GLOVE WITH RETRACTABLE TETHER
A glove includes a guide assembly that includes a guide support fixedly attached to the glove body, a guide portion attached to and extending along the guide support to define a fixed path, and a guide device movable along the guide portion between first and second positions. A flexible tether has one end fixedly attached to the glove body at an attachment location along the fixed path. A tether loop on the guide device engages and guides the flexible tether between a retracted position and a deployed position. In the retracted position, the guide device is in the second position and the flexible tether is doubled on itself along the fixed path. In the deployed position, the guide device is in the first position and the tether extends in a single-ply configuration from the guide assembly.
Latest Ty-Flot, Inc. Patents:
The present invention relates generally to drop-prevention devices and more particularly to a glove with a retractable tether.
2. Description of the Prior ArtDrop-prevention lanyards and tethers are safety equipment used by workers in or around electrical power plants, chemical plants, construction sites, warehouses, and other industrial sites. Lanyards and tethers are useful to connect a hand tool or other piece of equipment to the worker's person or a nearby structure and prevent dropped objects from falling freely.
At nuclear power plants, for example, workers often will work from a bridge crane that straddles a reactor vessel filled with water. Dropped tools and equipment may land in the pool of water. If the dropped item cannot be retrieved before it sinks, then the retrieval process may be time consuming and very costly. A nuclear power plant may lose $100,000 per hour due to down time during a refueling or maintenance outage. Depending on where the dropped item comes to rest, it could take several hours to retrieve it and consequently delay the plant from coming back online.
Work gloves are another piece of safety equipment worn by workers and tradesmen in a variety of industries and work settings. Gloves are helpful to protect one's hands from abrasion, pinches, burns, chemicals, and other hazards. Use of gloves is mandated by some safety programs and addresses hazards present in these industries.
The prior art includes several glove designs that include a pocket. US patent application publication no. 2007/0101479 A1 to Turner discloses a cold-weather glove or mitten with a cuff-mounted holder for a small cell phone. The pocket is positioned against the wrist of the wearer and has a mouth opening towards the glove wrist so that the phone can be easily removed without the need to remove the glove from the wearer's hand. The glove's cuff extends sufficiently from the wrist portion to accommodate a cell phone and is made of a thin, flexible fabric to facilitate the user detecting the vibration alert of the phone.
US patent application publication no. 2006/0162045 A1 to Carey et al. discloses a glove with a flow-through pocket positioned on the back of the user's hand. The pocket has one or two zippered openings to permit increased cooling by air circulation through the back portion of the glove. Alternately, the pocket receives a heat-generating packet for added warmth or a heat insulator to shield the wearer from external heat. In one embodiment, the glove has two zippered openings to the pocket, where each zipper extends distally along the back panel of the glove. A first zipper extends along the wearer's index finger and the other zipper extends along the wearer's little finger. In another embodiment, a first zipper extends laterally across the back panel of the glove adjacent the wearer's knuckles. A second zipper extends parallel to the first zipper and is located at the wearer's proximal end of the hand adjacent the wrist. In each embodiment, the zipper provides an opening to the pocket located on the back of the wearer's hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONUnfortunately, gloves reduce the dexterity and fine motor control of the worker. As a result, a worker wearing gloves may inadvertently drop a hand tool as a result of wearing gloves. When gloves are used together with a tether, the combination can be cumbersome or uncomfortable, depending on where the tether extends in relation to the worker's hands.
For example, a worker extending to reach with a tool may find that the tether attached to that tool is not long enough for the reach. In other cases, the outstretched tether may pose a hazard itself due to the possibility of catching on structures, equipment, or other workers.
Also, prior-art gloves with pockets lack the features to allow the glove to house a tether retractor and for the wearer to comfortably tether a hand tool during use. For example, the Carey et al. glove discussed above positions the pocket on the back of the wearer's hand. A retractor located in such a pocket is uncomfortable because it does not flex and does not allow the glove to flex with the hand's movement when grasping tools.
Therefore, what is needed is a work glove that includes a retractable tether. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a glove with a built-in retractable tether, where the tether can extend between a hand tool or other object and the glove. The present invention achieves this and other objectives by providing a glove with retractor pocket constructed to house a tether retractor with deployable tether. The present invention also achieves this and other objectives by providing a tether deployable using a guide device movable along a guide portion attached to the glove.
In one aspect of the invention, a glove has a glove body constructed to receive a user's hand, a proximal end, a distal end, a palmar portion corresponding to a user's palm, and a dorsal portion corresponding to a user's back of the hand. The glove also has one or more finger compartments connected to and extending from the distal end of the glove body, where each of the one or more finger compartment is constructed to receive one or more of a user's fingers. A cuff portion extends from the proximal end of glove body, where the cuff portion defines a pocket with a pocket compartment sized to house a tether retractor. The pocket also defines a tether opening communicating with the pocket compartment and positioned adjacent the proximal end of the glove body.
In one embodiment, the tether opening is positioned adjacent the proximal end of the palmar portion of the glove body.
In another embodiment, a tether retractor is disposed in the pocket compartment and has a retractor body with a deployable tether extending through the tether opening.
In another embodiment, a connector is attached to a first tether end of the tether and is configured for releasable attachment to a hand tool or an article of clothing.
In another aspect of the present invention, a glove includes a guide assembly that includes a guide support fixedly attached to the glove body, a guide portion attached to and extending along the guide support to define a fixed path, and a guide device movable along the guide portion between first and second positions. A flexible tether has one end fixedly attached to the glove body at an attachment location along the fixed path and another end extending from the guide assembly. A tether loop on the guide device engages and guides the flexible tether between a retracted position and a deployed position. In the deployed position, the guide device is in the first position and the tether extends in a single-ply configuration from the guide assembly. In the retracted position, the guide device is in the second position and the tether is at least partially retracted into a pocket between the guide assembly and the glove.
In the retracted position of one embodiment, the flexible tether is doubled on itself along the fixed path. The guide assembly therefore provides a 2:1 ratio of tether length to guide path length between the first and second positions.
In some embodiments, a connector is attached to the first tether end and configured for releasable attachment to a hand tool or an article of clothing.
In another embodiment, the guide portion is an opposed pair of zipper teeth disposed along the fixed path and the guide device is a zipper slider configured to open and close the pair of zipper teeth when moved between the first position and the second position, respectively.
In another embodiment, the guide assembly cooperates with the glove body to form a pocket into which a substantial portion of the flexible tether retracts when the guide device is moved to the second position.
In another embodiment, the first position is located towards the proximal end of the dorsal portion of the cuff and the second position is located towards the distal end of the dorsal portion of the glove body.
In another embodiment, the fixed path extends circumferentially along the cuff. In yet another embodiment, the fixed path extends helically along the cuff.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, claims, and accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in
A flexible tether 28 is provided and has a first tether end 28a and second tether end 28b, where second tether end 28b (shown in
In some embodiments, connector 27 is a spring clip, clamp, screw connector, hook, split ring, or closed-loop connector, or other connector that can be releasably attached to a hand tool. Selecting connector 27 depends at least in part on the geometry of the object to which connector 27 will be connected. For example, using connector 27 to tether glove 2 to the worker's sleeve would suggest selecting connector 27 as being configured to securely engage an article of clothing. On the other hand, using connector 27 to attach to a hand tool may require that connector 27 has an increased mouth opening compared to what is needed for attachment to clothing. The particular object(s) to which connector 27 will attach and the presence of any other connecting parts present will be used to determine which connector 27 is appropriate for the intended use.
When guide device 26 (e.g., zipper slider) is in the first position, first tether end 28a and connector 27 are in a retracted condition as illustrated, for example, in
In one embodiment as shown in
To accommodate and retain the flexible tether 28 along fixed path 25, mounting assembly 22 cooperates with glove 2 to form an elongated pocket 32 extending substantially along fixed path 25 between the first position and the second position. Pocket 32, as best viewed in
Referring now to
Referring now to
In some embodiments, second tether end 28b is fixedly secured to glove 2 at or near second end 22b of mounting assembly 22. Accordingly, as guide device 26 moves to the second position, tether 28 unfolds and deploys from mounting assembly 22. The doubled condition of tether 28 when guide device 26 is in the first position allows tether 28 to have a length that is up to twice that of guide portion 23. When mounting assembly 22 is a zipper, for example, the zipper closes and tightens pocket 32 on tether 28 as guide device 26 moves to the first position, thereby restricting the ability of tether 28 to be pulled out from mounting assembly 22. Conversely, as guide device 26 moves towards the second position, the zipper opens and loosens pocket 32 on tether 28, thereby allowing tether 28 to be easily deployed from mounting assembly 22.
Tether 28 is made of a flexible material that provides sufficient tensile strength to arrest the fall of a dropped hand tool 5, but also allows tether 28 to double on itself between guide portion 23 and glove 2. In one embodiment, tether 28 is made of nylon webbing. Many cord or strap materials can be satisfactorily employed, including rope, twine, plastic, webbing, ribbon, fabric strip, and other materials. In other embodiments, tether 28 is elasticized or stretchable to provide an increased ability to absorb the forces of a dropped hand tool 5 or the like. For example, tether 28 is an elasticized nylon webbing or a rubber strap or cord. In some embodiments, mounting assembly 22 is similarly flexible so that guide portion 23 and other components thereof may conform to the shape of glove 2 as it changes during use on the user's hand.
Tether 28 may be deployed from pocket 32 (shown in
As guide device 26 of the mounting assembly 22 moves, slides and/or ratchets along guide portion 23, tether 28 is retracted along or deployed from fixed path 25. In one embodiment, guide portion 23 is a rail-type structure that cooperates with guide device 26 to move both guide device 26 and tether 28 along fixed path 25. In one example, a ratchet-type structure may be provided that locks guide device 26 along fixed path 25 between the first position and the second position unless guide device 26 is released. Other sliding-type devices suitable for use along fixed path 25 are acceptable and include plastic zippers and enclosed glide and pull devices. In one embodiment, guide portion 23 is a slider track and guide device 26 is a slider engaging the slider track. In another embodiment, guide portion 23 includes opposed, mating tongue-and-groove structures and guide device 26 is a slider that engages or disengages the mating structures as guide device 26 moves along fixed path 25. In yet another embodiment, guide portion 23 includes spaced-apart tracks and guide device 26 is a slider that engages the tracks and extends between the tracks.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In one embodiment, retractor pocket 40 defines a pocket opening 43 along at least one edge 41a of panel 41 for installation and removal of retractor 50. Retractor pocket 40 may be selectively closable or partially closable by the user with a snap, button, hook-and-loop fastener, zipper, drawstring, or nested metal clips attached between panel 41 and glove 2, and the like. In other embodiments, retractor pocket 40 is permanently closed by the manufacturer after installing tether retractor 50, such as by stitching or adhesive along all edges 41a of panel 41.
Retractor pocket 40 is sized to house and retain retractor 50 having a retractable tether 28 made of wire or cord. Retractor 50 is spring-loaded to automatically retract tether 28. With retractor 50 disposed in retractor pocket 40, tether 28 extends from retractor 50 and passes through tether opening 45 towards a palmar region 9 of anterior surface 8 of glove 2′. Tether 28 may then be connected to connector 27 or directly to a hand tool 5 held by the user. Tether opening 45 may be a slit, hole, gap, or other opening sized for passage of tether 28. In one embodiment, tether opening 45 is defined by an eyelet or grommet 47 secured through panel 41. In one embodiment, grommet 47 has an opening of about ⅛ to ¼ inch in diameter.
First tether end 28a defines an end opening 56 through which connector 27 may be installed. In some embodiments, end opening 56 is defined by folding first tether end 28a back on itself to form a loop and then installing a crimp 59. Connector 27 may be a D-ring, split ring, carabiner, closed loop, clamp, or other connector. In other embodiments, a swivel connector, cable crimp 59, or the like is installed on first tether end 28a, where the connector or crimp 59 includes end opening 56. In yet other embodiments, tether 28 is tied in a knot with first tether end 28a looped through connector 27, where the knot defines end opening 56.
Turning now to
In use, the wearer of glove 2, 2′ can secure tether 28 to hand tool 5 or other object to prevent accidental tool drops without tether 28 becoming entangled with other worker equipment as may occur when a tool lanyard originates from the worker's tool belt or similar location. Tether 28 is also useful to tether glove 2, 2′ to the worker's clothing to prevent dropping the glove. Therefore, embodiments of glove 2, 2′ improve worker efficiency, safety, and comfort when using hand tools.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, the above description is merely illustrative. Further modification of the invention herein disclosed will occur to those skilled in the respective arts and all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A glove comprising:
- a glove body configured to receive a user's hand and a cuff connected to and extending proximally of the glove body, each of the glove body and the cuff having an anterior portion, a dorsal portion, a proximal end, and a distal end;
- a guide assembly comprising: a guide support fixedly attached to one or more of the glove body and the cuff; a guide portion attached to and extending along the guide support and defining a fixed path; and a guide device movable along the guide portion between a first position and a second position, the guide device having a bottom surface facing the glove;
- a flexible tether having a first tether end and a second tether end, wherein the second tether end is fixedly attached at an attachment location along the fixed path that is spaced from the second position; and
- a tether loop connected to the guide device and positioned to engage and guide the flexible tether between (i) a retracted position when with the guide device in the second position and in which the flexible tether is doubled on itself along the fixed path, and (ii) a deployed position when the guide device is in the first position and in which the flexible tether extends in a single-ply configuration out from the attachment location, thereby providing a 2:1 ratio of tether length to guide path length measured between the first position and the second position.
2. The glove of claim 1 further comprising a connector attached to the first tether end and configured for releasable attachment to a hand tool.
3. The glove of claim 1, wherein the guide portion is an opposed pair of zipper teeth disposed along the fixed path and wherein the guide device is a zipper slider configured to open and close the pair of zipper teeth when moved between the first position and the second position, respectively.
4. The glove of claim 3, wherein the guide assembly cooperates with the glove body to form a pocket into which a substantial portion of the flexible tether retracts when the guide device is moved to the second position.
5. The glove of claim 1, wherein the first position is located towards the proximal end of the dorsal portion of the cuff and the second position is located towards the distal end of the dorsal portion of the glove body.
6. The glove of claim 1, wherein the fixed path extends circumferentially along the cuff.
7. The glove of claim 1, wherein the fixed path extends helically along the cuff.
8. The glove of claim 1, wherein the second tether end is attached to the guide device.
9. A glove comprising:
- a glove body constructed to receive a user's hand and having a proximal end a distal end, a palmar portion corresponding to a user's palm, and a dorsal portion corresponding to a user's back of the hand;
- one or more finger compartment connected to and extending from the distal end of the glove body, wherein each of the one or more finger compartment is constructed to receive one or more of a user's fingers;
- a cuff portion extending from the proximal end of glove body, wherein the cuff portion defines a pocket with a pocket compartment sized to house a tether retractor and further defining a tether opening communicating with the pocket compartment and positioned adjacent the proximal end of the glove body.
10. The glove of claim 9, wherein the tether opening is positioned adjacent the proximal end of the palmar portion of the glove body.
11. The glove of claim 9 further comprising a tether retractor disposed in the pocket compartment and having a retractor body with a tether deployable from the retractor body through the tether opening.
12. The glove of claim 11 further comprising a connector attached to a first tether end of the tether and configured for releasable attachment to an object selected from the group consisting of a hand tool and an article of clothing.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 13, 2017
Publication Date: Sep 13, 2018
Applicant: Ty-Flot, Inc. (Manchester, NH)
Inventors: Darrell A. Moreau (Manchester, NH), Andre W. Moreau (Bedford, NH)
Application Number: 15/457,173