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.

中文翻译：

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减振手套对手指振动的影响

减振 (VR) 手套已被用于减少机器和电动手动工具的手传递振动暴露，但其有效性尚不清楚，尤其是在手指保护方面。本研究的目的是确定 VR 手套是否可以减弱传递到手指的振动，并加深对这些手套工作机制的理解。七名成年男性受试者参与了实验。评估的固定因素包括手力（四个级别）、手套状况（凝胶填充、气囊、无手套）和手指振动测量的位置。使用 3-D 激光测振仪在 3-D 手臂振动测试系统上测量戴手套和不戴手套的手指振动。本研究发现 VR 手套对手指振动的影响不仅取决于手套，还取决于它们对手指接触刚度和握力分布的影响。因此，手套会增加指尖区域的振动，但在低于 100 Hz 的某些频率下略微降低近端区域的振动。平均而言，手套在低于 80 Hz 的频率下将整个手指的振动降低不到 3%，但在 80 至 400 Hz 的频率下会增加。在较高频率下，凝胶填充手套在减少手指振动方面比气囊填充手套更有效。讨论了这些发现的含义。与行业的相关性 长时间、密集地接触手部传递的振动会导致手臂振动综合征。减振手套已被用作减少振动暴露的替代方法。然而，它们对减少手指传递振动的有效性仍不清楚。这项研究加深了对手套对手指振动影响的理解，并提供了关于典型 VR 手套在减少传递到手指的振动方面的有效性的有用信息。新的结果和知识可用于帮助为电动手动工具的操作选择合适的手套，帮助执行振动暴露的风险评估，并帮助设计更好的 VR 手套。这项研究加深了对手套对手指振动影响的理解，并提供了关于典型 VR 手套在减少传递到手指的振动方面的有效性的有用信息。新的结果和知识可用于帮助为电动手动工具的操作选择合适的手套，帮助执行振动暴露的风险评估，并帮助设计更好的 VR 手套。这项研究加深了对手套对手指振动影响的理解，并提供了关于典型 VR 手套在减少传递到手指的振动方面的有效性的有用信息。新的结果和知识可用于帮助为电动手动工具的操作选择合适的手套，帮助执行振动暴露的风险评估，并帮助设计更好的 VR 手套。