Infant's hand guard

Jan. 30, 1940.

2,188,787

J. KEENER

INFANT’S HAND GUARD

Filed April 22, 1939

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Patented Jan. 30, 1940

2,188,787

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,188,787 INFANT’S HAND GUARD Jacob Keener, Chicago, Hl.

Application April 22, 1939, Serial No. 269,321

Claims. (Cl. 128—133)

The invention relates to a hand guard for infants and has a general object to provide a new and improved hand guard which is to be secured to an infant’s wrist, encloses the infant’s hand, 6 and houses a toy rattle, preventing the infant from putting its thumb or fingers in its mouth, and allowing the infant to play with the toy rattle by movements of the arm or hand, and also give freedom of movement of the hand or fingers.

Another object is to provide a guard composed of a stiff material having the shape of the frustum of a cone, and a wristlet of soft material with a tie threaded therethrough which may be tied to adjust the wristlet to^r various sizes of wrist.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which—

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a guard em2o bodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the wristlet end of the guard shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan section taken on the line 3__3 of

Fig. 1 showing toy rattle.

As illustrated in the drawing for purposes of disclosure, the hand guard comprises a shield 5 formed from a single sheet of stiff material with its ends secured together in overlapping relation by means of eyelets 6. The eyelets 6, in one par30 ticular, serve the additional purpose of providing ventilating openings. Eyelets 11 serve as ventilating openings only. As clearly apparent in Fig. 1, the shield 5 at the end adjacent the wrist of the infant on whom the guard is attached is of a 35 diameter much larger than the hand, to enable movement of the hand within the shield and moreover, the shield is given a frusto-conical shape so that it is even larger opposite the fingers, permitting free spreading thereof. Preferably, 40 the shield is made of a light weight, transparent material, such as Celluloid, so that the infant may see its hands through the guard. The edges are covered with a binding 7, so that they will not scratch. To secure the shield over the hand, the 45 guard is provided with an annular wristlet 8 formed by a soft cloth folded upon itself and attached to the end of the shield, as by sewing the edges of the cloth on opposite sides of the edge of the shield. Threaded through the wristlet 8 is 50 a tie 9, preferably also of cloth, by means of which the wristlet may be tightened about the wrist of the infant. It will be apparent that with a wristlet and tie of the character described, the wristlet may be adjusted to any degree of tightness and may also be adjusted to any size so that a standard guard will fit any infant, whether having a large or small wrist. In order that the wristlet may fit comfortably and present a neat appearance when adjusted for a small wrist, the edges of the wristlet are cut on a bias so as to diverge 5 when the wristlet is expanded, as clearly seen in Fig. 1. When cut in that manner, the tie 9 may be drawn to form a very small opening through the wristlet, without having the wristlet bunch or pucker in an unsightly or uncomfortable manner. 10 The space between the edges of the wristlet, moreover, provides room for the knot of the bow iO into which the tie is tied when the guard is applied, see Fig. 2.

A toy rattle, whose walls are preferably made U of a transparent sheet material, such as Celluloid, is mounted in the larger end of the shield and is Constructed of members 12 and 13, properly secured, forming a hollow chamber to contain balls ί 4. When the guard secured to the infant’s wrist 20 is moved or shaken by the movements of the infant’s arm or hand, the balls 14 produce a rattle or sound.

It is believed apparent from the foregoing that I have perfected a hand guard for infants which 25 has many improved features. One of the outstanding features is a toy rattle constructed in the hand guard, making the hand guard a protective device and a toy rattle combined. Another feature is the construction of a wristlet, which 30 adapts a standard guard to be employed on all infants, be they large or small, and which enables the size of the wristlet opening to be varied from day to day as the infant grows.

Moreover, the guard is readily applied because 35 there is no tendency of the wristlet to constrict while being slipped on over the hand; neither is there any constriction about the wrist when in position, with the resultant tendency to stop the flow of blood to the hand, as in the case when 40 the wristlet itself is resilient, or when a rubber band is threaded through it. The guard is economically manufactured and of durable construction.