Bioinspired 3D printed scales for enhanced industrial gloves

仅在美国，每年就有数百万人因手部受伤而被送往急诊室，其中30%的受伤工人使用的是防护不足的安全手套。对理想的防护手套的要求是严格的。它们必须重量轻、灵活和透气，必须能抵抗撕裂**尖锐的刺伤和挤压。目前还没有一种安全手套可以同时满足这套**规格。目前大多数防护手套是由浸渍了弹性体的纺织品制成的，**这种弹性体可以抵抗低力撕裂，但对穿孔的保护效果很差。我们最初的Engage Grant**探索了我们新的陶瓷生物灵感比例设计与Superior Glove的**产品的可行性和性能。我们已经实现了为该项目设定的所有目标。凭借我们新的生物灵感比例手套**战略，卓越手套认识到了一种将颠覆安全设备**市场的新产品的潜力。然而，Superior Glove注意到，由于手掌一侧手指关节**附近的过度僵硬，灵活性有所下降。我们共同决定开始探索用丙烯腈丁二烯**苯乙烯(ABS)制成的鳞片作为陶瓷的替代品。ABS是一种相对坚韧、坚硬的聚合物。然而，它的柔韧性是我们一直使用的陶瓷的**~100倍，因此可以获得一些灵活性。此外，使用我们的3D打印机可以轻松创建**标尺，这将为我们提供广泛的空间来探索**不同厚度、大小和排列的标尺。为了实现这一目标，我们建议(1)在高级手套衬里材料上打印ABS**标尺，(2)评估这些材料的耐锐性，以及**(3)评估这些材料的柔韧性。拟议的合作将为该技术的未来发展制定重要的指导方针，该项目产生的手套原型将是迈向商业化的**第一步。通过这个项目，Superior Glove不仅将获得这些材料方面的新的和独特的**知识，还将用新的知识和数据培训其工程师。拟议中的**项目预计将导致McGill和Superior Glove之间的长期合作。

Hand injuries send millions of workers to the emergency room every year in the US only and in 30% of these**cases, injured workers were using safety gloves with insufficient protection. The requirements for ideal**protective gloves are stringent. They must be light weight, flexible and breathable, they must resist lacerations**sharp puncture and crushing. There is currently no safety glove that can simultaneously satisfy this set of**specifications. The majority of protective gloves are currently made of textiles impregnated with elastomers,**which can resist low force lacerations, but offer poor protection against piercing. Our original Engage Grant**explored the feasibility and performance of our new ceramic bioinspired scale designs with Superior Glove's**products. We have achieved all the objectives set for that project. With our new bioinspired scaled glove**strategy Superior Glove has recognized the potential for a new product that would disrupt the safety equipment**market. However, Superior Glove noted a decrease in dexterity due to excessive stiffness near the finger joints**on the palm side of the hand. We have jointly decided to start exploring scales made of acrylonitrile butadiene**styrene (ABS) as an alternative to ceramics. ABS is a relatively tough, strong and stiff polymer. It is however**~100 times more flexible than the ceramic we have been using so that some flexibility can be gained. In**addition, the scales can be easily created using our 3D printer, which will give us a wide latitude to explore**scales of different thickness, size and arrangement. To achieve this objective we propose to (1) 3D print ABS**scales on Superior Glove's liner materials, (2) evaluate the resistance to sharp puncture of these materials and**(3) evaluate the flexibility of these materials. The proposed collaboration will result in important guidelines for**the future development of the technology, and the prototype gloves emerging from this project will represent a**first step towards commercialization. Through this project Superior Glove will not only gain new and unique**knowledge in those materials, it will also train its engineers with new knowledge and data. The proposed**project is expected to lead to longer-term collaborations between McGill and Superior Glove.