Fabric, made of nylon ripstop coated with Neoprene, provides expansive and contractive mobility along posterior surface of glove fingers allowing maximum digital dexterity and tactility

Breslin, C.

Elkins, W.

Price, H.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

May 1972	 B72-10215 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
Ames Research Center	 C/ 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151. Requests for individual copies or questions relating to the Tech Brief program may 
be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Convoluted Fabric for Full-Pressure Gloves 
The problem: 
To develop a full-pressure glove that provides 
maximum digital dexterity and tactility. 
The solution: 
Use a convoluted fabric to provide expansive and 
contractive mobility along the posterior surface of 
the glove fingers. 
How it's done: 
The atmospheric pressure which must be main-
tained within a space suit so that an astronaut can 
be exposed to the vacuum of space tends to make 
the suit act like a balloon; moreover, since the hand 
and leg parts of the suit tend to remain rigidly ex-
tended, the astronaut must expend an inordinate 
amount of energy to overcome pressure forces when 
he moves his limbs. Fortunately, techniques have 
been developed during the past few years which 
make possible the construction of highly mobile, 
stable, articulated sections for pressure suits; in . the 
main, these techniques use metal rings and linkages 
to provide mobilities at low torque. 
However, none of the techniques developed thus 
far for fabricating pressure suits lend themselves to 
such a reduction in size that a finger or thumb-size 
joint element can be successfully fabricated and 
utilized. The small size of the fingers and their close-
ness to each other preclude the use of linkages or 
external mechanisms. 
The single-axis joints needed to provide freedom 
of motion of hand and fingers in a glove required 
development of a special miniconvolute fabric of the 
configuration shown in the magnified portion of the 
diagram. The convoluted fabric is made of nylon
ripstop coated with Neoprene; the fabric is convo-
luted on a mandrel and then cured. 
The mobile finger elements are tubes molded to 
the shape of the particular finger; the convolutions 
are arranged along the posterior surface of the finger 
in such a manner that the convolutions are extended 
when the finger is bent, and retracted to the normal 
"as-molded" position when the fingers are straight. 
The configuration of the convolutions is designed to 
(continued overleaf( 
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allow the length along the posterior surface of the 
finger to double when the finger is flexed at maxi-
mum. The anterior surface is made of a smooth 
fabric-and-Neoprene laminate, since allowance for 
finger flexure need be made through a forward angle 
only. The smooth fabric permits a sense of tactility 
through the pressure barrier when an object is 
touched or grasped. 
Small-diameter conduits of Neoprene-coated nylon 
(about 3 mm) are mounted along either side of each 
finger, and an axial restraint cord is run through the 
conduit from the finger tip to the base of the finger. 
The diameter and length of the finger element is such 
that as the finger is flexed, a lateral shift of the axial 
restraint cord within the conduit compensates for 
the pneumatic return force. This translation compen-
sates for the spring rate of the finger assembly caused 
by the volume increase which occurs when the 
finger is bent and the convolutions of the fabric 
are extended. 
The most difficult problem in glove design is the 
two-axis joint needed for thumb action. It was found 
necessary to limit action to where the thumb would 
just come into contact with the middle finger.
Notes: 
1. The following documentation may be obtained 
from: 
National Technical Information Service 
Springfield, Virginia 22151 
Single document price $3.00 
(or microfiche $0.95) 
Reference: NASA CR-114365, Highly Artic-
ulate Full Pressure Glove. 
2. No additional documentation is available. Specific 
questions, however, may be directed to: 
Technology Utilization Officer 
Ames Research Center 
Moffett Field, California 94035 
Reference: B72-10215 
Patent status: 
No patent action is contemplated by NASA. 
Source: William Elkins, Charles Breslin, 
and Harold Price of 
Space Age Control, Inc. 
under contract to
Ames Research Center 
(ARC-10529) 
B72-10215	 Category 04


Convoluted fabric for full-pressure gloves

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