Abstract:
A billiard glove and a method of forming a billiard glove including a first finger sheath, wherein the first finger sheath is configured to cover at least a portion of a first finger, a second finger sheath, wherein the second finger sheath is configured to cover at least a portion of a second finger; and a strip having a first portion and a second portion, wherein said first portion is affixed to the first finger sheath and the second portion is attached to the second finger sheath.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing dates of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/008,898 filed on Dec. 22, 2007, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/011,830 filed on Jan. 22, 2008, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to billiard gloves and more specifically, to billiard gloves that cover at least a portion of a player&#39;s thumb, forefinger, and optionally additional fingers. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Billiard games or cue sports may utilize a cue, such as a one or two piece elongated stick, which may be tapered, to move objects, such as billiard balls around a table. During the game, one end of the cue may be slid through the fingers of one hand, which may be used to guide the cue, by the force of the second hand, pushing the other end of the cue. The cue may then strike a ball or other object on the table. 
     However, during play, the cue stick may catch or become stuck against the fingers of the guiding hand, which may cause an uneven stroke and/or errors in a shot. This may happen due to, for example, a person&#39;s skin texture or sweat on the hand. A number of gloves are available; however, many may cover the palm and other areas of the hand, preventing exposure of those portions of the hand to the environment. Exposure may aid in breathability or evaporation of sweat and feeling the table around the hand to understand the properties of the table, such as the texture of the baise. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a billiard device that may include a first finger sheath, wherein the first finger sheath is configured to cover at least a portion of a first finger, a second finger sheath, wherein the second finger sheath is configured to cover at least a portion of a second finger, and a strip having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion is affixed to the first finger sheath and the second portion is attached to the second finger sheath. 
     Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a billiard glove. The glove may include a first tapered finger sheath, wherein said first finger sheath may be configured to cover at least a portion of a thumb and expose the tip of said thumb and a second tapered finger sheath, wherein the second finger sheath is configured to cover at least a portion of a forefinger and expose the tip of said forefinger. In addition the sheaths each include a first edge and a second edge opposing the first edge, wherein the edges are folded edges and the sheaths include an external fabric layer and an internal foam layer. In addition, a strip may be attached to the first and second sheaths. 
     A further aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method of forming a billiard glove. The method may include cutting at least two finger sheath pieces and a strip piece from a material, hemming the pieces at opposing edges, affixing the strip piece to the sheath pieces, and forming the sheath pieces into tubular sheaths. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above-mentioned and other features of this disclosure, and the manner of attaining them, may become more apparent and better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments described herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a front perspective view of an example of a glove in the environment of a hand; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a back perspective view of the glove of  FIG. 1  in the environment of a hand; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a first side view of the glove of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a second side view of the glove of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a top view of an example of the glove of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a bottom view of an example of the glove of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an example of a pattern from which a glove may be formed; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a pool cue positioned within a hand including an example of a glove thereon and 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a top view of an example of a glove. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It may be understood that the disclosure herein may not be not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. 
       FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  illustrate an example of a glove  10  for use in playing various games, such as carom billiards, pocket billiards (i.e., pool), snooker or other cue type sports. The  20  glove  10  may include a first finger sheath  12  that may cover at least a portion of a first finger, such as a thumb  14 , a second finger sheath  16  that may cover at least a portion of a second finger, such as a forefinger  18  and optionally, a third finger sheath  20  that may cover at least a portion of a third finger, such as a middle finger  22 , as well as other optional finger sheaths  29  that may cover additional fingers  24  and  26 . The finger sheaths may leave a portion of the finger  25  exposed at the base of a finger  28  and/or at the tip of the finger  30 . The first finger sheath may leave a portion of the first finger exposed at the base of the first finger 14′ and/ or at the tip of the first finger 14″. The second finger sheath may leave a portion of the second finger exposed at the base of the second finger 18′ and/ or at the tip of the second finger 18″. 
     In one example, the glove may include or may be limited to finger sheaths to cover at least a portion of the thumb and forefinger. In another example, the glove may include or may be limited to finger sheaths to cover at least a portion of the forefinger and the middle finger. In another example, the glove may include or may be limited to finger sheaths to cover at least a portion of the thumb, the forefinger and the middle finger. In addition, it may be appreciated that while the glove is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2  as being positioned on the left hand, it may be positioned on the right hand as well. 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 3-6 , the various finger sheaths  12 ,  16 ,  20 , etc., may be relatively tubular in shape defining an internal passage to accommodate a finger. In addition, each sheath in a glove system may be a number of diameters and/or a number of lengths. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , a sheath may exhibit a diameter D 1  of 1 mm or greater, such as in the range of 1 mm to 100 mm, including all values and increments therein. In addition, a sheath may exhibit a length L sheath  of 10 mm to 100 mm, including all values and increments therein. In another example, the finger sheaths may be tapered, wherein one portion of the finger sheath  32  may have a first diameter D 2  greater than a second diameter D 3  of another portion  34  of the sheath, along at least a portion of the length of the sheath L sheath . Each sheath in a glove system may have a different taper. 
     The gloves may also include a strip  40  between a first finger sheath  12 , provided around a first finger, and a second finger sheath  16 , provided around a second finger. An additional strip  41  may also be provided between additional finger sheaths such as between a third finger sheath  20  and the second finger sheath  16  as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . The strip may be of any geometry, for example, the strip may be relatively rectangular, square, triangular, etc. In one example, the strip may have a length  L   strip  of 10 mm or greater, including all values and increments in the range of 10 mm to 150 mm. The strip may also have a width L width  of 1 mm to 50 mm, including all values and increments therein. The strip  40  may be attached to the ends of the finger sheaths  43   45  at various attachment points  42  and  44 , which may be located at or near either end (opposing ends  47 ,  49 ) of the strip. 
     The sheaths may be formed of one or more materials provided in one or more layers. For example, the individual layers may include one or more materials. The material may include a woven, knit or non-woven fabric, film or foam. Fabric may include, for example, nylon, polyester, acrylic, rayon, olefins such as polypropylene and/or combinations thereof. The fabric may allow for sliding engagement with a cue stick. In addition, the fabric may be relatively flexible and/or extensible allowing for the fabric to be in tension or exhibit a hoop stress when positioned on the hand. Foam or film may include, for example, polyurethane, silicone, latex, polyvinyl chloride, polyolefin including polyethylene, and/or combinations thereof. The foam may include open or closed cell foam. Open cell foam may be understood as foam wherein 40% or more of the cells interconnect or include openings in the cell walls providing communication between the cells. Closed cell foam may be understood as foam wherein less than 40% of the cells interconnect or include openings in the cell walls. In other words, at least a portion the cell walls remain intact and the cells remain discrete. The foam may also be relatively compressible. The foam may exhibit a density of 0.1 kg/cubic meter to 20 kg/cubic meter, including all values and increments therein. In addition, the foam may absorb or retain moisture and/or engage the finger in a relatively non-sliding manner. 
     In one example, the glove may include at least two layers of material. A first layer may include a fabric and a second layer may include foam. An arrangement may be provided, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , where the fabric may be positioned on the exterior surfaces  46  of the glove and the foam is positioned on the interior surfaces  48  of the glove, wherein the fabric is configured to engage a cue stick in a sliding manner, where the coefficient of friction between the cue stick and the fabric is relatively low, the foam is configured to engage the hand/fingers in a relatively non-sliding manner, wherein the coefficient is relatively high enough to prevent slippage. In another example, the glove may include at least two layers of fabric. In a further example, the glove may include at least two layers of foam and one layer of fabric. It may be appreciated that numerous variations of the layers and/or materials may be provided in the gloves. It may also be appreciated that the various finger sheaths and/or the strip may be formed of different layers and/or materials. 
     The various layers may be fixed together in a continuous manner, i.e., over the entire mating surfaces of the layers, or in a discontinuous manner, i.e., over discrete portions of the mating surfaces of the layers. In one example, the layers may be fixed together by an adhesive. The adhesive may be provided as a fabric, a coating, a film, a foam, etc. or the adhesive may be provided in or integral in the fabric or foam. In another example, the layers may be fixed together by mechanical interlocking, such as needlepunching, hydroentangling, sewing, etc. Examples of fabric may include headliner fabric available from JOANN FABRIC AND CRAFT STORES or DETROIT BODYWORKS. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the sheath material may have a total thickness t of 0.1 mm to 30 mm, including all values and increments therein. In one example, the first layer may have a first thickness that is 10% to 95% of the total thickness of the sheath material, including all values and increments therein, and at least one additional layer having a thickness in the range of 5% to 90% of the total thickness of the sheath, including all values and increments therein. In addition, it may be appreciated that each sheath may have the same or a different thickness. For example, a first sheath  20  may have a first thickness t 1  and a second sheath  16  may have a second thickness t 2 , wherein the first and second thicknesses may differ. 
     The individual finger sheaths may be formed from sheets of material that may be cut, hemmed and sewn or otherwise affixed into tubular shapes as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . For example, the sheaths may be sewn together by hand or machine from a number of pieces. Seams  52 ,  54  and  56  may be present along the length of the sheaths L sheaths . It may be appreciated that the seams may not necessarily be straight as depicted but may be formed in a number of manners. Various types of sewing needles maybe utilized as well, for example needles having a size of 8 to 19, including any size therebetween. 
     The individual finger sheaths may be formed from sheets of material that may be cut, hemmed and sewn or otherwise affixed into tubular shapes as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . For example, the sheaths may be sewn together by hand or machine from a number of pieces. Seams  52 ,  54  and  56  may be present along the length and one side of the sheaths L sheaths . It may be appreciated that the seams may not necessarily be straight as depicted but may be formed in a number of manners. Various types of sewing needles maybe utilized as well, for example needles having a size of 8 to 19, including any size therebetween. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 6 , the pieces may have hems  71 ,  72 ,  73 ,  74 ,  75 ,  76  provided on opposing ends  78 ,  80 ,  82 ,  84  each sheath, which may be folded over and secured to, for example, the interior surface  48  of the sheaths. The folded portion may have a thickness greater than that of the unfolded portion of the sheath. It may be appreciated that the hem may prevent unraveling or degradation of the sheath material or provide additional stability to the sheath material as the glove is being pulled on or removed. The hemming may also be provided with a sufficient thickness to form a lip and catch the cue, preventing the cue from sliding towards the finger tips and out from between the fingers. 
     In a further example, the individual sheaths may include a closure device, such that a sheath may be formed around the finger and secured with the closure. The closure may include hook and loop fasteners, laces, snaps, and hook and eye fasteners, positioned on or proximate to opposing edges of the sheaths. 
     In another embodiment, the individual finger sheaths may be formed into tubes, such as by circular knitting. The strip may also be cut from sheets and/or hemmed prior to being affixed to the finger sheaths. The strip may be affixed to the finger sheets by, for example, sewing or adhesives. In such a manner, the tubes may be seamless. 
     Accordingly, it may be appreciated that, as illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the pool cue  100  may be positioned through the thumb  14  and forefinger  18  in sliding engagement with either or both fingers. In another example, the pool cue may be positioned or threaded through the thumb, forefinger and middle finger, wherein the cue may rest on the thumb and middle finger and may be retained by the forefinger in a sliding manner. In addition, the strip may also provide an additional support surface for sliding engagement with the pool cue. 
     The foregoing description of several methods and embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the claims to the precise steps and/or forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.