Protective glove having a glove tightening system

Abstract

A protective glove including a cable joined with a spool that is joined with the glove. At least one protective pad can be joined with the hand portion to protect the cable and a wearer's hand. The spool can include a rotatable dial to wind and/or unwind the cable onto or off from the spool to increase and/or decrease the tension applied to the cable. In turn, this adjusts at least one of a lateral dimension and a longitudinal dimension of the hand portion of the glove to custom fit the wearer's hand.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
         1 . A protective sports glove, comprising:
 a hand portion including a hand palmar portion and an opposing hand dorsal portion defining an interior space for receiving a wearer's hand;   a finger portion joined with and extending from the hand portion;   a thumb portion joined with and extending from the hand portion;   a cuff joined with and extending from the hand portion opposite the finger portion;   at least one pair of retaining members joined with an exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion, each retaining member having an aperture;   a spool joined with at least one of the hand portion and the cuff, the spool including a rotatable dial to wind and unwind a cable onto the spool;   a cable threaded through the aperture of the at least one pair of retaining members and operably joined with the spool; and   at least one protective pad joined with the hand portion and at least partially covering the cable and the at least one pair of retaining members to protect the cable and the wearer's hand from blows;   wherein the dial is rotatable to increase or decrease the tension applied to the cable to increase or decrease a distance between the retaining members to adjust both a lateral dimension and longitudinal dimension of the hand dorsal portion to fit a wearer's hand.   
     
     
         2 . The protective sports glove of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one pair of retaining members comprises a first pair of retaining members on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion in an upper portion thereof, adjacent the finger portion, and a second pair of retaining members disposed on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion in a lower portion thereof, adjacent the cuff,   wherein the cable is routed through the first and second pairs of retaining members to form a criss-cross shape across the exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion.   
     
     
         3 . The protective sports glove of  claim 2 , comprising:
 a third pair of retaining members adjacent the first pair and a fourth pair of retaining members adjacent the second pair,   wherein the cable is routed through the first, second, third, and fourth pairs of retaining members to form a criss-cross shape across the exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion.   
     
     
         4 . The protective sports glove of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one pair of retaining members comprises at least one pair of opposing retaining members on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion, adjacent the cuff,   comprising at least one additional retaining member longitudinally offset from the at least one pair of opposing retaining members,   wherein the cable is routed through the at least one pair of opposing retaining members and the at least one additional retaining member to form a triangular shape across the exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion.   
     
     
         5 . The protective sports glove of  claim 1 , comprising at least one guide wedge joined with the hand dorsal portion to guide the cable across the exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion. 
     
     
         6 . The protective sports glove of  claim 5 ,
 wherein the at least one guide wedge comprises two sides that intersect at an angle to form a tip, the two sides of the guide wedge parallel with adjacent sections of the cable,   wherein additional sections of the cable cross over each other beyond the tip of the guide wedge.   
     
     
         7 . The protective sports glove of  claim 1 , wherein the cuff defines a recess in an interior surface of the cuff configured to receive the spool at least partially therein. 
     
     
         8 . The protective sports glove of  claim 7 ,
 comprising a floating sub-cuff joined with at least one of the cuff and the hand portion and positioned underneath and protected by the cuff,   wherein the floating sub-cuff includes a recess on the exterior surface opposite the spool on the cuff, and the spool is received in the recess between the cuff and the floating sub-cuff.   
     
     
         9 . The protective sports glove of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one protective pad is configured to define an open space disposed under the at least one protective pad and over an exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion,   wherein at least a portion of the cable extends over the exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion between the exterior surface and the at least one protective pad.   
     
     
         10 . A protective sports glove, comprising:
 a hand portion including a hand palmar portion and an opposing hand dorsal portion defining an interior space for receiving a wearer's hand;   a finger portion joined with and extending from the hand portion;   a thumb portion joined with and extending from the hand portion;   a cuff joined with and extending from the hand portion opposite the finger portion;   a protective pad disposed over the hand dorsal portion, the protective pad located above a base layer of the hand dorsal portion that is disposed closer to the interior space than the protective pad, the protective pad and the base layer forming a cavity therebetween;   a plurality of retaining members joined with the hand dorsal portion on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion, each retaining member defining an aperture, at least one of the plurality of retaining members disposed in the cavity;   a cable threaded through the at least one retaining member, the cable movably disposed at least partially within the cavity; and   a spool joined with at least one of the cuff and the hand portion for receipt of the cable, the spool including a rotatable dial to wind and unwind the cable onto the spool;   wherein the dial is rotatable to increase or decrease the tension applied to the cable to increase or decrease a distance between the retaining members to adjust both a lateral dimension and longitudinal dimension of the hand dorsal portion to fit a wearer's hand.   
     
     
         11 . The protective sports glove of  claim 10 ,
 wherein the plurality of retaining members comprises a first pair of retaining members on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion in an upper portion thereof, adjacent the finger portion, and a second pair of retaining members disposed on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion in a lower portion thereof, adjacent the cuff,   wherein the cable is routed through the first and second pairs of retaining members to form a criss-cross shape within the cavity.   
     
     
         12 . The protective sports glove of  claim 11 , comprising:
 a third pair of retaining members adjacent the first pair and a fourth pair of retaining members adjacent the second pair,   wherein the cable is routed through the first, second, third, and fourth pairs of retaining members to form a criss-cross shape within the cavity.   
     
     
         13 . The protective sports glove of  claim 10 ,
 wherein the plurality of retaining members comprises at least one pair of opposing retaining members on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion, adjacent the cuff, and   comprising at least one additional retaining member longitudinally offset from the at least one pair of opposing retaining members,   wherein the cable is routed through the at least one pair of opposing retaining members and the at least one additional retaining member to form a triangular shape within the cavity.   
     
     
         14 . The protective sports glove of  claim 10 , comprising at least one guide wedge joined with the hand dorsal portion to guide the cable within the cavity. 
     
     
         15 . The protective sports glove of  claim 14 ,
 wherein the at least one guide wedge comprises two sides that intersect at an angle to form a tip, the two sides of the guide wedge parallel with adjacent sections of the cable,   wherein additional sections of the cable cross over each other beyond the tip of the guide wedge.   
     
     
         16 . The protective sports glove of  claim 10 , wherein the cuff defines a recess in an interior surface of the cuff configured to receive the spool at least partially therein. 
     
     
         17 . The protective sports glove of  claim 16 ,
 comprising a floating sub-cuff joined with at least one of the cuff and the hand portion and positioned underneath and protected by the cuff,   wherein the floating sub-cuff includes a recess on the exterior surface opposite the spool on the cuff, and the spool is received in the recess between the cuff and the floating sub-cuff.   
     
     
         18 . The protective sports glove of  claim 10 ,
 wherein the at least one protective pad is configured to define an open space disposed under the at least one protective pad and over an exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion,   wherein at least a portion of the cable extends over the exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion, between the exterior surface and the at least one protection pad.   
     
     
         19 . A protective sports glove, comprising:
 a hand portion including a hand palmar portion and an opposing hand dorsal portion defining an interior space for receiving a wearer's hand;   a finger portion joined with and extending from the hand portion;   a thumb portion joined with and extending from the hand portion;   a cuff joined with and extending from the hand portion opposite the finger portion;   a floating sub-cuff joined with one of the cuff or the hand portion, and positioned underneath and protected by the cuff;   at least one pair of retaining members joined with an exterior surface of the hand dorsal portion on opposing lateral sides of the hand dorsal portion, each retaining member having an aperture;   a spool joined with at least one of the floating sub-cuff, the cuff, and the hand portion, the spool including a rotatable dial to wind and unwind a cable onto the spool;   a cable threaded through the aperture of the at least one pair of retaining members and operably joined with the spool; and   at least one protective pad joined with the hand portion and at least partially covering the cable and the at least one pair of retaining members to protect the cable and the wearer's hand from blows;   wherein the dial is rotatable to increase or decrease the tension applied to the cable to increase or decrease a distance between the retaining members to adjust both a lateral dimension and longitudinal dimension of the hand dorsal portion to fit a wearer's hand.