Patent Application
20150103400
None
No federal R&D funds were used in the invention.
Not applicable.
N/A
Over the past decade, and perhaps longer, people have become more aware of the damaging effect of solar exposure on human skin. The damaging effects are now believed to be compounding, so that even short term exposure to unprotected human skin contributes to greater long term skin damage. Such damage includes “sun spots”, dry and/or wrinkling, premature aging, and even development of fatal melanoma cancers.
A strong market exists for many types of solar protection products including hats, sun screens (in various forms such as creams and sprays), and various clothing items providing various degrees of solar radiation abatement.
However, notably absent has been the development of skin care protection for hands, short of full hand covering (gloves) with various specialized applications (such as golf gloves, driving gloves, batting gloves, baseball mitts, football receiver gloves, cotton and leather work gloves and many others). And in most cases, the purpose of these gloves is to provide protection to the skin on the palm of the hand from damage related to that particular activity, or to enhance the natural grip of the hand on the particular tool used in that activity. For example, the purpose of a golf glove it primarily to prevent blisters from forming from rubbing on the club's grip handle as well as to provide enhanced grip on the club to avoid the clue spinning in the hand upon contact causing a misdirected shot.
However all of these types of gloves do not to provide full protection from solar exposure to the hand and a full sense of touch to the wearer engaged in the activity. This functional gap is addressed by the subject of this application, “Solar Protection Glove Providing Touch”. Through the unique recognition of the existing product gap, and creating novel methods of attaching the covering to the hand while leaving the palm exposed to provide the advantage of a sense of touch, the inventor has satisfied this need.
The invention is the top half of a glove made of solar-protective material of various ultraviolet protection strengths. It can be made of one or more layers to also provide some thermal or wind protection. This glove has a cuff, several closure methods and attaches to the fingers and thumb by straps as one of several methods. All of these methods minimize or eliminate obstruction of the wearer's palm and finger pads. By leaving the wearer's palm and finger pads exposed, the wearer retains a full sense of touch identical to non-protected (no glove) hands performing that activity.
Drawing 1: Left Hand, Back of the Hand (below) shows the top of the invention as when worn on the back of the hand, and viewed with the back of the wearer's hand facing the wearer. In this view the straps are not visible. The cuff is shown “open” and when worn wraps around the wrist. This Drawing 1 is a fabric cutting pattern.
Drawing 2: Left Hand, Palm of the Hand (below) is a view of the left hand palm-side. The diagram is shown as when the glove is worm and looking at the wearer's palm.) Note that the glove does not actually cover the wearer's palm. When worn and viewed from the palm-side, the straps are visible, and the cuff is visible as it wraps around the wearer's wrist. The positions of the finger straps are shown when attached as described in Section 9.4.
Drawing 3: Right Hand, Palm of the Hand (below) is a view of the right hand palm-side. The diagram is shown as when the glove is worm and looking at the wearer's palm. Note that the glove does not actually cover the wearer's palm. When worn and viewed from the palm-side, the straps are visible, and the cuff is visible. The positions of the finger straps are marked when attached as described in Section 9.4.
Drawing 4: Right Hand, Back of the Hand (below) shows the top of the invention as when worn on the back of the hand, and viewed with the back of the wearer's hand facing the wearer. In this view the straps are not visible. The cuff is shown “open” and when worn is visible as it wraps around the wrist. This Drawing 4 is a fabric cutting pattern.
Drawing 5: Invention Two Side View; Right Hand, with Nail Coverage (below) shows a drawing of the bottom-side (also called “palm side”) and top-side (also called “back side”) of a right-hand glove. Construction is identical for a left-hand glove, except that the straps are attached to the obverse side for the left-hand glove. Drawing 5 shows the invention style providing fingertip protection (finger nail coverage). The left-side sketch in this Drawing 5 shows the finger straps (as described in Section 9) and marked as “spaghetti” in the drawing. Since the straps are visible on this hand side, and its thumb covering points to the right, that is the right-hand glove. It appears as if the wearer views the palm of their right hand and can see the straps though most of the fabric would be obscured by their hand. The straps are not visible on the top of the glove (right side sketch of Drawing 5). It appears as if the wearer is looking at the back of their right hand, and can see most of the fabric providing their right hand with sun protection.
Drawing 6: Fashion Glue or Tape Application Locations (below) depicts the top of the invention where a glue material is used on the fabric and in contact with the wearer's hand to attach the invention to the hand. Spots of glue or tape are used on the finger areas to provide for flexibility and avoid interfering with the wearer's finger joints. Lines of glue have been tested in prototypes of the inventions to demonstrate sufficient adhesion to the back of the hand.
Drawing 7: Batten Stiffener Locations (below) shows the invention using battens to stiffen the solar protective material. The battens cause the top of the glove to be stiffer and straight as it lies on the wearer's hand. Note that the battens in the fingers are multi-pieced and avoid the locations of the wearer's finger joints. The battens are placed between the 2-ply material, typically with non-drying glue on both sides of the battens, but in a limited quantity so as to avoid soaking and staining the fabric.
Drawing 8: Buttons or Snaps (below) shows another possible method of securing the invention to the wrist. In this case, the invention is manufactured with one or multiple buttons or snap-sets to be attached across the two cuff ends. This is a drawing of the top of the glove, and the finger straps are not visible on this side.
The invention is the “top half” of a glove made of Ultraviolet Protective Fabric (“UPF”) of a desired strength (for example, “UPF 50”). The UPF rating is conceptually similar to the SPF numbering familiar to many people from sunscreen products. The materials are readily available on the market, and are light-weight and flexible. The invention is made of two layers (ply) of the fabric, so the SPF strength of the material is increased by the 2-ply construction. The UPF fabric can also be moisture wicking. When worn with the 2-ply construction for solar protection, the wearer will experience diminished hand sweating since the invention keeps the hand cooler due to the solar protection and the open construction allows for air-flow and natural evaporation. The invention also works to protect the back of the wearer's hand from the cold. Additional layers can be used to also provide some thermal or other environmental protection. Or, a single-ply (layer) of fabric can be used, but its manufacture will require special edge stitching, such as merrow stitching.
This invention has a cuff with closures. Closures come in many different forms such as hook/loop material, buttons, snaps, or others. The invention attaches to the fingers and thumb by one of several methods. All of these methods minimize or eliminate obstruction of the wearer's palm and finger pads. By leaving the wearer's palm and finger pads exposed, the wearer retains a full sense of touch to provide the wearer touch sensation identical to non-protected (no glove) hands performing that activity.
Attachment to the fingers can be made with a set of critically located straps of fabric, elastic, or other materials (see Drawing 2 and Drawing 3). In the inventor's design work, half-inch wide elastic straps have been selected as the best tradeoff for ease and effectiveness of use and lowest cost of manufacturing.
Alternately the invention can be secured to the hand using a commercially available re-usable glue or “fashion tape” to “stick” the glove to the back of the hand and the fingers (see Drawing 6). Glue loses stickiness due to wear and the effect of washing but further research (studies with other types of glues) will likely result in solutions to these issues. Fashion tape is commonly used to secure clothing in place, so it is an economical alternative.
Another implementation of the invention used a set of battens (in the case of the prototype, plastic strips that provided stiffening to the material so that it conformed to the back of the hand). Though this method proved to be not as comfortable on the hand (see Drawing 7). (Battens can't be used as the means of attaching the fabric to the hand. Nor do they eliminate the need for straps. Battens are only used to stiffen the fabric when worn on the hand. Lacking straps the invention will fall off the wearer's fingers.)
Selection of the preferred hand attachment method becomes a manufacturing cost tradeoff against effectiveness of touch sensitivity. The inventor prefers hook/loop material on the cuff, and finger straps (made of fabric or elastic).
Due to the non-encasing nature of the invention's design, a minimal number of sizes need to be manufactured. We have prototyped unisex sizes of XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL, and believe these will be sufficient for all markets. This is not possible in traditional gloves where finger length and diameter make fitting critical to many hand sizes. For example, golf gloves are sold in as many as twelve sizes (2x Large, 3x Large, Cadet Large, Cadet Medium, Cadet Medium/Large, Cadet Small, Cadet Extra Large, Extra Large, Large, Medium, Medium Large, Small) across ages and genders.
The inventor has created a method to manufacture the invention that is unique. The construction of regular gloves is based on a commonly used pattern and the manufacturers are very familiar with this pattern and are able to cut and sew it adroitly. The pattern and sewing of this glove is quite unique and does not conform to traditional glove manufacturing. The inventor has worked through numerous prototypes resulting in the invention being practical to manufacture and market at a competitive price. The inventor has created the following manufacturing instructions for producing the invention, in this case, based on the use of fabric or elastic straps and a hook and loop or snaps or buttons on the cuff:
If one-ply fabric is used then a different method of stitching can be used on the edges of the fabric to achieve a clean look, such as “merrow stitching”. The inventor prefers the two-ply fabric construction method described in Table 1 as the seam looks cleaner and is almost invisible.
The invention is suitable for many fields of use. It is well suited for use in sports that require a sense of touch and which are played outdoors in sunlight. Tennis (or lawn tennis) is an excellent example of a sports application.
The invention can be used for driving, especially in the daylight where the hours of sun exposure to the hands on the steering wheel require sun protection. Similarly the invention can also be used to provide solar exposure protection while walking.
The glove can also be used in professional applications where solar protection is desirable, but use of a writing instrument (such as a pencil or pen) is needed. Since it is very difficult to write with a gloved hand, the invention provides the sense of touch needed for writing. The invention could be used by field inspectors and technicians that are working out of doors at plants and are recording observations of sensors on paper or on touch-sensitive tablets. Another similar use would be the members of a survey team that need to use fine control on their instruments and record observations on reports.
