Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
FLEXIBLE PROTECTIVE PADDING FOR BASEBALL GLOVE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible protective padding for
baseball glove, and more particularly to the flexible protective padding
that provides for when a user is catching a ball with the baseball glove,
the user can more easily bend the baseball glove in order to catch the
ball, while simultaneously absorbing shock and nullifying the collision
l0 force from the speeding ball, thereby preventing the ball from bouncing
out of the glove, while safety of the hand of the user is safeguarded,
thereby achieving enhancement in practical value and improving
economical benefit of the baseball glove.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Baseball can be considered as one of the most popular sports
worldwide, thus baseball sport related equipment have become a focus
for enormous commercial opportunities, and such commercial
opportunities are the primary reason for active investment by operators.
Accordingly, among baseball sport related products a baseball glove
2o is an essential piece of equipment, and, moreover, is the product having
-1-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
highest unit price, thus, the baseball glove is that most favored by
operators for research and development to produce innovative designs.
Majority of conventional baseball gloves seen on the market are
fabricated from materials such as rubber, leather, and so on, which are
utilized to cover exterior of a main body of the glove, and from which a
finger-shaped baseball glove is formed. Moreover, a multi-stitched inner
lining is provided interior of the glove, and other materials (for instance,
foam, felt, and so on) are added and stitched to the inner lining, and
which are put to affect when a user is playing baseball.
l0 According to the aforementioned, although the conventional baseball
glove achieves efficacy of allowing the user to catch a ball, however, the
following shortcomings are still apparent:
1. Although interior of the conventional baseball glove is stitched with
the inner lining, however, majority of the inner linings are thin, thus
when the user is playing baseball, and upon catching the ball, because
of the thin inner lining, thus the baseball glove is unable to withstand
collision force from speed of the ball, which thereby easily results in
injury to the hand of the user. Moreover, majority of the inner linings are
fabricated from materials that cannot easily absorb moisture or repel
perspiration, and thus easily results in perspiration of the hand of the
-2-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
user, and upon the user attempting to catch the ball, successful
catching of the ball is difficult or the user fumbles in their attempt.
2. Even if the inner lining is stitched with additional materials (for
instance, foam, felt, and so on), because the additional materials (for
instance, foam, felt) possess inadequate shock absorbent effect, upon
the user catching the ball the baseball glove is unable to withstand the
collision force from speed of the ball, which thus results in the ball easily
bouncing out of the glove.
3. Upon the conventional baseball glove receiving the ball, the five
1o fingers of the user necessarily simultaneously apply force in order to
successfully catch the ball. Throughout the long period of time a
baseball game is played over, and during which the five fingers of the
user are necessarily employed to apply force in order to catch the ball,
the fingers will certainly become fatigued or injured.
4. Majority of conventional baseball gloves have a high unit price,
moreover, shock absorbent effect of a protective padding fitted interior
of the glove is relatively poor, thus, if the user requires protective
padding that provides greater protection to safeguard the hands, the
user must purchase and use the higher-priced baseball glove as used
by professional baseball players, which thereby results in increase in
-3-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
consumer expenditure of the general user.
Hence, in light of aforementioned shortcomings and inconvenience of
a conventional baseball glove, the inventor of the present invention
having carried out extensive study and exploration endeavoring for
perfection applied professional insight and knowledge to ultimately
design a flexible protective padding for baseball glove that is more
practical, has a wider range of application, and, moreover, conforms to
commercial utility value.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
1o A flexible protective padding for baseball glove of the present
invention is structured from material fabricated from raw material
provided with moisture absorption and perspiration repellent function,
and corresponding overlays of shock absorbent packing fabricated from
raw material provided with shock absorbing functionality and a three-
finger shaped plastic piece provided with a degree of curvature and a
plurality of ventilation holes. The material thus covers the shock
absorbent packing and the three-finger shaped plastic piece interior
thereof, and the flexible protective padding is externally inserted interior
of finger portions of a baseball glove. Furthermore, the three-finger
shaped plastic piece, which is provided with a degree of curvature and
-4-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
the plurality of ventilation holes, is fabricated from relatively hard plastic
or material of similar hardness, can be stitched directly to an inner lining
interior of the finger portions.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide the flexible
protective padding that can be fitted within the baseball glove by
externally inserting into the finger portions or internally stitching to
lining
of the finger portions of the baseball glove, and, thus, when a user is
playing baseball, upon the user catching the ball, because of flexible
relation of the three-finger shaped plastic piece, the user can easily
to bend the baseball glove in order to catch the ball, while simultaneously
absorbing shock and nullifying the collision force from the speeding ball,
thereby preventing the ball from bouncing out of the glove, while safety
of the hand of the user is safeguarded.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide the flexible
protective padding that can be externally inserted, and thus applicable
for application in a conventional baseball glove, accordingly, the user
can enjoy same safety and protection of a professional baseball glove
without having to purchase the baseball glove as used by professional
baseball players. Hence, the flexible protective padding of the present
2o invention is both practical and economical.
-5-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the
technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of
the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the
preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a front elevational view according to the present
invention.
FIG. 2 shows a rear elevational view according to the present
invention.
1o FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of an embodiment in practical usage
according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of another embodiment in practical
usage according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows an elevational view of a three-finger shaped plastic
piece according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of FIG. 5 in
practical usage according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, which show a front elevational view and a
2o rear elevational view respectively of a flexible protective padding for
-6-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
baseball glove of the present invention, and which can be externally
inserted and thereby fitted interior of finger portions of a baseball glove,
thereby allowing a user upon attempting to catch a ball to more easily
bend the baseball glove so as to catch the ball, while simultaneously
absorbing shock and nullifying collision force from catching the
speeding ball, which thus avoids causing injury to the hand.
According to the aforementioned, a flexible protective padding 1 is
structured from material 11 fabricated from raw material provided with
moisture absorption and perspiration repellent function, and
l0 corresponding overlays of shock absorbent packing 12 fabricated from
raw material provided with shock absorbing functionality and a three-
finger shaped plastic piece 13 provided with a degree of curvature and a
plurality of ventilation holes 131. The material 11 thus covers the shock
absorbent packing 12 and the three-finger shaped plastic piece 13
interior thereof, and the flexible protective padding 1 is externally
inserted interior of finger portions of the glove. Wherein the three-finger
shaped plastic piece 13 is fabricated from relatively hard plastic or
material of similar hardness. The plurality of ventilation holes 131 are
punctured in a surface of the three-finger shaped plastic piece 13,
thereby providing greater ventilation effectiveness of entire body of the
_7_
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
flexible protective padding 1, and, moreover, realizes reduction in
weight of the entire flexible protective padding 1. The material 11
fabricated from the raw material having moisture absorption and
perspiration repellent effect encloses exterior of the flexible protective
padding 1, thus, upon the flexible protective padding 1 being fitted
interior of a baseball glove 2 (see FIG. 3), the palm of the user will not
easily perspire because of warmth and humidity within the glove 2,
which would otherwise result in failure to catch the ball.
Continuing from the aforementioned, the externally inserted flexible
to protective padding 1 is applicable for application in the conventional
baseball glove 2, and is fitted in position of the index finger 21, the
middle finger 22 and the ring finger 23 of the baseball glove 2, as
depicted in FIG. 3 or is fitted in position of the middle finger 22, the ring
finger 23 and the little finger 24 of the baseball glove 2, as depicted in
FIG. 4. When the user is playing baseball, upon the user catching the
ball, force is applied on one finger among the three-finger shaped
plastic pieces 13 (for instance, the index finger 21 ), and because of
flexible relation of the three-finger shaped plastic piece 13, the two other
two fingers (for instance, the middle finger 22 and the ring finger 23) are
immediately affected, thereby allowing the user to exert minimum force
_8_
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
to easily bend the glove 2 in order to catch the ball, while
simultaneously absorbing the shock and nullifying the collision force
from the speeding baseball, thereby preventing the ball from bouncing
out of the glove, and because of the shock absorbent packing 12, safety
of the hand of the user is safeguarded.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, which show the flexible protective padding
1 of the present invention being applied in the baseball glove 2,
whereby the flexible protective padding 1 can also be stitched interior of
the finger portions of the baseball glove 2. The three-finger shaped
plastic piece 13 of the flexible protective padding 1, which is provided
with the degree of curvature and the plurality of ventilation holes 131,
can be stitched directly to an inner lining interior of the finger portions
(see FIG. 6), and the three-finger shaped plastic piece 13 is fitted in
position of the index finger 21, the middle finger 22 and the ring finger.
Because the inner lining of the finger portions are fabricated from raw
material provided with moisture absorption and perspiration repellent
function, and, moreover, because of the plurality of ventilation holes 131
punctured in the surface of the three-finger shaped plastic piece 13,
thus the palm of the user will not easily perspire because of the warmth
and humidity within the glove 2, which would otherwise results in failure
_g_
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
to catch the ball. When the user is playing baseball, upon the user
catching the ball, force is applied on one finger among the three-finger
shaped plastic pieces 13 (for instance, the index finger 21 ), and
because of flexible relation of the three-finger shaped plastic piece 13,
the two other two fingers (for instance, the middle finger 22 and the ring
finger 23) are immediately affected, thereby allowing the user to exert
minimum force to easily bend the glove 2 in order to catch the ball, while
simultaneously absorbing the shock and nullifying the collision force
from the speeding baseball, thereby preventing the ball from bouncing
l0 out of the glove, and, moreover, safety of the hand of the user is
safeguarded.
In conclusion, the flexible protective padding for baseball glove of the
present invention assuredly enhances practical value and improves
economical benefit of the baseball glove, and has achieved anticipated
objectives and effectiveness. Furthermore, contents of the present
invention have not been publicly disclosed prior to this application, and
advancement and practicability of the present invention comply with
essential elements as required for a new patent application. Accordingly,
a new patent application is proposed herein.
It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described
-10-
CA 02491326 2004-12-29
herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a
wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled
in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as
set forth in the following claims.
-11-
