Patent Application
20250205583
Conventional ball gloves include lacing connecting the finger stalls that is positioned on the front face of the glove and that projects into the catching area. Conventional ball gloves may also include palm lacing in the palm portion of the glove that projects into the catching area. After catching a ball with a glove, a player often quickly reaches into the glove to retrieve the ball. The player's hand may snag on the lacing, or the ball may engage the lacing, due at least in part to its projection into the catching area, slowing or hampering the player's retrieval of the ball from the glove. Embodiments of the present technology are addressed to resolving these problems and other problems with conventional ball gloves.
Representative embodiments of the present technology include a ball glove having a plurality of finger stalls and a thumb stall, in which connecting lacing for at least some of the finger stalls is only between the finger stalls or on a back side of the finger stalls, such that the ball glove has limited (or no) lacing projecting into the catching area (the front/palm side of the glove) that can snag a player's hand or other object during play.
Other features and advantages will appear hereinafter. The features described herein can be used separately or together, or in various combinations of one or more of them.
In the drawings, wherein the same reference number indicates the same element throughout the views:
The present technology is directed to ball gloves with backfinger lacing, and associated systems and methods. Various embodiments of the technology will now be described. The following description provides specific details for a thorough understanding and enabling description of these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand, however, that the invention may be practiced without many of these details. Additionally, some well-known structures or functions, such as those common to ball gloves (such as baseball or softball gloves), may not be shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description of the various embodiments. Accordingly, embodiments of the present technology may include additional elements or exclude some of the elements described below with reference to
The terminology used in this description is intended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the invention. Certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this detailed description section.
Where the context permits, singular or plural terms may also include the plural or singular term, respectively. Moreover, unless the word “or” is expressly limited to mean only a single item exclusive from the other items in a list of two or more items, then the use of “or” in such a list is to be interpreted as including (a) any single item in the list, (b) all of the items in the list, or (c) any combination of items in the list. Further, unless otherwise specified, terms such as “attached” or “connected” are intended to include integral connections, as well as connections between physically separate components.
For purposes of the present disclosure, a first element that is positioned “toward” an end of a second element is positioned closer to that end of the second element than to a middle or mid-length location of the second element. Numerical adjectives including “first” and “second,” or the like, as used in the present disclosure, do not convey hierarchy or specific features or functions. Rather, such numerical adjectives are intended to aid the reader in distinguishing between elements which may have similar nomenclature, but which may differ in position, orientation, or structure. Accordingly, such numerical adjectives may be used differently in the claims
For example,
With reference to
The front portion 225 may be connected to the back portion 245 using any suitable fastening systems or devices, such as stitching, riveting, or gluing, or the front portion 225 and the back portion 245 may be connected by being integral with one another. The first thumb section 235 of the front portion 225 may be connected to the second thumb section 250 to form a thumb stall 265 for receiving a user's thumb inside the glove 200 using any of the foregoing suitable fastening systems or devices, or they may be connected by being integral with one another. Each front finger section 240 of the plurality of front finger sections 240 may be connected to a corresponding back finger section 255 of the plurality of back finger sections 255 to form a plurality of finger stalls 270 (e.g., four finger stalls 270) for receiving a user's fingers inside the glove 200.
The ball glove 200 includes an opening 275 between the front portion 225 and the back portion 245 to receive a user's hand. The opening 275 may be adjustable with a wrist strap 280 or another suitable adjustment device. Each finger stall 270 of the plurality of finger stalls 270 may be connected to an adjacent finger stall of the plurality of finger stalls via lacing 282 positioned generally toward a distal end of the glove away from the opening 275. In some embodiments, the lacing 282 may include one continuous strand, multiple strands linked together, or multiple individual strands, each individual strand linking at least two finger stalls 270 together.
In some embodiments, for some or all (e.g., at least two, or at least three, or all four or more) of the finger stalls 270, the lacing 282 does not pass through a front surface 283 of the finger stalls 270 (e.g., the lacing 282 does not pass through the surface of the front portion 225 facing the catching area 220, which is opposite the back surface 284). Such an embodiment is shown generally in
Each finger stall 270 may have two opposing side portions 285, 286 adjacent to the front and back sections 240, 255 or front and back surfaces 283, 284. The opposing side portions 285, 286 may connect the front sections 240 to the back sections 255. In some embodiments, one or more of the side portions 285, 286 may be part of the front or back sections 240, 255. Each finger stall 270 may have opposing side surfaces 285a, 286a on the corresponding side portions 285, 286, between and adjacent to the front and back surfaces 283, 284.
In some embodiments, for some or all of the finger stalls 270, the lacing 282 may pass or extend through and between the two opposing side portions 285, 286 and the opposing side surfaces 285a, 286a. With specific reference to
With reference to
In some embodiments, the lacing 410 that extends between the two opposing side portions 285, 286 crosses over itself between at least two (e.g., at least three or four) of the finger stalls 270 (i.e., forming an “x” pattern like in
Ball gloves configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology may be made from any suitable materials, including real leather, artificial leather, polymer materials, or other materials suitable for use in a ball glove. Some embodiments of the present technology can include other gloves, such as other sports gloves that may or may not have a web.
Ball gloves configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology provide several advantages. For example, because there is reduced lacing or no lacing in the catching area, there may be fewer obstructions in the glove, so a player may be able to retrieve a ball from the glove faster than with a conventional glove. Further, a player may experience more comfort because there are fewer obstructions for their hand to hit while retrieving the ball from the glove.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the disclosed technology have been described for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the technology, and elements of certain embodiments may be interchanged with those of other embodiments, and that some embodiments may omit some elements. For example, the lacing may take any suitable pattern as long as it is positioned between the finger stalls or on the back of the finger stalls, outside of the catching area. Although the finger stalls are described as lacking stitching on the front faces, in some embodiments, the thumb stall may also omit stitching on the front face, and it may be connected to the pointer-finger stall in a manner similar to the connections between the other finger stalls.
Further, while advantages associated with certain embodiments of the disclosed technology have been described in the context of those embodiments, other embodiments may also exhibit such advantages, and not all embodiments need to exhibit such advantages to fall within the scope of the technology. Accordingly, the disclosure and associated technology may encompass other embodiments not expressly shown or described herein.
