In a working world in which safety, sustainability and comfort are no longer mutually exclusive, uvex and HexArmor are setting new standards in professional hand protection. With the introduction of the HexArmor Helix 3013IMP and 3014IMP models, uvex is not only launching three new protective gloves on the market – but also a technology that was born out of a customer focus.
i2™:
This is the abbreviation, which can be understood as a representative expression of HexArmor’s high level of innovation. The i does not stand for innovation – but for impact protection, to German: impact protection. The American glove specialist HexArmor, part of the uvex safety group since 2016, has dedicated itself body and soul to this and develops products that show this. The new HexArmor Helix 3013IMP and 3014IMP safety gloves, for example, will soon be available in Germany, which carry the i2™ technology on the back of the hand.
The highlight:
Arranged in small hexagons, Arranged in small hexagons, the impact protection elements are made of the lightest and most flexible material in the industry, while at the same time not compromising on performance. They ensure breathability and save material, thus avoiding production waste. At the same time, their small size and individual shape allow a high degree of freedom of movement of the hand and fingers.
In this way, HexArmor breaks up the hitherto known impact protection segment, because gloves for correspondingly heavy applications have never been so light, so flexible, so filigree. And vice versa, there is now also shock protection for lighter, sensitive work. Technology that has the potential to revolutionize an industry.
And:
The impact protection hexagons are glued, not sewn, which prevents irritation on the back of the hand. All this – of course – with reliable impact protection, all three models offer Impact Protection Level 2 according to ANSI/ISEA 138 and meet the impact protection properties according to EN388:2016.
“With the new technology, we are meeting customer needs, which play a central role for us in product development,” explains Dennis List, Director Product Group Management Gloves at uvex safety. “We experimented with dozens of designs and tested them.”
With this, List addresses a very important success factor of HexArmor: Hand in hand with the customers, the glove experts from Grand Rapids, Michigan, develop and improve their products, which only logically leads to a high level of acceptance in the market. The market is often – but not only – companies whose employees are faced with high demands on people and materials in their everyday work.
With this, List addresses a very important success factor of HexArmor: Hand in hand with the customers, the glove experts from Grand Rapids, Michigan, develop and improve their products, which only logically leads to a high level of acceptance in the market. The market is often – but not only – companies whose employees are faced with high demands on people and materials in their everyday work.
For example, the new HexArmor Helix 3013IMP model with its flexible polyurethane coating on the palm of the hand is well suited for sensitive work in the automotive industry, in mechanical and plant engineering and, thanks to the cut protection level F, also in metal processing. Meanwhile, the HexArmor Helix 3014IMP is characterized by the even more robust SandyGrip NBR coating, which is ideal for mining, oil and gas industry or even in road construction and civil engineering thanks to its good oil grip. What both new additions to the product range of impact protection gloves have in common is the high wearing comfort thanks to the ultra-thin, extremely cut-resistant mixed knitted fabric.
It is the common ambition of the almost 100-year-old German PPE manufacturer uvex and its American subsidiary HexArmor to develop gloves that are capable of revolutionising professional hand protection thanks to their innovative technologies. In addition to impact and cut protection, stab protection also plays an important role. Here, HexArmor has the exclusive licensing rights of the SuperFabric® solution, which protects against the most dangerous objects found in the workplace: blades, wire, metal, glass and needles. The arrangement of tiny protective tiles protects hands from cuts, punctures and needlestick injuries without sacrificing mobility. The HexArmor® ThornArmor® 3092 model, for example, is characterized by precisely this technology, which is why it is ideal for demanding gardeners, hobbyists and professional landscapers. The courageous grip on the thorns of a cactus thus remains without consequences. At least for the hand.
In this way, uvex and HexArmor have benefited from each other since the beginning of the strategic partnership: the exchange of technologies and know-how makes products better on both sides of the Atlantic. The wearers of the gloves like this.
A showcase location southeast of Hamburg plays a key role in this. “We are very proud of our hand protection competence center in Lüneburg,” reports Dennis List. “Research & development, in-house laboratories and highly flexible production are combined here under one roof. This is unique in Europe.” For example, the most successful uvex glove of all time was designed in the Hanseatic city: the uvex Bamboo TwinFlex®D XG. The name already reveals that natural bamboo fibres ensure an optimal fit and a silky soft feel on the skin – innovation “made in uvex”, as the traditional German manufacturer calls it itself. “In 2016, we found a partner in HexArmor that perfectly complements our expertise,” says List.
Especially since both brands are united by a common understanding of values in addition to their passion for product innovations: The focus is not only on protecting people, but also on giving them the good feeling of being optimally equipped – in line with the claim “protecting people”. The pure protective function plays the main role, but the holistic wearing experience, comfort, sustainability and design are always part of the objective.
This can be seen in the consistent implementation of ecological principles in the IMP series: Both the Helix 3013IMP and the 3014IMP are made of an 18-gauge knitted fabric with 15% recycled nylon – a first in this protection class.