Abstract:
A sports training glove for wearing on a hand that restricts or substantially discourages the catching of a ball with the palm of the hand and substantially promotes the catching of a ball with the fingers of the hand. The sports training glove has an inside hand portion including a palm portion, and a raised member located substantially on the palm portion of the inside hand portion of the sports training glove and projecting outward from the palm portion.

Description:
[0001]    This U.S. Patent Application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 61/101,242 filed on Sep. 30, 2008 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to gloves. More particularly, certain embodiments of the present invention relate to sports training gloves that help train a user to catch a ball (e.g,. a soccer ball or an American football) using primarily the fingers of the hand. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    There are many different types of sports gloves on the market today. Some sports gloves help facilitate the gripping of a bat or a club, for example. Others help facilitate the gripping of a ball with the palm of the hand as well as with the fingers. Still others help facilitate keeping the wrists straight. Most such sports gloves are meant to be worn during the actual playing of a sporting event (e.g., soccer, American football, golf) during competition, not just during practice or training. 
         [0004]    Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with embodiments of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    An embodiment of the present invention comprises a sports training glove for wearing on a hand that restricts or substantially discourages the catching of a ball with the palm of the hand and substantially promotes the catching of a ball with the fingers of the hand. The sports training glove includes an inside hand portion including a palm portion, and a raised member located substantially on the palm portion of the inside hand portion of the sports glove and projecting outward from the palm portion. The sports training glove may also include a fingers portion, a thumb portion, and a wrist portion. The wrist portion may include at least one wrist strap. The raised member may be of a general shape such as, for example, a hemispherical shape, a cubic shape, and a rectangular shape. The raised member may be solid and made of, for example, plastic or rubber. Alternatively, the raised member may have an inner region and an outer region where the outer region is made of, for example, plastic or rubber and the inner region is filled with a fluid such as, for example, a gel or a gas. The raised member may include a valve that allows a fluid into the inner region. The raised member may be affixed to the palm portion by means of attachment. Such means of attachment may include, for example, sewing, gluing, and hook and loop fastening. Alternatively, the palm portion of the sports training glove may include a palm pocket and the raised member resides and is removable from inside the palm pocket. The sports training glove may be made of one or more materials such as, for example, leather, foam, cloth, plastic, rubber, and a polymer-like material. 
         [0006]    These and other advantages and novel features of the claimed invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1A  illustrates a first example embodiment of an inside hand view of a sports glove for training a user to catch a ball with the fingers of the hand; 
           [0008]      FIG. 1B  illustrates a side view of a portion of the sports glove of  FIG. 1A ; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2A  illustrates a second example embodiment of an inside hand view of a sports glove for training a user to catch a ball with the fingers of the hand; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2B  illustrates a side view of a portion of the sports glove of  FIG. 2A ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example embodiment of a goalkeeper training glove similar to the sports glove of  FIGS. 1A-1B  and showing certain example dimensions; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates another example embodiment of an inside hand view and a side view of a portion of a sports glove similar to the sports glove of  FIGS. 1A-1B , and having a valve for inflation purposes. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]      FIG. 1A  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an inside hand view of a sports glove  100  for training a user to catch a ball with the fingers of the hand.  FIG. 1B  illustrates a side view of a portion of the sports glove  100  of  FIG. 1A . The sports glove  100  includes a fingers portion  110 , a thumb portion  120 , a hand portion  130 , and a wrist portion  140 . The sports glove  100  may be a soccer goalkeeper glove, an American football receiver glove, or any of a number of different types of sports training gloves for sports that involve the catching of a ball. 
         [0014]    An inside portion of the hand portion  130  includes a palm portion  135  having a raised member  150  substantially centered at the palm portion  135 . The raised member  150  may be a pad, for example, providing a raised surface that curves upward away from the palm portion  135  and, therefore, away from the palm of the hand when the glove  100  is worn by a user. The raised member  150  helps to train a user to catch a ball more with his fingers rather than with the palm of his hand because the raised member  150  tends to restrict or substantially discourage the catching of a ball with the palm of the hand. The raised member  150  may also help to improve the strength of a user&#39;s fingers and forearms when training with the glove  100 . In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the raised member may be generally hemispherical in shape, similar to a half of a racquet ball for example, and project outward away from the palm by about one inch at its peak. Other peak projection heights of the raised member  150  are possible as well. 
         [0015]    In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the fingers portion  110 , the thumb portion  120 , and/or the wrist portion  140  may or may not be present. For example, an American football receiver may desire to have his fingers uncovered. A soccer goalkeeper may desire to have her thumb uncovered, for example. 
         [0016]      FIG. 2A  illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of an inside hand view of a sports glove  200  for training a user to catch a ball with the fingers of the hand.  FIG. 2B  illustrates a side view of a portion of the sports glove  200  of  FIG. 2A . The sports glove  200  of  FIGS. 2A-2B  is very similar to the sports glove  100  of  FIGS. 1A-1B  except that the raised member  250  of  FIGS. 2A-2B  is shaped differently than the raised member  150  of  FIGS. 1A-1B . Instead of curving upward away from the palm, the raised member  250  is more rectangular or cubic in shape and projects immediately outward from the palm across the full length and width of the raised member  250 . Other shapes of the raised member are possible as well, in accordance with various alternative embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0017]    In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the raised member  150  or  250  may be hollow or solid. For example, the raised member  150  or  250  may be filled with a gel material that is encapsulated in a plastic outer layer, or the raised member  150  or  250  may be made of the same type of material (e.g., plastic or rubber) throughout. Furthermore, the raised member  150  or  250  may have a resilience similar to that of a racquet ball, for example, such that the raised member gives or compresses slightly when a ball is caught, assuming that the ball makes contact with the raised member  150  or  250  and applies a force thereto. Such resilience may help to prevent the ball from immediately deflecting away from a user&#39;s hand (popping out) before the user fully grasps the ball with his fingers, but still encourages the user to grasp the ball with his fingers without relying on his palms. 
         [0018]    As a further alternative, the raised member may be inflatable, as shown in  FIG. 4 , which illustrates an inside hand view and a side view of a portion of a sports glove  400 . The sports glove  400  may include a valve  410 , used for inflation purposes. For example, the raised member may be capable of being inflated with a fluid (e.g,. air or gas) via a pump device. The pump device may be external to and connectable/unconnectable to the glove, or the pump device may be integrated into the glove. When the raised member is inflated, the glove is used for training. The raised member may subsequently be deflated and used for actual competitive play. 
         [0019]    The fingers portion  110 , the thumb portion  120 , the hand portion  130 , and the wrist portion  140  of the glove  100  or  200  may be made of various materials including leather, foam, cloth, plastic, rubber, or some other polymer-like material. The raised member  150  or  250  may be attached to the palm portion  135  in any of various ways. For example, the raised member  150  or  250  may be sewn, hook and looped (e.g., Velcro®-like attachment means), or glued externally or internally to the palm portion  135 . As an alternative, the raised member  150  or  250  may reside in a pocket internal to the glove  100  or  200  at the palm portion  135  and may be removable, for example. Other attachment or insertion means are possible as well. 
         [0020]    The sports training glove  100  or  200  may also include two wrist straps  141  and  142  at the wrist portion  140 . A user may wrap a first wrist strap  141  around his wrist to a desired tightness and secure the wrist strap  141  via, for example, a Velcro® or Velcro®-like attachment means. Similarly, the user may wrap a second wrist strap  142  around the first wrist strap  141  to a desired tightness and secure the wrist strap  142  in a similar manner. 
         [0021]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a goalkeeper training glove similar to the sports glove of  FIGS. 1A-1B  and showing certain example dimensions. 
         [0022]    While the invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.