GB2152820A - Swimming glove - Google Patents

Abstract

A swimming glove has individually defined fingers and is intended to fit closely over the wearer's hand, and is characterised by the presence of a web between at least two adjacent fingers of the glove; and the glove as a whole, and the web or webs in particular, are sufficiently flexible to allow the wearer's fingers to flex, substantially in unison, about their respective knuckle joints. Preferably the web (or at least one of the webs if there are more than one) is large enough and flexible enough to allow the fingers spanned by the web to move independently of one another about their respective knuckle joints. The web may increase in thickness from its leading edge to its base, and its leading edge may be concave towards its base.

Description

SPECIFICATION Swimming aid The invention is particularly concerned with swimming aids to increase the efficiency of a swimmer's hand movement, Much of the power of an unaided swimmer derives from the volume of water displaced by his hands. The area of a swimmer's hand is, however, relatively small. If that area could be increased, a disproportionately large increase in swimming efficiency could be achieved.

Some idea of the improvements which could be obtained is given by the well-known use of flippers for attachment to the swimmer's feet. Divers use these flippers, which are webbed to simulate the webbed feet of aquatic swimming animals such as ducks and frogs; and the flippers so increase the power obtained from the swimmer's foot movements that it is common practice for the swimmer to tuck his arms and hands down by his sides and rely entirely on his foot movements to propel himself forward under the water.

The invention is based on the realisation that if a swimmer's hands were webbed between his fingers, then the "foot flipper" effect would greatly increase swimming efficiency. However, because virtually all swimmers need to use their hands and flex their fingers for other purposes than forward propulsion through the water, the known and relatively rigid webbed foot flippers cannot be adapted to the purposes of the present invention without further inventive thought.

According to the broadest aspect of the invention a swimming aid comprises a glove which has individually defined fingers and which is intended to fit closely over the wearer's hand, and is characterised by the presence of a web between at least two adjacent fingers of the glove; and the glove as a whole, and the web or webs in particular, being sufficiently flexible to allow the wearer's fingers to flex, substantially in unison, about their respective knuckle joints.

Such a webbed glove combines the advantages of the relatively rigid flipper with the clearly desirable features that the wearer's fingers can still be used for manual gripping and handling movements.

Advantageously, the web (or at least one of the webs if there are more than one) is large enough and flexible enough to allow the fingers spanned by the web to move independently of one another about their respective knuckle joints.

In either of the aspects of the invention outlined above, the web (or at least the said one web if there are more than one) may allow the relevant fingers to move towards and away from one another as well as flexing about their respective knuckle joints.

The web (or the said one web) may increase in thickness from its leading edge to its base. Such a construction could promote easier passage of the webbed glove through the water when the wearer is swimming. Where there is more than one web, some of the webs may exhibit this feature whilst others remain of constant thickness (or even become progressively thinner) from their leading edge to their respective bases.

Advantageously the leading edge of the web (or at least one of the webs where there are more than one) is concave towards the base of that web. This could cause the web to fold more readily where the web construction allows the relevant fingers to move towards and away from one another. It is, in any event, a simulation of the webbed feet observed in nature and so it is almost certain to be an advantageous feature for that reason alone.

Where there are webs between more than two of the gloved fingers, and the fingers in question are successive fingers on the glove, the webs may be formed by a single sheet spanning all the relevant fingers. This could be easier to manufacture, but more importantly it could well be easier to use when the wearer flexes his fingers; and more importantly still, it could be more efficient when the wearer is swimming.

The web (or at least one of the webs where there are more than one) may extend no farther forward than the front knuckle joints of the fingers which the web spans. This would give the wearer a greater freedom of finger movement whilst probably, in practical terms, sacrificing very little in the way of swimming efficiency.

The web (or at least the said one web) may advantageously be resiliently stretchable between the fingers.

Advantageously also, the web (or at least the said one web) may be coloured to contrast strongly with the glove fingers which it spans. This could be a valuable safety feature. If a swimmer got into difficulties, and (as is usual) tried to attract attention by waving his arms and hands about), the contrastingiy coloured webs would increase his chances of being noticed. Where the finger material is coloured dark blue, dark green, or black (as is frequently the case with wet suits and other diving clothing) the webs could for example be coloured bright orange.

In practical embodiments of the invention, the glove and the or each web may well be made of waterproof material. Within the broadest aspect of the invention, however, this is not essential. Gloves for very small children, for example, intended to make them more quickly aware of the swimming movements and their effects, may be made of readily washable cotton or synthetic material,.

Again, for practical reasons, the glove wrist may well be elasticated or otherwise configured for a close fit so as to resist any tendency of the glove to pull off the wearer's hands.

Several gloves each embodying the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only examples of forms which the invention might take within its broadest aspect. In these drawings: Figure 1 shows one glove in perspective; Figure 2 shows another glove in plan; Figures 3,4 and 5 show a third glove in respectively perspective, part side elevation, and front elevation; Figure 6 shows the finger region of a fourth glove; Figure 7 shows the finger region of yet another glove, and Figure 8 shows in detail the webbed finger region of a further glove.

All the gloves illustrated are made of waterproof material and are sized and shaped to fit closely over the hand of the intended wearer. All of them additionally are configured for close fit at the wearer's wrist. In Figure 1 and the remaining Figures apart from Figure 2, the gloves are elasticated at their wrist.

In Figure 2 itself, the glove wrist is opened and closed by a filamentary hook-and-eye fastener such as that sold currently under the Trade Mark VELCRO.

In Figure 1, there are individual webs between all five digits of the glove. The webs span their respective two successive digits and the leading edge of each web is concave towards the base of the web as illustrated.

In Figure 2, the same web configuration is used, but the glove is an "open-back" glove which leaves the back of the wearer's hand largely exposed.

In Figures 3, 4 and 5 a single sheet of material spans all five digits of the glove and extends underneath the digits. By contrast, in Figures 1 and 2, the individual webs run along the glove fingers approximately half-way up each finger.

In Figures 3 to 5 also, the leading edges of each web are not concave towards the base of the web.

Instead the single sheet which constitutes all four individual webs has a common convexly curved periphery.

In Figure 6, one of the fingers of a webbed glove embodying the invention is shown without the rest of the glove being shown. The web which runs between the illustrated finger and another adjacent finger (not shown) stops at the front knuckle joint region of the two fingers which it spans. Although the rest of the glove is not illustrated, webs span all five digits, and all the webs stop at the front knuckle joint region of each digit.

Finally in Figure 7 the web material of a glove embodying the invention is reinforced to resist tearing or other accidental damage.

In Figure 7 the web is a rubber web and the reinforcement comprises ribs which are moulded into the web in a criss-crossed pattern. The leading edge of this particular web is particularly heavily reinforced as illustrated. In alternative constructions, not shown, the web material could be reinforced by a scrim of nylon or other suitable filamentary material.

All the webs illustrated increase in thickness from their leading edge to their base.

Claims (13)

1. A swimming aid comprising a glove which has individually defined fingers and which is intended to fit closely over the wearer's hand, characterised by the presence of a web between at least two adjacent fingers of the glove, and also characterised in that the glove as a whole, and the web or webs in particular, are sufficiently flexible to allow the wearer's fingers to flex, substantially in unison, about their respective knuckle joints.

2. A swimming aid according to Claim 1 and in which the web (or at least one of the webs if there are more than one) is large enough and flexible enough to allow the fingers spanned by the web to move independently of one another about their respective knuckle joints.

3. A swimming aid according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 and in which the web (or at least the said one web if there are more than one) allows the relevant fingers to move towards and away from one another as well as flexing about their respective knuckle joints.

4. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and characterised by the feature that the web (or the said one web) increases in thickness from its leading edge to its base.

5. A swimming aid according to any of Claims 1 to 3, in which there is more than one web, and in which some of the webs exhibit the characterising feature of Claim 4 whilst others remain of constant thickness, or become progressively thinner, from their leading edge to their respective bases.

6. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which the leading edge of the web (or at least one of the webs where there are more than one) is concave towards the base of that web.

7. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which there are webs between more than two of the glove fingers, the fingers in question are successive fingers on the glove, and the webs are formed by a single sheet spanning all the relevant fingers.

8. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which the web (or at least one of the webs where there are more than one) extends no farther forward than the front knuckle joints of the fingers which the web spans.

9. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which the web (or at least the said one web) is resiliently stretchable between the fingers.

10. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which the web (or at least the said one web) is coloured to contrast strongly with the glove fingers which it spans.

11. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which the glove and the or each web are made from readily washable but nonwaterproof material.

12. A swimming aid according to any one of the preceding Claims and in which the glove wrist is elasticated or otherwise configured for a close fit so as to resist any tendency of the glove to pull off the wearer's hands.

13. A swimming aid substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in any one of the Figures of the accompanying drawings.