensing box according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing box comprises two opposite removal openings on the same side of the dispensing box.

8. The dispensing box according to claim 1, wherein the outside surfaces of the dispensing box are made of cardboard.

9. The dispensing box according to claim 1, wherein at least one removal opening is obtained by tearing open a pre-perforated surface in the dispensing box.

10. The dispensing box according to claim 1, wherein the gloves have one of the several anti-germ or germ- growth-inhibiting substances on their inner and/or outer surfaces.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] FIG. 1a illustrates a stack of gloves.

[0041] FIG. 1b illustrates examination gloves placed in the dispensing boxes.

[0042] FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c illustrate dispensing boxes.

[0043] FIG. 3 illustrates a dispensing case.

[0044] FIG. 4a illustrates a stack of gloves usable on either hand.

[0045] FIGS. 4b and 4c illustrate dispensing boxes filled with gloves.

[0046] FIG. 4d illustrates two removal openings 4a and 4b placed opposite one another on the same surface of the dispensing box.

[0047] FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate two short separating films.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] Hereinafter, details of the present teaching are described in additional detail, with reference to the appended drawings:

[0049] FIG. 1a shows a stack of gloves that can usually be used by either hand, for example examination gloves of latex, which according to the state of the art, are usually loaded in dispensing boxes. A non-sterile examination glove consists essentially of a hand portion (5), which contains the palms, backs of the hand and fingers, and a cuff part (6), which covers the wrist and possibly the forearm, and in most cases comprises a rolled edge (7) terminating the cuff.

[0050] FIG. 1b illustrates how examination gloves, according to the current state of the art, are placed in the dispensing boxes, and here, in the drawing, to make this clear, the front part of the dispensing box is not shown. The dispensing boxes each normally contain 100 gloves, with about 50 laid with the fingers facing left and the remainder with the fingers facing right, in a single stack. This arrangement has the advantage that the dispensing box is rather uniformly filled and, upon pressing together the gloves so arranged, air can be expelled well from the gloves, which allows very small dispensing box dimensions and can keep costs low for packing materials as well as storage and shipping. In addition, thanks to the careful stacking, removal of individual gloves through the removal opening (4) is appreciably facilitated. As can be seen clearly from FIG. 1b, in the removal process the glove is grasped by the user in the region of the palm (5) and pulled through the removal opening (4). Here, in practice, the result is always contaminations of the gloves in the critical palm region (5) by germs, usually along with contamination of adjacent gloves in the dispensing box.

[0051] FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c show dispensing boxes for the glove stacks, which are protected according to the present teaching by flexible paper films or separating bags, where, according to the present teaching, the two removal openings (4) are moved to the particular area of the package where the cuffs (6) or rolled edges (7) of the gloves are located. The inventive dispensing boxes here are preferably made of cardboard, so that the removal openings (4), conforming to the state of the art, can be produced by tearing out the corresponding pre-perforated surfaces or, in a different embodiment, can be re-closable.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows such an inventive dispensing case, which is filled with gloves, with the front part of the dispensing box removed from the drawing for purposes of clarity. Owing to the staggered arrangement of the gloves, they can be grasped easily by the cuff (6) or rolled edge (7) and pulled in lengthwise direction out of the package. In the process, the hygienically critical regions in the palms and fingers (5) are kept constantly covered, and are protected from contaminations during removal.

[0053] The stacks of gloves here are separated by an inventive separating wall or separating film (8) consisting of plastic, paper, cardboard or other materials, such that the separating film is preferably larger than the base or covering surface of the dispensing box, so that the critical finger regions (5) can be somewhat enveloped and the gloves have a guarantee of contamination protection. Only by means of such an enlarged film surface can separation between the two stacks of gloves be assured. The separating film can be connected with the interior of the dispensing box as well as, only additionally, being inserted between the gloves during the process of packing them. The separating film (8) provides spatial separation and/or protection of the palm and finger regions (5) of the gloves situated under it before contact with the user's hand in the process of removal. In addition, the separating film (8) indicates the time when the user must switch to the other removal opening (4).

[0054] FIG. 4a shows a stack of gloves usable on either hand. Contrary to FIG. 1a, however, the palms and fingers of the glove, according to the present teaching, are protected here by a short bag (9), for example made of flexible polyethylene film material.

[0055] FIGS. 4b and 4c show, in a preferred embodiment, an inventive dispensing box filled with gloves, wherein for purposes of illustration the front portion of the dispensing box is not shown in the drawing. The variously oriented stacks of gloves situated in the dispensing box are visible here as well and are separated by means of inventive separating bags as described and shown in FIG. 4a. However, because of the bag-shaped design of the separating film (9)—as shown for example in FIG. 4c—the removal openings of the dispensing box can be much larger and thus have overlapping surfaces, which substantially facilitates removal of the gloves in comparison with other embodiments, such as in US 2007/215628, while at the same time the box dimensions can also be kept very small.

[0056] FIG. 4d shows the two removal openings 4a and 4b placed opposite one another on the same surface of the dispensing box, and here, as well, the front part of the dispensing box is not shown in the drawing. First the gloves of the upper stack of gloves are removed through the removal opening 4a, and then the upper separating bag is removed through one of the two removal openings 4a or 4b. At that point the gloves of the lower stack can be removed from the removal opening 4b, such that these as well remain protected from contamination in the finger and palm regions by the separate glove bag. Of course, an arrangement of the removal openings 4a and 4b on the same side of the dispensing box, even while extending beyond the surface analogously to FIG. 4c, is in accordance with the present teaching.

[0057] FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate in one example the inventive use of two short separating films. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5a, the palm regions of the gloves are enveloped by the separating film, while the glove cuffs remain freely accessible, at least on one side. The two glove stacks equipped with short separating films, as drawn in FIG. 5b, are then inserted into the dispensing box. Here, once again, for purposes of clarity, the front part of the dispensing box is not included in the drawing.