The effects of vibration-reducing gloves on finger vibration

Abstract

Vibration-reducing (VR) gloves have been used to reduce the hand-transmitted vibration exposures from machines and powered hand tools but their effectiveness remains unclear, especially for finger protection. The objectives of this study are to determine whether VR gloves can attenuate the vibration transmitted to the fingers and to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms of how these gloves work. Seven adult male subjects participated in the experiment. The fixed factors evaluated include hand force (four levels), glove condition (gel-filled, air bladder, no gloves), and location of the finger vibration measurement. A 3-D laser vibrometer was used to measure the vibrations on the fingers with and without wearing a glove on a 3-D hand-arm vibration test system. This study finds that the effect of VR gloves on the finger vibration depends on not only the gloves but also their influence on the distribution of the finger contact stiffness and the grip effort. As a result, the gloves increase the vibration in the fingertip area but marginally reduce the vibration in the proximal area at some frequencies below 100 Hz. On average, the gloves reduce the vibration of the entire fingers by less than 3% at frequencies below 80 Hz but increase at frequencies from 80 to 400 Hz. At higher frequencies, the gel-filled glove is more effective at reducing the finger vibration than the air bladder-filled glove. The implications of these findings are discussed. Relevance to industry Prolonged, intensive exposure to hand-transmitted vibration can cause hand-arm vibration syndrome. Vibration-reducing gloves have been used as an alternative approach to reduce the vibration exposure. However, their effectiveness for reducing finger-transmitted vibrations remains unclear. This study enhanced the understanding of the glove effects on finger vibration and provided useful information on the effectiveness of typical VR gloves at reducing the vibration transmitted to the fingers. The new results and knowledge can be used to help select appropriate gloves for the operations of powered hand tools, to help perform risk assessment of the vibration exposure, and to help design better VR gloves.

Transmission of vibration through gloves: effects of material thickness

“…The frequency of the resonance in the transmissibility to the finger occurred at a higher frequency than the resonance to the palm and is similar to that found in previous studies (e.g., Paddan and Griffin, 1999;Welcome et al, 2014). The resonance frequency in the transmissibility to the finger was at a higher frequency than the resonance in the transmissibility to the palm of the hand.…”

Vibration characteristics of golf club heads in their handheld grinding process and potential approaches for reducing the vibration exposure

“…Wearing full-finger gloves can reduce the finger contact stiffness (Dong et al, 2009). This may not reduce the vibration components in the middle frequency range transmitted to the fingers or the frequency-weighted acceleration (Hewitt et al, 2015) but the gloves can reduce very high-frequency components (Welcome et al, 2014). The current frequency weighting may largely underestimate the high frequency health effects (Tominaga, 2005; Nilsson et al, 1989; Barregard et al, 2003; Starck et al, 1990; Dandanell and Engstrom, 1986; Dong et al, 2012).…”

Modeling of the biodynamic responses distributed at the fingers and palm of the hand in three orthogonal directions

“…Because the glove could substantially alter the finger positions and orientations relative to the handle, it was difficult to reliably determine the direction-specific transmissibility. Hence, only the total vibration (vector summation of the three axial vibrations) transmissibility was calculated in the experimental study [32]. As shown in Fig.…”

“…12 were measured using a 3-D laser vibrometer under the same test conditions as mentioned above [30]. The glove transmissibility at each frequency was calculated from the gloved-finger transmissibility and the bare-hand finger transmissibility [32]. Because the glove could substantially alter the finger positions and orientations relative to the handle, it was difficult to reliably determine the direction-specific transmissibility.…”

“…The model of the glove-hand-arm system and the parameters of the glove model included in a proposed revision of ISO 10068 [25]. Comparisons of the model-predicted and measured glove transmissibility functions: (a) modeling_palm; (b) experiment palm [31]; (c) experiment_fingers [32]; (d) modeling_fingers x h direction; y h direction; ▲, z h direction; -, total vibration). Comparisons of the mechanical impedances predicted using the new models developed in the current study and those included in the proposed revision of ISO 10068 [25] in the three orthogonal directions: (a) the impedances of the entire hand-arm system (-, proposed ISO model; new model); (b) the impedances distributed at the fingers and palm of the hand new model_fingers; -, proposed ISO model_fingers; new model_palm; --, proposed ISO model_palm).…”