Patent Publication Number: US-2012030857-A1

Title: Disposable Single Use Gym Workout Gloves

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a glove and more specifically to a glove that is disposable after being used while working out in a gym where the glove can be impregnated with an antimicrobial active ingredient 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     It has been well documented in the nationwide press, that gyms and health clubs are a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria. Communal spaces are crowded with too any hands sharing too few treadmills, bicycles and Stairmaster handles as well as free weights and weight machines. 
     As awareness of this problem, grew, gyms started asking members to wipe down the equipment with towels. But that wasn&#39;t effective enough. Many health clubs now encourage members to wipe down the equipment before and after use with disinfectant sprays and wipes. That helps, but of course not everyone will comply. Also, it is nearly impossible to eliminate all of the perspiration left on the machines and weights. Wiping them down will only spread the bacteria around. 
     Single use gloves and gloves for athletic purposes are known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2008/0092260 to Bahmani discloses a hand cover having a sheet member with a hole and a tubular section extending from the hole. The tubular section receives the thumb of a user such that the sheet member rests upon the palm-side of the hand to avoid direct contact between the palm and the fingers and an object, which the user holds. 
     U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2007/0240247 to Beck discloses an antimicrobial, absorbent and wicking, stretch protective hand device with grip enhancing properties. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,555 to Yerelian discloses a glove with a pocket attached to the fingers which has a top opening within which a food item may be placed. A food item is placed within the pocket and is partially exposed at the top opening of the pocket. The user may eat the food item while it remains in the pocket. After eating, the glove is grasped by the wrist portion and turned inside out in order to envelope the remaining food item and food debris. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,645 to Teaster discloses a two-sided pocketed hand shield for protecting a hand from germs. A sheet of flexible material is attached to a piece of flexible material in a manner to form a mitten for a person&#39;s hand. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,083 to Henderson, Jr. discloses a supply of segments of polymeric film on an elongated roll where each segment has a surface that enables the segment to adhere to a user&#39;s hand when the user places his or her hand against the surface. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,838 to Lord discloses a batting glove designed for players that hold the bat with one or two fingers over or under the knob. The glove includes a knob receptacle that acts as a pivot point for the knob in the palm of the glove. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,895 to Baldwin discloses a sports glove having an anti-slip member attached to the inner surface of the glove where the anti-slip member is a foamed polyvinyl chloride material which is engaged by a hand when the glove is worn. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,503 to O&#39;Brien discloses a glove which forms part of a continuous roll of gloves suitable for use with a dispensing machine. The machine dispenses one or a pair of the gloves off the roll for use by an individual at a gas station or vegetable section of a grocery store. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,697 to Hayes discloses a disposable plastic clean up glove made from two sheets of thermo setting plastic sheets joined together by heat sealing into shape and perforated for easy detachment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a disposable single use gym workout glove having a palm section made of nitrile and a rear section made of nitrile, a woven material or a nonwoven material. Grip protrusions are located on the palm section of the glove and finger receiving members which extend out from the palm section of the glove have grip protrusions located on their front surfaces. The grip protrusions on the front surface of the finger receiving members are on the small, ring, middle and index finger receiving members and the front surface of the thumb receiving member has no grip protrusions 
     The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow. 
     Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals. 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of the palm side of a left hand glove of a pair of gloves where the right hand glove of the pair is a mirror image of the left hand glove in accordance with the principles of the invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the back side of the left hand glove of  FIG. 1  in accordance with the principles of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     For the casual fitness participant, there is a need for additional germ protection that goes beyond what gyms are currently providing for their members. There is also a need to provide protection to hotel guest and office workers who want to work out more safely. The above needs can be satisfied with a pair of disposable workout gloves which may have antibacterial properties as is here disclosed. 
     The preferred embodiment of the disposable workout gloves will best be understood with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings. Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a plan view of the palm side of the left hand glove  10  of a pair of the glove in accordance with the principles of the invention. 
     The glove has a palm section  12  which is connected to five finger receiving members more specifically identified as a small finger receiving member  16 , a ring finger receiving member  18 , a middle finger receiving member  20 , an index finger receiving member  22 , and a thumb receiving member  24 . Located opposite the finger receiving members at the other end of the glove is a generally large opening  26  for allowing a person&#39;s hand to enter the interior of the glove. Opening  26  may have an elastic stretch member around its perimeter to grip the wrist of a user. The glove may be formed without seams by molding or the front and back sides of the glove may be joined together with a seam that extends from the opening  26  along the edge of the glove to the end of the small finger receiving member, around each of the finger members and down from the end of the thumb receiving member to the other side of the opening  26 . 
     Located on the front of each finger receiving member is a grip stripe of raised material. Each grip stripe is a protrusion having a plurality of aligned bumps or a continuous length of about one and three-quarters of an inch, more or less and which is centrally located on each finger receiving member. Thus, small finger member  16  has a grip stripe  28  with a length of about one and three-quarters of an inch in length and a width of between one-sixteenth of an inch and one-quarter of an inch, more or less. Similarly, Each of the other finger members  18 ,  20 ,  22 , and  24  have a grip stripe  28  with a length of about one and three-quarters of an inch in length and a width of between one-sixteenth of an inch and one-quarter of an inch, more or less. 
     Located on the palm of the glove are five, more or less, grip stripes  30 . The grip stripes may be located parallel to each other and may be uniformly spaced from each other. In addition the grip stripes may extend diagonally across the palm of the glove, horizontally across the palm of the glove, vertically across the palm of the glove, or at any angle across the palm of the glove. Each grip stripe  30  on the palm of the glove can be a series of bumps or a continuous strip having a length of about one and three-quarters of an inch, more or less, and a width of between one-sixteenth of an inch and one-quarter of an inch, more or less. In addition, in an embodiment the length and width of the grip stripes  30  on the palm may have different lengths and/or different widths. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a plan view of the back side of the left glove  10  of a pair of gloves in accordance with the principles of the invention. The small finger receiving member  16  has two rows of openings  32  where each row has seven openings which extend from about one-half of an inch, more or less, down from the end of the finger toward the palm section of the glove for about one and one-half inches, more or less. The openings in each row may be aligned with each other or offset relative to each other. Each opening can have a diameter of about one-sixteenth of an inch and spaced from each other by about one-quarter of an inch. The spacing between the rows of openings can be about one-quarter of an inch. 
     Referring now to the ring finger receiving member  18 , two rows of openings  34  are located on the back of the member where each row has seven openings extend from between one-half of an inch and one inch, more or less, back from the end of the finger toward the palm section of the glove for about one and one-half inches, more or less. The openings  34  in each row and the rows themselves may be aligned with each other or offset relative to each other. Each opening can have a diameter of about one-sixteenth of an inch and spaced from each other by about one-quarter of an inch. The spacing between the rows of openings can be about one-quarter of an inch. 
     Referring to the middle finger receiving member  20  and the index finger receiving member  22 , they each have two rows of openings  34  where each row has seven openings extend from between one-half of an inch and one inch, more or less, back from the end of the finger toward the palm section of the glove for about one and one-half inches, more or less. The openings  34  in each row and the rows themselves may be aligned with each other or offset relative to each other. Each opening can have a diameter of about one-sixteenth of an inch and spaced from each other by about one-quarter of an inch. The spacing between the rows of openings can be about one-quarter of an inch. 
     There are no openings in the thumb receiving member. 
     Located at the web between each of the finger receiving members  16  and  18 ,  18  and  20 ,  20  and  22 , and between the index finger receiving member  22  and the thumb receiving member  24  is a triangular shaped opening  34  which is about one-quarter of an inch in length and one-eighth of an inch in height. Thus, there are four triangular shaped openings in each glove. 
     Located over the knuckles of the user&#39;s hand are two rows  36 ,  38  of openings where each row has ten openings, more of less. The openings in each row have a diameter of one-sixteenth of an inch, more or less. The row of openings  36  is spaced about one-quarter of an inch back from the triangular shaped openings  34 , and the row of openings  38  is located about one-quarter of an inch below the first row  38  of openings. The openings in each row are spaced apart one-quarter of an inch, more or less and can either be aligned with each other or they can be offset relative to each other. 
     A circular opening  40  with a diameter of about two inches, more or less, and having its center located about three and one-half inches up from the hand opening  16  of the glove is centered in the back of the glove. 
     The gloves disclosed above are made of a nitrile rubber composition fibers bonded to a nitrile rubber or a nitril rubber composition and treated with an anti bacteria agent. The palm of the glove and the rear of the glove can be of nitrile, or the palm of the glove can be of nitrile and the rear of the glove can be of a woven or a nonwoven fabric. In an embodiment the glove can be impregnated or coated with an antimicrobial active ingredient. 
     While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.