A GLOVE

Abstract: A racquet game glove (10) comprises a front face (12) of unperforated thin chamois leather (including synthetic equivalents), for example of 0.5 to 1.5 mm thickness, and a back face (14) comprising breathable material such as a knitted Lycra<TM> fabric to allow cooling of the hand. The front face includes thin wear enhancement patches (34, 36, 38, 40, 42) to improve the wear properties of the thin chamois leather, preferably while substantially maintaining feel through the glove. The wear enhancement patches may help to assist grip and are provided at the base of the fingers (20, 22, 24, 26), at the base of the thumb (18) and on the portion (32) of the palm overlying the Palmeris brevis. The tips of the fingers and thumb are omitted for increased feel. The glove may also be used in other sports and non-sports endeavours.

Description: A GLOVE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to gloves and is particularly, but not only, concerned with a sports glove, for example for racquet games such as tennis. Additional racquet games in which such a glove may be used include squash and racquet ball. Other sports in which the glove may be used include any in which grip is important such as hockey, or in which the glove provides protection, such as possibly in shooting when protection is required from the hot barrel. The glove may also be used in other fields of endeavour in which protection for the hand and/or grip is required, for example in industry. BACKGROUND ART Gloves and similar devices for tennis players have been proposed previously. For example, Patent Application GB-A-2266224 proposes weather protection for a tennis player's hand which comprises an elongated cuff having a wrist band for fastening it securely around the wrist or lower forearm of the player and a sleeve portion which encircles the racquet hand. An aperture is provided through which a racquet handle can be inserted to be held within the sleeve portion. A similar proposal is made in Patent Specification FR-A-2593072 in which an elastic sleeve is open at one end to receive a racquet handJe and at the other end to receive the player's hand. The sleeve is made of a knitted fabric. In both of the above proposals, the device is intended to cover the hand to provide protection against the weather and is not intended to improve the grip between the hand and the racquet handle. Grip enhancing tapes have been proposed in Patent Specification DE-A-2430092. These are coated on one side with an adhesive and wound around the palm and fingers of the hand. By this means the grip is confined to required areas of the hand while the rest of the hand remains free. The gripping surface can have different degrees of roughness and can be provided as continuous strips or as local pads on the tape. Breathing holes are provided in the tape. Another glove is proposed in Patent Specification FR-A-2498935 which is intended to protect the playing hand of a tennis player and to give a better grip. The palm is made of a strong and inextensible material such as washable leather, vinyl or similar material or fabric and has small holes in it to ventilate the hand. The back of the fingers and thumb is made of an extensible material while the rest of the back comprises an absorbent material for wiping the brow and eyes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention a glove comprises a front face of thin chamois leather and a back face comprising breathable material and wherein the front face includes wear enhancement means to improve the wear properties of the thin chamois leather at the base of at least some of the fingers, at the base of the thumb and on the portion adapted to overlie the Palmeris brevis. According to another aspect of the present invention, a glove comprises a front face of thin chamois leather and a back face of breathable material, and wherein the thin chamois leather of the front face is unperforated. In a preferred embodiment a glove includes both aspects of the present invention. One of the problems for a tennis player wearing a glove on the playing hand is maintaining a desired degree of feel for the position of the racquet handle in the hand. This is achieved in the present invention by the use of thin chamois leather on the front face of the glove which readily conforms to the front of the hand, especially the palm, and does not have such a thickness as to remove the feel of the racquet handle in the hand. Similar advantages are applicable to other sports and endeavours in which the glove may be used, but for convenience only the invention will hereinafter be described with reference to a racquet game glove. Chamois leather was originally made from the skin of chamois, but natural chamois leather is now usually made from sheepskins with the grain layer split off. The principal feature of such skins is their loose texture, and examples of other natural sources are kid and buckskin. The term "chamois leather" as used herein shall be construed as including all such natural skin alternatives as well as synthetic equivalents. The natural skins are subjected to oil tanning which produces their soft texture and makes them stretchy. In addition, they become highly absorbent of water, which can be readily squeezed out again, and grease. The oil tanned skins are then subjected to stretching, and most advantageously the skins used to make the thin chamois leather for the present invention are stretched as much as possible without tearing. Thus, in the most preferred embodiment the chamois leather is as thin as can possibly be achieved by stretching without tearing. As a general rule, the thinnest chamois and equivalent synthetic leathers are likely to have a thickness about 0.5mm. The chamois or equivalent synthetic leather of the front face should have a thickness of no more than 1.5mm in order to ensure the desired feel is maintained, and the preferred thickness range is from about 0.6 to 1.3mm, most preferably about 0.7mm to about 1mm. A major advantage of using chamois leather for the front face of the glove is, in addition to the lack of loss of feel for the user, its ability to absorb large volumes of water. Sweating of the palm of a racquet game player is a major reason for the racquet slipping in the hand, and the chamois leather will absorb the sweat while maintaining the grip and feel of the user. The grip may even increase as the chamois leather becomes wet and a substantial advantage of the second aspect of the present invention is that the lack of perforations through the leather ensures that the palm becomes hot, and therefore the leather wet through sweat, as quickly as possible after beginning play. Synthetic leathers equivalent to chamois leather have been tested but tend not to have as good moisture absorbency, wear or feel. The synthetic chamois leathers tested have not been as smooth as the natural skin and have not achieved the same thinness, and this is likely to be the reason for the lack of feel. However, some synthetic leathers may have sufficiently good properties to be useful, for example, in amateur sports and in non-sports uses. Generally, the synthetic equivalent leathers will be poromerics and may be formed of, for example, foamed polyurethane. The wear enhancement means of the front face of the glove in the first aspect of the invention may be provided by patches, including strips, of wear enhancing material secured to the chamois leather at those locations which wear in use. The wear enhancement material is preferably thin in order to substantially maintain the feel through the glove and the preferred thickness is no greater than 0.3mm, most preferably no greater than 0.2mm. The wear enhancement patches may be sewn or, for example, bonded to the chamois or synthetic leather. Thicker wear enhancement patches may be appropriate in, for example, industrial uses of the glove. Advantageously, the wear enhancement means improves the grip on the racquet handle, especially as the wear enhancement maierial becomes warm in use. A variety of different materials may be used for this purpose, such as natural or synthetic rubbers. Preferably the grip improving material is provided on a reinforcing backing such as of cotton, especially if the wear enhancement is sewn onto the leather. In a preferred embodiment the wear enhancement material comprises a chlorosulphonated polyethylene polymer which is vulcanized to adhere to a webbing substrate of bleached cotton calico. The nominal thickness of the substrate may be as small as .05mm. The wear enhancement means at the base of the fingers preferably is associated with at least the index, middle and ring fingers, but may also be associated with the little finger. This wear enhancement may be in the form of one or more patches or strips. Wear enhancement may be provided between the bases of the thumb and index finger so as to provide a degree of wrapping around the racquet handle. Likewise the wear enhancement means associated with the Palmeris brevis may wrap partly around the racquet handle in use and the wear enhancement means may also extend at least part way across the bottom of the hand between the base of the thumb and the Palmeris brevis. The breathable material of the back face of the glove is intended to provide cooling of the hand, as the hand is moved through the air with the racquet, by an evaporative cooling effect and the term "breathable" should be construed with this in mind. The breathable material is advantageously elastic so as to maintain a degree of tautness in the front face of the glove, and in a preferred embodiment a synthetic knitted or woven fabric is used such as of the elastic, segmented polyurethane spandex fibre. Lycra (trademark of Du Pont) is one example of a spandex fibre. A wrist band is advantageously provided around the glove wrist opening, preferably of elastic material, which may have free ends secured together by any of a variety of known means, such as a multiple hook and eye material. A tight wrist band helps to alleviate the glove riding up the hand during use. In a most preferred embodiment, the tips of the fingers and thumb are omitted from the glove to provide enhanced feel for the hand. Advantageously, the shortened fingers and thumb of the glove extend to between the first and second knuckles of the thumb and index, middle and ring fingers so that the second knuckle of the thumb and the second and third knuckles of those fingers project from the glove. The third knuckle of the little finger is preferably exposed but the glove may extend over the second knuckle of that finger. One embodiment of a tennis glove in accordance with the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front view of the embodiment of the glove; and Figure 2 is a rear view of the glove of Figure 1. The glove 10 has a front face 12 formed of unperforated chamois leather and a rear face 14 formed of Lycra. By "unperforated" is meant no free passages or holes formed through the leather. The front and rear faces are sewn together along side seams 16 which extend also along the thumb 18. For ease of manufacture, inserts 16a of the rear face material are provided between the fingers 20, 22, 24 and 26, which are sewn to the front face along seam 16b and to the rear face. Such inserts are well known in the art of glove manufacture. The front face of the thumb 18 is defined by a thumb portion 28 of thin chamois leather joined to the remainder of the front face 12 by a sewn seam 30, but this is for ease of cutting only and the complete front face 12 may be formed in one piece of chamois leather. The chamois leather is a sheepskin, with the grain layer (containing the hair follicles) removed, which has been subjected to the well known treatment of oil tanning and stretched. Stretching is performed to substantially the maximum extent, that is until the tanned leather will stretch substantially no further and is likely to tear if subjected to further stretching forces. The stretched chamois leather will have a thickness which is subject to the original quality of the skin as well as to the quality of the separation of the overlying grain layer and the underlying flesh layer but which in the described embodiment is about 0.7mm. The thinness and inherent suppleness of the oil tanned chamois leather mean that the level of feel for the player of the racquet in the gloved hand is at least acceptable and may be substantially as great as without the glove. However, like the hand of a regular racquet player, the glove is subject to wear especially in certain areas, namely at the base of the index, middle and ring fingers 20, 22 and 24, at the base of the thumb 18 and on the portion 32 of the palm opposite the thumb which overlies the Palmeris brevis. Due to the thinness of the chamois leather these areas of engagement of the racquet handle would tend to wear through relatively quickly and wear patches 34, 36, 38, 40 and 42 are sewn onto he chamois leather in these areas. In addition, a similar patch 44 is sewn onto the base of the little finger 26 of the glove. The patches are of a rubber-like material on a reinforcing substrate, particularly chlorosulphonated polyethylene polymer which is vulcanized onto a bleached cotton calico substrate with a very low seed content. The thickness of the patch material is between about 0.1mm and about 0.2mm so as to minimise its effect on the feel for the racquet handle. The patches 34, 36, 38 and 44 along the base of the four fingers are of elongate oval shape and extend a short distance up the fingers. However, they are primarily positioned to substantially overlie the first knuckle of each of the fingers where calluses tend to form on the hand of regular players. The patch 40 extends from the ball of the thumb partway along the thumb 18 so as to be in contact with the racquet handle in use whether the thumb extends along the racquet handle or around it. In addition, the patch 40 extends at 46 in a somewhat crescent-shape towards the patch 34 of the index finger 20 so as to extend around the racquet handle in use between the thumb and the index finger. The patches 34 and 40 may join together as may the patches 34, 36, 38 and, if provided, 44. The patch 42 is also somewhat crescent-shaped with a first arm 48 extending up the glove towards the little finger 26 so as to extend partly along the Palmeris brevis in use and a second arm 50 projecting partway across the glove towards the patch 40. The tips of the thumb 18 and fingers 20, 22, 24 and 26 are omitted from the glove so as to ensure maximum feel for the racquet in the tips of the finger and thumb of the hand. The thumb 18 and fingers 20, 22 and 24 of the glove are intended to extend to between the first and second knuckles, while the little finger 26 of the glove is cut slightly longer to match the other fingers and may extend to the second knuckle. At the wrist the glove 10 is provided with an elastic band 52 having opposed ends 54 and 56 which may be separated to remove the glove or put it on and which overlap in use to be closed by a multiple hook and eye arrangement such as of Velcro (trademark). The band 52 may be tightened securely around the wrist of the player. In use, the elasticity of the Lycra rear face 14 of the glove maintains the chamois leather front face taut across the front of the hand, assisted also by the wrist band 52. The Lycra is a breathable material and helps to keep the hand cool as the hand is moved through the air with the racquet. As the glove is used, the wear patches will warm up, partly due to increasing warmth in the hand and partly due to the frictional movement as the racquet handle is moved in the hand for different strokes, and the grip of the rubber-like material of the patches increases due to its softening. As the hand becomes hotter and begins to sweat, the moisture will be absorbed by the front face allowing the grip as well as the feel between the hand and the racquet to be at least maintained. The feel is enhanced by the tips of the fingers and thumb of the hand being exposed. Both the chamois leather of the front face and the Lycra of the rear face are readily washable, so after use the glove may be merely squeezed out to remove the moisture or washed first and then dried. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications which fall within its spirit and scope.

Claims: THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:- 1. A glove comprising a front face of thin chamois leather and a back face comprising breathable material and wherein the front face includes wear enhancement means to improve the wear properties of the thin chamois leather at the base of at least some of the fingers, at the base of the thumb and on the portion adapted to overlie the Palmeris brevis. 2. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the chamois leather is a natural chamois leather. 3. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the chamois leather has a thickness in the range about 0.5mm to 1.5mm, preferably about 0.6mm to about 1.3mm, more preferably about 0.7mm to about 1mm. 4. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the wear enhancement means is in the form of patches. 5. A glove according to claim 4 wherein the patches are sewn to the chamois leather. 6. A glove according to claim 4 wherein each wear enhancement patch comprises a polymeric material bonded to a substrate. 7. A glove according to claim 6 wherein the patch comprises a chlorosulphonated polyethylene polymer which is vulcanized to adhere to a webbing substrate of bleached cotton calico. 8. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the wear enhancement means has a thickness no greater than about 0.3mm. 9. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the wear enhancement means is provided at the base of the index, middle and ring fingers. 10. A glove according to claim 9 wherein the wear enhancement means is provided at the base of the little finger. 11. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the wear enhancement means at the base of the thumb extends partway along the thumb and along the front face towards the index finger. 12. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the wear enhancement means on the portion adapted to overlie the Palmeris brevis is curved and extends across the bottom of the palm generally towards the thumb. 13. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the breathable material of the back face of the glove has a degree of elasticity. 14. A glove according to claim 13 wherein the breathable material is a synthetic knitted or woven fabric. 15. A glove according to claim 14 wherein the fabric is formed from a segmented polyurethane spandex fibre. 16. A glove according to claim 1 wherein an elastic wrist band is provided around the wrist opening. 17. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the tips of the fingers and thumb are omitted. 18. A glove according to claim 1 wherein the front face is substantially unperforated. 19. A glove comprising a front face of thin chamois leather and a back face of breathable material, and wherein the thin chamois leather of the front face is unperforated.

Inventors: BOUCH IAN BRUCE, BOUCH, IAN, BRUCE
Applicants: BOUCH IAN BRUCE, I B DEVELOPMENTS PTY LTD, BOUCH, IAN, BRUCE, I.B. DEVELOPMENTS PTY. LTD.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: A63B61
IPC codes: A41D19, A63B71