Sport Glove

Abstract

A NOVEL SPORT GLOVE IS CONSTRUCTED OF A STRETCH FABRIC INCLUDING SPANDEX FIBERS IN WHICH THE GLOVE IS PROVIDED WITH AN OVERLYING GRIPPING SURFACE OF RELATIVELY HIGH FRICTION MATERIAL ON ITS INTERIOR SURFACE. The dimensions of the glove and the glove fabric are selected in such a manner that the tensile forces exerted on the wearer's hand assist in the gripping function and exercise the hand.

Description

This invention relates to gloves and more particularly to a protective glove suited for use by participants in athletic activities involving substantial use of and wear on the hands.

The use of protective gloves in sports such as golf, tennis, baseball, weight lifting, handball and similar activities, is generally known. The typical prior art glove has been manufactured from relatively thin layers of natural or synthetic leatherlike materials. Normally, such gloves have been made in a variety of sizes which are adapted to fit the individual hand size of the user. In instances where a high-degree of abrasion was expected during use, some prior art gloves have been reinforced by the addition of layers of fabric on the interior surfaces.

Regardless of construction, all of the sport gloves heretofore available have been unsatisfactory in one or more respects. Typically, such gloves have been difficult to put on and remove and have become permanently distorted in the process of repeated wearings. As a result, there is a loss of good fit which causes abrasion between the hand of the user and the glove thereby generating blisters and defeating the primary purpose of the glove. Moreover, the loss of fit has resulted in a loss of feel and consequent loss of efficient grip, both of which are essential to effective use in sports. A more serious problem with the typical glove has been its lack of moisture resistance, particularly moisture generated by perspiration. Such wet gloves have not only resulted in slippage and loss of grip, but ordinarily the materials from which such gloves have been manufactured have dried out and lost their suppleness, thus further reducing control of fit and drastically shortening glove-life.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sport glove which overcomes the objectionable features of gloves heretofore utilized in the art.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a sport glove having a permanent snug fit which maximizes the feel of the user.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sport glove which retains its shape while being easily put on and taken off by the user.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a glove having superior moisture resistance and in which the gripping surfaces are unaffected by the presence of moisture or perspiration.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a glove which assists the user's grip and which effectively exercises the user's hand when in use.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a glove which offers relatively complete relief from the blisters and severe callouses normally encountered by the sportsman.

The above and other objects of the invention are achieved by a novel glove design in which both the dimensions and the fabric of the glove are critically selected to achieve a permanent snug fit and to exert an assisting pressure on the hand of the wearer. More specifically, the present invention contemplates a glove formed from a specially selected fabric blend including spandex fibers in which the fabric and glove dimensions are selected to achieve elongations of the glove fabric when in use such that certain minimum tensile forces are exerted on the hand which assist the gripping function and exercise the hand. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the glove also includes gripping surfaces which overlie at least a portion of the interior surfaces of the glove fabric and assist the user in obtaining a nonslip grip.

The above brief description as well as further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following description of a presently preferred illustrative embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view depicting the palm and interior surfaces of the glove;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the glove;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the palm and interior surfaces of the glove on the hand when the hand is at rest;

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the glove shown in FIG. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 depict the front panel 12 and the rear panel 14 of a glove 10 of generally conventional shape including finger retaining sections or stalls 16, 18, 20, and 22, thumb retaining section or stall 24 and cuff 26.

The major portion of the glove is formed from a pattern which defines the front and rear panels of the glove and includes the cuff, and finger retaining sections of the glove. A single piece of fabric is cut from the pattern and folded along crease 28 thereby defining front and rear panels 12 and 14. The crease 28 is formed in such a manner that the portion of each finger section extending from each of the front and rear panels 12 and 14 are in substantial alignment. The alignment is maintained by stitching the front and rear panels to each other along seam 30. Hems are formed at the bottom of the front and rear panels and stitched along seams 32a and 32b to define cuff 26. The finger stalls are completed by joining the portions extending from each of the front and rear panels to a continuous strip 34 which begins at the outer tip of stall 16 and extends along the length of and between each stall ending at the outer tip of finger 22. A unitary glove structure is achieved by seams 36 which join the front finger panels to strip 34 around the outer periphery of each front finger panel and seams 38 which join the rear finger panels to strip 34.

The glove construction is completed by the addition of a thumb retaining section 24 which is cut from a separate pattern and sewn into front panel 12 at seam 40.

The glove of the present invention is further characterized by the addition of overlying gripping inserts or strips 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50 to the interior surfaces of the finger and thumb retaining sections of the glove respectively. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the gripping strips extend from the tip of each stall beyond the base of the stall and into the palm 54 of the glove. Each gripping strip is stitched to front panel 12 at seams 56 extending around the outer periphery of each strip. The gripping strips are advantageously formed of a relatively high friction material such as leather or synthetic simulated leather materials including vinyl and urethane fabrics. While the gripping overlay is illustrated in the form of strips, it will be understood by those persons skilled in the art that a variety of configurations may be employed. For example, the interior surface of the glove may be completely covered with the high friction material by preforming a gripping overlay from a portion of the pattern used to cut the original glove. The addition of a gripping surface is critical to the sports use of the present invention since it provides a nonslip surface which does not come in direct contact with the hand of the user and therefore avoids direct permeation by perspiration. In combination with a specially selected moisture-resistant fabric, as will be more fully described hereinafter, the gripping surface provides a glove exhibiting extended wear life which will not lose its suppleness despite repeated exposures to perspiration.

The use of a combination of spandex and nylon in the proper proportion is critical to the performance of the glove since these fibers are resistant to perspiration, retain their resilience and texture for extended periods of time and have been found to generate the tensile forces required to achieve the novel performance characteristics of the invention. Fabric blends containing 10-30percent, preferably 15--250 15percent e.g. 19percent spandex and 70--90percent, preferably 75--85percent e.g. 81percent nylon are required. A tricot fabric woven from these materials represents the preferred form of the invention.

The unique performance characteristics of the glove are achieved by critically controlling the glove dimensions so that in combination with the critically selected fabric they result in the exertion of a minimum tensile force on the wearer's hand. The requisite tensile force is achieved by constructing the glove so that its dimensions are substantially smaller than the dimensions of the hand of the wearer thereby resulting in a stretching or elongation of the glove fabric. It is essential that the glove be stretched a minimum of 30percent of its original width as measured around the perimeter of the widest portion of the palm when the glove is in use. The nature and degree of vertical stretch is also critical to the performance of the glove. While the finger portions of the glove should be elongated in use to an extent sufficient to result in a form fit with the exertion of a uniform pressure around each finger, a minimal elongation is required in the palm area of the glove to assist in achieving the novel grip-assisting curl depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4. This vertical elongation is a minimum of 10percent of the palm of the glove, i.e. the distance between the seam 32 and the base of finger 18. It will be understood by those persons skilled in the art that the glove will not be adversely affected by elongations greater than those described herein and that greater elongations will merely result in the exertion of tensile forces greater than the required maximums. The upper limits of elongation and tensile forces are limited only in that they should not exceed the forces which would tend to reduce blood circulation in the hand.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the effect of the dimensions and elongations of the glove on the wearer's hand when the glove is in use. Since the glove fabric is elongated particularly in the horizontal and vertical directions of the palm area 54, the desire of the glove fabric to return to its relaxed state coupled with the exertion of the minimal tensile forces heretofore described causes the fingers and thumb of the wearer to curl inward. The result of this action is a curling of the hand which assists the user in the gripping function. Moreover, normal hand movements in the course of glove use will result in added exercise due to the tensile forces being exerted by the glove fabric in its attempt to return to an unstretched state.

The invention will be further understood by reference to the following illustrative example:

EXAMPLE 1

A tricot weave fabric comprising 19 wt. percent of a 40 denier spandex fiber and 81 percent of a 40 denier nylon fiber was employed to construct a glove. The main section of the glove including the finger retaining sections, palm area and back were cut from a single pattern and the cut out fabric was hemmed and stitched in an appropriate manner to result in a glove which measured approximately 53/4inches around the perimeter of the widest portion of the palm area and approximately 33/4inches in length in the palm area as measured from the cuff hem to the base of the middle finger. A thumb retaining insert and finger panel joining strip were cut from other patterns and sewn to the basic glove structure in a conventional fashion to complete the glove. A leather strip was sewn to each of the finger stalls and the thumb stall of the glove, the strips on the finger stalls extending well into the palm area. Sewing was accomplished by stitching the strips to the front panel of the glove around the outer periphery of each strip after it was centered on the finger while the glove was maintained in an unstretched condition.

The glove was subjected to repeated wearings and use by a professional tennis player. It was found that the glove was easy to put on and take off particularly when the glove was wet and that the nonslip characteristics of the gripping surfaces were unaffected by perspiration. Moreover in actual use the glove was stretched to a width of approximately 8 inches as measured around the periphery of the widest portion of the palm and approximately 4.25 inches as measured vertically on the palm area. The elongation resulted in a grip-assisting curl of the hand and exercise of the hand and finger muscles. It was also found that complete relief from hand blisters was obtained.

It is an additional feature of this invention that a single glove pattern may be employed to make a glove which fits hands of different sizes. Larger hands will cause greater elongations of the glove fabric and will enhance the unique effects of the glove.

Having thus described the general nature as well as specific embodiments of the invention, the true scope will now be pointed out in the appended claim.

Claims

I claim:

1. A hand glove comprising finger stalls, a thumb stall, and a palm area, said glove being formed from a fabric comprising 10 to 30 weight percent spandex fiber and 70 to 90 weight percent nylon fiber, the width of said palm area being less than the width of the hand on which said glove will be worn such that said palm area will be laterally elongated at least 30 percent when in use, the length of said palm area being less than the length of the palm area of the hand on which said glove will be worn, such that said glove will be vertically elongated at least 10 percent when in use, whereby the tensile forces acting on said palm area cause said finger stalls and said thumb stall to curl inwardly, at least a portion of the front surface of said glove being provided with overlying strips of relatively high friction material, said strips substantially covering the thumb and finger stalls, said strips on said finger stalls extending over part of said palm area.