PROTECTIVE HAND GUARD
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a protective hand guard. The protective hand guard essentially comprises an elongate, tubular sleeve or sheath of a pliable fabric material which is elasticized in a manner allowing the sleeve to be resiliently stretched both radially and axially relative to an axis defined thereby. Disposed in a prescribed position within the sleeve is an aperture or opening which is sized and configured to accommodate the thumb on one hand of a wearer/user.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/368,021, filed Jul. 27, 2010 and entitled Protective Hand Guard.
STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to articles of wearing apparel and, more particularly, to a hand guard which is selectively movable between a folded state where is assumes the general configuration of a wrist band, and an extended state where it is uniquely configured to at least partially cover the wearers hand and provide optional protection from the spread of germs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Even a cursory review of media headlines demonstrates that there is a heightened global awareness amongst the general public regarding the risks associated with germ and disease transmission, both airborne and from surface contact. In various public venues, and most notably public restrooms, it is not uncommon to observe individuals attempt to avoid direct contact between their hands and a door handle or other surface. To avoid such contact, these individuals will often resort to using disposable hand towels or tissues as a makeshift hand guard, with such hand towel or tissue being manipulated so as to provide a barrier between the user's hand and the door handle or other surface.
There is known in the prior art various devices which are adapted to protect against the transmission of germs to an individual from various unsanitary surfaces such individual may encounter when out in public. Perhaps the most common of these devices are the sanitary hand wipes which are often encountered at grocery stores adjacent the shopping cart storage area, and are intended to allow a user to wipe and disinfect the shopping cart handle prior to grasping the same with his or her hands. Along these lines, there is also known in the prior art disposable sanitary covers which may be applied to a shopping cart handle to prevent germ transmission, such temporary covers being removed from the shopping cart handle and discarded when the individual has completed his or her use of the shopping cart.
However, the utility of these sanitary wipes and covers is somewhat narrowly confined to specific structures such as shopping cart handles, with such wipes and covers being generally unsuitable or impractical for use in broader based applications, such as for use as germ transmission safeguards on the handles of doors in public restrooms. In this regard, though sanitary wipes can be applied to any structure, they must be suitably stored and carried with the individual, which can often be cumbersome or impractical. Though currently known items of wearing apparel such as gloves could be selectively put on and taken off by a wearer as a means of guarding against germ transmission to the wearer's hands, the need to store such gloves in a purse or pocket during non-use, to retrieve and put on the gloves as an immediate precursor to grasping an object such as a door handle, and to thereafter remove and once again store the gloves after use also, in large measure, renders them largely impractical for use as germ transmission safeguards.
The protective hand guard constructed in accordance with the present invention addresses the need in the marketplace for a protective device which provides many of the safeguards of the aforementioned protective devices, but has more desirable aesthetic qualities and is adapted for a wider range of usage without placing any excessive burdens on the user/wearer. Thus, use of the protective hand guard constructed in accordance with the present invention need not be confined to any particular environment, and is perfectly suited for use in environments such as the work place, shopping malls, or other venues frequented by high concentrations of individuals. These, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention, will be described in more detail below.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with the present invention, there is provided a protective hand guard. The protective hand guard essentially comprises an elongate, tubular sleeve or sheath of a pliable fabric material which is elasticized in a manner allowing the sleeve to be resiliently stretched both radially and axially relative to an axis defined thereby. Disposed in a prescribed position within the sleeve is an aperture or opening which is sized and configured to accommodate the thumb on one hand of a wearer/user.
In use, the sleeve of the hand guard may be advanced over one of the wearer's hands and folded or collapsed in a manner causing the sleeve to assume the general shape and appearance of a wrist band extending about the wrist of the wearer. From this folded or collapsed state, the sleeve of the hand guard may be selectively unfolded or expanded to an extended state so as to cover the palm and at least portions of each of the fingers of the wearer's hand, the thumb of the wearer's hand being advanced through the aforementioned opening upon the extension of the sleeve of the hand guard over the palm of the wearer's hand. The size of the sleeve may be selectively varied as may be needed to accommodate different hand sizes, and based on how much of those fingers other than for the thumb on the hand of the wearer are to be covered thereby when in the extended state. Additionally, it is contemplated that the sleeve may be provided with gripper pads or similar gripper mechanisms which are disposed thereon so as to reside on or overlap the palm of the wearer's hand when the sleeve is in its extended state.
The present invention is best understood by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
These, as well as other features of the present invention, will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings wherein:
Common reference numerals are used throughout the drawings and detailed description to indicate like elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONReferring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the present invention only, and not for purposes of limiting the same,
As is best seen in
Referring now to
As will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art, the resiliency of the sleeve 12 allows it to be expanded in a manner as needed to facilitate the advancement thereof over the wearer's hand to a location circumventing the wearer's wrist. Upon being advanced over the wearer's hand, the resiliency of the sleeve 12 allows it to assume a position wherein it is somewhat snuggly constricted about the wearer's wrist. When in this position, as indicated above, the sleeve 12 may be folded or collapsed by the wearer so as to cause the hand guard 12 to assume the general shape and appearance of a conventional wrist band. The resiliency of the sleeve 12 allows the same to be easily extended and stretched over the wearer's hand to cover the palm thereof, and further to remain snuggly engaged to the wearer's hand during use.
It is contemplated that the hand guard 10, 10a of the present invention may be modified such that sleeve 12 is not provided without the opening 18 therein. In this instance, the thumb of the wearer's hand would simply reside within the expanded interior of the sleeve 12 when the hand guard 10, 10a is being used for the purpose highlighted above. Still further, it is contemplated that the length of the sleeve 12 (i.e., the distance between the first and second ends 14, 16 thereof) may be selectively varied as may be needed to accommodate different hand sizes, and may further be varied depending on how much of the fingers other than for the thumb on the hand of the wearer are to be covered thereby when the sleeve 12 is in its extended state.
Due to its configuration, the hand guard 10 of the present invention is quickly and easily moved between its folded/collapsed and extended states, thus making it well suited for use in preventing germ transmission to the wearer's hand in a broad range of applications or environments without placing any excessive burdens on the wearer. Moreover, the desirable aesthetic qualities of the hand guard 10 further broaden its utility in protecting against germ transmission.
This disclosure provides exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited by these exemplary embodiments. Numerous variations, whether explicitly provided for by the specification or implied by the specification, such as variations in structure, dimension, type of material and manufacturing process may be implemented by one of skill in the art in view of this disclosure.
Claims
1. A hand guard wearable on an arm and hand of a wearer, the hand guard comprising:
- a tubular sleeve defining a first end portion and an opposing second end portion, the tubular sleeve having an outer surface and an inner surface defining a tubular opening extending from the first end portion to the second end portion;
- the tubular sleeve having a thumb opening formed therein, the thumb opening extending from the outer surface to the inner surface;
- the tubular sleeve being configured to be selectively transitional between a deployed state, wherein the thumb of the wearer is advanced through the thumb opening and the tubular sleeve covers the palm of the wearer, and a collapsed state wherein the thumb of the wearer is removed from the thumb opening and the tubular sleeve is removed from the palm of the wearer to expose the palm of the wearer.
2. The hand guard recited in claim 1, wherein the tubular sleeve is additionally configured to cover a portion of the fingers of the wearer when the tubular sleeve is in the deployed state.
3. The hand guard recited in claim 1, wherein the tubular sleeve is formed from a pliable fabric material.
4. The hand guard recited in claim 1, wherein the tubular sleeve defines a sleeve axis, the tubular sleeve being stretchable radially relative to the sleeve axis.
5. The hand guard recited in claim 1, wherein the tubular sleeve defines a sleeve axis, the tubular sleeve being stretchable axially relative to the sleeve axis.
6. The hand guard recited in claim 1, wherein the tubular sleeve further includes a plurality of gripper pads disposed on the outer surface thereof.
7. The hand guard recited in claim 1, wherein the tubular sleeve is foldable from the deployed state to the collapsed state.
8. A hand guard wearable on an arm and hand of a wearer, the hand guard comprising:
- a tubular sleeve defining a first end portion and an opposing second end portion, the tubular sleeve having an outer surface and an inner surface defining a tubular opening extending from the first end portion to the second end portion;
- the tubular sleeve being configured to be transitional between a deployed state, wherein the tubular sleeve covers the palm of the wearer, and a collapsed state wherein the tubular sleeve is removed from the palm of the wearer to expose the palm of the wearer.
9. The hand guard recited in claim 8, wherein the tubular sleeve is additionally configured to cover a portion of the fingers of the wearer when the tubular sleeve is in the deployed state.
10. The hand guard recited in claim 8, wherein the tubular sleeve is formed from a pliable fabric material.
11. The hand guard recited in claim 8, wherein the tubular sleeve defines a sleeve axis, the tubular sleeve being stretchable radially relative to the sleeve axis.
12. The hand guard recited in claim 8, wherein the tubular sleeve defines a sleeve axis, the tubular sleeve being stretchable axially relative to the sleeve axis.
13. The hand guard recited in claim 8, wherein the tubular sleeve further includes a plurality of gripper pads disposed on the outer surface thereof.
14. The hand guard recited in claim 8, wherein the tubular sleeve is foldable from the deployed state to the collapsed state.
15. A hand guard wearable on an arm and hand of a wearer, the hand guard comprising:
- a tubular sleeve defining a first end portion and an opposing second end portion, the tubular sleeve having an outer surface and an inner surface defining a tubular opening extending from the first end portion to the second end portion;
- the tubular sleeve being configured to be selectively transitional between a deployed state, wherein the tubular sleeve covers at least a portion of the fingers of the wearer, and a collapsed state wherein the tubular sleeve is removed from the fingers of the wearer to expose the fingers of the wearer.
16. The hand guard recited in claim 15, wherein the tubular sleeve defines a sleeve axis, the tubular sleeve being stretchable radially relative to the sleeve axis.
17. The hand guard recited in claim 15, wherein the tubular sleeve defines a sleeve axis, the tubular sleeve being stretchable axially relative to the sleeve axis.
18. The hand guard recited in claim 15, wherein the tubular sleeve includes a thumb opening formed therein, the thumb opening extending from the outer surface to the inner surface, the thumb of the wearer being advanceable through the thumb opening and when the tubular sleeve is in the deployed state, the thumb of the wearer being removed from the thumb opening when the tubular sleeve is in the collapsed state.
19. The hand guard recited in claim 15, wherein the tubular sleeve is formed from a pliable fabric material.
20. The hand guard recited in claim 15, wherein the tubular sleeve further includes a plurality of gripper pads disposed on the outer surface thereof.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 27, 2011
Publication Date: Feb 2, 2012
Inventor: Veronica Kummerfeldt (Chino Hills, CA)
Application Number: 13/192,102