Baseball glove

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a new and improved baseball glove. The glove includes an outer shell that contains a finger portion, a thumb portion, and a palm portion. The finger portion comprises two or three finger holsters, the outermost holster accommodates two or three fingers, the remaining finger holster(s) accommodates one or two fingers. One or more finger separator(s) reside within the outermost finger holster to prevent discomfort of the fingers. A web portion is attached between the finger portion and the thumb portion. A protective padding strip is located within the surrounding area immediately adjacent to the web portion. The finger portion and thumb portion are spaced apart to minimize the impact of a caught ball with the user's hand. A web-reinforcement patch is located over a variable region surrounding the intersection of the lower region of the web portion and the outer shell.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to the field of sports equipment. More specifically, this patent deals with a new and improved baseball glove designed to minimize the pain and discomfort caused by the impact of a baseball with the user's hand, and to provide the user with a stronger and more controlled closing action of the glove. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The game of baseball has become more advanced since its inception. In the last several decades alone, improvements in the design of the bats and baseballs combined with the more rigorous strength and conditioning programs undertaken by the players has significantly elevated the level of competition. Today's athletes from all levels of play—high school, college, semi-professional, and professional baseball—not only hit the ball harder and farther, but also throw the ball with more velocity than in years past. This evolution in the game can also be recognized in the changes that have manifested in the d...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019] The principal advantage of this invention is to provide a baseball glove designed to minimize pain and discomfort caused by the impact of a caught ball with the user's hand.

[0020] Another advantage of this invention is to provide a baseball glove that can be comfortably used by intermediate and more advanced players, such as high school, collegiate, semi-professional, and professional players.

[0021] Another advantage of this invention is to provide a baseball glove that positions a user's hand in such a manner so as to enable a quicker, stronger, and more efficient closing action of the glove around the baseball.

Problems solved by technology

However, the separation of the ring and pinky fingers from the middle and index fingers, combined with the joining of the middle and index fingers, creates a glove closing angle that causes discomfort and awkwardness.

Similarly, the wide separation of the finger stalls and the thumb stalls causes the wearer's thumb to be spread farther away from the rest of the hand than normal, resulting in further discomfort.

Also, the location of where the fingers are separated and joined reduces the quickness and strength available to the wearer for closing the glove around the ball.

Further, the lack of a finger separation device in each finger stall results in an uncomfortable cramping and stiffness of the wearer's fingers during use of the glove.

While the symmetrical nature of the glove allows for “reversibility”, it does not fully accommodate the needs of more advanced players in several respects.

First, due to the centralized web design, the glove “cups” the ball in a “trapping” motion.

Furthermore, the centralized web design necessarily restricts the size of the webbing.

This causes the fingers to be more closely located to the webbing, which increases the likelihood a user will feel pain and discomfort when catching a ball traveling at high velocity.

However, this design causes awkwardness of the hand angle by locating all of the fingers on one extreme end of the glove and the thumb on the other extreme, resulting uncomfortable strain and stiffness.

A similar result of this hand positioning makes for an uncomfortable and awkward angle of the hand when fielding a ground ball.

The design puts a substantial amount of strain on the wrist and effectively teaches an improper way of fielding a ground ball in the process.

Further, cramming all of the fingers into the mitten compartment, with no finger separation device, causes a continuous rubbing of the fingers, resulting in an uncomfortable fit.

However, this glove design creates an unbalanced weight distribution between the thumb stall and the non-closed finger stall(s), which results in a stronger closing action for the thumb portion of the glove and a weaker closing action for the finger portion of the glove.

Uneven closure of the glove can cause the ball to deflect out of the glove, resulting in a missed catch.

Also, the addition of a “closed” finger stall to the glove unnecessarily increases the bulk of the glove, further delaying the quickness of the glove closing action.

Moreover, this glove design does not incorporate substantial features to effectively minimize the pain and discomfort to the wearer's index finger region caused by the impact of a ball with the wearer's hand.

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