Improvements in Cricketers' Batting Gloves.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Sept., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 20th July, 1893-Accepted, 9th Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cricketers' Batting Gloves.
I, ROBERT EDWIN NORTH, of 2, Honeywell Road, Wandsworth Common,
Diamond Cutter, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the gloves worn by cricketers when batting and it has
for its object to provide better protection for the fingers than is at present afforded
by such gloves as now made without rendering the gloves bulky or interfering with
the grip of the handle when batting. These gloves as heretofore made consist of
wash-leather finger and thumb pieces provided with short lengths or strips of india
rubber of tubular form to constitute, so to speak, buffers for the ball to strike
against, attached to a strip which covers the back of the hand and is secured by
buttoning or otherwise to the wrist of the player. These gloves very inadequately
protect the fingers, especially in these days of fast bowling, and it is no uncommon
occurrence during a match, for a batsman to have to retire in consequence of his
fingers having been injured by a swift ball.
The object of my invention is to render any such injury from such cause
practically impossible and my invention consists in substituting for the finger
pieces and their india-rubber pads a guard or shield made of relatively rigid
material of a size just sufficient to receive the four fingers and of concavo-convex
form corresponding to the curvature of the fingers when grasping the handle of
the bat. The shield is provided with end pieces which protect the side of the
index and little fingers and with a central division plate which, when the glove is
in use interposes itself between the second and third fingers, and serves to strengthen
the shield. A strip of wash leather or equivalent material extends lengthwise of
the shield and serves to retain the glove in place on the hand without interfering
with the grip of the handle of the bat. The guards or shields for the two hands
would be of the same character, but that for the left hand would be flatter than
the one for the right hand, owing to the difference in the flexure of the fingers of
the two hands in grasping the handle of the bat.
These shields may, or may not, be made in one with a thumb piece of the
ordinary character and with means for attachment to the wrist similar to the usual
batting gloves. The glove for the left hand would preferably have a tail piece of
hard material, to protect the back of the hand. They may be made of a material
combining rigidity with lightness, such as asbestos, gutta percha, etc., etc., and
would preferably be covered with wash leather, but I would have it understood
that I do not limit myself in this respect.
Dated this 26th day of September 1892.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cricketers' Batting Gloves.
I, ROBERT EDWIN NORTH, formerly of 2, Honeywell Road, Wandsworth
Common, and now of 57° Hatton Garden, E.C., Diamond Cutter, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to the gloves worn by cricketers when batting, and it has

page_text: The
for its object to provide better protection for the fingers than is at present afforded
by such gloves as now made without rendering the gloves unduly bulky or
interfering with the grip of the handle when batting. These gloves as heretofore
made very inadequately protect the fingers, especially against fast bowling, and
injury to the fingers of a batsman by a swift ball is a frequent occurrence.
object of my invention is to render any such injury practically impossible, and my
invention consists in substituting for the finger pieces and their india-rubber pads a
glove stiffened by a guard or shield made of rigid material of a size just sufficient
to receive the four fingers and of concavo-convex form corresponding to the
curvature of the fingers when grasping the handle of the bat.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, wherein
Figure 1 is a view of the improved glove applied to the right hand which is
represented as grasping the handle of a bat.
Figure 2 is a back view, and Figure 3 a palm view, of a hand with the glove
applied.
Figure 4 is a section on line 1-1 Figure 5 which is an inside view of the shield
before being covered.
The same letters of reference denote like parts in all the figures.
The shield A is made of gutta-percha, leather, or other stiff material. If made
of gutta-percha it may be made in one piece by moulding in the ordinary way of
making gutta-percha goods. It has a curved back portion a, side pieces bb, and a
central partition piece c which divides the hollow of the shield into two capacities
being interposed between the second and third fingers and which serves to greatly
strengthen the shield against a blow or the shield may have two divisions or three
if found desirable. The shield is covered internally and externally with wash
leather or equivalent material, which extends beyond the shield towards the wrist
as at D, the glove being retained in place on the hand, without interfering with the
grip of the handle of the bat, by cross-bands E attached to the sides and inter-
mediate partition and beneath which the fingers are inserted, as shewn in Figure 3.
The glove is further retained by an elastic band F attached to the back extension D
and encircling the wrist to which a thumb piece G provided with rubber pads of
the ordinary character is attached as in ordinary batting gloves. The glove for
the left hand would be similar except that the shield is rather flatter owing to the
difference in the flexure of the fingers in grasping the handle of the bat and the
shield would be extended along the portion D to protect the back of the hand.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is―
A cricketer's batting glove formed of or stiffened by a shield, constructed
substantially as described, adapted to enclose and protect the fingers in the manner
specified and provided with suitable means of attachment to the hand.
noted this 2ilith now Of
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R. E. NORTH,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.