GLOVE THAT CONFORMS TO DIFFERENT FINGER SIZES

Abstract

A glove is provided with stretchable zones or sections on the finger portions of the glove to allow adjustable form fitted receipt of a wearer's fingers, while conforming to varying finger lengths of different wearers so that the glove finger portions do not extend beyond the tips of the wearer's fingers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This non-provisional patent application is based on provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/323,244 filed Apr. 15, 2016.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gloves and, more particularly, to a glove having finger portions that are adjustable in length to accommodate different hand sizes and finger lengths of users.

DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART

Men's and ladies' gloves typically come in sizes small, medium, large and extra large. While these size categories generally accommodate the varying hand sizes of the general population, the glove size is designed to accommodate a particular hand size, and not a specific finger length. In order to ensure that gloves fit onto the hands of most people of the same hand size, the length of glove fingers are often longer than the user's finger length. This results in extra material at the end of the finger portion of the glove extending beyond the tips of the wearer's fingers. In fact, glove manufacturers often design the finger length of the gloves to be longer than average so that the glove can be fitted onto the hands of both a person with longer fingers and a person having shorter fingers.

The excess glove material extending from the ends of the finger portions can be annoying, distracting and inhibit the intended function of the glove. For instance, excess material extending from the finger portions of a golf glove when worn on a golfer's hand will interfere with the proper grip of the golf club. This excess material on the ends of the fingers of the golf glove can also be annoying and interfere with the golfer's concentration. Moreover, excess material extending from the ends of the fingers of a work glove can present a safety hazard. In particular, the excess material extending beyond the tips of a wearer's fingers of a work glove can get caught in machinery or become pinched between two objects, resulting in possible injury to the worker.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide a glove that includes finger portions that automatically adjust to the length of a wearer's fingers so that the same size glove will fit properly on various users having different finger lengths. More specifically, there is a need for a glove that is provided with stretchable zones on the finger portion of the glove to allow for adjusted, form fitted receipt of a wearer's fingers, while conforming to varying finger lengths of different wearer's so that the glove finger portions do not extend beyond the tips of the wearer's fingers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a glove having individual finger portions that conform to varying finger lengths of different users in order to provide a proper fit without excess material of the finger portions extending beyond the tips of the wearer's fingers. In a preferred embodiment, each of the finger portions of the glove includes a section of elastomeric stretchable material at least partially encircling the finger portion. This section or zone of stretchable material may be located at the base, the middle or near the tip of the finger portion. The section of elastomeric material allows the finger portion to extend in length in response to an outward force exerted by the wearer's finger tip against an interior distal end of the finger portion of the glove when the user fits the gloves onto their hand. In another embodiment, a section of elastomeric stretchable material spirals around each finger portion to allow the finger portion to extend in length, as necessary, in order to accommodate different finger lengths of wearers. In a further embodiment, one or more of the finger portions may include two or three sections of stretchable material between the base and the tip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a palm side of the glove of the present invention, in accordance with a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is plan view of a palm side of the glove of the present invention, in accordance with a second embodiment; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a palm side of the glove depicting further embodiments of the invention.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, and initially FIG. 1, the glove of the present invention is shown in accordance with a first embodiment and is generally indicated as 10A. The glove 10A includes a hand portion 12 with a back side (not shown) and a palm side 14 and five finger portions, including a thumb portion 20 and finger portions 21-24 which include an index finger portion 21, a middle finger portion 22, a ring finger portion 23 and a pinky finger portion 24. Each of the finger portions 20-24 is provided with a stretchable zone 30 which allows the tips of each of the finger portions 20-24 to extend outwardly away from the hand portion 12 in response to a force exerted by the wearer's finger tips against an inner distal end of each of the respective finger portions 20-24. In a preferred embodiment, the stretchable zones 30 are formed of an elastomeric material, such as a polyester-polyurethane copolymer commonly referred to as “spandex,” “lycra” or “elastane.” FIG. 1 also illustrates an embodiment of the invention wherein two stretchable zones 30 are provided on a finger portion, as seen on the middle finger portion 22.

FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the glove of the present invention and is generally indicated as 10B. In this particular embodiment, each of the finger portions 20-24 is provided with a spiraling arrangement of stretchable zones 30 encircling the finger portions. Each of the spiraling stretchable sections are formed of an elastomeric material to allow the distal ends of the finger portions to extend outwardly and away from the hand portion 12 of the glove in response to a force exerted by the user's finger tips against an interior of the distal ends of the finger portions.

Referring to FIG. 3, further embodiments of the invention are shown, wherein the glove 10C may include two or more stretchable zones 30 on any of the finger portions 20-24. For instance, the finger portions 20-24 may include two separate stretchable zones 30 (see FIG. 1 for this example) or three stretchable zones 30, such as one near the base of the finger portion, one near the center of the finger portion and one near the distal tip of the finger portion. In a further embodiment, the stretchable zones may be at various locations on the finger portions. For instance, in one embodiment, the stretchable zones 30 may be located near the base (i.e., proximal end) of the finger portion, as seen on the ring finger portion 23 in FIG. 3. Alternatively, the stretchable zones 30 may be located near the center of each of the finger portions, as seen on the middle finger portion 22 in FIG. 3. In still a further embodiment, the stretchable zones 30 may be located near the distal tips of the finger portions, as seen on the index finger portion 21 in FIG. 3.

While the present invention has been shown and described in accordance with several preferred and practical embodiments, it is recognized that departures from the instant disclosure are fully contemplated within the spirit and scope of the present invention which is not to be limited except as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A glove comprising:

a hand portion;

a plurality of finger portions integral with and extending from the hand portion and including a thumb portion, an index finger portion, a middle finger portion, a ring finger portion and a pinky finger portion, and each of the plurality of finger portions including a base and a distal tip; and

at least one of the plurality of finger portions including a stretchable zone formed of an elastomeric material to allow the at least one finger portion to extend in length in response to a force exerted at the distal tip of the at least one finger portion and away from the hand portion.

2. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of finger portions includes at least one of the stretchable zones formed of an elastomeric material for allowing each of the plurality of finger portions to extend in length in response to a force exerted at the distal tip and away from the hand portion.

3. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein the at least one of the plurality of finger portions includes two or more stretchable zones formed of an elastomeric material.

4. The glove as recited in claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of finger portions includes two or more of the stretchable zones.

5. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein the stretchable zone on the at least one of the plurality of finger portions is formed in a spiraling configuration extending between the base and the distal tip of the at least one of the plurality of finger portions.

6. The glove as recited in claim 2 wherein the at least one of the stretchable zones is located adjacent to the base of each of the plurality of finger portions.

7. The glove as recited in claim 2 wherein the at least one of the stretchable zones is located adjacent to the distal tip of each of the plurality of finger portions.

8. The glove as recited in claim 2 wherein the at least one of the stretchable zones is located between the base and the distal tip of each of the plurality of finger portions.

9. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein the glove is a golf glove.

10. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein the glove is a batting glove for baseball.

11. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein the glove is a work glove.

12. The glove as recited in claim 1 wherein the glove is a football glove.