Patent Application
20130025017
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a leg guard, and more particularly to a leg guard that can be worn on a catcher's leg securely.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Leg guards worn in front of legs are protective equipment commonly used by catchers in baseball or softball and serve to protect the legs from impact by a ball at high speed.
With reference to
A catcher's knees act regularly because the catcher must be either in a squatting position to catch a ball delivered by a pitcher or in a standing position to throw a ball to another player. However, such one-piece hard knee cover 60 cannot bend in accordance with activity of the knee and thereby causes discomfort to the catcher. Besides, the knee cover 60 easily slips from the catcher's knee when the catcher changes positions and thereby the catcher must readjust the knee cover 60 to a normal position. Readjusting the knee cover 60 distracts the catcher's attention and a mistake may be made.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a catcher's leg guard to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a catcher's leg guard having an upper knee cover and a lower knee cover that can rotate relative to each other in accordance with activity of a knee.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the catcher's leg guard in accordance with the present invention comprises an upper knee cover, a lower knee cover and a shin cover. The upper knee cover includes an inner surface, a shell and a kneepad. The kneepad is attached securely to the inner surface of the upper knee cover. The lower knee cover is connected rotatably to the upper knee cover. The shin cover is mounted below the lower knee cover and includes an inner surface and a shin pad. The shin pad is attached securely to the inner surface of the shin cover. When a catcher is in a standing position, the upper knee cover retracts relative to the lower knee cover. When the catcher is in a squatting position, the upper knee cover and the lower knee cover are open to fully cover a knee of the catcher. Therefore, the leg guard can be securely and comfortably worn on the catcher's leg.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
With further reference to
The lower knee cover 20 is connected rotatably to and covers the shell 11 of the upper knee cover 10, is a curved shell and includes a curved inner surface, two sides, a top edge, a bottom edge, two pivoting holes 21, two curved guiding slots 22 and two pins 23. The curved inner surface of the lower knee cover 20 corresponds to the curved outer surface of the shell 11 of the upper knee cover 10. The pivoting holes 21 are respectively formed through the sides of the lower knee cover 20 and respectively align with the pivoting holes 111 of the upper knee cover 10. The guiding slots 22 are respectively formed through the sides of the lower knee cover 20 and respectively adjacent to the pivoting holes 21 for receiving the guiding blocks 112 of the upper knee cover 10 and allowing the guiding blocks 112 of the upper knee cover 10 to move along the guiding slots 22. The pins 23 are respectively mounted through the pivoting holes 111 of the upper knee cover 10 and respectively extend through the pivoting holes 21 of the lower knee cover 20 to connect the upper knee cover 10 and the lower knee cover 20 pivotally.
The shin cover 30 is mounted below the lower knee cover 20, is an inverted triangle-shaped shell and includes two sides, a top end, a bottom end, an inner surface, two pairs of corresponding lower elastic straps 31,31A, a shin pad 32 and an instep pad 33. The two pairs of the lower elastic straps 31,31A are respectively mounted on the top end and the bottom end of the shin cover 30. One lower elastic strap 31 of each pair has a fixed end, a free end and a loop 311. The fixed end of the lower elastic strap 31 is mounted securely on one side of the shin cover 30. The loop 311 is connected to the free end of the lower elastic strap 31. The other lower elastic strap 31A of each pair has a fixed end, a free end, a hook 311A and an adjusting ring 312A. The fixed end of the lower elastic strap 31A is mounted securely on the other side of the shin cover 30. The hook 311A is connected to the free end of the lower elastic strap 31A and engages the loop 311. The adjusting ring 312A is mounted on the elastic strap 31A for adjusting a length of the lower elastic strap 31A. The shin pad 32 is attached securely to the inner surface of the shin cover 30 and has a top end and a bottom end. The top end of the shin pad 32 is securely mounted on the bottom edge of the lower knee cover 20. The instep pad 33 extends downward from the bottom end of the shin pad 32.
With reference to
When the catcher is in a standing position, the upper knee cover 10 retracts relative to the lower knee cover 20, the top edge of the lower knee cover 20 abuts the barrier protrusion 114 of the upper knee cover 10 and the guiding blocks 112 of the upper knee cover 10 abut bottom hole surfaces of the guiding slots 22 of the lower knee cover 20. With reference to
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
