Glove for Small Child with View of Finger Openings

Abstract

A child or adult glove which allows the child or adult to see his or her thumb and fingers up to the moment when they are inserted in the glove finger and thumb holes. This is accomplished with at least one and preferably two zippers or hook and loop fasteners which extend from a wrist opening along the dorsal side of the glove towards the finger openings. The zippers or hook and loop fasteners are arranged such that the back of the glove can be folded out of the way so that the entry to the thumb and finger holes is clearly visible.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional app. 61/580,400, filed Dec. 27, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to articles of clothing functionality designed for small children, and articles of clothing worn on the hand, particularly mittens and gloves.

Common experience with small children is that it is difficult for them to don gloves because of the difficulty of getting their fingers evenly distributed into the correct corresponding fingers of the gloves. It seems likely this is in part caused by the difficulty of forming a mental image of the hand, and fingers in particular, once they are no longer visible. Almost everyone who has played with small children has played the game of peekaboo where the child's vision is obstructed by a blanket or similar object or article of clothing, and the child imagines that they are themselves invisible because they cannot see you. It seems in a similar way that small children once they can no longer see their fingers because they are covered by the fabric of a glove or mitten have a greatly decreased ability to manipulate them in coordination with the visual perception. Thus the common experience of placing or assisting the donning of a glove or even a mitten on the child's hand results in the thumb or fingers not being properly inserted into the thumb or fingers of the glove. Even for very small children this is problematic as the compression of two or three fingers in a single glove finger may be uncomfortable or impede circulation of blood resulting in excessive chill. There is also a clear perception that the ability to visually manipulate their hands entertains even very young children and makes them feel less constrained should they be fastened in a car seat or similar device. Because all five fingers and thumb are inserted nearly simultaneously into the respective finger or thumb hole, it can be nearly impossible to get a glove or even a mitten properly situated on the child's hand without their cooperation. However once they can no longer see their fingers they appear to have great difficulty in providing the necessary cooperation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The child glove of this invention allows the child to see his or her thumb and fingers up to the moment when they are inserted in the thumb or finger holes. This is accomplished with at least one and preferably two zippers which extend from a wrist opening along the dorsal or back side of the glove towards the finger openings. Zippers are arranged such that the back of the glove can be folded out of the way so that the entry to the thumb and finger holes is clearly visible. The arrangement is such that the child can have a clear view of the fingers and thumb and the holes to which they are to be placed at least until the finger and thumb have actually begun to enter the holes. In the preferred embodiment with two zippers, the zippers are on the dorsal (back) side, along dexter (right) and sinister (left) edges of the glove. The two zippers create between them a dorsal flap which may be folded forward to give a clear view of the openings or holes formed by the glove and meant for receiving corresponding fingers and thumb of the hand. The glove may also incorporate a Velcro® fasteners or other type of strap about the wrist of the glove to perform the conventional function of keeping the glove more securely fastened to the hand and to prevent the ingress of cold air or snow into the glove. The Velcro® fasteners or other type strap can simultaneously be arranged to prevent the zippers from opening unintentionally.

It is an object of the present invention to facilitate cooperation or independent donning of a glove or mitten by a child.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a glove which provides visual access to the finger and thumb holes.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a dorsal (back) plan view of the glove of this invention, showing a zipper cover in outline.

FIG. 2 is a ventral perspective view of the glove of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a glove sizing scale.

FIG. 4 is a dorsal (back) plan view of the glove of FIG. 1 showing the back of the glove in the open position making the finger holes visible.

FIG. 5 is a dorsal (back) plan view of an alternative embodiment of the glove of FIG. 1 showing the use of hook and loop fasteners instead of zippers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1-5 wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a child's glove 20 is shown in FIG. 1. The glove defines a glove body 21 which has a back or dorsal side 22 along which are arranged a thumb 23 side zipper 24 and which is spaced from the pinky 25 side zipper 26. The zippers 24, 26 are arranged to open and close flap slits 27, 29, shown in FIG. 4, that extend from a wrist opening 28 toward the fingers 30 of the glove. The zippers 24, 26 are sewn into the slits 27, 29 to extend from a wrist opening 28 to a position just short (0.25-1.0 inches) of where the finger 30 openings 32 begin. As shown in FIG. 4, when the zippers are opened a flap 34 is formed which can be lifted up allowing a visual view of the interior 36 of the glove 20 which makes visible the finger openings 32 so that seeing the finger openings a child can correctly place one finger in each finger opening 32. As shown in FIG. 4, depending on the design of the glove, the thumb hole 38 may also be visible. To prevent the zippers from opening when the glove is on the child's hand, a wrist strap 40 is provided which uses a hook-and loop-fastener such as Velcro® fasteners or a snap, buckle, button, or other fastener to prevent the zippers 24, 26 from opening in order to retain the glove 20 more securely on the child's hand.

FIG. 3 shows the outline of a hand 41 with various dimensions which are used to define glove sizes. The gloves 20 are designed for a child's hand such that the general sizing measurements indicated in FIG. 3 are less than or equal to 5 inches for dimension B (hand length distance from the base of hand at the wrist crease to the tip of the middle finger) preferably less than or equal to 4 inches, and the dimension A hand breadth (measured across the ends of the metacarpal bones (metacarpal phalangeal joints)) is less than or equal to 2¼ inches, preferably less than or equal to 1½ inches. Finally the hand circumference C (measured around the knuckles metacarpal-phalangeal joints) of less than 5¼ inches, preferably less than 4 and ¾ inches. In the claim language a child's glove is thus defined as having a dimension B of less than or equal to 5 inches, and a dimension A of less than or equal to 2¼ inches, and a dimension C of less than 5¼ inches.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of the glove 120 of FIG. 1 where the zippers 24 and 26 have been replaced with hook-and-loop fasteners 52, 50 having loop portions 54 and hook portions 56, which close the flap slits.

It should be understood that the wrist strap 40 may be attached to the flap 34 as shown in FIG. 4 or may be attached to the front of the glove 20 as shown in FIG. 2. It should further be understood that the glove body 21, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is comprised of the back or dorsal side 22, a front or ventral side 42, a plurality of fingers normally four and usually one thumb, and that when the zippers or closures are closed so that the flap 34 is attached to the glove back, the hand of a child will be completely covered so that there are no openings beyond the wrist opening 28, and the closeable opening formed by the back flap 34. It will be noted that the zippers 24, 26 have zipper pull tabs 44 as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to children's gloves but could also be sized for and used by adults, particularly disabled persons.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A child's glove comprising:

a glove body having a wrist opening into a glove interior, a plurality of fingers and a thumb, and a back side, wherein said plurality of fingers form a part of the glove body and said plurality of fingers begin where the glove back side terminates in a direction distal from the wrist opening, wherein each finger has a finger hole communicating with the glove interior and giving access to the finger;

a flap defined between two slits in the back side which extend from the wrist opening to a position just short of where the fingers begin, wherein when raised the flap gives visual access to the finger holes, so that a child who is donning the glove can see said finger holes and more easily place a finger in each of said plurality of finger holes; and

a closure extending between the glove body and the flap along each of the two slits to attach the flap to the back of the glove.

2. The glove of claim 1 further the each closure comprises a zipper, each zipper being arranged to close one of said two slits and to extend from the wrist opening to the position just short of where the fingers begin.

3. The glove of claim 1 wherein each closure comprises a hook and loop fastener arrangement, each hook and loop fastener arrangement arranged to close one of said two slits and to extend from the wrist opening to the position just short of where the fingers begin.

4. The glove of claim 1 further comprising a wrist strap arranged to overlie the two back side slits immediately adjacent to the wrist opening.

5. The glove of claim 4 wherein the wrist strap is closed with a hook-and-loop fastener arrangement.

6. A child's glove comprising:

a glove body having a wrist opening, a plurality of fingers, and a thumb, and a back side, wherein said plurality of fingers and thumb form a part of the glove body and said plurality of fingers begin where the glove back side terminates in a direction distal from the wrist opening, each of said fingers and thumb having an opening which communicates with an interior of the glove;

wherein a flap is formed on the back side by at least two flap slits defined by the back side which extend from the wrist opening to a position closely spaced from where the fingers begin, the flap being foldable over the glove fingers, so that when the flap is raised the flap gives visual access to the plurality of finger and thumb openings, so that a child who is donning the glove can see said the finger and thumb openings and to assist placement of the child's fingers in each of said plurality of finger openings, and the child's thumb into the thumb opening; and

a closure extending between the glove body and each of the flap slits to close the flap slits.

7. The glove of claim 6 wherein the closure comprises at least one zipper arranged to close the flap slits.

8. The glove of claim 6 wherein the closure comprises hook and loop fasteners arranged to close said flap slits.

9. The glove of claim 6 further comprising a wrist strap arranged to overlie the flap slits immediately adjacent to the wrist opening.

10. The glove of claim 9 wherein the wrist strap is closed with a hook-and-loop fastener.

11. A glove comprising:

a glove body having a wrist opening, a plurality of fingers, a thumb, and a back side, wherein said plurality of fingers and thumb comprise a part of the glove body and said plurality of fingers begin where the glove back side terminates in a direction distal from the wrist opening, each finger and thumb having an opening which communicates with a glove interior;

a flap formed on the glove body back side by at least two flap slits which extend from the wrist opening to a position closely spaced from where the fingers begin, the flap being arranged such that when it is folded over the fingers of the glove, it reveals and gives visual access to the plurality of finger and thumb hole openings, so that a person who is donning the glove can see said finger and thumb openings and more easily place a finger in each of said plurality of finger openings, and a thumb into the thumb hole; and

a closure extending between the glove body and the flap slit to attach the flap to the back of the glove.

12. The glove of claim 11 wherein the flap is formed on the back side by two slits which extend from the wrist opening to a position closely spaced from where the fingers begin, to form the flap which when raised gives visual access to the plurality of finger and thumb openings, and wherein the closure extends between the glove body and the flap along each of the two slits to attach the flap to the back of the glove.

13. The glove of claim 11 wherein the closure comprises at least one zipper arranged to close each flap slit.

14. The glove of claim 11 wherein the closure comprises hook and loop fasteners arranged to close the flap slits.

15. The glove of claim 11 further comprising a wrist strap arranged to overlie both flap slits immediately adjacent to the wrist opening.

16. The glove of claim 15 wherein the wrist strap is closed with hook-and-loop fasteners.