Protective boxing glove

Abstract

A protective boxing glove includes a palm-side portion and back-side portion together forming a hand receiving opening and having a series of finger stalls for receiving and at least partially covering the fingers. The palm and back side portions extend to a point at least beyond the wrist and over the forearm to cover the wrist when the glove is worn by a user, the back side portion generally defining a predetermined lateral width in the region covering the metacarpals. A resilient cushion is provided on the back side portion for covering at least the knuckles and at least portions of the proximal phalanges. A wrist strap is used for manually tensioning the glove about the wrist portion. A self adjusting tensioning strap extends laterally from side to side of said back-side portion substantially along a direction primarily normal to the orientations of the metacarpals. The strap has an elastic portion having a length less than said predetermined width to at least gather the back-side portion to normally reduce its width of the glove covering the metacarpals when a hand is not received with the glove, while the strap is caused to stretch laterally when a hand is received within the glove. The resulting restoring forces in the elastic portion are directed laterally inwardly, tending to compress the width of the hand in the region of the metacarpals and bring the metacarpals into closer juxtaposition relative to each other to better transfer any forces applied to one or more knuckles or metacarpals to at least one or more additional metacarpals, thereby reducing the likelihood of breakage or damage to the bones in the hand.

1 . A protective boxing glove comprising a hand palm-side portion and hand back-side portion together forming a hand receiving opening and having a series of finger stalls for receiving and at least partially covering the fingers and wherein said palm and back side portions extend to a point at least beyond the wrist and over the fore-arm to cover the wrist when the glove is worn by a user, the back side portion generally defining a predetermined lateral width in the region covering the metacarpals;
 resilient cushioning means provided on said back side portion for covering at least the knuckles and the metacarpal phalanges;   a wrist strap for manually tensioning the glove about the wrist portion; and   a self adjusting tensioning strap extending laterally from side to side of said back portion substantially along a direction generally normal to the orientations of the metacarpals,   said strap having an elastic portion having a length less than said predetermined width to at least gather said back side portion and reduce its width when a hand is not received with the glove and said strap is caused to stretch when a hand is received within the glove and resulting restoring forces are directed laterally inwardly tending to compress the width of the hand in the region of the metacarpals and bring the metacarpals into closer juxtaposition relative to each other.   
     
     
         2 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said resilient cushioning means comprises a sealed pocket secured to said back-side portion, and a generally soft resilient material filling said pocket. 
     
     
         3 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 2 , wherein said resilient material comprises a gel material. 
     
     
         4 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said back side portion comprises a highly flexible material that can be easily gathered. 
     
     
         5 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 4 , wherein said flexible material is a mesh material. 
     
     
         6 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said strap comprises a pair of tabs made of essentially non extendable material attached to laterally opposite regions of the glove to each of the sides of the metacarpals and an elastic attached to said tabs, whereby insertion of a hand into the glove stretches only said elastic along a lateral or transverse direction and not said connecting tabs. 
     
     
         7 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 6 , wherein the dimension of said elastic along said transverse direction is approximately equal to the transverse dimension each of said tabs in said transverse direction. 
     
     
         8 . A protective boxing glove as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said glove generally defines an axis substantially parallel to the metacarpal bones when a hand is inserted into the glove, said self adjusting strap being arranged along a transverse direction substantially normal to said axis, whereby the entire restoring force created by the stretching of said self adjusting strap when the glove is placed on a hand is directed inwardly along said transverse direction rending to draw the metacarpals closer together.