GRIP ENHANCING HAND AND WRIST COVERING

Abstract

A grip enhancing hand and wrist covering for improving a user's ability to grip a ball, comprising a glove component and a wrist component, each having a plurality suction cups disposed thereon. The glove component is defined by a conventional glove body having a plurality of suction cups spanning the surface of each finger and the thumb on the palmar side. A hook and loop fastener is disposed at the base of the glove component so as to allow the glove component to removably attach to a wrist component of the grip enhancing hand and wrist covering. The corresponding wrist component is defined as an elongated hollow cylinder having a proximal end and a distal end. Disposed across the anterior side of the wrist component are suction cups. A hook and loop fastener component is disposed on the inside of the hollow cylinder at the proximal end

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wearable garments and, more particularly, to a hand and wrist covering which improves a user's grip for holding a structure.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The use of hand or wrist coverings, such as a gloves or wristbands, is well known. Gloves have been adapted for many purposes, including without limitation, for protection from cold, heat, friction, and harmful substances; for hygiene and contamination protection, for improving grip or reducing friction, or for a plurality of such purposes. Wristbands are encircling strips worn around a user's wrist and have also been adapted for many purposes, including for perspiration control, identification or information presentation, and social function.

In some sports, it is common to see participants wear gloves and/or wristband while playing. In American football for example, many players were gloves to assist with grip and for protection from cold. Wristbands are also commonly worn in football for perspiration control and for information presentation. Despite the structure of conventional gloves and wristbands used in football, a problem which still exists is players often still have a difficult time holding or catching the ball. Throughout a game, it is not uncommon to see players make mistakes while attempting to catch a pass or fumble a ball that they are holding. Thus, there remains a need for a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering which includes a plurality of suction cups to assist in holding or catching a ball. It would be helpful if such a hand and wrist covering was configured as two discrete coverings which were removably attachable to one another. It would be additionally desirable for such a hand and wrist covering to assist players during their developmental stage to improve their skill in securing the ball.

The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a hand and wrist covering for improving a user's ability to grip a ball. The primary components of Applicant's grip enhancing hand and wrist covering are a glove component, a wrist component, and a plurality of suction cups. When in operation, the hand and wrist covering allows a user to catch and/or hold a ball by increasing a user's gripping power. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by conventional gloves and wristbands are removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A grip enhancing hand and wrist covering for improving a user's ability to grip a ball, comprising a glove component and a wrist component, each having a plurality suction cups disposed thereon. Each suction cup provides a grip enhancing means. The glove component provides a hand covering means and is defined by a conventional glove body having a plurality of suction cups spanning the surface of each finger and the thumb on the palmar side. A hook and loop fastener is disposed on the outside surface at the base of the glove component so as to allow the glove component to removably attach to a wrist component of the grip enhancing hand and wrist covering.

The corresponding wrist component provides a wrist covering means and is defined as an elongated hollow cylinder having a proximal end and a distal end. Disposed across the anterior side of the wrist component are suction cups. A hook and loop fastener component is disposed on the inside surface of the hollow cylinder at the proximal end. The corresponding hook and loop fastener portion on the glove component and hook and loop fastener portion of the wrist component together provide a fastening means for removably attaching said hand covering means with said wrist covering means.

The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering, which can be manufactured for use on either hand, uses the plurality of suction cups to improve the gripping ability of its user. As it includes both a hand covering and an attachable wrist covering, it provides much more surface area than conventional gloves or wristbands.

It is an object of this invention to provide a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering which includes a plurality of suction cups to assist in holding or catching a ball.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hand and wrist covering configured as two discrete coverings which were removably attachable to one another.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a hand and wrist covering adapted to assist players during their developmental stage to improve their skill in securing the ball.

These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1a is a perspective view of the palmar side of a glove component of a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1b is a perspective view of the dorsal side of a glove component of a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2a is a perspective view of the anterior side of a wrist component of a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2b is a perspective view of the posterior side component of a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the wrist component of a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering built in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings and in particular FIG. 1a, the palmar side of a glove component 10 of a grip enhancing hand and wrist covering is shown having a conventional glove body 11 defined by a palm portion 12, four finger portions 13, and a thumb portion 14. Spanning each finger portion 13 and the thumb portion 14 on the palmar side are a plurality of suction cups 15 permanently attached to the surface of said glove component 10. A hook and loop fastener component 16 is disposed at the base of the glove component 10 so as to allow the glove component to removably attach to a wrist component of the grip enhancing hand and wrist covering. In the preferred embodiment, the hooks of the hook and loop fastener component 16 are disposed on said glove component 10 near the opening 17 configured to receive a user's hand.

Referring now to Figure lb, the dorsal side of the glove component 10 of the grip enhancing hand and wrist covering is shown, again having a conventional glove body 11 defined by a palm portion 12, four finger portions 13, and a thumb portion 14. As the hook and loop fastener component 16 encircles the base of the glove component 10 in the preferred embodiment, the dorsal side of the glove component 10 also includes the hook and loop fastener component 16 is disposed at the base of the glove component 10. Unlike the palmar side, however, the dorsal side lacks any suction cups.

Referring now to FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 3, the wrist component 20 is defined as an elongated hollow cylinder 21 having a proximal end 21a and a distal end 21b. Disposed across the anterior side of the wrist component 20 is a plurality of suction cups 22 permanently attached to the surface of said wrist component 20. No suction cups are present on the posterior side of the wrist component 20. A hook and loop fastener component 23 is disposed on the inside of the hollow cylinder 21 at the proximal end 21a. It is understood that the hook and loop fastener component 23 on the wrist component 20 is the opposing aspect than the hook and loop fastener component 16 on the glove component 10 so as to allow the hook and loop fastener component to engage to form a removable attachment. It is additionally contemplated that the hooks of the fastener are placed on the glove component so that they do not scratch the hand or wrist of the user when the grip enhancing hand and wrist covering is put on. This is due to the fact that the hook and loop fastener component 16 on the glove component 10 is on the exterior of the glove component 10 while the hook and loop fastener component 23 on the wrist component 20 is on the interior of the wrist component 20.

In the preferred embodiment, the glove body 10 and the hollow cylinder 21 are both constructed of a leather or suede material and the suction cups 16, 22 are constructed of rubber.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the hook and loop fastener component on the wrist component and the opposing hook and loop fastener component on the glove component are located on only the anterior/palmar or the posterior/dorsal side of the wrist component and glove component, respectively.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A grip enhancing hand and wrist covering comprising:

a discrete glove component adapted to be placed over a user's hand having a glove body defined by a palm portion, four finger portions, a thumb portion and a glove base defined as an opening configured to receive a user's hand, wherein at least one of said finger portions include a plurality of suction cups disposed thereon about the palmar side of the glove component;

a discrete wrist portion adapted to be placed over a user's wrist defined as an elongated hollow cylinder having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein a plurality of suction cups are disposed on the anterior side of the elongated hollow cylinder; and

a fastening system having a first fastening surface disposed on the glove base and a second fastening surface disposed at the proximal end of said wrist portion, wherein said first fastening surface and said second fastening surface are adapted to removably attachment when manually engaged together.

2. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 1, wherein said thumb portion additionally includes a plurality of suction cups disposed thereon about the palmar side of the glove component.

3. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 1, wherein each of said finger portions include a plurality of suction cups disposed thereon about the palmar side of the glove component.

4. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 1, wherein said fastening system is defined as a hook and loop fastener system.

5. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 4, wherein said first fastening surface is defined by the hooks of a hook and loop fastener system.

6. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 4, wherein said second fastening surface is defined by the loops of a hook and loop fastener system.

7. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 1, wherein the first fastening surface forms a contiguous surface which completely encircles the glove base.

8. A grip enhancing hand and wrist covering comprising:

a discrete hand covering means having four finger portions and a thumb portion, wherein at least one of said finger portions include a plurality of grip enhancing means;

a discrete wrist covering means having a plurality of grip enhancing means; and

a fastening means for removably attaching said hand covering means with said wrist covering means.

9. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 8, wherein said thumb portion of said a hand covering means additionally includes a plurality of grip enhancing means.

10. The grip enhancing hand and wrist covering of claim 8, wherein each of said finger portions of said a hand covering means include a plurality of grip enhancing means.