IMPACT REDUCING SPORT EQUIPMENT

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an impact reducing sport equipment for use in connection with absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] The use of protective sport equipment and helmets is known in the prior art. Protective headgear such as helmets has been worn by users to protect from head injuries. Protective helmets have been used for many activities, including for participants in sports, such as but not limited to, football, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, racing, skiing), for commercial activities and for military personnel. Prior art helmets have generally comprised a single layer rigidly secured to the head of a user, or multiple layers including absorbing elements therebetween.

[0005] The known impact absorbing helmets are designed to reduce direct impact forces that can mechanically damage an area of contact. Known impact absorbing helmets will typically include padding and a protective shell to reduce the risk of physical head injury. Helmet liners are provided beneath a hardened exterior shell to reduce violent deceleration of the head. These types of protective gear are reasonably effective in preventing injury. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of protective gear remains limited.

[0006] While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an impact reducing sport equipment that allows absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force.

[0007] Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved impact reducing sport equipment that can be used for absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the impact reducing sport equipment according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provide an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force.

[0008] In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of protective headgear now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved impact reducing sport equipment, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved impact reducing sport equipment and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in an impact reducing sport equipment which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.

[0009] To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a sport equipment for absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force, thereby reducing the impact force. The sport equipment can be a helmet having an outer shell, an inner shell, and a tensile sheet located between the outer and inner shells. The outer shell includes an interior side featuring a plurality of outer shell detents extending out therefrom. The inner shell includes an exterior side featuring a plurality of inner shell detents extending toward the outer shell. The tensile sheet is configured to dissipate and redirect, randomly directed impact force applied to the outer shell, to a tensile loading directed along a respective longitudinal axis of the tensile sheet. The outer and inner shells are in a spaced apart relationship with and movable to each other. The outer shell detents extend toward the inner shell.

[0010] The sport equipment can further include at least one fastener configured to pull the outer shell and the inner shell together, and a coupling member connecting a portion of the outer shell to a portion of the inner shell.

[0011] The outer shell can also include a plurality of outer shell troughs each adjacent to at least one of the outer shell detents, and the inner shell can also include a plurality of inner shell troughs each adjacent to at least one of the inner shell detents. With each of the outer shell detents configured to contact a first side of the tensile sheet, and each of the inner shell detents configured to contact a second side of the tensile sheet opposite the first side.

[0012] The outer shell troughs can be configured to receive a portion of the first side of the tensile sheet and a portion of at least one of the inner shell detents. Additionally, the inner shell troughs can be configured to receive a portion of the second side of the tensile sheet and a portion of at least one of the outer shell detents.

[0013] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.

[0014] The invention may also include an inflatable member configured to apply pressure against the tensile sheet. The inflatable member can be received in a groove defined adjacent a peripheral edge of the inner shell, with a portion of the inflatable member being configured to extend from the groove and contact the tensile sheet. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.

[0015] Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0016] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0017] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved impact reducing sport equipment that has all of the advantages of the prior art protective headgear and none of the disadvantages.

[0018] It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved impact reducing sport equipment that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.

[0019] An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved impact reducing sport equipment that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such impact reducing sport equipment economically available to the buying public.

[0020] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new impact reducing sport equipment that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.

[0021] Even still another object of the present invention is to provide an impact reducing sport equipment for absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force. This allows for converting a portion of an impact force to a tensile force, thereby reducing the impact force.

[0022] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated embodiments of the invention.

[0031] The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.

[0032] Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-7, an embodiment of the impact reducing sport equipment of the present invention is shown and generally designated by the reference numeral 10.

[0033] In FIG. 1, a new and improved impact reducing sport equipment 10 of the present invention for reducing the impact force on sport equipment by dispersing and converting a percentage of the impact force to tension is illustrated and will be described. More particularly, the impact reducing sport equipment 10 can be any sport equipment that receives impact, such as but not limited to, helmets, shoulder protectors, elbow protectors, knee protectors, thigh protectors, hip protectors, shin protectors, wrist protectors, arm protectors, chest protectors, spine protectors, neck protectors, face protectors, torso protectors, and abdomen protectors.

[0034] Alternatively, the impact reducing sport equipment 10 can also be sport equipment not worn by a player, such as but not limited to, baseballs, softballs, bats, hockey pucks, hockey sticks, footballs, polo mallets, walls, boards, backboards, goal posts or ground surfaces. The present application will describe, as an example, an embodiment of the present invention as associated with a football helmet 12. However, it can be appreciated that the present invention can be associated with any impact protection equipment. Thus the following exemplary description does not limit the scope of the present invention to helmets.

[0035] The impact reducing sport equipment 10 can be a helmet 12 having an outer shell 14, an inner shell 20, a tensile sheet 30 between the outer and inner shells, multiple padding or shock absorbing elements 34, and an optional inner liner or harness 36, as best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. It can be appreciated that a face guard and/or chin strips can be removably attached to the helmet 12. Furthermore, vent holes can be defined in the outer and/or inner shells.

[0036] The outer shell 14 includes an exterior side and an interior side. The interior side features a plurality of detents 16 extending toward the inner shell 20, and a plurality of troughs 18. The detents 16 can be, but not limited to, concentric ridges and troughs, radially distributed ridges and troughs, a plurality of protrusions or a sinusoidal profile. An apex or tip of the detents 16 can be rounded, squared or any geometric shape.

[0037] The inner shell 20 includes an exterior side toward the interior side of the outer shell 14 and an interior side. The exterior side of the inner shell 20 features a plurality of detents 22 extending toward the outer shell 14, and a plurality of troughs 24. The detents 22 can be, but not limited to, concentric ridges and troughs, radially distributed ridges and troughs, a plurality of protrusions or a sinusoidal profile. An apex or tip of the detents 22 can be rounded, squared or any geometric shape. The detents 22 and troughs 24 of the inner shell 20 are offset from the detents 16 and troughs 18 of the outer shell 14, so that the detent 16 of the outer shell 14 is receivable in the trough 24 of the inner shell 20 and the detent 22 of the inner shell 20 is receivable in the trough 18 of the outer shell 14.

[0038] The outer shell 14 and inner shell 20 can be made from the same or different materials, such as but not limited to, laminates, plastics, carbon fiber, polycarbonate, polymers, polyethylene, epoxy, metals, composites or alloys.

[0039] The tensile sheet 30 is positioned between the outer shell 14 and inner shell 20, and can be secured at its peripheral edge to either the outer shell 14 of inner shell 20. As an example and as best illustrated in FIG. 3, the tensile sheet 30 is placed over the inner shell 20 and the peripheral edge of the tensile sheet 30 is wrapped around a peripheral edge of the inner shell 20. The peripheral edge of the tensile sheet 30 can then be secured to the interior side of the inner shell 20 so that the tensile sheet 30 is stretched to a predetermined tensile force. The tensile sheet 30 can be, but not limited to, woven, laminated, layered or a fabric made from Kevlar™, Twaron™, Technora™, Innagra S™, Dyneema™, aramid, para aramid, polyamides, Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW), carbon nanotube, graphene, Spectra®, spider silk, carbon/carbon composite, carbon fiber or silicon carbide fiber.

[0040] A coupling member 28 is positioned between the outer shell 14 and inner shell 20. The coupling member is configured to join the interior side or edge of the outer shell 14 to the exterior side, an extension or edge 26 of the inner shell 20. The coupling member 28 can be, but not limited to a rigid member, an elastomeric member, a shock absorbing member, a biasing member, an articulating member or a spring member. The coupling member 28 has a predetermined length so as to produce a gap 32 between the outer shell 14 and inner shell 20. It can be appreciated that different sizes of coupling members 28 can be used to produce a predetermine gap 32, which results in different pretension forces on the tensile sheet 30 and to an amount of travel of the outer shell 14 to the inner shell 20.

[0041] A fastener 38 can be used to attach or couple the outer shell 14 and inner shell 20, as best illustrated in FIG. 3. The fastener 38 can pass through the coupling member 28 or can be associated at any location so as to pull the outer shell 14 toward the inner shell 20, vice versa. The fastener 38 can also be configured to produce a pretension force to the tensile sheet 30 by compressing the outer shell 14 and inner shell 20 so that the detents 16, 22 stretch the tensile sheet 30. The pretension force can be adjusted by adjusting the clamping force produced by the fastener 38.

[0042] As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the helmet 12 is in a pre-impact state where the gap 32 has a first distance D1. It can be appreciated that the gap 32 can be filled with an impact absorbing material, such as but not limited to, elastomers, foams, plastics, rubbers, gels, fluids, gases, polymers, ferrofluids, Sorbothane®, Poron®, biasing members, visco-elastics, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), neoprene, polyurethane gels, carbon fibers or D30®. The pretension force of the tensile sheet 30 has been predetermined and produced by the tension force of the tensile sheet 30 secured to the inner shell 20, the size of the coupling member 28, the clamping force of the fastener 38 or a combination thereof.

[0043] In use, it can now be understood that when a second helmet or object 2 impacts the outer shell 14 of the helmet 12, an impact force IF is produced which pushes the outer shell 14 toward the inner shell 20 to an impacted state having a second distance D2 therebetween. The impact force IF is distributed across multiple detents 16 of the outer shell 14, which travel toward and are received in corresponding troughs 24 of the inner shell 20. Simultaneously, multiple detents 22 of the inner shell 20 travel toward and are received in corresponding troughs 18 of the outer shell 14. The impact force IF is transmitted through related detents 16 of the outer shell 14 to the tensile sheet 30, which stretches the tensile sheet 30. A portion of the impact force IF is converted to a tension force TF radiating through the tensile sheet 30 at the point of impact, thus allowing the tensile sheet 30 to stretch.

[0044] The remaining portion of the impact force or resultant force RF, which is less than the initial impact force IF, is transmitted from the tensile sheet 30 to the multiple detents 22 of the inner shell 20 and distributed to an area that is larger than the point of impact. The resultant force RF is further reduced and dispersed by the multiple padding or shock absorbing elements 34, and the inner liner or harness 36.

[0045] After impact, the outer shell 14 returns to its pre-impacted state and first distance D1, because the tensile strength returns the tensile sheet 30 to its original shape thus pushing against the detents 16 of the outer shell 14. The tensile sheet 30 is configured to dissipate and redirect the impact force IF applied to the outer shell 14, to a tensile loading directed along a respective longitudinal axis of the tensile sheet 30.

[0046] In support of the above-identified claims, the impact force IF absorption and distribution by the tensile sheet 30 can be describes as the following, with the assumption that no fiber breakage occurs under low level of impact energy. When the impact or outer shell detents strikes the tensile sheet 30, the impact force IF can be classified into two quantities. One is the elastic energy which is stored elastically in the tensile sheet and transferred back to the second helmet (impactor) and/or the outer shell detents 16. Another is the absorbed energy which is the sum of the absorbed energy in the tensile sheet and inner shell by its damage initiation and propagation, and the energy absorbed by the impact system in vibration, heat, inelastic behavior of the impactor or supports. Thus, the following relationship described in Equation 1 holds under low velocity, low energy impacts.

E_total=E_reb+E_abs   Equation 1

where E_reb is the rebound energy, E_abs is the absorbed energy, and E_total is the total energy. Thus, a portion of the absorbed energy is distributed through the helmet 12 as the tension force TF, prior to the resultant force RF reaching a person wearing the helmet 12.

[0047] Two types of waves are formed just after impact which is the sudden local momentum transfer at time t=0. The first type consists of radially growing tensile waves through the tensile sheet, and these are followed by much slower transverse waves in the form of growing cones with the point of impact at their apexes. The impactor, which can be treated as the outer shell detents, is decelerated by the membrane forces generated as the waves propagate in the layers made up by the outer shell, tensile sheet, and inner shell.

[0048] It can be appreciated that the size or radius of the detents 16, 22 can be changed to increase or decrease the surface area of the point of contact with the tensile sheet 30 so as to alter the impact force IF distribution to and from the tensile sheet 30. For example, a larger radius of the detents 16, 22 would increase the impact force surface area to and from the tensile sheet 30, thus distributing the impact force IF over a larger area.

[0049] FIGS. 5-7 reference an alternate embodiment inner shell 20, which includes a groove 40 defined in or near the peripheral edge. An inflatable member 42 is received in the groove 40 interior of the tensile sheet 30. The inflatable member 42 includes a nipple or valve 44 for inflating or deflating the inflatable member 42, as best illustrated in FIG. 6.

[0050] In use, the inflatable member 42 can be inflated using the valve 44 so that a portion of the inflatable member 42 expands outside the groove 40. During expansion, the inflatable member 42 will contact an interior side of the tensile sheet 30 and push a corresponding section of the tensile sheet 30 away from the peripheral edge of the inner shell 20, as best illustrated in FIG. 7. This pushing force will produce a gap G between the corresponding section of the tensile sheet 30 and the peripheral edge of the inner shell 20, thus stretching the tensile sheet 30 to produce and control a pretension force on the tensile sheet 30. The pretension force can be adjusted by inflating or deflating the inflatable member 42 a predetermined amount.

[0051] It can be appreciated that the inflatable member 42 can be replaced with a tensioning wire that when tightened by a control dial or lever would pull the tensile sheet 30, and thus produce a pretension force.

[0052] While embodiments of the impact reducing sport equipment have been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. And although absorbing and dispersing, at least in part, an impact force have been described, it should be appreciated that the impact reducing sport equipment herein described is also suitable for any impact absorbing surface.

[0053] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.