Patent Application
20250185732
Not Applicable
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The disclosure relates to elbow protection devices and more particularly pertains to a new elbow protection devices for protecting a user's elbow from injury due to being struck by a baseball. The device includes an arm strap that is wrapped around the user's upper arm and a wrist strap wrapped around the user's wrist and finger loops to receive the user's fingers. The device includes an elbow cup which protects the user's elbow and a crook cup which protects the crook of the user's arm and a palm cup to protect the edge of the user's palm.
The prior art relates to elbow protection devices including a variety of arm protection devices that each at least includes a sleeve that is worn around a user's arm and impact plates that are attached to the sleeve for protecting the user's arm from impact injury. In no instance does the prior art disclose an arm protection device that includes arm strap that is wrapped around a user's upper arm and a wrist strap wrapped around the user's wrist for securing an elbow cup to the user's elbow and a crook cup to the crook of the user's arm and a palm cup to the edge of the user's palm.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an arm strap that is wrapped around a user's upper arm when the user is playing the game of baseball. A member is attached to the arm strap and an elbow cup is integrated into the member to protect the user's elbow from impact of a baseball while playing the game of baseball. A wrist strap is attached to the member and a palm cup is attached to the wrist strap to receive the edge of the user's palm when the wrist strap is worn around the user's wrist.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A member 30 is attached to and extends away from the arm strap 12 such that the member 30 extends along the user's upper arm 14 and lower arm 32 when the arm strap 12 is worn around the user's upper arm 14. The member 30 has a primary end 34 and a secondary end 36 and the primary end 34 is coupled to the front edge 24 of the arm strap 12. Additionally, the member 30 is positioned closer to the first end 18 of the arm strap 12 than the second end 20 of the arm strap 12. An elbow cup 44 is integrated into the member 30 such that the elbow cup 44 is positioned around the user's elbow 46 when the arm strap 12 is worn on the user's upper arm 14. The elbow cup 44 is comprised of a rigid material, including but not being limited to plastic or metal, to protect the user's elbow 46 from impact of a baseball 48 while playing the game of baseball.
The elbow cup 44 has a front edge 50, a back edge 52 and an upper surface 54 extending between the front edge 50 and the back edge 52 and each of the front edge 50 and the back edge 52 has a central portion 56 extending between a first sidelong portion 58 and a second sidelong portion 60. The central portion 56 associated with each of the front edge 50 and the back edge 52 is oriented parallel to each other. The first sidelong portion 58 associated with each of the front edge 50 and the back edge 54 angles toward each other to intersect at a first point 62. Additionally, the second sidelong portion 60 associated with each of the front edge 50 and the back edge 52 angles toward each other to intersect at a second point 64.
The member 30 extends away from the central portion 56 of each of the front edge 50 and the back edge 52 having the elbow cup 44 being positioned closer to the primary end 34 of the member 30 than the secondary end 36 of the member 30. The upper surface 54 of the elbow cup 44 is concavely arcuate with respect to the front edge 50 and the back edge 52 having each of the first point 62 and the second point 64 being directed upwardly from the member 30. In this way the elbow cup 44 is structured to conform to curvature of the user's elbow 46. A pad 66 is attached to the upper surface 54 of the elbow cup 44 having the pad 66 completely covering the upper surface 54. The pad 66 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material, including but not being limited to rubber or polyurethan, to enhance comfort for the user 16.
An elbow strap 68 is coupled to the elbow cup 44 which can be wrapped around a crook of the user's arm 70 when the arm strap 12 is wrapped around the user's upper arm 14. A coupled end 72 of the elbow strap 68 is attached to the second point 64 on the elbow cup 44. A third coupler 74 is attached to a first surface 76 of the elbow strap 68 at a point located adjacent to a free end 78 of the elbow strap 68. A fourth coupler 80 is attached to a bottom surface 82 of the elbow strap 68 at a point located adjacent to the first point 62 on the elbow cup 44. Additionally, the third coupler 74 is releasably matable to the fourth coupler 80 to secure the elbow strap 68 to the crook of the user's arm 70 Each of the third coupler 74 and the fourth coupler 80 may comprise a hook and loop fastener or the like.
A wrist strap 90 is attached to the member 30 and the wrist strap 90 is matable to itself to from a closed loop. Additionally, the wrist strap 90 is spaced from the arm strap 12 to facilitate the wrist strap 90 to be wrapped around the user's wrist 91 when the arm strap 12 is wrapped around the user's upper arm 14. The wrist strap 90 has a primary end 92, a secondary end 94 and outwardly facing surface 96 extending between the primary end 92 and the secondary end 94 of the wrist strap 90 and the wrist strap 90 has a front edge 98 extending between the primary end 92 and the secondary end 94 of the wrist strap 90.
A primary coupler 100 is attached to the outwardly facing surface 96 of the wrist strap 90 and the primary coupler 100 is positioned adjacent to the primary end 92 of the wrist trap 90. A secondary coupler 102 is attached to the outwardly facing surface 22 of the wrist strap 90 and the secondary coupler 102 is positioned adjacent to the secondary end 94 of the wrist strap 90. Additionally, the secondary coupler 102 is releasably matable to the primary coupler 100 for retaining the wrist strap 90 in the closed loop. Each of the primary coupler 100 and the secondary coupler 102 may comprise complementary portions of a hook and loop fastener or other type of multiple use, releasable coupler.
A palm cup 104 is attached to the wrist strap 90 which receives the edge of the user's palm 105 when the wrist strap 90 is worn around the user's wrist 91. The palm cup 104 has a concave structure to conform to curvature of the edge of the user's palm 105 thereby enhancing comfort for the user 16. The palm cup 104 extends away from the front edge 98 of the wrist strap 90 and the palm cup has a distal end 105 with respect to the front edge 98 of the wrist strap 90. The palm cup 104 has an upper surface 106 and an outer edge 108. The upper surface 106 of the palm cup 104 is concavely arcuate with respect to the outer edge 108. The palm cup 104 has a lateral wall 109 extending upwardly from the palm cup 104 and the lateral wall 109 has an upper end 110. The lateral wall 109 is curved adjacent to the upper end 110 such that the lateral wall 109 extends over the upper surface 106 of the palm cup 104. In this way the lateral wall 109 extends upwardly along the user's palm 105 toward the user's thumb 111.
The lateral wall 109 has a front edge 112 and a back edge 113 and the front edge 112 curves toward the back edge 113 between the upper surface 106 of the palm cup 104 and the upper end 110 of the lateral wall 110. The back edge 113 curves toward the front edge 112 at a point located adjacent to the upper end 112. The outer edge 108 has a first lateral side 114 which slopes downwardly between the front edge 98 of the wrist strap 90 and the distal end 105 of the palm cup 104. Additionally, the distal end 105 of the palm cup 104 is rounded. A palm pad 120 is coupled to the upper surface 112 of the palm cup 104 and the palm pad 120 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material, including but not being limited rubber or polyurethane, to enhance comfort for the user 16.
A tab 122 is coupled to and extends away from the palm cup 104 and the tab 122 is positioned on the distal end 110 of the palm cup 104. Additionally, the tab 122 has a distal end 124 with respect to the distal end 110 of the palm cup 104 and the tab 122 is tapered between the distal end 110 of the palm cup 104 and the distal end 124 of the tab 122. A pair of finger loops 126 is provided and each of the pair of finger loops 126 is stacked on each other. A respective one of the pair of finger loops 126 is attached to the tab 122 having the pair of finger loops 126 being vertically oriented. In this way each of the pair of finger loops 126 can insertably receive a respective one of the user's fingers 128 when the edge of the user's palm 105 is positioned in the palm cup 104. Additionally, the respective finger loop 126 is positioned adjacent to the distal end 124 of the tab 122 and a band 130 may extend around each of the pair of finger loops 126 for securing the finger loops 126 to each other.
A thumb loop 132 is provided which has an outer surface 134 that is attached to the upper end 110 of the lateral wall 109 of the palm cup 104. The thumb loop 132 lies on a plane that is oriented parallel to the upper surface 106 of the palm cup 104. In this way the thumb loop 132 can insertably receive the user's thumb 136 when the user's palm 105 is placed in the palm cup 104. A member pad 138 is coupled to an upper surface 140 of the member 30 and the member pad 138 extends between the arm strap 12 and the wrist strap 90. Furthermore, the member pad 138 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material, including but not being limited to rubber or polyurethane, thereby enhancing comfort for the user 16.
In use, the arm strap 12 is wrapped around the user's upper arm 14 such that the elbow cup 44 is positioned on the user's elbow 46 and the crook cup 68 is positioned on the crook of the user's arm 70. The elbow strap 68 is extended over the crook of the user's arm 70 and the third mating member is mated to the fourth mating member to secure the elbow strap around the crook of the user's arm. The user 16 extends their respective fingers 128, generally being the pinky finger and the ring finger, through the finger loops 126 such that the edge of the user's palm 105 is positioned in the palm cup 104 and the user 16 extends their thumb 136 through the thumb loop 132. The wrist strap 90 is wrapped around the user's wrist 91 to secure the palm cup 104 on the edge of the user's palm 105. In this way the user's elbow 46 and the edge of the user's palm 105 are protected from injury as the result of impact from a baseball 48 during the game of baseball. Often times players are struck in the elbow or the edge of the palm from an errant pitch while the player is at bat. The elbow cup 44 and the palm cup 104 inhibit the user 16 from being injured by an errant pitch or the like while the user 16 is playing the game of baseball.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
