Sports glove

Abstract

A sports glove, such as a lacrosse glove or a hockey glove, for a player or other wearer. The sports glove comprises a palm portion for overlying a palm of the wearer's hand, a back portion for protecting a back of the wearer's hand, a plurality of finger portions for protecting fingers of the wearer's hand, and a thumb portion for protecting a thumb of the wearer's hand. The thumb portion further comprises a cavity to receive the wearer's thumb, a protective frame disposed within the cavity and comprising a plurality of sections pivotable relative to one another in response to the wearer's thumb flexing and a pivot between adjacent ones of the sections of the protective frame and unexposed to the wearer's thumb when the wearer's thumb is received in the cavity of the thumb portion.

1 . A sports glove for protecting a hand of a wearer, the sports glove comprising:
 a palm portion for overlying a palm of the wearer's hand;   a back portion for protecting a back of the wearer's hand;   a plurality of finger portions for protecting fingers of the wearer's hand; and   a thumb portion for protecting a thumb of the wearer's hand, the thumb portion comprising:
 a cavity to receive the wearer's thumb; and 
 a protective frame disposed within the cavity and configured to engage the wearer's thumb. 
   
     
     
         2 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame is configured to extend at least to a level of a dorsal surface of the wearer's thumb in a thickness direction of the thumb portion when the wearer's thumb is unflexed. 
     
     
         3 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame is configured to extend across a tip of the wearer's thumb in a thickness direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         4 . The sports glove of  claim 3 , wherein the protective frame is configured to enclose the tip of the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         5 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame is configured to wrap around a tip of the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         6 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame comprises an upper part configured to be disposed above a tip of the wearer's thumb and a lower part configured to be disposed below the tip of the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         7 . The sports glove of  claim 6 , wherein the lower part of the protective frame is configured to contact a palmar surface of the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         8 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame is configured to face a dorsal surface of the wearer's thumb and a palmar surface of the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         9 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame extends over at least a majority of a dimension of the cavity of the thumb portion in a thickness direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         10 . The sports glove of  claim 9 , wherein the protective frame extends over at least two-thirds of the dimension of the cavity of the thumb portion in the thickness direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         11 . The sports glove of  claim 10 , wherein the protective frame extends over at least three-quarters of the dimension of the cavity of the thumb portion in the thickness direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         12 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , comprising an internal lining for contacting the wearer's hand, the internal lining comprising an opening leading to the cavity of the thumb portion and configured to allow the wearer's thumb to pass through the opening to be received in the cavity of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . The sports glove of  claim 12 , wherein the internal lining comprises a plurality of layers and the opening extends through the layers of the internal lining. 
     
     
         16 . The sports glove of  claim 15 , wherein a first one of the layers of the internal lining is a base and a second one of the layers of the internal lining is a liner disposed over the base to contact the wearer's hand. 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein a ratio of (i) a distance between the protective frame and a dorsal surface of the wearer's thumb when the wearer's thumb is received in the cavity of the thumb portion and is unflexed and (ii) a thickness of the thumb portion is no more than 10%. 
     
     
         19 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the thumb portion further comprises an outer cover disposed over the protective frame. 
     
     
         20 . The sports glove of  claim 19 , wherein the thumb portion further comprises an inner liner for contacting the wearer's thumb; and the protective frame is disposed between the outer cover and the inner liner. 
     
     
         21 . The sports glove of  claim 6 , wherein a dimension of the lower part of the protective frame in a longitudinal direction of the thumb portion corresponds to at least 5% of a dimension of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         22 . The sports glove of  claim 21 , wherein the dimension of the lower part of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion corresponds to at least 10% of the dimension of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . The sports glove of  claim 6 , wherein the protective frame comprises a plurality of sections movable relative to one another in response to the wearer's thumb flexing; wherein the plurality of sections of the protective frame comprises a first section for overlying a distal phalanx of the wearer's thumb and a second section for overlying a proximal phalanx of the wearer's thumb; and wherein a dimension of the lower part of the protective frame in a longitudinal direction of the thumb portion corresponds to at least 20% of a dimension of the first section of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         25 . The sports glove of  claim 24 , wherein the dimension of the lower part of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion corresponds to at least 30% of the dimension of the first section of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . The sports glove of  claim 6 , wherein a dimension of the lower part of the protective frame in a longitudinal direction of the thumb portion is at least 5 mm. 
     
     
         28 . The sports glove of  claim 27 , wherein the dimension of the lower part of the protective frame in the longitudinal direction of the thumb portion is at least 10 mm. 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the protective frame comprises a plurality of sections movable relative to one another in response to the wearer's thumb flexing. 
     
     
         31 . The sports glove of  claim 30 , wherein the sections of the protective frame are movable relative to one another in response to the wearer's thumb flexing and pressing against the protective frame. 
     
     
         32 . The sports glove of  claim 30 , wherein the sections of the protective frame are pivotally connected to one another. 
     
     
         33 . The sports glove of  claim 32 , wherein the protective frame comprises a pivot between adjacent ones of the sections of the protective frame and unexposed to the wearer's thumb when the wearer's thumb is received in the cavity of the thumb portion. 
     
     
         34 . The sports glove of  claim 33 , wherein the pivot comprises a pin configured to extend away from the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         35 . The sports glove of  claim 32 , wherein the protective frame comprises a pivot between a first one of the sections of the protective frame and a second one of the sections of the protective frame; and wherein the pivot comprises a pin integrally formed with the first one of the sections of the protective frame. 
     
     
         36 . The sports glove of  claim 35 , wherein the pin is molded with the first one of the sections of the protective frame. 
     
     
         37 . (canceled) 
     
     
         38 . The sports glove of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of sections of the protective frame comprises at least three sections. 
     
     
         39 . The sports glove of  claim 38 , wherein the plurality of sections of the protective frame comprises a first section for overlying a distal phalanx of the wearer's thumb, a second section for overlying a proximal phalanx of the wearer's thumb, and a third section for overlying a metacarpal section of the wearer's hand. 
     
     
         40 . The sports glove of  claim 30 , wherein the protective frame comprises a stopper to restrict movement of the sections of the protective frame relative to another to protect against hyperextension of the wearer's thumb. 
     
     
         41 . (canceled) 
     
     
         42 . (canceled) 
     
     
         43 . (canceled) 
     
     
         44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . (canceled) 
     
     
         46 . (canceled) 
     
     
         47 . (canceled) 
     
     
         48 . (canceled) 
     
     
         49 . (canceled) 
     
     
         50 . (canceled) 
     
     
         51 . (canceled) 
     
     
         52 . (canceled) 
     
     
         53 . (canceled) 
     
     
         54 . (canceled) 
     
     
         55 . (canceled) 
     
     
         56 . (canceled) 
     
     
         57 . (canceled) 
     
     
         58 . The sports glove of  claim 30 , wherein the thumb portion comprises an outer cover disposed over the protective frame and comprising an elastic material overlying a junction between adjacent ones of the sections of the protective frame. 
     
     
         59 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the back portion comprises padding and each of the finger portions comprises padding. 
     
     
         60 . The sports glove of  claim 59 , wherein the padding of the back portion comprises foam and the padding of each of the finger portions comprises foam. 
     
     
         61 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , comprising: a hand covering comprising the palm portion, the back portion, the finger portions, and the thumb portion; and a cuff for overlying a wrist of the wearer, the cuff comprising padding. 
     
     
         62 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the sports glove is a lacrosse glove. 
     
     
         63 . The sports glove of  claim 62 , wherein the lacrosse glove is a lacrosse goalie glove. 
     
     
         64 . The sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the sports glove is a hockey glove. 
     
     
         65 . A sports glove for protecting a hand of a wearer, the sports glove comprising:
 a palm portion for overlying a palm of the wearer's hand;   a back portion for protecting a back of the wearer's hand;   a plurality of finger portions for protecting fingers of the wearer's hand; and   a thumb portion for protecting a thumb of the wearer's hand, the thumb portion comprising:
 a cavity to receive the wearer's thumb; and 
 a protective frame disposed within the cavity; 
   wherein the sports glove further comprises an internal lining for contacting the wearer's hand, the internal lining comprising an opening leading to the cavity of the thumb portion and configured to allow the wearer's thumb to pass in the opening to be received in the cavity.   
     
     
         66 . A sports glove for protecting a hand of a wearer, the sports glove comprising:
 a palm portion for overlying a palm of the wearer's hand;   a back portion for protecting a back of the wearer's hand;   a plurality of finger portions for protecting fingers of the wearer's hand; and   a thumb portion for protecting a thumb of the wearer's hand, the thumb portion comprising:
 a cavity to receive the wearer's thumb; and 
 a protective frame disposed within the cavity and comprising:
 a plurality of sections pivotable relative to one another in response to the wearer's thumb flexing; and 
 a pivot between adjacent ones of the sections of the protective frame and unexposed to the wearer's thumb when the wearer's thumb is received in the cavity of the thumb portion. 
 
   
     
     
         67 . A sports glove for protecting a hand of a wearer, the sports glove comprising:
 a palm portion for overlying a palm of the wearer's hand;   a back portion for protecting a back of the wearer's hand;   a plurality of finger portions for protecting fingers of the wearer's hand; and   a thumb portion for protecting a thumb of the wearer's hand, the thumb portion comprising:
 a protective frame comprising:
 a plurality of sections pivotable relative to one another in response to the wearer's thumb flexing; and 
 a pivot between a first one of the sections of the protective frame and a second one of the sections of the protective frame, the pivot comprising a pin integrally formed with the first one of the sections of the protective frame.