GLOVE WITH PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE

1 . A glove comprising:

a glove body in a shape of a hand and having a palm side and a dorsal side opposite the palm side;

a protective structure on the dorsal side, the protective structure comprising a first layer of material, a second layer of material and a plurality of foam members sandwiched between the first layer of material and the second layer of material.

2 . The glove of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of foam members are spaced apart from each other across the dorsal side to form a plurality of major segments of the protective structure and a plurality of minor segments of the protective structure, each major segment including at least one foam member, each minor segment lacking any foam.

3 . The glove of claim 2 , wherein each minor segment has a thickness that is no more than twenty-five percent of a thickness of a thickest one of the major segments.

4 . The glove of claim 2 , wherein the minor segments include a peripheral band of the protective structure and multiple interior regions of the protective structure.

5 . The glove of claim 2 , wherein each major segment is bounded by surrounding minor segment.

6 . The glove of claim 2 , wherein the major segments are interconnected to each other by the minor segments.

7 . The glove of claim 1 , wherein the first layer of material, the second layer of material and the foam members are adhered to each other as a unit.

8 . The glove of claim 7 , wherein the first layer of material, the second layer of material and the foam members are integrated via heat and compression that forms a bond therebetween.

9 . The glove of claim 2 , wherein the protective structure includes a peripheral edge region that is secured to the glove body and an interior region that overlies, but can move relative to the glove body.

10 . The glove of claim 9 , wherein the interior region includes a plurality of through openings.

11 . The glove of claim 10 , wherein at least a majority of the through openings are located in minor segments.

12 . The glove of claim 9 , wherein each foam member comprises a compression molded foam material.

13 . The glove of claim 9 , wherein the protective structure extends over a knuckle region of the dorsal side.

14 . The glove of claim 9 , wherein a printed layer is applied to the dorsal side of the glove body beneath the protective structure.

15 . A glove comprising:

a glove body in a shape of a hand and having a palm side and a dorsal side opposite the palm side;

a protective structure on the dorsal side, the protective structure comprising a plurality of compression molded foam segments interconnected by a plurality of foam-free segments.

16 . The glove of claim 15 , wherein the protective structure includes a peripheral edge region that is secured to the glove body and an interior region that overlies, but can move relative to the glove body.

17 . The glove of claim 16 , wherein the interior region includes a plurality of through openings located in foam-free segments of the interior region.

18 . The glove of claim 17 , wherein the protective structure extends over a knuckle region of the dorsal side.

19 . The glove of claim 18 , wherein a printed layer is applied to the dorsal side of the glove body beneath the protective structure.

20 . The glove of claim 15 , wherein the protective structure includes a bottom layer of material, a top layer of material and a plurality of compression molded foam members sandwiched therebetween, wherein each compression molded foam segment is bounded on its bottom side by the bottom layer of material and is bounded on its top side by the top layer of material, and each foam-free segment is formed by the top layer of material bonded to the bottom layer of material.