Swimming appliance.

(Application filed May 25, 1901.) (No Model.)

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_s (-0 ΡΜ~·ΤΟ.Ι_1Τ“Ο..'•WASHINGTON, 0. C.

United States Patent Office.

OTTO JENSEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SWIMMING APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,840, dated December 24, 1901.

Application filed May 25,1901. Serial No. 61,955. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Otto Jensen, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, 5 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Swimming Appliances; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which io it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to swimming appliances; and its object is to provide a glove which may be fitted to the hand of the swimmer to enable him to more easily and rapidly propel himself and to provide a novel con20 struction by means of which the resistance offered by the water will be distributed to all the muscles of the hand and wrist.

My invention consists of a glove adapted to fit the hand and made from a single piece 25 of material sewed to an extended web having stays which extend from the wrist of the glove, where they are permanently secured, and pass over the palm and each finger and diverge into a wide extension.

For a full understanding of the merits and advantages of my invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings,in which—

Figure 1 is a view of one side of the appliance applied to the right hand of the swim35 mer and showing the web distended. Fig. 2 is a view of the other side of the glove, showing the position of the stays in relation to the fingers of the hand. Fig. 3 is a view taken longitudinally through one of the finger40 openings of the glove.

In the drawings, A designates a web made of any suitable flexible material—such as rubber,leather, oil fabric, and the like—provided with diverging stays B, held in the stay-pock45 ets a, and which meet at the wrist portion or smaller end of the web and diverge outwardly, giving strength and rigidity to the web. The stay-pockets a are formed by sewing a strip of tape b on the back of the web from the 50 outer end to the ends of the fingers and. thumb. The stay-pockets are continued on the front of the web by a strip of tape sewed from the ends of the fingers to the wrist portion. The stays pass through the web portion at the ends of the fingers from the pocket 55 on the back to the pocket on the front. To the back of the inner end of the web is sewed a glove C, made from a single piece of material and provided with the finger and thumb openings, each finger and thumb opening be- 60 ing directly over each stay, and the line of stitching which secures the finger and thumb openings to the web is upon opposite sides of the stays. By this construction when the hand is” inserted within the glove the stays 65 are upon the palm side of the hand and are easily controlled to contract or distend the web. Besides, the resistance offered by the water is not Upon the fingers alone, but distributed throughout the entire hand, as the 70 stays extend to the wrist. Thus the fingers are not liable to be bent backwardly in an unnatural position,subjecting them to a cramped and painful position. By providing the staypockets upon the back of the web portion 75 the front of the web presents a smooth and unbroken surface beyond the fingers, and as the stays pass through the web into the pockets on the palm side of the web the fingers are not in contact with the stays. The 80 glove is stitched by a single row of stitches along its outer edge to the web portion,which web portion forms the palm portion of the glove. The wrist is suitably reinforced to add strength and provided with a suitable 85 fastening device, such as a hook and eye. By this construction it will be seen that the glove is easily put on or taken off and that the operator is enabled to easily distend or contract the web, since the stays pass beneath each 90 finger and the thumb, and that when the glove is tightly fastened upon the wrist the strain is distributed along the entire hand and wrist and does not tend to cramp the fingers.