Patent Application
20100043113
Professional, amateur, and recreational athletes commonly incorporate strength-building exercises into training regimens. Although the strength-building exercises may vary significantly, many involve the use of athletic equipment (e.g., weight machines, barbells, dumbbells) that the athlete grips with his or her hands while performing the exercises. When gripping the athletic equipment and performing the exercises, the hands may experience relatively significant compressive and shear forces, particularly in palms of the hands. Moreover, the forces may induce calluses to form on surfaces of the palms and may place undue stresses upon the various bones, joints, muscles, and tendons of the hands.
An example of a common strength-building exercise is the bench press, which is utilized to build strength in the arms and chest of the athlete, particularly in the pectoral muscles. In general, the bench press involves laying in a face-up position, with arms extending in a generally upward direction, and with the hands gripping and supporting a bar laden with disc weights (also referred to as plates). The athlete then repeatedly (a) permits the bar and disc weights to move downward toward the chest and (b) presses upward to extend the arms and move the bar and disc weights away from the chest.
An Olympic bar, which is commonly used for the bench press, weighs 20.0 kilograms (44.1 pounds). The portion of the bar that is gripped by the athlete has a diameter of 2.80 centimeters (1.10 inches) and is commonly engraved with a knurled crosshatch pattern to provide enhanced grip. Depending upon the strength of the athlete, the purpose of the training regimen, and various other factors, the combined weight of the bar and disc weights may range from 20.0 kilograms (44.1 pounds) to over 113 kilograms (250 pounds). A relatively small area of the palm of each hand supports, therefore, from 10.0 kilograms (22.0 pounds) to over 56.7 kilograms (125 pounds). Given these forces supported by the hands, many athletes wear weight-lifting gloves or utilize other devices that distribute the compressive forces over a greater area of the palm and reduce the shear forces.
Various configurations of a hand grip are disclosed below. In general, the hand grip includes a palm portion for contacting a palm of a hand and may also include a strap portion for extending around and contacting a back of the hand. Ends of the strap portion may be joined to the palm portion at the opposite edges. The palm portion may be contoured to have both concave and convex areas. The contours may also form a cross-sectional plane with an s-shaped configuration. An area of the palm portion may also have a shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid. The palm portion may also have surfaces with a textured configuration that includes indentations extending across the palm portion. The indentations may be on one surface or both surfaces, and a distance between adjacent indentations may be greater in one are than in another area.
The advantages and features of novelty characterizing aspects of the invention are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. To gain an improved understanding of the advantages and features of novelty, however, reference may be made to the following descriptive matter and accompanying figures that describe and illustrate various configurations and concepts related to the invention.
The foregoing Summary and the following Detailed Description will be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
The following discussion and accompanying figures disclose various configurations of a hand grip 10. Although hand grip 10 is discussed below as being utilized in connection with athletic equipment (e.g., weight machines, barbells, dumbbells) that an athlete grips with his or her hands while performing strength-building exercises, hand grip 10 may also be utilized to protect the hands or impart grip during a variety of other athletic activities that involve gripping an object (e.g., bicycling, pole vaulting, water skiing, field hockey, polo, automobile racing). Hand grip 10 or devices incorporating concepts associated with hand grip 10 may also be utilized during a variety of non-athletic activities to, for example, assist with opening jars or other containers, moving equipment, or handling other objects. Accordingly, hand grip 10 or devices incorporating concepts associated with hand grip 10 may be utilized for a variety of athletic or non-athletic activities.
Hand grip 10 is depicted in combination with a hand 100 (i.e., a right hand) of an individual in
As discussed in the Background section above, a hand (such as hand 100) may experience relatively significant compressive and shear forces, particularly in the palm, when gripping athletic equipment and performing exercises. These forces may induce calluses to form and may place undue stresses upon the various bones, joints, muscles, and tendons of hand 100. Hand grip 10 may be utilized to distribute the compressive forces over a greater area of the palm and reduce the shear forces. Referring to
Hand grip 10 is depicted individually in
Palm portion 20 has a configuration that is intended to lie adjacent to the palm of hand 100 and covers a substantial portion of the palm. When utilized during strength-building exercises, palm portion generally covers areas of hand 100 corresponding with the proximal phalanges and at least a portion of the metacarpals. When hand 100 is gripping object 200 (e.g., an Olympic bar) in the manner depicted in
Palm portion 20 has a palm surface 21 and an opposite grip surface 22. In general, palm surface 21 faces and contacts the palm of hand 100, and grip surface 22 faces away from the palm and is utilized to contact an object (e.g., object 200). Palm portion 20 also includes a medial edge 23 and an opposite lateral edge 24 that form a boundary for surfaces 21 and 22. Each of surfaces 21 and 22 have a curved or otherwise contoured configuration that conforms with the surface characteristics of the palm of hand 100. Referring to
Along the cross-sectional plane depicted in
Surfaces 21 and 22 each have a textured configuration. Referring to
The textured configuration of surfaces 21 and 22 discussed above assists with both the flexibility and grip of palm portion 20. Indentations 25 and 26 form flexion lines in palm portion 20 that assist with extending around a cylindrical object, such as object 200. In configurations of hand grip 10 that are intended to assist with gripping other types or shapes of objects, different indentation configurations may be utilized to facilitate bending hand grip 10 around the objects. The further indentations, protrusions, or textures in areas between indentations 26 may also be utilized to enhance the friction (i.e., grip) characteristics between palm portion 20 and object 200.
Strap portion 30 is joined with each of edges 23 and 24 and extends across palm surface 21 (i.e., faces palm surface 21) to form an area for receiving hand 100. The width of strap portion 30 may vary significantly, but is depicted as having a width that securely and comfortably receives hand 100. In some configurations of hand grip 10, strap portion 30 may be adjustable to fit hands with different proportions than hand 100. As an alternative, different versions of hand grip 10 may be made to accommodate hands with different proportions. In some configurations of hand grip 10, strap portion 30 may be absent such that pressure between hand 100 and object 200 is sufficient to retain a position of hand grip 10. In further configurations, strap portion 30 may be formed from a stretch textile or other material that is stitched or bonded to palm portion 20 at each of edges 23 and 24.
A variety of manufacturing processes may be utilized to form hand grip 10, including molding, milling, and thermoforming. Although hand grip 10 may be formed from various elements that are manufactured separately and subsequently joined, palm portion 20 and strap portion 30 are depicted as being formed of unitary (i.e., one-piece) construction. That is, palm portion 20 and strap portion 30 may be formed (e.g., through a molding operation) as a single, seamless element. An advantage of the unitary construction of hand grip 10 is that seams or other discontinuities that may cause pressure points in hand 100 are absent from hand grip 10.
In addition to manufacturing processes, a variety of materials may be utilized to form hand grip 10. In general, hand grip 10 may be formed form a polymer material, including both foamed and non-foamed polymers. More specifically, the materials utilized for hand grip 10 may include, for example, various rubber formulations (latex, thermoplastic rubber, chloroprene, polychloroprene), polyurethane, and ethylvinylacetate. In some configurations, surfaces 21 and 22 may be formed from different materials. More particularly, palm surface 21 may be formed from a softer material that imparts comfort to hand 100, and grip surface 22 may be formed from a harder, more durable material that resists abrasion against object 200. In other configurations, plates, textile elements, stitching, or other elements may be incorporated into hand grip 100 to reinforce or strengthen specific areas.
The overall configuration of hand grip 10 may vary considerably. As discussed above, the overall structure of hand grip 10 may be modified to accommodate different types of activities, the texture of palm portion 20 may be modified for different objects, and strap portion 30 may be formed to have an adjustable configuration. Referring to
The invention is disclosed above and in the accompanying figures with reference to a variety of configurations. The purpose served by the disclosure, however, is to provide an example of the various features and concepts related to the invention, not to limit the scope of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that numerous variations and modifications may be made to the configurations described above without departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.
