Evaluating the effects of wearing gloves and wrist support on hand-arm response while operating an in-line pneumatic screwdriver

摘要

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of wearing a glove and wrist support on hand-arm response while operating an in-line pneumatic screwdriver. Hand-arm response was investigated in terms of triggering finger force, flexordigitorum EMG and hand-transmitted vibration. Four glove levels (barehanded, cotton, nylon and open-finger), and two wrist support levels (wearing, and not wearing) were evaluated. Thirteen healthy male subjects drove screws into a horizontally mountediron plate with pre-tapped screw holes using an in-line pneumatic screwdriver in the randomly ordered experimental conditions. The results indicate that wearing a nylon glove and not using a wrist support is the best combination among the eight evaluatedexperimental conditions. Wearing a nylon glove reduced 18.2% of the triggering force as compared with the barehanded condition. In addition, wearing a nylon glove had comparatively low forearm muscular exertion, and reduced 16% and 15% of hand-transmitted vibration in the z-axis and the sum of 3-axes as compared with the barehanded condition. The use of a wrist support required a greater triggering force and a 9.9% greater hand-transmitted vibration in the y-axis than when not using a wrist support.