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Better Fit |
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For the past 35 years or so, workers have been showing an ever
increasing preference for seamless machine knit gloves over the
traditional “cut and sewn” products for some pretty good reasons. This trend is sustained because automated glove knitting equipment allows the textile industry to develop improvements in fibers that are effectively translated into benefits to those who wear the glove, such as aramid and high density polyethylene yarns that out-perform cotton, leather and asbestos in providing protection from abrasion, cuts and heat. The ability of this sophisticated equipment to use ever finer, denier yarns also fuels research in the rubber and plastic industry to make further advancements in more capable and beneficial coatings like breathable Nitrile foams or super clean and tactile Polyurethanes. Now that a commercially viable automated glove knitting machine that produces the most anatomically correct, naturally fitting glove is available to glove producers, this trend is sure to accelerate. The automated knitting equipment first made its presence known in the glove industry with the release of a seven gauge machine that set the pattern for subsequent developments. These early machines were slow and had little flexibility; once you built a machine to make a certain product, that’s what you got. Over these intervening years, equipment builders have been making numerous modifications and improvements. Efforts to make more comfortable gloves led to the development of finer gauge machines by increasing the number of needles they can effectively control. Now we have automated glove knitting equipment in everything from a five to 15 gauge machine. In fact, they’ve made continual improvements in virtually every area, except one…a more natural fit. For years, glove knitting equipment builders have been wrestling with one conundrum: Finding a solution to a very obvious but most vexing problem….how to build an automated glove knitting machine that can produce a “better fitting design” without slowing output and increasing operating and maintenance costs? Ever since the first chain drive machines were introduced in the late 60’s, all knitting machines have had one common “design flaw” that was universally copied, millions of times every day….The finger crotch between the ring finger and the “pinkie” was knit at the same level as those between the index, middle and ring fingers. Conventional Design Now look at your own hand, with your palm facing you. You will notice your finger crotches are not all on the same level; the two in the center are higher than the others. Whether we were born in Australia, Zambia or somewhere in between, we all share this same general anatomical shape or design. They’ve had the thumb side designed correctly since day one, but not the other. Today, with the advance of computers and PLC’s, coupled with improved engineering design and a lot of hard work, an automated glove knitting machine builder can now build equipment that has the ability to knit a glove with any specified yarn that will actually conform to the natural shape of the hand, thus providing a more normal and natural fit. Natural Fit Design This most recent innovation in the hand protection industry is quickly being accepted as the preferred design. Why? Because the real value of any innovation is ultimately determined by the way it will be recognized and accepted. Here is where the new, natural fit design has blown away the old style design. In repeated, side by side comparisons, conducted independently in factories and trade shows in Asia, Europe and the USA, people are asked to dawn a pair of gloves. These gloves are identical in every way except for the natural fit design of one versus the traditional design of the other. The results have been remarkably consistent. Everyone confirms that the glove with the natural fit design always fits better and feels better. Their comments range from the modest: “I prefer this one” to the ecstatic: “This is fantastic! Why aren’t all gloves like this?” This revolutionary design change has been accomplished without sacrificing machine productivity, efficiency or output. The future is bright because the continued advancements coming from the textile and rubber industries are now being coupled with IGS equipment that produces these most advanced, naturally fitting gloves. Ongoing competition to improve equipment design and their capabilities will assure glove wearers around the world will see further improvements from the glove industry; a growing industry that’s been around for thousands of years. In the future, all gloves will feature this more naturally fitting design. Until then, remember, “it doesn’t have to cost any more to buy gloves that naturally fit better.” FSM Mike Breton is a senior sales and marketing executive with Innovative Glove and Safety. m.breton@icg-us.com, or call 281-582-0700. |
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