US20160007663A1

US20160007663A1 - Gardening Glove

Info

Publication number: US20160007663A1
Application number: US14/796,121
Authority: US
Inventors: Debra S. Price
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-07-10
Filing date: 2015-07-10
Publication date: 2016-01-14

Abstract

A gardening glove is provided. The gardening glove is configured to facilitate the removal of weeds from a yard or garden. The gardening glove includes a palm side, a back side, and a wrist encircling cuff that forms an interior volume configured to receive and support a user's hand. The gardening glove further includes finger extensions and a thumb extension that extend from the palm configured to receive and support a user's fingers. The finger extensions for a user's ring finger, middle finger, and index finger further include a cap portion disposed on the distal end of the finger extensions. Each cap portion includes a blade extending outwardly therefrom configured to facilitate the removal of weeds. Each blade forms a sharp apex configured to allow for digging and can be substantially shaped like a shovel or garden trowel blade.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/022,747 filed on Jul. 10, 2014. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gardening tools and accessories. Specifically, the present invention relates to a gardening glove that includes cap portions on several finger extensions that have blades thereon configured to facilitate the removal of weeds while doing lawn work or garden work.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Weeds typically grow in gardens and in yards. They compete with plants and lawn grass for water and nutrients. They seemingly grow everywhere, making the garden and yard less attractive. Therefore, people generally go to great lengths to remove these weeds. However, for various reasons, weeds often grow back. One common reason that weeds continue to grow is because they were not removed completely and part of their roots remained in the soil, which allows for the left over roots to grow again. In addition, sometimes, a garden is surrounded by woods or non-landscaped areas that contain a bountiful of weeds. The seeds of these weeds are often carried by birds or by the wind into residential yards.
Therefore, the most effective techniques for removing weeds are by pulling by hand, removing with a hoe or other similar tool, or by using a chemical product. Often, the best time to remove weeds is when the soil is damp and moist, such as a day after rainfall. The damp soil is often loose and makes it easier to remove the weeds by their roots. Otherwise, there is a risk of leaving the roots because they are stuck in the soil. Arguably the best way, and undoubtedly the hardest way, to remove these weeds is by hand. Using a gardening tool often leaves large divots in the lawn or garden, which are generally unattractive. Thus, there exists a need for a tool that enables a user to remove these weeds by hand more quickly without creating large divots in the lawn or garden.
The present invention provides a gardening glove configured to facilitate the removal of weeds. The gardening glove includes a palm side, a back side and a wrist encircling cuff forming an interior volume configured to receive a user's hand. Finger extensions and a thumb extension extend from the palm side and the back side configured to each receive and support a user's hand digits. The finger extensions for the ring finger, the middle finger, and the index finger further comprise a cap portion having a blade extending therefrom. The blade is configured to allow a user to dig into soil to remove the roots without leaving large divots in the lawn or garden.
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to gardening gloves. Some of these devices include curved claws attached to the distal ends of the fingertips. Other prior art devices provide gardening gloves comprising rake-like tines attached to each finger. These devices, however, do not provide blades substantially shaped like a shovel disposed on a cap portion.
It is therefore submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to gardening gloves. In this regard, the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of gardening gloves now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a gardening glove, wherein the same can be utilized for facilitating the removal of weeds while doing lawn work or garden work.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improved gardening glove that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove comprising a palm side, a back side, and an wrist encircling cuff forming an interior volume configured to receive and support a user's hand.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove further comprising finger extensions and a thumb extension affixed to the palm side and the back side to support a user's digits.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove, wherein said finger extensions for the ring finger, the middle finger, and the index finger having a cap portion.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove, wherein said cap portion includes a blade configured to facilitate the removal of weeds while doing lawn work or garden work.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove, wherein each blade is substantially a shovel shape or gardening trowel blade shape.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove, wherein each blade forms a sharp apex configured to facilitate the removal of weeds.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gardening glove wherein the device may be readily fabricated from materials that permit relative economy and are commensurate with durability.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows an overhead perspective of the palm side of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an overhead perspective of the back side of the present invention.

FIG. 3 a front perspective of the palm side of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the gardening glove. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for facilitating the removal of weeds while doing yard work. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there are shown a pair of overhead perspectives of the gardening glove 20. The gardening glove 20 is configured to facilitate the removal of weeds while doing lawn work or other gardening work. As illustrated, a right-handed gardening glove 20 is shown, however, preferably the glove 20 are sold and used in pairs. The glove 20 has a palm side 21, a back side 22, and a wrist encircling cuff 23 forming an interior volume. The wrist encircling cuff 23 includes an opening configured to provide access to the interior volume, which is configured to receive and support a user's hand therein. The glove 20 is ideally composed of form fitting material that is relatively stiff to allow for twisting and grasping of objects or debris.
The wrist encircling cuff 23 is configured to be form fitting on a user's wrist. Preferably, the wrist encircling cuff 23 includes an elastic band to allow for form fitting, however, other suitable materials are alternatively used in other embodiments and likewise contemplated. The wrist encircling cuff 23 is particularly advantageous as it allows a user to attend to gardening without having to worry about dirt and other debris from falling into the wrist opening.
The glove 20 further include four finger extensions 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D and a thumb extension 25 each configured to receive a digit of the hand. As illustrated, the finger extensions 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D are designated as the following: the finger extension 24A receives and supports the user's index finger; the finger extension 24B receives and supports the user's middle finger the finger extension 24C receives and supports the user's ring finger; and the finger extension 24D receives and supports the user's pinkie finger. Each finger extension 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D includes a proximal end 26 and a distal end 27. The proximal end 26 is affixed to the palm side 21 and the back side 22, while the distal end 27 extends outwardly therefrom.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a front perspective of the gardening glove 20. Each distal end 27 of the finger extensions 24A, 24B, and 24C further include cap portions 29 having blades 28. The blades 28 are preferably shaped like a shovel blade or a gardening trowel blade, i.e., each blade 28 forms a sharp apex that extend outwardly from its respective cap portion 28. In this way, the ring finger, middle finger, and index finger received and supported within finger extensions 24A, 24B, 24C have a blade 28 disposed on the end of these respective digits to allow a user to more easily dig through dirt to pull out weeds. The blades 28 also allow for a user to cut or rip weeds out. The blades 28 are particularly advantageous because a user no longer requires the use of a separate garden trowel or other similar gardening devices to pull weeds. In an alternate embodiment, the finger extension for the pinky finger and the thumb extension can each further include a cap portion and a blade extending therefrom such that a user can dig and pull weeds with each respective digit.
As an exemplar, a preferred embodiment of the glove 20 includes blades 28 that are one quarter of an inch long for the blades 28 disposed on the cap portions 29 for finger extensions 24B, 24C. The blade 28 for the cap portion 29 on the finger extension 24A is a half inch long to enable further digging. However, it is not desired for this disclosure to limit the length of the blades 28. Rather, it is desired to disclose and claim cap portions 29 having blades 28 that allow a user to facilitate the removal of weeds from a lawn or garden. It is readily envisioned that those of ordinary skill in the art will foresee multiple preferable lengths for the blades 28 to achieve the advantages described herein. These alterations and modifications are deemed within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
Preferably, the cap portions 29 are permanently affixed to each distal end 27, wherein when the blades 28 are worn down, the gardening glove 20 can be simply disposed. However, alternative embodiments may include cap portions 29 that are removably attached to each distal end 27. In this way, the cap portions 29 can be replaced when the blades 28 thereon are worn down. In addition, preferably, the cap portions 29 and the blades 28 are composed of thermoplastic or thermoset material, however, other suitable material that are resistant to punctures and enable a user to dig through soil to pull out weeds are likewise contemplated. The palm side and the back side are preferably composed of form fitting, stretchable and durable fabric, however, other material suitable for achieving the advantages described herein are contemplated. In some embodiments, the palm side and the back side further include a design thereon. In this way, a user can customize the glove appearance to their desire.
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

I claim:

1) A gardening glove, comprising:

a palm side, a back side, and a wrist encircling cuff forming an interior volume configured to receive and support a user's hand;

four finger extensions and a thumb extension extending vertically from said palm side and said back side;

at least one of said finger extensions include a cap portion and a blade thereon;

wherein each said cap portion having said blade is configured to allow a user to facilitate the pulling out of weeds while doing lawn work.

2) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein said finger extensions for a user's index finger, middle finger, and ring finger include said cap portion having said blade thereon.

3) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein each said blade forms a sharp apex extending outwardly from each said cap portion.

4) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein each said blade is substantially shaped like a shovel.

5) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein each said blade is substantially shaped like a gardening trowel.

6) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein said wrist encircling cuff includes an elastic band.

7) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein said palm side, said back side, said wrist encircling cuff, said finger extensions, and said thumb extension are composed of form fitting material that is relatively stiff to allow for twisting and grasping of objects or debris.

8) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein said cap portions are composed of thermoset material.

9) The gardening glove of claim 1, wherein said cap portions are composed of thermoplastic material.

10) A gardening glove, comprising:

a palm side, a back side and a wrist encircling cuff forming an interior volume configured to receive and support a user's hand;

wherein each said finger extension includes a cap portion having a blade thereon configured to allow a user to facilitate the pulling out of weeds while doing lawn work.

11) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein each said blade forms a sharp apex extending outwardly from each said cap portion.

12) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein each said blade is substantially shaped like a shovel.

13) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein each said blade is substantially shaped like a gardening trowel.

14) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein said wrist encircling cuff includes an elastic band.

15) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein said palm side, said back side, said wrist encircling cuff, said finger extensions, and said thumb extension are composed of form fitting material that is relatively stiff to allow for twisting and grasping of objects or debris.

16) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein said cap portions are composed of thermoset material.

17) The gardening glove of claim 10, wherein said cap portions are composed of thermoplastic material.