Apparel – Hand or arm coverings – Gloves
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-17
2001-02-13
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3741)
Apparel
Hand or arm coverings
Gloves
Reexamination Certificate
active
06185747
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to gloves, and more particularly to knitted gloves having plural zones or patches of a wear resistant flexible material affixed thereto to provide good resistance to wear, while not interfering with the free flexing of the fingers and hand of the wearer.
Various types of seamless knitted gloves formed of conventional materials, such as cotton, poly-cotton, or KEVLAR®, are commercially available for use by workers, either as a primary glove or as a liner for an outer glove, to provide some measure of protection from injury and some cushioning for the hand of workers. While such seamless, knitted gloves or liners provide a good, comfortable fit, their open weave or knit construction renders them susceptible to abrasion. Accordingly, it is a common practice to include coatings of a flexible, wear-resistant material, e.g., polyvinyl chloride, applied thereon to provide some measure of wear resistance. Those coatings have either been applied entirely over the glove, or in random block patterns or stripes or small dots. All of the patterns utilized heretofore for wear-protective coatings exhibit one or more drawbacks. For example, a solid coating over the entire glove or over its entire palmar surface buckles when the hand is flexed, causing creasing of the coating and wearer discomfort. So too, stripes extending the entire length of the glove tend to buckle when the glove is flexed. While small dots, blocks or patches may eliminate or reduce the buckling problem, they nevertheless exhibit a tendency to peel off Moreover, such small dots or patches provide a limited wear-resistant surface.
Other materials, such as leather, rubber, vinyl, etc., have been used for work gloves, and some of such gloves have included pads or other portions to increase comfort and/or provide some cushioning or protection.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,690 (Webster) discloses a leather glove having springy pads or cushions 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30 which are located on the palmar side and spaced from each other along the hand's normal crease lines (See FIGS.
4
and
5
). These pads are provided to provide cushioning to the wearer of the glove.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,784 (Ash) discloses a knitted or woven elastic material hand glove. The glove also includes two palm pieces comprised of generally non-elastic material, e.g., leather or vinyl laminated onto a backing material. The palm pieces are sewn along their peripheries to the elastic material of the glove. The palm pieces are fashioned such that one piece, generally triangular, is attached to form closely spaced, side-by-side stretch lines with the first palm part so that the glove material can stretch and deform in a palm area independently of the palm parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,581,809 (Mah) discloses a protective glove which also has pads on the palmar side which are separated from one another along the hand's normal crease lines (See FIG.
2
).
Other United States patents relating to gloves having patches or pads on them are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,765 (Stanton), U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,975 (Elliott Jr. et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,387 (Lopez), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,719 (Johnson).
While the prior art gloves may be generally suitable for their intended purpose they still leave much to be desired from the standpoint of resistance to wear, comfort, etc. A need thus exists for flexible, wear resistant knitted glove.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a knitted work glove which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and which addresses that need.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knitted work glove which includes plural wear resistant material areas on the palmar side of the glove.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knitted work glove which includes plural wear resistant material areas on the palmar side of the glove in a predefined pattern with spaces between adjacent areas forming fold lines for enabling the glove to readily fold thereat.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a knitted work glove which includes plural wear-resistant areas disposed in a pattern establishing plural fold lines corresponding to the fold lines of the hand of the wearer.
It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a method of making a knitted work glove to includes wear resistant areas disposed on the palmar side of the glove in a pattern establishing plural fold lines corresponding to the fold lines of the hand of the wearer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A glove and method of making it. The glove is arranged to be worn on the hand of a person and has a thumb portion and at least one finger-receiving portion. The glove is knitted of fibers rendering it flexible, but susceptible to wear. The glove has a palmar side which includes plural, e.g., four, patches of a wear-resistant flexible material, e.g., polyvinyl chloride, applied, e.g., silk-screened, metal screened, etc., to the palmar side of the glove. The wear-resistant flexible material is applied to the fibers of the glove in a flowable state, whereupon some of the flowable material intimately engages the fibers and some of the material gains ingress to the interstices between the fibers to be intimately bonded thereto.
The patches are arranged in a pattern defining plural palmar flexure lines between immediately adjacent patches. The palmar flexure lines are substantially oriented and aligned with respective crease lines of the palm of the hand of the person wearing the glove, such that the person may readily flex his/her hand without the patches interfering with such action.
In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the glove it includes one thumb receiving portion and four finger receiving portions. The plural patches on the palmar side of said glove form at least three palmar flexure lines between immediately adjacent patches which are oriented generally aligned with respective crease lines of the palm of the person. Each of the finger receiving portions also includes plural patches bonded thereto on the palmar side of the glove but spaced from one another to form plural finger flexure lines between immediately adjacent patches, with those finger flexure lines being oriented generally aligned with respective crease lines ofthe fingers of the person. The thumb receiving portion also includes plural patches bonded thereto on said palmar side of the glove but spaced from each other to form plural thumb flexure lines between immediately adjacent patches, with those thumb flexure lines being oriented generally aligned with respective crease lines of the thumb of the person.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3597765 (1971-08-01), Stanton
patent: 4042975 (1977-08-01), Elliott, Jr. et al.
patent: 4526828 (1985-07-01), Fogt et al.
patent: 4663784 (1987-05-01), Ash
patent: 4691387 (1987-09-01), Lopez
patent: 4748690 (1988-06-01), Webster
patent: 5218719 (1993-06-01), Johnson
patent: 5231700 (1993-08-01), Cutshall
patent: 5581809 (1996-12-01), Mah
patent: 5987646 (1999-11-01), Bolmer
patent: 6016571 (2000-01-01), Guzman et al.
patent: 6035444 (2000-03-01), McGrew
patent: 6044493 (2000-04-01), Post
patent: 6087279 (2000-07-01), Laun
Caesar Rivise Bernstein Cohen & Pokotilow Ltd.
Calvert John J.
Commodity Glove Company, Inc.
Moran Katherine
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