DuPont Personal Protection announced the winners of the seventh annual North America DuPont Kevlar Glove Innovation Awards. The awards highlight excellence in innovative glove designs from licensees that use DuPont Kevlar fiber and continue to redefine the standards for performance and comfort in personal protective equipment (PPE).

"The level of innovation that we see from licensees in their submissions, and the inventive ways they use Kevlar to provide protection, comfort and dexterity in their glove designs continues to impress us year after year," said David Domnisch, Global Leader for DuPont Personal Protection. "Even this year, despite the challenges to new product development activities in light of COVID-19 constraints, we still saw a large number of high-quality submissions."

Winning entries were chosen from submissions that used Kevlar fiber in the construction, were unique and unconventional in their design and challenged the traditional benchmarks for arm and hand protection. All submissions were evaluated against standard criteria that includes innovation in product design and use of Kevlar to enhance protection benefits, ability to meet customers' unmet protection needs and potential to capitalize on market opportunities in the industrial marketplace.

This year's winners include:

• Ironclad HW6XFR is constructed using materials that meet the NFPA 2112:2018 standard and has been certified to that new benchmark for flame and heat protection. It features a one-piece molded silicone palm, that allows the wearer to handle objects heated to 600°F for extended periods. It includes silicone coated fabric in the finger sidewalls, knuckles and cuff to create a cut-resistant and flame-resistant barrier. The glove also provides ANSI/ISEA 105:2016 Cut Level A2 and Conductive Heat Resistance (ASTM F1060-08) performance ratings.
• MCR Predator Impact CutPro PD43612, which is made to provide the wearer the benefits of high cut resistance in a driver-style work glove. The design features a palm made with Kevlar yarn and patented thermoplastic rubber impact protection on the back of the hand. The glove features premium-grain goatskin hide for excellent overall tensile strength, while allowing for contact with thermal heat values that synthetic materials cannot match in performance. It delivers solid ANSI/ISEA 105:2016 (Level A9 Cut, Level 5 Puncture, Level 4 Abrasion) and ANSI/ISEA 138 Level 1 Impact protection ratings.
• Mechanix Wear WS-REG, which is a welding and fabrication glove that features Kevlar yarn and thread throughout and a liner made exclusively with Kevlar fiber. The glove features an innovative, patented fingertip design with the seams in the fingers, located away from the contact area of the fingertips. A second layer of reinforcement material is fused to the underside of the fingertip, creating double the durability of most welding gloves. The fused reinforcement is designed so the wearer does not feel the added material yet still benefits from protection against surface burns. The glove is made in a TAA-compliant country, so it can be sold to the military. It features ANSI/ISEA 105:2016 (Level A4 Cut, Level 3 Puncture, Level 4 Abrasion) ratings for the demands of metal fabrication applications.