GLOVE

Abstract: A sports glove e.g. for hockey, comprises a protective back element (12) of shock absorbing material and a retention element (20), which includes a number of loop or cap portions (26, 28, 30 and 32) which securely retain the back element (12) in a position protecting the back of the hand and the knuckles, whilst leaving a substantial proportion of the palm area of the hand, and optionally the inner surfaces of the proximal phalanges of the fingers, uncovered.

Description: Glove This invention relates to a glove and in particular, but not exclusively, to a protective glove for use in stick, bat or racquet sports such as hockey, lacrosse, cricket, squash, etc. Existing sports gloves typically take the form of a conventional, fingered glove, with padding on the back of the hand to prevent or reduce the possibility of damage to hand when struck by the ball or the playing stick, bat or racquet . As a professional sports coach, I have determined that in almost all sports which involve a hand-held stick, bat or racquet, there are a number of problems encountered by players who do not wear gloves and a wholly different set of problems encountered by those who do wear conventional gloves . The advantages of wearing a glove are that the gloves provide protection against the weather, cutting down the effects of wind and rain, keeping the hands warm and thus improving player performance in manipulating the stick, bat or racquet in use. As mentioned above the glove also provides protection against impact from the ball, the opponent's bat, stick or racquet, or the playing surfaces which include the floor and, in some cases, the walls. Furthermore, a glove can provide protection against abrasion, which can be a problem, particularly with the artificial surfaces now used in many sports. The major disadvantage of wearing a glove is that it provides a barrier between the player ' s natural sense of touch and feel and the handle of the implement in use. In many sports of this nature, there is some element of twisting and rotating the handle of the bat, stick or racquet, to facilitate different moves in the process of play. A player likes to have sensitive tactile feedback as he plays and the interference created by a conventional sports glove in terms of reducing tactile feedback and the hindrance that the fabric of the glove gives to dextrous manipulation of the handle, means that the player may often decide to play with cold and battered hands than with hands which are less dextrous than they should be. Accordingly, I have designed a glove in which a substantial part of the palm and the inner surfaces of the fingers are left uncovered by the glove thereby to preserve a substantial amount of tactile feedback through the palm and exposed portions of the inner surfaces of the fingers. Accordingly, in one aspect this invention provides a glove comprising : - a flexible protective back element shaped to cover at least a major portion of the back of the hand of a user, and respective spaced retention means for co-operating with the wrist, and two or more of the thumb and fingers, for retaining said flexible protection back element to cover a major portion of the back of the hand during opening and closing of the hand, whereby a substantial proportion of the palm area is left uncovered by said glove. Preferably also a substantial proportion of the inner surfaces of the proximal phalanges of the fingers is left uncovered by the glove. Additionally, other areas of the fingers may be left uncovered as required for tactile feedback, provided there is sufficient retention of the protective back element. The retention means may take many forms dependent on the nature and extent of the tactile feedback required, provided they fulfil the basic function of retaining the protective back element in a protective position relative to the back of the hand. Thus the retention means may comprise one or more of : - a loop or cap portion for receiving in use a distal portion of the thumb; a loop portion for passing in use around a lower portion of the proximal phalange region of the thumb; a loop portion for receiving in use a middle portion of the first and/or second fingers of the user, and a cap portion for receiving in use a distal portion of the first and/or second finger of the user. In addition to providing a retaining function, the retention means may also provide useful frictional characteristics for enhancing the grip. Where provided on the first and/or second fingers, the loop or cap portions may extend to cover at least the distal phalanges . Alternatively, the loops or cap portions may extend to cover both the distal and middle phalanges . Preferably, the retention means include friction increasing means for enhancing said grip. The friction increasing means may comprise a substrate of cotton or other flexible sheet material carrying on its outer surface a friction-enhancing coating or pattern. Preferably, said wrist retention means is adjustable. This may take the form of a releasable strap including a two part hooked and looped fastening such as Velcro ® or the like. Preferably, said protective back element comprises a metacarpal region and, extending therefrom, a thumb portion, a first finger portion, and one or more portions covering the second, third, and fourth fingers, with each portion being independently flexible. Preferably, at least the third and fourth fingers are covered by a common back portion and this preferably covers the back of the second, third and fourth fingers. In this context, it should be noted that the third and fourth, or as the case may be second, third and fourth fingers are usually required to be protected when the hand is in a normal gripping position around the handle of the stick, bat or racquet, rather than when the hand is held with the fingers straight out. Because of the way in which the fingers tend to flex when in a grip, the protective back element may be angularly offset . Preferably, the third and/or fourth fingers are left substantially wholly uncovered on their inner surfaces, in use. Preferably the whole of the palm is left substantially uncovered in use. Preferably the back element is made of a continuous sheet of protective, shock-absorbing material. Conveniently, the shock-absorbing material comprises Neoprene or another natural or synthetic rubber or foam material . Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description. The invention may be performed in various ways and, by way of example only, an embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view on the inner (palm) side of a glove of this invention, with the glove laid flat ; Figure 2 is a view of the glove of Figure 1 but with the glove flattened and the hooked and looped fastening opened out flat; Figure 3 is a view of the human hand indicating the different phalanges of the fingers and thumb, and the metacarpal region; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a hand in a relaxed, open palm position with the glove fitted, and Figure 5 is a perspective view of the hand in a gripping position with the glove fitted. The glove 10 comprises a protective back element 12 made of thick, flexible, shock-absorbing neoprene rubber material (with a nylon anti-scuff outer surface) and defining a metacarpal region 14, a thumb region 16, a first finger region 18, and a common second, third and fourth finger region 19. The shape of the protective back element 12 is shaped to ensure that, in use, when the user grips a handle of a stick, bat or racquet with the second, third and fourth fingers wrapped around in the usual manner, the protective back element provides cover for the parts of the fingers that would otherwise be exposed. For this reason, the common region 19 that covers the second to fourth fingers is cranked as shown in the drawing. The glove 10 is retained in use in this embodiment by a woven cotton or cotton-like insert 20 which has an adjustable elasticated wrist strap 22 with a tab 24 which may be secured in use at the required position by means of respective hooked and looped patches 25 and 27. A loop 26 passes around the lower part of the proximal phalange of the thumb, a thumb cap portion 28 receives the distal portion of the thumb, a first finger cap portion 30 receives the middle and distal phalanges of the first finger, and a second finger cap portion 32 receives the middle and distal phalanges of the second finger. It should be noted however that the cap portions may be cut away so that they receive only the distal phalanges or they may comprise one or more loops which pass around the fingers to retain the backing element so that it is not significantly displaced on the back of the hand during play. In the glove described above, the back element 12 provides substantial protection against knocks and grazes whilst leaving a substantial proportion of the palm and inner surfaces of the fingers free for tactile feedback. In addition, those portions of the fingers which predominate during twisting or gripping actions are provided with enhanced grip by means of the finger or capped portions. In order to enhance the grip characteristics, the cap portions may be made of a suitably patterned or coated frictional material . A suitable material is a sheet cotton material or the like provided with a pattern of dots or pimples of rubber material which provide enhanced grip whilst still allowing the fabric to "breathe". The retention means (22-32) may each be made adjustable to suit hands of different shapes and sizes. Referring to Figure 3 , there is shown the palm side of a typical hand to illustrate the terminology employed. The palm area of the hand is also referred to as the metacarpal region 40. Each of the fingers comprises proximal, middle and distal phalanges 42, 44 and 46 respectively. The thumb comprises proximal and distal phalanges 48 and 50. The fingers are referred to as first, second, third and fourth fingers, 52, 54 56 and 58 respectively. In Figure 1 the portion (19) of the protective back element which protects the second, third and fourth fingers, and the finger cap portion (32) for the second finger appear cranked; this is because this portion of the glove is shown flat. However, in use, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the portion 19 substantially completely overlies the second, third and fourth fingers when they are curled to grip the handle of a stick.

Claims: Claims 1. A glove comprising: - a flexible protective back element shaped to cover at least a major portion of the back of the hand of a user, and respective spaced retention means for co-operating with the wrist, and two or more of the thumb and fingers, for retaining said flexible protective back element to cover a major portion of the back of the hand in use, whereby a substantial proportion of the palm area is left uncovered by said glove . 2. A glove according to Claim 1, wherein a substantial proportion of the inner surfaces of the proximal phalanges of the fingers is left uncovered by the glove. 3. A glove according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the retention means comprises one or more of : - a loop or cap portion for receiving in use a distal portion of the thumb; a loop portion for passing in use around a lower portion of the proximal phalange region of the thumb; a loop portion for receiving in use a middle portion of the first and/or second fingers of the user, and a cap portion for receiving in use a distal portion of the first and/or second finger of the user. 4. A glove according to Claim 3, wherein the loop or cap portions extend to cover at least the distal phalanges . 5. A glove according to Claim 3 , wherein the loop or cap portions extend to cover both the distal and middle phalanges . 6. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein the retention means includes friction increasing means for enhancing said grip. 7. A glove according to Claim 6, wherein the friction increasing means comprises a substrate of cotton or other flexible sheet material carrying on its outer surface a friction-enhancing coating or pattern. 8. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein said wrist retention means is adjustable. 9. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein said protective back element comprises a metacarpal region and, extending therefrom, a thumb portion, a first finger portion, and one or more portions covering the second, third, and fourth fingers, with each portion being independently flexible . 10. A glove according to Claim 9, wherein at least the third and fourth fingers are covered by a common back portion. 11. A glove according to Claim 10, wherein said common back portion covers the back of the second, third and fourth fingers. 12. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein the third and/or fourth fingers are left substantially wholly uncovered on their inner surfaces, in use. 13. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein the whole of the palm is left substantially uncovered in use. 14. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein the back element is made of a sheet of protective, shock-absorbing material. 15. A glove according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein the back element is made of a natural or synthetic rubber or foam material .

Inventors: HOWGATE IAN ROBERT MALCOLM, HOWGATE, IAN, ROBERT, MALCOLM
Applicants: HOWGATE IAN ROBERT MALCOLM, HOWGATE, IAN, ROBERT, MALCOLM
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A41D19
IPC codes: A63B71