AMBIDEXTROUS, ANTI-VIBRATION GLOVE WITH IMPACT AND PINCH POINT PROTECTION

Abstract

A glove for protecting a hand is provided including a flat, first side having a hand-shaped outer perimeter having a palm portion and finger portions, and a flat second side having the hand shaped outer perimeter having a palm portion and finger portions. The second side is a mirror image of the first side. Protuberances are disposed in a pattern on each of the first side and the second side of the glove where the patterns are mirror images of one another. The glove may be used on either a left hand or a right hand of a user. When in use, the protuberances on the one side provide impact protection to the back of the user's hand, and the protuberances on the other side provide vibration damping.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to gloves, and more particularly to knitted gloves having vibration absorbing properties.

Gloves having vibration absorbing properties have been around for many years. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,865,969 (Auger et al.) discloses a glove having a plurality of resilient, compressible projections extending out from the palm and fingers of the glove. Planar areas in the knuckles and finger joint areas make the device flexible for easy grasping. Bunching of the projections is avoided or reduced by arranging the projections in parallel, arcuate rows.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,688 (Reynolds et al.) discloses a glove having a bladder with interconnected or independent inflation cells filled with a compressible fluid such as air. A pump may be used to inflate the bladder.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,217 (Karall) discloses a vibration damping glove that includes at least one vibration-damping layer, facing away from the hand. Indents cause vibrations to be deflected into an interior layer.

Wear resistant gloves have also been known for many years. It has been a common practice to include coatings of a flexible, wear-resistant material, e.g., polyvinyl chloride, applied thereon to provide some measure of wear resistance. Those coatings have typically either been applied over substantially the entire glove, or in random block patterns or stripes or small dots. All of the patterns utilized heretofore for wear-protective coatings exhibit one or more drawbacks. For example, a solid coating over the entire glove or over its entire palm surface buckles when the hand is flexed, causing creasing of the coating and wearer discomfort. Additionally, stripes extending the entire length of the glove tend to buckle when the glove is flexed. Other materials, such as leather, rubber, vinyl, etc., have been used for work gloves, and some of such gloves have included pads or other portions to increase comfort and/or provide some cushioning or protection.

Cut resistant gloves have also been known for many years. Various types of seamless knitted gloves formed of conventional materials, such as cotton, poly-cotton, or Kevlar® are commercially available for use by workers to provide some measure of protection from injury and some cushioning for the hand of workers. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. RE42,265 which teaches a cut resistant yarn for use with gloves as well as the glove itself.

While the prior art gloves may be generally suitable for their intended purpose they still leave much to be desired from the standpoint of resistance to vibration and impact protection.

All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a glove for protecting a hand of user is provided, where the hand has a palm and fingers, and where each of the palm and fingers have crease lines. The glove includes a flat, first side having a hand-shaped outer perimeter and having a palm portion and finger portions. The glove further includes a flat, second side having the hand shaped outer perimeter and having a palm portion and finger portions. The second side is a mirror image of the first side and shares the same perimeter. Protuberances are disposed in a pattern on each of the first side and the second side of the glove. The pattern of protuberances on the first side of the glove is a mirror image of the pattern of protuberances on the second side of the glove. The glove may be used on either a left hand or a right hand of a user. When in use, the protuberances on one side provide impact protection to the back of the user's hand, and the protuberances on the other side provide vibration damping.

In the exemplary embodiment, the glove is knitted and seamless. The finger portions of each of the first side and the second side may terminate at tips, wherein at least some of the protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are located adjacent to the tips to provide fingertip vibration reduction, impact protection and pinch point protection. The finger portions of each of the first side and the second side have knuckle portions, wherein at least some of the protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are located adjacent to the knuckle portions to provide knuckle vibration reduction and impact protection. The finger portions of each of the first and second side may terminate at tips wherein at least some of the protuberances on each of the first and second side are located adjacent to the tips to provide fingertip pinch protection. The glove may be manufactured with a cut resistant and/or flame resistant yarn. The protuberances may be a foamed synthetic material such as foamed silicon. The foamed silicon may be flame and heat resistant. The foamed synthetic material may be applied to the glove in a flowable state, whereupon some of the foamed synthetic material engages the yarn and is bonded to the yarn. The protuberances on each of the first side and the second side may be arranged in a pattern defining flexure lines between immediately adjacent protuberances. The flexure lines may be positioned on each of the first and second sides at approximately where the palm and user crease lines of the user are located. The glove may also be knitted from flame resistant yarn.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals designate like elements and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric, bottom (palm-side) view of a glove for protecting a hand of user in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in a condition of being on a hand of a user;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the glove of FIG. 1, in a condition off of the hand of the user;

FIG. 3 is a top (back of hand) view of the glove of FIG. 1, in a condition off of the hand of the user;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a typical hand for use with the glove of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the glove of FIG. 1, in a condition off of the hand of the user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will be illustrated in more detail with reference to the following embodiments, but it should be understood that the present invention is not deemed to be limited thereto.

Referring now to the drawing figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout the several views, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3, a glove 10 for protecting a hand 12 of user from shock and vibration in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The glove 10 may also be wear resistant, cut resistant, flame resistant and dampen vibration. The glove 10 is for the hand 12 of a human being (see FIG. 4) where the hand has a palm 14, fingers 16 and each of the palm 14 and fingers 16 has plural crease lines 18. The glove 10 includes a flat, first side 20 having a hand-shaped outer perimeter 22, a palm portion 24, and finger portions 26. The glove 10 is formed of a yarn that provides for the glove 10 to be flexible. The glove 10 further includes a flat second side 28 having the hand shaped outer perimeter 22, having a palm portion 32 and finger portions 34 formed of the yarn making the second side 28 flexible. The second side 28 is a mirror image of the first side 20.

A plurality of protuberances 36 are disposed in a pattern 38 on the first side 20 and in a pattern 40 the second side 28 of the glove 10. The pattern 38 of protuberances 36 on the first side 20 of the glove 10 is a mirror image of the pattern 40 of protuberances 32 on the second side 28 of the glove 10.

The glove 10 is “ambidextrous” in that a single glove 10 may be used on either a left hand or a right hand of a user. When in use, the protuberances 32 on one of the first side 20 and the second side 28 provide impact protection to the back of the user's hand, and the protuberances 28 on the other of the first side 20 and said second side 28 provide vibration damping.

Preferably, the glove 10 is knitted and is seamless.

The finger portions 26, 34 of each of the first side 20 and the second side 28 terminate at tips 42, wherein at least some of the plurality of protuberances 36 on each of the first side 20 and the second side 28 are located adjacent to the tips 42 to provide fingertip vibration reduction (on the palm side of the glove), impact protection (on the back of hand side of the glove), and pinch protection. More specifically, the tips 42 of the finger portions 26, 34 of the glove 10 have protuberances on both the first side 20 and the second side 28 to prevent pinch point hazards where the fingers can get caught in between two objects coming together. The protuberances 36 are designed to cover the entire fingertip up to the knuckle and they preferably contour to the curvature of the fingers to allow for fingertip dexterity. If a user' fingertips get caught in a pinch, the protuberances on the front and back of the glove are squeezed, but the user's fingers can be pulled out between the protuberances due to the stretch of the glove.

The finger portions 26, 34 of each of the first side 20 and the second side 28 have knuckle portions 44, 46, respectively, wherein at least some of the plurality of protuberances 36 on each of the first side 20 and the second side 28 are located adjacent to the knuckle portions 44, 46 to provide fingertip vibration reduction and impact protection.

The glove 10 may be manufactured with any of a variety of cut resistant yarn and/or flame resistant yarns, as are well known to those skilled in the art. The protuberances may be made from any suitable material, for example, a foamed synthetic material such as flame and heat resistant foamed silicon. Foamed silicon provides a good grip but also provides back of hand impact protection and helps reduce vibration on the palm side. While many foamed synthetic materials may be used, foamed silicon provides a good set of properties, in that it provides for good abrasion resistance, positive grip, and good adhesion to the glove liner. Other synthetic materials may require screened-on pattern that would make the glove too thick to grab any object with reasonable dexterity. The air pockets in the foam silicon absorb impacts and vibrations. The pattern is screened on, which means that the liner is placed on a flat form and a thick screen with this design is placed over the liner and the compound is applied with a straight edged blade. The compound is then cured and the process repeated on the opposite side.

The foamed synthetic material may be applied to the glove 10 in a flowable state, whereupon some of the foamed synthetic material engages the yarn and is bonded to the yarn. In the present exemplary embodiment of the glove 10, the protuberances 26 on each of the first side 20 and the second side 28 are arranged in a pattern defining flexure lines between immediately adjacent protuberances where the flexure lines are positioned on each of the first 20 and second sides 28 at approximately where the palm and finger crease lines 18 of the user are located. When the hand is flexed, the protuberances do not bunch up in the palm. This design allows the glove to be worn comfortably on either hand. The pads are placed to allow hand flexion both from a palm side standpoint where they don't bunch up either in the palm area or where the fingers flex. On the back of hand side, they protect the hand and fingers from impact, but also allow the fingers and hand to flex without restriction.

In the past, gloves providing hand protection involved several hazards—cut resistance, palm protection from impacts and vibrations, back of hand impact protection, and fingertip pinch point protection. To this point, there have been gloves designed specifically for an individual hazard or several hazards, but none has been designed to meet all of these hazards.

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Claims

1. A glove for protecting a hand of user, the hand having a palm, fingers, each of the palm and fingers having plural crease lines, the glove comprising:

(a) a flat, first side having a hand-shaped outer perimeter having a palm portion and finger portions;

(b) a flat second side having the hand shaped outer perimeter having a palm portion and finger portions, the second side being a mirror image of the first side; and

(c) a plurality of protuberances disposed in a pattern on each of the first side and the second side of the glove, the pattern of protuberances on the first side of the glove being a mirror image of the pattern of protuberances on the second side of the glove;

whereby the glove may be used on either a left hand or a right hand of a user and whereby, when in use, the protuberances on one of said first side and said second side provide impact protection to the back of the user's hand, and the protuberances on the other of said first side and said second side provide vibration damping.

2. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the glove is knitted and seamless.

3. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, the wherein the finger portions of each of the first side and the second side terminate at tips, wherein at least some of the plurality of protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are located adjacent to the tips to provide fingertip vibration reduction and impact protection.

4. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the finger portions of each of the first side and the second side have knuckle portions, wherein at least some of the plurality of protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are located adjacent to the knuckle to provide knuckle vibration reduction and impact protection.

5. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the finger portions of each of the first and second side terminate at tips wherein at least some of the protuberances on each of the first and second side are located adjacent to the tips to provide fingertip pinch protection.

6. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the glove is manufactured with a cut resistant yarn.

7. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the glove is manufactured with a flame resistant yarn.

8. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the protuberances are a foamed synthetic material.

9. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 8, wherein the foamed synthetic material is foamed silicon.

10. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 9, wherein the foamed silicon is flame and heat resistant.

11. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 8, wherein the foamed synthetic material is applied to the glove in a flowable state, whereupon some of the foamed synthetic material engages the yarn and is bonded to the yarn.

12. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 1, wherein the protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are arranged in a pattern defining flexure lines between immediately adjacent protuberances, said flexure lines positioned on each of the first and second sides at approximately where the palm and finger crease lines of the user are located.

13. A glove for protecting a hand of user, the hand having a palm, fingers, each of the palm and fingers having plural crease lines, the glove comprising:

(a) a flat, first side having a hand-shaped outer perimeter, and having a palm portion and finger portions;

(b) a flat second side having the hand shaped outer perimeter, and having a palm portion and finger portions, the second side being a mirror image of the first side;

(c) a plurality of protuberances disposed in a pattern on each of the first side and the second side of the glove, the pattern of protuberances on the first side of the glove being a mirror image of the pattern of protuberances on the second side of the glove;

(d) wherein the finger portions of each of the first side and the second side terminate at tips, wherein at least some of the plurality of protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are located adjacent to the tips to provide fingertip vibration reduction, impact protection, and pinch point protection;

(e) wherein the glove is knitted from cut resistant yarn; and

(f) wherein the protuberances are a foamed synthetic material;

whereby the glove may be used on either a left hand or a right hand of a user and whereby, when in use, the protuberances on one of said first side and said second provide impact protection to the back of the user's hand, and the protuberances on the other of said first side and said second side provide vibration damping.

14. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 13, wherein the finger portions of each of the first side and the second side have knuckle portions, wherein at least some of the plurality of protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are located adjacent to the knuckle portions to provide knuckle vibration reduction and impact protection and pinch point protection.

15. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 13, wherein the foamed synthetic material is foamed silicon.

16. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 15, wherein the foamed silicon is flame and heat resistant.

17. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 13, wherein the foamed synthetic material is applied to the glove in a flowable state, whereupon some of the foamed synthetic material engages the yarn and is bonded to the yarn.

18. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 13, wherein the protuberances on each of the first side and the second side are arranged in a pattern defining flexure lines between immediately adjacent protuberances, said flexure lines positioned on each of the first and second sides at approximately where the palm and finger crease lines of the user are located.

19. The glove for protecting a hand of claim 13, wherein the glove is knitted from flame resistant yarn.