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Baseball gloveRelated Patent Categories: Apparel, Guard Or Protector, Hand Or Arm, Baseball GlovesBaseball glove description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060218689, Baseball glove. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to the field of sports equipment. More specifically, this patent deals with a new and improved baseball glove designed to minimize the pain and discomfort caused by the impact of a baseball with the user's hand, and to provide the user with a stronger and more controlled closing action of the glove. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The game of baseball has become more advanced since its inception. In the last several decades alone, improvements in the design of the bats and baseballs combined with the more rigorous strength and conditioning programs undertaken by the players has significantly elevated the level of competition. Today's athletes from all levels of play--high school, college, semi-professional, and professional baseball--not only hit the ball harder and farther, but also throw the ball with more velocity than in years past. This evolution in the game can also be recognized in the changes that have manifested in the design of baseball gloves. [0003] Early baseball gloves were designed the same regardless of the fielding position played, generally resembling a mitten with a web portion loosely attached between the finger and thumb portions for receiving the ball. The finger portion was typically one large compartment that housed all of the user's fingers. As time progressed, gloves were designed with more than one finger portion that could accommodate one or more fingers of the user. This enabled the user to close the glove around the ball with a quicker, stronger motion than the glove with one finger compartment. With the realization that all of the positions in the field were not identical in either the frequency or velocity in which the baseball was caught, baseball gloves were later designed for use with specific positions on the field. Examples of the different types of gloves that now exist are the catcher's glove, the first basemen's glove, the infielder's glove, and the outfielder's glove. Additional improvements in the design of baseball gloves included affixing the web portion of the glove more tightly and securely to the rest of the glove to allow for the safe catching of baseballs traveling at higher velocities. [0004] Another more recent baseball glove feature to compensate for the catching of baseballs traveling at higher velocities was the addition of an opening in the back portion of the glove that could enable the wearer to remove the index finger from the inner portion of the glove. This feature was incorporated into the glove to provide the wearer with an extra layer of padding for the index finger region, an area that typically receives a substantial amount of contact with a baseball when the ball is received into the glove. [0005] Several gloves have been designed to relieve the wearer of the pain and discomfort in the index finger region caused by catching a baseball traveling at high velocities, while simultaneously allowing for a stronger and more controlled closing action. Whether or not successful, these attempts have fallen short of the mark in several aspects of glove design, as described herein. [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 2,414,004 granted to A. J. Turner describes a baseball glove comprising a palm portion, a pair of adjacent finger stalls, and a thumb stall. The finger stalls are each designed to accommodate two adjacent fingers of the wearer. The spacing of the thumb stall from the nearer finger stall is greater than the diameter of a standard baseball and the angular relations and relative positions of the thumb and finger stalls are such that the wearer's thumb and is normally spread away from the rest of the hand. [0007] This patent describes a baseball glove designed to form a pocket for catching a ball without absorbing the impact of the ball flatly against a portion of the wearer's hand. Additionally, the glove attempts to provide a stronger gripping action by utilizing different finger placement within the glove. However, the separation of the ring and pinky fingers from the middle and index fingers, combined with the joining of the middle and index fingers, creates a glove closing angle that causes discomfort and awkwardness. Similarly, the wide separation of the finger stalls and the thumb stalls causes the wearer's thumb to be spread farther away from the rest of the hand than normal, resulting in further discomfort. Also, the location of where the fingers are separated and joined reduces the quickness and strength available to the wearer for closing the glove around the ball. Further, the lack of a finger separation device in each finger stall results in an uncomfortable cramping and stiffness of the wearer's fingers during use of the glove. [0008] Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a flexible baseball glove that can be comfortably worn by intermediate and more advanced players, that significantly minimizes the pain, swelling, and discomfort caused by the impact of a caught ball with a user's hand, and allows for a stronger, quicker, and more natural glove closing action. [0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,436 to Robert B. Jones describes a center-webbed baseball glove which utilizes the natural fold of the human hand and folds into two equal halves increasing the utilizable surface area. The glove is comprised of a central pocket, a set of outer finger slots, and a set of inner finger slots. The glove is worn by placing the pinky and ring fingers into the left outer finger slot, the middle and index fingers into the left inner finger slot, and the thumb into either the outer or inner right finger slots. The glove can also be worn on the right hand by placing the thumb in the left inner or outer finger slots and placing the remaining fingers in the left finger slots of the glove. [0010] This patent describes a centered-webbed baseball glove that utilizes adjustable finger holds to enable a user to wear the glove on either hand. While the symmetrical nature of the glove allows for "reversibility", it does not fully accommodate the needs of more advanced players in several respects. First, due to the centralized web design, the glove "cups" the ball in a "trapping" motion. This leaves the wearer with little room for error in fielding a ball. This symmetrical design similarly allows for the ball to easily slip out of either the top or the bottom of the glove, during infield or outfield use, due to the lack of palm barrier that is present in the typical non-symmetrical baseball glove designs. Furthermore, the centralized web design necessarily restricts the size of the webbing. This causes the fingers to be more closely located to the webbing, which increases the likelihood a user will feel pain and discomfort when catching a ball traveling at high velocity. [0011] Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a flexible baseball glove that can be comfortably worn by intermediate and more advanced players, that significantly minimizes the pain, swelling, and discomfort caused by the impact of a caught ball with a user's hand, and allows for a stronger, quicker, and more natural glove closing action. [0012] U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,515 granted to Robert M. Fous is directed to an ergonomic fielding glove with at least one finger portion, a thumb portion, and a web joining the thumb portion and the nearest finger portion. The glove also includes a mitten-shaped compartment that holds all four fingers of the wearer, and is fixed at an angle of 90 degrees from a thumb-shaped compartment that holds the wearer's thumb. An adjustable thumb strap is added within both the finger compartment and the thumb compartment for added leverage and comfort of a particular sized hand. [0013] This patent describes a still another baseball glove designed to reduce the surface area where a hit or thrown ball impacts the user's hand. However, this design causes awkwardness of the hand angle by locating all of the fingers on one extreme end of the glove and the thumb on the other extreme, resulting uncomfortable strain and stiffness. A similar result of this hand positioning makes for an uncomfortable and awkward angle of the hand when fielding a ground ball. The design puts a substantial amount of strain on the wrist and effectively teaches an improper way of fielding a ground ball in the process. Further, cramming all of the fingers into the mitten compartment, with no finger separation device, causes a continuous rubbing of the fingers, resulting in an uncomfortable fit. [0014] Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a flexible baseball glove that can be comfortably worn by intermediate and more advanced players, that significantly minimizes the pain, swelling, and discomfort caused by the impact of a caught ball with a user's hand, and allows for a stronger, quicker, and more natural glove closing action. [0015] U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,046 to Lawrence J. Gilligan describes a baseball glove with a front and back shells joined together to form a finger portion, a heel portion, a thumb portion. A web portion is disposed between the finger portion and the thumb portion. The finger portion comprises at least to finger stalls, with the first of the at least two finger stalls closed so that the fingers of the user cannot be received into that stall. The glove also comprises a first and second hinge assemblies located along the heel portion. One of the hinge assemblies is closer in proximity to the thumb portion of the glove, while the other hinge assembly is closer in proximity to the finger portion of the glove. [0016] This patent describes yet another baseball glove designed to facilitate better control and ease of use by the player using the glove. However, this glove design creates an unbalanced weight distribution between the thumb stall and the non-closed finger stall(s), which results in a stronger closing action for the thumb portion of the glove and a weaker closing action for the finger portion of the glove. Uneven closure of the glove can cause the ball to deflect out of the glove, resulting in a missed catch. Also, the addition of a "closed" finger stall to the glove unnecessarily increases the bulk of the glove, further delaying the quickness of the glove closing action. Moreover, this glove design does not incorporate substantial features to effectively minimize the pain and discomfort to the wearer's index finger region caused by the impact of a ball with the wearer's hand. [0017] Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a flexible baseball glove that can be comfortably worn by intermediate and more advanced players, that significantly minimizes the pain, swelling, and discomfort caused by the impact of a caught ball with a user's hand, and allows for a stronger, quicker, and more natural glove closing action. [0018] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0019] The principal advantage of this invention is to provide a baseball glove designed to minimize pain and discomfort caused by the impact of a caught ball with the user's hand. [0020] Another advantage of this invention is to provide a baseball glove that can be comfortably used by intermediate and more advanced players, such as high school, collegiate, semi-professional, and professional players. [0021] Another advantage of this invention is to provide a baseball glove that positions a user's hand in such a manner so as to enable a quicker, stronger, and more efficient closing action of the glove around the baseball. Continue reading about Baseball glove... Full patent description for Baseball glove Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Baseball glove patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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