Title: Lacrosse glove
Abstract: A protective sports glove used to protect the fingers, the hand, the wrist, and at least a portion of the forearm of a user of the sports glove. The protective sports glove comprises a hand portion, including a palm section and a back section, a plurality of finger portions extending from the hand portion, a thumb portion extending from the hand portion proximate to the finger portions, and a cuff portion attached to the hand portion distal from the finger and thumb portions. The cuff portion includes a plurality of protection sections extending from the hand portion and aligned substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of sports glove. The hand portion, finger portions, and thumb portion include multiple protective elements used to protect a user's hand, fingers, thumbs, and wrist from impact during participation in the sporting event.
Patent Number: 6,990,690 Issued on 01/31/2006 to Gait
| Inventors:
|
Gait; Paul (Syracuse, NY)
|
| Assignee:
|
J. deBeer & Son, Inc. (Altamont, NY)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
798518 |
| Filed:
|
March 11, 2004 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
2/161.1 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
A41D 19/00 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
2/16,18,19,20,158,159,160,161.1,162,170
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3911497 | Oct., 1975 | Lewis, Jr.
| |
| D257909 | Jan., 1981 | Brine.
| |
| 4272850 | Jun., 1981 | Rule.
| |
| 4484359 | Nov., 1984 | Tirinen.
| |
| 4497073 | Feb., 1985 | Deutsch.
| |
| 4524464 | Jun., 1985 | Primiano.
| |
| 4541127 | Sep., 1985 | Gould.
| |
| 4677698 | Jul., 1987 | Angas.
| |
| 4815147 | Mar., 1989 | Gazzano.
| |
| 4930162 | Jun., 1990 | Cote.
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| 5088123 | Feb., 1992 | MacDonald.
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| 5237703 | Aug., 1993 | Brine.
| |
| 5367712 | Nov., 1994 | Smith.
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| 5511242 | Apr., 1996 | Bianchi.
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| 5511243 | Apr., 1996 | Hall.
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| 5745916 | May., 1998 | Linner.
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| 5819312 | Oct., 1998 | Snyder.
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| 5884329 | Mar., 1999 | Goldsmith.
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| 5946720 | Sep., 1999 | Sauriol.
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| 5963985 | Oct., 1999 | Behr.
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| 5983396 | Nov., 1999 | Morrow.
| |
| 5996117 | Dec., 1999 | Goldsmith.
| |
| 6122769 | Sep., 2000 | Wilder et al.
| |
| 6226795 | May., 2001 | Winningham.
| |
| 6233744 | May., 2001 | McDuff.
| |
| 6256792 | Jul., 2001 | MacDonald.
| |
| D446888 | Aug., 2001 | Morrow.
| |
| D462146 | Aug., 2002 | Aoki.
| |
| 6543057 | Apr., 2003 | Beland.
| |
| 6550069 | Apr., 2003 | Morrow.
| |
| 6584615 | Jul., 2003 | Wilder et al.
| |
| 6643844 | Nov., 2003 | Morrow.
| |
| 2002/0069445 | Jun., 2002 | Beland.
| |
| 2003/0014805 | Jan., 2003 | Morrow.
| |
| 2003/0101504 | Jun., 2003 | Morrow.
| |
| 2003/0106131 | Jun., 2003 | Tremblay.
| |
| 2003/0163862 | Sep., 2003 | Hoffman.
| |
| 2003/0218344 | Nov., 2003 | Garrett.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 1222853 | Jun., 1987 | CA.
| |
Primary Examiner: Welch; Gary L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Waddey & Patterson, P.C., Lanquist, Jr.; Edward D., Walker; Phillip E.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A protective sports glove having a longitudinal axis, the protective sports
glove comprising:
a hand portion including a palm section and a back section;
a plurality of finger portions extending from the hand portion;
a thumb portion extending from the hand portion proximate the finger portions; and
a cuff portion attached to the hand portion distal from the finger and thumb
portions, the cuff portion including a plurality of protection sections extending
from the hand portion and aligned substantially parallel with the longitudinal
axis: and
wherein each protection section includes a radial path to the longitudinal axis
unobstructed by adjacent protection sections.
2. The protective sports glove of claim 1, wherein each protection section includes
a width whereby the width increases as each protection section extends away from
the hand portion.
3. The protective sports glove of claim 2, wherein substantially the entire width
of each protection section includes contoured sides the unobstructed radial path
to the longitudinal axis.
4. The protective sports glove of claim 1, wherein:
each protection section includes a length and a plurality of sides; and
at least one side of each protection section is coterminous with at least one
side of an adjacent protection section.
5. The protective sports glove of claim 4, wherein at least one side of each
protection section is coterminous with at least one side of an adjacent protection
section along a majority of the length of each protection section.
6. The protective sports glove of claim 5, wherein each protection section is
pivotally attached to the adjacent protection section at a point alone the length
of each protection section.
7. The protective sports glove of claim 6, wherein the each protection section
is elastically attached to each adjacent protection section.
8. The protective sports glove of claim 6, wherein the plurality of protection
sections is arcuately aligned.
9. The protective sports glove of claim 1, wherein each protection section includes
a protection side and a flared end bent toward the protection side.
10. The protective sports glove of claim 1, further including:
a wrist portion engaging the hand portion and the cuff portion, the wrist portion
substantially covering the attachment between the hand portion and the cuff portion;
wherein the back section of the hand portion includes a plurality of protective
elements; and
wherein each of the finger portions includes a grip section and a back section,
the back section including a plurality of protective elements.
11. A protective sports glove for protecting the hand, wrist and forearm of a
user, the protective sports glove comprising:
a back section including a plurality of protective elements;
a palm section attached to the back section; and
a cuff portion attached to the back section and positioned substantially parallel
with the forearm of a user of the glove when in worn, the cuff portion including
a plurality of protection sections extending from the back section, wherein each
protection section is pivotally joined to at least one adjacent protection section.
12. The protective sports glove of claim 11, wherein the plurality of protection
sections is arcuately aligned.
13. The protective sports glove of claim 12, wherein the plurality of protection
sections substantially conforms to the shape of the forearm of the user.
14. The protective sports glove of claim 11, wherein the protection sections
are elongated in shape.
15. The protective sports glove of claim 11, wherein each protection section
includes a protection side and a flared end bent toward the protection side.
16. The protective sports glove of claim 15, wherein each protection section
includes a width whereby the width increases as each protection section extends
away from the hand portion.
17. The protective sports glove of claim 15, wherein each protection section
is substantially bell shaped.
18. A protective sports glove for protecting the hand, wrist and forearm of a
user, the protective sports glove comprising:
a hand portion including a palm side;
a plurality of finger portions extending from the hand portion;
a thumb portion extending from the hand portion proximate the finger portions,
wherein the hand portion, the finger portions and the thumb portion each include
a back side having a plurality of protective elements; and
a cuff portion attached to the hand portion distal from the finger and thumb
portions, the cuff portion including a plurality of protection sections extending
from the hand portion opposite the finger portions, wherein each protection section
is pivotally attached to at least one adjacent protection section to allow independent
deflection of each protection section relative to the adjacent protection section.
19. The protective sports glove of claim 18, wherein each protection section
includes a protection side and a flared end bent toward the protection side.
20. The protective sports glove of claim 18, wherein each protection section
includes a width whereby the width increases as each protection section extends
away from the hand portion.
21. The protective sports glove of claim 18, wherein each protection section
is elongated and is pivotally attached to at least one adjacent protection section
in a substantially arcuate alignment.
22. The protective sports glove of claim 18, wherein there are four protection sections.
23. The protective sports glove of claim 18, wherein the protection sections
are bell-shaped.
24. The protective sports glove of claim 18, further including a wrist portion
engaging the hand portion and the cuff portion and substantially covering the attachment
between the hand portion and the cuff portion.
25. The protective sports glove of claim 18, wherein each protection section
is aligned substantially parallel with the forearm of the user.
Description
All patents and publications mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference
in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to protective sports gloves, and more
specifically, but without limitation, to a lacrosse glove having a cuff constructed
and positioned to provide increased protection for a user of the glove.
Various protective sporting gloves have been developed over the years for
use in lacrosse, hockey, and other similar contact sports. These gloves are designed
protect the user of the glove, or player of the sport, against impacts and blows
to their hands during participation in the sporting event. Unfortunately, as the
protection provided by these gloves increases, the user of these prior art gloves
experiences a reduction in the amount of flexibility he has in his hand due to
the configuration of the glove. This reduction in flexibility can substantially
reduce the effectiveness and level of play of a participant wearing the glove.
Traditionally, however, as the level of flexibility allowed by a protective glove
remains high, the protection provided by that glove has been limited. It is known
in the art to provide a wrist guard on a sports glove to provide protection for
participants' wrists between the cuff and hand portions of the glove. However,
most of these prior art wrist guards limit the flexibility and therefore often
removed by a user of the glove.
There are several areas of the hand that need to maintain an increased level
of flexibility and yet still need a high level of protection. These areas include
the various joints of the fingers and hand including the wrist. The wrist area
can be especially problematic due to the high degree of flexibility within the
wrist. For example, the hand can extend in the direction from the back of the forearm
to the palm side of the forearm in a range of approximately 180°. This degree
of rotation combined with the size of the wrist and forearm areas that need to
be protected through this full range of motion presents increased problems.
For example, as the hand flexes towards the palm side of the forearm, any cuff
located on the back of the glove will be drawn towards the hand and away from the
forearm and wrist areas. Conversely, when the hand is flexed towards the back of
the forearm, any cuff located underneath the glove will be pulled toward the hand
and away from the palm side of the forearm. As such, a flexing of the hand at the
wrist reduces the protective covering for the wrist and forearm.
Compounding this issue is the very padding located at the wrist and forearm
areas. In order to sustain as complete of a range of motion as possible for the
hand at the wrist, the padding or protection on the forearm and wrist should not
substantially restrict the flexibility of the forearm, wrist and hand. Otherwise,
the amount of the rotational range of the hand when flexed at the wrist will be
limited due to the increased padding and protective materials in the glove.
In some instance, the configuration of the cuff itself limits the range of movement
for the hand and the flexibility in the glove. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. D462,146,
4,677,698, 4,497,073, 6,550,069, and 6,543,057 all disclose types of protective
sports gloves in which the configuration of the glove limits range of movement
of the hand at the wrist. In these prior art patents, the interaction between the
cuff guard, wrist guard, hand guard, limits the range of movement of the hand at
the wrist. This combined with the shape of the cuff on these gloves and the attachment
of the individual elements of the cuff to one another substantially reduces the
flexibility and range of motion of a wearer of the glove. As such, the users' ability
to properly participate in the sport is limited.
What is needed then is a protective sports glove that provides adequate protection
for the fingers, hand, wrist, and forearm of a user of the glove and still maintains
a large range of motion for the various joints of the hand and wrist of a user
of a glove.
This needed glove should protect a wearer of the glove from impacts from impacts
from the equipment used within the game, such as hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks,
pucks, balls, skates, and the like, as well was impacts between participants. This
needed glove should provided substantial protection to the participants fingers,
hands, wrists, and forearms while maintaining as much flexibility within the glove
as possible. The flexibility is desired to allow the user to properly participate
in the sport while the protection is required to reduce injury while participating
in the sport.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed herein is a protective sports glove used to protect the fingers,
the hand, the wrist, and at least a portion of the forearm of a user of the protective
sports glove. The protective sports glove comprises a hand portion, including a
palm section and a back section, a plurality of finger portions extending from
the hand portion, a thumb portion extending from the hand portion proximate to
the finger portions, and a cuff portion attached to the hand portion distal from
the finger and thumb portions. The cuff portion includes a plurality of protection
sections extending from the hand portion and aligned substantially parallel with
a longitudinal axis of sports glove. The hand portion, finger portions, and thumb
portion include multiple protective elements used to protect a user's hand, fingers,
thumbs, and wrist from impact during participation in the sporting event.
Also included is a protective sports glove comprising a back section, a palm
section attached to the back section, and a cuff portion attached the back section.
The back section includes a plurality of protective elements used to protect the
hand of a user of the glove. The cuff includes a plurality of protection sections
extending from the back section substantially parallel with the forearm of the
user of the glove when the glove is worn by the user. The protection sections include
a protection side having padding and protective elements. Each protection section
also includes a flared end bent upward towards the protection side of the protection sections.
Also included is a wrist portion engaging the hand portion and the cuff portion.
The wrist portion substantially covers the attachment between the hand portion
and the cuff portion and facilitates in the protection of the user's wrist, while
maintaining the flexibility in the wrist.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sports glove to protect
the hand, wrist, and forearm of a user of the glove during participation in the sport.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sports glove that
maintains
the flexibility of the joints in the user's wrist and hand during participation
of a sport while adequately protecting the fingers, hand, wrist, and forearm of
a user of the glove.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a protective glove
that has a cuff comprised of elongated protection sections substantially aligned
in an arcuate form.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sports glove that
has
a cuff portion including protection sections and designed to allow a large range
of motion in the hand of a user of the glove.
Another object of the current invention is to provide a protective sports
glove that has multiple wrist and forearm protection section pivotally attached
to allow independent movement and independent absorption of forces applied to the
wrist and forearm areas.
Numerous other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, upon a reading of the following
disclosure, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the back side of one embodiment of the glove
of the current invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the palm side of one embodiment of the glove
of the current invention. FIG. 2 shows a user's hand approaching the glove for insertion.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the protective side of one embodiment of the
protective glove of the current invention. FIG. 3 shows a user's hand inserted
into the glove with a portion of the forearm extending out from underneath the
cuff of the glove.
FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the cuff portion of the glove. FIG. 4 shows the
underside of the cuff portion that is nearest the skin of a user of a glove.
FIG. 5
a shows a view of one embodiment of the protection sections attached
to one another.
FIG. 5
b shows the protection sections of FIG. 5
a arranged in an
arc like alignment.
FIG. 6
a shows an alternate embodiment of a subassembly of the cuff portion.
FIG. 6
b shows a view of the subassembly similar to FIG. 6
a.
FIG. 7
a shows a top view of one of the individual protection sections
shown in FIG. 6
a and FIG. 6
b.
FIG. 7
b shows a side view of the protection section shown in FIG. 7
a.
FIG. 7
c shows an end view taken along lines 7
c of FIG.
7
b.
FIG. 8 shows the protection sections shown in FIGS. 6
a-7
c arranged
in an arc like design.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring generally now to FIGS. 1-8, a protective glove used in sports
is shown and generally designated as the numeral
10. The protective glove
10 can be used in numerous sports, including lacrosse, hockey, and the like.
The protective glove
10 includes a longitudinal axis
12 and comprises
a hand portion
14, a plurality of finger portions
16, a thumb portion
18, and a cuff portion
20. The hand portion
14 includes a
palm section
22 and a back section
24, while the plurality of finger
portions
16 extend from the hand portion
14. The thumb portion
18
also extends from the hand portion
14 proximate to the location of the finger
portions
16.
The back section
24 of the hand portion
14 includes a plurality
of protective elements
26 positioned to protect the hand of a user of the
protective glove
10 from impact. Each finger portion
16 and thumb
portion
18 includes a grip section
28 and a back section
30.
The back sections
30 also include a plurality of protective elements
26
positioned on the back sections
30 of the finger portions
16 and
thumb portion
18 to protect a user of the glove
10 from impact. The
protective elements
26 can be padding, plastic, rubber, leather, and other
items and materials known in the art to provide protection from impact.
The cuff portion
20 is attached to the hand portion
14 distal from
the attachment between finger portions
16 and thumb portion
18 to
the hand portion
14. The cuff portion
20 includes a plurality of
protection sections
32 extending from the hand portion
14 and aligned
substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis
12.
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, a user's hand
100 can be inserted and protected
by the glove
10. Specifically, a user's fingers
102, thumb
104,
wrist
106, and forearm
108 can be protected by the glove
10.
The protection for the user's forearm
108 is at least a partial protection
of the lower part of the user's forearm
108 that is nearest the user's wrist
106.
The cuff portion
20 includes a cuff opening
21 between the end
protection sections
32. The cuff opening
21 facilitates a full range
of a user's hand
100 when the user wearing a glove
10.
In a preferred embodiment of the glove
10, the plurality of protection
sections
32 are elongated in shape. Each protection section
32 includes
a width
34 that increases as each protection section
32 extends away
from the hand portion
14. This is best viewed in FIG. 7
a. These protection
sections
32 include sides
36 that are contoured and facilitate the
expansion of the width
34.
Each protection section
32 also includes a protection side
38
and a flared end
40 bent towards the protection side
38. The flared
end
40 facilitates flexibility within the glove by not restricting the range
of movement of the hand at the wrist. This full range of movement is facilitated
by the degree
41 of the bend located in the flared end
40 of each
protection section
32. This can also be described as the distance
42
in which the flared end
40 raises off parallel with respect to the remainder
of the protection section
32.
In a most preferred embodiment, the flared end starts to raise approximately
half
way along the length
44 of the flared end
40. Also, the distance
42 with which the flared end
40 raises with respect to the rest of
the protection section
32 is approximately 25% of the overall length
44
of the elongated protection section
32.
Each protection section
32 is also attached to the adjacent protection
sections
32. This attachment can be accomplished by various techniques,
including, but not limited to, elastic, tied, Velcro®, snapped, and the like.
The attachment can occur on the protection side
38 or the user's side
39
of each protection section
32. In a preferred embodiment each protection
section
32 is elastically attached to each adjacent protection section
32.
The plurality of protection sections
32 are arranged in an arc, or an arc
like formation, to substantially conform to the shape of the forearm
108
of a user the glove
10. This formation substantially protects the top and
sides of the user's forearm
108.
The protection sections
32 can also include attachment apertures
46
used to facilitate attachment between the non-adjacent protection sections
32.
This attachment between these non-adjacent protection sections
32 can be
accomplished through numerous techniques, including, but not limited to, elastic,
tied, Velcro®, snapped, stitched, and the like. In a preferred embodiment
there are at least three protection sections, while in a more preferred embodiment
there are four protection sections, while in a most preferred embodiment there
are five protection sections that are "bell-shaped" as seen in FIGS. 6A-6B.
The cuff portion
20 also includes an intermediary section
48 connecting
the elongated protection section
32 to the hand portion
14. The intermediary
section
48 includes at least one attachment location
50 used to attach
the intermediary section to the hand portion
14. This attachment location
can include the use of adhesives, Velcro®, snaps, elastic, tied, stitched,
and the like, to secure the cuff portion to the hand portion
14. The intermediary
section
48 includes a liner
52 used to facilitate connection between
the elongated protection sections
32 and the intermediary section
48.
The liner
52 can be of any material suitable for a liner known in the art,
but preferably comprises spandex.
In an alternate embodiment, the intermediary section
48 includes a connection
strip
54 with openings
56 to attach the elongated protection section
32 to the intermediary section
48. The protection sections
32
can be attached through fasteners
57 to the openings
56 and the connection
strip
54, then to the intermediary section
48. The fasteners
57
can be several items and techniques known in the art, including, but not limited
to snaps, tied fabric, elastic, and the like.
In a most preferred embodiment a centrally located protection section
33
has an increased width
34′ with the respect to the widths
34
of the remaining protection sections
32. This wider protection section
33
can be designed to be centrally located on the top portion of a user's forearm
108 when the user is wearing the glove
10 to provide additional protection
in an area of potentially increased impact.
The glove
10 further includes a wrist portion
58 engaging the hand
portion
14 and the cuff portion
20. The wrist portion
58 substantially
covers the attachment between the hand portion
14 and the cuff portion
20
and facilitates protecting the junction between the hand portion
14 and
the cuff portion
20. The wrist portion can have multiple protective elements
26 positioned along its outer surface to protect a wearer of the glove
10
from impacts. The positioning and spacing between the multiple protective elements
26 on the wrist portion
58 facilitates the maintenance of a substantial
level of flexibility in the wrist.
In an alternate embodiment, each protection section
32 includes at least
one side
36 that is coterminous with at least one side
36 of an adjacent
protection section
32. This relationship is best illustrated in FIG. 5A.
Preferably, this coterminous relationship extends along a majority of the length
44 of the protection section
32.
The protection sections
32 are pivotally attached to adjacent protection
sections
32 by pivot attachments
37. The pivot attachments
32
allow independent movement of one protection section
32 relative to adjacent
protection sections
32. The pivotal attachment facilitates the reduction
in movement of adjacent protection sections
32 when a single protection
section
32 absorbs an impact, or contact, during participation in the sporting
event. In a preferred embodiment, the pivotal attachment is a flexible attachment
accomplished through elastic. However, other forms of pivotal attachment can be used.
Alternately, the glove
10 can be described a glove protecting
the hand
100, wrist
106 and forearm
108 of a user of the glove
10. The glove
10 comprises a back section
20 that includes
a plurality of protective elements
26, a palm section
22 attached
to the back section
24, and a cuff portion
20 attached the back section
24. The cuff portion
20 includes a plurality of the protection sections
32 extending from the back section
24 substantially parallel with
the forearm
108 of the user.
Also, the plurality of the protection sections
32 are arcuately aligned
to substantially conform to the shape of the forearm
108 of the user. This
alignment along with the configuration of the protection sections
32 facilitates
protection of the wrist
106 and forearm
108 of the user of the glove
10.
Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present
invention of a new and useful Lacrosse Glove, it is not intended that such references
be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth
in the following claims.
*
