Lightweight ball glove

Abstract

The lightweight ball glove includes a back side, a front side and a shock cord tension system therebetween. The outer edge of the front side is fixedly coupled with the outer edge of the back side to form a lightweight glove. A web portion is fixedly coupled between a thumb and a pointer finger of the lightweight glove, the web portion having a bridge at the top. Cordage is used for lacing together a top portion of each finger with an adjacent finger and the bridge to form the lightweight ball glove.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A lightweight glove comprising:
 a front side;   a back side, wherein an outer edge of the back side is fixedly coupled with an outer edge of the front side to form a glove, the glove comprising:
 an opening to receive a user's hand; 
 a plurality of finger wells to receive one or more of a plurality of fingers of the user's hand; and 
 a thumb well to receive a thumb of the user's hand,
 each of the plurality of finger wells and the thumb well comprising an opening and a channel; and 
 
   a shock cord tension system, the shock cord tension system comprising:
 a first loop located on a thumb side of the opening of a pointer finger well of said plurality of finger wells within said glove; 
 at least one additional loop located at a junction of at least two openings of the plurality of finger wells within said glove; 
 an opening on an outside portion of a pinky side of said glove; 
 a cord routed into said opening, through said first loop and said at least one additional loop, and back out of said opening; and 
 a cordlock about said cord outside of said opening to provide an adjustable locking mechanism for holding tension on said cord. 
   
     
     
         2 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  wherein said cord is elastic. 
     
     
         3 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a plurality of additional loops, such that there are loops located at each junction of each opening of each of the plurality of finger wells within said glove; and 
 the cord is routed into said opening, through each loop, and back out of said opening. 
 
     
     
         4 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a second shock cord tension system, the second shock cord tension system comprising:
 a second set of one or more loops located on a pointer finger side of the opening of said thumb well within said glove; 
 a second opening located on an outside portion of said thumb side of said lightweight glove; 
 a second cord routed into said second opening, through said second set of one or more loops and back out said second opening; and 
 a second cordlock about said second cord outside of said second opening to provide a second adjustable locking mechanism for holding tension on said second cord. 
 
 
     
     
         5 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a web portion, said web portion fixedly coupled between an exterior of the thumb well and an exterior of the pointer finger well portions of said glove, said web portion comprising:
 a mesh of monofilament yarns; 
 a surrounding frame fixedly coupled with a side and bottom portion of said mesh; and 
 a bridge fixedly coupled with a top of said mesh. 
 
 
     
     
         6 . The lightweight glove of  claim 5  further comprising:
 a cordage for lacing together a top portion of each adjacent finger well of said plurality of finger wells, said bridge, and a top portion of said thumb well. 
 
     
     
         7 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  wherein said front side comprises:
 an inner lining layer; 
 an outer lining layer; and 
 an open-cell foam layer sandwiched between said inner lining layer and said outer lining layer. 
 
     
     
         8 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  wherein an overall thickness of said glove is approximately 8 millimeters. 
     
     
         9 . The lightweight glove of  claim 1  wherein an overall thickness of said glove is less than approximately 16 millimeters. 
     
     
         10 . A ball glove comprising:
 a first folding axis, the first folding axis comprising a vertical fold from a fingertip portion of said ball glove to a palm heel portion of said ball glove, wherein said first folding axis causes the ball glove to be folded approximately in half;   a second folding axis, the second folding axis comprising a horizontal fold from a thumb side of said ball glove to a pinky finger side of said ball glove, wherein said second folding axis causes the ball glove to be folded approximately in half,   a combination fold, the combination fold comprising both the vertical fold about the first folding axis and the horizontal fold about the second folding axis, wherein combination fold causes the ball glove to be folded approximately into a quarter folded state;   a cord loop on one of the pinky finger side or the thumb side of the ball glove; and   a cord loop retainer on the other one of said pinky finger side or said thumb side of said ball glove, wherein when the cord loop is coupled with the cord loop retainer the ball glove is retained in the quarter folded state.   
     
     
         11 . The ball glove of  claim 10  wherein a size of the ball glove in the quarter folded state will fit into a jacket pocket. 
     
     
         12 . The ball glove of  claim 10  wherein a size of the ball glove in the quarter folded state will fit into a pocket in a pair of pants. 
     
     
         13 . The ball glove of  claim 10  wherein a size of the ball glove in the quarter folded state will fit into a pocket in a pair of shorts. 
     
     
         14 . The ball glove of  claim 10  wherein the cord loop retainer is a hat top cap button. 
     
     
         15 . The ball glove of  claim 10  further comprising:
 a second cord loop on the other one of the pinky finger side or the thumb side of said ball glove opposite of said cord loop; and 
 a second cord loop retainer on the other one of said pinky finger side or said thumb side of said ball glove opposite of said cord loop retainer, wherein when the second cord loop is coupled with the second cord loop retainer the ball glove is retained in the quarter folded state. 
 
     
     
         16 . A lightweight glove comprising:
 a front side;   a back side, wherein an outer edge of the back side is fixedly coupled with an outer edge of the front side to form a glove, the glove comprising:
 an opening to receive a user's hand; 
 a plurality of finger wells, each of the plurality of finger wells having an opening and an enclosed channel to receive one or more of a plurality of fingers of the user's hand; and 
 a thumb well, the thumb well having an opening and an enclosed channel to receive a thumb of the user's hand; and 
 an adjustable wrist strap about said opening to receive the user's hand, said adjustable wrist strap comprising:
 a button portion of a snapback size adjustment system on a first side of said opening; and 
 a tongue portion of the snapback size adjustment system on a second side of said opening, said tongue portion having a plurality of holes therein for removably coupling with said button portion to provide a size adjustment capability to said opening. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . The lightweight glove of  claim 16  further comprising:
 a shock cord tension system, the shock cord tension system comprising:
 a first loop located on a thumb side of the opening of a pointer finger well of said plurality of finger wells within said glove; 
 at least one additional loop located at a junction of at least two openings of the plurality of finger wells within said glove; 
 an opening on an outside portion of a pinky side of said glove; 
 a cord routed into said opening, through said first loop and said at least one additional loop, and back out of said opening; and 
 a cordlock about said cord outside of said opening to provide an adjustable locking mechanism for holding tension on said cord. 
 
 
     
     
         18 . The lightweight glove of  claim 16  further comprising:
 a web portion, said web portion fixedly coupled between an exterior of the thumb well and an exterior of the pointer finger well portions of said glove, said web portion comprising:
 a mesh of monofilament yarns; 
 a surrounding frame fixedly coupled with a side and bottom portion of said mesh; 
 a bridge fixedly coupled with a top of said mesh; and 
 a cordage for lacing together a top portion of each adjacent finger well of said plurality of finger wells, said bridge, and a top portion of said thumb well. 
 
 
     
     
         19 . The lightweight glove of  claim 16  wherein said front side comprises:
 an inner lining layer; 
 an outer lining layer; and 
 an open-cell foam layer sandwiched between said inner lining layer and said outer lining layer. 
 
     
     
         20 . The lightweight glove of  claim 16  wherein an overall thickness of said glove is approximately 8 millimeters.