Retaining Assembly for Protective Headgear

The present invention relates to protective headgear, and more particularly to retaining assemblies for the headgear.

Before the present invention, an assortment of headgear has been proposed to protect the wearer's head from blows. The headgear may comprise a shell for covering the wearer's head and a retaining assembly for holding the shell on the wearer's head. The retaining assembly may have a chin cup to receive the wearer's chin and one or more straps extending from the chip cup to the shell. Since the retaining assembly retains the shell by the wearer's chin, an upper blow against the shell is transmitted by the chin cup to the wearer's jaw and ultimately to the wearer's neck, thus posing a risk of harm to the neck. Also, the straps of prior retaining assemblies are rigidly attached to the chin cup, and thus do not permit movement of the straps relative to the chin cup resulting in possibly a poor and uncomfortable fit on the wearer.

A principal feature of the present invention is the provision of an improved retaining assembly for protective headgear.

The retaining assembly of the present invention comprises, a chin cup for receiving the wearer's chin, and a strap having one end for attachment to the headgear. The assembly has means for releasably attaching the other end of the strap to a side of the chin cup.

A feature of the present invention is that the strap releases from the chin cup when the retaining assembly is placed under loads.

Thus, a feature of the present invention is that the retaining assembly permits release of the protective headgear from the head responsive to a hard upper blow to the headgear.

Another feature of the invention is that the retaining assembly thus minimizes the possibility of harm to the wearer's head and neck responsive to the blow.

Still another feature of the invention is that the strap is movably connected to the side of the chin strap.

Thus, another feature of the invention is that the retaining assembly provides adjustment and better conformability of the straps and chin cup to the particular wearer's head.

Further features will become more fully apparent in the following description of the embodiments of this invention and from the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a retaining assembly of the present invention for protective headgear;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the retaining assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially as indicated along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a connecting assembly of the retaining assembly; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of a connecting assembly for the retaining assembly.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a protective helmet or headgear generally designated 10 and a retaining assembly 12 for the headgear 10. Although the helmet 10 is shown in the form of a football helmet, it will be understood that the principles of the invention may be utilized in connection with any other suitable headgear, such as hockey helmets, baseball helmets, crash helmets, or other headgear where protection of the head is desired. As shown, the helmet 10 has an outer shell 14 which is peferably made of a relatively rigid material, such as polycarbonate alloy, a rigid thermoplastic, or a thermosetting resin. The shell 14 has an upper central portion 15, a front portion 16, a rear portion 18, a lower front edge 20, a lower rear edge 22, and a pair of ear protectors 24.

The retaining assembly 12 has a chin cup 26 of conventional type, first and second chin straps 28 and 30 for attachment to the helmet 10, and a connecting assembly 32 for attachment of the chin cup 26 to the first and second straps 28 and 30. Of course, it will be understood that the retaining assembly 12 has a pair of straps and a connecting assembly of the same type on the other side of the chin cup for attachment of the chin cup to the other side of the helmet 10. The chin cup 26 has a pair of opposed edges 34a and 34b, an enlarged central portion 36 to receive the wearer's chin, and a side 38 for attachment to the connecting assembly 32. The first and second straps 28 and 30 have buckles 40 and 42 on associated first ends 44 and 46 of the straps 28 and 30 for attachment to connecting posts on a side of the helmet 10 adjacent the ear protector 24.

With reference to FIGS. 2-4, the connecting assembly 32 has a connecting member 48 and a plurality of housings 50a, 50b, and 50c respectively attached to the other ends 64 and 66 of the straps 28 and 30, respectively, and to the side 38 of the chin cup 26. The connecting member 48 and housings 50a, b, and c may be made of any suitable slightly flexible and resilient material, such as Surlyn, Nylon, or Delrin, trademarks of E. I. duPont de Nemours. The connecting member 48 has three necks 52a, 52b, and 52c which are connected together at one end in the central part of the connecting member 48 and which are disposed at 120.degree. relative to each other in the connecting member 48. As shown, the connecting member 48 has a spherical enlargement 54a, 54b, and 54c at the outer end of each of the necks 52a, b, and c, respectively.

The housings 50a, b, and c have respective spherical cavities 56a, 56b, and 56c slightly larger than the enlargements 54a, b, and c to receive the enlargements 54a, b, and c with the necks 52a, b, and c being received in outer openings 58a, 58b, and 58c in the respective housings 50a, 50b, and 50c, with the openings 58a, b, and c communicating with the associated cavities 56a, b, and c. The openings 58a, b, and c are slightly smaller than the associated enlargements 54a, b, and c, such that the connecting member 48 is normally retained to the housings 50a, b, and c. However, the openings 58a, b, and c are sufficiently large to permit passage of the associated enlargement 54a, b, or c when the housings 50a, b, or c are placed under loads relative to the connecting member 48. Also, the housings 50a, b, and c permit pivotal movement of the connecting member 48 in the housing cavities 56a, b, and c. The housings 50a, b, and c have lower relatively thin outwardly extending tabs 60a, 60b, and 60c, respectively, which may be sewn to the associated straps 28 and 30 and chin cup 26 by lines of stitching 62a, 62b, and 62c, or the tabs 60a, b, and c may be attached by other suitable means, such as by heat sealing.

In use, the buckles 40 and 42 are adjusted on the first ends 44 and 46 of the straps 28 and 30, respectively, and the buckles 40 and 42 are attached to connecting posts on the shell 14 with the wearer's chin being received in the chin cup 26. Since the connecting member 48 is pivotally received in the housings 50a, b, and c, the connecting assembly 32 permits relative movement of the straps 28 and 30 and the chin cup 26 to permit conformability of the retaining assembly 12 to the shape of the wearer's head, thus providing comfort and an improved fit for the wearer. The enlargements 54a, b, and c are normally retained in the associated housings 50a, b, and c, such that the connecting assembly 32 normally retains the straps 28 and 30 to the chin cup 26. Thus, the retaining assembly 12 normally retains the shell 14 on the wearer's head while the chin is received in the chin cup 26. However, when a severe blow is applied upwardly or rearwardly to the shell 14, the force of the blow is transmitted to the retaining assembly 12. When the loads in the connecting assembly 32 are sufficiently large, one or more of the enlargements 54a, b, or c pass through the associated openings 58a, b, or c in order to open the connecting assembly 32 and release the retaining assembly 12 from the shell. Thus, in this manner, the retaining assembly 12 releases the shell 14 from the wearer's chin in order to prevent the blow from being transmitted to the wearer's jaw and neck, thus minimizing the possibility of harm to the wearer responsive to the severe blow.

Another embodiment of the connecting assembly 32 for the retaining assembly 12 is illustrated in FIG. 5. The connecting assembly 32 has three connecting members 70a, 70b, and 70c having inner tabs 72a, 72b, and 72c for respective attachment by suitable means, such as lines of stitching, to the straps 28 and 30 and the chin cup 26. The connecting members 70a, b, and c have outwardly directed necks 74a, 74b, and 74c with a spherical enlargement 76a, 76b, and 76c at the outer end of the respective necks 74a, b, and c.

The connecting assembly 32 has a cylindrical housing 78 with three spherical cavities 80a, 80b, and 80c disposed at 120.degree. around the housing 78, with the cavities 80a, b, and c being slightly larger than the enlargements 76a, b, and c. The housing 78 has openings 82a, 82b, and 82c communicating with the respective cavities 80a, b, and c, such that the enlargements 76a, b, and c are received in the cavities 80a, b, and c with the adjacent portion of the necks 74a, b, and c being located in the respective openings 82a, b, and c. The openings 82a, b, and c are slightly smaller than the enlargements 76a, b, and c in order to normally retain the enlargements 76a, b, and c in the associated cavities 80a, b, and c, with pivotal movement of the connecting members 70a, b, and c being permitted in the associated cavities 80a, b, and c, and openings 82a, b, and c. However, the openings 82a, b, and c are sufficiently large to permit passage of the associated enlargements 76a, b, and c through the associated openings 82a, b, and c when large loads are applied to the connecting members 70a, b, and c.

Thus, the connecting assembly 32 of FIG. 5 operates in a manner similar to the connecting assembly 32 of FIGS. 1-4. The housing 78 permits pivotal movement of the connecting members 70a, b, and c in the housing 78 to permit relative movement of the straps and chip cup. Also, the connecting members 70a, b, and c are normally retained in the housing 78 in order to retain the straps to the chin cup. However, when a sufficiently large load is applied to the straps and chin cup, one or more of the connecting members 70a, b, or c release from the housing 78 responsive to the load in order to permit release of the retaining assembly 12 from the shell 14, thus minimizing the possibility of harm to the wearer's head and neck responsive to a severe blow to the shell.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.