Patent Application
20130067634
The present invention relates to the field of work gloves, including gloves used by carpenters, masons and other workers that require access to a writing instrument.
Work gloves are well known to be useful for protecting the user's hands while working in severe conditions, including with materials that can hurt or injure a worker's hands, cold conditions or everyday conditions, such as worn by police officers or drivers. Because users wear these gloves when doing work that requires a writing instrument for taking notes, marking materials, identifying measurements, etc., the user must be able to access the writing instrument when working, either with the gloves on or by taking the gloves off. To deal with this need, clothing manufacturers often include a pencil holder on work pants, coveralls, shirts and jackets so that the writing instrument is accessible to the user.
In one known instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,867 describes a pencil holder that can be attached to the back of the hand of a glove for user access to a writing instrument. Although the pencil holder described therein is referred to as capable of being attached to various surfaces, including a wall near a telephone, a pencil holder attached to the back of the hand of a glove is described. There, the pencil holder on the back of the hand is attached with the graspable ends of the pencils facing down and angled away from the fingers to an area below the thumb, the pencil holder having an angled edge disposed with respect to the side edges of the glove.
However, the pencil holder adhered to the back of the glove, as described in this reference, is a nuisance to the user both when a pencil is inserted and when empty. When attached, the pencil holder described in the above cited reference is on an area of the hand that necessarily moves when the user's hand is used to work and the pencil holder maintains a relatively large flat surface over an area that tends to bend and roll when the hand is used to work.
In keeping, there is needed a glove having a holder for writing instruments that is integrated with a glove, that does not interfere with the glove and that makes the writing instrument easily accessible to the user.
The present invention is directed to a work glove comprising a hand covering portion covering at least a part of the hand and a cuff portion covering at least a portion of the cuff, where the cuff portion comprises a receptacle for receiving and removably retaining a writing instrument.
In its preferred embodiment, the receptacle is in the form of a pocket or a sleeve for accepting the writing instrument. The receptacle is preferably formed in a portion of the cuff having multiple layers of one or more materials, attached along the sides and with an open end for inserting the writing instrument between the layers of one or more materials. In its most preferred embodiment, the receptacle is angled generally in line with the angle of the thumb element relative to the main hand element of the glove portion, so that the end of the writing instrument extending from the receptacle is in relative alignment with the thumb element of the glove portion.
The glove of the present invention can be any design, including a basic glove formed of a single ply leather, canvas, man-made or other material or combination of materials, with or without reinforced areas, an insulated glove for working in colder conditions, etc.
With respect to the receptacle for receiving the writing instrument on the cuff, the receptacle can be formed from a two layer cuff by merely attaching, by stitching, adhesive or otherwise, the sides of the receptacle area together. At least one end of the receptacle has an opening for receiving the writing instrument, which can be formed along the edge of the cuff where the cuff is attached to the hand portion or through one of the multiple layers on the cuff portion itself. The end of the receptacle opposite the opening is preferably closed, in the form of a pocket, so that the writing instrument cannot exit from the side opposite the opening, but can be open, in the form of a sleeve if the writing instrument can be maintained in the opening by frictional force or otherwise.
In this regard, the width of the receptacle is preferably selected to permit ease of accepting and removing the writing instrument in and from the receptacle, but without so much tolerance so as to allow the writing instrument to move freely within the receptacle. When using layers of non-elastic material, the width of the receptacle is preferably sized to create a circumference about that of the writing instrument. Of course, when using an elastic material the receptacle can be formed of a slightly smaller width to create a frictional fit to hold the writing instrument in the receptacle.
In either case, one or more of the inside surfaces of the receptacle 8 and or area about the opening 12 may include or be formed of a material with a higher frictional coefficient to help reduce unintended removal or loss of the writing instrument 10 from the receptacle 8.
The present invention will be better understood when considered in view of the attached drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts. The drawings, however, are presented merely to illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention without limiting the invention in any manner whatsoever.
In the embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying Figures, and particularly
The receptacle 8 may be in the form of a pocket, with a closed end opposite the opening 12, or a sleeve, with an open end opposite the opening 12. In either case, the receptacle 8 can be a separate element attached to the cuff portion 6 or formed by and between layers of material on the cuff portion 6.
As will be apparent to one skilled in the art, the receptacle can be formed in one of many ways. For example, the receptacle 8 can be formed by attaching an additional layer of the same or a different material to the cuff portion 6 in the area of the receptacle 8 (either on the interior or exterior of the cuff portion 6), by attaching existing layers of a multilayered cuff portion 6 together along at least a portion of the sides of the area of the receptacle 8 to form the receptacle 8, by attaching a preformed receptacle 8 to the cuff portion 6, or by any other suitable means that results in the formation of a receptacle 8 on the cuff portion 6.
In any case, the material forming the receptacle 8 is not attached or closed in at least the area of the opening 12 to permit the insertion of the writing instrument 12. At least a portion of the remaining sides of the receptacle 8, and optionally the bottom of the receptacle 8, if formed as a pocket, can be attached by any means including stitching, adhesives, heat sealing, etc., which results in the receptacle 8 being able to receive and retain a writing instrument 10.
In the most preferred embodiment, the receptacle 8 is formed by stitching the sides and bottom of layers of material on the cuff portion 6 of the glove 2. The opening 12 may have a finished or unfinished edge for receiving the writing instrument 10. Preferably, the opening 12 is formed along the area where the hand portion 4 meets the cuff portion 6. In this regard, when a seam is present between the hand portion 4 and cuff portion 6, the opening 12 is preferably formed along the seam between the sections.
When the receptacle 8 is formed of layers of material in the cuff portion 6, the layers may be formed of the same or different materials. In addition to any other differences between the materials of layers forming the receptacle 8, the layers may be formed of non-elastic material with the receptacle 8 sized to receive and retain a standard sized writing instrument 10, such as the carpenter's pencil shown in
If formed of non-elastic material, the circumference of the opening 12 and/or receptacle 8 would preferably be only slightly larger than that of the writing instrument 10 so that the writing instrument 10 would be retained in the receptacle 8 through frictional force. If formed of an elastic material, the material would preferably be sized slightly smaller than a standard writing instrument 10, allowing for the insertion and retention of writing instruments 10 with smaller and larger circumferences.
Additionally, one or more of the inside surfaces of the receptacle 8 and or at least a portion of the area about the opening 12 may include or be formed of a material with a higher frictional coefficient than adjacent materials of the cuff portion 6 to help reduce unintended removal or loss of the writing instrument 10 from the receptacle 8. These can take the form of a rubber or rubberized strip in the area of or about at least a portion of the opening 12, the use of a coated material for at least the inside surface one of at least one of the layers or any other suitable means to increase the frictional coefficient in or around the receptacle 8 and/or opening 12.
As shown in the accompanying drawings, the receptacle 8 is preferably situated on an angle across the cuff portion 8, so that it generally aligns with the angle that the thumb element extends from the main hand element on the hand portion 4 of the glove 2. This preferred configuration has been found to be especially unobtrusive to the user, especially when the cuff portion 6 is capable of expanding or moving at least partially independently. Examples of cuff portions 6 capable of expanding or moving at least partially independently include cuff portions 6 made at least in part from an elastic material and a cuff portion 6 having a separation 14, slit or the like, either fully opening or with an elastic member holding the ends of the separation or slit together.
This preferred configuration provides that the receptacle 8, and at least most of the writing instrument 10 is not obtrusive on the front of the glove 2, as shown in
Variations, modifications and alterations to the preferred embodiment of the present invention described above will make themselves apparent to those skilled in the art. All such changes are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention, limited solely by the appended claims.
