Protective Glove with Restrictive Pads

This invention relates generally to protective gloves, and more particularly to a protective glove having restrictive pads that help to prevent hyperextension of the fingers while being worn.

Gait, U.S. Pat. No. 10,118,082 (Under Armour), teaches a protective sports glove provided with a padding. The glove includes: a palm portion that cooperates with a dorsal portion to receive a metacarpus part of a hand. A plurality of finger portions are formed at a joint along a top edge of the dorsal portion distal from a wrist. A backside pad is attached to the dorsal portion, such that the upper edge of the pad aligns with and extends along at least a portion of the joint but is detached from the dorsal portion. A plurality of padded segments are disposed along a length of each of said finger portions.

The teachings of Gait are directed to protective gloves (particularly lacrosse gloves), and intended for impact protection. The padded segments each include an outer layer that generally surrounds an inner, energy absorbing pad or block (e.g., foam). The padded segments are manufactured to be rigid, but are primarily “energy absorbing” rather than restrictive to prevent finger jamming. In use, finger joints are positioned between gaps in the padding, but the gaps are not formed to abut and therefore limit movement, but rather to create space to increase flexibility.

Sauriol, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,720 teaches a protective glove (hockey glove) that includes finger receiving portions that each have at least two flexion zones (joints) that correspond to the joints of the fingers, thereby increasing the flexibility of the glove. Sauriol is oriented toward ideal stick handling, not prevention of finger jamming. “Flexion zones” (gaps) are described exclusively as allowing forward bending. Sauriol takes this one step further, however, and requires that at least one of the segments have a “longitudinal dimension of the dorsal side” that EXCEEDS the “longitudinal dimension of the inner side.” Since this outer dimension is larger than the inner, it causes the segments to actually restrain movement of the user's hand to its natural open state, and it must remain at least partially closed. While this is fine for a hocky glove, it would restrict movement too much in a standard glove.

Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 9,839,831 teaches a protective sports glove having a novel combination of liner sections, breathable mesh sections, stretch joints, and shock absorbing cushions to provide maximum protection to the user's fingers, hands, wrists, and lower forearms while maintaining as much flexibility within the glove and tactile feel on both palmar and dorsal sides of the glove as possible. The pattern and construction employs strategically-placed stretch zones, strategic padding placement, and a variety of improved padding constructions all for more flex without compromising protection.

Copeland, U.S. Pat. No. 9,113,664 (adidas), teaches a protective sports glove including a hand portion having a palmer and dorsal region that surround and define a cavity for receiving a player's hand. A finger portion and thumb portion extend outwardly from the hand portion. Copeland includes a plurality of pads separated from each other by valleys positioned over the player's joints. The “valleys” (gaps) of Copeland are also intended to increase flexion, not limit it, and further are intended to allow air flow into the gloves.

Gazzano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,147 teaches another form of hockey glove that has knuckle protective pads which follow the position of the player's knuckles beneath the pads. Break lines are arcuate in shape and incline rearwardly toward wrist portion of the glove from base of thumb portion.

The prior art teaches protective sports gloves with topside padding. However, the prior art does not teach gloves with rigid pads intended to limit backward flexion/hyperextension of the fingers, while not overly constraining movement of the hands. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary.

The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.

The present invention provides a protective glove for a human hand having four metacarpals, each forming a metacarpophalangeal joint with one of four fingers, each of the four fingers having three phalanges connected with phalangeal joints. The protective glove comprises a metacarpus portion comprising a palm side attached to an opposing dorsal side which together cover the metacarpals of the human hand, and four finger portions attached to the metacarpus portion, each finger portion having a bottom side and a top side which together surround one of the fingers of the human hand. A plurality of rigid pads are attached to the top side of each of the finger portions, wherein each of the rigid pads has an end surface that abuts an end surface of an adjacent rigid pad, the rigid pads being positioned so that the end surfaces of abutting rigid pads are positioned over one of the phalangeal joints when the protective glove is being worn. The end surfaces are formed to abut each other when the finger portions are straightened to an axis of each of the finger portions, but to restrict any backward flexion of those joints beyond the axis of each of the finger portions while the protective glove is being worn, and also to not interfere with forward flexion of the finger portions. At least one rigid metacarpus pad is attached to the dorsal side of the metacarpus portion adjacent the finger portions, and a side edge of the at least one rigid metacarpus pad is positioned over the metacarpophalangeal joint and is formed at an angle to the end surface of the adjacent rigid pad of each of the finger portions. The angle is between approximately 10-50 degrees, so that limited backward flexion of the finger portions relative to the metacarpus portion is allowed when the protective glove is being worn, but is restricted from further backward flexion.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a protective glove having advantages not taught by the prior art.

Another objective is to provide a protective glove having a plurality of rigid pads that help to prevent hyperextension of the fingers while being worn.

A further objective is to provide a protective glove having pads that include end surfaces that abut.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

The above-described drawing figures illustrate the invention, a pair of gloves that are adapted to protect the user's fingers from being bent backwards and hyper-extended, potentially causing dislocation.

is a perspective view of a protective gloveaccording to one embodiment of the present invention, andis a side elevational view of one of four finger portionsof the protective gloveshown in a straightened position. As shown in, the protective gloveis adapted to be worn by a human handhaving four metacarpals, each forming a metacarpophalangeal jointwith one of four fingers, and each of the four fingershaving three phalangesconnected with phalangeal joints. The protective gloveincludes a plurality of rigid padsthat restrict backward flexion of the metacarpophalangeal jointsand the phalangeal joints, which may prevent hyper-extension or finger “jamming” while being worn, such as while playing a sport or performing manual labor.

As shown in, the protective glovecomprises a metacarpus portionhaving a palm sideattached to an opposing dorsal sidewhich together cover the metacarpalsof the human hand, and four finger portionsattached to the metacarpus portion. Each finger portionhas a bottom sideand a top sidewhich together surround one of the fingersof the human hand. As shown in, in this embodiment, the protective glovefurther includes a fifth finger portion, for the pollex (thumb) of the human hand. In some embodiments, a wrist portionmay be included, which may include any typically associated features, e.g., elastic material, a fastener, etc., as is well-known in the art. In various embodiments, the metacarpus portionand the finger portionsandmay be formed of any suitable materials, e.g., leather, synthetic leather, PVC, latex, neoprene, cotton, etc., or a combination of these, or any other materials compatible with the invention as-claimed. For example, the palm sideof the metacarpus portionand the bottom sidesof the finger portionsandmay include a high-friction material to enhance grip, while the dorsal sideand top sidesinclude more breathable materials. However, any suitable combination of materials, in any locations of the protective glove, may be constructed.

As illustrated, the plurality of rigid padsmay be attached to the top sideof each of the finger portionsand/or. However, in some constructions, the plurality of rigid padsmay be applied to only one or some of the finger portions/. The protective glovefurther includes at least one rigid metacarpus padattached to the dorsal sideof the metacarpus portionadjacent the finger portions. In this embodiment, there are three rigid metacarpus padsof different shapes and sizes, but any suitable number of metacarpus pads may be included, in any functional shapes and locations. As shown, each of the plurality of rigid padsincludes a bottom surfacewith a perimeter edge, wherein each pad may be attached to its respective portion of the protective glovealong the entire perimeter edgeof the bottom surfacevia stitching, a permanent adhesive, or some other means of attachment. The rigid padsmay be constructed of a high density foam material, which may be constructed of rubber, leather, plastic, silicone, spandex, neoprene, nylon, polyester, etc., or a combination of these. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of rigid padsis in a generally rectangular shape and sized to extend the length of each phalange of the hand. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the plurality of rigid padsis in a slight “hourglass” shape, but other shapes may be implemented, as long as the rigid padsare compatible with the present invention as-claimed.

Importantly, each of the rigid padshas an end surfacethat abuts an end surfaceof an adjacent rigid pad, the rigid padsbeing positioned so that the end surfacesof abutting rigid padsare positioned over one of the phalangeal jointsof the hand when the protective gloveis being worn. Furthermore, a side edgeof the at least one rigid metacarpus padis positioned over the metacarpophalangeal jointand abuts the adjacent end surfacesof the rigid pads. As shown in, the end surfacesof the rigid padsare formed to abut each other when the finger portionsand/orare straightened to an axis of each of the finger portions. The side edgeof the at least one rigid metacarpus padis positioned over the metacarpophalangeal jointand is formed at an angle to the end surfaceof the adjacent rigid padof each of the finger portionsand. The end surfacesand the side edgeare also shown inand discussed in further detail below.

is a side elevational view of one of the finger portionsof the protective glove, shown with forward flexion, andis a side elevational view thereof, shown with partial backward flexion. As shown in, the end surfacesfurther restrict any backward flexion of the respective joints beyond the axis of each of the finger portionsandwhile the protective gloveis being worn. However, as shown in, the rigid padsdo not interfere with forward flexion of the finger portions. Furthermore, as discussed, the side edgeof the at least one rigid metacarpus padis positioned over the metacarpophalangeal jointand is formed at an angle to the end surfaceof the adjacent rigid padof each of the finger portionsand. In various embodiments, the angle is between approximately 10-50 degrees, so that limited backward flexion of the finger portionsandrelative to the metacarpus portionis allowed when the protective gloveis being worn, but is restricted from further backward flexion. In this manner, the phalangeal jointsof the human handcannot flex beyond the straightened position shown in, while the metacarpophalangeal jointshave limited additional flexion due to the angle created by the side edgeof the metacarpus padand the end surfaceof the adjacent rigid pad. As illustrated, there may be a thickening of the material of the padsandadjacent each joinand, wherein the materials thickness may impart additional strength to resist hyper-extension.

The title of the present application, and the claims presented, do not limit what may be claimed in the future, based upon and supported by the present application. Furthermore, any features shown in any of the drawings may be combined with any features from any other drawings to form an invention which may be claimed.

As used in this application, the words “a,” “an,” and “one” are defined to include one or more of the referenced item unless specifically stated otherwise. The terms “approximately” and “about” are defined to mean +/−10%, unless otherwise stated. Also, the terms “have,” “include,” “contain,” and similar terms are defined to mean “comprising” unless specifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the terminology used in the specification provided above is hereby defined to include similar and/or equivalent terms, and/or alternative embodiments that would be considered obvious to one skilled in the art given the teachings of the present patent application. While the invention has been described with reference to at least one particular embodiment, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments, but rather the scope of the invention is defined by claims made to the invention.