Retractable hand covering

Abstract

A retractable and wearable hand cover is disclosed. The hand cover is worn while handing objects and surfaces that are suspected of being contaminated. To encourage the hand cover's use and to avoid unintentional contact with the hand cover's potentially contaminated outer surface, the hand cover is biased towards an open configuration to enable easy one-handed donning and removal. The hand cover is coupled to a tether retractably wound on a spring biased reel assembly that is clipped to a piece of clothing preferably on or near the waistband area. This facilitates very targeted and temporary yet repetitious use when interacting with objects and various surfaces, as opposed to a disposable glove that is designed to fit tightly around the hand and is usually worn for extended periods of time because it must be immediately thrown away upon removal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wearable hand cover assembly, comprising:
 a hand covering with an open end through which a hand of a wearer may extend through, the hand covering comprising a cuff portion along an edge of the open end;   a reel housing assembly comprising a clip attachment capable of coupling the reel housing assembly to an article of clothing;   a spring biased reel rotatably disposed within the reel housing assembly;   a tether retractably wound on the spring biased reel, the tether having a free end capable of extending outside the reel housing assembly; and   a fastener with a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion coupled to the free end of the tether, and the distal portion coupled to the cuff portion of the hand covering, wherein:   the open end of the hand covering is biased towards an opened configuration; and   movement of the hand covering in a direction away from the reel housing assembly is capable of unwinding and extending the tether against bias of the spring to retract the tether.   
     
     
         2 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the hand covering is selected from the group consisting of: (A) mitten, (B) plastic bag, and (C) mitt with a thumb stall. 
     
     
         3 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the hand covering further comprises a fluid impermeable surface. 
     
     
         4 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the fluid impermeable surface comprises at least one from the group consisting of: (A) latex, (B) rubber, (C) vinyl, and (D) plastic. 
     
     
         5 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the fastener is selected from the group consisting of: (A) snap hook, and (B) slide-bolt snap. 
     
     
         6 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the distal portion of the fastener comprises a plastic strip with a snap component, the plastic strip forming a closed loop when the snap component is in a closed state. 
     
     
         7 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the cuff portion of the hand covering has an aperture through which the plastic strip passes through and is thereby coupled to the hand covering when the snap component is in a closed state. 
     
     
         8 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the aperture is a grommet. 
     
     
         9 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the cuff portion is formed by folding a portion of the hand covering at the open end over and onto itself and securing the fold with at least one from the group consisting of: (A) clip, (B) adhesive, and (C) heat welding. 
     
     
         10 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the cuff portion further comprises a hollow interior through which a tubular insert is enclosed. 
     
     
         11 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a strip of material that wraps around a top edge of the hand covering such that it is affixed to both an outer surface area of the hand covering and a substantially corresponding interior surface area of the hand covering, the strip of material overlapping a surface area of the hand covering that is intersected by a portion of a creased edge of the hand covering. 
     
     
         12 . A method for interacting with object surfaces by using
 a wearable hand cover assembly, comprising:
 a hand covering with an open end through which a hand of a wearer may extend through, the hand covering comprising a cuff portion along an edge of the open end; 
 a reel housing assembly comprising a clip attachment capable of coupling the reel housing assembly to an article of clothing; 
 a spring biased reel rotatably disposed within the reel housing assembly; 
 a tether retractably wound on the spring biased reel, the tether having a free end capable of extending outside the reel housing assembly; and 
 a fastener with a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion coupled to the free end of the tether, and the distal portion coupled to the cuff portion of the hand covering, wherein: 
 the open end of the hand covering is biased towards an opened configuration; and 
 movement of the hand covering in a direction away from the reel housing assembly is capable of unwinding and extending the tether against bias of the spring to retract the tether, 
   the method comprising:   coupling the clip attachment to a user's clothing;   inserting a hand of the user through the open end of the hand covering without contacting any outer surfaces of the hand covering;   extending the user's hand towards and in contact with a surface, whereby the tether unwinds and extends away from the reel housing assembly and against bias of the spring to retract the tether;   returning the user's hand to a position proximate the clip attachment such that the tether winds onto the spring biased reel; and   removing the user's hand from the hand covering without contacting any outer surfaces of the hand covering.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising disposing of the hand covering by decoupling the distal portion of the fastener from the cuff portion of the hand covering without contacting any outer surfaces of the hand covering. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising disinfecting the hand covering. 
     
     
         15 . A wearable hand cover assembly, comprising:
 a hand covering with an open end through which a hand of a wearer may extend through, the hand covering comprising a side edge;   a reel housing assembly comprising a clip attachment capable of coupling the reel housing assembly to an article of clothing;   a spring biased reel rotatably disposed within the reel housing assembly;   a tether retractably wound on the spring biased reel, the tether having a free end capable of extending outside the reel housing assembly;   a fastener with a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion coupled to the free end of the tether, and the distal portion coupled to the cuff portion of the hand covering; and   a strip of material that wraps around a top edge of the hand covering such that it is affixed to both an outer surface area of the hand covering and a substantially corresponding interior surface area of hand covering, the strip of material overlapping a surface area of the hand covering that is intersected by a portion of the side edge, wherein:   the open end of the hand covering is biased towards an opened configuration; and   movement of the hand covering in a direction away from the reel housing assembly is capable of unwinding and extending the tether against bias of the spring to retract the tether.   
     
     
         16 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the hand covering is selected from the group consisting of: (A) mitten, (B) plastic bag, and (C) mitt with a thumb stall. 
     
     
         17 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 15  further comprising a cuff portion along an edge of the open end of the hand covering. 
     
     
         18 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the hand covering further comprises a fluid impermeable surface. 
     
     
         19 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the distal portion of the fastener comprises a plastic strip with a snap component, the plastic strip forming a closed loop when the snap component is in a closed state. 
     
     
         20 . The wearable hand cover assembly of  claim 19 , wherein the cuff portion of the hand covering has an aperture through which the plastic strip passes through and is thereby coupled to the hand covering when the snap component is in a closed state.