Air management baseball glove
AssigneeEaston Sports, Inc.
InventorsBruce E. Kinnee, Michael F. Zlaket, Reginald C. Phippen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A baseball glove for protecting a hand and for enabling the wearer to catch a ball. The glove includes a front panel having inner and outer plies and a back panel joined to the front panel. A pad of open cell foam material is disposed between the inner and outer plies. The pad, which includes first and second opposed surfaces and an edge surface, has the major portion of the pad surfaces rendered impervious to the flow of air. One or more vents in at least one of the pad surfaces provides for the passage of air therethrough at a rate allowing the pad to substantially absorb the force of impact of a ball.
Claims28
A baseball glove comprising:
- (a) a flexible front panel having an inner ply and an outer ply;
- (b) a flexible back panel joined to said front panel, said front and back panels defining a pocket formed to receive a hand;
- and
- (c) a pad of open cell foam material disposed between said inner and outer plies, said pad being flexible for substantially absorbing the force of impact of a ball striking said pad and sufficiently pliant for manipulation of said glove by a wearer upon application of minimal force to said pad by the wearer, said pad having first and second opposed surfaces and an edge surface, means for rendering the major portion of said pad surfaces impervious to the flow of air, vent means in at least one of said pad surfaces for providing passage for air therethrough at a rate such that in response to the impact of a ball striking said pad, air travels from the point of impact through said open cell foam and is released from said pad through said vent means at a rate allowing said pad to substantially absorb the force of impact of said ball.
A baseball glove comprising:
- (a) a pad of at least first and second layers of open cell foam material for absorbing the force of impact of a ball, said pad having first and second opposed surfaces and an edge surface, means for rendering the major portion of said pad surfaces impervious to the flow of air, vent means in at least one of said pad surfaces for providing passage for air therethrough, said pad being sufficiently flexible and pliant for manipulation of said glove by a wearer upon application of minimal force to said pad by the wearer;
- (b) a flexible front panel having an inner ply and an outer ply formed to receive said pad therebetween;
- (c) a flexible back panel joined to said front panel, said front and back panels defining a pocket formed to receive a hand;
- and
- (d) said pad extending between said inner and outer plies such that when said ball strikes said pad, said pad substantially absorbs the force of impact of a ball striking said pad by compressing at the point of impact and by air travelling through said open cell foam to areas remote from the compressed portion of said pad and through said vent means at a rate allowing said pad to substantially absorb the force of impact of said ball.
A baseball glove comprising:
- (a) a flexible front panel having an inner ply and an outer ply;
- (b) a flexible back panel joined to said front panel, said front and back panels defining a pocket formed to receive a hand;
- and
- (c) a pad of open cell foam material disposed between said inner and outer plies, said pad being flexible for substantially absorbing the force of impact of a ball striking said pad and sufficiently pliant for manipulation of said glove by a wearer upon application of minimal force to said glove by the wearer, said pad having first and second opposed surfaces and an edge surface, a material impervious to the flow of air extending across a major portion of said pad surfaces, a vent material formed in at least one of said pad surfaces for providing passage for air therethrough at a rate such that in response to the impact of a ball on said pad, air travels from the point of impact through said open cell foam material and is released from said pad through said vent material at a rate allowing said pad to absorb the force of said impact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.