Fit and dimensional allowance design of firefighting gloves via 3D scanning technology

To improve the fitting performance of firefighting protective gloves, 3D scanning was used to measure the hands of 108 young Chinese males with physical characteristics matching firefighters. Point cloud data were collected under five postures including static extension and dynamic grasping. Cluster analysis was performed on basic hand dimensions, and skin slack strain ratios in 13 hand regions were calculated to characterise skin deformation. Results classified hand shapes into four typical categories. Skin deformation was posture-dependent and varied significantly during grasping. The glove structure was redesigned accordingly, reducing operational time by 44.65%. Both subjective and objective tests verified the enhanced dexterity of the optimised gloves.