CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/992,789 filed on Mar. 20, 2020 and entitled “Retractable Hand Covering,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a hand cover, such as a loose glove, mitten, bag, or protective sleeve, that is retractable, and more particularly to a wearable assembly having a retractable hand cover coupled thereto.

2. Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has by many accounts been the greatest public health emergency worldwide in 100 years, and has made many aware of the advantages of protecting against contagion. Frequent hand washing has been encouraged by the CDC and WHO because after touching a contaminated surface, one might touch one's face (eyes, nose, mouth) with a contaminated hand. This has implications post-pandemic: illnesses like the common cold and influenza variants can also be transmitted by touching high-traffic surfaces such as door and subway handles, gas pumps, and elevator buttons. A future pandemic could easily be even more transmissible via surfaces, and society has become more aware of protecting itself from contagion such as the flu and common colds.

Standard tight-fitting disposable gloves are usually only of marginal benefit in preventing the spread of contagions, and may even increase one's risk of contraction if worn too long or under the wrong circumstances. Such disposable gloves are designed to be worn for one activity and then disposed of, meaning someone is unlikely to only wear disposable gloves to, say, press an elevator button or grab a door handle. Instead, the wearer will likely keep the disposable gloves on for much longer than otherwise necessary, and because of such excessive and prolonged use, be more likely to accidentally touch his or her face with what may be contaminated glove surfaces. Furthermore, standard disposable gloves require both hands to put on and remove, being impractical to do so quickly during daily life activities, and increasing the risk of skin contact with the outer surface of the glove.

Therefore, several problems in the art for protecting against COVID-19 and other transmissible viral and bacterial diseases can be addressed. For example, to better reduce the risk of contracting communicable diseases while in public, a disposable hand covering that can be slipped on and off with ease would be preferable to a disposable glove that is designed to fit tightly around the hand and be thrown away upon removal. Further, a disposable hand covering that can retract back to a convenient standby location that is out of the way on the user's body when removed and not in use would encourage very targeted and temporary yet repetitious use when interacting with objects and various surfaces, reducing the likelihood that the wearer will inadvertently touch his or her face with the hand covering. Also, a hand covering that is easy to slip on and off with one hand because it is slightly open when retracted back to a user's body would further encourage its use and minimize the risk of the wearer unintentionally touching the hand covering's potentially contaminated outer surface. This would aid in maintaining uncontaminated hands during periodic brief interactions with high-traffic surfaces during daily life.

OBJECTIVES AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a retractable and wearable hand cover, such as a glove, mitten, bag, or protective sleeve, with at least the following objectives for certain embodiments thereto:

To facilitate ease of handling and touching object surfaces multiple times and without subjecting the wearer to direct skin contact with such surfaces;

To enable the wearable hand cover to hang close to a person's body and preferably the waist area when not in use such that the person may quickly and easily put on the wearable hand cover before touching certain object surfaces, including surfaces that are suspected of having bacterial or viral particles on them;

For the wearable hand cover to be extendable from a retracted state after a person puts it on and while the person is freely using it;

For the wearable hand cover to retract back and hang close to a person's body and preferably the waist area after the person takes it off;

To enable a person's selective, transient, and repetitive use of the wearable hand cover such that the person is encouraged to minimize the total amount of time the wearable hand cover is worn throughout the day;

To minimize the spread of bacterial or viral particles that may be on certain object surfaces by enabling selective, transient, and repetitive use of the wearable hand cover;

To retractably store the wearable hand cover outside a person's clothing pockets and other clothing areas to curb handling of the wearable hand cover when taken off and not in use; and

To enable a cost-efficient manufacture of the wearable hand cover to promote its use on a larger societal scale.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a wearable hand cover assembly comprises a wearable hand cover that is coupled at or near its opened end to a tether such as a flexible cord or string. The tether is, at its opposite end, secured to a spring-loaded reel assembly that may comprise a casing with a clip affixed to one side that enables secure attachment to a person's waistband, belt, bag, outerwear, or clothing loops, for example. The tether is of sufficient length to enable a person to put on the wearable hand cover and extend it from its retracted state within the spring-loaded reel assembly while freely interacting with extraneous objects. After the wearable hand cover is taken off and released, the tether is biased towards a retracted spooled position within the spring-loaded reel assembly such that the wearable hand cover returns to its hanging storage state that is preferably close to or adjoining the person's waist and attached casing.

In one embodiment of the wearable hand cover, the opened end of the wearable hand cover is biased towards a partially opened configuration to enable a person to quickly and easily slide a hand into it without coming into direct skin contact with outer hand cover surfaces.

In another embodiment of the wearable hand cover, the front or palm area of the wearable hand cover may be coated or otherwise sprayed with an antibacterial and/or antiviral formula to impede contamination spread from contacting certain object surfaces.

Various other objects, advantages, features, and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the methods of operation and functions of related structural elements, and the combination of parts and economies of development and manufacture, will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the present invention can be obtained by reference to embodiments set forth in the illustrations of the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not intended to limit the scope of this invention, but merely to clarify and exemplify the invention. Accordingly, a more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant aspects thereof may be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a wearable hand cover assembly in accordance with various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the wearable hand cover assembly embodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of how a person may wear and interact with the wearable hand cover assembly embodiment of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner. Specific embodiments that may be practiced are shown by way of illustration and explanation. The embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments, and it is to be understood that logical, mechanical, and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense. In describing exemplary embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for sake of clarity.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of wearable hand cover assembly 100 includes wearable hand cover 101. Wearable hand cover 101 may be, for example, a loose glove, mitten, protective sleeve, or a plastic bag such as that illustrated in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1. If not in the shape of a glove with five finger stalls, wearable hand cover 101 may be square, rectangular, rounded, or mitt-shaped with a thumb stall to allow extra gripping motion for the thumb while fitting loosely enough for easy passage of the hand in and out. Wearable hand cover 101 may also be made of a fluid impermeable material such as latex, rubber, vinyl, or plastic.

Wearable hand cover 101 cannot be a tight-fitting or form-fitting glove such as those typically worn for normal day-to-day glove use, including without limitation common disposable gloves. Such a form-fitting glove would not enable a user to slip his or her hand into the glove without necessarily extending the tether while attempting to put it on. As such, the user's other hand would likely be required to hold the form fitting glove in place, and in a manner contrary to certain objectives of the invention, including to enable selective, transient, and repetitive use without touching any outer surface of the hand covering.

Wearable hand cover 101 is coupled to a spring-loaded reel assembly 106 via a tether 105 and a fastener 104. Tether 105 may comprise, for example, a flexible cord or string.

Spring-loaded reel assembly 106 comprises a spring-loaded reel that is rotatably mounted in a circular (or other shaped) casing (spring-loaded reel not shown). Tether 105 is coupled to the spring-loaded reel such that spring tension enables the reel to automatically self-retract and wind the tether 105 towards a retracted spooled position within the circular casing. The circumference of the circular casing and the length of the tether 105 may dictate how close to the circular casing the coupled wearable hand cover 101 will hang when not in use. In a preferred embodiment, fastener 104 will abut the circular casing of the spring-loaded reel assembly 106 when the wearable hand cover 101 is not being worn. Spring-loaded reel assembly 106 may also be operatively similar to any of those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,875 entitled “Retraction Reel for Keys and the Like,” or U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,237 entitled “Retractable Badgeholder with Spinning Display.” U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,073,875 and 6,364,237 are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Fastener 104 may be any suitable fastener for attachment to the wearable hand cover 101, including for example a plastic strip with a snap component as illustrated in FIG. 1. The plastic strip in the illustrated embodiment is inserted through a corresponding aperture near the top of the wearable hand cover 101 and snapped closed to form a loop for purposes of coupling the wearable hand cover 101 to tether 105. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 1 shows the plastic strip of fastener 104 unsnapped, whereas FIG. 3 shows the plastic strip of fastener 104 in a snapped configuration during use. Alternatively, fastener 104 may comprise corresponding hook and loop fastener surfaces such as Velcro instead of a snap component to securely form a loop for purposes of coupling wearable hand cover 101 to tether 105. Fastener 104 may also comprise a snap hook, including without limitation a snap hook operatively similar to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 940,738 entitled “Swivel Snap Hook” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,137 entitled “Universal Swivel Snap Hook Assembly.” Fastener 104 may also comprise a slide-bolt snap, including without limitation a slide-bolt snap operatively similar to those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,190 entitled “Safety Coupler.” U.S. Pat. Nos. 940,738; 5,127,137; and 6,286,190 are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

In a preferred embodiment, wearable hand cover 101 is biased towards a partially open configuration to enable persons to slide a hand quickly and easily into and out of it without coming into direct skin contact with outer surfaces of the wearable hand cover 101, which may become contaminated during intended use. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wearable hand cover 101 may be constructed with a first side edge 108 and a second side edge 109. Grommet means 103 may reinforce an opening near the top of wearable hand cover 101 such that the opening of wearable hand cover 101 is biased towards a partially open configuration and resists what may otherwise be a tendency to close or flatten.

Although the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 is of a plastic bag, first side edge 108 and second side edge 109 may be a characteristic of other examples of wearable hand cover 101, including without limitation a loose glove, mitten, or protective sleeve. Typically, but not always, the first side edge 108 and second side edge 109 is formed by either folding or heat sealing opposite sides of wearable hand cover 101. This, in turn, facilitates a naturally closed and substantially flat configuration for wearable hand cover 101. However, other embodiments of wearable hand cover 101 may be constructed such that there are no side edges like those depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Grommet means 103 may, for example and as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprise a strip of material that wraps around a top edge section of wearable hand cover 101 such that it is affixed to both an outer surface area of wearable hand cover 101 and a substantially corresponding interior surface area of wearable hand cover 101. The strip of material should be of sufficient stiffness such that the strip of material overlaps and flattens an area overlapping first side edge 108 thus preventing opposite sides of wearable hand cover 101 from coming together in a closed and substantially flattened state.

Grommet means 103 may also comprise a grommet, eyelet, or other aperture or slot of sufficient dimensions for fastener 104 to pass through as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The grommet, eyelet, or other aperture or slot extends through the strip of material portion of grommet means 103 and cuff portion 102 as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. The grommet means 103 strip of material is of sufficient stiffness and/or elasticity that, by largely maintaining its original shape when wrapped around a top edge section of wearable hand cover 101 such that it is affixed to both an outer surface area of wearable hand cover 101 and a substantially corresponding interior surface area of wearable hand cover 101, it prevents the open end of wearable hand cover 101 from closing absent application of external force.

In alternative embodiments, cuff portion 102 is of sufficient stiffness and shape that grommet means 103 is not required to bias wearable hand cover 101 towards a partially open configuration. In such alternative embodiments, grommet means 103 may be replaced by a grommet, eyelet, or other aperture or slot without any additional strip of material that would otherwise be necessary to overlap and flatten an area overlapping first edge 108. Further, other extraneous components such as (i) a small plastic tube affixed to or otherwise contained within cuff portion 102, or (ii) a plastic clip attached near the opening of wearable hand cover 101, may also be incorporated in addition to or instead of grommet means 103. Such a plastic clip may be slightly curved or straight and may overlap with first edge 108 and be accompanied by a corresponding second plastic clip attached to and overlapping with second edge 109 to help prevent opposite sides of wearable hand cover 101 from coming together in a closed and substantially flattened state.

Referring to FIG. 2, the circular casing of spring-loaded reel assembly 106 has a plastic or metal clip attachment 107 that may attach the spring-loaded reel assembly 106 to a person's belt or pants waistband or other suitable clothing area. Alternatively, other suitable attachment means may be utilized, including a pin attachment for pinning the spring-loaded reel assembly 106 to a person's clothing.

Still referring to FIG. 2, grommet means 103 may be substantially centered over first edge 108. This edge or crease may be akin to that commonly found on a plastic bag as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, or any other alternative wearable hand cover 101. Such a placement of grommet means 103 further helps bias wearable hand cover 101 towards a partially open configuration as explained above.

Referring to FIG. 3, an application of wearable hand cover assembly 100 is illustrated. A person with clip attachment 107 clipped to a pants waistband puts wearable hand cover 101 on. The person is able to put wearable hand cover 101 on with only one hand because it is biased towards a partially open configuration and loose enough to facilitate easy donning and removal. Wearable hand cover 101 remains coupled to spring-loaded reel assembly 106, which causes tether 105 to remain biased towards a retracted spooled position while wearable hand cover assembly 100 is being used. By remaining biased towards a retracted spooled position, tether 105 keeps wearable hand cover 101 over a person's hand during use even though wearable hand cover 101 is designed to be loose fitting to facilitate ease of donning and removing wearable hand cover 101 with only one hand and without touching any outer surface of wearable hand cover 101. A person can extend tether 105 while interacting with other objects, such as an elevator button or a door handle through wearable hand cover 101, and when done the person can easily remove wearable hand cover 101 after returning it nearby its original retracted spooled position which preferably abuts spring-loaded reel assembly 106. Further, a front or palm area of the wearable hand cover 101 may be coated or otherwise sprayed with an antibacterial, antiviral formula to impede contamination spread from contacting certain object surfaces. Wearable hand cover 101 may also be periodically disinfected using hand sanitizer or alcohol mist, particularly to facilitate storage prior to reuse.

Fastener 104 facilitates easy detachment of the wearable hand cover 101 from the rest of wearable hand cover assembly 100. While a person has clip attachment 107 clipped to a pants waistband or other part of clothing, the person can extend fastener 104 over a wastebasket or other disposal container while wearable hand cover 101 is still coupled thereto and release wearable hand cover 101 into the wastebasket or other disposal container without touching any outer surfaces of wearable hand cover 101 by, for example, unsnapping a snap component on fastener 104 as illustrated in the fastener 104 embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, or opening a snap hook or slide-bolt snap embodiment of fastener 104.

The present invention, therefore, provides hand protection for the workplace and public areas when interacting with high-traffic surfaces. It facilitates sanitary interaction with certain objects that may be suspected of having bacterial or viral particles on them without encouraging the wearer to leave wearable hand cover 101 on for prolonged durations. This helps minimize the spread of bacterial or viral particles that may be on certain object surfaces, and in turn the surface of wearable hand cover 101, by enabling selective, transient, and repetitive use. By retractably storing wearable hand cover 101 outside a person's clothing pockets and preferably near the waist area, which is an area less frequently touched, excessive handling to pocket or otherwise store wearable hand cover 101 when taken off is curbed.

The present invention also improves upon traditional medical gloves and rubber gloves that can be difficult to put on and remove, and often require both hands in the process. Work gloves and others may sometimes have a looser fit, but are often made of heavier materials that are difficult to sterilize.

The present invention further improves upon traditional medical and rubber gloves by enabling one-handed operation to quickly and temporarily protect one hand without subjecting the wearer to direct skin contact with possibly contaminated object surfaces.

To encourage widespread use, particularly in combatting the spread of pandemics such as COVID-19, a cost-effective method of manufacture for wearable hand cover assembly 100 may be implemented in an alternative embodiment to promote its use on a larger societal scale. For example, wearable hand cover 101 may be a standard sandwich bag, grommet means 103 may comprise a strip of duct tape with a slot passing through grommet means 103 and cuff 102, and spring-loaded reel assembly 106 may be a badge reel. A creased edge of the sandwich bag may be flattened by taping the duct tape over and around first edge 108, helping ensure that wearable hand cover 101 stays partially open to accept a person's hand easily. Fastener 104 is looped through the slot passing through grommet means 103 and cuff portion 102. Cuff portion 102 may be a characteristic of the sandwich bag, or it can be made by folding down an edge portion of the plastic bag (or a glove or mitt) and keeping the fold in place by any suitable means including clips, adhesive, or heat welding.

Various individual components of wearable hand cover assembly 100 may be formed from a variety of materials, including without limitation, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), vinyl, acrylic, or similar plastics, tubular aluminum, steel, nylon, water resistant polyester, etc. To the extent any one of the disclosed embodiments and its respective components have been described as preferably and/or optionally being manufactured with specific or general materials or types of hardware, it is understood that all of the other disclosed embodiments and their respective components may preferably and/or optionally be manufactured with the same specific or general materials or types of hardware, including others not specifically recited that a person of ordinary skill in the art understands to have comparable and appropriate material properties.

The present invention has been described in the context of embodiments, and multiple variations and examples thereof. It is to be understood, however, that other expedients known to those skilled in the art or disclosed herein may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Any references to the “invention” herein do not and are not intended to identify or describe aspects or embodiments that are required or otherwise essential to the present invention unless expressly stated as such.