Therapeutic glove

Abstract

A therapeutic glove is provided whereby a resistive stress relieving article is positioned in or on the glove in order that a user may wear the glove and use the stress relieving article.

Description

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/229,455, filed Jul. 29, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many children and adults have stress and attention issues. These individuals may benefit from having something in their hands to keep themselves occupied. Standard stress balls may pose a distraction as some may throw, a bounce, or accidentally drop the ball. Some elderly or handicapped individuals may want to exercise their fingers, but may find difficulty in retrieving a stress ball if it falls to the ground. When using a standard stress ball, one may not be able to perform other tasks with the hand holding the ball. Having a simple way to relieve stress, or remain occupied using a stress ball, or stress ball like structure built in to a glove may assist individuals in releasing tension with little effort while still allowing their hands remain open and free for other tasks.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The therapeutic glove of the present invention allows users to have a hand stress release item that can assist them in releasing tension without being distracted. Distractions may easily occur when individuals are concentrating on not dropping standard conventional stress balls. The therapeutic glove of the present invention can assist individuals in dispensing excess energy are stressed while still having the ability to perform other tasks such as using a phone, typing, and the like. The therapeutic glove of the present invention is further ideal for use by children with attention or stress issues as well as adults that may need to repeatedly squeeze in order to exert an overflow of anxiety.

The present invention is a therapeutic glove comprising:

a. a first opening for inserting a hand;
b. a plurality of openings for receiving fingers;
c. at least one article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove constructed and arranged to exhibit resistance to applied pressure.

As used herein, “article” is a resistive stress relieving article incorporated in or on a surface of the glove. The article is on the surface of the glove that is above the palm of a user's hand. In a preferred embodiment, the resistive stress relieving article is a gel filled article exhibiting resistance to applied pressure. Gel filled stress balls and articles as are conventionally used and commercially available may be sized in order to be used in the present invention. Often, commercially available stress balls are sold with warnings indicating they are not suitable for children under twelve. By incorporating the stress ball, or stress ball-like structure into the pouch of a glove, children under 12 can use the glove in a safe manner.

The article is incorporated either in or on the surface of the glove and is positioned above of near a palm region of user's hand.

In one embodiment, the article is incorporated in or on the surface of said glove is positioned above of near the wrist region of user's arm.

When the article is incorporated in the glove it is contained within a cavity. The cavity is formed by a cover which is either permanently sealed with stitching or other appropriate closure, or the cavity is formed by a releasable cover. If the cover is releasable, it may be released and reattached with any appropriate releasing and reattaching structure such as hook and loop fasteners (for example Velcro®), buttons, snaps, zippers, and the like.

In one embodiment, the article is incorporated in or on a surface of the glove and is positioned above or near the wrist region of user's arm. Again, as described above, the article positioned on the wrist is either contained within a cavity or attached directly to the outer surface of the glove.

As described above the article is incorporated in or on a surface of the glove and is positioned above or near the wrist region of user's arm can be contained within a cavity with either a sealed cover or a cavity with a releasable cover.

The article is incorporated in or on a surface of the glove and is positioned above or near the wrist region of user's arm can be attached directly to an outer surface of said glove.

The present invention also is a method of providing therapy to a person comprising the steps of:

a. providing a glove as described herein;
b. placing the glove on a hand of a user;
c. instructing a user to apply pressure to said article.

The method includes instructing a user regarding closing of their hand such that fingers of said hand contact said article and apply pressure thereon.

The glove is constructed of any suitable material that a person skilled in the art would use to manufacture a glove.

The article incorporated in or on the glove is constructed of any suitable material that a person skilled in the art would use to manufacture such articles, which includes, but would not be limited to conventional stress relieving balls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the glove being worn having the stress relieving portion of the glove positioned above the palm of the hand.

FIG. 2 is a cross section along line A-A from FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment shown in cross section along line A-A from FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is depicting use of the glove.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment having a gel section positioned near the wrist.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Glove 10 is worn on a hand such that a stress relieving article 11 is positioned above the palm of the hand. The stress relieving article 11 may be any article known in the art including but not limited to gel filled stress balls and the like. Glove 10 includes a pouch cover 13 that encloses and defines a cavity 14 in which stress relieving article 11 is placed. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, pouch cover 13 is releasable from the surface 12 of glove 10 through releasable closure 15. The releasable closure 15 may be any closing mechanism including but not limited to hook and loop fasteners (Velcro®), snaps, buttons, combinations thereof, and the like. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a person will form a closed first while wearing glove 10 of the present invention such that their fingers exert downward pressure towards the palm of the hands on pocket pouch 13 with stress relieving article 11 and contained therein.

In an embodiment shown in FIG. 5, extended glove surface 17 extends substantially around the wrist region of a user and has wrist positioned stress relieving article 16 configured thereon. Wrist positioned stress relieving article 16 is similarly formed and positioned in a cavity as described in relation to stress relieving article 11. The cavity may have a removable cover or may be stitched closed as desired.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form or embodiment with some degree of particularity, it is understood that this description has been given only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction, fabrication, and use, including the combination and arrangement of parts, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A therapeutic glove comprising:

a. a first opening for inserting a hand;

b. a plurality of openings for receiving fingers;

c. at least one article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove constructed and arranged to exhibit resistance to applied pressure.

2. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is a gel filled article exhibiting resistance to applied pressure.

3. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is positioned above of near a palm region of user's hand.

4. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is positioned above of near a wrist region of user's arm.

5. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is contained within a cavity.

6. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is contained within a cavity, wherein said cavity is formed by a cover.

7. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is contained within a cavity, wherein said cavity is formed by a releasable cover.

8. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is positioned above of near a wrist region of user's arm and is contained within a cavity.

9. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article incorporated in or on a surface of said glove is positioned above of near a wrist region of user's arm and is contained within a cavity, wherein said cavity is formed by a releasable cover.

10. The glove of claim 1 wherein said article is attached directly to an outer surface of said glove.

11. A method of providing therapy to a person comprising the steps of:

a. providing a glove of claim 1;

b. placing said glove on a hand of a user;

c. instructing a user to apply pressure to said article.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said instructing includes closing said hand such that fingers of said hand contact said article and apply pressure thereon.