GB2099286A - Hand or foot insulation - Google Patents

Abstract

A glove or foot cover 1 of thin and flexible waterproof material is provided with a wrist or ankle seal 7 which sealingly engages a wrist or ankle seal 6 of a suit, such as a dry suit. In order to avoid pressure on the wearer's wrist or ankle, and allow warm air from within the suit to circulate under the glove or foot cover, a band 5 of resilient plastics material may be worn over the wrist or ankle and the seals 6 and 7 stretched over the band. Instead of the band 5 ribs may be provided in the glove to spacing purposes. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Hand or foot insulation This invention relates to an arrangement for providing thermal insulation for the hands and feet, particularly of aquatic sportsmen, such as windsurfers.

While the present invention will be particularly described in relation to problems met by windsurfers, it will be understood that the hand or foot insulation according to the invention is not necessarily limited to use by windsurfers and may for instance be used by other aquatic sportsmen, such as water skiers or divers. Also, while the problems of hand insulation are particularly important, the construction described may also be used to provide a proper insulation to the feet of aquatic sportsmen.

The commonest form of hand insulation currently available for windsurfers is a glove or mitt made of expanded rubber or rubber like material, normally between 2mm and 5mm thick, of closed cell construction and lined on one or both sides with a nylon or other synthetic fabric. From a thermal insulation point of view, such gloves or mitts are satisfactory but the considerable thickness of the material means that the wearer's fingers have difficultly in maintain- ing a natural grip on the boom of the windsurfing board. This leads to muscular strain and discomfort and a comparatively rapid onset of cramp in the hand and arm so that both pleasure in, and ability at, the sport are lost.

In order to avoid this cramping effect ofthe expanded rubber gloves, windsurfers may resort to the use of thinner rubber gloves, e.g. of the surgical or household type. However, the thermal insulation is considerably less and also the gloves will let water in if the user falls in the water so that these gloves are of little value when most needed to give insulation against the cold. Wool or cotton inner gloves may be used for thermal insulation, but these would be a serious handicap as they would get very wet on immersion.

Attempts have also been made to provide closed cell expanded rubber or rubber like gloves with leather or like gripping zones, which are thinner and therefore permit a more natural grasp ofthe boom.

However, these are also not waterproof so that their value on immersion is not great.

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a hand or foot cover manufactured in a thin and flexible waterproof synthetic material and provided at the wrist or ankle with means for sealing against a wrist or ankle seal of a waterproof suit to prevent ingress of water at the wrist or ankle.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention there is provided a glove or mitt manufactured, preferably moulded, in a thin and flexible waterproof synthetic material and provided at the wrist with means for sealing against a wrist seal of a waterproof suit to prevent ingress of water at the wrist.

Spacing means may be provided to present an air passage around the wearer's wrist or ankle to allow airfrom within a dry suit to pass into the glove or mitt or foot cover.

The spacing means may be integral internal ribs in the wrist or ankle portion of the glove or mitt a foot cover. Alternatively, and preferably, a substantially rigid annular spacer, somewhat larger than the wearer's wrist or ankle may be used to hold the wrist or ankle portion of the glove or mitt spaced from the wearer's wrist or ankle.

Such a spacer may taken the form of a split band of resilient plastics material to allow it to expand to admit the wearers' hand or foot and then contract to a loose fit over the wrist or ankle. The edges of the split may be provided with clip means for releasably securing the band in contracted position.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, of which figures 1 and 2 are each a sectional view showing a glove in accordance with one form of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a glove 1 moulded or seamed, so as to be waterproof, of a thin compound such as synthetic rubber, e.g. that known as Latex, which may be lined on one or both sides with a nylon fabric or similar. The inside layer of such a lining gives the user some direct thermal insulation. However, such lining detracts from the sealing characteristics of the glove so is not present at the sealing surface. A preferred method of manufacture is by dip moulding in a suitable latex, using several coats to form a strong glove.

The method of sealing is by first folding back a wrist seal 2 of a sleeve of a dry suit 3, then by putting on the glove 1 and rolling the wrist seal 2 back with the free or wrist portion of the glove 1. An outer band or cummerbund may be fitted around the wrist to stop the seals from being dislodged.

Soft synthetic rubber ribs 4 or the like are provided inside the glove in order to give a clear passage for warm air to travel into the glove 1 from the suit past the wrist seal.

The ribs 4 may be omitted and a substantially rigid annular spacer be arranged or fitted in the wrist portion of the gloves to hold it clear of the users' wrist.

A preferred form of wrist seal of this type is shown in Figure 2. A split band 5 of resilient plastics material is put over the wearer's wrist so as to be a loose fit, the split enabling the band to pass over the wearer's hand and then to close by its resilience. If required the band may have clipping portions to hold the band closed, but this is not always necessary. The wrist seal 6 of a dry suit is then stretched over the band 5 and the wearer then stretches a wrist seal 7 of the glove over the outside of the part of the seal 6 on the band 5. The wrist seal 7 is preferably formed by a zone of reducing diameter terminating in an integral bead 8.

It will be seen that there is no pressure on the wrist from either of the seals, which improves the comfort considerably, and therefore helps to eliminate arm cramp so often experienced by windsurfaces as a result of anything in contact with the hand from muscle expansion.

A further advantage is that the wrist band improves the quality of the seal, i.e. a wrist seal of a dry suit only is prone to leakage because of irregular skin surface or hairs.

Various modifications may be made within the scope ofthe invention. Thus a similar seal arrangement may with advantage be used to form a seal between a detachable foot portion and a suit provided with a sealing portion at the ankle.

Claims (4)

1. A hand orfootcover manufactured in a thin and flexible waterproof synthetic material and provided at the wrist or ankle with means for sealing against a wrist or ankle seal of a waterproof suit to prevent ingress of water at the wrist or ankle.

2. A cover as claimed in claim 1, which is moulded in one piece from a rubber or rubber like material.

3. A cover as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which spacing means is provided to present an air passage around the wearer's wrist or ankle to allow air from within the suit to pass into the cover.

4. A waterproof suit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

4. A cover as claimed in claim 3, in which the spacing means is in the form of integral ribs within a wrist or ankle portion of the cover.

5. A cover as claimed in claim 3, in which the spacing means is in the form of a substantially rigid annular spacer fitted separately from the cover and over the cover sealing means and suit wrist or ankle seal are stretched.

6. A cover as claimed in claim 5, in which the spacer is in the form of a split band of resilient plastics material.

7. A glove or mitt manufactured in a thin and flexible waterproof synthetic material and provided at the wrist with means for sealing against a wrist seal of a waterproof suit to prevent ingress of water at the wrist.

8. Aglove or mitt as claimed in Claim 7, which is moulded in one piece from a rubber or rubber like material.

9. A glove or mitt as claimed in claim 7 or 8, in which spacing means is provided to present an air passage around the wearer's wrist to allow air from within the suit to pass into the glove or mitt.

10. A glove or mitt as claimed in claim 9, in which the spacing means is in the form of integral ribs within a wrist portion of the glove.

11. A glove or mitt as claimed in claim 9, in which the spacing means is in the form of a substantially rigid annularspacerfitted separately from the glove or mitt and over the glove sealing means and suit wrist seal are stretched.

12. A glove or mitt as claimed in claim 11, in which the spacer is in the form of a split band of resilient plastics material.

13. A hand or foot cover substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 1 or figure 2 ofthe accompanying drawings.

New claims or amendments to claims filed on 15-682.

Superseded claims 1-13

1. A waterproof suit having a hand or foot cover manufactured in a thin and flexible waterproof material and adapted at the wrist or ankle for sealing against a wrist or ankle seal of the waterproof suit to prevent ingress of water at the wrist or ankle, in which spacing means in the form of a substantially rigid annular spacer fitted separately from the cover and suit, and over which both the cover sealing means and the suit wrist or ankle seal are stretched, is provided to present an air passage around the wearer's wrist or ankle to allow air from within the suit to pass into the cover.

2. A suit as claimed in claim 1, which is moulded in one piece from a rubber or rubber like material.

3. A suit as claimed in claim f or 2, in which the spacer is in the form of a split band of resilient plastics material.