PROTECTIVE HELMET CONFIGURATION WITH INTEGRATED FACE MASK WITH SMOOTH TRANSITION ATTACHMENT
A protective helmet including an outer shell, a ridgeline recessed inwardly from the interior compartment of the helmet and protruding outwardly from the exterior surface of the helmet, padding disposed in the interior compartment of the, a facemask made from an ultra-high density high molecular weight polymer coupled to the helmet, and the facemask defines a flat region having a generally planar surface. The flat region of the facemask engages the ridgeline of the interior compartment to provide a smooth transition from the exterior surface of the helmet to the facemask to reduce snagging, catching, or grabbing another facemask or other protective body gear while the helmet configuration is worn during a contact activity
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/710,728 filed Oct. 7, 2012.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a protective helmet configuration with an integrated facemask which attaches on the inside of the helmet's interior compartment along a ridgeline.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various activities, such as contact sports, and in particular the sports of football, hockey, and lacrosse, require the use of helmets to protect the participants from head injury. Head injury may result due to impact forces that may be sustained during contact activities. Various types of helmets and facemasks, face guards, and face shields have been in use in these sports since the initial attempts to protect participants began.
Typically, these helmets consist of an outer shell, generally made of a polymer or plastic material, and having the requisite strength and durability characteristics to enable the helmet to offer impact protection. Additionally, the inside of the helmets may contain a padding cushion the participants head during impact and ensure the helmet properly fits the participant.
Over the years, various improvements have been made to the components of contact sport helmets, but in general, the overall configuration of these components has remained the same. The prior art shows the use of a plastic facemask, but these plastic facemasks were difficult to see through due to their large size which greatly limited visibility. Additionally, the prior art attempts to use plastic facemasks were made with a very dense plastic which required very specialized machinery to mold.
While such conventional protective helmets perform satisfactorily for their intended purpose, recent awareness regarding the detrimental long-term effects that head impacts may have on athletes, particularly football and hockey players, has led to a need for a continued development of improved impact damping technology. Accordingly, there is a recognized need in the art to design and develop alternative technologies that advance the protection afforded to those wearing a protective helmet. While it is the desire and goal that a protective helmet prevent injuries from occurring, it should be noted that, due to the nature of the sports or activities discussed herein, no helmet or device can completely prevent injuries to those wearing protective helmet during those activities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention provides a protective helmet to be worn on the head of a person, the protective helmet comprising, an outer shell defining an exterior surface and an interior compartment, a ridgeline in the interior compartment recessed towards the exterior surface, padding disposed in the interior compartment of the helmet to protect the head of the person, a facemask coupled to the helmet and wherein the facemask defines a flat region having a generally planar surface, and the flat region of the facemask engaging the ridgeline of the interior compartment to provide a smooth transition from the exterior surface of the helmet to the facemask.
ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTIONThus several advantages of one or more aspects is to transition from the outer shell of the helmet to the facemask without a protrusion which may snag, catch, or grab another facemask or other protective body gear while the present helmet configuration is worn during a contact activity.
Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a protective helmet 20 to be worn on the head of a person, is illustrated. It should be noted that the term protective helmet 20 may be used only as helmet 20 in the foregoing description.
Referring to
The helmet 20 may further include a ridgeline 36 recessed in the interior compartment 26 of the front region 28 of the outer shell 22 and protruding outwardly from the outer shell 22 of the helmet 20. The ridgeline 36 may extend from the interior compartment 26 towards the exterior surface 24 and additionally extend between the first region 32 and the second region 34 along the front region 28 of the outer shell 22, as shown in
As shown in
Allowing air to naturally flow through the pathways 46 in the padding 44 and out through the air holes 42 may facilitate naturally cool the head of the person wearing the helmet 20. Additionally, the air holes 42 may allow ambient fresh air into the helmet 20 to be distributed by the pathways 46 to charge the pad assemblies. It should be noted that the helmet 20 could utilize various padding systems, including a padding system with integrated compression bellows. Such a padding system is shown in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/721,186 filed Dec. 20, 2012.
Referring to
As shown in
Providing a smooth transition from the outer shell 22 of the helmet 20 to the peripheral surface 50 of the facemask 40, as shown in
As shown in
Various styles of facemask 40 may be used with the helmet 20 of the present invention. The invention should be read to encompass all styles of facemasks 40, whether plastic, steel, or a steel composite, to accommodate different positions in a contact sport and configurations which a wearer of the helmet 20 may choose as a preference to their respective position. It is known that different levels of protection may be desirable depending on the role of the wearer. For example, a football quarterback may need less facemask 40 structure to allow for a greater field of vision whereas a football lineman may require more facemask 40 structure to provide increased protection during gameplay.
As shown in
As shown in
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings and may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described while within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, that various changes, modifications and variations may be made therein without department from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. The use of the word “said” in the apparatus claims refers to an antecedent that is a positive recitation meant to be included in the coverage of the claims whereas the word “the” precedes a word not meant to be included in the coverage of the claims. In addition, the reference numerals in the claims are merely for convenience and are not to be read in any way as limiting.
Claims
1. A protective helmet to be worn on the head of a person, the protective helmet comprising;
- an outer shell defining an exterior surface and an interior compartment,
- a ridgeline in said interior compartment recessed towards said exterior surface and protruding outwardly from said exterior surface,
- padding disposed in said interior compartment of the helmet to protect the head of the person,
- a facemask coupled to the helmet and wherein said facemask defines a flat region having a generally planar surface, and
- said flat region of said facemask engages said ridgeline of said interior compartment to provide a smooth transition from said exterior surface of the helmet to said facemask.
2. The protective helmet of claim 1 wherein said facemask further includes at least one fillet of concave shape to provide compression force resistance to said facemask during impact.
3. The protective helmet of claim 1 further including at least one air hole extending between said exterior surface and said inner compartment of said outer shell to permit air to flow from said interior compartment to said exterior surface.
4. The protective helmet of claim 3 wherein said padding further includes at least one pathway having channels to direct air from said interior compartment towards said at least one air hole.
5. The protective helmet of claim 1 wherein said facemask is made from a high density polymer.
6. The protective helmet of claim 5 wherein said high density polymer is an ultra-high molecular weight high density polymer.
7. The protective helmet of claim 6 wherein said ultra-high molecular weight high density polymer has a molecular weight between. million and. million Daltons.
8. The protective helmet of claim 1 wherein said facemask is made from steel.
9. The protective helmet of claim 1 further including a plurality of first fastener holes disposed through the helmet between said exterior surface and said interior compartment and a plurality of second fastener holes in said flat region of said facemask and wherein said plurality of second fastener holes are disposed adjacent to said first plurality of fastener holes.
10. The protective helmet of claim 9 further including a plurality of fasteners wherein said plurality of fasteners are disposed through said plurality of second of fastener holes and said first plurality of fastener holes to couple said facemask to the helmet.
11. The protective helmet of claim 10 wherein said plurality of fasteners are externally threaded steel fastening screws and internally threaded T-nuts being threadably engaged to couple said facemask to the helmet.
12. The protective helmet of claim 10 wherein said facemask further includes a plurality of elongated slots recessed in said flat region and over said second plurality of fastener holes to allow lateral movement of said plurality of fasteners within said plurality of elongated slots.
13. The protective helmet of claim 12 wherein said facemask further includes a plurality of grommets disposed around said plurality of fasteners in said plurality of elongated slots to absorb shock from impact.
14. The protective helmet of claim 13 wherein said plurality of grommets are made from of a rubber material.
15. A protective helmet to be worn on the head of a person, the protective helmet comprising;
- an outer shell of polymer material having an exterior surface and an interior compartment and said outer shell further defining a front region and a back region and a first region and a second region,
- a ridgeline recessed in said interior compartment of said front region of said outer shell from said interior compartment towards said exterior surface and protruding outwardly from said outer shell and extending between said first region and said second region along said front region of said outer shell,
- a plurality of air holes extending between said exterior surface and said inner compartment of the said outer shell to permit air to flow from said interior compartment to said exterior surface,
- a plurality of first fastener holes disposed through the helmet between said exterior surface and said interior compartment,
- padding disposed in said interior compartment of the helmet to protect the head of the person,
- a plurality of pathways disposed in said padding having channels to direct air from said interior compartment towards said plurality of air holes,
- a facemask having a facemask peripheral surface and a facemask interior surface and said facemask further defining a facemask first side and a facemask second side,
- a flat region having a generally planar surface formed on said facemask peripheral surface and extending between said facemask first side and said facemask second side and said flat region engaging said ridgeline of said interior compartment of said outer shell,
- a plurality of elongated slots recessed in said flat region of said peripheral surface of said facemask and extending partially through said flat region from said peripheral surface of said facemask,
- a plurality of second fastener holes in said flat region of said facemask disposed adjacent to said plurality of first fastener holes and through each of said elongated slots in said flat region of said facemask between said peripheral surface and said interior surface of said facemask,
- a plurality of steel fasteners having external threads and said plurality of fasteners disposed through said plurality of second of fastener holes and said first plurality of fastener holes to couple said facemask to the helmet,
- a plurality of T-nuts having internal threads matching said external threads of said steel fasteners disposed in said interior compartment of the helmet adjacent said padding and said plurality of T-nuts threadably engage said external threads on each of said plurality of fasteners,
- a plurality of grommets of rubber like material disposed around said fasteners in each of said plurality of elongated slots to allow lateral movement of said facemask when said facemask is coupled to the helmet with said plurality of steel fasteners and said plurality of T-nuts,
- a plurality of fillets being concave in shape disposed on said facemask to provide compression force resistance to said facemask during impact, and
- said flat region of said facemask engages said ridgeline of the helmet to provide a smooth transition from said exterior surface of the helmet to said peripheral surface of said facemask.
16. The protective helmet of claim 15 wherein said facemask is made from an ultra-high molecular weight high density polymer having a molecular weight between. million and. million Daltons.
17. The protective helmet of claim 15 wherein said facemask is made from steel.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 7, 2013
Publication Date: Apr 17, 2014
Inventor: David L. Witcher (Bingham Farms, MI)
Application Number: 14/047,430
International Classification: A42B 3/20 (20060101); A42B 3/12 (20060101);