The invention relates to protective apparel and more particularly to a hand or finger (including thumb) protector, and more particularly for protecting a user's thumb from injury during fishing.
Numerous hazards confront a fisherman when handling fishing equipment and the fish themselves, particularly to the hands. As in many “hands-on” activities, whether sport, or construction work (manual labor), or the like, various types of hand and/or finger protection are known.
A type of protective apparel/equipment for a user includes gloves, which generally cover the user's entire hand, including palm, back of hand, all four fingers and the thumb, and extend at least up to or, in some cases (such as welding gloves) beyond the wrist.
In a variation of the glove, one or more of the fingertips of the glove are removed to allow the user more tactile sensation, such as when manipulating sporting equipment (such as a rifle, with the trigger finger exposed), which providing protection (such as against cold weather) for the rest of the user's hand.
If individual finger dexterity is not an important issue, mittens may provide the best protection for the user. In contrast with a glove, a mitten does not have four individual finger portions and a thumb portions, extending from the palm portion. Rather, three or four of the finger portions are combined into one wider multi-finger portion. Some baseballs mitts (mittens) are constructed in this manner, having a thumb portion separated by a web from an index finger portion, and the remaining three fingers (middle, ring and little) all reside in a wider fingers portion of the glove.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,510 (issued Mar. 12, 1996, by Knowles et al., hereinafter “Knowles”), is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein, and discloses a thumb protector for fishing and method of gripping sport fish. As disclosed therein, a hand protector for fishing has a thumb portion which includes material on at least the inner or pad side of the thumb, for the direct engagement of the teeth of a typical game or sport fish for the support and carriage thereof. The teeth engaging material may be any suitable pile type material comprising a multitude of small loops; the loop portion of hook and loop fastening material (e.g., Velcro™) may be used. The thumb portion of the protector also provides complete protection for the thumb of a wearer of the device, from possible injury from the teeth of the fish. In an alternative embodiment, the protector includes a glove covering most of the hand and providing for greater comfort in colder conditions. The four fingertips of the glove embodiment are open, to provide for good tactile feel for the user of the glove. The protector is positively secured to the hand of the user to preclude slippage when lifting or holding a fish by the thumb portion engaging the teeth of a fish, but the protector may be easily removed when desired.
FIGS. 1 and 2 of the Knowles patent are reproduced as
FIGS. 1 and 2 of the Knowles patent illustrate an embodiment of a hand protector showing its use in supporting a fist and protecting the thumb of the wearer, and means for securing the protector to the hand. More particularly, as disclosed therein (see column 4 line 10 through column 5 line 9, and using Knowles' numbering):
Although Knowles et al. discloses the use of leather for the wrist attachment stray 26, the thumb enclosure portion 12 is not formed of leather. The thumb enclosure portion 12 includes a back surface 14 and an opposite front surface 16. As noted above,
The use of the materials suggested by Knowles et al. may be inadequate and/or inappropriate in certain fishing situations, such as using the hand to help reel in the line (when a fish has been caught), in which situations the thumb is particularly vulnerable to an abrasive, slicing action of a fish line dragging across the flesh of the user, particularly under tension. This “dynamic” is in marked contrast to the piercing action of a fish' teeth addressed by Knowles et al.
Knowles et al. cites a number of other patents, all of which are incorporated by reference herein, including:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,025,710 issued to Idalyne M. Beemer on Dec. 31, 1935 discloses a Hand Covering resembling a glove in which the second, third and fourth fingers have been removed. Only the thumb and first or index finger are provided, and those two digits are completely closed, unlike the glove embodiment of the Knowles' thumb protector. Moreover, no means is disclosed for the capture of sharp articles (e.g., the teeth of a fish) therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,302,875 issued to John Lykins on Nov. 24, 1942 discloses a Golfer's Glove having a channel diagonally disposed in the palm to provide for the gripping of a golf club grip. While the fingers of the glove are open at their distal ends, no thumb covering is provided, which renders the Lykins glove unsuitable for use in the environment of the present fishing hand protector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,296 issued to Franklin D. Stanford on Apr. 17, 1979 discloses a Fish Holding, Scraping, And Cutting Glove. The entire hand, fingers, and thumb are completely enclosed, unlike the Knowles' thumb protector, and the exterior surface of the glove includes a roughened palm with corrugations on the fingers for gripping, and with the fingertips including hardened edges for scaling a fish. A blade is also provided, extending through the pad of the thumb portion of the glove. The relatively thick palm and fingers required to provide the roughened gripping surfaces preclude any significant tactile feel through the glove, whereas the present fishing hand protector provides for such by means of the open fingertip areas in the glove embodiment and by the exposure of most of the hand in the thumb protector embodiment. The thumb cannot provide for any engagement with the relatively small and sharp teeth of a fish, or other sharp pointed articles, as does the Knowles' thumb protector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,692 issued to Mark A. Dzierson et al. on Nov. 15, 1983 discloses a Drinking Glove comprising a glove portion with truncated fingers and thumb, attachable to a cylindrical container holding portion. The lack of a thumb portion precludes use of the drinking glove in the environment of the Knowles' thumb protector, and the means on the palm providing for attachment of the container holder would appear to reduce tactile sensitivity. In fact, the very purpose of the device is to reduce tactile sensitivity between a hot or cold container and the hand of the wearer of the glove. While the fingertips and thumb extremities are removed, the user's fingers and thumb contact only the exterior of the container holder secured thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,511 issued to Peggy J. Haack on Jan. 27, 1987 discloses a Bowling Glove comprising a portion which secures around the wrist and across the web between thumb and forefinger area. The remainder of the glove is open, including the pad of the thumb. While tactile sensitivity is obviously provided by the open areas of the glove, no protection is provided on the pad of the thumb, rendering the device unusable in the environment of the Knowles' invention. Moreover, no means is provided for the passive capture of small, sharp articles therein, as with the Knowles' fishing glove.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,565 issued to Terrance J. Odom on May 19, 1987 discloses a Golf Glove having portions of hook and loop fastening material thereon. When the proper golf grip is assumed, the hook/loop material of one glove will engage the cooperating material of the other glove to provide a positive grip. Due to this need for a positive grip, the fingers and thumbs of both gloves are completely enclosed, unlike the Knowles' thumb protector. Moreover, no means for passively engaging sharp points by the thumb(s) of the glove(s) are disclosed.
British Patent No. 547,946 to Roland G. Davies et al. and published on Sep. 18, 1942 discloses Improvements in or Relating to Frictional Anti-Slipping Means. The apparatus comprises cooperating relatively high friction, abrasive material disposed upon the handle or grip of a tool or the like and on various surfaces of a glove. The fingers and thumb of the glove are completely enclosed either in glove or mitten form, unlike the Knowles' thumb protector, and the abrasive material precludes engagement with sharp objects as provided by the Knowles' thumb protector.
British Patent No. 2,143,720 to Andrew T. Moore and published on Feb. 20, 1985 discloses Gloves For Cleaning, Smoothing, And/Or Polishing Objects. In one embodiment, the abrasive is secured to the glove by cooperating hook and loop material (i.e., Velcro™), but the exposed abrasive surface fails to provide any means for passively gripping or engaging small pointed objects, such as the provision for engaging the teeth of a fish provided by the present invention. Moreover, the fingers and thumb are all completely enclosed, either in glove or mitten form.
Finally, PCT Patent No. WO 90/08483 to Linda M. Martin and published on Aug. 9, 1990 discloses Gloves For Mechanics comprising an inner glove which completely encloses the hand and an outer glove having truncated fingers and thumb. The palm portion of the outer glove may be covered with a relatively high friction material (e.g., roughened leather) to provide a better grip. While the outer and inner gloves may be worn separately in their separate embodiments, the tips of the fingers and thumb are all open for the outer glove, and are all completely enclosed for the inner glove; provision of a protected, completely enclosed thumb having material providing for the passive engagement of sharp pointed objects, in combination with at least open fingertips, as in the Knowles' thumb protector, is not disclosed.
Unless otherwise noted, or as may be evident from the context of their usage, any terms, abbreviations, acronyms or scientific symbols and notations used herein are to be given their ordinary meaning in the technical discipline to which the disclosure most nearly pertains. The following terms, abbreviations and acronyms may be used throughout the descriptions presented herein and should generally be given the following meaning unless contradicted or elaborated upon by other descriptions set forth herein. Some of the terms set forth below may be registered trademarks (®).
The human hand consists of a broad palm (metacarpus) with five digits, attached to the forearm by a joint called the wrist (carpus).
Four fingers on the hand are located at the outermost edge of the palm. These four digits can be folded over the palm, this allows for the holding of objects. Each finger, starting with the one closest to the thumb, has a colloquial name to distinguish it from the others:
The thumb is located on one of the sides of the palm, parallel to the arm. the thumb can easily be rotated 90 degrees, on a perpendicular level compared to the palm, unlike the other fingers which can only be rotated approximately 45 degrees. A reliable was of identifying true “hands” is from the presence of opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs are identified by the ability to be brought opposite to the fingers, a muscle action known as opposition.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved thumb protector for fishing, and method of gripping (whether playing in or playing out) fishing line, providing protection for the user's thumb, while not impairing functions or sensitivities of other digits (the other four fingers) of the user's hand.
In a sense, an injury from a fishing line can be more of a “scraping” or “blunt force” injury than a “piercing” injury, such as seems inevitable when inserting one's hand into the mouth of a fish, many of which are carnivorous. Rather, in the various possible situations of manipulating a fishing line, the line may slide over the users hand or thumb in an abrasive (scraping) manner, as mentioned above, or may abruptly impact the hand or thumb when tension of the fishing line abruptly changes, striking a blow (blunt force) to exposed flesh, which can also adversely affect underlying muscle, vascular and bone structures in the hand.
A form of a blunt impact force, or a resulting deformation of an inelastic material resulting from such an impact is often referred to as a “ding”. Throughout the descriptions set forth herein, the invention (or portions thereof, or methods of use thereof) may be referred to as the “Thumb Dinger”, which is considered by the applicant to be his trademark. As implied by the name, the Thumb Dinger may protect a wearer's (user's) thumb from “dings”, from various sources, such as, but not limited to, a fishing line which may be moving erratically, typically under tension (a fishing line not under tension is generally not likely to cause any damage, or ding).
According to the invention, a thumb protection device comprises:
Optionally, pockets for storing objects may be provided, such as on the wrist band or on the thumb cup strap, or even on the thumb cup itself.
Reference will be made in detail to embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures (FIGs). The figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to these particular embodiments.
Certain elements in selected ones of the figures may be illustrated not-to-scale, for illustrative clarity. The cross-sectional views, if any, presented herein may be in the form of “slices”, or “near-sighted” cross-sectional views, omitting certain background lines which would otherwise be visible in a true cross-sectional view, for illustrative clarity. In some cases, hidden lines may be drawn as dashed lines (this is conventional), but in other cases they may be drawn as solid lines.
If shading or cross-hatching is used, it is intended to be of use in distinguishing one element from another (such as a cross-hatched element from a neighboring un-shaded element. It should be understood that it is not intended to limit the disclosure due to shading or cross-hatching in the drawing figures.
Elements of the figures may (or may not) be numbered as follows. The most significant digits (hundreds) of the reference number correspond to the figure number. For example, elements of
Although various features of the invention may be described in the context of a single embodiment, the features may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although the invention may be described herein in the context of separate embodiments for clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a single embodiment. Furthermore, it should be understood that the invention can be carried out or practiced in various ways, and that the invention can be implemented in embodiments other than the exemplary ones described hereinbelow. The descriptions, examples, methods and materials presented in the in the description, as well as in the claims, should not be construed as limiting, but rather as illustrative.
Generally, the present invention (the Thumb Dinger) is similar to Knowles embodiment of a thumb protector shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the Knowles patent, in that it is worn by a user to protect their thumb from injury, during an aspect of fishing.
A difference is that whereas Knowles is intended for (and constructed for) protecting against injury from fish teeth (bites) bites, the Thumb Dinger is intended for (and constructed for) protecting the wearer's thumb against injury from fishing line (abrasion and blunt force injury).
The material which is protecting the user's thumb in the Thumb Dinger is different than Knowles.
Knowles uses a relatively flexible and elastic fabric material (e.g., spandex) for the back surface 14 in order to provide the needed flexibility and stretch over the joints or knuckles of the thumb. And, for the front surface 16, which provides for the engagement of the teeth T of the fish F, Knowles uses “of necessity a different material”—namely Knowles discloses that the loop portion 24 of cooperating hook and loop fastener material (e.g., Velcro™) provides excellent results as a material for the front surface 16 of the hand protector 10. The loops 24 provide an excellent engaging means for the relatively small and sharp teeth T of a typical sport fish F, while the standard relatively stiff and heavy backing of the loop material 24 serves well to prevent penetration of the fish teeth T therethrough to protect the thumb of the wearer of the present invention. Alternatively, other materials may be used in lieu of the loop portion of hook and loop fastening material, e.g., wool, some knit fabrics, etc. The specific material may be varied, so long as the material possesses some looped pile characteristics enabling the relatively small, sharp teeth T of a fish F to directly engage the pile or loops and be captured thereby.
The Thumb Dinger uses a material such as leather to protect the wearer's thumb against the anticipated category of injuries for which the Thumb Dinger is intended to provide protection.
Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. Leather is an important material with many uses. Its main use is in the footwear industry.
There are a number of processes where by the skin of an animal can be formed into a supple, strong material commonly called leather.
Leather—usually vegetable-tanned leather—can be oiled to improve its water resistance. This supplements the natural oils remaining in the leather itself, which can be washed out through repeated exposure to water. Frequent oiling of leather, with mink oil, neatsfoot oil or a similar material, keeps it supple and improves its lifespan dramatically.
In general, leather is sold in three forms:
Other less-common leathers include:
There are two other descriptions of leather commonly used in specialty products, such as briefcases, wallets, and luggage.
The following are not ‘true’ leathers, but contain leather material.
In some parts of the world top-grain thicknesses are described using weight units of ounces. Although the statement is in ounces only, it is an abbreviation of ounces per square foot. The thickness value can be obtained by the conversion:
Hence, leather described as 7 to 8 oz is 7/64 to 8/64 inches (2.8 to 3.2 mm) thick. The weight is usually given as a range because the inherent variability of the material makes ensuring a precise thickness very difficult. Other leather manufacturers state the thickness directly in millimeters.
Today, most leather is made of cow hides, but many exceptions exist. Lamb and deer skin are used for soft leather in more expensive apparels. Kangaroo leather is used to make items which need to be strong but flexible, such as motorcycle gloves. Kangaroo leather is favored by motorcyclists specifically because of its lighter weight and higher abrasion resistance as compared to cowhide. Buffalo leather is also used in America. It is used for gloves, jackets and some baseball gloves. It is rugged but supple and has a waxy feel.
Overall, leather comes from a variety of other sources, including the skins of cows, pigs, goats, sheep, alligators, lobsters, ostriches, kangaroos, dogs and cats.
A wrist strap 302 is formed (for example) of a flexible synthetic material such as nylon webbing. The wrist strap 302 is elongate, and has two opposite ends 302a and 302b. The wrist strap 302 has a length (vertical in the view of FIG. 3A) sufficient to encompass a wearer's wrist (not shown), and is provided with means for fastening the two ends of the wrist strap together, such as buckles, snaps or hook/loop (Velcro) fasteners 304a and 304b.
A thumb cup 306 is provided, and is attached via a thumb cup strap 308 to the wrist band 302. The thumb cap strap 308 extends from the wrist band 302 to a proximal end 306a of the thumb cup 306.
The thumb cup 306 is generally conical, having an opening at its proximal end 306a for receiving a wearer's thumb 310 (shown in dotted lines) at its proximal end 306a, and tapering to its distal end 306b where it is closed. The thumb cup 306 is sized and shaped to receive the distal end portion of the wearer's thumb 310.
The thumb cup strap 308 is formed (for example) of a flexible synthetic material such as nylon webbing, and extend sufficiently from the wrist band 302 to form a portion of the thumb cup 306. The remainder of the thumb cup 306 is formed of leather, or a leather-like material, as follows.
Attention is directed to
As mentioned above, a top portion 306c of the thumb cup 306 is formed by a distal end portion 308b of the thumb cup strap 308, and may be nylon webbing. This top portion 306c sits atop the users thumb, and may be wedge-shaped, having a greater dimension at the proximal end 306a of the thumb cup 306 and a lesser dimension at the distal end 306b of the thumb cup 306.
A bottom portion 306d of the thumb cup 306 is a nearly flat wedge-shaped piece of leather (or leather like material), having a greater dimension at the proximal end 306a of the thumb cup 306 and a lesser dimension at the distal end 306b of the thumb cup 306.
Two side portions 306e (only one is visible in the side view of
The side portions 306e and 306f are also wedge-shaped, having a greater dimension at the proximal end 306a of the thumb cup 306 and a lesser dimension at the distal end 306b of the thumb cup 306.
These wedge-shaped pieces 306c, 306d, 306e and 306f make up the generally conical shape of the thumb cup 306. It is within the scope of the invention that the top portion 306c can be separate from the thumb cup strap, and can be made of leather, and may be an extension of one or both of the side portions 306e and 306f. The thumb cup 306 substantially comprises leather (or a leather-like material).
In use, the user inserts his/her thumb into the thumb cup 306 and straps the thumb protector 300 onto his/her wrist, then proceeds with his/her fishing activity. Wearing the thumb protector 300 will protect against dings (scrapes and blunt force injuries), such as from fishing line.
Optionally, as shown in
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as examples of some of the embodiments. Those skilled in the art may envision other possible variations, modifications, and implementations that are also within the scope of the invention, based on the disclosure set forth herein.