SKI GLOVE
Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to a ski glove that includes a hand member configured to cover a user's hand. The hand member includes one or more finger sheaths including a pinky portion, a pinky side aligned with the pinky portion, and a bottom edge defining an opening for insertion of the user's hand; wherein the hand member comprises at least one layer of insulation. The ski glove also includes a fastener configured to seal a sealable opening positioned on the pinky side and extending from the bottom edge upward to over the pinky portion; whereby the sealable opening when sealed during use faces away from the wind's force, and whereby the entire hand member can be turned inside out easily to allow moisture condensation inside the hand member to dry quickly.
This disclosure generally relates to insulated sport gloves and, in particular, ski gloves.
BACKGROUNDSki gloves since their inception have been made to keep their user's hands warm from cold, wet environments and to prevent any form of water (e.g., snow, molten ice, rain, or the like) from penetrating thereinto. A ski glove is typically constructed of an insulation material covered by a waterproof shell. The insulation material, along with the waterproof shell, possesses properties of low thermal conductivity and impermeability to water, thereby providing warmth to the user and preventing water from entering the glove. Yet, these very same properties also entrap moisture inside the glove, such as hand sweat and/or snow that accidentally fell into the glove. The trapped moisture may condense upon the cold inner surface of the ski glove when not in use, making the user uncomfortable in a consecutive or next-day use, and weakening the level of warmth that the ski glove is intended to offer.
SUMMARYThe embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to insulated sport gloves and, in particular, ski gloves. The following presents a summary of certain embodiments and is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of all contemplated embodiments. The purpose of this summary is to present certain concepts and elements of one or more embodiments as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.
Some embodiments characterize a ski glove that includes a hand member configured to cover a user's hand. The hand member has one or more finger sheaths including a pinky portion that defines a top edge, a pinky side aligned with the pinky portion, and a bottom edge defining an opening for insertion of the user's hand; wherein the hand member comprises at least one insulating layer having a lower surface and an upper surface. The ski glove further includes a fastener configured to seal a sealable opening positioned on the pinky side and extending from the bottom edge upward to over the pinky portion; whereby the sealable opening when sealed during use faces away from the wind's force, and whereby the entire hand member can be turned inside out easily to allow moisture condensation inside the hand member to dry quickly.
Other embodiments feature an insulated sport glove that includes a hand member configured to cover a user's hand. The hand member includes a palm region, a back-hand region, one or more finger sheaths including a thumb portion and a pinky portion, a pinky side aligned with the pinky portion, a thumb side aligned with the thumb portion, and a bottom edge defining an opening for insertion of the user's hand; wherein the one or more finger sheaths further include an index finger portion, a middle finger portion and a ring finger portion, and wherein the hand member comprises at least one insulating layer. The insulated sport glove also includes a fastener configured to seal a sealable opening optionally positioned on the pinky side and extending from the bottom edge upward to over the pinky portion, whereby the entirety of the hand member can be turned inside out easily to allow moisture condensation inside the hand member to dry quickly
Implementations include one or more of the following features.
In some implementations, the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of pinky portion. In other implementations, the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 60% to about 80% of the length of the pinky portion. In further implementations, the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge substantially to the top edge of the pinky portion.
In some implementations, the sealable opening is substantially perpendicular to the bottom edge.
In some implementations, the fastener includes a zipper, one or more buttons, one or more clasps, one or more snaps, a magnet, the like, or any combination thereof.
In some implementations, the fastener comprises a waterproof material.
In some implementations, the fastener includes a lower fly cover facing the user's hand, wherein the lower fly cover comprises an insulating material, a textile, or both.
In some implementations, the fastener includes one or more upper fly covers, wherein the one or more upper fly cover comprise a waterproof material, an insulating material, or both.
In some implementations, the insulating layer comprises a waterproof material coated on the upper surface thereof. In other implementations, the hand member includes a waterproof shell formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer. Yet, in other implementations still, the hand member includes a textile layer formed on the lower surface of the insulating layer. In further implementations, the insulating layer is sandwiched between a textile layer formed on the lower surface of the insulating layer and a waterproof layer formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer.
The ski glove of the present disclosure can be a thumb mitten, a thumbless mitten, a five-fingered glove, or the like.
In some implementations, the sealable opening of the insulated sport glove is optionally positioned on the thumb side and extends along the thumb side from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the thumb portion.
In some implementations, the sealable opening of the insulated sport glove is optionally positioned on the back-hand region, aligned with a finger portion and extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the finger portion, wherein the finger portion is the index finger portion, the middle finger portion, or the ring finger portion.
In most of implementations, the sealable opening of the insulated sport glove is not positioned on the palm region.
Other implementations, features and advantages are in the description, drawings and claims.
Having thus described embodiments of the disclosure in general terms, reference may now be made to the accompanying drawings:
Embodiments of present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. In view of this description, modifications and alterations to these implementations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In the drawings, like reference characters and numbers refer to like elements throughout. Also, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the disclosure.
Ski gloves are intended to keep their user's hands warm from cold and wet environments and to prevent snow, ice, rain, or the like, from entering thereinto. A ski glove is typically made of an insulation material that is either coated with a waterproof material or covered by a waterproof layer. The insulation material, along with the waterproof layer, has features of low thermal conductivity and impermeability to water, thereby providing warmth to the user and keeping water from getting into the glove. However, these same features also entrap moisture such as hand sweat inside the glove. The trapped moisture may condense upon the cold surface of the ski glove when not in use, making the user uncomfortable in a consecutive or next-day use, and failing to generate the level of warmth that the ski glove is intended to provide.
It would be desirable to let any moisture condensed inside of a ski glove dry over a short period of time (e.g., overnight) by simply turning the entire glove inside out to expose it to air. However, this is not easy to achieve with the design of conventional ski gloves. A conventional ski glove has only one small opening for insertion of a user's hand. It is difficult to flip over the entire glove through the small opening. It is also difficult to dry the inside of the glove even with a drying means such as a hot air blower, for the small opening hinders air from circulating well.
Some embodiments arise, in part, from the realization that a ski glove can advantageously be constructed to have a sufficiently long sealable opening, whereby the entire glove can be turned inside out easily to allow moisture condensed inside the glove to escape quickly. Such embodiments place the sufficiently long sealable opening entirely on the rear side of the glove aligned with the user's pinky, whereby the sealable opening faces away from the wind's force when the user is moving forward.
A “ski glove” can be a thumb mitten, a thumbless mitten, a five-fingered glove, or the like. In some embodiments, a ski glove is a thumb mitten having two finger sheaths, one for receiving the thumb of a hand and the other for receiving the remaining fingers of the hand. In other embodiments, a ski glove is thumbless mitten having an integral sheath for accommodating all the fingers. In further embodiments, a ski glove is a five-fingered glove with five separate sheaths fitting the respective fingers: thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky. As used herein, the terms “finger stall” and “finger sheath” are interchangeable.
Turning now to
The term “pinky portion,” as used herein, refers to either a separate finger sheath fitting only a user's pinky, or to a chamber or space within an integral finger sheath which accommodates a user's pinky, wherein the integral finger sheath is shared by two or more fingers with no discrete boarder or wall therebetween. For a glove having a separate pinky sheath, the length of the pinky portion of the glove is the length of the pinky sheath. For a mitten, as in the embodiment of
The hand member 102 comprises at least one insulating layer constructed of an insulating material such as down feather, synthetic fibers, the like, or any hybrid thereof. In some embodiments, the insulating layer coated with a waterproof or water resistant material including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU) and the like. In other embodiments, the hand member 102 has a waterproof layer formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer. Yet, in other embodiments still, the hand member 102 comprises a textile layer bounded to the lower surface of the insulating layer, which can be made from a natural fabric, a synthetic fabric, or both. In further embodiments, the insulating layer is sandwiched between a textile layer formed on the lower surface of the insulating layer and a waterproof layer formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer. In such embodiments, the insulating, waterproof and textile layers can be laminated to one another by an adhesive substance or by other substance or techniques apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In some embodiments, the hand member 102 includes a closure member (not shown) encircling the user's wrist, such as a flat lace tie, a strip, a stretchable band, or the like, which can adjustably be tightened around the user's wrist.
The fastener 104 is configured to seal the sealable opening that is positioned entirely on the pinky side 114 and substantially perpendicular to the bottom edge 116. When one is skiing, each of one's hands grasps a ski pole in such a way that one's thumb side almost always faces the wind's force when one is moving forward, while the pinky side mostly faces away from the wind's force. With the sealable opening positioned entirely on the pinky side 114 and sealed by the fastener 104, the ski mitten 100 provides the same degree of warmth to the user's hand as it is supposed to.
As seen in
The fastener 104 can be, by way of example, a zipper, one or more buttons, one or more clasps, one or more snaps, a magnet, the like, or any combination thereof. In the embodiment of
In some embodiments, the sealable opening can be opened and sealed by sliding the slider member 118 up and down along the zipper 104. When the sealable opening is sealed in use, the slider member 118 rests at the bottom edge 116 of the mitten 100, as shown in
As seen in
Turning next to
In some embodiments, the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge 416 upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of pinky stall 410. The length of the pinky stall 410 can be measured from the root of the user's pinky fitted therein to the top edge 410′. The pinky side 414 is the side of the ski glove 400 that is aligned with the pinky stall 410, substantially perpendicular to the bottom edge 416, and extends longitudinally from the bottom edge 416 to the top edge 410′ of the pinky stall 410. In other embodiments, the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge 416 upward to over about 60% to about 80% of the length of the pinky stall 410. In further embodiments, the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge 416 substantially to the top edge 410′ of the pinky stall 410.
In a same fashion as described in
As previously noted, the zipper 404 can be shielded by two upper fly covers, attached respectively to two opposite longitude sides of the zipper 404 and adjacent to each other at the central longitude line of the zipper 404. Alternatively, the zipper 404 may have only one upper fly cover overlaying thereupon to keep the zipper 404 from exposure to external environments and from direct contact with external objects. In some embodiments, the upper fly covers can be constructed of a waterproof material and/or an insulating material.
The five-fingered ski glove 400, as in
Though, the mittens and gloves depicted in
As used herein, an “insulated sport glove” refers to any glove comprising an insulating material and used in cold environments for sports or work, which includes but is not limited to, snowboarding, ice hockey, outdoor construction work, and the like. In such sports or work, all areas of an insulated sport glove, including its pinky side, thumb side, palm region and back-hand region, may equally face the wind's force. As such, the sealable opening can be positioned on other areas than the pinky side of the glove. As used hereafter, in description of insulated sport gloves, the terms “finger portion” and “finger stall” are interchangeable. For example, a “thumb portion” and a “thumb stall” both refer to a segment accommodating the user's thumb.
In some embodiments, an insulated sport glove includes a hand member and a fastener. The hand member is configured to cover a user's hand, which includes a palm region, a back-hand region, and five finger stalls for receiving respectively the user's thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky, wherein the five finger stalls define respectively five top edges, each corresponding to the tip of a finger. The hand member includes a pinky side aligned with the pinky stall, a thumb side aligned with the thumb stall, and a bottom edge defining an opening for insertion of the user's hand. The hand member is composed of at least one insulating layer having a lower surface facing the user's hand and an upper surface facing away from the user's hand.
The fastener is configured to seal a sealable opening that, in some embodiments, is positioned on the pinky side and extends from the bottom edge upward to over the pinky portion, whereby the entirety of the hand member can be flipped over easily to allow any moisture condensation inside the hand member to dry quickly. In some embodiments, the sealable opening extends along the thumb side from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the thumb stall. Since all areas of an insulated sport glove may equally face the wind's force in certain sports and work, such as snowboarding, ice hockey, outdoor construction work, and the like, the sealable opening can be positioned on the other areas instead of the pinky side of the glove. For example, the sealable opening can be positioned on the thumb side. Additionally and optionally, the sealable opening can be positioned on the back-hand region of the insulated sport glove, and, in such embodiments, the sealable opening can be aligned with any finger stall (e.g., the middle finger stall) and extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the finger stall.
Preferably, the sealable opening is not placed anywhere within the palm region, for it requires a fastener to seal, which may cause not only discomfort to the user but also adverse effects to a secure grip on whatever the user has to hold (e.g., a ski pole, an ice hockey stick, a lacrosse bat, or the like).
Again, as previously described for
Although a number of implementations have been described in detail above, other modifications, variations and implementations are possible in light of the foregoing teaching. Further, although elements of the described aspects and/or embodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Moreover, all or a portion of any embodiment may be utilized with all or a portion of any other embodiment, unless stated otherwise.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, all numbers can be read as if prefaced by the term “about,” even if the term does not expressly appear. Also, any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges subsumed therein. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures and materials in the claims below are intended to include any structure or material for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to embodiments of the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of embodiments of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand embodiments of the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement which is calculated and made to achieve the same purpose can be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and that embodiments of the disclosure have other applications in other environments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present disclosure. Thus, although not expressly described, any or each of the features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in any manner.
Accordingly, the disclosure is to be defined not by the preceding illustrative description but instead by the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A ski glove comprising:
- a hand member configured to cover a user's hand, the hand member comprising one or more finger sheaths comprising a pinky portion defining a top edge, a pinky side aligned with the pinky portion, and a bottom edge defining an opening for insertion of the user's hand; wherein the hand member comprises at least one insulating layer having a lower surface and an upper surface; and
- a fastener configured to seal a sealable opening positioned on the pinky side and extending from the bottom edge upward to over the pinky portion; whereby the sealable opening when sealed during use faces away from the wind's force, and whereby the entirety of the hand member can be turned inside out easily to allow moisture condensation inside the hand member to dry quickly.
2. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the pinky portion.
3. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the sealable opening extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 60% to about 80% of the length of the pinky portion.
4. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the sealable opening extends from the bottom substantially to the top edge of the pinky portion.
5. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the sealable opening is substantially perpendicular to the bottom edge.
6. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises a zipper, one or more buttons, one or more clasps, one or more snaps, a magnet, the like, or any combination thereof.
7. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises a waterproof material.
8. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises a lower fly cover facing the user's hand.
9. The ski glove of claim 8, wherein the lower fly cover comprises an insulating material, a textile, or both.
10. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises one or more upper fly covers facing away from the user's hand.
11. The ski glove of claim 10, wherein the one or more upper fly cover comprises a waterproof material, an insulating material, or both.
12. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the insulating layer comprises a waterproof material coated on the upper surface thereof.
13. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the hand member comprises a waterproof shell formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer.
14. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the hand member comprises a textile layer formed on the lower surface of the insulating layer.
15. The ski glove of claim 1, wherein the insulating layer is sandwiched between a textile layer formed on the lower surface of the insulating layer and a waterproof layer formed on the upper surface of the insulating layer.
16. The ski glove of claim 1 is a thumb mitten, a thumbless mitten, a five-fingered glove, or the like.
17. An insulated sport glove comprising:
- a hand member configured to cover a user's hand, the hand member comprising a palm region, a back-hand region, one or more finger sheaths comprising a thumb portion and a pinky portion, a pinky side aligned with the pinky portion, a thumb side aligned with the thumb portion, and a bottom edge defining an opening for insertion of the user's hand; wherein the one or more finger sheaths further comprise an index finger portion, a middle finger portion and a ring finger portion, and wherein the hand member comprises at least one insulating layer; and
- a fastener configured to seal a sealable opening optionally positioned on the pinky side and extending from the bottom edge upward to over the pinky portion, whereby the entirety of the hand member can be turned inside out easily to allow moisture condensation inside the hand member to dry quickly.
18. The insulated sport glove of claim 17, wherein the sealable opening is optionally positioned on the thumb side and extends along the thumb side from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the thumb portion.
19. The insulated sport glove of claim 17, wherein the sealable opening is optionally positioned on the back-hand region, aligned with a finger portion and extends from the bottom edge upward to over about 50% or greater of the length of the finger portion, wherein the finger portion is the index finger portion, the middle finger portion, or the ring finger portion.
20. The insulated sport glove of claim 17, wherein the sealable opening is not positioned on the palm region.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 22, 2016
Publication Date: Sep 28, 2017
Inventors: Grace Joanna Tang (Southborough, MA), Ming Tang (Southborough, MA)
Application Number: 15/076,741