U.S. patent application number 11/652874 was filed with the patent office on 2007-07-12 for high-friction glove/wrist guards for ice skating.
This patent application is currently assigned to CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC.. Invention is credited to Christine Collins, R. Dawn Comstock.
Application Number | 20070157364 11/652874 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38231305 |
Filed Date | 2007-07-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070157364 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Comstock; R. Dawn ; et
al. |
July 12, 2007 |
High-friction glove/wrist guards for ice skating
Abstract
A protective glove/wrist guard device is provided that prevents
hands from slipping out from under a falling ice skater when the
ice skater extends his or her hands to break a fall. The protective
glove/wrist guard device may include a palm surface portion having
a high-friction surface portion, to provide both high-friction when
contacting ice, and wrist support to help prevent wrist and hand
injuries. Alternatively, the protective device may be in the form
of a glove with a high friction material disposed on a palm surface
portion of the glove.
Inventors: |
Comstock; R. Dawn;
(Columbus, OH) ; Collins; Christine; (Columbus,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MARSHALL, GERSTEIN & BORUN LLP
233 S. WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 6300
SEARS TOWER
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
|
Assignee: |
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC.
|
Family ID: |
38231305 |
Appl. No.: |
11/652874 |
Filed: |
January 11, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60758155 |
Jan 11, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
2/161.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 71/141
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
002/161.1 |
International
Class: |
A63B 71/14 20060101
A63B071/14 |
Claims
1. A protective device for placement on the hand of an ice skater
during ice skating, the protective device comprising: an upper
portion covering at least a portion of a back of the hand of the
ice skater; and a lower portion covering at least a portion of a
palm of the hand of the ice skater; wherein at least one of the
upper portion and the lower portion includes an ice engaging
surface that is covered with a high-friction material.
2. The protective device of claim 1, wherein the high-friction
material is sponge rubber.
3. The protective device of claim 1, further including at least one
stiffener for supporting the wrist of the ice skater.
4. The protective device of claim 3, including a flexible glove
portion removably attached to the at least one stiffener.
5. The protective device of claim 1, wherein the ice engaging
surface covers at least a portion of the palm of the hand of the
ice skater.
6. A protective glove for ice skating, comprising: an upper portion
covering at least a portion of a back of the hand of the ice
skater; and a lower portion covering at least a portion of a palm
of the hand of the ice skater; wherein the lower portion includes a
palm surface portion that is covered with a high-friction
material.
7. The protective glove of claim 6, wherein the high-friction
material is a sponge rubber material.
8. A method of ice skating while reducing the risk of injury
suffered by an ice skater from a fall that may occur during ice
skating, the method comprising: wearing a protective device on each
hand during ice skating, each protective device including an ice
engaging surface that is covered with a high-friction material; and
in the event of a fall, extending one or both hands toward the ice
such that the high-friction material contacts the ice.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the high-friction material is
sponge rubber.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the ice engaging surface covers
at least a portion of the palm of the hand of the ice skater.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 60/758,155, filed on Jan. 11, 2006, the
entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Disclosure
[0003] This disclosure relates generally to protective equipment
for ice skating, and more particularly, to equipment for preventing
head and face injuries among ice skaters.
[0004] 2. Background Description
[0005] Recreational ice skating is a popular pastime among adults
and children. Unfortunately, falls that occur while ice skating can
result in serious injuries, such as for example, head and face
injuries when a skater's face or head impacts the ice due to a
fall.
[0006] Recent research focusing on pediatric subjects has indicated
that there are distinctive differences in patterns of injuries of
ice skaters compared to roller and in-line skaters. While roller
and in-line skaters tend to sustain fractures to the wrist and
forearm, ice skaters were significantly more likely to sustain
concussions. There is no substantial difference in the direction
that ice and roller skaters typically fall (both groups typically
fall forward much more often than they fall backward or to the
side) and the majority of both groups attempt to break their fall
with their hands.
[0007] However, ice skaters are much less successful in preventing
injury by using their hands to break a fall, compared to roller and
in-line skaters. A significantly higher proportion of ice skaters
have their head impact the ice during a fall, even when attempting
to break a forward fall using outstretched hands. This appears to
be because ice is a low-friction surface, while roller rinks,
sidewalks, streets, etc., present significantly more friction as
compared to ice, e.g., when a skater's hands impact the ground
during a fall. Thus, when an ice skater sticks out his or her hands
when falling, the hands slip out from under the skater and the
skater's head impacts the ice. Conversely, when roller skaters or
in-line skaters use their hands to break a fall, they are typically
able to keep their head from hitting, although they may sustain
injury to their hands, forearms, and/or wrists.
[0008] In order to prevent injuries to the hands, forearms, and/or
wrists of roller skaters and in-line skaters, wrist guards have
been developed that include one or more rigid inserts or splints,
that serve to stabilize the wrist upon impact with the ground. One
example of such wrist guards is disclosed in Hu, U.S. Pat. No.
5,600,849, issued on Feb. 11, 1997. The Hu patent discloses a wrist
guard with a rigid palm pad for protecting a wearer against impact
and abrasion. Such wrist guards, however, do not present a
high-friction surface for use during ice skating to help prevent a
skater's head from impacting the ice due to the skater's hands
slipping upon contacting the ice.
[0009] One possible solution to the problem of head injuries for
ice skaters is to promote helmet use among ice skaters, and
particularly among pediatric ice skaters. However, because ice
skaters typically fall forward, only a helmet with a full face
shield will offer full protection from head injury. Children are
especially unlikely to tolerate wearing such a helmet for
recreational ice skating. Accordingly, a more effective method of
preventing head injury among ice skaters is to prevent the head
from hitting the ice during a fall.
[0010] This disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the
problems or disadvantages associated with the prior art.
SUMMARY
[0011] According to one aspect of the disclosure, a protective
device is provided that reduces the tendency of hands slipping out
from under a falling ice skater when the ice skater extends his or
her hands to break a fall. The protective device may be a
glove/wrist guard and may include an ice engaging surface covered
with a high-friction material. The device may provide both
high-friction when contacting ice, and wrist support to reduce the
risk of wrist, forearm, and/or hand injuries.
[0012] The high-friction material may be any suitable material,
such as a soft, spongy, rubber compound similar to those that are
used on the soles of broom ball shoes, curling "gripper" shoes, and
the like.
[0013] According to another aspect of the invention, a protective
glove for ice skating includes an upper portion covering at least a
portion of a back of the hand of the ice skater and a lower portion
covering at least a portion of a palm of the hand of the ice
skater. The lower portion may include a palm surface portion that
is covered with a high-friction material.
[0014] According to still another aspect of the invention, a method
of ice skating while reducing the risk of injury suffered by an ice
skater from a fall that may occur during ice skating is provided.
The method includes: wearing a protective device on each hand
during ice skating, each protective device including an ice
engaging surface that is covered with a high-friction material;
and, in the event of a fall, extending one or both hands toward the
ice such that the high-friction material contacts the ice.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view, taken from below, of a
protective glove/wrist guard that includes a high-friction surface
on a palm portion thereof;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the glove/wrist guard of FIG.
1;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the glove/wrist guard of FIG.
1;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a side view of the glove/wrist guard FIG. 1;
and
[0019] FIG. 5 is a perspective view, taken from below, of a
protective glove that includes a high-friction surface on a palm
portion thereof.
[0020] While the method and device described herein are susceptible
to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain
illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings
and will be described below in detail. It should be understood,
however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the
specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to
cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents
falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure and the
appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Although the following text sets forth a detailed
description of numerous different embodiments of the invention, it
should be understood that the legal scope of the invention is
defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this
patent. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary
only and does not describe every possible embodiment of the
invention since describing every possible embodiment would be
impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments
could be implemented, using either current technology or technology
developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still
fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.
[0022] It should also be understood that, unless a term is
expressly defined in this patent using the sentence "As used
herein, the term `______` is hereby defined to mean . . . " or a
similar sentence, there is no intent to limit the meaning of that
term, either expressly or by implication, beyond its plain or
ordinary meaning, and such term should not be interpreted to be
limited in scope based on any statement made in any section of this
patent (other than the language of the claims). To the extent that
any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent is
referred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single
meaning, that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse
the reader, and it is not intended that such claim term by limited,
by implication or otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally,
unless a claim element is defined by reciting the word "means" and
a function without the recital of any structure, it is not intended
that the scope of any claim element be interpreted based on the
application of 35 U.S.C. .sctn.112, sixth paragraph.
[0023] With reference initially to FIG. 1, a protective device for
covering a hand of an ice skater may be in the form of a
glove/wrist guard 10 and may include a lower portion, covering at
least a portion of a palm of the hand of the ice skater, that may
be in the form of a lower stiffener 12 disposed on the palm area of
the hand of the ice skater, and an upper portion, covering at least
a portion of a back of the hand of the ice skater, that may be in
the form of an upper stiffener 14 disposed on the back side of the
hand of the ice skater. Each of the stiffeners 12 and 14 may be
made from a rigid material, such as plastic or metal, and serve to
support the wrist of the ice skater. The glove/wrist guard 10 may
also include one or more attachment bands 16, that may be removably
secured using any appropriate fastening mechanism, such as, for
example, hook-and-loop fasteners. The glove/wrist guard 10 may also
include a flexible glove portion 18 that may be removably attached
to the stiffeners 12 and 14, and may be sized and shaped to conform
to the shape of a skater's hand 20. Alternatively, the glove/wrist
guard 10 may be sized and shaped to fit over a glove or a mitten.
The flexible glove portion 18 may be made from any suitable
material, such as leather, elasticized fabric, etc.
[0024] The lower stiffener 12 and/or the glove portion 18 may
include an ice engaging surface in the form of a palm surface
portion 22. The palm surface portion 22 may cover all or part of
the palm of a user's hand and/or the palm side of one or more
fingers of a user's hand, and may be covered with a high-friction
material, such as sponge rubber of the type that is used typically
for the soles of curling shoes, broomball shoes, and the like.
Alternatively, any other suitable high-friction material may be
used on the palm surface portion 22. The palm surface portion may
be attached to the lower stiffener 12 and/or the glove portion 18
in any suitable manner, such as, for example, by adhesive bonding,
stitching, etc.
[0025] In the event that a skater wearing a pair of the glove/wrist
guards 10 falls to the ice, the skater may simply extend his or her
hands in an instinctive manner to break the fall, such that the
high-friction surface of the palm surface portion 22 of each
glove/wrist guard 10 contacts the ice. The palm surface portion 22
helps to create a load path between the ice and the skater's
shoulders, and thereby may tend to prevent the skater's head from
impacting the ice (or at least lessens the energy of an impact of
the skater's head on the ice), rather than sliding out from under
the skater, as would be the case without having the benefit of such
a high-friction surface.
[0026] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, one or both of the
stiffeners 12 and 14 may be omitted (and the upper and lower
portions may be made from fabric, leather, etc.), and a
high-friction material patch 24 may be simply provided on a palm
surface portion 26 of a flexible glove 28, for example by
stitching, adhesive bonding, etc., in order to provide a protective
device for ice skating In other respects, the glove 28 may be both
constructed and used in a manner substantially similar to the
glove/wrist guard 10 of FIGS. 1 through 4. The glove 28, while not
offering a great deal of wrist support to a skater during a fall,
may nonetheless help prevent the skater's head from impacting the
ice when the skater uses his or her hands to break a fall, in a
manner similar to that discussed above with respect to the
glove/wrist guard 10.
[0027] While the preceding text sets forth a detailed description
of numerous different embodiments of the invention, it should be
understood that the legal scope of the invention is defined by the
words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent. The
detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does
not describe every possible embodiment of the invention since
describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not
impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented,
using either current technology or technology developed after the
filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope
of the claims defining the invention. For example, the
high-friction material may be applied to other surfaces instead of
or in addition to the palm surface portion, and the rubber compound
described above may be supplemented by or substituted by other
high-friction materials, such as those that are used on other
footwear traction devices. For example, other types and/or
combinations of high-friction materials, such as those that include
metal coils, metal studs, etc., may be used, as well as non-slip
fabrics, and/or safety tape that may include an abrasive surface
similar to sandpaper. In addition, the invention is not limited to
the context of ice skating, and could be used in conjunction with
any activity that is performed on a slippery surface, such as, for
example, walking on ice, playing broomball, curling, etc. Other
aspects and features of the disclosure may be obtained from a study
of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.
* * * * *