U.S. patent application number 12/322146 was filed with the patent office on 2009-08-06 for finger puppet novelty hand garment.
Invention is credited to Deborah Magglo.
Application Number | 20090193562 12/322146 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40930189 |
Filed Date | 2009-08-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090193562 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Magglo; Deborah |
August 6, 2009 |
Finger puppet novelty hand garment
Abstract
The invention is an article of manufacture comprising a glove or
mitten having a thumb region and a forefinger region and a
character disposed across the middle finger and thumb regions. The
character is placed such that the top of the character's face and
mouth is across the middle finger region, and the bottom of the
mouth is across the thumb region. The mouth is therefore open when
the thumb region and middle finger region are not touching each
other, and is closed when the thumb region and middle finger region
are touching.
Inventors: |
Magglo; Deborah; (Montville,
NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GEARHART LAW, LLC
4 FERNDALE ROAD
CHATHAM
NJ
07928
US
|
Family ID: |
40930189 |
Appl. No.: |
12/322146 |
Filed: |
January 29, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61063540 |
Feb 4, 2008 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/158 ; 2/167;
446/327 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 3/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/158 ; 2/167;
446/327 |
International
Class: |
A41D 19/01 20060101
A41D019/01; A41D 19/00 20060101 A41D019/00; A63H 3/14 20060101
A63H003/14 |
Claims
1. An article of manufacture, comprising: a) a glove or mitten
having a thumb region and a middle finger region; and b) a
character face disposed across the thumb and middle finger
regions.
2. The article of claim 1, wherein the glove or mitten is for a
right hand.
3. The article of claim 1, wherein the glove or mitten is for a
left hand.
4. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face is
embroidered on to the glove or mitten.
5. The article of claim 1, wherein the glove or mitten is made from
a material selected from the group consisting of wool, cotton,
nylon, rubber, synthetic rubber, plastic, leather, or combinations
thereof.
6. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face is at least
partially formed from external ornamentation representing facial
features, and the facial features are selected from the group
consisting of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, whiskers, teeth,
horns, antlers, hats or combinations thereof.
7. The article of claim 6, wherein the character face is formed
using a combination of embroidery and external ornamentation.
8. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face is printed
across the thumb and forefinger regions.
9. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face is selected
from the group of animals, holiday faces, dinosaurs, cartoon
characters, Prince, or Princess.
10. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face has a silly
expression, a happy expression or a scary expression.
11. The article of claim 9, wherein the face is an animal face, and
the animal face is a cat face, a bunny face, or a bear face.
12. The article of claim 9, wherein the face is a holiday face, and
the face is selected from the group consisting of Santa, Frosty the
Snowman, a reindeer, a witch, a pumpkin or a ghost.
13. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face is stitched
onto the mitten or glove.
14. The article of claim 1, wherein the character face is adhered
to onto the mitten or glove using an adhesive.
15. A pair of gloves or mittens made according to claim 1.
16. A method of inducing children to wear their gloves, comprising:
affixing a character face to the thumb and forefinger regions of a
pair of gloves.
17. An article of manufacture, comprising: a) a glove or mitten
having a thumb region and a forefinger region; and b) an inanimate
scene, the inanimate scene becoming complete when the thumb region
touches the forefinger region.
18. The article of claim 17, wherein the glove or mitten is made
from a material selected from the group consisting of wool, cotton,
nylon, rubber, synthetic rubber, plastic, leather, or combinations
thereof.
19. The article of claim 17, wherein the thumb region has a touch
point and the forefinger region has a touchpoint, and the scene is
completed when the forefinger region touchpoint and the thumb
region touchpoint touch.
20. An article of manufacture, comprising: a) a glove or mitten
having a thumb region and a forefinger region; and b) an inanimate
scene, the inanimate scene becoming complete when the thumb region
does not touch the forefinger region.
21. The article of claim 20, wherein the glove or mitten is made
from a material selected from the group consisting of wool, cotton,
nylon, rubber, synthetic rubber, plastic, leather, or combinations
thereof.
22. The article of claim 21, wherein the scene is two dimensional
or three dimensional
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 61/063,540
filed Feb. 4, 2008, the contents of which are fully incorporated
herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to the field of garments for
hands.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The present invention relates to providing a whimsical
feature on a glove or mitten or on a pair of gloves or mittens,
with the primary purpose to be to entice young children or mentally
challenged adults to wear hand protection. Many times children or
mentally challenged adults balk at wearing hand protection, even in
cold weather, and the result is that their hands become cold and/or
chapped. This can lead to discomfort, which could ruin an outing
for the child or mentally challenged adult and accompanying others,
or, in extreme cases, lack of hand protection may lead to
frostbite. Chapped hands are more susceptible to infection and can
provide an entry point into the body for disease. Additionally,
unprotected wet hands can get stuck to frozen features outside,
causing pain upon removal.
[0004] Other instances when hand protection may be desirable is
anyplace that diseases are readily transmitted, for instance, a
caretaker may want a child or mentally challenged adult to wear
protective hand gear when riding in a grocery cart and putting
his/her hands on the handrail of the cart. Children or mentally
challenged adults who are particularly susceptible to disease may
be encouraged to wear gloves in many other situations as well, or
any time they go to a public place.
[0005] Prior art that is relevant to the present invention is
described below. None of the prior art teaches the present
invention.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 2,549,660 teaches a child's glove with an
elongated opening that can be opened for a child to insert his/her
hand into the glove. The opening is then closed to provide a snug
fit after the hand is in place inside the glove.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,065 teaches a walking hand puppet in the
figure of a walking or crawling land or sea animal, bird, insect or
the like, comprising a body with finger-insertable appendages, and
a non-functional glove on the body, said glove having a passage
formed therein through which a hand is insertable to insert the
fingers into the appendages and to manipulate them in simulation of
walking or crawling. The presence of the glove creates the optical
illusion that the hand is received and held therein, which raises
the question of how the appendages are manipulated.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,425 teaches a glove puppet assembly
simulating a creature with movable claws that has a body member and
forwardly extending claw members with lever arm portions which
extend into the cavity of the body member. A bell crank assembly in
the cavity is pivotally connected to the inner ends of the lever
arm portions, and an actuator connected to the bell crank assembly
extends outwardly of the body member so that it may be manually
actuated to pivot the bell crank assembly and cause the forward
ends of the claw members to move relative to each other. A glove is
secured to the lower outer surface of the body member and has a
finger thereof extending through a ring portion on the actuator so
that the user's finger may be pivoted downwardly to provide the
desired manual action. The creature also includes a tail member
pivoted to the body member, and it is pivotable by relative motion
between the forearm and hand of the user in the glove.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,025 teaches a hand puppet figure that
has head components which can be moved, by manipulation of the
operator's finger, relative to a body which is held substantially
immobile on the operator's hand. The puppet figure may have wings
capable of simulating flapping movement, while producing an audible
sound, and the glove employed is both functional and contributes to
aesthetic appeal.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,889 teaches a stuffed bear for teaching
sign language to deaf children. The stuffed bear has a pair of
hollow tubular arms through which the arms of a teacher pass, so
the hands project beyond the front edge surface of each arm. Each
arm is secured by stitching to a side of the main body of the
stuffed bear along one-quarter of the circumferential length of the
rear edge surface of the arm, which length is the upper and forward
section thereof, so that complete articulation of the arm may be
achieved to allow for the signs of sign language to be
performed.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,209 teaches a child's baseball glove
that includes a hand member, including a palm section, a finger
section, a thumb section, and a webbing section connecting the
thumb section to the finger section, and a padded pocket member
which extends along the front side of the thumb section, across the
base portion of the palm section, along the front side of the outer
portion of the finger section and across the upper end portion of
the front side of the finger section to substantially define the
perimeter of a pocket in the glove. The glove preferably further
includes an elongated padded retainer member which is detachably
secured to opposite side portions of the pocket member and extends
in outwardly spaced relation across the base portion of the palm
section. The glove can be initially used by a young child with the
retainer member in place in order to enable the child to more
easily catch and retain a ball in the pocket of the glove, and
after the child has developed an initial level of proficiency at
utilizing the glove, the retaining member can be removed to enable
the glove to be used in a manner similar to a conventional baseball
glove.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,507 teaches a shirt-like garment having
an upper body torso merging into a sleeve portion wherein a figure
is applied to the torso portion and to the sleeve portion to appear
as an integrated image. The sleeve preferably terminates in a
puppet head at its distal end so that a wearer may insert a hand
into the puppet head for manipulation as a convention puppet. The
mouth of the puppet head is preferably formed with upper and lower
inner mouth pieces defining a slot through which a hand of a wearer
may extend free from the puppet head. When so extended, the puppet
head will be fastened about the wrist of the wearer by suitable
fasteners.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,445 teaches a device for use in a puppet
to effect theatrical motion of the mouth and head by pivoting up
the top part of the head while simultaneously lowering the jaw.
This method of actuating both parts of the head to simulate mouth
movement also allows for rotation, tilting and exchange of the head
in a glove type hand puppet.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,610 teaches a mitten set that is
arranged to include a first, second, and third glove member to
permit simultaneous warming and securement between an adult and an
associated child, wherein the first glove member is a first sizing,
and the second glove member a second sizing greater than the first
sizing. The first glove member and the second glove member each
include respective first and second glove member fingers, and the
third glove member includes a third glove member finger, as well as
a second entrance opening arranged to receive a hand of a child
therethrough to permit securement of the individual child within
the third glove member to thereby share the third glove member by
an associated adult and child.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,415 teaches a child's mitten that
comprises an insulation member overcovering the hand, including the
thumb and fingers. A water-resistant shell covers the insulation
member and includes a flared arm portion configured to extend up
the wearer's lower arm and over the elbow. An elastic member in a
cuff at the upper end of the arm portion holds the mitten above the
elbow. An additional elastic member may be placed within the wrist
portion to compress it about the wearer's wrist, the insulation
member abutting or overcovering the wearer's jacket or coat cuff to
maintain a continuous insulative layer over the wearer's wrist. In
another feature of the invention, a universal thumb enclosure has a
base width equal to the base width of the finger enclosure, or
nearly so, enabling its use on either of the wearer's left or right
hand.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,461 teaches a hand puppet that includes:
a puppet glove to be worn by a player hand, a mouth-manipulating
device secured in a head portion of the puppet glove having a
mandible plate embedded in a lower-jaw sheath of a mouth portion of
the puppet glove and a maxilla plate embedded in an upper-jaw
sheath of the mouth portion of the puppet glove, and a sound
generator mounted in the mouth-manipulating device, whereby upon
pivoting of the maxilla plate about the mandible plate to open the
upper-jaw sheath to actuate the sound generator, a sound may be
produced from the sound generator for imitating an animal or man's
cry or singing for increasing a player's interest.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,269 teaches a toy figure that includes a
torso supporting a pair of pivotally secured legs and a pair of
pivotally secured arms. One of the legs is further pivotable in an
inward direction and is coupled to a pivotal lever supported within
the torso interior. One of the arms is coupled to a grasping claw
having a fixed jaw and a movable jaw pivotal with respect thereto.
A cable mechanism is coupled between the movable jaw and the
internally supported lever to provide opening and closing of the
grasping claw in response to inward motion of one leg with respect
to the torso. The opening and closing of the grasping claw is
independent of the pivotal motion of the arm and the rotational
motion of the grasping claw and is instead solely dependent upon
the inward motion of the coupled leg.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 6,971,943 teaches a sound-producing toy
configured to represent a living being having movable parts to
simulate a natural form of animation of a mouth and includes a
sound-producing unit operable in the response to the simulated
animation. Animation may be simulated by a hand inserted in the
toy, by operation of an actuator incorporated in the toy, or by a
remote control device. The apparatus includes a switch that
activates a sound-producing unit, which produces a sequence of
syllables that is capable of being synchronized with the animation
of the mouth. The onset, coda, and duration of each syllable's
nucleus is controlled by the user of the toy with the ability to
synchronize visual animation and the vocal performance of a
familiar song, poem, or other series of verbal audio events divided
into individual syllables, in a totally realistic manner. In
another aspect of the invention, a musical instrumental sequenced
performance may be synchronized with the vocal presentation and the
synchronized visual animation of the toy.
[0019] U.S. Design Pat. No. D512,752 teaches an ornamental design
for a glove puppet.
[0020] None of the art cited above teaches the present invention,
and the present invention has advantages that the prior art lacks.
The present invention is simple, easy to manufacture, and easy to
clean in a standard washer and dryer. Prior art for gloves and
mittens that have an audible component or devices inside for moving
the parts of the garment may be difficult to clean because the
components or devices may be damaged in a washing machine. Other
art cited involves functional features of gloves unrelated to
puppets.
[0021] None of the art addresses adding an ornamental feature to a
protective hand garment to encourage use of the garment by a child
or mentally challenged adult. Unlike the prior art, this invention
also serves a dual purpose: to protect the hands of the user and to
provide entertainment value to the user. The garment of the present
invention could be used in many ways to encourage one to wear the
glove. The child or mentally challenged adult may be delighted to
wear a puppet on their hand and may look forward to wearing and
playing with their gloves. They could also play with the glove
character during outings when they get bored. For the child or
mentally challenged adult who balks at protective hand garments,
the character face could be used to encourage them to wear the
garments. For instance, a caregiver may pretend the character face
is talking, and may tell the child or mentally challenged adult
that the character face will only be quiet once the glove is on
their hand. The caregiver may also encourage the child by assigning
a name and emotions to the character face, such as `Cindy kitty
will be sad if you don't put her on your hand and warm her face
up!` The caregiver may also play any number of games with the child
or mentally challenged adult using the character face on the
garment, either to encourage the child or mentally challenged adult
to wear the garment or just to entertain the child or mentally
challenged adult. The entertainment value is particularly important
during outings when other games or toys may not be readily
available, such as when running errands and when waiting in
line.
[0022] The caregiver and child or mentally challenged adult may
also have matching or complementary hand garments. The caregiver
can then encourage the child or mentally challenged adult to wear
the garment by putting on their own version of the garment, and
they may come up with many games employing the garments together or
individually.
[0023] Two or more children or mentally challenged adults may wear
the protective hand garments simultaneously and may invent many
games based on the garments.
[0024] Preferred embodiments of this invention are illustrated in
the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail
herein below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0025] The invention is an article of manufacture comprising a
glove or mitten having a thumb region and a middle finger region
and a character face disposed across the thumb and middle finger
regions. The invention solves the problem of convincing children or
mentally challenged adults to wear protective hand gear,
particularly gloves or mittens. It also provides hand protection
and entertainment in one garment. The invention consists of a face
or other feature on the hand garment. The face has a mouth or other
type of opening that has one portion on the thumb portion of the
hand garment, and a second portion on the middle finger portion of
the hand garment. The mouth is closed when the hand garment is on
the hand and the thumb and forefinger are brought together to
touch. While the preferred garment is a glove or mitten to be worn
in cold weather, the invention can also be used with lighter fabric
or disposable materials to provide germ protection and
entertainment value.
[0026] It is an object of the invention to provide a means to
encourage children and mentally challenged adults to wear
protective hand gear.
[0027] It is an object of the invention to provide a whimsical
character on a protective hand garment.
[0028] It is an object of the invention to provide a picture or
scene on a protective hand garment.
[0029] It is an object of the invention to encourage children and
mentally challenged adults to wear gloves or mittens in cold
weather.
[0030] It is an object of the invention to encourage the use of
gloves or mittens in situations where hand protection is required
to discourage the spread of disease.
[0031] It is an object of the invention to entertain children and
mentally challenged adults by playing games with the characters on
the hand garments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing character faces on a set of gloves on the
hands of the user.
[0033] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a glove with the thumb distended away from
the forefinger such that the mouth of the character face is
open.
[0034] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a cat face disposed on the glove.
[0035] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a bunny face disposed on the glove.
[0036] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a Santa face disposed on the glove.
[0037] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a moveable flap that can conceal or reveal
the character face on the glove.
[0038] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a picture of a rainbow and a pot of gold
disposed on the glove.
[0039] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a picture of a ladybug and a flower disposed
on the glove.
[0040] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, showing a space scene disposed on the glove.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0041] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now
be described with reference to FIGS. 1-6 of the drawings. Identical
elements in the various figures are identified with the same
reference numerals.
[0042] FIG. 1 shows a pair of gloves 100, with a left glove 110 and
a right glove 120. Each glove has a thumb region 130, a forefinger
region 140, a middle finger region 145 and a character face 150.
The character face 150 is disposed such that a lower portion 170 is
disposed on the thumb region 130, and an upper portion 160 is
disposed on the forefinger region 140. The glove is shown on the
hand of the user, with the user arm 180 extending from the glove
opening 190.
[0043] The gloves are on the hands of the user and the thumb and
forefinger are touching in a way that allows the mouth of the
character to be closed. Although this figure illustrates the
invention with identical character faces on both gloves, the
character faces may be the same or different for the right and left
gloves, and the invention may be used for mittens or any other type
of garment that covers the hand fully or partially, including
garments such as but not limited to gloves that are open at the
fingertips, and hand garments that extend to cover the arms or
other body parts either fully or partially.
[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates the character face on the thumb and
forefinger region, but the character face may be on any portion of
the hand garment up to the middle finger region 210. For instance
but not limited to, the face may be in the palm of the hand, or
between the ring and pinky fingers. Additionally, the character
face may be disposed across two hand garments such that the face is
whole when the two hand garments are brought together, such as but
not limited to, putting part of the face on the left glove and the
other part of the face on the right glove.
[0045] Materials for the manufacture of the hand garments include
fabrics such as, but not limited to, wool, acrylic, nylon,
polyester, elastane, leather, faux leather, canvass, vinyl, cotton,
rayon, modal, bamboo, soy, or any combination thereof. Other
materials for the hand garments include but are not limited to,
fur, plastics, thermoplastics, rubber, synthetic rubber, latex,
neoprene, metals, Kevlar, Velcro, any type of paper, or any
combination thereof. The character face may be made from any of the
above materials and also may employ inks, adhesives, photographs,
or any combination thereof.
[0046] The face components may be fastened to the hand garment by,
but not limited to, sewing, embroidering, using adhesives, using
Velcro, snapping. The face may also be integrated into the garment,
by, but not limited to, printing onto the garment or weaving into
the garment fabric during manufacture.
[0047] The character face may be two dimensional or three
dimensional. The character face may be an original design, an
existing design that is either freely available in the public
domain or is used with the owner's permission, or an image that is
printed or transferred onto the hand garment, such as a photograph
or other digital image. The character face may be anything that can
be construed to have a face, including but not limited to, any
living being such as humans, animals, reptiles and birds, protozoa,
dinosaurs, insects, and plants.
[0048] The animal class may contain, but not be limited to,
aardvark, addax, alligator, alpaca, anteater, antelope, aoudad,
ape, argali, armadillo, baboon, badger, basilisk, bat, bear,
beaver, bighorn, bison, boar, budgerigar, buffalo, bull, bunny,
burro, camel, canary, capybara, cat, chameleon, chamois, cheetah,
chimpanzee, chinchilla, chipmunk, civet, coati, colt, cony, cougar,
cow, coyote, crocodile, crow, deer, dingo, doe, dog, donkey,
dormouse, dromedary, duckbill, dugong, eland, elephant, elk,
ermine, ewe, fawn, ferret, finch, fish, fox, frog, gazelle,
gemsbok, gila monster, giraffe, gnu, goat, gopher, gorilla, grizzly
bear, ground hog, guanaco, guinea pig, hamster, hare, hartebeest,
hedgehog, hippopotamus, hog, horse, hyena, ibex, iguana, impala,
jackal, jaguar, jerboa, kangaroo, kid, kinkajou, kitten, koala,
koodoo, lamb, lemur, leopard, lion, lizard, llama, lovebird, lynx,
mandrill, mare, marmoset, marten, mink, mole, mongoose, monkey,
moose, mountain goat, mouse, mule, musk deer, musk-ox, muskrat,
mustang, mynah bird, newt, ocelot, okapi, opossum, orangutan, oryx,
otter, ox, panda, panther, parakeet, parrot, peccary, pig,
platypus, polar bear, pony, porcupine, porpoise, prairie dog,
pronghorn, puma, puppy, quagga, rabbit, raccoon, ram, rat,
reindeer, reptile, rhinoceros, roebuck, salamander, seal, sheep,
shrew, silver fox, skunk, sloth, snake, springbok, squirrel,
stallion, steer, tapir, tiger, toad, turtle, vicuna, walrus,
warthog, waterbuck, weasel, whale, wildcat, wolf, wolverine,
wombat, woodchuck, and zebra.
[0049] The face may also be that of an inanimate object, including
but not limited to, automobiles, buildings, furniture, toys, nature
displays, fruits, vegetables, clouds, raindrops, the sun, planets,
household items, construction items, geometric shapes such as but
not limited to stars or triangles, or any item that can be made to
show a face. The faces may include, but are not limited to rockets,
insects, ladybugs, flowers, rainbows, planes and dinosaurs.
[0050] FIG. 2 shows the left glove 110 with the character face 150.
FIG. 2 illustrates what a glove looks like with the forefinger
region 140 separated from the thumb region 130, so that the upper
portion of the character face 160 and the lower portion of the
character face 170 are not touching. The dashed lines on FIG. 2
further illustrate the approximate geographical areas of forefinger
region 140 and middle finger region 210. In a preferred embodiment,
the character face 150 is defined by the middle finger region 145
to the thumb region 130 to the middle finger region 210, and most
preferably thumb region 130 to forefinger region 140. Where FIG. 1
showed the character face 150 with its mouth closed, FIG. 2 shows
character face 150 with its mouth open. FIG. 2 also shows glove
opening 190, middle finger region 210, ring finger region 220,
pinky finger region 230, and hand back region 240.
[0051] FIG. 3 shows the left glove 110 with a cat face 350. Cat
face 350 has an upper portion 360 and a lower portion 370. Glove
110 has a thumb region 130, a forefinger region 140, a glove
opening 190, and a user arm 180 extending from the glove opening
190.
[0052] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate that the character can represent a
season, such as but not limited to, the Easter Bunny or a
personified egg for Easter; Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, a
reindeer, elf, personified star or tree for Christmas; a
personified dreidel or menorah for Hanukkah; a leprechaun or
personified shamrock for St. Patrick's Day; a ghost, pumpkin or
witch for Halloween, or any other holiday symbols, either living or
capable of being personified with a face.
[0053] FIG. 4 shows the left glove 110 with a bunny face 450. Bunny
face 450 has an upper portion 460 and a lower portion 470. Glove
110 has a thumb region 130, a forefinger region 140, a glove
opening 190, and a user arm 180 extending from the glove opening
190.
[0054] FIG. 5 shows the left glove 110 with a Santa face 550. Santa
face 550 has an upper portion 560 and a lower portion 570. Glove
110 has a thumb region 130, a forefinger region 140, a glove
opening 190, and a user arm 180 extending from the glove opening
190.
[0055] FIG. 6 shows the left glove 110 with a character face 150.
Character face 150 has an upper portion 160, and a lower portion
170. Glove 110 has a thumb region 130, a forefinger region 140, a
glove opening 190, a middle finger region 210, a ring finger region
220, a pinky finger region 230, and hand back region 240. FIG. 6
illustrates a moveable flap 610 that can be placed in position to
cover and hide the character face 150, or can be flipped up or
removed to reveal the character face 150. Flap 610 can be an
integral part of the hand garment or can be attached by means,
including but not limited to, Velcro to make it removable. Although
the flap is shown as a particular shape in FIG. 6, this is for
illustrative purposes only, and the flap can be of any shape,
including but not limited to, the shape of the character or other
face it's covering, any geometric shape such as a polygon, star or
circle, and it can be placed and fastened on any side or sides of
the character or other face.
[0056] Also illustrated in FIG. 6 is that the glove may have a
method of keeping the flap 610 open, by employing a device such as
but not limited to, a male securing tab 620 on hand back 240 that
corresponds to a female securing tab 630 on flap 610. The glove can
be manufactured with or without the male securing tab 620 and
female securing tab 630. The securing tab can be made using
fastening devices that include but are not limited to, Velcro, a
snap, or a pair of tie strings. The flap and fastening device can
be made of any of the materials outlined above in discussion of
FIG. 1. The same method and materials could be employed to keep the
flap closed.
[0057] FIGS. 7-9 illustrate the invention using an inanimate scene
in place of the character face on the glove. The scenes may
include, but are not limited to rockets, insects, ladybugs,
flowers, rainbows, planes and dinosaurs. The inanimate scene is
completed when the thumb is opened or closed, most preferably when
it is closed against the forefinger region. Materials for the
manufacture of the hand garments include fabrics such as, but not
limited to, wool, acrylic, nylon, polyester, elastane, leather,
faux leather, canvass, vinyl, cotton, rayon, modal, bamboo, soy, or
any combination thereof. Other materials for the hand garments
include but are not limited to, fur, plastics, thermoplastics,
rubber, synthetic rubber, latex, neoprene, metals, Kevlar, Velcro,
any type of paper, or any combination thereof. The picture or scene
may be made from any of the above materials and also may employ
inks, adhesives, photographs, or any combination thereof.
[0058] FIG. 7 shows a left glove 110 with a picture that is
completed when the thumb is touching the forefinger. The glove 110
has rainbow 710 on the forefinger region 140, that ends in a pot of
gold 720 when the thumb region 130 and forefinger region 140 are
touching as illustrated. When the thumb region 130 and forefinger
region 140 are spread apart, the rainbow may be `looking for its
pot of gold.` Glove 110 has a middle finger region 210, a ring
finger region 220, a glove opening 190, and a user arm 180
extending from the glove opening 190.
[0059] FIG. 8 shows a left glove 110 with ladybug 810 on the glove
forefinger region 140, and a flower 820 on the glove thumb region
130. When the thumb and the forefinger are touching, as in the FIG.
8, the ladybug has `landed` on the flower. When the thumb and
forefinger are spread apart, the ladybug has `flown away.` FIG. 8
also shows that glove 110 has a middle finger region 210, a ring
finger region 220, glove opening 190, and a user arm 180 extending
from the glove opening 190.
[0060] FIG. 9 shows left glove 110 with a space ship and stars
scene 910 disposed across the forefinger region 140 and middle
finger region 210, with a planet and star scene 920 disposed across
thumb region 130. When the thumb region 130 and forefinger region
140 are touching, the spaceship may be `landing` on the planet. In
particular, glove 110 may have a middle finger region touchpoint
145 and a thumb region touch point 135 which touch when thumb
region 130 is closed against forefinger region 140. When the thumb
region 130 and the forefinger region 140 are spread apart, the
spaceship may be `hunting for the planet.` FIG. 9 also shows ring
finger region 220, pinky finger region 230, hand back region 240,
and glove opening 190.
[0061] Picture or scene components may be fastened to the hand
garment by, but not limited to, sewing, embroidering, using
adhesives, using Velcro, snapping. They may also be integrated into
the garment, by, but not limited to, printing onto the garment or
weaving into the garment fabric during manufacture.
[0062] Picture or scene components may be two dimensional or three
dimensional. The picture or scene may be an original design, an
existing design that is either freely available in the public
domain or is used with the owner's permission, or an image that is
printed or transferred onto the hand garment, such as a photograph
or other digital image.
[0063] Although this invention has been described with a certain
degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present
disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that
numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of
parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the
scope of the invention.
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