Pair of sporting gloves

Abstract

A pair of hockey gloves is asymmetrically constructed to accommodate for variances in material wearing during routine use. The pair includes a top hand hockey glove that is provided with a region of reinforcement that is not similarly provided in the bottom hand hockey glove. The top hand hockey glove includes an outer sheet and an inner sheet that are joined together so as to define a hand-receiving cavity. In one embodiment, the inner sheet includes a plurality of relatively rigid reinforcement pads that is secured to the exterior surface of a base layer in a designated pattern. The inclusion of the reinforcement pads causes the stick gripping region of the top hand hockey glove to have both a greater resistance to tearing as well as a higher coefficient of friction than the stick gripping region of the bottom hand hockey glove.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . The combination of:
 (a) a first sporting glove comprising an outer sheet and an inner sheet that are joined together so as to define an interior cavity; and   (b) a second sporting glove comprising an outer sheet and an inner sheet that are joined together so as to define an interior cavity,   (c) wherein the inner sheets for the first and second sporting gloves have asymmetric constructions.   
     
     
         2 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein exactly one of the first and second sporting gloves includes a region of reinforcement in its corresponding inner sheet. 
     
     
         3 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein exactly one of the first and second sporting gloves includes an inner sheet comprising:
 (a) a base layer having an interior surface and an exterior surface; and 
 (b) one or more reinforcement pads secured to the exterior surface of the base layer. 
 
     
     
         4 . The combination of  claim 3  wherein each of the one or more reinforcement pads is constructed of a material from the group consisting of leathers, high-tensile polyamide fabrics, polyurethanes and rubbers. 
     
     
         5 . The combination of  claim 4  wherein each of the first and second sporting gloves is shaped to define a body portion and a cuff portion, the body portion including a palm section, a plurality of finger stalls and a thumb stall. 
     
     
         6 . The combination of  claim 5  wherein the one or more reinforcement pads are secured to the exterior surface of the base layer within each of the palm section, the plurality of fingers stalls and the thumb stall. 
     
     
         7 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the inner sheet of the first sporting glove has a level of rigidity that is greater than the level of rigidity for the inner sheet of the second sporting glove. 
     
     
         8 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the inner sheet of the first sporting glove has a thickness that is greater than the thickness of the inner sheet of the second sporting glove. 
     
     
         9 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the inner sheet of the first sporting glove is more tear-resistant than the inner sheet of the second sporting glove. 
     
     
         10 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein the inner sheet for each of the first and second gloves has an exposed outer surface. 
     
     
         11 . The combination of  claim 10  wherein at least a portion of the exposed outer surface of the inner sheet for the first sporting glove has a greater coefficient of friction than the exposed outer surface of the inner sheet for the second sporting glove. 
     
     
         12 . The combination of:
 (a) a top hand hockey glove comprising an outer sheet and an inner sheet that are joined together so as to define an interior cavity; and   (b) a bottom hand hockey glove comprising an outer sheet and an inner sheet that are joined together so as to define an interior cavity,   (c) wherein the inner sheets for the first and second sporting gloves have asymmetric constructions.   
     
     
         13 . The combination of  claim 12  wherein only the top hand hockey glove includes a region of reinforcement in its corresponding inner sheet. 
     
     
         14 . The combination of  claim 13  wherein the top hand hockey glove includes an inner sheet comprising:
 (a) a base layer having an interior surface and an exterior surface; and 
 (b) one or more reinforcement pads secured to the exterior surface of the base layer. 
 
     
     
         15 . The combination of  claim 12  wherein at least a portion of the inner sheet of the top hand hockey glove has a level of rigidity that is greater than the level of rigidity for the inner sheet of the bottom hand hockey glove. 
     
     
         16 . The combination of  claim 12  wherein at least a portion of the inner sheet of the top hand hockey glove has a thickness that is greater than the thickness of the inner sheet of the bottom hand hockey glove. 
     
     
         17 . The combination of  claim 12  wherein at least a portion of the inner sheet of the top hand hockey glove is more tear-resistant than the inner sheet of the bottom hand hockey glove. 
     
     
         18 . The combination of  claim 1  wherein the inner sheet for each of the top and bottom hand hockey gloves has an exposed outer surface. 
     
     
         19 . The combination of  claim 18  wherein at least a portion of the exposed outer surface of the inner sheet for the top hand hockey glove has a greater coefficient of friction than the exposed outer surface of the inner sheet for the bottom hand hockey glove.