Protective glove for archery shooting

Abstract

There is provided a protective glove to cover at least a portion of a hand of an archer during the shooting of arrows from a bow, which glove is designed to resist a broken arrow from puncturing through the glove and entering the flesh of the user. In particular, there may be a palm section, made of a first arrow puncturable material that covers the palm of the users hand. There may also be a protective section, located on the glove covering the back of the hand of the user, made of a second material that has a high weight-to-strength value, coupled to the palm section and positioned so that a broken arrow being shot from a bow will have a higher likely hood of hitting the protective section than hitting areas not having the protective section.

Claims

1. A protective glove comprising: a flexible first material covering a palm section of the glove, a wrist section of the glove, and at least a knuckle of a thumb of the glove, and knuckles of the fingers of the glove; a protective section comprising a second material, said protective section covering a first metacarpal of the glove and a second metacarpal of the glove, said protective section extending continuously from the first metacarpal of the glove to the second metacarpal of the glove covering a purlicue of the glove; said protective section not covering at least the palm of the glove; wherein the second material comprises a puncture-resistant material.

2. The protective glove of claim 1, wherein the first material comprises leather, cotton, nylon, polymers, or silk.

3. The protective glove of claim 1, wherein the second material comprises poly paraphenylene terephthalamide.

4. The protective glove of claim 1, wherein at least one of the fingers of the glove allow the finger of the user to extend from the glove.

5. A protective glove to cover at least a portion of a hand of an archer during shooting of arrows from a bow, comprising: a) a palm section made of a first material adapted to cover at least the palm of the hand of the user; b) a back section made of the first material adapted to cover at least a portion of the back of the hand of the user, c) a flexible protective section stitched to the back section of the glove, made of a second material that is more puncture resistant than the first material, wherein the flexible protective section extends laterally from a first metacarpal to at least a second metacarpal of the glove covering a purlicue of the glove.

6. The protective glove of claim 5, wherein the protective section is adapted to extend longitudinally from knuckles of first through the fourth metacarpals to a wrist of the glove.

7. A protective glove comprising: a flexible first material covering a palm section of the glove, a wrist section of the glove, and a thumb section of the glove, and a plurality of finger sections of the glove; a protective section comprising a second material comprising a puncture-resistant material, said protective section covering the first metacarpal of the glove and the second metacarpal of the glove, said protective section extending continuously from the first metacarpal of the glove to the second metacarpal of the glove covering a purlicue of the glove; wherein the protective section is stitched to the flexible first material; wherein the protective section does not cover the palm section of the glove.

8. The protective glove of claim 7, wherein at least one of the finger section of the glove allow the finger of the user to extend from the glove.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order for the advantages of the invention to be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawing(s). It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not to scale. The drawings are mere schematics representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the invention. Similar reference numbers denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. Understanding that these drawing(s) depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not, therefore, to be considered to be limiting its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawing(s), in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a person wearing a protective glove for archery shooting, according to one embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective of a user holding a bow while wearing a protective glove for archery shooting, according to one embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(4) FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of a section of a protective portion of a protective glove for archery shooting, according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(5) FIG. 4 is a top rear view of the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(6) FIG. 5 is a top side view of the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(7) FIG. 6 is a bottom side view of the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(8) FIG. 7 is a front view with the fingers closed of a user while wearing the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawing(s), and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.

(10) Reference throughout this specification to an “embodiment,” an “example” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or combinations thereof described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases an “embodiment,” an “example,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment, to different embodiments, or to one or more of the figures. Additionally, reference to the wording “embodiment,” “example” or the like, for two or more features, elements, etc. does not mean that the features are necessarily related, dissimilar, the same, etc.

(11) Each statement of an embodiment, or example, is to be considered independent of any other statement of an embodiment despite any use of similar or identical language characterizing each embodiment. Therefore, where one embodiment is identified as “another embodiment,” the identified embodiment is independent of any other embodiments characterized by the language “another embodiment.” The features, functions, and the like described herein are considered to be able to be combined in whole or in part one with another as the claims and/or art may direct, either directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly.

(12) As used herein, “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” “is,” “are,” “characterized by,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional unrecited elements or method steps. “Comprising” is to be interpreted as including the more restrictive terms “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of.”

(13) The basis of the present invention is built around the idea of protecting the hand of an archer from accidental damage due to known prior injuries typically caused by an arrow, or portions thereof, being forced into the back of the archers hand.

(14) As used herein, reference is made to the “hand” of a user. By definition, it is intended that the hand includes several individual parts, such as the palm, fingers, thumb, knuckles, sides of fingers and other known named parts all the way to the writs region.

(15) Regarding FIG. 1, there is illustrated an isometric view of one embodiment of a back side of the protective glove 10. Specifically, a users hand 12 is placed into the glove 10 in a known fashion, where the fingers 20 of the user may extend from the glove in one embodiment. There is illustrated a protective patch 14 attached to the back side of the glove 10 in the location of back side of the hand. The protective patch 14 is coupled to regular material 21 used in making the remainder of the glove 10. For explanation purposes, knuckles 22 of a users hand are illustrated where they fit under the protective patch. It is noted that there are only four knuckles indicated in this embodiment. The patch may be sewn to the glove via stitching 44.

(16) It is noted, in another embodiment, that the protective patch 14 may be placed to cover the entire back side of the glove and all knuckles. The protective patch may even be placed to cover the sides of the hand. It is not intended to have the protective patch to cover the front side of the hand, or the palm area.

(17) Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated the use of the protective archery glove while a user is holding a bow 30. In particular, the bow 30 includes an arrow rest 32, a bow riser 35, and a bow hand grip area 34 (not shown since it is located under the glove of the user in this FIG. 2). The arm 24 of the user will extend downward and away from the glove 10. There is illustrated a high impact area 45 on the glove 10, which is the area that is most likely to be impacted by an arrow or portion thereof in an accident of the type described herein. In one aspect of the technology, the high impact area 45 corresponds to the purlicue portion of the glove.

(18) It is noted that when a user is wearing the illustrated archer protective glove during the time that the archer is using the bow, all of the area where the highest probability of being hit by an arrow is completely covered, and a large area around the high impact area is covered.

(19) Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated, in one embodiment, a sectional side view of the area of the glove containing the protective patch 40. In particular, in this embodiment, the first or standard glove material 21 has a void area 50, where no standard material is located. Coupled to the edges of the standard glove material 21 is a layer of puncture resistant material. Typical puncture resistant material may be selected from the group consisting of Kevlar®, bullet proof vest material, a woven material, a sheet of bullet proof plastic, metal sheet, metal scale, high strength fibers, or any other known or yet to be developed material that would prevent an arrow from puncturing there through. The next layer, located below the first puncture resistant material 40 is an energy absorbing layer of material. This energy absorbing layer is designed to dissipate the impact energy known to occur upon impact of an arrow to the illustrated area of the hand. Typical materials that may be applicable may be polymers, polyesters, rubbers, foams, ceramics, fibers, or any other known or yet to be developed materials. There is also illustrated, in an additional embodiment, a second layer of puncture resistant material 40 and a second layer of energy absorbing material 41 located thereunder.

(20) Whatever the number of layers of puncture resistant and energy absorbing materials, there is placed a softer skin compatible material 42 to enable a user to place their hand against that portion of the glove without encountering unusual abrasion or other non-glove feel. All of the layers are designed to be stitched to the standard glove material 21 with known stitching 44 sewing thread and the like.

(21) It is noted that standard gloves are made of regular materials, such as leather, cotton cloth, nylon, etc. These materials have been used for several reasons. First of all, there is a need for flexibility to conform to the movements of the palm and the fingers. These prior known and used materials are very flexible. Additionally, the regular materials need to be inexpensive. Leather, cloth, nylon, cotton, etc. are very inexpensive materials. The design of the currently illustrated invention, is in part, due to these flexible and inexpensive criteria. Wherein, known protective materials, are much stiffer, and more expensive than regular materials used in making gloves. Thus, the protective patch 14 is best place only near the place where there is little or no flexation taking place during the use of the archers bow, i.e. the back area of the hand. This placement allows for the least expensive design, which is already more expensive than a glove that does not have the protective patch. This placement also is located in the position that has much less flexible requirements than the palm of the hand.

(22) It is noted that Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Kevlar was developed at DuPont in 1965. This high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970's as a replacement for steel in racing tires. Typically it is spun into ropes or fabric woven sheets that can be used as such or as an ingredient in composite material components. Currently, Kevlar has many applications, ranging from bicycle tires and racing sails to body armor because of its high tensile strength-to-weight ratio. The strength to weight ration measure is 5 times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis. A similar fiber called Twaron with roughly the same chemical structure was developed by Akzo in the 1970's; commercial production started in 1986, and Twaron is now manufactured by Teijin.

(23) Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide—branded Kevlar—was invented by Stephanie Kwolek while working for DuPont. In anticipation of a gasoline shortage, in 1964 her group began searching for a new lightweight strong fiber to use for light but strong tires. The polymers she had been working with at the time, poly-p-Phenylene-terephthalate and polybenzamide, formed liquid crystal while in solution, something unique to those polymers at the time. The solution was “cloudy, opalescent upon being stirred, and of low viscosity” and usually was thrown away. However, Kwole persuaded the technician, Charles Smullen, who ran the “spinneret”, to test her solution, and was amazed to find that the fiber did not break, unlike nylon. Her supervisor and her laboratory director understood the significance of her discovery and a new field of polymer chemistry quickly arose. By 1971, modem Kevlar was introduced. However, Kwolek was not very involved in developing the applications of Kevlar.

(24) Kevlar is synthesized in solution from the monomers 1,4-phenylene-diamine (para-phenylenediamine) and terephthaloyl chloride in a condensation reaction yielding hydrochloric acid as a byproduct. The result has liquid-crystalline behavior, and mechanical drawing orients the polymer chains in the fiber's direction. Hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) was the solvent initially used for the polymerization, but for safety reasons, DuPont replaced it by a solution of N-methyl-pyrrolidone and calcium chloride. Kevlar (poly paraphenylene terephthalamide) production is expensive because of the difficulties arising from using concentrated sulfuric acid, needed to keep the water-insoluble polymer in solution during its synthesis and spinning.

(25) Several grades of Kevlar are available:

(26) 1. Kevlar K-29—in industrial applications, such as cables, asbestos replacement, brake linings, and body/vehicle armor.

(27) 2. Kevlar K49—high modulus used in cable and rope products.

(28) 3. Kevlar K100—colored version of Kevlar

(29) 4. Kevlar K119—higher-elongation, flexible and more fatigue resistant.

(30) 5. Kevlar K129—higher tenacity for ballistic applications.

(31) 6. Kevlar AP—has 15% higher tenacity than K-29.

(32) 7. Kevlar XP—lighter weight resin and KM2 plus fiber combination.

(33) 8. Kevlar KM2—enhanced ballistic resistance for armor applications.

(34) The ultraviolet component of sunlight degrades and decomposes Kevlar, a problem known as UV degradation, and so it is rarely used outdoors without protection against sunlight

(35) Nevertheless, should a new material be identified that is less expensive, and that is much more flexible than known protective material, the entire glove surface area may be made of the new arrow puncture resistant material.

(36) FIG. 4 is a top rear view of the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(37) FIG. 5 is a top side view of the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(38) FIG. 6 is a bottom side view of the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(39) FIG. 7 is a front view with the fingers closed of a user while wearing the protective glove for archery shooting being worn by an archer according to an embodiment of the present illustrated invention.

(40) It is understood that the above-described embodiments are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiment is to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

(41) For example, although reference has been made to a two or four layer arrow impact resistant area, one skilled in the art will realize after reading the specification that there are other possibilities for the illustrated embodiments of the invention. Specifically, there could be a single layer of a new type of developed material that has all the qualities of all the listed criteria needed to provide the advantages illustrated by the specification and appended drawings. For example, in one embodiment, a single material could be developed or found that has the arrow impact resistance quality and impact power dissipation to both protect the hand from being cut by the arrow and from being excessively hurt from the impact. Additionally, in another embodiment, it is contemplated to use only a single layer of resistant material and one of absorption material, instead of the two of each shown in the illustrated embodiments.

(42) Additionally, in one embodiment, although the figures illustrate only a certain design or placement of the resistant patch 14, wherein the shape of the patch can be most any shape. One skilled in the art will realize that there are an infinite number of shapes that the patch 14 could take while being located on the back of the hand. For example, different shapes could be square, round, oblong, etc. It is also possible to cover the entire back half of the hand. It is even envisioned to cover sides of the hand and fingers in one embodiment.

(43) It is noted, in one embodiment, it is not envisioned to cover the palm of the hand with the protective material known at the present time. The known protective material is more expensive than common leather, cotton cloth, nylon etc., which are used in the common construction of gloves.

(44) It is also noted, in one embodiment, that in the illustrated figures, the protective patch 14 is designed to cover only four knuckles 22, which are illustrated as dashed circles in the drawings. Specifically, the knuckles needed to be covered are the thumb, index, middle and ring finger knuckles; the little finger is not needed to be covered. Although, all knuckles could be covered in other embodiments to accommodate other sizes and shapes of hands.

(45) Furthermore it is noted that although the present embodiments discuss the use of using thread to sew the protective layer or material to the first material of the glove, one skilled in the art will realize that any form of attaching the two materials will be sufficient. For example, gluing, welding, adhering or any other known means of attachment will be sufficient to couple the materials together.

(46) While the present invention has been fully described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use may be made, without departing from the principles and concepts of the invention as set forth in the claims. Further, it is contemplated that an embodiment may be limited to consist of or to consist essentially of one or more of the features, functions, structures, methods described herein.