US2995757A

US2995757A - Baseball glove construction

Info

Publication number: US2995757A
Application number: US830854A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry B Latina
Original assignee: AG Spalding and Bros Inc
Current assignee: 1801 SPIELBUSCH AVENUE Inc A DE CORP; AG Spalding and Bros Inc
Priority date: 1959-07-31
Filing date: 1959-07-31
Publication date: 1961-08-15
Anticipated expiration: 1978-08-15

Description

Aug. 15, 1961 H. B. LATINA BASEBALL GLOVE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1959 INVENTOR HARRY B. LATINA f a f ATTORNEYS Aug. 15, 1961 H. B. LATINA 2,995,757

BASEBALL GLOVE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 51, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HARRY B. LATINA ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofifice 2,995,757 Patented Aug. 15, 1961 2,995,757 BASEBALL GLOVE CONSTRUCTION Harry B. Latina, East St. Louis, 111., assignor to A. G.

Spalding & Bros., Inc., Chicopee, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed July 31, 1959, Ser. No. 830,854 3Claims. (Cl. 2-19) This invention relates to baseball gloves and mitts and particularly pertains to improvements in the construction thereof.

The techniques of playing the modern game of baseball has shown great advancements in most phases, and it is especially apparent in the art of batting a pitched ball so that greater speed has been achieved in the flight of batted balls. As a consequence the glove and mitt equipment gradually has been enlarged and the weight has also been increased to improve the players ability to catch a batted ball and to increase the protection afforded to the players. The increase in size and weight of gloves and mitts has not entirely answered the problem of safety to the players and ball catching improvement, since larger gloves are not generally capable of fitting the variations in size of players hands. In practice, a player having an exceptionally large hand and wrist is well satisfied with the larger gloves, but the same fit and feel of security experienced by such players is entirely lacking with other players. Of course, it has heretofore been proposed to provide wrist snugging straps as an auxiliary means to the usual construction of gloves so that the etfective opening in the gloves may be varied in shape and size to suit each players requirement. However, the provision of such auxiliary means has complicated the manufacture of gloves and has increased the expense. Furthermore, players have found that the auxiliary means has a tendency to bind on the hand when the glove is removed rapidly and interferes with the location of the hand in the glove.

The present invention relates to a new and novel glove construction which eliminates the auxiliary means, and an object of the invention is to provide a simple solution for adapting the large size gloves to all players so that a construction of universal adaptability may be achieved in an economical manner.

The baseball gloves and mitts in general use today are constructed of leather and padding material sewed and bound by lacings in such manner that the usual hand opening is substantially as wide as the main body of the glove, and the usual means to retain it on the hand consists of a wrist strap which extends from side to side across the back of the hand. This form of construction is, of course, resorted to so that the hand opening will fit all players. The auxiliary means, heretofore mentioned for making the hand opening efiectively smaller as required by certain players, does not alter the initial size or width of the glove opening since the ball catching action of the glove would be adversely affected. It is, therefore, a further object of the invention to provide a new manner of constructing gloves so that the hand opening of the glove no longer conforms to the usual construction, but embodies shaping and altering the width of the heel portion to produce a tapering configuration in which the sides of the hand opening follow the shape of the hand and are adjustably retained closely about the players wrist in conjunction with the usual wrist strap.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be described in greater detail in connection with the embodiment selected for illustration in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows in perspective a baseball glove from the rear, so that the hand opening and the appertinent construction is shown to advantage;

FIG. 2 is an end perspective view of the glove of FIG. 1 showing details of its coi'istruction in partial disassembled condition;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the glove of FIG. 1 showing the hand and wrist opening adjusted to enlarge size; and

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the glove of FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 4 it will be appreciated that the glove 10 embodies certain features which it will not be necessary to describe. In general, the glove 10 includes separate finger and thumb stalls which are accessible through the hand opening 11 defined by the edge binding 12 which extends about the opening from the little finger stall extension 13 across the back of the glove to the thumb stall extension 14. The hand opening is provided with a palm lining ply 15 which is bound to the front ply 16 of the glove by the marginal lacing L at the heel of the glove. The glove 10 also includes a wrist strap 17 which is attached tothe thumb stall extension 14 and extends across the glove to the little finger extension 13 so that a wrist opening 18 is defined by the wrist strap 17 and the adjacent portions of the glove body, including the

extensions

13 and 14 and the palm lining 15 which covers the padded heel portion of the glove.

The wrist strap 17 includes, as in FIG. 2, an outer ply 19 and an inner ply 20 which are marginally secured.

by the binding 21 which may constitute a continuation of the binding 12. The free end of the wrist strap 17, or that end opposite the attached end at the thumb extension 14 is provided with means to adjustably attach it to the little finger extension 13. Such means comprises providing the inner ply 20 with

tie thongs

22 and 23 which extend from the crotch 24. The outer ply 19 is split off from the inner ply 20 for a distance inwardly from the crotch 24 so that the outer ply 19 may be laid over the extension 13 and the inner ply 20 placed under the extension 13, as shown in FIG. 1.

The wrist strap 17 is secured in position by passing the thong 22 through aperture 25 in extension 13 and passing thong 23 through a similar aperture 26, the two ends of the thongs being tied together in a knot 27 at the outside of the extension 13. The end of the outer ply 19 is provided with pairs of apertures 28 and 29 (FIG. 2), and the extension 13 carries a tie-down thong 30 in

apertures

31 and 32 formed therein. The thong 30 is passed through the apertures 28, as in FIG. 1, and the ends are knotted at 33 so that the plies of the wrist strap are firmly secured to the extension 13 to form the wrist opening.

In constructing the body of glove 10, the padded heel portion of the body is formed at the side adjacent the little finger stall with an opening 35 which separates the extension 13 from the face of the glove at the parting line which extends up the side to the closed end 34, and is tapered toward the heel of the glove from the end 36 to the end 37 of the extension 13. The margins of the opening 35 are bound together by lacing the heel closing thong L along the tapering margins and ending the thong by binding the end portion 36 under the last loops adjacent the end 34 of the side opening 35. Suitable eyelets are provided along the margins of the opening 35. A similar opening 38 is formed at the thumb extension 14 so that the extension 14 is free of the glove body and the side margin tapers toward the end 39 of the extension 14. Again the adjacent length of the heel closing thong L is laced through a series of marginal eyelets so that the opening 38 is securely closed.

In the construction of the

side openings

35 and 38, the tapering form serves to narrow the width of the heel portion of the glove body without causing any narrowing of the width of the ball catching pocket in the face ply 16 of the glove. In addition to the novel result of tapering the side margins of the hand opening 11, and forming

side openings

35 and 38, the lacing or thong L serves to bring the respective thumb and

little finger extensions

14 and 13 down and inwardly to constrict the effective Wrist opening 18, and the wrist strap 17 further closes the wrist opening so that the glove is securely fitted about the wrist portion of the players hand without reducing or constricting the more inwardly located area of the hand opening 11. Thereby the glove is securely fitted at the Wrist, and the players hand and fingers are not cramped or forced into an awkward or unnatural position.

One method of adjusting the size of the wrist opening 18 is shown in FIG. 3, wherein thethong L has been lengthened by resetting the end 36 to produce a lengthening effect at the side opening 35, which additional length is worked down the tapering margin and accumulated in the loop portion 36a at the outer end 37 of the extension 13. The lengthening of the loop portion 36a allows the end 37 of the extension 13 to open up and form a gap G which increases the size or enlargement of the wrist opening 18. This enlargement may be effected without changing the tie-down of the wrist strap 17 from that shown in FIG. 1. What has just been described for adjusting the little finger extension 13 to increase the wrist opening 18, may also be carried out at the thumb extension 14 so that the loop portion 36b of the heel closing thong L is lengthened to produce a similar gap G. Obviously, the production of gaps G may be selectively carried out without changing the wrist strap 17 to suit the players requirement, or the gaps G may be closed, as in FIG. 1, and the wrist opening 18 may be adjusted by retying the thong 30 in apertures 29 after pulling

thongs

22 and 23 further out at

apertures

25 and 26 and resetting knot 27. Any combination of adjustments may be used to meet a diverse range of conditions in practice.

From the foregoing description, it may be appreciated that the Wrist opening 18 can be adjusted to suit each player by making the several adjustments in a selective manner. so thatone or more of the adjustment provisions will form the opening as desired. Regardless of which adjustment provision is used, the'players hand will not' be forced into an unnatural position in the hand opening, and the tapering construction at

openings

35 and 38 at the sides of the heel portion will act to retain the glove in a properly balanced position so that there will be eliminated any tendency for the glove to feelheavy at one side or the other. This produces a further secure feeling. The closing action of the glove when catching a ball will not be interferred with in view of the flexing of the glove portions at each side of the

openings

35 and 38, which flexing merely moves the wrist strap 17 down toward the palm lining 18 to cause a more pronounced feeling of security and assurance that the glove will not be knocked off.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, however, it will be understoodthat having disclosed the principles of the improvement changes and alterations may come to mind, and it is the intention to include all such changes, alterations and equivalent constructional features within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A baseball glove including a body having a front face with a ball receiving pocket and a back with a hand opening therein, said face and back forming a thumb stall at one side of said hand opening and finger stalls spaced therefrom, one finger stall being adjacent the side opposite said thumb stall, a heel portion on said body having a relatively straight outer margin and being of less length than the spacing between said thumb and one finger stall, said body having opposite angularly related marginal portions iconvergently extending from said thumb and one finger stalls to said heel portion, extensions on said back overlying the end portions of the straight outer margin of said heel portion, flexible connecting means securing an outer margin'of each extension to the adjacent angularly related marginal portions of said body,

said connecting means retaining said extensions in positions defining the sides of a wrist receiving opening, and a Wrist strap interconnecting said extensions and overlying said heel portion to define with said extensions and heel portion a closure for the wrist receiving opening in which said extensions are adapted to engage the sides of the hand of a wearer.

2. A baseball glove including a body having a face ply with a ball receiving pocket and a back ply with a hand opening therein, said face and back plies forming a thumb stall at one side of said hand opening and finger stalls spaced therefrom, one finger stall being adjacent the side opposite said thumb stall, a heel portion on said body adjacent said hand opening providing a base margin extending generally widthwise of said body, said body having opposite angularly related marginal portions convergently extending from said thumb and one finger stalls into the opposite ends of the base margin of said heel portion, a lining ply in said stalls and extending over said heel portion and having margins substantially conforming to said angularly related convergent marginal portions of said body, extensions on said back ply overlying the end portions of said heel portion, releasable con-. necting means securing an outer margin of each extension and the adjacent margins of said lining ply to the angularly related margins of said body, and wrist engaging means interconnecting said extensions and overlying said lining ply to define with said extensions and lining ply a wrist receiving opening of less width than the space between said thumb and one finger stalls and in which said extensions are adapted to engage the sides of the hand of a wearer.

3. A baseball glove including a body having a face =ply with a ball receiving pocket and a back ply with a hand opening therein, said face and back plies forming a thumb stall at one side of said hand opening and finger stalls spaced therefrom, one finger stall being adjacent the side opposite said thumb stall, a heel portion on said body adjacent said hand opening providing a base margin and extending into said adjacent end of theheel portion,

an extension on said back ply directed inwardly from said split marginal portion to overlay the adjacent end of said heel portion, said lacing means securing said extension in position on the heelportion of the body, and wrist engaging means connected adjacent one end to said extension and the opposite end being connected to the back ply adjacent said thumb stall at theadjacent end of said heel portion, said wrist engaging means. and said extension on .said back ply forming with the adjacent portions of the heel .a wrist receiving opening which is of less width than the hand opening and wherein said extension engages the side of the hand of a wearer,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,404,214 MiZllno Jan. 24, 1922 1,545,998 Barrett July 14, 1925 2,324,219 Latina July 13, 1943 2,434,171 Latina Jan. 6,1948 2558,544 Delsalle June 26, 1951 2,625,686 Latina Jan. 20, 1953