Glove with wire mesh reinforcing

Dec. 16, 1958 h. schneider 2,864,091

GLOVE WITH WIRE MESH REINFORCING

Filed June 5, 1957

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2,864,091

Patented Dec. 16, 1958

United States Patent Office

2,864,091

GLOVE WITH WIRE MESH REINFORCING ⁵

Herbert Schneider, Carrollton, Ohio, assignor to Martins Ferry Glove Company, Uhrichsville, Ohio, a partnership of Ohio

Application June 5,1957, Serial No. 663,816 10

Claims. (Cl. 2—161)

The invention relates to gloves, pads and the like rein- ¹⁵forced with wire mesh for protecting the hands of workers handling sheet steel, tinplate, metal stampings and other articles having sharp edges.

Workers handling such articles generally wear leather gloves reinforced upon the palm and the front of the fin- ²⁰ger portions with metal staples. However, such gloves are not entirely satisfactory as they are very stiff and bulky, making the handling of articles difficult. Also, such leather gloves are easily cut and it frequently happens that a sharp edge of a metal sheet or the like will ²⁵cut through the glove, between the staples, causing injury to the worker’s hand.

It is known that other attempts have been made to reinforce gloves for such use, as by attaching metal chains or rings at spaced points upon the front of the ³⁰fingers and palm of a glove, but the same have not come into general use, as they do not afford sufficient protection to the hands.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is the provision of a reinforced glove which overcomes the ³⁵above objections and disadvantages.

Another object is to provide a glove formed of fabric or the like having the palm and fronts of the finger and thumb portions reinforced with wire mesh, whereby the glove is easily flexible while completely protecting the ⁴⁰entire palm and front of the fingers and thumb.

A further object is to provide a reinforced glove which is of such light weight and flexibility that it may be worn as a liner inside, or outside, of a conventional leather or fabric glove. 45

A still further object is to provide a reinforced glove of the character referred to in which the wire mesh reinforcing may be of two-ply thickness on the fronts of .the thumb and finger portions and of four-ply or greater thickness over the palm of the glove. ₅θ

Another object of the invention is to provide such a reinforced glove in which all of the seams are turned outward so as to avoid any inwardly projecting ends of the wire mesh which might injure the hand of the wearer.

A further object is to provide a wire mesh reinforced 55 glove having an exterior coating of rubber or synthetic material to reinforce the seams and fabric and to bind the several plies of wire mesh and fabric together.

A still further object is to provide a glove of the character referred to having narrow strips of wire mesh upon GO the backs of the fingers and hand portion thereof.

The above objects together with others which will be apparent from the drawing and following description, or which may be later referred to, may be attained by constructing the wire mesh reinforced glove in the man- 65 ner illustrated in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter described in detail.

In general terms the invention may be briefly described as comprising a work glove formed of any suitable flexible material, preferably a soft pliable woven 70 fabric, having a woven wire mesh covering the entire palm and thumb portion and the fronts of the finger portions. This wire mesh is preferably of two-ply thickness and may be of four-ply thickness upon the palm of the glove.

The wire mesh is attached to the fabric glove by stitching with out-turned seams at the side edges of the glove and around the fingers and thumb stall, and the bottom or wrist end of the glove is preferably turned back, so as not to present any sharp edges of the wire mesh to the inside of the glove where they might cause injury to the hand of the wearer.

Continuous lines of stitching, such as chain stitching, may be located vertically along the fronts of the fingers and palm, and upon both sides of the thumb stall, so as to connect the wire mesh to the fabric at intermediate points.

For the purpose of binding the several plies of wire mesh together and to the fabric, a coating of rubber, or synthetic rubber or plastic material may be applied to the wire mesh reinforced glove. This coating will all tend to strengthen and reinforce the seams as well as the fabric beneath the wire mesh.

In cases where it may be desirable to protect portions of the back of the hand, relatively narrow strips of wire mesh may be attached to the backs of the finger portions and extended downward over the back of the glove. These narrow wire mesh strips may be attached to the fabric in the same manner as above described, and a coating of rubber or synthetic material may be applied thereto.

Having thus briefly described the invention, reference is now made to the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a glove reinforced with wire mesh;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, transverse sectional view through the glove, taken as on the line 2—2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, transverse sectional view through one finger of the glove, taken as on the line 3—3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view through the palm portion of the glove, taken as on the line 4—4, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the back of a glove having relatively narrow strips of wire mesh attached to the backs of the finger portions and extending down over the back of the hand portion of the glove; and

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a protective pad embodying the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the improved glove may be formed of any suitable fabric material, preferably a pliable woven fabric material, as indicated at 10.

As in usual practice, the glove comprises front and back portions 11 and 12 respectively, each having finger portions 13 formed integrally thereon, the front and back portions of the glove being connected together at their edge portions by suitable stitching indicated at 14, extending around the fingers of the front and back portions. A thumb stall, as indicated at 15, is attached to the front portion of the glove in usual and well known manner.

For the purpose of protecting the palm and the fronts of the inner sides of the fingers, as well as the thumb of the wearer, so as to permit the handling of sheet steel, tinplate, metal stampings and other articles having sharp edges or projections thereon, these parts of the glove are completely covered with a flexible woven wire mesh. This wire mesh is indicated at 16 in the drawing.

Woven wire mesh of the type used for this purpose may be obtained in tubular form of various diameters and indefinite length. In attaching the wire mesh to the front of the fabric glove, a tubular section of the wire mesh is selected, of such diameter as when flattened will

3,884,091 provide a two-ply thickness of the wire mesh of sufficient width to cover the front of the glove.

This double thickness of wire mesh is cut out to conform to the shape of the front of the glove, the fingers of course being formed integrally with the palm portion thereof. An opening is cut in the palm portion of the wire mesh as at 17 for insertion of the thumb stall 15, and the inner or front side of the thumb reinforcement is formed integrally with the wire mesh reinforcement for the palm of the glove, as indicated at 18.

If it is desired to provide an increased reinforcement for the palm of the hand, the lower end of the two-ply tubular wire mesh may be folded back upon itself as to the point 19, so as to cover the entire palm of the hand with a four-ply thickness of the wire mesh, while the two-ply thickness thereof extends upwardly upon the fronts of the finger portions of the glove.

The wire mesh is stitched to the side edges of the glove and around the marginal portions of the fingers along the stitching lines 14, all seams being turned outward as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. This is for the purpose of preventing any sharp ends of the wire mesh from projecting inside of the glove where they might injure the hand of the wearer, as the needles which stitch the glove are likely to cut the mesh and leave inwardly projecting ends thereof.

The rear or outer side of the thumb stall 15 is also protected with wire mesh of two or more plies, as indicated at 20. For the purpose of securely attaching the wire mesh to the fabric throughout the glove, vertical rows of chain stitching or the like, as indicated at 21 may be located down the front of each finger and extended downward across the palm to the wrist portion of the glove.

In order to prevent any sharp ends of the wire mesh from injuring the wrist of the wearer, the lower end of the glove may be turned up as indicated at 22 and stitched as at 23.

In order to bind the several plies of wire mesh together and to the fabric of the glove, as well as to reinforce the same, a coating of rubber, synthetic rubber or suitable plastic material may be applied thereto.

If desired, protective wire mesh may also be attached to the back of a glove such as shown in Figs. 1 to 4. . In Fig. 5 is shown the back of a glove having such wire mesh reinforcing thereon. In order to provide a twoply thickness of wire mesh for this purpose, substantially small diameter tubes of the woven wire mesh may be will be of substantially the width of a finger of theglove.

One such two-ply strip of wire mesh, as indicated at 25, is attached to the back portion of each finger 13 of the glove and extended down over the back of the glove . . _________________. _______₆ — to the wrist portion thereof, being attached thereto as by 55 ^{front portion of the} 8^]°ve including the front portions of the stitching 26 at each side edge and around the upper ”” --------' ' ' ' end of each finger.

A line of chain stitching or the like, as indicated at 27, may be located centrally of each of the wire mesh rein- , . . - -------------— -— ......

forcing strips 25 to attach the central portion thereof to 60 ^edges&gt; ^{sald wlre} mesh material being of two-ply thickness the fabric of the glove. Each of these reinforcing strips of wire mesh may be coated with rubber or syntheic rubber or plastic material for the purpose of binding the several plies of wire mesh together and to the fabric material 12 forming the back of the glove.

Protective pads may be provided with the wire mesh reinforcing for use in protecting the palm of the hand or the like. Such a pad is indicated generally at 28 in Fig. 6 and may be formed of any suitable flexible material such as fabric or the like, as indicated at 29.

Two or more plies of the woven wire mesh, as indicated at 30, may be attached to the front surface of the pad as by stitching 31 at each side edge. The upper and lower ends of the pad may be turned over and stitched as indicated at 32 in order that no shaip edges of the wire mesh will project inwardly to injure the hand of the wearer.

Spaced lines of chain stitching or the like, as indicated at 33, may connect the wire mesh to the fabric pad at intervals and the entire surface of the wire mesh may be coated with rubber, synthetic rubber or plastic material in order to bind the same together and to the fabric.

Reinforced gloves made in the manner illustrated and above described may be worn as inner liners for leather, fabric or other conventional gloves, or may be used as outer liners for rubber gloves or the like, or these wire mesh reinforced gloves may be worn alone.

From the above it will be seen that gloves constructed as herein disclosed provide flexibility in any direction, while at the same time providing a complete protection against cutting of the hand by sharp edges of metal or other objects.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction.