Voltage detecting glove

• US 10,247,763 B1
• Filed: 09/29/2017
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DuPont Safety & Construction, Inc. (DuPont de Nemours, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (Corteva, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Wei, Blackman, Gregory Scott, Meth, Jeffrey Scott, Hockman, Kimberly K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tung X
• Application Number:
  US15/719,798
• Publication Number:
  US 20190101573A1
• Time in Patent Office: 550 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 19/001 Linings
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 19/01529 with thermal or fire protection
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 19/01594 with accessories, e.g. tools, receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 31/26 Electrically protective, e.g. preventing static electricity or electric shock
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/155 Indicating the presence of voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/16547 voltage or current in AC supplies switching for protection H02H; circuits for emergency power supply H02J9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 19/16595 with multi level indication G01R19/16519 and G01R19/16533 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold

Abstract

A voltage detecting glove comprises a glove liner and an outer glove shell. A conductive antenna is disposed inside the outer glove shell but separated from the glove liner by a buffer. The antenna is connected to electronic circuitry configured to sense a voltage indicative of the proximity of the antenna to an AC electric field resulting from energized AC source, and to activate an alarm if the strength of the field exceeds a preselected threshold limit.

Claims

1. A voltage detecting glove, comprising:

(a) an outer glove shell;

(b) a glove liner having a proximal portion and a distal portion having fingers extending from the proximal portion, the proximal portion and distal portion each having opposing front sides and back sides, the glove liner being constructed with a nonconductive material and disposed within the outer shell; and

(c) a voltage detector comprising;

(i) voltage detecting circuitry having an input and (ii) an antenna connected to the input,

and wherein;

(i) the antenna is disposed between the glove liner and the outer shell and comprises a conductor that begins at a connector end located on the back side of the proximal portion, then extends along, and wraps around the end of, a preselected one of the fingers, and then terminates at a free end;

(ii) a buffer having a thickness of at least 2.5 mm is interposed between the glove liner and the antenna; and

(iii) the voltage detector is configured to sense the presence of an AC electric field having a predetermined, expected frequency proximate the antenna and activate an alarm in response to detection of a signal at the input indicative of a field having a strength exceeding a preselected threshold limit.

2. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the free end is located on the front side of the preselected finger.

3. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the buffer comprises at least one of a fire-retardant cotton, a polyurethane, a para-aramid, a meta-aramid, a silicone, or a rubber.

4. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the buffer has a dielectric constant κ

of at most 5 and an electrical resistivity of at least 1×

10¹⁰ Ω

-m.

5. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the buffer and the glove liner are integral.

6. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the antenna comprises a metal foil.

7. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the antenna comprises a metallic thread.

8. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the antenna exhibits an extensional stretchability of at least 5%.

9. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the antenna is connected at its connector end to the input of the voltage detecting circuitry using a reversibly engageable connector.

10. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the antenna is attached to the buffer at a plurality of discrete locations.

11. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the outer shell is removable from the glove liner and buffer.

12. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the voltage detecting circuitry:

(i) is further configured to detect the strength of the AC electric field and (ii) comprises an indicator operable to indicate the strength.

13. The voltage detecting glove of claim 12, wherein the indicator is operable to provide a discrete number of different indications, each indicative that the field strength detected is within one of a series of preselected ranges, each of the ranges being associated with one of the indications.

14. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the voltage detecting circuitry is configured to inhibit the alarm if the signal presented at the input from the antenna has a frequency that is outside a preselected frequency range.

15. The voltage detecting glove of claim 1, wherein the voltage detecting circuitry comprises a programmable microcontroller that provides the input and is programmed to activate the alarm in response to detection of a signal at the input indicative of a field having a strength exceeding a preselected threshold limit.

16. The voltage detecting glove of claim 15, wherein the microcontroller is programmed to acquire a dataset consisting of a plurality of data points that digitally represent a voltage waveform presented at the input during an interval corresponding to a plurality of periods of the expected frequency.

17. The voltage detecting glove of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is programmed to determine the frequency of the signal represented by the dataset and to inhibit the alarm if the frequency is outside the preselected frequency range.

18. The voltage detecting glove of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is programmed to determine a maximum and a minimum value of the voltage within the dataset, and to inhibit activation of the alarm if a difference between the maximum and minimum values is greater than a preselected difference.

19. The voltage detecting glove of claim 16, wherein the microcontroller is programmed to determine an average value of the voltage within the dataset, and to activate the alarm if the average value is indicative of the presence of an AC electric field proximate the antenna that has a strength exceeding the preselected threshold limit.

20. The voltage detecting glove of claim 19, wherein the voltage detecting circuitry comprises an indicator operable to provide a discrete number of different indications and the microcontroller is programmed to activate one of the different indications if the average value of the voltage within the dataset is within any one of a series of preselected ranges, each of the ranges being associated with one of the indications.