Patent Publication Number: US-2011067165-A1

Title: Protective athletic glove

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This document claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/272,435, entitled “Protective Athletic Glove,” filed Sep. 24, 2009, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     A protective athletic glove and method for manufacturing the same are provided. More particularly, a protective athletic glove that includes overlapping protective elements that increase flexibility and movement for the wearer is provided. 
     Protective athletic gloves are known for use in contact sports such as lacrosse, and hockey. The gloves are designed to protect a wearer of the gloves from injury due to equipment impact (e.g., lacrosse sticks, hockey sticks, balls, pucks, skates, etc.), impacts between participants (e.g., stick checks, body checks, etc.), impacts with the playing surface (falls, dives, knock-downs, etc.), or impacts from objects on and around the playing surface (e.g., lacrosse goals, hockey goals, boards, etc.). Also, the gloves can offer protection against blistering and abrasions to a wearer&#39;s hands. 
     However, conventional protective athletic gloves are fairly rigid in design sacrificing flexibility for protective function.  FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate problems associated with protection elements used in conventional protective athletic gloves. Typically, to create a glove with padding sewn to it for either lacrosse or hockey, a manufacturing process starts within an internal fabric pattern that looks like a giant hand. Protective elements are then sewn to the internal lining. As illustrated in  FIG. 3   a , conventional protective elements such as protective element  20  illustrated in  FIG. 3   a  include a stitch line  21  that extends all the way around the protective element and secures the protective element to an inner layer material. In order to promote flexibility, multiple protective elements  20  are secured to a lining  30 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3   b . However, as illustrated in  FIG. 3   c , when such a protective athletic glove undergoes deformation due to normal use by a wearer, adjacent blocks  20  tend to come into contact and arrest further motion as illustrated at element  60  in  FIG. 3   c . 
     In conventional gloves, the wrist area is one major flex point on the hand that is restricted by such a construction. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , conventional glove construction includes attaching a cuff piece  50 , designed to protect the lower arm, to the body of a glove that includes padded fingers, a padded metacarpal portion (back of the hand), a padded wrist portion and a palmar portion. Due to the need for flexion at the wrist, conventional gloves tend to leave a larger gap between the cuff piece  50  and the adjacent protective element  20  on the wrist portion of the glove body. This space is then covered with a wrist guard  40 . 
     However, the wrist guard  40  hinders the flexion and extension of conventional gloves as well as the radial and ulnar deviation. Along with the wrist guard  40 , conventional glove construction of the body of the glove creates non-moving flat spots because the protective elements  20  are sewn down on all sides of an individual block to an internal lining material, as illustrated in  FIG. 3   a . As noted above,  FIG. 3   c  illustrates that this sewing and construction create pinch and stopping points  60  in the protective elements  20 . As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , known designs create multiple stop locations  60  that prevent further dorsiflexion. 
     Conventionally, the only way to alleviate these stopping points was to create further gaps in the protective elements or use multiple protective elements. Although using more protective elements can make a glove more flexible, such a construction increases the cost of the glove due to the increased amount of stitching and construction that is required. Moreover, even with additional protective elements and gaps between them to allow for flexibility, there is a limitation to how far adjacent protective elements can move relative to each other and still maintain adequate protection of a player. 
     As such, there is a need in the art for a protective function while improving the ability of the wearer to flex the hands and wrists in a natural manner. 
     SUMMARY OF EXEMPLARY ASPECTS OF THE ADVANCEMENTS 
     In one aspect, a protective glove includes a hand receiving portion that includes a metacarpal portion and a wrist portion. The hand receiving portion includes a dorsal side and a palm side. The glove further includes a plurality of protective elements attached to the dorsal side of the hand receiving portion. The plurality of protective elements include a first protective element that overlaps a second protective element. The first protective element includes a distal end that is attached to the dorsal side of the hand receiving portion and a proximal end that extends freely over the second protective element. 
     In a further aspect, a protective glove includes a hand receiving portion that includes a plurality of finger portions, a thumb portion, a metacarpal portion and a wrist portion. The hand receiving portion includes a dorsal side and a palm side. The dorsal side of the hand receiving portion includes an inner liner that partially defines an interior space of the hand receiving portion. The glove further includes a plurality of protective elements attached to an exterior surface of the inner liner. The plurality of protective elements include a first protective element that is positioned distally with respect to a second protective element of the plurality of protective elements. The first protective element extends from a distal end on a distal side of the first protective element to a free end on a proximal side of the first protective element. The distal end is secured to the inner liner, the free end is not secured to the inner liner and the first and second protective elements are positioned such that the free end of the first protective element is proximal of a distal end of the second protective element and the first protective element extends over a portion of the second protective element. The glove further includes a lower forearm portion attached to the hand receiving portion. 
     In still a further aspect, a method for manufacturing a protective glove includes providing a hand receiving portion including a plurality of finger portions, a thumb portion, a metacarpal portion and a wrist portion. The hand receiving portion includes a dorsal side and a palm side. The dorsal side of the hand receiving portion includes a liner. A lower forearm portion is attached to a proximal end of the wrist portion of the hand receiving portion. A plurality of protective elements are attached to an exterior surface of the liner after attaching the lower forearm portion to the proximal end of the wrist portion. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1   a  illustrates a range of flexion and extension of a human hand; 
         FIG. 1   b  illustrates a human hand in dorsiflexion; 
         FIG. 1   c  illustrates a human hand in palmar flexion; 
         FIG. 2   a  illustrates a range of deviation of a human hand; 
         FIG. 2   b  illustrates a human hand with a thumb in a neutral position; 
         FIG. 2   c  illustrates a human hand with a thumb in an abduction position; 
         FIG. 2   d  illustrates a human hand with a thumb in an opposition position; 
         FIG. 2   e  illustrates a range of motion of a human finger; 
         FIG. 3   a  illustrates a conventional padding element; 
         FIG. 3   b  illustrates two conventional padding elements; 
         FIG. 3   c  illustrates the conventional padding elements of  FIG. 3   b  undergoing flexion; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates conventional padding configurations; 
         FIG. 5   a  illustrate an exemplary protective padding element according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5   b  illustrates two exemplary protective padding element according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5   c  illustrates the exemplary protective padding elements of  FIG. 5   b  undergoing flexion; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates protective padding according to one exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7   a  illustrates a protective athletic glove in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7   b  illustrates a cross-sectional view along line A-A from  FIG. 7   a;    
         FIG. 8   a  illustrates a protective glove in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8   b  illustrates a cross-sectional view from along line B-B in  FIG. 8   a;    
         FIG. 8   c  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C in  FIG. 8   a;    
         FIG. 8   d  illustrates a cross-sectional view of a finger portion of a protective glove in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9   a  illustrates a protective glove in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9   b  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D of  FIG. 9   a;    
         FIG. 9   c  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line E-E in  FIG. 9   a;    
         FIG. 9   d  illustrates an exemplary cross-section of an impact gel piece; 
         FIG. 10   a  is a first perspective view of a protective athletic glove in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10   b  is a second perspective view of a protective athletic glove in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10   c  is a third perspective view of a protective athletic glove in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11   a  illustrates a partial cut-away view of a protective element; 
         FIG. 11   b  illustrates a partial cut-away view of another protective element; 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a back view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 13  illustrates a front view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 14  illustrates a top right elevation view of an exemplary of a protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 15  illustrates a top view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 16  illustrates a bottom view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 17  illustrates a side view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 18  illustrates a top left elevation view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 19  illustrates a bottom left elevation view of an exemplary protective athletic glove; 
         FIG. 20   a  illustrates a first stage of a method for manufacturing a protective athletic glove in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 20   b  illustrates a second stage of a method for manufacturing a protective athletic glove in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention; 
         FIG. 20   c  illustrates a third stage of a method for manufacturing a protective athletic glove in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 20   d  illustrates a fourth stage of a method for manufacturing a protective athletic glove in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Certain terminology used in the following description is for convenience only and is not limiting. The phrase “most proximal end” is generally used to describe where an appendage (such as the hand) joins the body, and the phrase “most distal end” is used for the point furthest from the point of attachment to the body. Connecting the most proximal end and the most distal end define a proximo-distal axis. The terms “proximal” and “distal” are also used herein as relative terms to indicate where structures lie along the proximo-distal axis for a given structure. 
     Gloves are designed to provide substantial protection to the participant&#39;s fingers, hands, wrists, and lower forearms while maintaining as much flexibility within the glove as possible. Flexibility is desired by the wearer so as to impart freedom of movement to the fingers, hand, wrists and lower forearms needed to properly participate in a sport while protection is required to reduce injury to the same. 
     For example, as best illustrated in  FIGS. 1   a  to  1   c,  under ideal conditions, a participant&#39;s hand  10  will be able to undergo at least 65 degrees of dorsiflexion and at least 70 degrees of palmar flexion. Likewise, as illustrated in  FIG. 2   a , a user&#39;s hand would ideally be able to travel through at least 15 degrees of radial deviation and at least 30 degrees of ulnar deviation. As illustrated in  FIGS. 2   b  to  2   d , a participant&#39;s thumb will be able to travel through at least 40 degrees from an abduction position to an opposition position. Likewise,  FIG. 2   e  illustrates an ideal range of motion for a participant&#39;s finger  12 . 
     Thus, lacrosse players and hockey players typically need to be able to flex in all directions freely in order to grip equipment and engage in necessary wrist action while still maintaining an acceptable level of protection. However, as discussed above, conventional glove design limits the amount of dorsiflexion that is available to a player when they are manipulating a stick in either lacrosse or hockey. Notably, conventional hockey gloves have limited flexion and extension as well as difficult radial and ulnar deviation, and typical lacrosse gloves include significant limitations on dorsiflexion. 
     The solutions presented herein can be incorporated into a protective athletic glove for use while playing hockey, for use while playing lacrosse, or for use while engaging in any other sport that requires the player to be able to flex in all directions freely in order to grip equipment and engage in necessary wrist action. 
       FIGS. 5   a  to  5   c  illustrate exemplary protective elements in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention. In particular, the protective element  120  is fastened to an inner liner, but is not secured on all sides to allow for movement and flexibility. As best illustrated in  FIG. 5   b , multiple protection elements  120  are fastened to a liner  30  along a single edge  121 . Adjacent elements  120  are then positioned so as to overlap such that a free edge of a first element  120  extends over a second element  120 . As can be seen in  FIG. 5   b , this construction provides excellent protection to a player as there is no exposed gap between adjacent elements. In addition, as illustrated in  FIG. 5   c , during movement of the protective glove, adjacent protective elements can slide over each other allowing more flexion and extension. 
     For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , a conventional design incorporating a wrist guard is replaced with a new design that incorporates protective elements  20 , protective elements  120 , and a floating cuff  150 . As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , the elements  120  are able to slide over each other at points  160 , allowing for a greater degree of dorsiflexion when compared with the conventional case illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     I. Glove Construction 
     The construction of an exemplary protective athletic glove in accordance with the above-noted features will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 7-10  and  12 - 19 . 
     Turning first to  FIG. 7   a , a protective athletic glove  200  includes a hand receiving portion  202  and a lower forearm portion  204 . The lower forearm portion  204  includes a cuff  250  constructed of three separate elements  251 ,  252 , and  253 . The hand receiving portion  202  includes a finger receiving portion  210 , a thumb portion  215 , a wrist portion  240 , and a metacarpal portion that is illustrated in the sections identified as  220 ,  225  and  230  in  FIG. 7   a.    
     The finger portion includes protective padding elements  211 ,  212 ,  213 ,  214  and  219  (illustrated in  FIG. 10   c ). Metacarpal portion  220  includes protective elements  221 ,  222 , and  223 . Metacarpal portion  230  includes elements  231  (illustrated in  FIGS. 10   c ),  232 ,  233 ,  234  and  235 . The design of the metacarpal portion  230  aids in the flexibility of the glove. As shown in  FIG. 7   a , a proximal end of the metacarpal portion  230  forms an arc with respect to the proximo-distal axis. The concave side of the arc faces the proximal end of the glove and the convex side of the arc faces the distal end of the glove. The shape of the proximal end of the metacarpal portion  230  aids in the telescoping effect of the protective layers by accommodating the forearm during dorsiflexion. 
       FIG. 7   b  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the protective athletic glove  200  taken along line A-A in  FIG. 7   a . As can be seen in this cross-section view, protective element  213  in finger portion  210  is constructed of multiple elements that will be discussed in greater detail below. Protective element  222  from metacarpal portion  220  is a layered structure that includes a foam layer  222   a,  a foam layer  222   b  and a polyethylene board  222   c.  Protective element  222  is secured around an entire periphery thereof to a liner  270  of the glove. As can be seen in section A-A, the liner  270  is arranged opposite to a palmar side  260  of the glove  200 . Protective element  233  includes foam element  233   a  and  233   b.  Unlike protective element  222 , protective element  233  is not secured on all of its sides, but instead is only secured on a distal end thereof and at least partially extends over a portion of the wrist portion  240 . 
     Wrist portion  240  includes foam portions  240   a,    240   b  and  240   c.  As with protective element  233 , the protective element  240  is only attached on a distal end thereof, and a proximal end of the protective element  240  overlaps the lower forearm portion  252 . The lower forearm portion  252  includes foam elements  252   a,    252   b  and  252   c.  The lower forearm portion is attached to the liner  270  via a piece of material  272 , which may be, for example, stretch gore material. Although the elements described above are described as foam pieces, other materials are possible, as will be readily understood by one of skill in the art. In addition, although several of the protective elements illustrated in the figures and described above are described as layered structures, it is also possible to form padding from single blocks of foam, gels, air, honeycomb structure and other materials that will be recognized by one of skill in the art. 
       FIGS. 8   a  to  8   d  illustrate several aspects of the finger portion  210  of the protective athletic glove  200  in greater detail. In particular,  FIG. 8   b  illustrates a cross-sectional view of protective element  213  taken along line B-B in  FIG. 8   a . As can be seen in  FIG. 8   b , protective element  213  includes three individual blocks  213   b  that are covered by a harder durometer foam  213   a.  Three pieces of nylon board  213   c  are then layered on top of the foam portion  213   a  to match the length of the portions  213   b.  As can be seen in  FIG. 8   a , protective element  214  includes side elements  214   a  and  214   b.  As illustrated in  FIG. 8   c , a cross-sectional view taken along lines C-C of  FIG. 8   a , the element  214   a  is a harder durometer foam layer that extends over a softer durometer foam layer  214   d.  A nylon board  214   c  is then positioned over the layer  214   a.    FIG. 8   d  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the other finger portions, in this case finger portion  212 . The finger portion  212  includes soft durometer foam portion  212   b,  a hard durometer foam layer  212   a  and a nylon board piece  212   c.    
       FIG. 9   a  illustrates portions of the wrist portion  240  and the metacarpal portion  225  in greater detail. In particular,  FIG. 9   b  illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D of the wrist portion  240   c.  The wrist protection element  240  includes as layer of medium durometer foam  240   a,  and layer of soft durometer foam  240   b,  and a layer of harder durometer foam  240   c.  As can be seen in  FIG. 9   b , a center portion of the wrist portion does not include the harder durometer foam  240   c.    
     As best illustrated in  FIG. 10   b , metacarpal portion  225  includes protective elements  226 ,  227 ,  228  and  229 .  FIG. 9   c  illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of the metacarpal portion  225  taken along line E-E in  FIG. 9   a . In particular, as can be seen in  FIGS. 9   c  and  9   d , protective element  228  is a molded piece of impact gel that is surrounded by protection element  226   b.  In particular, protection element  226  includes a softer durometer foam  226   b  and a harder durometer foam  226   a.  Both the protective elements  226  and  228  are secured around their entire periphery to the liner  270 . 
       FIGS. 10   a  to  10   c  provide further views of the protective athletic glove  200 . As discussed above, each of the protective elements described herein can be made of a variety of structures. For example, each of the portions of the lower forearm portion and the wrist portion can be made up of a foam structure that includes a 3.00 mm T5 foam top layer and two layers of 3.0 mm T20 foam. In another aspect, for example, the metacarpal protection piece  219   b  illustrated in  FIG. 10   c  can include a single layer of 10 mm of T20 foam. Protective elements  226  and  227  can be made up of 3 mm T5 foam as a top layer, a 7 mm T20 foam bottom layer and include a gel impact portion inlaid therein. As an example, the remaining pads can be made up of 3 mm T5 foam for a top layer and 7 mm T20 foam for a bottom layer. 
     The protective elements can be made up of various materials, including foams, gels, airbags or plastics. For example, turning to  FIG. 11   a , a protective element  20  may include a foam core  22  encased in a covering material  24 . Other designs are also possible, as illustrated in  FIG. 11   b . In  FIG. 11   b , the protective element  20  includes three different layers of padding, in which two of the layers  22   a  are made of a first material and a third layer  22   b  is made of a second material. The covering material can be but is not limited to polyurethane (PU), leather, synthetic woven and knit materials, nylon, lycra, mesh, twills, or other materials that would be recognized by one of skill in the art. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 12 to 19 , a second exemplary aspect of the present invention will be described. The protective glove illustrated in  FIGS. 12 to 20  includes a finger portion  310  in which each respective finger includes multiple protective elements. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 12 , a first finger includes protective elements  311   a  and  311   b,  a second finger includes protective elements  312   a,    312   b  and  312   c,  a third finger includes protective elements  313   a,    313   b  and  313   c,  and a fourth finger includes protective elements  314   a,    314   b  and  314   c.  In addition, as illustrated in  FIG. 13 , the finger portion  310  also includes a protective element  319   a.  A thumb portion  315  includes, as illustrated in  FIG. 17 , protective elements  318   a,    318   b,    317   a,    317   b,    316   a,  and  316   b.  The metacarpal portion  320  includes protective elements  319   b,    321 ,  322  and  323 . As illustrated in  FIG. 17 , the metacarpal portion includes protective elements  326 ,  327  and  328 . 
     In the present example, each of the protective elements in the finger portion  310 , the thumb portion  315 , the metacarpal portion  320  and the metacarpal portion  325  are secured to a lining of the protective glove  300  around an entire periphery of each respective element. By contrast, each of the elements in the metacarpal portion  330 , the wrist portion  340  and the lower forearm protection portion  350  are only secured to an underlying layer of the protective glove  300  at a distal end of each respective element, and are free of attachment to a dorsal side of the protective glove on a proximal end of each protective element. In this configuration, each of the protective elements  331 ,  332 ,  333 ,  334 , and  335  of the metacarpal portion  330  overlaps the wrist portion  340 . Likewise, the wrist portion  340  overlaps the lower forearm protection portions  351 ,  352  and  353 . In operation, this allows greater dorsiflexion and results in a configuration in which the wrist portion  340  is able to telescope into the metacarpal portion  330 , and the cuff portion  350  is able to telescope into the wrist portion  340 . 
     In addition, for greater flexibility, the wrist protection element  340  includes cut portions  340   a  and  340   b  that extend in a proximo-distal direction from a proximal end of the wrist protection element  340 . Likewise, as illustrated in  FIG. 17 , metacarpal protective element  335  also includes a cut portion  335   a.  These cut portions enable greater flexibility without sacrificing protection due to the overlapping nature of the present design. 
     The design of the metacarpal portion  330  also aids in the flexibility of the glove. Specifically, as shown in  FIGS. 12 and 17 , a proximal end of each of the protective elements  331 ,  332 ,  334  and  335  is inclined relative to the proximo-distal axis of the glove such that the overall shape of the proximal end of the metacarpal portion  330  forms an arc. The concave side of the arc faces the proximal end of the glove and the convex side of the arc faces the distal end of the glove. The shape of the proximal end of the metacarpal portion  330  aids in the telescoping effect of the protective layers by accommodating the forearm during dorsiflexion. 
     II. Method of Manufacture 
       FIGS. 20   a  to  20   c  illustrate a method of manufacturing a protective glove  200  in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the present invention. In conventional glove design, padding is overlain on a glove body and a cuff is later attached to the glove body. Due to the overlapping nature of the present construction, a new method was devised. In particular, a glove body is provided that already includes protection elements affixed to a finger portion  210 , thumb portion  215  and a metacarpal portion  225 . A cuff  250  is attached to this glove body. As illustrated in  FIG. 20   b , the wrist protection element is next attached to the glove body such that a distal edge of the wrist protection element  240  is attached to the glove body and a proximal end of the wrist protection element  240  extends freely over the cuff  250  so as to overlap the cuff  250 . 
     Next, as illustrated in  FIG. 20   c , the metacarpal portion  230  is secured to the glove body such that a distal end of the metacarpal portion  230  is secured to the glove body and the proximal end of the metacarpal portion  230  extends freely over the wrist portion  240 . Thereafter,  FIG. 20   d  illustrates that the protective elements that comprise the metacarpal portion  220  are affixed to the glove body. 
     Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.