(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,318,241 B2 Morrow (45) Date of Patent: *Jan
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USOO7318241 B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 7,318,241 B2 Morrow (45) Date of Patent: *Jan. 15, 2008 (54) PADDED SPORTS GLOVE HAVING (56) References Cited IMPROVED FLEXBILITY AND BREATHABILITY U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS (75) Inventor: David Morrow, Metamora, MI (US) 4,103,362 A 8, 1978 Blakeman ................... 2,161.1 4.779,289 A * 10/1988 Prouty ............................. 2/16 (73) Assignee: Warrior Lacrosse, Inc., Warren, MI 5,390,372 A * 2, 1995 Hashimoto et al. .......... 2,161.2 (US) 5,697,104 A * 12/1997 Welton .......................... 2,159 5,787,506 A * 8/1998 Wilder et al. ... ... 2/161.1 (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 5,867,830 A : 2, 1999 Chen - - - - - - - - - - - - - ... 2,161.1 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 6,085354 A 72000 Wilder et al. ... ... 2/161.1 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. 6,122,769 A * 9/2000 Wilder et al. .................... 2/16 6,427.247 B1 8/2002 Suk ............................ 2,161.2 This patent is Subject to a terminal dis- 6,550,069 B1 * 4/2003 Morrow ...................... 2,161.1 claimer. 6,643,844 B2 * 1 1/2003 Morrow et al. .............. 2/161.1 6,813,780 B2 * 1 1/2004 Morrow ............ ... 2,161.1 (21) Appl. No.: 11/521, 184 7,062,791 B2 * 6/2006 Gold .......................... 2,161.6 7,117,540 B2 * 10/2006 Morrow ...................... 2,161.1 (22) Filed: Sep. 14, 2006 * cited by examiner (65) Prior Publication Data Primary Examiner Katherine Moran US 2007/OO17OO2 A1 Jan. 25, 2007 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Dickinson Wright PLLC Related U.S. Application Data (57) ABSTRACT (63) Continuation of application No. 10/953,725, filed on Sep. 29, 2004, now Pat. No. 7,117,540, which is a A protective sports glove for the game of lacrosse having a continuation of application No. 10/341.222, filed on cuff portion, a hand portion, a plurality of finger portions, Jan. 13, 2003, now Pat. No. 6,813,780, which is a and a thumb portion. The hand portion has a palm portion continuation of application No. 09/569,778, filed on and a back portion. The back portion has a plurality of May 12, 2000, now Pat. No. 6,550,069. protective padded portions disposed thereon. A wrist guard is elastically coupled to the hand portion. A plurality of vent (51) Int. Cl. openings are formed in the back portion of the hand portion. A4ID 9/00 (2006.01) A plurality of mesh portions are disposed on the palm (52) U.S. Cl. ...................................... 2/161.1 portion in areas that are not intended to provide primary (58) Field of Classification Search ...................... 2/16, contact with a stick. 2/20, 160, 161.1, 161.6 See application file for complete search history. 26 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets ea ao ; -22 U.S. Patent Jan. 15, 2008 Sheet 1 of 4 US 7,318,241 B2 U.S. Patent Jan. 15, 2008 Sheet 2 of 4 US 7,318,241 B2 U.S. Patent Jan. 15, 2008 Sheet 3 of 4 US 7,318,241 B2 s N Q r Q lcSN CY S LO N CD QS. -d N. SO S SN S N s Q s NS N N N U.S. Patent Jan. 15, 2008 Sheet 4 of 4 US 7,318,241 B2 US 7,318,241 B2 1. 2 PADDED SPORTS GLOVE HAVING illegal. Moreover, some prior gloves have utilized vent holes IMPROVED FLEXBILITY AND in the glove to provide ventilation. The vent holes in these BREATHABILITY prior gloves, however, are relatively small and therefore offer little ventilation. Further, prior gloves that have tried to CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED provide improved breathability through the inclusion of vent APPLICATIONS holes have done so at the expense of exposing a user's hand to injury at that location. This is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/953,725, filed on Sep. 29, 2004 which has now issued as SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,540, which is a Continuation of U.S. 10 patent application Ser. No. 10/341.222, filed on Jan. 13, It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide 2003, which has now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,780, a protective sports glove for utilization in contact stick which is also a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. sports, such as lacrosse and hockey, having a wrist guard that No. 09/569,778 filed on May 12, 2000, which has now is coupled to the glove so as to provide maximum protection issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,069. 15 and flexibility. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a TECHNICAL FIELD protective sports glove for utilization in contact stick sports, Such as lacrosse and hockey, that is more flexible and The present invention relates generally to a protective therefore more comfortable for a player. sports glove. More specifically, the present invention relates It is still another object of the present invention to provide to a protective sports glove for use in the game of lacrosse a protective sports glove for utilization in contact stick that provides improved protection to a user's hand, while sports, such as lacrosse and hockey, that provides more providing improved flexibility, durability, fit and breathabil breathability and ventilation than prior gloves without sac ity. rificing durability or protection. 25 It is yet another object of the present invention to provide BACKGROUND ART a protective sports glove for use in lacrosse that is Smaller In contact sports, such as lacrosse or hockey, where sticks than prior gloves. are essential elements of the game, a players hands and It is still a further object of the present invention to wrists are especially Vulnerable to injury when being 30 provide a protective sports glove for use in lacrosse that checked by another player's stick. For this reason, players provides a better fit for a user's hand. typically utilize padded gloves to protect their hands, wrists In accordance with the above and other objects of the and lower forearms during play. The areas of a players hand present invention, an improved protective sports glove is that are particularly susceptible to injury are those where the provided. The sports glove has a cuff portion for engaging a glove flexes, because at those locations, the protective 35 user's wrist and forearm and a hand portion elastically padding is typically constructed Such that it can bend or flex coupled to the cuff portion. The hand portion has a palm with a players joint. However, Such bending or flexing, Such portion on the inner side of the glove and an opposing as at the wrist or knuckle area, can leave the player's joint portion. The glove has a plurality of finger portions extend exposed due to the bending away of the protective padding ing from the hand portion for receipt of a user's fingers and, therefore, Susceptible to injury. 40 therein and a thumb portion. A wrist guard is secured to the Accordingly, wrist guards are known in the art for pro cuff portion and elastically coupled to the hand portion. The tective sports gloves to provide protection for a players back portion of the hand portion has a plurality of protective wrist between the cuff and hand portion. While most prior padded portions. The protective padded portions are cut wrist guards provide adequate protection, they provide lim horizontally to allow a users hand to flex and also vertically to conform to a users hand as it holds the Stick. At least one ited flexibility and adjustability and are therefore uncom 45 fortable and are often removed by user. It is also a problem vent opening is formed between two protective padded to provide a protective guard for a player's wrist between the portions disposed on either side of the vertical cut in the glove and cuff portion that both protects the user's wrist, back portion. The palm portion of the glove is similarly also provides flexibility and is not overly bulky. comprised of a non-mesh material with a plurality of mesh Additionally, most prior gloves disclose cuffs that are 50 portions, whereby the mesh material is located in the palm secured directly to the glove portion by stitching. The portions in areas that are not intended to have primary stitching limits the flexibility of a player's wrist and also contact with the handle of a stick and thus will not wear. cannot be adjusted. U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,396, discloses a These and other features of the present invention will configuration where the cuff and glove portion are attached become apparent from the following description of the to one another by lacing which allows for improved flex 55 invention, when viewed in accordance with the accompa ibility and also adjustability. However, the lacing typically nying drawings and appended claims. must be done by hand and therefore requires significant labor time in order to manufacture the glove, thereby BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS increasing its cost. Further, many prior gloves attempt to provide limited 60 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a protective sports glove breathability and flexibility. Therefore, certain gloves have in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present been introduced that utilize mesh material on portions of a invention; player's palm and fingers. However, the mesh material is FIG. 2 is a top view of a protective sports glove in located in primary areas that contact a stick and because of accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present the amount of movement of the Stick in a players hand, Such 65 invention; as through cradling or the like, the mesh material tends to FIG.