Patent Publication Number: US-2011067167-A1

Title: Sport glove

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to sport gloves that are required to favorably fit hands during grip for a golf or baseball. 
     Conventionally, this type of gloves has been developed to provide an improved fit by the use of stretchable material. In particular, stretchable material is used for the back of a hand in order to increase the freedom degree of the movement of the hand during grip. In order to increase the freedom degree, the stretchable material is desirably to have a higher ratio of expansion and contraction. However, stretchable material having a high ratio of expansion and contraction can be excessively stretched in the longitudinal and lateral directions, which causes a deteriorated holding characteristic during grip. A glove solving this disadvantage has been suggested that is designed so that an excessive extension prevention member is provided to be superposed on a part of a stretchable material (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-271261). 
     However, in the case of the above suggested sport glove, the excessive extension prevention member is sewed to the stretchable material part so as to cover the back of a hand. Thus, the above suggested sport glove is inconvenient in that a part of the stretchable material sewed with the excessive extension prevention member has a different fit from those of other parts to thereby cause an uncomfortable feeling during grip. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an objective of the present invention to provide a sport glove that solves the above-described inconvenience. 
     In order to achieve this objective, a sport glove according to the present invention is structured so that a section of the glove for the back of a hand is at least partially formed by a first stretchable material, a second stretchable material is placed so as to cover at least a part of this first stretchable material, both ends of this second stretchable material are sewed to outer sides of the first stretchable material so that the second stretchable material is suspended to the first stretchable material, and the first stretchable material has a higher ratio of expansion and contraction than that of the second stretchable material. 
     At least one end of the second stretchable material is preferably sewed to a section for a palm. The second stretchable material is preferably a mesh material. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a back side of a hand of an example of a golf glove according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating the palm side of an example of the golf glove according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following section will describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention based on the attached drawings. As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a golf glove  1  includes a section for the back of a hand  2 , a section for a palm  3 , a little finger section  4 , a wedding finger section  5 , a middle finger section  6 , an index finger section  7 , a thumb section  8 , and an attachment belt  9  that is opened when the glove is worn and that is fixed to the back side of a hand by a hook-and-loop fastener at the back face side after the glove is worn to fix the wrist side. A part extending from the bases of the little finger section  4 , the wedding finger section  5 , and the middle finger section  6  to the entire section for the back of a hand  2  is formed by a first stretchable material. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , mesh material  10  as a second stretchable material is placed so as to cover substantially the entirety of the section for the back of a hand  2  made of the first stretchable material except for an upper end. This mesh material  10  is provided so that a side end of the little finger section  4  side is sewed, as shown in  FIG. 2 , to a side end of the section for a palm  3  and a side end of the thumb section  8  side is divided to two upper and lower parts so that the upper part is sewed to the base end of the index finger section  7  and the lower part is sewed, although not clearly shown in the drawing, to the base end of the thumb section  8  of the section for a palm  3 . The section for the back of a hand  2  has a higher ratio of expansion and contraction than that of the mesh material  10 . Other edges of the mesh material  10  are not sewed. Thus, the mesh material  10  is suspended from the section for the back of a hand  2 . Furthermore, the mesh material  10  is sewed to the outer side of the first stretchable material. Thus, the mesh material  10  is free without being bound to the first stretchable material. 
     According to the golf glove  1  having the configuration as described above, the section for the back of a hand  2  is allowed during grip to extend in the longitudinal direction in the first stretchable material and is suppressed from extending in the lateral direction by the mesh material  10  having a relatively-small ratio of expansion and contraction. Thus, the holding characteristic can be improved without deteriorating the fit. Furthermore, the mesh material  10  is suspended from the section for the back of a hand  2  and has a mesh structure. Thus, a part of the glove around the section for the back of a hand  2  can have an improved breathability and can be suppressed from being humid. 
     It is noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the second stretchable material is not limited to the mesh material  10  and also can be a general knit material. The first stretchable material also can be provided so as to cover the back of the respective finger sections  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , and  8  and the entirety of the section for the back of a hand  2  (i.e., the entire part for the back of the glove  1 ) or can be provided only at a part of the section for the back of a hand  2 . When the first stretchable material is provided only at a part of the section for the back of a hand  2 , the second stretchable material also may be provided so as to cover the entirety of the first stretchable material. The present invention can be applied not only to a golf glove but also to those gloves for baseball and motor sport for example for which the grip is recognized as important. 
     According to a sport glove according to the present invention, the first stretchable material can be suppressed from excessively extending by the second stretchable material having a lower ratio of expansion and contraction than that of the first stretchable material. Both ends of the second stretchable material are sewed to outer sides of the first stretchable material to thereby solve the uncomfortable feeling at a part having the second stretchable material. This provides an effect according to which the holding characteristic is improved while maintaining the fit during grip. At least one end of the second stretchable material is sewed to a section for a palm, thus providing an effect according to which the fit and holding characteristic during grip are further improved. Furthermore, the second stretchable material made of a mesh material provides an effect according to which the breathability is improved to thereby suppress humidity.