IES20090427A2 - A sports glove - Google Patents

Abstract

A sports glove comprising a glove body, and a protective element attached to the glove body to substantially protect a hand of a person wearing the glove. <Figure 1>

Description

This present invention relates to a sports glove. In particular the invention relates to a protective glove for use in sports, for example, hurling and hockey.

Sports gloves are already available on the market and used in certain sports for example hurling and hockey which however can fail to absorb the impact which may be received to the hand of a player during a game. For example, the hand of a player can be struck by a hurling stick or hockey stick. Some gloves afford protection by providing only a layer of foam which is however completely inadequate.

One of the difficulties of providing a glove both from a safety and comfort point of view is that the glove must also be comfortable for the sports player and not interfere with his grip or natural hand feeling or movement.

An object of the invention is to provide a protective glove for sportswear which will increase the safety for the player and not reduce the feeling of comfort.

According to the invention there is provided a sports glove comprising a glove body, and a 20 protective element attached to the glove body to substantially protect the hand of a person wearing the glove.

Preferably, the protective element comprises one or more plastics inserts sewn into the glove.

In one embodiment, the glove substantially covers the back of the hand and has a substantially opened palm region.

IE 0 9 0 4 2 7 In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the shock absorbing material is a foam type material of approximately 3mm in thickness.

The protective element thus comprises an ultra thin shock absorbing layer formed from a combination of a plastics insert of approximately 2mm in thickness in addition to a layer of neoprene shock absorbing material of approximately 3mm in thickness. This combined protective element is then sewn into the glove so as to protect the back of the hand and the tops of the fingers.

The plastics inserts are moulded into a pattern which simulates the shape of the rear of the hand and tops of the fingers and thumb. Once these inserts are aligned, they can be sewn securely into the glove body.

The materials used exhibit the ability to absorb impacts very well. The material will be elastic in so far as it is possible so that the material can recover to absorb several impacts in the same location.

The shape and thickness of the layers of the protective element have been developed specifically to provided both safety and comfort for the user.

The invention further provides a sports glove having a substantially open palm region with finger loops to attach the glove to the fingers and also having a wrist band. The palm region and the tops of the fingers are therefore exposed.

The embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a sports glove according to the invention; JEO 904 27 Figure 2 is an underside view of the glove of Figure 1; Figure 3a is an exploded view of the protective elements of the glove of Figure 1; Figure 3b is a cross sectional view of the inserts of Figure 3 a; Figure 3c is a perspective view of the insert of Figure 3a; Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of a finger region of the glove of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the back of the hand region of the glove of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the glove according to the invention; Figure 7 is an underside view of the glove of Figure 6.

Referring now to the drawings wherein similar numerals have been used to indicate like parts while there is shown therein a sports glove, in particular a hurling glove 10 having finger portions 11, a thumb portion 12, a back of the hand region 13 and a wrist strap 14. As shown, the wrist strap 14 has a velcro strip 15 which can be attached to a flap 16. As shown, apart from an arc of material 17, the palm region 18 is generally open and the arc 17 joins the thumb region 12.

A protective element 19 comprises an insert 20 moulded from plastics material for example polypropylene and conforms to the shape of the back of the hand and extends to the knuckle area of the hand. The insert 20 is formed having three slits 21'which enables it to deform to the shape of the hand for example when a player clinches the fist. Attached to underside of the insert 20 is a layer of neoprene shock absorbing material 22. Thus, the protective ΙΕΟ 9 ο 4 27 element 19 comprises both a insert of plastics material 20 in the form of polypropylene and an under layer of shock absorbing foam type material 22for example neoprene.

As shown more clearly in Figure 3c, the protective element 19 is slightly curved or arcuate to conform to the shape of the back of the hand of a user when the fist is closed.

Each of the finger and thumb portions also have a plastics insert 25 moulded to the shape of the finger sections. These inserts 25 may also have a layer of foam shock absorbing material 22 on the under side if desired.

In Figures 4 and 5 there is shown a cross section of the finger portion and the hand portion of the protective glove. Thus, in Figure 4, the finger portion 11 shows the insert 25 sewn between front 30 and rear 31 layers of the glove 10. A finger loop 32of a standard grip “lycra” material is attached to the finger portion 11. The finger loop 32 is elasticated.

In Figure 5 there is shown a cross section of the hand region of the glove. Thus, the protective element comprising the plastics layer 20 and the foam layer 22 are sandwiched between the inner and outer most layers of the material 30, 31 of the glove.

The thin plastics layers 20 and 25 may be of approximately 2mm in thickness and the thickness of the foam material 22 may be approximately 3mm. The outer most layer 30 of the glove may also comprise a foam material if desired.

In Figures 6 and 7 there is shown therein another embodiment of the invention which is similar to the embodiment of Figure 1 with the exception that the finger portions 11 are much shorter and only cover the first joint of the finger extending from the knuckle.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which may be modified or varied without departing from the scope of the present invention. ^0 9ο 427

Claims (5)

1. A sports glove comprising a glove body, and a protective element attached to the glove body to substantially protect the hand of a person wearing the glove.

2. A sports glove as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the glove substantially covers the back of the hand and has an open palm region.

3. A sports glove as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein the protective element comprises one or more plastic inserts sewn into the glove.

4. A sports glove as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the protective element further comprises an inner layer of shock absorbing material.

5. A sports glove as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the shock absorbing material is a foam type material of approximately 3mm in thickness. Βλκ/*- fa lg 22 22 42 7 2.0 «0 9 ο 427 ΙΟ ΙΕΟ 9 Ο 4 27 ---2 2-