Abstract:
A glove for wearing on a user&#39;s hand to grip an object, such as a barbell. The glove has a palm side which carries a plurality of pads that have gripping surfaces. The pads are positioned in spaced-apart relationship and connected together by a flexible connecting layer. The connecting layer is sufficiently thinner than the pads to allow the glove and user&#39;s hand to be comfortably curled about and uncurled from a object while enabling a secure grip. Valleys between the pads serve to recess the connecting layer below the gripping surfaces.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of United States provisional application serial no. 60/299,373 filed Jun. 19, 2001. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    This invention relates in general to gloves for use in sports and other activities in which a person grips an object, and more particularly to gloves for enabling a person to grip and securly hold an object such as a weighlifting barbell, oar or paddle for a boat, baseball bat, skateboard, golf club, javelin, trapeze or gymnastic bar and the like.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    Heretofore, people involved in activities where grip on an object is important, such as weightlifting, baseball, golf, skateboarding, paddling, gymnastics and the like, use gloves to protect their hands and improve traction with the object. Certain types of these prior gloves have palm portions which are designed to improve the grip and prevent slippage. Gloves with palm portions which are padded have been provided, but the padding can make it difficult for the person to easily and comfortably close and maintain a firm grip about the object. In prior gloves which have sufficient padding for protecting the user&#39;s hands, the palm portion tends to bunch up as the hands curl about the object. This undesirably reduces the amount of traction between the glove and object.  
           [0006]    The need has therefore been recognized for a glove for use in gripping objects such as barbells which obviates the foregoing and other limitations and disadvantages of prior art gloves. Despite the various gloves in the prior art, there has heretofore not been provided a suitable and attractive solution to these problems. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a plan view of the palm side of a glove in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section view to an enlarged scale taken along the line  2 - 2  of FIG. 1.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a partially cut-away isometric view of the glove shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4A is a fragmentary, side elevation view showing portions of the glove body with the palm portion uncurled.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4B is a view similar to FIG. 4A showing the palm portion curled about an object.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4A to an enlarged scale showing another embodiment providing a thinner connecting layer with a strengthing scrim or mesh integrated with the connecting layer. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 in the drawing shows generally at  10  a sports glove in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention. Glove  10  is comprised of a glove body  12  having a palm side comprising a palm portion  14  which includes finger stall portion  18  and thumb stall  20 . The glove further comprises a back side  16  (shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B). As desired, an elongated strap  22  (only the proximal end is shown) could be attached at its proximal end to the glove body with suitable releasable attachment means (for example, Velcro® fasteners) on the strap&#39;s distal end. In use for sports such as weightlifting or skateboarding, strap  22  would be tightly wrapped around the athlete&#39;s wrist to protect against hyperflexion of the wrist.  
         [0014]    Glove body  12  is comprised of a connecting layer  23  integral with a plurality of gripping pads  38 , an intermediate layer  25  and an optional inner lining  26 . Intermediate layer  25 , best shown in FIG. 2, is comprised of a suitable strong and flexible material such as leather. This layer  25  has an inside  27  which faces the hand when the glove is worn, and an outside  28  which faces away from the hand. Inner lining  26  is comprised of a thin fabric material, such as polyester, which is secured as by sewing or laminating to the inside of layer  25 . This inner lining is in contact with the user&#39;s hand. It provides comfort for the hand and also serves to wick any moisture away from the skin.  
         [0015]    Finger stall portion  18  comprises four stalls: an index finger stall  29 , middle finger stall  30 , ring finger stall  32  and little finger stall  34 .  
         [0016]    Gripping pads  38  are carried on palm portion  14 , including the finger and thumb stalls, on their sides facing away from back side  16 . The pads are raised above the connecting layer and are formed with substantially flat lands  40  which provide traction or gripping surfaces. In the drawing figures, the pads on the palm portion are labelled  38   a  through  38   d,  those on the finger stalls are labelled  38   e  through  38   h  and those on the thumb stall are labelled  38   i  through  38   k.    
         [0017]    The pads and connecting layer preferably are integrally formed of the same material. To this end, the connecting layer including the pads can be molded together from a suitable elastomer, such as rubber, which is flexible while providing optimum traction contact with the object being gripped. The connecting layer has a thickness which is sufficiently thinner than the pad thicknesses to enable the pads to bend toward and away from one another as the user curls and uncurls, respectively, the glove. For this purpose, a pad thickness in the range of 2 mm to 5 mm and a connecting layer thickness in the range of 0.8 mm to 2 mm can be employed.  
         [0018]    The gripping pads  38  and connecting layer  42  can be molded by suitable processes such as injection or compression molding.  
         [0019]    The palm portion as well as the finger and thumb stalls further comprise a stitching layer  46  which is formed with openings or windows  48  through which the gripping pads project. Layer  46  is also shaped to repose in valleys  44  which are formed between lands  40  of the gripping pads, as shown in FIG. 2.. Individual ones of the openings  48  are commensurate in size and shape with the respective pads which they surround. Windows  48  can advantageously be formed by die cutting. Stitching layer  46  is formed of a suitable flexible material, such as leather, which is sufficiently strong to receive and hold stitches  50  (FIG. 2). Layer  46  enables the stitches to penetrate through the connecting layer and into intermediate layer  25  to securely anchor these components together. This construction also enables sewing below the pad surfaces so that the stitches are protected from objectionable abrasion, such as knurling on the object.  
         [0020]    For purposes of clarity in the explanation, in FIG. 3 portions of intermediate layer  25 , inner inner  26 , pad  38  and stitching layer  46  are show partially cut-away and peeled back from the glove body.  
         [0021]    Gripping pads  38  in combination with connecting layer  42  provide a “living hinge” action. This action is a result of the flexibility of the connecting layer together with the spacing provided by lands  40  and the relative size, shape and positioning of the pads. The living hinge enables the pads to lie spaced-apart when the glove is uncurled as shown in FIG. 4A, and then to pivot together in the manner of a hinge as the glove is curled to the configuration shown in FIG. 4B.  
         [0022]    The gripping pads  38  are sized, shaped and positioned such that each pad essentially is an extension of the part of the human hand which it overlies. Thus, the pads  38   a - 38   d  in the glove palm portion are sized and shaped substantially commensurate with the corresponding fleshier parts of the human palm. The sizing, shaping and positioning also are such that the lands between the pads run along and essentially conform with and mimic the creases of the human palm (which act as hinges for portions of the human palm). The pads  38   e - 38   h  on the finger stalls and the lands which separate them, as well as the pads and lands for the thumb stall, are also sized, shaped and positioned substantially commensurate with the corresponding portions of the human fingers and thumb. As a result, when the glove palm is curled or uncurled then each of the pads, enabled by the glove&#39;s living hinge action, pivot with the underlying curling or uncurling portion of the person&#39;s hand, fingers and thumb.  
         [0023]    When a person wearing one or a pair of the sports glove  10  flexes his or her hands or grips an object, the living hinge action enables the pads to form a relatively large traction area with an almost continuous gripping surface around the object  52 , shown in FIG. 4B as a barbell. This enhances the gripping effect between the glove and object.  
         [0024]    Another embodiment of the invention provides a glove similar to the embodiment of FIGS.  1 - 4  and in which the palm and finger/thumb stalls are pre-curved. The glove can be pre-curved by making the connecting layer  23  on the glove&#39;s back side longer than intermediate layer  25  on the palm side, and then attaching suitable gussets (not shown) which are positioned to urge the glove into a cylindrically curved shape for gripping an object. The gussets could be comprised of pieces of triangular-shaped fabric.  
         [0025]    A further embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5 provides a glove body similar to FIG. 4A but with a more flexible connecting layer  54  which is integral with and holding pads  56  apart. Layer  54  is supported on an intermediate layer  58  and optional inner layer  60 . Connecting layer  54  is made with a thickness thinner than 0.8 mm to provide greater flexibility for enabling the curling action. The connecting layer and pads are strengthened by laminating or embedding or otherwise substantally integrating a suitable scrim or mesh fabric  62  into the elastomer which forms the connecting layer and pads during the molding process.