Patent Publication Number: US-2007118964-A1

Title: Glove having an attached item of jewelry

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to gloves. More specifically, the invention relates to sporting gloves, more particularly golf gloves, that have an attached item of jewelry.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Obviously, gloves and sporting gloves, such as golf gloves are long known in the art. Sporting gloves are commonly sold in various sizes to accommodate people having various sized hands. In the past the gloves have also come in various colors to accommodate various styles and top match a uniform or outfit of a person wearing the glove. However, as people like to display their individual styles and to look their best while playing any particular sport, there is a need for ways to individualize gloves to display a person&#39;s particular style. Particularly in golf, where uniforms are not worn and people typically wear upscale dress, there is a need to provide a better-looking glove have incorporated elements of style, particularly for women.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention comprises a glove having a hand portion defining a top side opposite a wearer&#39;s palm and a bottom side covering a wearer&#39;s palm and a plurality of fingers defining a top side covering the surface opposite the gripping surface of a wearer&#39;s fingers and bottom side covering the gripping surface of a wearer&#39;s fingers, defining a lower portion adjacent the wearer&#39;s wrist and also defining a slit in the lower portion of the glove to allow a wearer to insert the wearer&#39;s hand into the glove. The glove further has at least one element of style selected from a group consisting of a bow attached to a top side of a lower portion of the glove, a bracelet attached to opposite sides of the slit such that slit may be opened to accommodate the wearer&#39;s hand without removal of the bracelet and a ring attached a topside of a finger of the glove but does not extend to the bottom side of the finger of the glove such that it will not interfere with the wearer&#39;s grip. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a top side view of a glove according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a top side view of a glove according to a first embodiment of the present invention having the slit opened and exposed;  
       FIG. 3  is a bottom side view of a glove according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a top side view of a glove according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a top side view of a glove according to a second embodiment of the present invention having the slit opened and exposed; and  
       FIG. 6  is a bottom side view of a glove according to a second embodiment of the present invention.  
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.  
      The present invention is an improved glove having incorporated elements of style. The incorporated elements of style can include a bow at or near the bottom of the glove on the topside of the hand so that the bow does not interfere with the hand of the wearer or may include a ring that is sewn into the topside of one or more fingers of the glove that displays jewels or gems. Moreover, the element of style can be a bracelet attached around the glove at or near the bottom of the glove having beads or gems attached thereto.  
      In that regard and referring to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of a glove  10  of the present invention is provided. The glove  10  is a common ladies sports glove, such as used in the game of golf. However, the present invention is not limited to a golf glove or even to a sporting glove or to women&#39;s gloves. The glove  10  comprises a number of fingers  12  to accommodate to the fingers of the wearer and palm or hand section  14  to accommodate the user&#39;s hand, as is known the art. Referring to  FIG. 2 , on a topside  16  of the hand section  14 , is a slit  18  that allows the wide portion of a person&#39;s hand to enter the glove and hook and loop material (commonly known under the trademark VELCRO) on an extension portion  22  and the topside  16  to draw a bottom portion  20  of the glove tight around a person&#39;s wrist after the hand is inserted. The glove  10  further incorporates at least one element of style such as a bow  24  that is preferably attached to the bottom portion  20  of the glove  10  by sewing with a strong, resilient polymer based thread, although other types of thread may be used. Additionally, the bow  24  could be attached with an adhesive or other known fasteners. The bow  24  is attached in such a manner that it will not interfere with the palm wearer&#39;s hand or the wearer&#39;s grip. The  10  glove may further comprise a second element of style, namely a ring  25  that is attached to one of the fingers of the glove. The ring  25  is attached such that it can be seen from the topside  26  of the finger  12  but does not loop around the finger and interfere with a player&#39;s grip. For example, a golf player&#39;s grip on a golf club would not be interfered because the ring  25  does not extend to an underside of the finger. Specifically, the ring  25  is attached across only the topside  26  of the finger  12  by sewing a piece of thread, preferably a resilient, polymer-based thread, to opposite sides  28 ,  30  of the finger  12  and stringing beads or gems  32  onto the thread.  
      Referring to the embodiment of  FIGS. 4-6 , it can be seen that in this embodiment the bow  24  has been replaced by a bracelet  34 . The bracelet  34  is attached to the glove  10  by a thread, preferably a polymer-based, resilient thread, on opposite sides of the slit  18  and stringing beads or gems  36  thereon. By attaching the bracelet  34  to opposite sides of the slit  18  the glove  10  may be easily opened to accommodate the hand of a wearer without removing or breaking the bracelet  34  but still giving the appearance of a continuous bracelet  34  when worn by the wearer. It is further contemplated that the bracelet can act as a stroke counter for counting the number of strokes taken during a golf hole. To act as a working stroke counter, the bracelet  34  must provide space for moving the beads from one side of the bracelet to the other and the beads must provide some resistance to movement to prevent inadvertent movement of the beads during play.  
      While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.