Adjustable-Sized GLove

Abstract

The inventor discloses a glove having a disc located on a wearer's wrist, such that the disc may be wrapped along the wearer's hand and cause the glove to be rolled up the back of the wearer's hand. The disc may be permanently or detachably secured to the glove. The disc allows people with various hand sizes to wear a one-size-fits-all glove while snugly securing the glove to the wearer's hand, preventing contamination and increasing finger dexterity.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 61/863,412, filed on Aug. 7, 2013.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention is the field of gloves and protective handwear for people in environments where protection against contaminants, chemicals, or skin irritants is important.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

While “one-size-fits-all” gloves are commonly sold and used in a number of industries to promote sterility, cleanliness, and safety, such gloves are generally a large size to accommodate even the largest hands. However, for people with smaller hands, the uni-sized glove often results in excess fabric that hangs loosely about the wrist, creating the potential for contaminated or dirty substances to accidentally enter the opening of the glove near the wrist. Additionally, the excess material can inhibit the wearer from making fine or sensitive use of his fingers. Such actions are particularly necessary in medical procedures, such as surgery, where a doctor's or nurse's hands must be especially careful to prevent complications during the operation. Where such dexterity is required, it is common to use and purchase gloves of different sizes to accommodate variously sized hands. This results in added expense for the employer, such as a hospital or janitorial services company, which must keep a large variety of glove sizes available for its staff. Therefore, a need exists for a single-size, “one-size-fits-all” glove that can be adjusted by the wearer to snugly fit against the hand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

It should be noted that identical features in different drawings are shown with the same reference numeral.

FIG. 1 depicts a medical glove worn by a user, palm-side up.

FIG. 2 depicts a medical glove with the circular apparatus over the wrist, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a view of the medical glove with the circular apparatus rolled up over a user's hand, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts a sterile, “one-size-fits-all” medical glove 5 as worn by a doctor, nurse, or other medical staff Medical gloves are typically made of latex, though any impermeable, flexible, and stretchable material may suffice to form a glove 5. For simplicity, the glove 5 as further described herein is referred to as a “latex” glove, but the glove may be made of many other materials. The glove 5 has a hand section 15 with a wrist section 30 extending a short distance over the wearer's wrist. An opening 20 at the end of the wrist section 30 allows the wearer to insert his hand Five fingers 10 are located across from the opening 20 to enclose the wearer's fingers. In FIG. 1, the glove is shown as loose-fitting, because “one-size-fits-all” gloves are generally created large enough to fit a hand of any size. However, for users with smaller hands, the glove fingers 10 do not snugly enclose the wearer's fingers, and there is substantial leftover latex material.

FIG. 2 depicts the top side of a medical glove according to an embodiment as further described herein. The glove has a top 25 for covering the back of the wearer's hand. Located in the wrist section 30 is a disc 35. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the disc is secured to the latex glove. For example, the glove 5 may have two or more layers of material and the disc may be inserted between the layers and secured therein. Alternatively, the disc may be glued, taped, or otherwise fastened to the latex. The disc 35 may be constructed of any solid, rigid, or semi-rigid material. Where the glove 5 is used in medically sterile environments, chemically inert substances such as hard plastics would be most suitable. However, in non-sterile environments, any firm, solid material to form the disc 35 is sufficient.

In other embodiments, the disc 35 may be separate from the latex glove 5. To secure the disc 35 to the glove 5, the wearer places the disc 35 over the top of the wrist section 30 near the opening 20 and rolls the latex over the disc 35, as further described below. A separate disc 35 may be desired if the discs 35 are to be sold separately from the gloves 5, allowing the method described herein to be used with any latex glove available to the wearer.

The wearer may roll the disc 35 up the back of the hand in order to collect excess latex material and pull the fingers 10 of the glove snugly against the wearer's fingers. First, if the glove 5 does not have a disc 35 secured to it, the wearer places the disc 35 over the wrist section 30 near the opening 20 and wraps the edge 40 over one end of the disc 35. If the disc 35 is already secured to the latex, this first step is not necessary. Next, the wearer wraps the disc 35 end-over-end up the back of the hand. The wrist section 30 and excess latex material is rolled up the back of the hand as the disc 35 is wrapped end-over-end. The remaining latex is pulled snug against the wearer's hands and fingers.

FIG. 3 shows the disc 35 rolled up the back of the wearer's hand. As depicted, excess latex 45 is rolled up the back of the wearer's hand and kept in place by the disk 35. This gently pulls the remaining latex snugly against the wearer's hand, thereby providing the wearer with a fitted glove 5 appropriate for fine hand and finger movements as needed in medical examinations, surgeries, procedures, and the like.

The disc 35 is of a size and shape to both prevent puncturing or tearing the latex and prevent the disc 35 from coming inadvertently unrolled during use. The disc 35 should also be small enough to allow for several wraps along the back of the hand, in order to accommodate variously sized hands. It has been determined that a circular disc 35 roughly 1.25 inches in diameter is both large enough to prevent inadvertent unrolling, small enough to be sensitive for use with a number of hands, and unlikely to tear or puncture the latex. However, any size disc 35 that can fit on the back of the wearer's hand or wrist would be acceptable, and discs 35 ranging from 0.25-2 inches are sufficient. Additionally, while the disc 35 depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 is circular, other shapes (such as ovals, ellipses, or other shapes having rounded edges) may be used.

After use, if the disc 35 is separate from the glove 5, it may be saved for future use. Otherwise, the disc 35 may be disposed along with the rest of the glove 5. While the glove 5 has been described particularly with reference to medical personnel, the advantages of the glove 5 may be used for any job where snug gloves are necessary or desirable, such as janitorial services, garbage collection, or laboratories.

The advantages of the glove 5 and disc 35 described herein include providing a “one-size-fits-all” glove that can be individually sized to a wearer's hand, regardless of the size of the glove itself. Additionally the “one-size-fits-all” glove allows the wearer to snugly pull the material against the fingers, increasing dexterity for fine or careful motor movements needed for sensitive operations. Furthermore, the glove may be used in environments that required closed off protection of the hand to prevent contamination of the hand, while not unduly exposing the wearer's skin. For example the glove may be used in environments where harmful chemicals or fumes are present, or potentially in sterile environments, in order to prevent contact with contaminants (e.g., bodily fluids, chemicals, blood, etc.).

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed here.

Claims

1. A glove comprising:

a palm section covering the fingers and palm area of the wearer's hand;

a wrist section attached to the palm section and covering the section of the wrist below the palm area; and

a disc secured to the back of the wrist section, the disc sized to wrap excess material in the wrist section along the back of a wearer's hand in order to tighten the fit of the palm section.

2. The glove of claim 1, wherein the disc has rounded edges.

3. The glove of claim 2, wherein the disc is circular.

4. The glove of claim 1, wherein the disc is detachable from the wrist section.

5. The glove of claim 4, wherein the disc is secured to the wrist section by wrapping an edge of the glove around the disc.

6. The glove of claim 1, wherein the disc has a diameter between 0.25 and 2 inches.

7. The glove of claim 6, wherein the disc has a diameter of 1.25 inches.

8. The glove of claim 1, wherein the disc is secured to the wrist section by being inserted between two layers of material of the glove overlaying the wrist section of the glove.

9. The glove of claim 1, wherein the disc is adhesively secured to the wrist section.

10. The glove of claim 1, wherein the disc is formed of rigid plastic.

11. The glove of claim 1, wherein the glove is formed of latex.

12. A latex glove comprising:

a palm section covering the fingers and palm area of the wearer's hand;

a wrist section attached to the palm section and covering the section of the wrist below the palm area; and

a circular disc of rigid plastic and having a diameter between 0.25 and 2 inches, secured to the back of the wrist section, the disc sized to wrap excess material in the wrist section along the back of a wearer's hand in order to tighten the fit of the palm section.

13. A latex glove comprising:

a palm section covering the fingers and palm area of the wearer's hand;

a wrist section attached to the palm section and covering the section of the wrist below the palm area; and

means for wrapping excess glove material in the wrist section along the back of the wearer's hand in order to tighten the fit of the palm section.