US1018271A - Base-ball mitt or glove. - Google Patents

Description

B. T. ROGERS. BASE BALL MITT OR-GLO VE. APPLICATION FILED 00T.29, 1908.

1,018,271. Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR,

. Eariffgyag I V B) 1 ATTORNEY.

B. T. ROGERS BASE BALL MITT 0B. GLOVE.

APPLICATION FILED 00129, 1908.

1,018,271. Patented Feb. 20, 1912."

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

A TTORN K BURT '1. ROGERS, OF'SPR-INGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR TO VICTOR SPORTING GOODS COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION.

BASE-BALL MITT OR- GLOVE.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BURT T. ROGERS, a citizen of the United States of America, re.- siding at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Base-Ball Mitts or Gloves, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of a combined glove and mitt such as is used by players of the game of base-ball.

Heretofore it has been customary to manufacture a mitt, so called, which is used especially by a player occupying certain positions in the game and a glove which is used by players occupying certain other positions.

There are many reasons why it is desirable to use a protective covering for the hand of the player which will possess the qualities of both of these devices. When a glove is used, a ball striking it can be much more firmly and surely held than would be possible if the player wore a mitt; and on the other hand, the fingers of the glove being separated the leather is very frequently split where the fingers join the palm owing to the hard impact of the ball thereagainst. Furthermore, with a hand covering in the form of a mitt possessing the requisite flexibility in the finger portion, a player is less likely to fail of catching a ball than where a glove construct-ion is used, owing to the fact that a ball is more completely pocketed in a mitt than in a glove, but a mitt, as at present generally constructed, is not flexible enough to permit the fingers to freely close over a ball, the finger portions of a mitt being sewed along their edges to the back of the mitt to provide separate but not I separated or separable finger portions.

The object of the present invention is to provide a hand covering having all of the characteristics of flexibility found in a glove, together with the command of the finger portion thereof, and at the same time embodying the more desirable characteristics of a mitt.

The structure hereinafter described embodying practically a glove structure incased in a mitt-covering, permits the use of a glove construction which is much cheaper to make than an ordinary fielders glove inasmuch as the glove proper consisting of the fingers and the palm portion need not be of as high a grade of leather as in a glove Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 29, 1808.

Patented Feb. 29, 1912.

Serial No. 460,054.

which is to receive the direct impact of the ball, and all of the padding is secured to the outside of the glove structure instead of inside, as in fielders gloves, the incasing of this glove structure within a mitt covering serving to protect all of the glove construction. If this were not so and any part of the glove construction were visible it would be necessary to provide as good an exterior appearance to the glove structure as though it were to be used as an ordinary fielders glove, which would entail an additional expense.

The invent-ion is fully set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the drawings accompanying the same, in which,

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the leather covering for a mitt as usually constructed. Fig. 2 is a like view of a glove inserted within this mitt covering'shown in Fig. 1, a part of the latter being broken away to show the location of the glove fingers, the exposed portion of the latter being in section. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view on line l4 of Fig 2. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a glove showing the padding stitched to the fingers and the palm thereof, auxiliary padding being shown applied thereto at the base of the palm. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6, Fig. 5, showing the padding secured to one of the fingers of the glove. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77, Fig. 8, showing auxiliary padding for the finger portion of the glove. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a glove having the usual surface padding and auxiliary padding extending across the base of the palm, as in Fig. 5, and continued up one side and across the finger tips.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the bag-like covering ordinarily used in the manufacture of a mitt, this being indicated as a Whole by a in the various figures of the drawing.

Fig. 5 shows a glove structure in front elevation which is inserted in the mitt covering shown in Fig. 1. The glove structure is inserted in the mitt covering and stitched thereto as follows: First, the tips of the fingers b of the glove are spread apart, the width of the mitt covering permitting this, these tips being stitched to the edge of the mitt, as at c Fig. 2. The glove and mitt are then stitched together around the wrist, as at (Z, and around the border 9 of the opening it in the back of the mitt when the glove is finished. By stitching the glove fingers at the tips thereof to the inner edge of the mitt covering with the fingers spread apart, it permits lateral movement of all of the fingers within the limits of the mitt, practically the same as though the fingers were not stitched to the mitt at all, it being of course understood that the material of which the mitt covering is made is flexible enough to permit this lateral movement of the fingers. In other words, by thus securing the glove in the mitt member, the fingers of the glove may be readily closed over a ball or moved laterally, that is, spread apart to provide for an eflicient grasping or holding of the ball, the edge of the mitt being flexible and permitting these different movements of the fingers of the glove member.

Referring to Fig. 5 again, the dotted line 6 indicates the outline of the leather glove which is made in the usual manner, the padding f for the finger portions and palm thereof being stitched to the edges of the glove and fingers. The outline of this padding is shown in full lines and in section in Figs. 4, 6, and 7. hen the glove construction shown in Fig. 5 is inserted within the mitt covering shown in Fig. 1 and secured thereto in the manner described. the article has substantially all of the flexibility of the glove, and the leather covering of the mitt and the padding f protects the glove against ripping or splitting in the palm; this flexibility of this structure is due to the fact that the fingers and thumb of the glove are not restricted in their movement laterally owing to the flexible nature of the mitt covering a within which the glove structure is inclosed, and because the fingertips are separated before being secured to the covering, they are free to move laterally and are not drawn down into the covering when the fingers are closed over the ball. A closer approximation to the mitt may be attained by applying to the base of the palm, as shown in Fig. 5, an auxiliary padding 7a which is stitched to the glove padding f before the glove is inserted within the mitt covering. If it is desired to provide a structure which shall have all of the characteristics of the mitt, together with much greater flexibility than is possible with mitts as generally constructed at present, this auxiliary padding 7v may be extended up the outer edge of the glove along the little finger and then across the finger-tips, as shown in Fig. 8, thereby producing a deeper pocket in the palm, but without interfering with the free movement of the fingers to an appreciable degree. The great flexibility of the structure herein described provides a hand covering which may be used by a fielder and which has all of the desirable characteristics of the mitt as at present constructed and which will, at the same time, provide a catcher with a hand covering having all the desirable characteristics of the fielders glove. The thumb and the edge of the mitt-covering may be united by the flexible web m, if desired, or any of the well known equivalents of this web may be used.

lVhat I claim, is

1. A hand covering comprising a. fingered padded glove member and an inclosing casing therefor of flexible material, the fingers of the glove member being secured to the easing only at the tips of the fingers with the wrist port-ion of the gloved member secured to the wrist portion of the casing.

52. A hand-covering comprising a fingered glove member and an inclosing casing therefor of flexible material, the glove member being secured at its extremities only to said casing.

BURT T. ROGERS.

Witnesses K. D. CLnMoNs, H. W. BOWEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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