Abstract:
The invention relates to figure skating gloves with textured grip-enhancing padding with cut, abrasion, and puncture resistant properties located on certain strategic locations of the glove in an effort to protect the hands of figure skaters from injury.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/011,300 filed on Jun. 12, 2014, entitled “Figure Skating Glove with Flexible Grip-Enhancing Padding and Triangular Protective Plates”, the entirety of which is incorporated herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to figure skating gloves. More specifically, the invention relates to figure skating gloves with textured grip-enhancing padding with cut, abrasion, and puncture resistant properties located on certain strategic locations of the glove in an effort to protect the hands of figure skaters from injury. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    This summary of the invention is provided to introduce concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the claimed subject. 
         [0005]    The present invention provides a protective figure skating glove with a thumb portion and four finger-receiving portions containing grip-enhancing padding discriminately located in areas where the glove is most vulnerable to cuts, abrasions, or puncture that may injure a user during a figure skating performance or practice. The discriminate padding of the glove protects parts of the user&#39;s hand most vulnerable to cuts, abrasions, and punctures without losing the flexibility needed for a user to perform. On the preferred embodiment, the grip-enhancing material will be located on the palm side of the fingers, the portion of the palm side of the glove that would protect the abductor and flexor of the thumb, and the sides of the thumb. Additionally, the preferred embodiment would contain a protective grip-enhancing pad between the index finger and the thumb that would run along the sides of the thumb and index finger. 
         [0006]    This grip-enhancing padding contains textured, triangular protective plates equidistant from each other and arranged in a predetermined pattern. These protective plates assist the user with gripping the blade of a figure skate as well as protect him or her from cuts, abrasions, and punctures that may result when grasping such a sharp object. 
         [0007]    The protective glove may also include internal or external padding woven into the fabric of the glove providing added protection from cuts, abrasions, and punctures while extending the life of the glove. 
         [0008]    The present invention may also provide a figure skating protective glove for a human hand, comprising: a glove having a palm side with a palm area, a back side and forms a thumb sleeve, an index finger sleeve, a middle finger sleeve, a ring finger sleeve, and a pinky finger sleeve; a thumb pad attached to outer surface of the glove on the palm side placed on the thumb sleeve and a portion of the palm area; the thumb pad may also cover all or a portion of the side or back of the thumb sleeve, a thumb protective patch is also attached to the outer surface of the glove on the palm side and sized to cover the thumb pad, wherein the thumb protective patch includes a plurality of textured shaped elements; an index finger pad attached to the outer surface of the glove on the palm side placed on the index finger sleeve, wherein the index finger pad is sized to cover the front portion of the index sleeve, the thumb side portion of the index finger sleeve, and an upper portion of the palm area including an area under the middle finger sleeve; an index finger protective patch is also attached to the outer surface of the glove on the palm side and sized to cover the index finger pad, wherein the index finger protective patch includes a plurality of textured shaped elements; a middle finger patch sized to cover the palm side of the middle finger sleeve, wherein the middle finger protective patch includes a plurality of textured shaped elements; a ring finger patch sized to cover the palm side of the ring finger sleeve, wherein the ring finger protective patch includes a plurality of textured shaped elements; and a pinky finger patch sized to cover the palm side of the pinky finger sleeve, wherein the pinky finger protective patch includes a plurality of textured shaped elements. The thumb and other patches may be made of Styrene Butadiene Rubber. The pads may be foam, gel, or a synthetic material such as Poron® Xrd® made by the Rogers Corporation, and the textured elements may be any shape such as triangles or polygons. 
         [0009]    These and other objects, features, and/or advantages may accrue from various aspects of embodiments of the present invention, as described in more detail below. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail, wherein like reference numerals refer to identical or similar components or steps, with reference to the following figures, wherein: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  provides a perspective view of the palm-side portion of a protective glove with grip-enhancing padding in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  provides a perspective view of the side and thumb crotch surface portions of a protective glove with grip-enhancing padding in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  provides a perspective view of the side and thumb crotch surface portions of a protective glove with grip-enhancing padding in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    Particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the figures. 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the present invention where the palm-side of the protective glove  100  and the exterior portion of the grip-enhancing padding  104  are visible. The glove  100  is made out of a flexible, protective material  102  that allows for maximum mobility while providing the necessary protection of vulnerable areas of a user&#39;s hand. In the preferred embodiment, the protective glove  100  is made by knitting or sewing to form the glove  100  with the protective material  102  and grip enhancing padding  104  on the outer surface. In a preferred embodiment, the protective material  102  is made out of 100% Polyester material. However, alternative embodiments of the present invention may utilize additional material such as cotton, nylon or other textile fibers. 
         [0016]    Grip-enhancing padding  104  discriminately covers certain portions of the palm-side exterior of the protective glove  100 . Specifically, the grip-enhancing padding  104  is located on a portion of the palm  113 , in the crotch  108  between the thumb portion  112  and index finger portion  114 , on the sides of the index finger  114  and the side of the thumb portion  112 , and on the portion of the palm  113  where the thumb abductor and flexor muscles are located. The grip-enhancing padding  104  is comprised of a harder outer protective material that makes the glove cut, abrasion, and puncture resistant in addition to significantly improving the grip properties of the glove to provide the user improved security when grasping the blade of a figure skate. In the preferred embodiment, the outer shell of the grip portion is ideally made of a waterproof material such as SBR-Styrene Butadiene Rubber and the inner portion or padded material may be foam, gel, synthetic, or other material. The grip material or regions may be added or extended to the middle finger sleeve  124 , ring finger sleeve  134 , or pinkie finger sleeve  144 . 
         [0017]    On the surface of the grip-enhancing section  104 , there are multiple textured elements  106 , such as triangular shaped textured elements, that protrude from the grip enhancing section  104 . These textured elements  106 , such as triangular shared plates, may be equidistance from each other and arranged in a predetermined pattern that substantially improves the cut, abrasion, and puncture resistance properties of the glove  100  without limiting the glove&#39;s flexibility. The flexibility of the glove while protecting the thumb, fingers, and crotch of the hand is very important for figure skaters as they grab on to the sharp blade of their figure skates repeatedly during their performance or practice routines. Furthermore, the textured elements  106  have grip-enhancing properties that allow the user to securely and safely grasp the figure skating blade. These textured elements  106  can vary in size, color, and material. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the textured elements  106  are equilateral triangles. The triangles may be any size but are ideally sized from ⅛ to ¼ inches and made with a SBR-Styrene Butadiene Rubber material. 
         [0018]    The gaps between the triangular protective plates  106  may be any size. However, they are ideally sized between 1/32 and 1/16 inches. The small size of the gaps allows for the glove and grip-enhancing padding to flex as needed while substantially improving the protective properties of the glove. 
         [0019]    The pattern of the triangular protective plates  106  is that of equilateral triangles alternating where one triangle is side down and the next triangle is corner down, and so on and so forth. This pattern repeats until the surface of the grip-enhancing padding  104  is entirely covered. 
         [0020]      FIG. 2  depicts a side back view of the protective glove  100  where the sides of the fingers and the crotch  108  between the thumb  112  and index finger  114  are visible. The grip-enhancing padding  104  consisting of the triangular protective plates  106  are positioned along the sides of the thumb  112  and index finger  114  as well in the crotch  108  between the thumb and index fingers because these areas are vulnerable to cuts, abrasions, and punctures as well as ordinary wear and tear that may occur during a figure skating routine. In additional embodiments of the present invention, the protective plates  106  may be rectangular, octagonal or even circular dots. Furthermore, the pattern can vary from an organized pattern to a random pattern. 
         [0021]    As best seen in  FIG. 3 , the protective glove  100  also includes internal padding  301 ,  303  woven or stitched onto or into the glove  100  or fabric  102  of the glove to provide added protection from cuts, abrasions, and punctures while extending the life of the glove. The padding  301 ,  303  is ideally located in the areas where the user or skater has to catch the blade. The ideal areas for padding include the thumb pad  301  located on the thumb sleeve  112  running along the thumb into the thumb palm area  113  ( FIG. 1 ) and the index finger pad  303  located on the front and side  307  of the index finger sleeve  114  with the pad  303  running into the upper palm area  113 . The pad  305  may include a lower base portion  305  in the upper palm area  113  which extends below the middle finger sleeve  124 . The padding is ideally stitched into the glove but may be glued, adhered, or fastened into various regions. Such fastening may be hook and loop (i.e. Velcro) or inserted into one or more pockets. The padding  301 ,  303  may be foam, gel padding, or any other material suitable for padding or protecting the hand or regions of the hand. 
         [0022]    It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes or modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the broad inventive concepts of the invention. It is understood therefore that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment which is described, but is intended to cover all modifications and changes within the scope and spirit of the invention.