权利要求：
CLAIMS
% A method of manufacturing a latex rubber article (100), the method comprising:
a. providing a former (110) wherein at least a part of the former comprises a mould surface (120) that forms the shape of the latex rubber article (100);
b. applying liquid latex to the mould surface (120) using an applicator (130), wherein the applicator (130) is configured to apply the liquid latex to an applicator area (140) that is smaller than the mould surface (120);
C providing relative movement between the applicator (130) and the former (110) to produce a latex coating (150) that covers the mould surface (120);
d. curing the latex coating (150) on the former (110) to form the latex rubber article (100), and
e. removing the latex rubber article (100) from the former (110).
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the relative movement between the applicator (130) and the former (110) is automatically controlled via a controller (160).
3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the liquid latex comprises an aqueous dispersion that includes polymer particles in an amount ranging between about 40 %wt. to about 70 %wt., or about 45 %wt. to about 65 %wt., or about 50 %wt. to 60 %wt,, relative to the total %wt. of the aqueous dispersion.
4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the liquid latex comprises ammonia in an amount ranging from about 0.2 %wt. to about 10 %wt., or about 1 %wt. to about 8 %wt., or about 3 %wt. to about 7 %wt,, relative to the total %wt. of the liquid latex solution.
5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the liquid latex comprises an additive selected from the group comprising ceramic powders, carbon materials, nanomaterials, 2D materials, boron nitride, graphene, 1D materials, carbon nanotubes, bismuth oxide, iron oxide, ferrite and carbon.
6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the applicator area (140) is less than 20 cm?2, or less than 10 cm2, or less than 5 cm2.
Z. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising applying the liquid latex to a plurality of application areas (142), the plurality of application areas (142) comprising at least a first application area (144) and a second application area (146).
8. A method according to claim 7, further comprising applying the liquid latex to the plurality of application areas (142) simultaneously.
9. A method according to claim 7 or claim 8, further comprising applying the liquid latex to the first application area (144) and the second application area (146) to provide the first application area (144) with a first portion (150a) of the latex coating (150) and the second application area (146) with a second portion (150b) of the latex coating (150).
10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the first portion (150a) and the second portion (150b) comprise different thicknesses.
TT: A method according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the first portion (150a) and the second portion (150b) comprise different liquid latex compositions.
12. A method according to any one of claims 7 to 11, further comprising overlapping the first application area (144) at least partially with the second application area (146).
13. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising applying the liquid latex to the mould surface (120) to provide a coating thickness of between 10 um and 200 pm, or between 20 um and 150 um, or between 40 um and 100 um.
14. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising applying the liquid latex to the mould surface (120) in a plurality of layers (152) to produce the latex coating (150), the plurality of layers (152) comprising at least a first layer (154) and a second layer (156).
15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising applying the liquid latex to the mould surface (120) to form the first layer (154), and applying the liquid latex to the first layer (154) to form the second layer (156), such that layer-by-layer deposition is used to produce the latex coating (150).
16. A method according to claim 14 or claim 15, further comprising applying the liquid latex to the first layer (154) to form the second layer (156) after the first layer has at least partially cured.
17. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, further comprising applying a first liquid latex to form the first layer (154) and applying a second liquid latex to form the second layer (156), the first liquid latex and the second liquid latex comprising different liquid latex compositions.
18. A method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the first layer (154) and the second layer (156) comprise different thicknesses.
19. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the former (110) comprises a ceramic material.
20. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the former (110) comprises a hand-shaped mould surface (120) and the latex rubber article (100) comprises a latex glove.
2 A method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the applicator (130) comprises one or more spraying nozzles (132).
22. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 21, further comprising adjusting the applicator (130) relative to the former (110) to alter the angle of application of the liquid latex to the mould surface (120).
23; A method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, further comprising providing a plurality of applicators (130), wherein each applicator (130) is independently adjustable.
24. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 23, further comprising heating the former (110) to enable curing of the liquid latex.
25, A method according to claim 24, further comprising heating the former (110) using an internal resistance heater (112).
26. A method according to claim 24 or claim 25, further comprising heating the former (110) to a temperature in the range between 20 °C and 160 °C, or between 20 °C and 100 °C, or between 20 °C and 60 °C.
27. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 26, wherein providing relative movement between the applicator (130) and the former (110) comprises providing relative rotation about an axis (X).
28. A method according to claim 27, wherein providing relative movement between the former (110) and the applicator (130) further comprises providing relative movement in a direction that is substantially parallel or perpendicular to the axis (X).
29. A latex rubber article (102) manufactured by a method as defined by any one of the preceding claims.
30. A latex rubber article (102) as claimed in claim 29, wherein the latex rubber article (102) is a latex rubber glove that comprises a plurality of glove portions, including a palmar portion (105), a dorsal portion (106) and a finger portion (107).
31. A latex rubber article (102) as claimed in claim 30, wherein at least one of said glove portions has a uniform thickness distribution with a standard deviation of less than 0.035, or less than 0.03, or less than 0.025.
32. A latex rubber article (102) as claimed in claim 30 or claim 31, wherein the latex rubber glove (102) comprises at least a first region (104a) and a second region (104b), the first region (104a) and the second region (104b) comprising different thicknesses.
33. A latex rubber article (102) as claimed in claim 32, wherein the first region (104a) comprises the finger portion (107) of the latex rubber glove (102), and the thickness is less in the first region (104a) than the second region (104b).
34, A latex rubber article (102) as claimed in claim 32 or claim 33, wherein the second region (104b) comprises a cuff region of the latex rubber glove (102), and the thickness is greater in the second region (104b) than the first region (104a).
35, A latex rubber article (102) as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 34, wherein the latex rubber in at least one of the glove portions comprises an additive from a group comprising ceramic powders, carbon materials, nanomaterials, 2D materials, boron nitride, graphene, 1D materials, carbon nanotubes, bismuth oxide, iron oxide, ferrite and carbon.