Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Mittens for Young Children
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to outerwear
apparel for children. In particular, the present
invention relates to mittens for young children which
will stay on their hands during use.
Background of the Invention
A child's ability to enjoy outdoor activities in
cold climates can be hampered by inappropriate and
restrictive outerwear. Parents and other caregivers
put a great deal of effort and expense to ensure that
the children's hands stay warm and dry.
Often, pre-school children need the assistance of
an adult to put mittens on their hands, since the
children have not yet mastered how to place the thumb
properly into the thumb portion of the mitten or do
not possess sufficient dexterity due to age. In many
children's mittens of the prior art, the thumb portion
of the mitten protrudes outward from the palm portion.
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This placement of the thumb portion has a number of
drawbacks. First, the placement makes it physically
more difficult to put a mitten on the child's hand.
Second, the placement often results in the child's
thumb ending up in the palm portion with the other
fingers, which results in a loss of use of the
opposable thumb, making it difficult and frustrating
for the child to hold an object such as a snow shovel
or the like.
Younger children can often remove mittens that
are not properly secured to their hands, which is
dangerous in very cold weather. Unlike older children
and adults, the width of a young child's wrist is
about the same as the width of the hand. The young
child's hand therefore cannot, by itself, prevent
typical mittens from coming off.
In order to attempt to address this issue, many
mittens of the prior art have an elastic band attached
around the wrist portion of the mitten, sewn between
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the mitten's lining and the outer layer. However this
band tight, thereby making entry of the hand
difficult, although the band does help prevent the
mitten from coming off. Some prior art mittens make
entry of the hand difficult but are not tight enough
to prevent the mitten from coming off. In addition,
the band does not prevent snow from entering into the
mitten onto the child's wrist.
Knitted mittens are easier to place on the
child's hand, since knitted material is elastic in
nature and conforms to the shape of the hand. Knitted
mittens also have ribbing on the wrist, thereby making
for a snug fit. However, a knitted mitten can easily
be removed, either by the child, or by a bulky jacket
sleeve. In addition, knitted mittens tend to become
wet when they come into contact with wet snow, putting
the child's hand at risk of freezing.
In order to retain maximum warmth, the children's
mittens of the prior art typically possess a thick
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bulky lining. This lining often extends past the
wrist and up the arm, but is impeded by a bulky jacket
sleeve cuff, thereby resulting in the mitten being
pushed off the hand. The mitten's bulky lining also
tends to restrict movement and the ability of small
hands to grasp items, adding significantly to the
general frustration of being dressed in bulky and
restrictive outerwear. This frustration sometimes
leads the child to take off the mittens.
United States Patent Nos. 5,507,043 (Howe) and
5,809,569 (Bruno et al.) each disclose an external
attachment for securing the mitten onto a child's
hand.
Howe's device is described as comprising a thin
plastic tie that encircles the thumb and wrist
portions of a mitten. The device as disclosed is
unsuitable for use with children's mittens, as it is
restrictive around the thumb area. Furthermore, since
part of the tie protrudes from the wrist, it might
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accidentally catch onto objects, be a distraction for
a curious child or even poke a child in the eye.
The device of Bruno et al. comprises two
intertwined loops that each close with a hook-loop
fastener such as VelcroTM. A first loop secures the
thumb portion of the mitten and interconnects with a
second loop that ties around the wrist portion. This
mitten is unwieldy, as it requires adding more
material to an already bulky mitten. It also
unnecessarily restricts thumb movement, and does not
keep snow away from a child's wrist.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2504888 (Suehiro)
discloses a waterproof mitten for young children. The
hand and thumb areas of the mitten are insulated. The
mitten is secured to the child's wrist by an external
strip of cloth that is attached to the mitten. Both
ends of the strip go around the wrist and are tied on
the topside of the mitten. In addition, the cuff has a
zippered opening to enable an adult to guide the
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child's hand into the mitten. This design suffers from
a number of drawbacks. First, a tie system is
cumbersome and difficult to apply given the time
required for a young child to remain still while tying
the strips. The tie system may also come undone,
leaving the ends dangling and posing a danger to the
child. The zippered cuff does not prevent snow from
entering the wrist area. Furthermore, the zipper adds
extra bulk, and may come undone, leaving the child's
hand exposed to the cold weather.
United States Patent No. 5,361,415 (Deering et
al.) discloses an insulated, waterproof child's mitten
that comprises a cuff that extends all the way to the
elbow. The opening of the cuff is elasticized to
prevent snow from entering. The wrist portion of the
mitten also has an elastic member that is sewn between
the mitten's lining and the outer layer. As noted
above, however, this elasticized feature of the wrist
portion allows for the easy removal of the mitten by a
small child, thus leaving the hand exposed to cold.
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Caregivers and parents typically become
frustrated with the drawbacks of prior art mittens and
tend to resort to unconventional means of ensuring the
child's hands are protected from the cold, such as by
placing multiple mittens on each hand or by placing
the mitten on the child's hand prior to wearing the
coat, thereby limiting the child's ability to remove
the mitten.
In addition, there is the problem of losing one
mitten while the mittens are not in use. In some
mittens of the prior art, bulky clips are added to one
side of each mitten, as a means to secure the mittens
together for storage. Unfortunately, such clips add
more bulk to the already bulky mitten and constitute a
potential danger for young children.
Given the above drawbacks, there is a need for a
children's mitten that is simple, streamlined and
performs properly in cold weather. For the safety of
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small children, the mitten should not use cords,
strings or clips. The mitten should be easy to put on
the child's hand, remain secured, maintain the child's
hand warm and dry, keep snow away from the wrist area,
and allow for a reasonable range of hand and thumb
movement. In addition, the mittens should be easy and
safe to store together when not in use.
Summary of the Invention
The mittens of the present invention are
specifically intended to be used by young children
including babies, toddlers and children under about
the age of five years, although older children may
also use this invention.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a child's mitten comprising a thumb member
and palm member joined together to form a hand
portion. The hand portion comprises insulation
attached to its inner side. The hand portion is joined
to a cuff member; the cuff member comprises an opening
with a first elasticised member attached about the
perimeter of the opening. A second elasticised member
is mounted externally on a wrist portion of the
mitten. The second elasticised member is capable of
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being fastened and unfastened, or detachably secured,
around a child's wrist.
The first elasticised member can either be sewn
into the second outer shell, or mounted externally on
the cuff member, in which case, the second elasticised
member is capable of being detachably closed by means
of hook-loop fastener such as VelcroTM. The hand
portion is preferably insulated with an ultra-thin
lining, or a mixture of fleece and an ultra-thin
lining. In one embodiment, the hand portion forms a
first outer shell comprising rubberized nylon, and the
cuff member forms a second outer shell comprising
nylon. The thumb portion is positioned to allow for
greater manual dexterity and for allowing a child to
place the thumb in the thumb portion correctly with
minimal assistance from a caregiver such as an adult.
The mitten comprises an inner surface and an outer
surface; the palm member comprises a palm surface and
backside surface; and the inner surface of the thumb
member is positioned adjacent to the palm surface of
the palm portion.
In another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a child's mitten comprising a thumb member
and palm member joined together to form a hand
portion. The hand portion comprises insulation and a
first waterproof outer shell and is joined to a cuff
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member; the cuff member comprises a second waterproof
outer shell having an opening with a first elasticised
member enclosing the opening. The first elasticised
member is sewn into the opening, and a second
elasticised member is mounted externally on a wrist
portion of the mitten for securing the mitten onto a
child's hand. The second elasticised member is capable
of being detachably closed. In one embodiment, the
insulation is an ultra-thin lining. In addition, the
thumb member is positioned below the palm member.
In yet another aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a child's mitten that comprises a
thumb member and palm member joined together to form a
hand portion. The thumb member is positioned below the
palm member, while the hand portion comprises ultra-
thin insulation and a first waterproof outer shell.
The hand portion is joined to a cuff member that
comprises a second waterproof outer shell having an
opening with a first elasticised member that encloses
the opening. The first elasticised member is sewn into
the opening. A second elasticised member is mounted
externally on a wrist portion of the mitten for
securing the mitten onto a child's hand, and this
second elasticised member is capable of being
detachably fastened to itself.
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In yet another aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a pattern for forming a child's
mitten comprising an elasticized cuff member, a wrist
band and a hand member; the elasticised cuff member is
formed from an elastic and waterproof material having
a general arc shape; the wrist band comprising a strip
of waterproof material has a rectangular shape, a
hook-and-loop fastener and an elastic; the hand member
comprises a shell and a lining; the shell is formed
from a second waterproof material, comprising a
backside member, a palm surface member and a thumbside
member; the backside member having a general closed U-
shape; the palm surface member has a lower portion
that is a general closed U-shape and an upper portion
having a general thumb shape; the thumbside member has
a lower portion that is a general rectangular shape
and an upper portion having a general thumb shape; the
lining is made of insulation material of the same
general shape as the backside member, the palm surface
member and thumbside member. In one embodiment, the
pattern includes a tab member for the wrist band. In
another embodiment, the waterproof material is nylon,
and the palm surface portion is made of rubberized
nylon.
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Brief Description of the drawings
Embodiments of the invention will now be
described by way of example with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 illustrates an underside view of a left
hand mitten of the present invention with the wrist
band unfastened;
Fig. 2 illustrates a top view of the mitten shown
in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 illustrates a top perspective view of a
right hand mitten of the present invention with the
wrist band fastened;
Fig. 4 illustrates the typical dimensions of a
young child's hand;
Fig. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a sewing
pattern for a child's left-hand mitten of the present
invention;
Fig. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a sewing
pattern of lining for the child's mitten of Fig. 5;
and
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Figs. 7a and 7b illustrate the dimensions of an
assembled mitten based on the sewing patterns of Figs.
and 6, respectively.
5
Detailed Description
Figs. 1 to 3 illustrate different views of a
mitten (10) of the present invention. Figs. 1 and 2
depict a left hand mitten and Fig. 3 shows a right
hand mitten, the main difference being in the
placement of the thumb member (20), as described
below. As illustrated, the mitten (10) comprises a
palm member (15), thumb member (20) and cuff member
(25). The thumb member (20) has an inner surface (21)
and an outer surface (22). Similarly, the palm member
(15) has a palm surface (16) and a backside surface
(17). The palm member (15) and thumb member (20)
together form a hand portion (55). The hand portion
(55) comprises a first waterproof, water-resistant or
water-repelling shell, while the cuff member (25)
comprises a second waterproof, water-resistant or
water-repelling shell.
The hand portion (55) is insulated, preferably
with an ultra-thin lining, or a combination of fleece
and an ultra-thin lining. The insulation is not bulky.
The term "ultra-thin lining" refers to insulation
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material that reduces the bulk of the hand portion of
the mitten. One example of an ultra-thin lining
contemplated in the present invention is ThinsulateTM.
To help guide the child's thumb into place when
inserting the hand, the mitten (10) is designed with
the inner surface of the thumb member (21) situated
adjacent the palm surface of the palm member (16), to
accommodate where a child's thumb naturally rests when
the hand is extended. The positioning of the thumb
member (20) enhances the ease in which the mitten is
placed on the child's hand. This feature also allows
for a reasonable range of thumb mobility; a child is
better able to grasp small objects, such as a twig, or
a snow shovel handle.
The cuff member (25) extends part way up the
forearm. The mitten's insulation extends around the
palm member (15) and, in one embodiment, stops
adjacent the wrist area at seam (35), since any
additional lining above the wrist is typically
unnecessary for the maintenance of warmth. In
addition, additional lining may add unwanted bulkiness
and conflict with the child's jacket sleeve cuff,
sweater sleeve cuff or the like (not shown). Given its
relatively thin material, the cuff member (25) easily
fits either over or under the jacket sleeve cuff. The
cuff opening (30) of the cuff member (25) is
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elasticised, allowing for the cuff member (25) to stay
in place around the jacket sleeve cuff, for example,
and prevent snow or ice from entering into the wrist
portion of the mitten. For small children, it is
important for the cuff opening (30) to be free from
cords or strings, since these attachments tend to
catch onto objects, thereby posing a hazard to the
child.
The cuff member (25) and palm member (15) meet at
a seam (35) positioned at the wrist area. An elastic
wrist band (40) is attached on the exterior of the
mitten (10), such as at attachment location (50).
Attachment location (50) is illustrated in Figs. 1 and
3 as being located about the centre of the palm side
of the seam (35), although it may be located in any
convenient location around the mitten. Any suitable
elastic material may be used as the elastic wrist band
(40).
Optionally, the wrist band (40), which can be
opened and closed with a hook-loop fastener (60, 65)
such as VelcroT"", includes a tab (45) at one extremity.
The tab (45) is placed for the assistance of another
person, such as a caregiver, to detach the hook-loop
fastener (60, 65) for removal of the mitten (10).
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When the wrist band (40) is open, the child's
hand can easily be placed inside the mitten. Once the
hand is in place, the wrist band (40) fits snugly
around the child's wrist, thereby securing the mitten
(10) onto the child's hand. An elasticised closing
device allows the wrist band (40) to be adjusted so
there is even pressure along the wrist band (40)
around the wrist, helping to keep the mitten in place.
The mitten is said to be detachably secured in
that the wrist band (40) can be fastened about the
wrist when in use so as to secure the mitten to the
wrist. The fastened wrist ban (40) can be unfastened
or adjusted as required.
The wrist band (40) on the left- and right-hand
mitten allows for ease of storage when the mittens are
not in use. For example, the wrist band (40) on one
hand is looped closed, then the other mitten's wrist
band is secured through the first mitten's wrist band.
Alternatively, one mitten is placed on top of the
other, then the wrist band (40) on one hand is secured
around both mittens. In either embodiment, both
mittens are detachably secured together, thereby
reducing the likelihood of separating one mitten from
the other. In yet another embodiment, the respective
wrist bands (40) are attached to each other with the
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hook-loop fasteners (60, 65) such that both mittens
(10) are removably attached to each other.
Fig. 4 shows the typical dimensions of a young
child's hand. The circumference of the wrist is
denoted by (100). The circumference of the hand at the
base of the thumb is indicated by (110), while the
circumference of the hand at the palm is denoted by
(120). The breadth of the four fingers is denoted by
(130), while the hand length is indicated by (135).
The length from tip of the thumb to the extremity of
the hand, defined by an extended middle finger, is
shown as (145). The hand dimensions of a typical 2-
year-old and a 3-4 year-old are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Hand dimensions of a small child (inches)
Part 2 year-old 3-4 year-old
100 4.5 5
110 5.5 6
120 4.5 5.5
130 2 2.5
135 4 4.75
140 2.5 3
145 1.5 2
As shown in Table 1, the difference between the
circumference of a young child's wrist (100) and the
circumference of the hand at the base of the thumb
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(110), is about 1 inch. In contrast, the difference
for an adult is about 3 inches. Unlike adults, very
young children tend to have relatively more fat stored
around their wrists. The circumference of a young
child's wrist is therefore almost the same as that of
the hand. As the child grows, and becomes more
physically active, the fat naturally subsides, leading
to relatively slimmer wrists. In the case of mittens
for infants/toddlers, the circumference of the wrist
(100) and that of the hand at the base of the thumb
(110) differ only by 1 inch. It follows that the
wrists of infants/toddlers are more prone to slip out
of a mitten than the wrists of older children or
adults.
The measurements for a 3-4 year-old child shown
in Table 1, were used for the design of the sewing
pattern of the mitten embodiment shown in Fig. 5, and
the lining shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a pattern for
sewing a left-hand mitten of the present invention to
fit the hand of a typical 3-year old child. The
dimensions of each piece are shown in Table 2. Based
on the following description and Fig. 5, the worker
skilled in the art would understand how to make a
right-hand mitten and how to adjust the dimensions to
suit any size mitten of the present invention.
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In this embodiment, cuff member (25) of Figs. 1
and 2 comprises a cuff piece (210) and a % inch
elastic (200) of length (205). Cuff piece (210) is
made of a waterproof, water-resistant or water
repelling material, such as nylon, has an overall arch
shape, with upper arch dimension (215), lower arch
dimension (217) and width (218). In this embodiment,
the elastic (200) is sewn into the larger arch opening
of the cuff piece (210).
The wrist band (40) embodiment shown in Figs. 1
and 2, comprises a 1/ inch elastic band sewn into a
rectangular strip (220), with a hook-and-loop fastener
(230 and 250) at one extremity of the strip (220),
such as Velcro', and a tab (240) sewn onto the other
extremity of the strip (220). In one embodiment, the
strip (220) is waterproof, water-resistant or water
repelling. When assembled, the wrist band (40) is
about 7 inches in length, and can stretch to about 9
inches in length.
The hand portion (55) of Figs. 1 and 2 comprises
a backside piece (260), a palm surface piece (270) and
a thumb piece (280), all of which may be made of a
waterproof, water-resistant or water repelling
material. The backside piece (260) has a general
closed U-shape as illustrated. The palm surface piece
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(270) has a U-shape lower portion, similar to the U-
shape portion of the backside piece (260), and an
upper portion (275) that includes material to cover
the thumb. This upper portion (275) remains
essentially within the width margin (274) of the lower
portion. In this embodiment, the mid-point of the
upper portion (275) is positioned at position (276)
from one edge of the palm surface piece (270). Palm
surface piece (270) may be made of a rubberized nylon
or other suitable material.
The thumb piece (280) has a lower portion in a
general rectangular shape and an upper portion(285)
that includes material to partially cover the thumb.
The upper portion (285) of the thumb piece (280)
remains within the width margin (286) of the lower
rectangular portion. In the illustrated embodiment,
the mid-point of the upper portion (285) is positioned
at position (287) from one edge of the thumb piece
(280). The positioning of the two upper portions (275,
285) within their respective width margins (274, 286)
ensures the placement of the thumb member (20)
adjacent the palm member (15). The thumb piece (280)
is juxtaposed onto the palm surface piece (270) in a
manner such that the respective upper portions (285,
275) are aligned.
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The lining of hand portion (55) can be attached
such as by sewing, according to the pattern embodiment
shown in Fig. 6. Examples of dimensions for pieces
(300, 330, 350) from Figs. 5 and 6 are shown in Table
2.
Table 2: Pattern dimensions (inches)
Part Dimensions
205 8
215 14.75
217 9.25
218 5.5
225 11
226 2.25
231 1.25
236 1
245 2.5
255 5
262 4.5
263 3
264 5.5
272 5.75
274 4.5
276 3
282 4.75
284 2.75
286 4.5
287 3
310 5
315 3.5
320 2.75
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335 5.75
340 4.25
355 4.5
360 2.5
370 4.25
Piece (300) is of the same general shape as
backside piece (260), but has slightly smaller
dimensions. Similarly, piece (330) is of the same
general shape as palm surface piece (270), with
slightly smaller dimensions. Finally, piece (350) is
of the same general shape as thumb piece (280), but
with slightly smaller dimensions. All three lining
pieces (300, 330, 350) are made of insulating
material, such as fleece, an ultra-thin lining or a
mixture of fleece and an ultra-thin lining. Piece
(350) is juxtaposed onto piece (330) so that the
respective upper portions line up, and are then
attached, such as by sewing. Pieces (330) and (350)
are then attached to piece (300) to form the assembled
lining of the hand portion (55).
Backside piece (260) is attached, such as by
sewing, onto palm surface piece (270) and thumb piece
(280) to form a shell of the hand portion (55) of
Figs. 1 and 2. The assembled lining is then inserted
into the shell of the hand portion (55); both are
attached, such as by sewing, onto the elasticised cuff
member (25) at seam (35). The assembled wrist band
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(40) is then sewn onto the mitten; preferably on the
mitten's palm side at about the centre of the seam
(35), at attachment location (50).
An embodiment of the assembled mitten of the
present invention is depicted in Figs. 7a and 7b, and
example dimensions are listed in Table 3.
Table 3: Assembled Mitten Dimensions (inches)
Part Description Dimensions
400 Cuff elastic circumference 8-14
410 Cuff circumference 12-14
420 Length of elastic wristband 6-9
430 Length of thumb portion 3
440 Vertical position of thumb portion 2.5
450 Horizontal position of thumb portion 2
460 Vertical position of thumbnail 0.75
470 Cuff length 4 - 5
480 Width of hand portion backside 3 - 3.5
490 Length of palm member 4 -5
The foregoing has constituted a description of
various embodiments showing how the invention may be
applied and put into use. These embodiments are only
exemplary. The invention in its broadest, and more
specific aspects, is further described and defined in
the claims which now follow.
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These claims, and the language used therein, are
to be understood in terms of the variants of the
invention that have been described. They are not to
be restricted to such variants, but are to be read as
covering the full scope of the invention as is
implicit within the invention and the disclosure that
has been provided herein.
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