Gloves including bladder components
Bladder components and gloves that include such bladder components attenuate impact forces incident on the glove and/or a wearer's hand. Such bladder components and gloves may dampen impact forces applied by a game ball or other projectile to the glove (and thus to the wearer's hand) and/or reduce the energy returned to the game ball or other projectile from the glove. These features may better enable ball control (e.g., by limiting the ball's rebound force/distance off the hand) and/or improve wearer's comfort. Further, such gloves may provide delayed re-expansion of the bladder chamber and/or foam material to keep the bladder chamber and/or foam in a compressed configuration as the wearer grasps the ball/projectile from the glove during further play. In this manner, the ball will remain positioned in the glove at an expected location so that the wearer can easily locate and grasp the ball/projectile.
1 . A glove, comprising:
a glove base member; and
a bladder engaged with the glove base member, the bladder including:
(A) a thermoplastic envelope including two opposed interior surfaces and defining an interior chamber that is movable between an expanded configuration and a compressed configuration, wherein a first through hole opening is defined through the thermoplastic envelope, the first through hole opening being configured to permit fluid from an external environmental area to enter the interior chamber as the interior chamber transitions from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration;
(B) a first fluid line in fluid communication with the interior chamber and with the external environmental area, wherein the first fluid line is separate from the first through hole opening;
(C) a first one-way valve located and configured with respect to the first fluid line: (a) to allow fluid to exit the interior chamber via the first fluid line in response to an external force incident on the bladder thereby causing the interior chamber to transition from the expanded configuration to the compressed configuration, but (b) to inhibit fluid from the external environmental area from entering the interior chamber via the first fluid line; and
(D) a resilient component located in the interior chamber, the resilient component being configured to: (a) apply force to the two opposed interior surfaces of the thermoplastic envelope in a direction toward the expanded configuration, and (b) move the two opposed interior surfaces away from one another as the interior chamber transitions from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration as fluid from the external environmental area enters the interior chamber via the first through hole opening.
2 . The glove according to claim 1 , wherein the first through hole opening is one of a plurality of through hole openings defined through the thermoplastic envelope, the plurality of through hole openings permitting fluid from the external environmental area to enter the interior chamber.
3 . The glove according to claim 2 , wherein when the external force causes the interior chamber to transition from the expanded configuration to the compressed configuration, the resilient component is configured to change between an expanded state and a compressed state within the interior chamber.
4 . The glove according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of through hole openings are sized such that when the resilient component has changed to the compressed state, fluid from the external environmental area is permitted to enter the interior chamber through the plurality of through hole openings at an overall fluid entry rate that delays re-expansion of the resilient component to the expanded state.
5 . The glove according to claim 1 , wherein the resilient component includes at least one member selected from the group consisting of: an open cell foam material; a closed cell foam material; a rubber material; an elastomeric material; a resilient plastic material; and a spring.
6 . A glove, comprising:
a glove base member; and
a bladder engaged with the glove base member, the bladder including:
(A) a first thermoplastic layer fixed to a second thermoplastic layer at a seam, wherein an interior chamber is defined between the first thermoplastic layer and the second thermoplastic layer and inside the seam, the interior chamber being movable between an expanded configuration and a compressed configuration, and wherein a first through hole opening is defined through the first thermoplastic layer, the first through hole opening being configured to permit fluid from an external environmental area to enter the interior chamber as the interior chamber transitions from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration;
(B) a first fluid line in fluid communication with the interior chamber and with the external environmental area, wherein the first fluid line is separate from the first through hole opening;
(C) a first one-way valve located and configured with respect to the first fluid line: (a) to allow fluid to exit the interior chamber via the first fluid line in response to an external force incident on the bladder thereby causing the interior chamber to transition from the expanded configuration to the compressed configuration, but (b) to inhibit fluid from the external environmental area from entering the interior chamber via the first fluid line; and
(D) a foam material located in the interior chamber, the foam material being configured to: (a) apply force to the first thermoplastic layer and the second thermoplastic layer in a direction toward the expanded configuration, and (b) move the first thermoplastic layer and the second thermoplastic layer away from one another as the interior chamber transitions from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration as fluid from the external environmental area enters the interior chamber via the first through hole opening.
7 . The glove according to claim 6 , wherein the first through hole opening is one of a plurality of through hole openings defined through at least one of the first thermoplastic layer and the second thermoplastic layer, the plurality of through hole openings configured to permit fluid from the external environmental area to enter the interior chamber.
8 . The glove according to claim 7 , wherein when the external force causes the interior chamber to transition from the expanded configuration to the compressed configuration, the foam material is configured to change between an expanded state and a compressed state within the interior chamber.
9 . The glove according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of through hole openings are sized such that when the foam material has changed to the compressed state, fluid from the external environmental area is permitted to enter the interior chamber through the plurality of through hole openings at an overall fluid entry rate that delays re-expansion of the foam material to the expanded configuration.
10 . The glove according to claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of through hole openings defines a length direction extending through one of the first thermoplastic layer or the second thermoplastic layer and a width direction extending across the respective through hole opening, and wherein each of the plurality of through hole openings has a width dimension across the width direction of less than 2 mm.
11 . The glove according to claim 6 , wherein the seam comprises a continuous perimeter seam that extends around an entire exterior perimeter of the bladder except at a single location where the first fluid line interrupts the seam.
12 . The glove according to claim 6 , wherein the first through hole opening is sized such that when the foam material is in a compressed state, fluid from the external environmental area is permitted to enter the interior chamber through the first through hole opening at a fluid entry rate that delays expansion of the foam material to an expanded state.
13 . The glove according to claim 6 , wherein the glove base member includes a palm portion configured to cover at least a portion of a wearer's palm when inserted into the glove, and wherein the bladder is engaged with the palm portion.
14 . The glove according to claim 13 , wherein the bladder includes a thumb chamber portion and a first finger chamber portion.
15 . The glove according to claim 14 , wherein the first finger chamber portion is an index finger chamber portion.
16 . The glove according to claim 13 , wherein the bladder includes a thumb chamber portion and four separated finger chamber portions.
17 . The glove according to claim 13 , wherein the bladder includes a palm chamber portion, a thumb chamber portion extending away from the palm chamber portion, and a first finger chamber portion extending away from the palm chamber portion.
18 . The glove according to claim 17 , wherein the bladder further includes a second finger chamber portion extending away from the palm chamber portion, a third finger chamber portion extending away from the palm chamber portion, and a fourth finger chamber portion extending away from the palm chamber portion.
19 . The glove according to claim 17 , wherein the first fluid line opens into the palm chamber portion.
20 . The glove according to claim 6 , wherein the glove base member includes a back portion configured to cover at least a portion of a back side of a wearer's hand when inserted into the glove, and wherein the bladder is engaged with the back portion.