Abstract:
A work glove comprises an outer shell having finger and thumb portions, a foam pad attached to the shell and covering the palm and the frontal areas of the thumb and finger portions thereof. The pad has a plurality of spaced apart holes and contours defining the finger and thumb joints and a fabric lining covering at least the inner surface of the foam pad.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 534,160, filed Sept. 21, 1983, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to gloves and more particularly to impact resistant work gloves. 
     The vibration and impacts which are characteristic of certain tools such as air hammers, chain saws and the like can be detrimental to the operator. Gloves capable of absorbing such shocks and vibrations would be very beneficial. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide a new improved work glove. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a work glove which absorbs shocks and vibrations from tools with which it is in contact. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description thereof taken with the accompanied drawings. 
     In general terms the invention comprises a work glove having an outer shell which includes portions defining a palm, a back, fingers and a thumb. A lining is disposed within the shell and has palm, finger, thumb and back portions disposed adjacent the corresponding portions of the shell. A foam pad is disposed between the lining and the shell and encompasses a substantial portion of the palm and the frontal areas of the thumb and finger portions of the shell. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded front view showing the shell and lining of a work glove in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the back of the work glove illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the work glove shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; 
     FIG. 4 shows an alternate embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 5 shows a portion of a further embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the alternate embodiment of the invention in FIG. 5; and 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of yet another alternate embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The work glove 10 according to the invention is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 to include an outer shell of any suitable material, such as leather, pigskin or vinyl. Disposed within the shell 12 is a lining 14 preferably of a knit or woven material, such as cotton. Attached to the lining 14 is a pad 16 of a suitable impact resistant material. One such material found to be satisfactory in a high density cellular urethane sold under the trademark PORON 4701, and having a density of about 13-30 pounds per cubic foot. 
     The shell includes a back panel 18 and a front panel 20 which are sewn together to define a palm portion 21, finger portions 22, 23, 24 and 25, a thumb portion 26 and a back portion 27. 
     The lining 14 similarly has a front portion 29 and a back portion 30 which defines fingers 31, 32, 33 and 34 and a thumb 35. The pad 16 is formed with a palm portion 36, finger portions 37, 38, 39 and 40, and a thumb portion 41 and is affixed to the lining in any suitable manner, such as by sewing, with corresponding portions of the pad affixed to corresponding portions of the lining. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the pad 16 may be stamped from a sheet material and in addition to the finger and thumb portion there are a plurality of spaced-apart apertures 42 extending therethrough as seen in FIG. 1, the apertures 42 are arranged in rows in the palm area of the pad which rows extend diagonally from the thumb side. Also, the finger portions 37, 38, 39 and 40 and the thumb portion 41 are each contoured such that they are of reduced width in the area of the joints 43 to facilitate bending of the operator&#39;s fingers. In addition, the back portion of the shell 12 may be cut out at 44 and a mesh 45 of any suitable material, such as nylon, may be substituted to facilitate ventilation. 
     In one alternate embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the ventilation in the back panel 27 is provided by a plurality of perforations 46. 
     In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, only a partial glove lining is employed. The glove 50 includes a pad 16 which is identical to pad 16 of FIGS. 1-4. Instead of a full lining, however, a pad 51 is attached to the rear of the pad 16 in any suitable manner such as by stitching 52. As seen in FIG. 5, the pad 51 is configured substantially the same as the pad 16 and is slightly larger. In particular, the pad 51 has a thumb portion 35&#39; and finger portions 31&#39;, 32&#39;, 33&#39; and 34&#39;. While the pad 51 may be formed of any suitable material, one satisfactory material is a felt which may have a front facing of a knit cotton material. As shown in FIG. 6, the felt backing 51 covers an area slightly larger than the pad 16 with the remaining portion of the shell being unlined. 
     The embodiment of FIG. 7 is substantially the same as that of FIGS. 5 and 6 except that the finger and thumb portions of the shell 54, the pad 16&#39; and the felt backing 51&#39; are truncated. As the result, the user&#39;s fingers and thumb will extend from the ends of the finger and thumb portions to facilitate grasping small objects. As a further alternate embodiment of the invention, the thumb 26&#39; of the embodiment of FIG. 7 may be full while each of the fingers are truncated. 
     The work glove according to the invention, substantially reduces shocks and vibrations which would otherwise be experienced by operators of such machinery as air hammers, chain saws and the like. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that while only a few embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended to be limited thereby, but only by the scope of the appended claims.