HELMET FOR PLAYING SPORTS

Abstract

A helmet for wearing by a sports player comprises: a bubble-shaped body having a hollow interior surrounded by a wall and an opening formed in the wall for inserting a head of the player, and a fastening device for releasably fastening the body to shoulder pads being worn by the player. At least a portion of the wall is formed of a transparent material. Alternate designs are also disclosed, including a helmet constructed of a plastic-coated wireframe, and a non-transparent plastic helmet with a face mask, where in all cases the helmet is rigidly but releasably attached to a chest pad or shoulder pad worn by the player, so that impact forces on the helmet are not transferred to the player's head.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the priority date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/559,708, titled HELMET FOR PLAYING SPORTS, filed Sep. 18, 2017.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to various protective headgear and helmets and, more particularly, to helmets and corresponding upper torso equipment worn for playing the game of football, where the helmet attaches to a shoulder pad or chest pad in order to reduce impact forces and bending motions transferred to the player's head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

Various activities, such as contact sports, and in particular the sport of American football, known generally in the United States simply as “football,” require the use of helmets to attempt to protect participants from injury to their heads due to impact forces that may be sustained during such activities. Various types of helmets have been in use in the sport of football, ever since participants began wearing helmets in an attempt to protect their heads. Typically, these helmets have included: an outer shell, generally made of an appropriate plastic material, having the requisite strength and durability characteristics to enable them to be used in the sport of football; some type of shock absorbing liner within the shell; a face guard; and a chin protector, or chin strap, that fits snugly about the chin of the wear of the helmet, in order to secure the helmet to the wearer's head.

An existing helmet design seen on players of most football teams includes a hard shell plastic helmet. This design is intended primarily to protect the wearer's head from impact. The impact is cushioned by a shock absorbing liner of foam plastic padding surrounding the head. Elaborate testing of the impact force that the helmet can sustain before failure of the hard shell is used to evaluate the design.

There are several problems with this design. First, the wearer of the helmet is somewhat protected from impact by the spreading of the impact force to the head by the foam padding to a larger area of head, thus limiting impact damage, such as a concussion. However, the impact force is still absorbed by the head itself and transferred from the wearer's skull to the brain. Second, a further problem is the effect of the wearer's helmet impacting an opposing player. The hard shell design acts as a “battering ram” against any part of the opposing player's body. This has caused various injuries to the wearer as well as the opposing player, such as a concussion, broken bones, and even spinal injury. Third, another problem is that there is no protection from an impact causing the wearer's head to rotate far enough on the spinal column to cause injury to the spine; which in extreme cases can result in paralysis. The range of motion to avoid cervical spine injury has been determined by several medical organizations. No protection against spinal injury due to motion of the head beyond these limits is offered by existing helmet designs.

It should be noted that while it is the desire and goal that a football helmet, and other types of protective helmets, prevent injuries from occurring, the helmet of the present technology, as well as prior art helmets, due to the nature of the sport of football in particular, no protective equipment or helmet can completely and totally prevent injuries to those individuals playing the sport of football. Furthermore, no protective equipment can completely prevent injuries to a player, if the football player uses his football helmet in an improper manner, such as to butt, ram, or spear an opposing player, in violation of the rules of football. Improper use of a helmet to butt, ram, or spear an opposing player can result in severe head and/or neck injuries, paralysis, or death to the football player, as well as possible injury to the football player's opponent. No football helmet, or protective helmet, such as that of the present technology, can completely prevent head, chin, or neck injuries a football player might receive while participating in the sport of football. The helmet of the present technology is believed to offer protection to football players, but it is believed that no helmet can, or will ever, totally and completely prevent head injuries or other various types of injuries to football players.

The present technology provides an improved helmet that addresses shortcomings of existing helmets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A helmet for wearing by a sports player comprises: a bubble-shaped body having a hollow interior surrounded by a wall and an opening formed in the wall for inserting a head of the player, and a fastening device for releasably fastening the body to shoulder pads being worn by the player. At least a portion of the wall is formed of a transparent material.

The helmet includes a padded head cap adapted to be worn on the head of the player to protect the player from a head injury should the head cap contact an inside surface of the wall. A plurality of ventilation apertures is formed in the wall of the body permitting the transmission of air and sound through the wall. One of the apertures is aligned with a mouth of the player when the player is wearing the helmet and another one of the apertures is aligned with an ear of the player when the player is wearing the helmet.

The helmet may include at least one of a color, a design and a logo on the body and being visible from outside the helmet. The body can have a “light bulb” shape.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above as well as other advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a helmet according to the invention being worn by a sports player;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the player's head at a maximum tilt to one side;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the helmet and the player shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the player's head at a maximum rearward tilt;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the player's head at a maximum forward tilt;

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of an alternate embodiment helmet according to the invention being worn by the sports player;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the helmet and the player shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of the helmet shown in FIG. 6 showing the helmet attachment device;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the helmet shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a schematic front view of an alternate embodiment helmet according to the invention;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11 with typical dimensions shown;

FIG. 13 is top plan view of the helmet shown in FIGS. 11 and 12;

FIG. 14 is a schematic exploded front view of another alternate embodiment helmet assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic exploded back view of the helmet assembly shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a schematic exploded left side view of the helmet assembly shown in FIG. 14; and

FIG. 17 is a top plan view of the helmet shown in FIGS. 14-16.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following detailed description and appended drawings describe and illustrate various exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description and drawings serve to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner. In respect of the methods disclosed, the steps presented are exemplary in nature, and thus, the order of the steps is not necessary or critical.

All head protection to date has been with the football helmet separate from the rest of the player's uniform. Thus, all efforts to prevent head or neck injury have been with the helmet only supported by the head and neck of the player. Efforts have concentrated on several types of padding between the rigid helmet and the player's head. Still, severe concussion (CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) to the brain and or spinal injuries continue to occur. Since ONLY the player's head supports the helmet, then only the head and neck can absorb impacts.

Although recent designs, such as the Barr system (see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/945,948) do help to transfer impact more uniformly around the head, the HEAD, thru the neck, is the only support.

A main purpose of the present invention is to isolate the head from the helmet such that impact to the helmet NEVER impacts on the head, and the head and neck cannot be bent or twisted by the helmet.

As can be seen in FIG. 1 and the other accompanying drawings, a clear, generally bubble-shaped helmet 10 is not attached to a head 11 of a player 12 but, rather, to the upper body protection consisting of shoulder pads 13 and accompanying attachments, such as straps, laces, etc. that secure the shoulder pads 13 to the player. The helmet assembly 10 is RIGIDLY but removably attached to the shoulder pad assembly 13 by a fastener or attachment device 14. The player 12 is free to move his head 11 as needed for game play WITHIN the helmet “bubble” 10. With the only restraint being that the head 11, if “whiplashed”, cannot move enough within the helmet 10 to cause spinal or “whiplash” injury. This is similar to the head movement limitations seen in the above-identified Barr patent application as well as in the HANS (head and neck safety) device used by many race car drivers.

In order to enable the player 12 to see in different directions by moving his head 11 and eyes, the helmet 10 has a wall 15 formed of clear or transparent material in these sight directions. Thus, there are only a few areas around the helmet “bubble” (mostly in the rear and rear side areas) that can be opaque for application of team colors 16, logos 17, etc. as shown in FIG. 7.

As seen in FIG. 2, the player 12 is able to tilt his/her head 11 to the side enough to contact the inside surface of the wall 15. For example, the wall 15 can have an interior dimension such that contact occurs at a 20° tilt. This angle is selected to militate against spinal injury. The head 11 is protected upon contact with the wall 15 by a head cap 18 worn on the head 11. The head cap 18 includes padding 19 for contact with the wall 15.

The helmet 10 includes a plurality of ventilation apertures 20 (FIG. 1) formed in the wall 15 permitting the transmission of air and sound through the wall. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, a mouth aperture 21 is formed in the wall 15 aligned with a mouth of the player 12 when the player is wearing the helmet 10. The mouth aperture 21 is of suitable size and shape to permit the player 12 wearing the helmet 10 to insert and remove a mouthpiece (not shown), and to actuate the attachment device 14, if necessary. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, an ear aperture 22 is aligned with an ear of the player 12 when the player is wearing the helmet 10.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show side views of the player 12 wearing the helmet 10, illustrating maximum rearward tilt (FIG. 4) and maximum forward tilt (FIG. 5) of the head 11. In either case, the padding 19 of the head cap 18 contacts the wall 15 of the helmet 10 when the maximum allowable tilt angle (such as 20°) is reached. Various sizes of the helmet 10 and the head cap 18 may be provided, such that any individual player 12 may be equipped with a helmet system which limits the maximum fore/aft and side-to-side head tilt angles to the desired value.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an alternate shape helmet 30 according to the invention being worn by the sports player 12. The helmet 30 has a transparent wall 31 to which the team colors 16 and the logo 17 can be applied. The helmet 30 has a “light bulb” shape allowing the top to bottom distance to be reduced while maintaining the same spacing for tilting the head 11.

The attachment device 14 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 8-10. The helmet 30 includes a plurality of pins 33 fixed to the outer rim, positioned at the opening for the head 11 of the player 12 formed in the wall 31. Although four pins 33 are shown, more or fewer of the pins 33 can be used. The pins 33 extend horizontally outwardly from the head opening. A ring 34 is secured to the shoulder pads 13 surrounding an opening for the neck of the player 12. The ring 34 is formed of a suitable material such as a hard rubber. A plurality of arcuate grooves 35 are formed in the ring 34 open toward a center of the ring. Corresponding ends of the grooves 35 are open to an upper surface of the ring 34 to accept the pins 33 as the helmet is lowered over the head 11. When the pins 33 are aligned with a longitudinal axis of each associated groove 35, the helmet 30 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 9 to move each of the pins 33 to the closed end of the associated groove 35 thereby releasably attaching the helmet 30 to the shoulder pads 13. The attachment device 14 is also used with the helmet 10 as shown in FIG. 1. Other devices can be used to releasably attach the helmets 10 and 30 to the shoulder pads 13.

FIGS. 11-13 show an alternate embodiment helmet 40 having the “light bulb” shape formed from a plurality of rods or wires 41 extending in a vertical direction or plane between a cap 42 and a ring 43 to be secured to shoulder pads. The rods or wires 41 are formed of a suitable material such as a heavy gage metal coated with a plastic, similar to the face masks or cages used on existing football helmets, hockey or lacrosse helmets, etc. The cap 42 can be formed of a solid sheet of a metal or plastic material. The attachment device 14 of FIGS. 8-10 can be used with the helmet 40 by including the pins 33 around the outside of the ring 43. The helmet 40 is also designed to be worn with the head cap 18 described above, which limits the movement of the player's head 11 to prescribed maximum tilt angles.

FIGS. 14-17 show an alternate embodiment helmet assembly including a helmet 50, a pair of shoulder pads 51 and a chest pad 52 to be worn by a player. The helmet 50 is similar to a conventional helmet (shown as inset images in FIGS. 14 and 16) with a hard shell 53 extending adjacent a rear, top and partial sides of the head of the player. The face of the player is protected by a wire mask 54. However, unlike a conventional football helmet, the shell 53 and the mask 54 are sized to permit movement of the head of the player inside the helmet 50. That is, when the player's head tilts or swivels, the helmet 50 does not move with the head, but instead remains aligned and oriented with the player's upper body as discussed below.

Extending downwardly from a bottom edge of opposite sides of the shell 53 are two attachment tabs 55. The tabs 55 cooperate with two receivers 56 formed in the chest pad 52 as an attachment device to releasably but rigidly connect the helmet 50 to the chest pad 52. In turn, the chest pad 52 is connected to the shoulder pads 51. Thus, the helmet 50, the shoulder pads 51 and the chest pad 52 form an assembly whereby impacts to the helmet 50 are transferred into the shoulder pads 51 and the chest pad 52 instead of to the player's head. The shoulder pads 51 and the chest pad 52 are attached to the player's upper body in any suitable manner, such as with laces, under-arm straps, etc., as discussed previously.

The attachment of the tabs 55 to the receivers 56, and the corresponding detachment, may be embodied and actuated in any suitable fashion. For example, the tabs 55 may plug into the receivers 56 with a snap-in type action, where the tabs 55 automatically latch when pressed into the receivers 56. In this case, the detachment may be accomplished by pressing a button, pulling a lever, or pulling a strap or cord, any of which may be located on an inside surface or an outside surface of the chest pad 52. A similar design could be realized where an action is required in order to latch the tabs 55 to the receivers 56, where the action could be the turning of a knob or pushing down a lever (or two knobs/levers, one on each side), and the reverse action would unlatch the tabs 55 (and thus the helmet 50) from the receivers 56 (the chest pad 52). In any attachment scheme, the requirement is to releasably but rigidly connect the helmet 50 to the chest pad 52.

The helmet designs disclosed above, along with the corresponding equipment worn on the player's upper torso, represent a fundamental change and improvement in equipment design. By isolating the player's head from physical blows to the helmet, and preventing the helmet from forcibly bending or twisting the player's head/neck, the disclosed helmets offer a new type of protection from head and neck injuries.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.

Claims

1. A helmet for wearing by a sports player comprising: a body having a hollow interior surrounded by a wall and an opening formed in the wall for inserting a head of the player, and an attachment device for releasably attaching the body to shoulder pads being worn by the player.

2. The helmet according to claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the wall is formed of a transparent material.

3. The helmet according to claim 1 including a padded head cap adapted to be worn on the head of the player to protect the player from a head injury should the head cap contact an inside surface of the wall.

4. The helmet according to claim 1 including a plurality of ventilation apertures formed in the wall permitting the transmission of air and sound through the wall.

5. The helmet according to claim 4 wherein one of the apertures is a mouth aperture aligned with a mouth of the player when the player is wearing the helmet.

6. The helmet according to claim 5 wherein the mouth aperture has a size and shape permitting the player wearing the helmet to insert and remove a mouthpiece.

7. The helmet according to claim 4 wherein one of the apertures is an ear aperture aligned with an ear of the player when the player is wearing the helmet.

8. The helmet according to claim 1 wherein at least one of a color, a design and a logo on the body and being visible from outside the helmet.

9. The helmet according to claim 1 wherein the body has a “light bulb” shape, where a horizontal plane diameter of the body is sized to prevent a fore-aft or side-to-side tilt of the head of the player from exceeding a predefined maximum allowable angle, and vertical height of the body is minimized while allowing clearance to a top of the head of the player.

10. The helmet according to claim 1 wherein the attachment device includes a plurality of pins positioned at the opening cooperating with a plurality of grooves formed in a ring attached to the shoulder pads.

11. The helmet according to claim 1 wherein the wall is formed of a plurality of wires or rods extending in a vertical direction and spaced around a ring at the opening.

12. The helmet according to claim 11 wherein the rods or wires are formed of a plastic coated material.

13. The helmet according to claim 11 including a cap positioned at the top of the body to which the wires or rods are attached, said cap being formed of a metal or plastic material.

14. The helmet according to claim 1 wherein the body is bubble-shaped, having a generally spherical main portion and a narrowed neck portion with an outward flare at the opening.

15. A helmet assembly for wearing by a sports player comprising: a helmet; a pair of shoulder pads; a chest pad connected to the shoulder pads; and an attachment device releasably attaching the helmet to the chest pad when the helmet assembly is worn by the player.

16. The helmet assembly according to claim 15 wherein the helmet includes a hard shell with a wire mask and the helmet is sized to allow movement of the player's head inside the helmet.

17. A helmet assembly for wearing by a sports player comprising: a helmet body having a hollow interior surrounded by a wall and an opening formed in the wall for inserting a head of the player, an attachment device for releasably and rigidly attaching the helmet body to upper body pads being worn by the player, and a padded head cap adapted to be worn on the head of the player, where the hollow interior is sized to allow the head of the player to move freely inside the helmet body, and the head cap includes padding which is configured to contact an interior surface of the wall if the head of the player tilts fore-aft or side-to-side by a predefined maximum allowable angle.

18. The helmet assembly according to claim 17 wherein the helmet body is generally spherical in shape and at least a portion of the wall is formed of a transparent material, and where the attachment device includes a plurality of pins positioned at the opening cooperating with a plurality of grooves formed in a ring attached to the upper body pads.

19. The helmet assembly according to claim 17 wherein the helmet body is formed of a plurality of wires or rods each positioned in a vertical plane and spaced around a first ring at the opening, and where the attachment device includes a plurality of pins positioned around an outside of the first ring cooperating with a plurality of grooves formed in a second ring attached to the upper body pads.

20. The helmet assembly according to claim 17 wherein the helmet body includes a hard shell extending adjacent a rear, top and partial sides of the head of the player and a wire mask adjacent a front of the head of the player, and where the attachment device includes two attachment tabs extending downwardly from a bottom edge of opposite sides of the hard shell, where the tabs cooperate with two receivers formed in the upper body pads.