GLOVE WITH ENHANCED GRIPPING SURFACE

Abstract

A glove with an enhanced gripping textured surface is disclosed herein. In preferred embodiments, the glove contains a palm region adapted to cover the palm of a person's hand, a thumb region extending outwardly from the palm region, an index finger region disposed adjacent the thumb region, a middle finger region adjacent the index finger region, a ring finger region adjacent the middle finger region, and a little finger region adjacent the ring finger region with each region containing a textured surface. In preferred embodiments, the textured surface is formed by a plurality of lateral and longitudinal ridges protruding above the surface of the glove, said lateral and longitudinal ridges intersecting to form a grid of raised three dimensional structures such as grid of raised squares.

Description

APPENDIX TO THE SPECIFICATION

The present application contains an appendix labeled “Appendix-A” containing tables and related details of a glove with enhanced gripping surface. The entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of gloves worn on the hands. More specifically, the invention relates to grip enhancing textured gloves for use with food preparation and the like.

BACKGROUND

Many different types of gloves have been developed to facilitate a wide variety of hand operated activities. One of the most popular types of gloves that has been known to serve hand operated activities is the water impervious glove made from a generally hand conforming flexible material. These types of gloves are often disposable in nature and are commonly referred to as rubber gloves. These gloves may be made from latex, nitrile, rubber, or other similar materials and are typically employed in activities where it is desired to block fluid contact with the skin while at the same time maintaining the dexterity of the hand. For many years rubber gloves have been widely used as a barrier against infectious diseases, bacteria, liquid contaminants, dry contaminants, and a plurality of other substances a user may wish to prevent from contacting the skin of their hands.

Currently, rubber gloves may comprise a generally smooth exterior, or they may comprise texturing that attempts to increase the grip or frictional resistance of the glove when interacting with objects. Smooth exterior rubber gloves are often inadequate for manipulating wet or otherwise slippery objects. For this reason, smooth rubber gloves are not advised for use when handling certain types of objects such as foods. When dealing with these objects, users are often advised to use textured gloves. However, existing textured gloves are known to inhibit or decrease tactile feedback to the user. With reduced tactile feedback, users are still prone to have difficulty manipulating slippery objects which may result in accident and injury.

Another drawback common to textured gloves is a reduced flexing ability. Frequently, in order to apply texturing, additional material must be applied to the glove. The additional material can make these gloves stiff and hard to flex thereby decreasing the dexterity of a gloved hand. Likewise, with reduced dexterity, users are also prone to have difficulty manipulating slippery objects which may also result in accident and injury.

In order to limit the amount of material that is added to the glove for texturing, many textured gloves consist of texturing on one side of the glove resulting in the glove being hand specific. The hand specific factor limits the longevity and the usage of these gloves such as in the event of one glove getting damaged which automatically renders the other glove of the pair as unusable, since each glove is hand specific.

Due to these drawbacks, the lack of strong grip in the various gloves presently being used often makes a user vulnerable to accidents during prolonged glove usage activities such as handling of food products as the lack of firm grip makes the food articles loose while being held in the hands and thus results in unsafe and uncomfortable work environments.

Therefore, a need exists for novel grip enhancing textured gloves that are configured to aid a user in manipulating wet or otherwise slippery objects. Another need exists for grip enhancing textured gloves that do not inhibit or decrease tactile feedback to the user. There is a further need for grip enhancing textured gloves that are not difficult to flex thereby decreasing the dexterity of the gloved hand. Finally, there exists a need for a grip enhancing textured gloves that are not hand specific so that if one glove of a pair becomes damaged, the user is not automatically required to obtain a new pair of gloves.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A glove with an enhanced gripping textured surface is disclosed herein. In preferred embodiments, the glove contains a palm region adapted to cover the palm of a person's hand, a thumb region extending outwardly from the palm region, an index finger region disposed adjacent the thumb region, a middle finger region adjacent the index finger region, a ring finger region adjacent the middle finger region, and a little finger region adjacent the ring finger region with each region containing a textured surface. In preferred embodiments, the textured surface is formed by a plurality of lateral and longitudinal ridges protruding above the surface of the glove, said lateral and longitudinal ridges intersecting to form a grid of raised three dimensional structures such as grid of raised squares.

In some additional embodiments, the textured surface is further enhanced by a plurality of recessed cavities with a single recessed cavity disposed between a lateral ridge and a longitudinal ridge. In yet further embodiments, each recessed cavity has an open top side region generally in the form of a circle with a depth of about 0.5 mm +/−0.25 mm and a diameter of about 2 mm +/−1 mm. In even further embodiments, the number of recessed cavities on the textured surface is between 10 to 22 cavities per square cm, but preferably between 14 to 18 cavities per square cm, and even more preferably about 16 cavities per square cm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1—depicts a front elevation view of an example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2—illustrates an elevation view from the right little finger side of an example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3—shows an elevation view from the left thumb side of an example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4—depicts a top view of an example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5—illustrates an enlarged perspective view of the three dimensional structure of the example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface from box 5 of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6—shows an enlarged perspective view of the three dimensional structure of the example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface from box 6 of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7—depicts a sectional, through line 7-7 shown in FIG. 5, view of the three dimensional structure of the example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface according to various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

New grip textured gloves are discussed herein. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.

The present invention will now be described by example and through referencing the appended figures representing preferred and alternative embodiments. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a front elevation view of an example of a glove with enhanced gripping surface (“the glove”) 100 according to various embodiments. In this example, the glove 100 comprises a thumb region 12, an index finger region 13, a middle finger region 14, a ring finger region 15, little finger region 16, a palm region 11, a wrist region 17, and a cuff region 18. A textured surface such as a continuous textured surface 21 is disposed on a substantial majority the exterior surfaces of the glove's 100 palm region 11 and finger regions 12,13,14,15,16. In some embodiments, continuous textured surface 21 is disposed on between 80-100% of the exterior surface area of the glove's 100 palm region 11 and finger regions 12,13,14,15,16. The textured surface such as the continuous textured surface 21 is used to enhance the frictional contact and improve the grip objects such as food and the like. The thumb region 12, index finger region 13, middle finger region 14, ring finger region 15, and little finger region 16 are all generally aligned along a common axis (“A” FIG. 4) with the wrist region 16. The glove 100 also comprises a shank 19 which forms the generally round opening allowing access to the hollow interior of the glove 100 that is configured to receive a hand of a user. Additionally, the glove 100 may also comprises one or more large textured surfaces 21 and in some embodiments small textured surfaces 22A. In some embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise a bead 20 of optionally thicker and/or flared glove material that is disposed around the shank opening 19.

As shown by FIG. 1, the glove 100 differs from currently available gloves to facilitate hassle free donning for user with an optimum shank 19 circumference at wrist region 17 or wrist joint, and the extra room preferably runs all along the cuff region 18. In preferred embodiments, the glove 100 does not allow for the sagging of the cuff region 18 and thus has a previously unavailable incidence for preventive guarding against loosely hanging cuff regions 18 and/or bead 20 from getting caught in a moving or on a static object. Additionally, the glove 100 provides for easy doffing in case the user wants to purposefully slip out the gloves 100 and can again easily slip in the hand as and when required with optimum shank 19 room. The preferred embodiments of the gloves 100 and their formers comprise some optimum shank 19 measurements summarized in table 1.

TABLE 1
Some preferred shank measurements of the glove 100 and formers.
					Double	Triple
Article (Shank Radius				Extra	Extra	Extra
at the Wrist Joint,	Small	Medium	Large	Large	Large	Large
Middle point of cuff and	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size
at beading roll.	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)
Former - Circumference	190 ± 30	200 ± 30	210 ± 35	220 ± 40	230 ± 45	240 ± 30
in mm at the Wrist Joint
10 mm below the end of
Textured surface at palm.
Gloves - Width in mm	85 ± 10	90 ± 10	95 ± 10	100 ± 10	105 ± 10	115 ± 10
at the Wrist Joint 10 mm
below the end of
Textured surface at
palm.
Former - Circumference	220 ± 45	230 ± 45	240 ± 50	250 ± 55	260 ± 60	270 ± 45
in mm at 55 mm below
the end of Textured
surface at palm.
Gloves - Width in mm	90 ± 25	100 ± 35	110 ± 40	120 ± 45	125 ± 50	130 ± 50
at the middle of Cuff
Length 55 mm below
the end of Textured
surface at palm.
Former - Circumference	225 ± 40	235 ± 45	245 ± 50	255 ± 55	265 ± 60	275 ± 60
in mm at 100 mm below
the end of Textured
surface at palm.
Gloves - Width in mm	100 ± 35	105 ± 35	115 ± 40	120 ± 40	125 ± 50	130 ± 35
at 100 mm below the
end of Textured surface
at palm.

Common user practices show a tendency of using double currently available gloves by using a currently available liner or supplementary glove inside a currently available main glove for sweat management and to prevent slip inside the glove due to moisture as the currently available gloves comprise a mostly loose fit.

These currently available gloves consist of a loose palm but narrow finger circumference which often results in occupational fatigue to the user while donning the main currently available glove over the currently available supplementary glove. These currently available gloves are difficult to Donne or Doff with a secondary liner glove inside. The narrow fingers circumference with a liner glove inside was making the gloves a tight fit and that in turn causes occupational discomfort while two currently available gloves were on. Also the tight fit of the currently available gloves restricts the bending ease of the fingers and eventually the user will complain of stiffening feeling in the fingers and Palm.

In some embodiments, the glove 100 comprises extra room in the finger circumference thus allowing previously unavailable easy use of an inner liner glove yet permitting total bending and flexing actions. The glove 100 comprises the optimum finger circumference that allows correct fit with an inner liner glove yet does not cause any stiffening or tightening feel in the fingers which was potentially the root cause of the occupational fatigue with currently available gloves. The preferred embodiments of the glove 100 and their formers comprise some optimum finger circumference measurements summarized in table 2.

TABLE 2
Some preferred finger circumference measurements of the glove
100 and formers.
Article (Finger Circumference					Double	Triple
of the Middle Finger at				Extra	Extra	Extra
Finger Tip, Centre point of	Small	Medium	Large	Large	Large	Large
Middle Finger and Middle	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size
Finger joint with Palm	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)
Former - Circumference at	48 ± 8	50 ± 10	51 ± 10	70 ± 15	72 ± 15	72 ± 15
Finger Tip of Middle Finger
in mm
Gloves - Width at Finger Tip	16 ± 4	20 ± 5	20 ± 5	30 ± 6	30 ± 6	30 ± 6
of Middle Finger in mm
Former - Circumference at	55 ± 10	60 ± 12	67 ± 13	80 ± 18	88 ± 20	95 ± 20
Centre point of Middle Finger
in mm
Glove - Width at Centre point	26 ± 3	28 ± 3	31 ± 3	39 ± 3	40 ± 3	42 ± 3
of Middle Finger in mm
Former - Circumference at	57 ± 10	63 ± 13	72 ± 15	86 ± 18	97 ± 20	102 ± 20
Finger Joint of Middle Finger
with Palm in mm
Glove - Width at Finger Joint	20 ± 5	25 ± 5	30 ± 6	36 ± 7	42 ± 8	45 ± 8
of Middle Finger with Palm
in mm

As is common in the art, the glove 100 may be made or formed by dipping a mold called a “former” which is a negative copy of the glove into liquefied material that will solidify into a glove at which time the glove may be removed from the former. The glove 100 preferably is of a unitary construction meaning that it is formed so as to be seamless, and may be made from flexible materials such as latex, nitrile, vinyl, rubber, and other suitable water impervious flexible materials. Therefore, a glove 100 may only be made by a complementarily shaped former with measurements, textured surfaces, smooth surfaces, and any other similar landmark on the former being imposed onto the glove that the former is used to form. One of reasonable skill in the art will immediately recognize that descriptions of measurements, textured surfaces, smooth surfaces, and any other similar landmark locations on a glove will correspond to a former configured to produce those measurements, textured surfaces, smooth surfaces, and any other similar landmarks on a glove.

It should be understood to one of ordinary skill in the art that a glove former may be used to manufacture the glove 100 as described in various embodiments herein. An exemplary former is shown in Appendix-A included herewith and incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the glove 100 may be of a unitary construction (i.e. without seems). The glove 100 may be constructed by first dipping the glove former into a quantity of liquid containing natural or synthetic rubbers such as acrylonitrile-butadiene (nitrile), polychloroprene, polyvinyl chloridelatex, or any suitable material or combinations of the like. Next, the coated former is removed from the liquid material allowing the liquid coating to solidify to the former surface where the now solid state material it can then be removed as a uniform glove 100. It should be readily understood that the glove former used herein preferably comprises a series of raised protrusions of circular, oval, square, or rectangular shape suitable for forming a textured surface on a glove 100, said textured surface on the glove 100 consisting essentially of recessed cavities 51 and protruding lateral ridges 57 and protruding longitudinal ridges 58 formed by said raised protrusions on the former.

The glove 100 and its former differs from existing rubber gloves in that the existing rubber glove designs allow only a restricted crouch movement due to low angle of depression and small arc radius between the Thumb and Index finger joint. The crouch is sometimes referred to as a crotch and is used to refer the region between each pair of adjacent finger or finger and thumb regions. Restricted crouch movement not only results in frequent tearing of gloves at the crouch but also causes extreme donning fatigue due to limited flexibility to bend and flex the thumb as the crouch movement is highly restricted due to small crouch. In preferred embodiments, the grip textured glove 100 comprises an optimized crouch arc radius 46 between the thumb and the index finger thus in turn increasing the angle of depression 45 between the thumb with respect to (w.r.t) the index finger (“the thumb angle depression” 45). The preferred embodiments of the glove 100 and formers comprise crouch arc radius 46 between the thumb and the index finger measurements and thumb angle depression 45 measurements summarized in table 3.

TABLE 3
Preferred crouch arc radius 46 between the thumb and the index
finger measurements and angle of depression 45 between the thumb
(w.r.t.) the index finger (thumb angle depression - measurements of
glove 100 and formers.
Article
(The Crouch
Radius and					Double	Triple
Angle of				Extra	Extra	Extra
Depression of	Small	Medium	Large	Large	Large	Large
Thumb w.r.t	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size
Index Finger	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)
Former - Arc	12 ± 4	13 ± 4	14 ± 5	15 ± 5	16 ± 6	16 ± 6
Radius at
Crouch (mm)
Former -	24° ± 4°	24° ± 4°	24° ± 4°	24° ± 4°	24° ± 4°	24° ± 4°
Thumb
angle of
Depression
w.r.t
Index Finger
(Deg)
Gloves - Arc	10 ± 4	11 ± 4	12 ± 4	13 ± 4	14 ± 4	14 ± 4
Radius at
Crouch (mm)
Gloves -	20° ± 4°	20° ± 4°	20° ± 4°	20° ± 4°	20° ± 4°	20° ± 4°
Thumb
angle of
Depression
w.r.t
Index Finger
(Deg)

As perhaps best illustrated in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, in preferred embodiments, the glove 100, and therefore its former as a mirrored inverse structure, may comprise a first side 30A and a second side 30B, so that the glove 100 is ambidextrous with the first side 30A and second side 30B forming generally mirror images of each other. Due to the ambidextrous nature of the glove 100, the glove 100 may be placed on either hand allowing both the first side 30A and a second side 30B to be arbitrarily referred to as either the palm side or back of the hand side depending on which hand the glove 100 is placed on.

With respect to the two sided nature of the glove 100, a glove 100 may comprise: a first palm region 11A and a second palm region 11B which are adapted to cover the palm and back of a person's hand; a first thumb region 12A and a second thumb region 12B adapted to cover the thumb of a person's hand and extending outwardly from the first 11A and second 11B palm region; a first index finger region 13A and a second index finger region 13B adapted to cover the index finger of a person's hand and extending outwardly from the first 11A and second 11B palm region; a first middle finger region 14A and a second middle finger region 14B adapted to cover the middle finger of a person's hand and extending outwardly from the first 11A and second 11B palm region; a first ring finger region 15A and a second ring finger region 15B adapted to cover the ring finger of a person's hand and extending outwardly from the first 11A and second 11B palm region; a first little finger region 16A and a second little finger region 16B adapted to cover the little finger of a person's hand and extending outwardly from the first 11A and second 11B palm region; a first wrist region 17A and a second wrist region 17B adapted to cover a person's wrist and extending outwardly from the first 11A and second 11B palm region; and a first cuff region 18A and a second cuff region 18B adapted to cover a portion of a person's arm and extending outwardly from the first 17A and second 17B wrist regions, with the respective first regions located on the first side 30A and the second regions located on the second side 30B of a glove 100.

In preferred embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise a continuous, textured surface 21 that may cover portions of the palm region 11, thumb region 12, index finger region 13, middle finger region 14, ring finger region 15, and little finger region 16. In further preferred embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise a first continuous textured surface 21A on the first side 30A that may cover portions of the first palm region 11A, first thumb region 12A, first index finger region 13A, first middle finger region 14A, first ring finger region 15A, and first little finger region 16A. Also in further preferred embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise a second continuous textured surface 21B on the second side 30B that may cover portions of the second palm region 11B, second thumb region 12B, second index finger region 13B, second middle finger region 14B, second ring finger region 15B, and second little finger region 16B.

In other preferred embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise a first continuous textured surface 21A on the first side 30A that may cover portions of the first palm region 11A, first thumb region 12A, first index finger region 13A, first middle finger region 14A, first ring finger region 15A, first little finger region 16A, and/or first wrist region 17A. Also in other preferred embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise a second continuous textured surface 21B on the second side 30B that may cover portions of the second palm region 11B, second thumb region 12B, second index finger region 13B, second middle finger region 14B, second ring finger region 15B, second little finger region 16B, and/or second wrist region 17B.

In still further preferred embodiments, the glove 100 may comprise one or more first small textured surfaces 22A (FIG. 1) on the first side 30A and/or one or more second small textured surfaces 22B on the second side 30B. In some embodiments, one or more first small textured surface 22A may be located on the first wrist region 17A and/or the first cuff region 18A of the first side 30A. In other embodiments, one or more second small textured surface 22B may be located on the second wrist region 17B and/or the second cuff region 18B of the second side 30B.

Also shown in FIGS. 2-4 and in preferred embodiments, a glove 100 may comprise a necklace 47 with a generally smooth necklace surface 48 free from texturing that is preferably continuous with the glove surface 31 and that may extend from the bead 20 of the little finger region 16 side of the glove 100 up, around, and down the side of the palm region 11, wrist region 17, cuff region 18, each finger region (16, 15, 14, 13), the side of the thumb region 12, and ending at the bead 20 of the thumb region 12 side of the glove 100. In some embodiments, a necklace surface 48 of a necklace 47 may form a boundary between or otherwise separate a first continuous textured surface 21A on a first side 30A from a second continuous textured surface 21B on a second side 30B of the glove 100.

A necklace 47 may not directly be involved in gripping an object, yet it influences the grip by virtue of its greater elastic and flexible allowances than the allowances of the continuous textured surface 21 to ensure the glove 100 has maximum resilience for all gripping requirements. In preferred embodiments, the glove 100 comprises a necklace 47 which further comprises a generally smooth necklace surface 48 of an optimum width running across the longitudinal periphery of all the finger regions and thumb region. The smooth necklace surface 48 of the necklace 47 compensates for any stiffness rendered or impaired by the continuous 21 and small 22 textured surfaces on the actual working surface of the glove 100. A smooth necklace surface 48 that runs across the finger and thumb regions of the glove 100 comprises an optimum width to ensure that the necklace 47 generally does not interfere or come in contact with the gripping object and also at the same time enables excellent flexing and thus preventing any donning fatigue. In preferred embodiments, the glove 100 and their formers comprise necklace surface 48 and necklace 47 measurements summarized in table 4 below.

TABLE 4
Preferred necklace surface measurements of gloves and formers.
Article - Smooth Necklace					Double	Triple
Surface Width on Middle				Extra	Extra	Extra
Finger Tip, Centre Point	Small	Medium	Large	Large	Large	Large
of finger and at Finger	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size	Size
joint with palm	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)
Smooth Necklace surface	3 ± 1.5	4 ± 1.5	6 ± 2.5	8 ± 3.5	10 ± 4.5	11 ± 4.5
width in mm at the tip of	(8%)	(8%)	(12%)	(10%)	(14%)	(14%)
the Middle finger and as
% of the Middle Finger
Circumference at that
point.
Smooth Necklace surface	6 ± 3	7 ± 3	8 ± 3.5	10 ± 4.5	11 ± 5	12 ± 5
width in mm at the Centre	(12%)	(12%)	(13%)	(13%)	(13%)	(13%)
Point of the Middle finger
and as % of the Middle
Finger Circumference
at that point.
Smooth Necklace surface	10 ± 5	11 ± 5	13 ± 5	14 ± 6	15 ± 6	16 ± 6
width in mm at the Middle	(18%)	(18%)	(19%)	(17%)	(16%)	(16%)
finger joint with palm and
as % of the Middle Finger
Circumference at that
point.

FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 illustrate the three dimensional structure 32 of the continuous textured surfaces 21 and the optional small textured surfaces 22. The three dimensional structure 32 preferably comprises a raise square grid pattern with a recessed cavity 51 centrally positioned in each grid square. The grid squares are bounded by two opposing and parallel lateral ridges 57 protruding above the glove surface 31 and two opposing and parallel longitudinal ridges 58 protruding above the glove surface 31, with the lateral ridges 57 being generally perpendicular to the longitudinal ridges 58. Crowns 59 are formed at the intersection of the longitudinal ridges 58 and lateral ridges 57 with the crowns 59, longitudinal ridges 58, and lateral ridges 57 forming a generally planar surface raised and protruding above the recessed cavities 51 and the glove surface 31. The recessed cavities 51 are recessed in texture to aid in gripping and safe handling of objects. Thus a three dimensional structure 32 is formed by the longitudinal ridges 58 and lateral ridges 57 forming a grid of squares or a raised square grid surface. In preferred embodiments, the three dimensional structure 32 also comprises the crowns 59 which are formed by the intersection of a longitudinal ridge 58 and lateral ridge 57 which are raised and protrude above the surface of the glove 31.

In preferred embodiments, each longitudinal ridge 58 is spaced about 2 millimeters (mm) apart from adjacent longitudinal ridge 58, and each lateral ridge 57 is spaced about 2 mm apart from each adjacent lateral ridge 57 in a square grid pattern of the three dimensional structure 32. In other embodiments, each longitudinal ridge 58 is spaced at or between 1 mm and 3 mm apart from each adjacent longitudinal ridge 58, and each lateral ridge 57 is spaced at or between 1 mm and 3 mm apart from each adjacent lateral ridge 57 in a square grid pattern of the three dimensional structure 32.

In further preferred embodiments, the three dimensional structure 32 of the continuous textured surfaces 21 and the optional small textured surfaces 22 comprises a grid of sixteen grid squares, wherein a grid square may be formed by two opposing and parallel lateral ridges 57 and by two opposing and parallel longitudinal ridges 58, with the lateral ridges 57 being generally perpendicular to the longitudinal ridges 58, per square centimeter of glove 100 (FIGS. 1-4) or former surface area. In other embodiments, the three dimensional structure 32 of the continuous textured surfaces 21 and the optional small textured surfaces 22 comprises a grid of between ten grid squares and twenty two grid squares per square centimeter of glove 100 (FIGS. 1-4) or former surface area.

In preferred embodiments, the three dimensional structure 32 comprises a raised square grid pattern with a recessed cavity 51 centrally positioned in each grid square, wherein a grid square may be formed by two opposing and parallel lateral ridges 57 and by two opposing and parallel longitudinal ridges 58, with the lateral ridges 57 being generally perpendicular to the longitudinal ridges 58. In preferred embodiments, a recessed cavity 51 comprises an open top side 53 optionally referred to as an open top side region, a lateral side 52, and a bottom side 54 formed by the exterior surface 31 of the glove 100 (FIGS. 1-4). Both the top side 53 and bottom side 54 are preferably round or circular in shape. A lateral side 52 is preferably joined to two lateral ridges 57, two longitudinal ridges 57, four crowns 59, and a bottom side 54, with the lateral side 52 comprising a generally curved or cylindrical shape profile. In preferred embodiments, the lateral side 52 may comprise a concave or curved shape that curves away from the top side 53 and bottom side 54. In further preferred embodiments, the lateral side 52 of the recessed cavities 51 comprises a depth of 0.5 mm below the distal top of the square crowns 59. In other embodiments, the lateral side 52 of the recessed cavities 51 comprises a depth of at or between 0.25 mm and 0.75 mm below the distal top of the square crowns 59.

In preferred embodiments, the open top side 53 of a recessed cavity 51 may have a diameter of about 2 mm. In other embodiments, the open top side 53 of a recessed cavity 51 may have a diameter at or between 1 mm and 3 mm.

In further preferred embodiments, each recessed cavity 51 is spaced about 2 millimeters (mm) apart from adjacent recessed cavity 51 in the square grid pattern of the three dimensional structure 32. In other embodiments, each recessed cavity 51 is spaced at or between 1 mm and 3 mm apart from each adjacent recessed cavity 51 in a square grid pattern of the three dimensional structure 32.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described herein with reference to preferred embodiments and specific examples thereof, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functions and/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the spirit and scope of the present invention, are contemplated thereby, and are intended to be covered by the following claims.

References (incorporated herein by reference)

U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,216

Claims

1. A glove with a glove surface, the glove comprising: wherein the textured surface comprises a plurality of lateral ridges and a plurality of longitudinal ridges protruding above the glove surface.

a. a first palm region adapted to cover a palm of a person's hand and containing a textured surface on a first side of the glove;

b. a first thumb region extending outwardly from the palm region and containing a textured surface on the first side of the glove;

c. a first index finger region disposed adjacent the thumb region and containing a textured surface on the first side of the glove;

d. a first middle finger region adjacent the index finger region and containing a textured surface on the first side of the glove;

e. a first ring finger region adjacent the middle finger region and containing a textured surface on the first side of the glove;

f. a first little finger region adjacent the ring finger region and containing a textured surface on the first side of the glove; and

2. The glove according to claim 2, wherein the glove is an ambidextrous glove adapted to be wearable on either of a left hand or a right hand wherein the glove further comprises: wherein the textured surface comprises a plurality of lateral ridges and a plurality of longitudinal ridges protruding above the glove surface.

a. a second palm region adapted to cover a palm of a person's hand and containing a textured surface on a second side of the glove;

b. a second thumb region extending outwardly from the palm region and containing a textured surface on the second side of the glove;

c. a second index finger region disposed adjacent the thumb region and containing a textured surface on the second side of the glove;

d. a second middle finger region adjacent the index finger region and containing a textured surface on the second side of the glove;

e. a second ring finger region adjacent the middle finger region and containing a textured surface on the second side of the glove;

f. a second little finger region adjacent the ring finger region and containing a textured surface on the second side of the glove;

3. The glove according to claim 2, wherein the textured surface further comprises a plurality of recessed cavities located between said plurality of lateral and longitudinal ridges, said recessed cavities comprising:

a. lateral sides formed in-part by the lateral and longitudinal ridges protruding above the glove surface;

b. an open top side; and

c. a bottom side proximate to the glove surface.

4. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the plurality recessed cavities are located within a raised three-dimensional structure, said raised three-dimensional structure consisting essentially of a square grid formed by said lateral ridges and said longitudinal ridges protruding above the glove surface.

5. The glove according to claim 4, wherein the lateral ridges and the longitudinal ridges intersect at 90 degree angles at crowns protruding above the glove surface.

6. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the open top sides of the plurality of recessed cavities are circular in shape.

7. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the recessed cavities have a cavity depth below the distal top of the square crowns between 0.25 mm and 0.75 mm.

8. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the recessed cavities have a cavity diameter between 1 to 3 mm.

9. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the textured surface is a continuous textured surface on the first side of the glove and a continuous textured surface on the second side of the glove and wherein the continuous textured surface contains between 10 to 22 recessed cavities within 1 square centimeter of textured surface area.

10. The glove according to claim 9, wherein the textured surface contains 16 recessed cavities within 1 square centimeter of textures surface area.

11. The glove according to claim 3, wherein the index finger region, middle finger region, ring finger region, little finger region and thumb region are substantially aligned with each other along a lateral axis.

12. An ambidextrous glove with a first side containing a first continuous textured surface and a second side containing a second continuous textured surface, the glove comprising:

a. palm region adapted to cover a palm of a person's hand, said palm region containing a continuous textured surface on the first side and second side of the glove;

b. a thumb region adapted to cover a thumb of a person's hand, said thumb region containing a continuous textured surface on the first side and the second side of the glove;

c. an index finger region adapted to cover an index finger of a person's hand, said index finger region containing a continuous textured surface on the first side and the second side of the glove;

d. a middle finger region adapted to cover a middle finger of a person's hand, said middle finger region containing a continuous textured surface on the first side and the second side of the glove;

e. a ring finger region adapted to cover a ring finger of a person's hand, said ring finger region containing a continuous textured surface on the first side and the second side of the glove;

f. a little finger region adapted to cover a little finger of a person's hand, said little finger region containing a continuous textured surface on the first side and the second side of the glove;

g. a necklace extending from the outside edge of the thumb region through the outside edge of the little finger region wherein the necklace region contains a smooth un-textured necklace surface; and

wherein a continuous textured surface is formed by a plurality of lateral ridges and longitudinal ridges protruding above the glove surface of the first and second sides of the glove.

13. The glove according to claim 12, wherein the glove comprises a first continuous textured surface that covers greater than 90% of surface area of the palm region and finger regions on the first side of the glove; and

a second continuous textured surface that covers greater than 90% of surface area of the palm region and finger regions on the second side of the glove;

said first continuous textured surface of the first side of the glove being separated from said second continuous textured surface of the second side of the glove by the necklace.

14. The glove according to claim 13, wherein the textured surface contains a plurality of recessed cavities located between the lateral ridges and longitudinal ridges.

15. The glove according to claim 12, wherein the necklace has a substantially uniform width between the upper thumb and upper little finger regions.

16. The glove according to claim 13, wherein the necklace has a width between 1.5 mm to 22 mm between the upper thumb and upper little finger regions.

17. The glove according to claim 12, wherein the crouch arc radius between the thumb and index finger is extended slightly into the palm region.

18. The glove according to claim 17, wherein the crouch arc radius between the thumb and index finger is extended between 8 mm to 22 mm.

19. The glove according to 12, wherein the thumb angle of depression with respect to the index finger is greater than 16 degrees.

20. The glove according to 19, wherein the thumb angle of depression with respect to the index finger is between 16 degrees to 24 degrees.