PROTECTIVE ATHLETIC GLOVE

GANT PROTECTEUR POUR LE SPORT

English Abstract

An improved protective athletic glove used in sports with sticks. A common maneuver in these sports is to lean forward and position the stick relatively parallel to the playing surface. Traditional protective gloves utilize thick pads resulting in a large gap between the stick and the playing surface. The present invention shapes the pads to optimize protection and minimize thickness to reduce the gap between the stick and the playing surface. The present invention results in a significant blocking advantage over traditional protective gloves while maintaining superior player protection.

French Abstract

Un gant protecteur amélioré pour le sport est destiné aux sports pratiqués avec des bâtons. Un geste courant de ces sports est de se pencher vers lavant et de positionner le bâton relativement parallèlement à la surface de jeu. Les gants protecteurs traditionnels comportent des coussins épais produisant de grands écarts entre le bâton et la surface de jeu. La présente invention forme les coussins afin doptimiser la protection et de minimiser lépaisseur pour réduire lécart entre le bâton et la surface de jeu. La présente invention produit un avantage de blocage significatif par rapport aux gants protecteurs traditionnels tout en offrant au joueur une protection supérieure.

Claims

CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A protective athletic glove comprising;
(a) a hand receiving portion having a palm side and a dorsal side to
receive and
enclose a hand, with finger portions, thumb portion and knuckle portion;
(b) at least one knuckle pad adjacent said knuckle portion to protect the
dorsal side
of the knuckles and hand, at least knuckle portion;
(c) said at least one knuckle pad having a first thickness and a reduced
thickness
adjacent the finger region portions so as to enable a portion of said pad
between
the first and reduced thickness to contact a playing surface.
2. The protective athletic glove of Claim 1 wherein said at least one
knuckle pad defines an
angled surface.
3. The protective athletic glove of Claim 1 wherein said at least one
knuckle pad is
constructed of several layers of varying material density.
4. Amended) The protective athletic glove of Claim 1 wherein said at least
one knuckle pad
is made of a gel based compound.
5. The protective athletic glove of Claim 1 wherein said at least one
knuckle pad is made of
composite material with varying compression properties.
6. A protective athletic glove for a player manipulating a ring or puck
with a stick on a
playing surface comprising:
(a) a hand receiving portion having a palm side and a dorsal side adapted
to receive
and enclose a hand, with finger portions, thumb portion and knuckle portion;
(b) a protective cuff portion for enclosing the wrist and lower forearm,
(c) said dorsal side comprising at least one knuckle pad to protect the
dorsal side of
knuckle portion;
(d) wherein said at least one knuckle pad has a larger thickness facing the
cuff
portion and a smaller thickness facing the finger portions so as to enable the
player to contact the playing surface with a portion of said at least one
knuckle
pad between said larger thickness and smaller surface thickness and place the
stick horizontally close to the playing surface to block said ring or puck.
7. The protective athletic glove of Claim 6 wherein said portion of said at
least one knuckle
pad between said larger thickness and smaller thickness defines an angled
surface.
8. The protective athletic glove of Claim 6 wherein said at least one
knuckle pad is
constructed of several layers of varying material density.
9. The protective athletic glove of Claim 6 wherein said at least one
knuckle pad is a gel
based compound.
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10. The protective athletic glove of Claim 6 wherein said at least one
knuckle pad is made of
composite material with varying compression properties.
11. A protective glove comprising:
(a) a hand receiving portion having finger portions and thumb portion to
receive and
enclose a hand,
(b) a protective cuff portion for receiving a wrist and lower forearm,
(c) pad sections disposed on a dorsal side of said hand portion, finger
portions, and
knuckle portion,
(d) wherein said pad sections in said finger portions have a reduced
thickness
relative to pad sections in said hand portion,
(e) and said pad section in said knuckle portion has a first thickness
facing said cuff
portion and a reduced thickness facing said finger portions,
so that the protective glove contacts a playing surface between said first
thickness and
reduced thickness of said knuckle portion.
12. A protective glove as claimed in Claim 11 wherein said pad section of
said knuckle
portion defines a contact surface between said first thicknesses and said
reduced
thickness of said knuckle portion, wherein said contact surface contacts said
playing
surface.
13. A protective glove as claimed in Claim 12 wherein said contact surface
defines a curved
surface between said first thickness and reduced thickness of knuckle portion.
14. A protective glove as claimed in Claim 12 wherein said contact surface
defines an
angled surface.
15. A protective glove as claimed in claim 14 wherein said angled surface
is between 5
degrees and 60 degrees.
16. A protective glove as claimed in Claim 15 wherein said reduced
thickness is half of said
first thickness.
17. A protective glove as claimed in Claim 15 wherein said pad of said
knuckle portion is
comprised of high density foam surmounted by a ridged protective layer
18. A method of protecting the hand of a user in the game of ringette with
a ring, stick, and
playing surface comprising the steps of:
(a) inserting a hand into a protective glove having a hand receiving
portion with
finger portions and a thumb portion and a protective cuff portion;
(b) protecting the hand by presenting pad sections disposed on a dorsal
side of said
hand portion, finger portions, and knuckle portion;
(c) wherein the pad section of said finger portions have a reduced
thickness relative
the pad section in said hand portion;
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(d) presenting at least one pad section in said knuckle portion having a
first
thickness facing said cuff portion and a reduced thickness facing said finger
portions;
(e) grasping the stick with the protective glove so that the protective
glove contacts
said playing surface between said first thickness and reduced thickness of
said
knuckle portion and place the stick horizontally close to the playing surface
to
block said ring.
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Description

PROTECTIVE ATHLETIC GLOVE
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to wearable protective equipment, and
more specifically
to a protective athletic glove with means to reduce the gap between a player's
stick and the
playing surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Hockey gloves are well known. They are part of the protective equipment that
hockey players
use to prevent serious injuries to vulnerable parts of the body. The hands and
wrists are
vulnerable as they can be hit from sticks, pucks, opposing players, skates, or
they can be
rammed into the net, ice or boards. For this reason they possess considerable
padding. Prior art
such as Canadian Patent 2,582,036 to Jourde, Laberge, and Paiement (2009)
focused on
increased mobility of the thumb. Other prior art such as Canadian Patent
2,554,826 to Beland,
Contant, and Laperriere (2010) and Canadian Patent 2,453,480 to Sande (2008)
focused on
increased mobility of the fingers. United States Patent 6,122,769 to Wilder
(2000) added
ventilation holes to hockey gloves. No prior art has been found to address the
shape of the pads
with the specific goal of reducing the gap between a player's stick and the
playing surface. Most
ringette players use hockey gloves to play ringette. Ringette is a sport that
was invented in
Canada in 1963 specifically for girls who at that time were excluded from
competitive hockey.
There are currently about 27 000 players in Canada. It is also played in the
United States and
throughout various countries in Europe. Ringette is a young sport and is
similar to hockey, with
the same number of players on the ice at one time and with the objective to
score on the
opponent's goalie. Instead of using a puck and a stick with a blade, players
use a straight stick
and a ring. Players must pass over the blue lines to their teammates to
advance the ring from
one end of the ice to the other. In the sport of ringette it is quite common
for a player to position
themselves with their stick against the ice, as horizontally as possible, to
try and block a ring
that is being passed or shot. This happens in the defensive end frequently
when teams are set
up in a formation called the triangle. It is also a strategy used when fore
checking or anticipating
a pass to intercept it. There is a significant disadvantage from using a
standard hockey glove for
ringette. The extremely bulky padding on the back of the fingers and hand
prevent a player from
getting the stick close enough to the ice to block
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CA 02737874 2011-04-19
a pass or shot. Because of this bulky padding many rings slide underneath a
player's stick.
The top third of a player's stick is especially difficult to get low enough to
reliably intercept
the ring. This problem has led some players to use less protective gloves such
as those
found in lacrosse. This is to the detriment of the player's safety as lacrosse
gloves typically
do not offer enough protection on their wrists, which is especially dangerous
considering
the blades of skates can cause serious injuries. This limitation on minimizing
the gap
between a player's stick and the playing surface exists in other sports as
well. For
example, ice hockey, ball hockey, gym ringette, floor hockey and roller hockey
all involve
instances where a player may attempt to block a puck, ball or ring by
positioning their stick
horizontally but are limited by the arrangement and thickness of the padding
on the
backside of the glove. Typically hockey gloves use several foam pads of the
same
thickness on the back side of the hand and fingers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved athletic glove
that will allow
a player to get their stick horizontally closer to the playing surface. It is
a further object of
the present invention to provide such improved horizontal range without any
marked
reduction in the protection afforded by the glove.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an athletic glove
according to
the present invention.
Fig 2 is a perspective view of a conventional (prior art) athletic glove.
Fig 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention
illustrating
the reduced gap between the stick and playing surface.
Fig 4 is a perspective view illustrating the large gap between the stick and
playing surface
created when using conventional (prior art) athletic gloves.
Fig 5 is a cross-section view of a preferred protective pad of the present
invention.
Fig 6 is a cross-section view of a conventional (prior art) protective pad.
Fig 7 is a cross-section view of an angled preferred protective pad of the
present
invention.
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CA 02737874 2011-04-19
DRAWINGS ¨ Reference Numerals
protective athletic glove (preferred embodiment)
playing surface
player's stick
reduced gap
conventional glove (prior art)
large gap (prior art)
angled surface
finger pads of reduced thickness
side pads of reduced thickness
100 square knuckle padding
110 thick finger pads
120 thick side pads
130 section of finger pad of reduced thickness
140 stiff protective layer
150 high density foam
160 thickness of stiff protective layer
170 thickness of preferred pad
180 section of thick finger pad
190 foam pad (prior art)
200 thickness of foam pad (prior art)
210 small thickness
220 large thickness
230 angled protective pad
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ¨ Preferred Embodiment
The present invention will now be described with reference to the included
drawings. Fig
1 shows a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a protective
athletic glove 10.
The protective padding on the knuckles is shaped or angled 70 to optimize
contact with the
playing surface 20. Fig 3 shows the finger pads 80 are constructed with
optimum height to
achieve a reduced gap 40 between the playing surface 20 and the player's stick
30. Fig 1
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CA 02737874 2011-04-19
also shows side pads of reduced thickness 90 to further optimize contact with
the playing
surface 20. All pads are secured to the protective athletic glove 10 using
means common
in the art such as glue and stitching.
Fig 2 shows a perspective view of a conventional protective athletic glove 50.
Fig 4
illustrates the large gap 60 created by the square knuckle padding 100 and the
thick finger
pads 110. Fig 2 also shows thick side pads 120 that further increase the large
gap 60.
The combined features do not optimize contact with the playing surface 20.
Fig 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional protective pad 180 common in
the art.
The pad 180 is constructed using high density foam 190. The thickness 200 is
adequate
for protection and is approximately equal to 24mm.
Fig 5 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred protective pad 130 of the
present invention.
High density foam 150 with a reduced thickness 170 equal to approximately lOmm
is
bonded to a rigid protective layer 140 with a thickness 160 equal to
approximately 2mm.
The total thickness of the preferred protective pad 130 is equal to
approximately 12mm, or
approximately half the thickness of a conventional protective pad 200. The
rigid protective
layer 140 is bonded to the high density foam 150 using a flexible epoxy cement
common in
the art.
Fig 7 is a cross-sectional view of an angled protective pad 230 of the
protective athletic
glove 10. The angled surface 70 may be constructed from a gentle curve or an
angled
surface between 5 degrees and 60 degrees, with a preferred angle of 45
degrees. The
small height 210 is approximately equal to 12mm and the large height 220 is
approximately
equal to 24mm. The angled surface 70 achieves a smooth transition between the
large
height 220 and the total thickness of the preferred protective pad 130.
Advantageously, the use of a preferred protective pad 130 in the construction
of a
protective athletic glove 10 results in a reduced gap 40 between the playing
surface 20 and
the player's stick 30. The reduced gap 40 achieves the desired result of
blocking passes
and shots in the sport of choice. A further object of the present invention
achieves the
reduced gap 40 without a marked reduction in protection by utilizing a rigid
protective layer
140 and high density foam 150. A further advantage of the present invention is
increased
mobility of the fingers and an improved feel and control of the player's stick
30.
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CA 02737874 2011-04-19
ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS
The specific description given above merely provides an illustration of the
presently
preferred embodiment of the invention. It should not be construed as limiting
the scope of
the invention. For example, the protective pads may be constructed from
several bonded
layers of foam with varying density. The angle and shape of the protective
pads may be
adjusted to optimize contact with the playing surface. This angle and shape
will depend on
the type and arrangement of protective pads on the back of the glove.
Partially attached
pads may also be utilized to achieve relative motion of the pads to optimize
contact with
the playing surface. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by
the
appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples
given.
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Representative Drawing