CA1111201A - Elbow/knee guard - Google Patents

Abstract

IMPROVED ELBOW/KNEE GUARD

Abstract of the Disclosure The article is a combination of a protective pad, a cover element and two elastic strips. The protective pad is somewhat wider than it is long. The top and bottom edges of the pad are substantially straight, while the central portion of each side edge is cutaway, leaving two protrusions at the opposite ends of each side edge.
The cutaway opening in each side edge extends a substantial distance into the pad, and a further keyhole-shaped opening, central of the cutaway opening, extends even further inwardly of the pad. The pad is covered with the stretchable fabric cover element, which follows generally the outline of the pad. The two strips of elastic connect the opposed side edges of the pad-cover combination at each end thereof, with the elastic strips being suff-iciently short that they tend to draw the sides of the pad-cover combination toward each other, thereby curving the surface of the combination so that it will conform to the user's limb.

Description

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Background of the Invention This invention relates generally to protective equip-ment for athletea, and more specifically concerns elbow and knee guards.
Protection for an athlete'~ limbs and joint~
important in many sports, but particularly in ~port~ ~uch a~ basket~all, where little othex equipment i~ worn and there is substantial contact between the player~ and/or the playe.r~ and the playing ~urface. Elbow and knee guard~ in particular have long been used ln ~a~eketball, not only to protect again~t possible injury, bu al~o to .:
preven~ aggravation of an already injured lim~ or joint.
To date, however, elbow and knee guards have comprised either been ~ wrap-around elastic bandage, or a tubular lS el~tic element conigured to fit over the joint. Such articles suffer from numerou~ disadvantages. They provide minimal protection for the joint oYer which they're positioned, and virtually no protection for th~ ~des sf the joint. Further/ when a protective pad i~ used . 20 with these ar~ieles to increa~e their protective capa~ility, , :: ~the mobility of the user i9 diminished sub~antially. ~ -Such articles ar~ often difficult to keep in place during u~e, a~d h~nce they must be e~ther regularly adju~ted, or malntaln~d ln pla~e by tape or ~lmll~r mean~.- Ev~n further, such articles are u~ually quite u~ om~ortable, a~
they tend to be constrictive and to inte~ere with the natural movement of the joi~t. They.al~o cha~ the ~kin~ :
particularly when they bunch up in ~he back o~ the joi.nt durir,g movement.
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Due to these disadvantages, such articles are not used nearly as much as is desirable. Many injuries pro~
bably can be avoided if adequate protective equipment i~ IlRed. :
Accordingly, it is a yeneral object o~ the present : invention to provide an improved elbow/knee guard which ~: overcomes one or more of the disadvantages of the prior ~ art mentioned above.
; It; is another ob~ect of the present lnvention to provi~e such an elbow/knee guard which i~ more com~ortable to wear than the elbow/knee guards o~ the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an elbow/knee ~uard which is configured to conform to the contour of the limb on which it is placed.
It is an additional objeot of the present invention : :
... ! to provide such an elbow/knee:guard which flexes with the movement of the joint but stays in place over the joint without additional restraints such as tape.
~ It is a still further object o~ the present invention : 20 to provide an elbow/knee guard which result~ in only a , minimal reduction, i~ any, of the mobility of the user.

Summary of the Invention acordlngly, the pra~ent lnvention 1~ an ~lbow/knee guard whlch includes a protective pad~ a cover which exten~S around and covers the protective pAd, and means holdi~ the combinatioA of~the pad a~d cover on the elbowJ
knee of the user. The configuration of the protective pad is an important feature of the present invention, as it permit~ a wide degrae of flex of the joint when the article i8 in place without the pad bunching up in any 8pot. ~ha pad ha~ two end edge~ and two longitudinal ed~e~, wherein the lon~itudinll edges each have a generally keyhold-shaped cut-out por~lon located substantially intermsdiate along each longitudinal edge.

~e~cription o~ the Drawing~

~ A more thorough understanding of the invention may be : 10 obtained by a ~tudy of the following detailed de~crip~ion taken in connection with the accompanying drawing3 in which:
~igure 1 is an isometric, partially cut-away view of the elbow~knee guard of the present invention.
~: Figure 2 is a top plan view o~ the protective pad of .
the elbow/knee gu~rd of t~e article of ~igure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan view o~ a half portion of a cover element for the ~lbow/knee guard of Figure 1.
Fi~ure 4 is an isometric view ~howing the comblnation of one ~lastic strap and ltS associated covex.
Figure 5 is an isometric view ofthe elbow/knee guard of ~igur~ howing a collax in exploded relation~hip thexeto. ` ~
~lyu~a 6a 1~ ~ 8id~ ol~v~tlon vi~w 9~ th~ ~rotw tivo ~ :
pad portion of the artlcle o~ Flgure 1 in a relaxed p9~1tlon. :~
Figure 6b is a side elevational view of the pad of ~igure 6a in a flexed po~ition. ``

De~cription of the Preferred E~bodLment Figure 1 ~how~ the elbow~knee guard of the pre~ent invention. AlthougA the confi~uration o.f some of tha parts of the article shown and described herein will differ slightly depending on whether it i~ for use on the elbow or the knee, as will be more clearly explained ; herein~fter, the general configuratlon o~ both art~cles is a~ ~hown in Fiyure 1.
: The elbowJknee guard i~ ~hown generally at 11 ~nd includes a protective pad 13, a cover 15 for th~ pro-tective pad 1..~, two elastlc ~trip~ 17 and 19 which connect ~ the side edge~ of the combination of pad 13 and cover 15 ;: near the ends thereof, and covers 21 and 23 for th~
elastic strips.
The ela~tic ~trips 17 and 19 are short enough that the combined pad ~n~ cover 1~ curved about it~ longltudlnal .. .
axi~ 20-20, so that the article i~ generally tubular, with an openiny lB dufined by the sid~ edg~s o th~ combined pa~ and cover and the inter~or edg0a o~ the elast~ c , strips 17 and 19.
Figure 2 is exemplary o~ the configuration of the :
protective pad 13 u~ed in the elbow~kn~e guard of th~
p~e~ent invention. Its size d~psnd~ upo~ the de~lrad ~inl~had ~12~ O~ the ~rti¢lo, whIle lt~ ~onigur~tion will depend ~omewhat upon wheth~r the articl~ i~ to be used as an elbow or a knee guard. The dim2nsion of the article and it8 constituent parts àre.for a ~ize large.
The di~ensionY of other ~ized article~ are adjusted - accordinyly.
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The pad 13 i~ somewhat wider than ~t i~ long, with the pad ~hown being approximately 7 ~nch~s long and 8 1/2 inches wide~ The top and bottom edgqs 25 and ~7, ~esp-ectively~ are both sub~tantially straigh , although the top edge 25 curves sllghtly at it~ ends, as shown, in the ~nee guard embodiment to mat~ with the neighboring sid~
edge~. Thi~ curve at the end~ of the top edge prevent~
the corner~ from otherwi e bulging ~ut during flexing of the knee. In the elbow guard embodiment, the top corners of the pad are ~quare, in~tead of being rounded.
Th~ two ~ide edge6 29 and 31 of pad 13 extend between top and bottOm edge~ 25 and 27. Each gide edge 29 and 31 -has a sub~tantially central cut-out portion 30 and 32 respectively, which ex~end inward of the article. In the knee pad ~hown in Fi~ure 2, each cut-out portion include~ a ~ir~t pair of edges 33 and 35 which begin (for the lar$e si~a) at approximately ;L 3/4 lnche~ rom the top edge 25 ~nd l 1/2 inche~ fxom the bot~om ed~e, re~pectively. .~ :
For th~ elbow embodiment, the beg:Lnning point~ of the ~O fir~t pair o~ edge~ would be sub~tantially e~ually spaced from the neighb~ring end edges. The fir~t pair of adges ~ :
33 and 35 converge toward ~ach oth~r and inward at an angle of approximatel~ 85 from the vertical, ~or approx-imately 1 1/8 inche~.
A ~e~ond ~a~r o~ sdge~ 37 ~n~ 3~ begln ~om th- en~
o~ edgss 33 ~nd 35, ext~ndlng almo~t dixectly tow~rd eatch oth~r and ~lightly outward at an angle of approximately 25 f~om the vertical, for a distan~e o~ approximately 1 inch lagain for the large size). A thixd pair of edge~

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-41 and 43 begin from ~he end of edge~ 37 and 39, and ex~end slightly toward each other, al~o3t dir~ctly inward of the article, at an angle of 60 ~rom the vertical or a distance of approximately 5/8 inch. The end~ of edges ,~
41 and 43 are approximately 3/8 inch apart. A 3~4 inch, 25 ellipse 45 connects the end of the ~hird p~ir of edges, thus gi~ing the combination of the third pair of edge~
and the ellipse the general appearance of a keyhole.
When the pad 13, conflgured a~ shown, i~ curved about centerline 47, it i8 pos~ible to furthe~ flex the pad ;
:~ about dotted line 49, wlthout distorting the pad, becau~e of the key~ole shaped opening. The rest and flexed po~-ition~ of a por~ion of the pad i~ ~hown in Figure~ 6a and 6b, demonstrating how the key-hole~-shaped opening permit flexing of th~ pad without bunching.
The configuration o~ the ~ide edge~ a~ shown re~ult~
in a pair of matching projectio~ at each end o~ th~
article. Pro~ection~ 22 and 24 are the pair at the top ~: end o~ the article, while pro~ection~ 26 and ~8 are ~t the ~ 20 lower end. The. projecti9ns protect the bone~ and oart- ~;
:. ~ lidge at the ~ides of the limb, above and below the ~oint, :
~and stabilize the pad i~ the cover 15.
.~ Figure 3 shows a one-hal portion of the cover or ~:
the pad 13. The one~hal~ porti4n or cover pi~a~ 51 i8 . pxefarably made ~om a str~tcha~l~ fabric, ~uah a~ ;
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; stretchable nylon. The cover piece 51 6hown i~ fox use with the pad of Figure 2, and i~ 8 ~4 inche~ wlde ~y a 3/8 inche~ long. When pad 13 i8 properly po~itioned relative to cover piece 51, top edge 53 o~ cover pieae Sl is adjacent top edge 25 of pad 13, and bottom edge 55 iR ad~a~ent bottom edge 27 o~ the pad, while ~id~
edges 57 and 59 are adjacent side edges 29 and 31 o~ pad 13, respectively.
The top and bottom edges 53 and 55 of cover piec~
51 are substantially ~traight, while ~ide edges 57 and 59 ~ -have concave cut-out portions 58 and 60 midway along theix lengths~ Cut-out portions 58 and 60. are each appxoximately 3 inche-~ long and 1 inch deep at their deepest points.
~wo identical cover pieces 51, ~titshed along theix respect.ive matiny ~dge~, u~ing stretchable thread preferably, ~orm the coYer 15 for the protectiYe pad 13 Re~errin~ now to Figure 4, two ~trips of elastic material 61, which have approximately the ~am~ width, respectively, a~ each pair o~ projection~ of pad 13, are ;~
: provided to aomplete thc article.~ A cov~r 63 o~ the ~me ~ ~:
stretch materi~l as cover pieae 5]. i~ uqea to co~er each ~:
ela~tic ~tripr Th~ coYar 63 i9 alightly greater than twice the width of the ela~tic ~tr.ip it i~ u~ed with, and :~:
: 2~ about 1/4 inch longer than it~ length, to permit attachme~t of th~ covered ~trip~ to the combined pad and co~err Although the article i~ show~ with two elastic ~trips 17 and 19 with th~ir re~pective co~er~ 21 and 23 m~de of ~tretchable material, in some oase~, the elasti~c strips :25 may be eliminated.
In one method of con~truction, two id~ntlcal cov0r `
: pieces 51 are laid on top o~ each Qther, wrong ~ur~ac~
. out, W'.~i'l one end of each covered el~tic strip inter-mediate ~he two cover piece3 at the projection~ along a ..
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first side o each cQver.piece. The fir~ sides of the two eover pieees are sewn together, and than the mating bottom edges of the cover pieces are sewn. The coYered elas~ic ~rlps are then stretched to meet the mat~hing pro~ections on ths second side~ o the two cover piecest and these sides ~re then sewn together. The article is then turned insi~`e out, and the pad 13 is then in~erted through the open top. The m~ted top edges.o~ the cover pieces are then sewn together, resultin~ in an article which pres~nt~
a clean, attractive appearance, with the pad and two ela~tio strips ~elng completaly covered by the eover O
materi~
The two elastic trips 17 and 19 (Figure 1~ may have different lengths 80 that the opening at one end o~ tha a~ticle i~ ~lightly greater than the openLng at ths other nd. Conceivably, however, thi~ result may ~e accompli~hed in other ways, ~uch a8 by u~ing elaatic strip~ of di~erent .~ .
elasticity. The stxips 17 and 1~ may al~o have dif~erent widths, to match proj~ctions o~ different width~. The artlele i8 placed on the limb ~o th~t the end wlth th~
larger opening i~ on a large muscle, i,e. the thigh or the ,upper a~m, above the joint, and the end with the ~maller openi~g i~ below the joint. In ~ome application~, th~s arxangement i~ important, a~ it ~ubstantially improve~ the ~tabllity o~ the a~ticle on the limb.
The art1~le i9 held tightly about the llmb below the joint. This i~ the control point o~ the article~ as ther~ is relatively little change~i~ the circumfer~nce of the limb balow the joint during exercise. The large limb muscles, i.e. the thigh and upper arm muscles, do howevext su~can ially change ~ize during exeraiset and hence, the article is held somawhat looser abov~ tha ~oint.
The article of the present inventio~ can thus acco~m~date change& in the circu~ference of the limb above the joint during exercise, without affecting the ata~ility of the article on the limb, b~cause the control point of the article i~ below the joint, where change~ in limb cir-c~mference are not laxge.
If necessary, a collar 70, a~ ~hown in Figure 6, may be added to the lower end of the articl~ to a~ist in stabilizing the article on the limb. The coll~x 70 : . is a ractangular piece of cover material, similar to the cover materials for the pad and t}e elastic strips, having a length slightly greater tha~ the circumference of the article and a ~idth of approx~mately 2 1/2 inche~l again for a large size article.
In construction, the rectangular pi~ce i~ fir~t do~bled ;
over and then sewn tog~ther along its end edge~ to ~orm a circl~ T~e ~Lee circular edg~ 72 of the collar are then s~wn, preferably by a ~urge stitch, ~o the lower end , ~ .
- o~ the article, i . ~ ~ the end having the smaller openiny.
Although collar 70 doe4 provide some additional csntrol ~or the article, lt is not critlcal to it~ oper~tion.
Th~ ar.ticle ~hown ar~d de~c~ibed, when ~rsparly ~o~- :
ltloned, t~n~ ~o ~c~maln ln plaoe on 'Lho u~e~
wlthout the need for tape or other ~ecuring ~:a~ ven during extreme mc~vement o~ the limb. The article pxovide~
con~iderable amount of protection for the jOillt, as th~

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protective ~ad covers iboth the join~ it~elE~ and the cartilage and bone on both sides of tlle liimb, both above and below the joint.
By virtue of the novel configuxation of the protectiv~
pad, the article i~ capa~le of flexiny through a large angle witho~ iulying, ~o that it adherea to the outline : of the limb even when tihe limb i8 in various extreme positions, wi~hout buckling or bulking up i~ any spot.
Addii~ioinally, the articl~ is comfortaible to wear, :lO primarily because the back of the article is open, there~y eliminatin~ the bulking up of material ln the back of the ; j~int, as is the case generally with prior art:el~ow and knee ~uard~. The main poiints of ~irm cointact betwePn the elbow/knee ~uard of the present invention and the joint on which it ia positioned are through the ela~ ic strip~ positioned ~ibove and below the joint, In practice, the p~esence o~ these elastic strips has not proven to be.:
either too restLictive or uncomfortable ~or the user.
, Since one elaLtic strip is slightly ~horter ~han the o~her, the end opening~ ~or inaertion o~ the li~ are diferent : :
' sizes. The ~mall~r opening is ~or below the joi~t and the corresponding end is the control point ~or the article on the limb. Thi~ arrangement increa~eL th~ comfort of~the devlce, withollt $n any way in~erfe~ing with the sta~ ty , ~ 25 ~ o~ the article~
~; ~ence, a novel elbow~knee guard has been dî~clo~d which provides better protecti4n~and increa~ed comfort over existing elbow/knee guards, and which doe~ not interfere substantially with the natural movement of the fa~

user. A preferred ennbodiment of the invention ha~ been di~cl~ ~ed herein for purpo~e~ of illustxation of the ~ -invent._on and it should be undex~tood that vaxlous ~hanyes, modi:f icationR and ub3titution~ may be incorporated in the embodim~.at ~hown without departing rom the ~pirit o~
the invention, which i8 defined by the cl~im~ which follow. ~ .

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Claims (9)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An elbow/knee guard, comprising:
a protective pad having two end edges joined by two opposed longitudinal edges, said longitudinal edges each having a generally keyhole-shaped cut-out portion substantially intermediate thereof, such that when said pad is curved about its longitudinal axis when the article is in place on an elbow/knee, said pad may be flexed through a substantial arc about a line passing through the center of the keyhole-shaped cut out portions without distorting substantially said pad;
a cover which extends around and covers said protective pad, forming a combination of said pad and said cover; and means for holding said combination on the elbow/
knee of the user.

2. An article of Claim 1, wherein said holding means includes a pair of elastic strips which extend, respectively, generally between the opposed longitudinal edges of said combination at the opposite ends thereof, wherein said elastic strips axe configured so that said combination is drawn into a curve about the longitudinal axis thereof, leaving an opening defined by opposing portions of the longitudinal edges of said combination and the inside edges of said elastic strips.

3. An article of Claim 2, wherein said combination is sufficiently wide that portions thereof cover portions of the limb en which the article is positioned above and below the elbow/knee covered.

4. An article of Claim 3, wherein one elastic strip is somewhat shorter than the other so that the opening formed by said one strap and the neighboring end of said combination is less than the opening formed by said other strip and the neighboring end of said combination.

5. An article of claim 3, wherein each longitudinal edge of said protective pad includes two projections, wherein each projection extends from an end edge of said pad to a point along the longitudinal edge of which it is a part approximately one-quarter of the length of the longitudinal edge.

6. An article of Claim 3, wherein each longitudinal edge has the following configuration: first and second portions extending substantially perpendicular to said end edges, respectively, of the article, said first and second portions each covering approximately one-quarter of the total length of each longitudinal edge and terminating in free ends thereof; third and fourth portions which extend inwardly of the pad from the free ends of said first and second portions, said third and fourth portions tapering at a slight angle toward each other and terminating in free ends thereof; fifth and sixth portions which extend from the free ends of said third and fourth portions toward each other but slightly back toward the neighboring longitudinal edge, terminating in free ends thereof; and a seventh portion which joins the two free ends of said fifth and sixth portions, said seventh portion being generally in the shape of a keyhole having a base portion and an upper portion, wherein the base portion is sime-what wider at its bottom than at its top.

7. An article of Claim 3, wherein said end edges are substantially straight.

8. An article of Claim 3, wherein said protective pad comprises a resilient material.

9. An article of Claim 3, including a collar which is secured to one end of said combination.