Abstract:
The present invention pertains to wrist cuffs of wearing apparel that can fold out to cover a wearer&#39;s hands, and folded back into a cuff to allow a wearer&#39;s hands to operate normally; a typical use to prevent infants and children with eczema from scratching themselves or sucking thumbs.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    None. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF THE MATERIAL ON THE COMPACT DISC 
       [0004]    None. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    (1) Field of the Invention 
         [0006]    The field of the invention is apparel, principally mittens, gloves and other clothing that children and infants might wear on their hands to prevent them from scratching themselves, or prevent thumb-sucking 
         [0007]    (2) Description of the Related Art Including Info Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. 
         [0008]    Those who suffer from eczema struggle with a persistent desire to scratch the skin and aggravate its condition. Children and infants are particularly impacted, as they have less control than adults. Parents have developed various means to restrict the ability of their children to harm themselves. These solutions include wearing gloves, moisturizers, or even tying a child&#39;s arms to a belt so it can&#39;t reach an irritated area. Similar solutions are involved with approaches to assisting children in the cessation of thumb-sucking 
         [0009]    These approaches are often ineffective, in that children can use their mouth to hold the mittens and pull them off of their hands. Parents often lose the mittens or misplace them, and the mittens generally don&#39;t match the clothing of the children or do not provide a pleasant esthetic. The present invention reduces these shortcomings. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The invention is a fold-out mitten affixed to the end of sleeves. The sleeve is constructed so it is long enough to reach the end of the wearer&#39;s fingers, and the mitten is affixed to the backhand side of the sleeve. When a parent wants a child to have the normal use of his hands, the sleeve is folded back in a cuffed position. When a parent wants to employ the mitten element, he uncuffs the sleeve and reverses the mitten portion (turns it inside out), such that it encompasses the end of the sleeve, disallowing the wearer from use of his fingers or nails, or thumb-sucking. 
         [0011]    Because the mittens are affixed to sleeves, wearing apparel can be built with the built-in mittens, so that the mittens are unable to be removed by the wearer. 
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    One object of the invention is to protect the wearer from a tendency to thumb-suck. 
         [0013]    Another object is to prevent a wearer from scratching himself. 
         [0014]    Another object is to ensure that a wearer is unable to easily remove the mitten. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         [0015]    FIG.  1 —Cuffed Flip Mitten, Palm: shows a scratch-preventing mitten folded in the cuff position  15 , from the perspective of a viewer looking at the palm of the right hand  13 . From this perspective, a viewer sees the contoured portion of the sleeve edge  17 . The straight portion of the sleeve edge  19  is on the opposite side, invisible in this view. 
           [0016]    FIG.  2 —Cuffed Flip Mitten, Backhand: shows a scratch-preventing mitten folded in the cuff position  15 , from the perspective of a viewer looking at the back of the right hand  13 . From this perspective, a viewer sees the straight portion of the sleeve edge  19 . The contoured portion of the sleeve edge  17  is on the opposite side, invisible in this view. 
           [0017]    FIG.  3 —Open Flip Mitten, Palm Side: shows a scratch-preventing mitten  11  in the open position  21  from the viewer looking at the palm of a right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, a viewer can see the end of the wearer&#39;s fingers  23 , exposed above the contoured opening of the sleeve  17 , the seam connecting the sleeve to the mitten element  29  and the straight portion of the sleeve folded out at  19 . The contoured portion of the mitten pocket cover  27  is on the opposite side, invisible in this view. 
           [0018]    FIG.  4 —Open Flip Mitten, Backhand: shows a scratch-preventing mitten  11  in the open position  21 , from the perspective of a viewer looking at the back of a right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, a viewer sees the leading edge of the sleeve  19 , but not the end of the wearer&#39;s fingers  23 , the contoured opening of the sleeve  17 , or the straight portion of the mitten edge on the palm side of the wearer&#39;s wrist  29 . The contoured portion of the mitten pocket cover  27  is visible in this view. 
           [0019]    FIG.  5 —Closed Flip Mitten, Palm: shows a scratch-preventing mitten  11  in the closed position  31 , from the perspective of a viewer looking at the palm of a right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, the wearer&#39;s fingers  23  are not visible, or the contoured opening of the mitten  25 . The straight portion of the mitten edge at the wearer&#39;s wrist  19  is visible. The contoured portion of the mitten edge  17  is invisible in this view. 
           [0020]    FIG.  6 —Closed Flip Mitten, Backhand: shows a scratch-preventing mitten  11  in the closed position  31 , from the perspective of a viewer looking at the back of the right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, no part of the wearer&#39;s hands or fingers  23  are visible, or the contoured opening of the sleeve, which is inside the mitten  11 . The straight portion of the mitten edge at the wearer&#39;s wrist seem  29  is not visible. The contoured portion of the mitten edge  17  is not visible in this view, however, the envelope of the mitten is determined by the straight portion of the sleeve  19 . 
           [0021]      FIGS. 7   a - 7   b —Two examples of configurations and construction approaches to wearing apparel using the invention, including:
         7   a:  Button/Snap/Hook and Loop—Closed Flip Mittens  31  connected by a neck and shoulder binding  45 , waist binding  47 , and fastening means such as a button, snap, or hook/loop  49 .     7   b:  V-Neck—Closed Flip Mittens  31  connected by a typical shirt construction and V-neck  51 , reinforced seam  53 ,       
 
           [0024]    FIG.  8 —Cuffed Flip Mitten: shows scratch-preventing mittens  11  in a cuffed position employed in wearing apparel with sleeves connected by a strip of fabric  41  around the wearer&#39;s back, and optional arm sleeves  43 . 
           [0025]    FIG.  9 —Open Flip Mitten: shows scratch-preventing mittens  11  in an open position  21  employed in wearing apparel with sleeves connected by a strip of fabric  41  around the wearer&#39;s back, and optional arm sleeves  43 . 
           [0026]    FIG.  10 —Closed Flip Mitten: shows scratch-preventing mittens  11  in a closed position  31  employed in wearing apparel with sleeves connected by a strip of fabric  41  around the wearer&#39;s back, and optional arm sleeves  43 . 
           [0027]    FIG.  11 —Side View of Restraint Mitten: shows a side sectional view of the mitten  11  constructed with contoured foam inserts  61  and Mitten Channel Divider  63 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0028]    According to the present invention, the foregoing objects and other advantages are attainted by a mitten element  11  mounted on the sleeve of a shirt, or similar article of clothing. 
         [0029]    Construction of the invention begins with an elongated sleeve, constructed so the sleeve can be folded back as a cuff  15  with a contoured shape  17  visible while viewing the palm side as in  FIG. 1 , or the straight side of the cuff if viewing the back of the hand, as in  FIG. 2 . As currently constructed, the unfolded cuff (the “open flip mitten”) becomes the enveloping shape of the mitten, as best shown in  FIG. 3 , and currently constructed with a contoured edge  17 , so when it is unfolded, a wearer can still use his fingers and hands  23 , though somewhat inhibited. 
         [0030]    When folded, the contoured edge  17  seen on  FIG. 1  becomes the palm side contoured edge of the sleeve seen in  FIG. 3 , and the seam  29  connecting the mitten element to the sleeve at the wrist is visible on the palm side. 
         [0031]      FIG. 4  shows the back side of the hand when the mitten is open. The mitten pocket  11  is sewn to the back of the cuff, but is open at its bottom, not sewn to the seam  29 , and overlaps the sleeve, extending to contoured edge  27 . When in the cuffed position, the mitten element folds along with the sleeve to become the cuff of the back of the hand. 
         [0032]      FIGS. 5 and 6  show the closed mitten position  31  from the palm and back hand views. To use the apparel in this configuration, a user first unfolds the sleeve from the cuffed position  15  to the sleeves&#39; full length. Then the user reverses the mitten (turns it inside out), which puts the sleeve into the mitten and closes the sleeve opening. In this configuration, the longer contoured end of the mitten  27  is now visible on the palm side, as the former interior of the mitten pocket is now the exterior of the mitten. In this closed mitten position, a wearer cannot effectively scratch himself, or suck his thumb. 
         [0033]      FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  show possible constructions of the mittens with wearing apparel. The mittens are always part of a sleeve construction, and the sleeves are always part of some sort of shirt or garment worn on the upper torso. 
         [0034]      FIG. 8  is a view of the invention in the cuffed position in a typical garment. 
         [0035]      FIG. 9  is a view of the invention in the open mitten position in a typical garment. 
         [0036]      FIG. 10  is a view of the invention in the closed mitten position in a typical garment. 
         [0037]      FIG. 11  is a side view of the mitten  11  with a form insert  61  that provides extra protection to the palm side of the wearer&#39;s hands. The foam is intended to protect the palm side of the user&#39;s hands. The current manufacture of the mittens  11  uses a mitten channel divider  63  to separate the user&#39;s hands from the foam insert  61 , but the mittens can be made in many ways. 
         [0038]    In the invention as discussed above, the mitten envelope is on the back of the hand, but the mitten pocket could be on the front just as easily, and pull over the sleeve so the contoured flap  27  winds up on the back of the hand instead of the front. Another alternative would be to simplify the construction to just an elongated sleeve length that could be cuffed, or unfolded with a draw string to close off the end of the sleeve. The discussion of the contoured surfaces in the construction is wholly optional, and provided merely to assist in identification of the mitten and help the user more easily pull it over the sleeve while reversing the mitten and taking it from the “open” to the “closed” positions.