PROTECTIVE HELMET COVERS WITH INFLATABLE BLADDERS

Abstract

Protective headgear assemblies are provided that reduces the impact forces by spreading them laterally and uses air to resist the impact forces and decrease the rate of deceleration of the human head on impact, can have an energy absorbent inflatable outer shell made of uniformly consistent viscoelastic material in contact with and placed directly on the outer surface of a rigid helmet; the outer shell layer having an inner layer and an outer layer separated into segments by partitions; the segments having openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the outer shell; the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the segments to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining segments on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.

Description

FIELD

The present disclosure is directed generally to the field of sporting goods, and more specifically to protective helmet covers with inflatable chambers.

BACKGROUND

There is increased awareness in the occurrence of concussions as well as other types of head and neck trauma suffered by athletes in contact sports, such as American football and the like. Concussions caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head has the potential to adversely affect normal brain function. Numerous sub-concussive impacts routinely experienced by athletes may also lead to significant cognitive impairment. Thus, the likelihood of long-term cognitive effects may be further increased when one has experienced repeated head injuries or cumulative concussions. (See generally, U.S. Pat. No. 9,314,061 to Hanson et al.) Concerns extend particularly to contact sports where younger children are more frequently exposed to trauma that could lead to injury. Children may be particularly vulnerable to injury in contact sports due to their relatively large head mass and weaker neck support compared to full grown adult.

Protective helmets are commonly worn when there is a possibility of injury to the head in many types of contact sports or other circumstances where head injury is a risk to an individual, such as individuals with certain medical conditions. For example, protective helmets are commonly worn in American football, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, motor sports, winter snow sports, and the like. These helmets are intended to reduce the severity of impacts and vibration to the wearer's head.

Over the years, protective helmets have evolved with advances in technology. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,328,462 issued to Straus is directed to a protective helmet used in American football and has an external soft elastomer layer to absorb/dissipate some of the energy of an impact event. A hardened shell may also be provided and formed as a lattice frame of strips having a plurality of fibers impregnated with resin. Strauss also developed a tough polyurethane foam shell permanently attached to a standard hard helmet with a hook and loop fastener.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,602 issued to Talluri is directed to a multi-layered, impact absorbing, modular helmet in which the preferred embodiment has two layers over a hard casing. The outermost layer has an air chamber ensconced within a highly durable polymeric material with one or more air pressure release valves.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,270 issued to Durr is directed to a sports helmet with an energy absorbent material such as vinyl nitrile sponge (VNS) being a combination of thermoplastic polyvinyl chloride and synthetic elastomer nitrile.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,613 issued to Schulz, U.S. Pat. No. 6,934,971 issued to Ide, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,376 issued to Ide describe American football helmets. The publication “Change in Size and Impact Performance of Football Helmets from the 1970s to 2010” (Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 40, No. 1, January 2012, pp. 175-184) by Viano provides a comparison of prior-art football helmets, including differences in dimensions, construction, and impact performance.

Despite these advances in the art, current helmets may not provide a sufficient reduction of impact severity or reduction of vibrations. Thus, for example, current or traditional protective helmets may no longer be sufficient against concussions in sports such as American style football, where athletes are faster than ever, hitting harder than ever and younger than ever. Further shock absorption advancements for helmets are desired to potentially further reduce or prevent injuries to individuals, and especially children, playing contact sports, both to themselves and to those they impact.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed generally to the field of sporting goods and more specifically to protective helmet covers with inflatable chambers. Inflatable shell configurations for helmets are disclosed, which may include an outer and/or an inner inflatable shell(s) having a single or plurality of air inflated chambers and attachable to a rigid head helmet.

According to one approach a protective headgear assembly that reduces the impact forces by spreading them laterally and uses air to resist the impact forces and decrease the rate of deceleration of the human head on impact, can have an energy absorbent inflatable outer shell made of uniformly consistent viscoelastic material in contact with and placed directly on the outer surface of a rigid helmet; the outer shell layer having an inner layer and an outer layer separated into segments by partitions; the segments having openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the outer shell; the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the segments to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining segments on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.

According to one approach, where the energy absorbent, viscoelastic layer is made of polyurethane, in another approach, rubber. The segment openings can be in the range of about 0.5 cm to about 0.05 cm. The thickness of the inner and outer layers can be in the range of about 0.08″ to 0.250″.

In another embodiment, an additional inner shell layer is provide having an inner layer and an outer layer separated into segments by partitions; the segments having an openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the outer shell; the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the segments to to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining segments on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.

Optional features of the present embodiment can include a detachable neck brace and/or fasteners between the outer shell layer and the rigid helmet such as: hook and loop fasteners, pressure sensitive adhesives, snaps, buckles, composite screws, and combinations thereof, and the like.

According to another approach, a protective headgear assembly is provided that reduces the impact forces by spreading them laterally and uses air to resist the impact forces and decrease the rate of deceleration of the human head on impact, and can have an energy absorbent inflatable matrix of uniformly consistent hollow rubber tubes in contact with and placed directly on the outer surface of a rigid helmet; the hollow tubes having openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the hollow tube matrix; the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the hollow tubes to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining tubes on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing features, as well as other features, will become apparent with reference to the description and figures below, in which like numerals represent like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front elevational view of a helmet with a helmet an inflatable outer shell in accordance with a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side elevational view of a helmet in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a rear elevational view of a helmet in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional view of a helmet in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1 taken along section lines IV-IV in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of a helmet in accordance with the second embodiment as taken along section lines IV-IV in FIG. 2 (outer and inner shells).

FIG. 6 illustrates a front elevational view of a helmet in accordance with a third embodiment (inner shell).

FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view of a helmet in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 6 taken along section lines VII-VII in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 illustrates a front elevational view of an optional attachable neck brace.

FIG. 9 illustrates a front elevational cutaway view of the optional attachable neck brace of FIG. 8 showing the hollow interior.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sectional view of a helmet in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 6 taken along section lines X-X in FIG. 6.

FIG. 11 illustrates a front elevational view of a helmet in accordance with a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a rear elevational view of a helmet in accordance with the fourth embodiment of FIG. 12.

FIG. 13 illustrates a front elevational view of a helmet in accordance with a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a sectional view of a helmet in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 13 taken along section lines XIV-XIV in FIG. 14.

While the features described herein may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

ELEMENT LIST

20    First embodiment of helmet with outer shell inflatable chambers/
      segments (FIGS. 1-4)
20ii  Second embodiment of helmet with outer and inner shell inflatable
      chambers/segments (FIG. 5)
20iii Third embodiment of helmet with inner shell inflatable chambers/
      segments (FIGS. 6-7, 10)
20iv  Fourth embodiment of helmet with outer shell inflatable tube web
      (FIGS. 11-12) can optionally have an outer shell layer to give it
      an overall appearance similar to FIG. 1
20v   Fifth embodiment of helmet with inner shell inflatable tube web
      (FIGS. 13-14)
21    outer shell strap
22    outer shell outer layer (about or .08″ to 0.250″; preferably about
      0.112″ in thickness)
23    rigid helmet strap
24    neck collar option
25    outer shell strap buckle
26    inflatable outer shell
27    rigid helmet strap buckle
28    outer shell partitions between chambers (about or .08″ to 0.250″;
      preferably about 0.112″ in thickness)
30    rigid helmet
31    user
32    outer shell ear hole
33    attachment points for helmet to outer shell (hook and loop
      fasteners, pressure sensitive adhesive, snaps, buckles, other
      types of fasteners)
34    air valve for outer shell (air pressure release valves)
35    openings/orifices connecting air among chambers
36    outer shell strap to connect to neck brace strap (e.g., hook or loop)
37    dimension of orifice opening 35 (e.g., 0.08″ (0.2 cm) or 0.2″-0.02″
      (0.5-0.05 cm) in diameter)
38    neck brace strap to connect to outer shell strap (e.g., opposite hook
      or loop 36)
40    air valve for neck brace
42    outer shell air chamber segments (1 PSI to 30 PSI at rest)(can even
      be tubes)
44    outer shell inner layer (about or .08″ to 0.250″; preferably about
      0.112″ in thickness)
46    helmet internal foam padding
48    collector/connector chamber with air valve
60    inner shell inner surface
62    partitions between segments of inner shell
64    segment air chamber of inner shell of third embodiment
66    inner shell (66) inner surface
68    inner shell (66) outer surface
80    neck collar outer surface
82    neck collar air chamber
84    neck collar inner surface
88    front connecting inflatable tube for fourth embodiment
90    inflatable tubes for fourth and fifth embodiment (allows up to about
      30 PSI air pressure)
92    dimension of distance between inflatable tubes (90) (0.5″ or 0.75″
      or 0.25″-1.00″)
94    outer dimension of inflatable tubes (90) (0.5″ or 0.3″-0.75″)
96    inner dimension of inflatable tubes (90) (0.25″ or 0.15-0.5″)
97    connecting straps or tubes
98    Optional cover

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides inflatable shells for use in reducing the impact to the head during sporting activities. In a preferred embodiment, the present disclosure provides an inflatable shell that covers an underlying hard shell helmet. The inflatable shell provides a durable, energy absorbing outer shell, which lessens the initial impact to the helmet. The outer shell may be formed into inflated chambers that may deform on impact. The outer shell has an inner surface that allows the outer shell to slide over the surface of a helmet thereby reducing forces applied to a wearer. The outer shell can be securely attached to helmets without modification of the helmets. The outer and inner shells may include an adjustable fasteners that allows the helmet cap to be securely attached to helmets of varying dimensions.

Impact absorbing inflatable shells may prevent or reduce injury to a user and other parties in a collision is described. The inflatable shell on the outer side of the hard casing increases the time of impact and thereby reduces the intensity of the impact forces to reduce their injury potential. These inner and outer shells may be made and used as an independent, detachable, external protective cover that may be attached universally over hard casing helmets.

In the present disclosure, inflatable shells configured for helmets are disclosed, which include an outer and/or an inner inflatable shell(s) having a single or plurality of air inflated chambers and attachable to a rigid helmet for a user's head. The inflatable shells can be composed of rubber, energy absorbing polyurethane, other types of polymer material, combinations thereof, and the like. The inflatable shell may include at least one fastener to fasten the shell to the helmet, such as a hook and loop fastener, pressure sensitive adhesives, snaps, buckles, composite screws like used in golf cleats, or other types of adhesives, and the like. Optionally, a strap attachment could be attached to the inflatable shell for attaching the outer shell of the helmet of a user. In one embodiment, the inflatable shell strap can be oriented to follow adjacent to and attach to the strap of the rigid helmet, again using fasteners such as adhesives, hook and loop fasteners, snaps, buckles and the like.

The inflatable shells may be constructed with ear holes, ventilation gaps, and/or an adjustable fastener. In one approach, the inner shell inflated chamber(s) may be manipulated to alter the internal dimensions of the helmet cap. Each of the inflated chambers of the shell may be configured into ribbed, square, trapezoidal, circular, oval, hexagonal shape, a combination thereof, or any combination of these and/or any other shapes.

In variations of the present embodiments, the inflatable shells may be a formed from a single chamber, multiple sealed chambers, and multiple unsealed chambers having air passages between some or all of the chambers of various sizes to be air contiguous but sealed overall as a shell. The size of the air passage are determine by the desired rate of airflow between the passages during inflation, deflation and compression.

The disclosed inflatable shells may have an inner surface that allow the shell to attach to or over/under a helmet on which it is configured, thereby allowing dissipation of forces applied to the helmet when the helmet is impacted. Thus, the head impact by the user or the person or object in contact with the helmet is reduced. Each of the plurality of inflated chambers of the shells may independently deform upon impact with and object where the segments are sealed, further reducing the forces that are ultimately applied to the wearer of the helmet on which the helmet cap is configured. In embodiments where the segments are contiguous the deformation of the segments can be a function of the opening size between the segments. For example, in one embodiment the air passage can be, for example, 0.08″ in diameter (0.2 cm) or alternatively in the range of 0.2″-0.02″ in diameter (0.5-0.05 cm).

The disclosed inflatable shells may be affixed to a variety of helmets, including football helmets, baseball batting helmets, and any other helmets used in sporting activities or where a user is in need of a rigid helmet to protect their head for other reasons, such as for certain medical conditions.

The inflatable shell may have a smooth inner surface providing a friction layer between the inflatable outer shell and the helmet's rigid hard shell, creating to a coefficient of friction to limit any undesired sliding of the inflatable shell during forces that may be applied to a helmet during an impact. A coefficient of friction is a value that shows the relationship between the force of friction between two objects and the normal reaction between the objects that are involved. It is a value that is sometimes used in physics to find an object's normal force or frictional force when other methods are available. The coefficient of kinetic friction is the force between two objects when one object is moving, or if two objects are moving against each other. The coefficient of friction is dimensionless, meaning it does not have any units. It is a scalar, meaning the direction of the force does not affect the physical quantity. The coefficient of friction depends on the objects that are causing friction. The value is usually between 0 and 1 but can be greater than 1. A value of 0 means there is no friction at all between the objects. In the present embodiments, the coefficient of friction could be determined based on the materials and the frictional surfaces that would be needed to prevent undesired slippage between the surfaces on a surface of the shell contacting the rigid element for either inner or outer shells. (See generally, WIKIPEDIA) In this instance a predetermined force would need to be considered as an average force during impact for a contact event, including oblique contact, and to provide contacting surfaces that would not allow slippage under those predetermined circumstances. A rubberized surface could be used in this instance to provide, for example, a coefficient of friction greater than 0.5, and preferably greater than 0.7. On the outer surface of the outer shell, slippage may be desired to deflect an impact, rather than absorb it. If the inflated segments are made of rubber, or other high friction materials, it may be desirable to add an additional coating or layer with less friction. For example, a coefficient of friction less than 0.5, and preferably less than 0.3 would be preferred.

In the present embodiments, the outer shell of the helmet cap may be constructed of material having a low coefficient of friction or have a coating or layer of a desired coefficient of friction. Alternately, or additionally, the inner surface of the shell may have attachment points corresponding to reciprocating attachment points on the helmet, such as a hook and loop fastener at positions 33 in FIGS. 1-2 and 11. Each of the plurality of chambers of the inflatable shells may also include additional layers of rebound foam, closed-cell foam, fabric, such as cotton and/or polyester, neoprene foam, viscoelastic polymer gel, memory foam, polymers, rubber, or any combination thereof of any combination of other materials.

In a modification of these embodiments, the outer layer(s) may be manufactured as an integrated, standalone protective cover that could be universally adapted and incorporated onto any existing helmet to pass on the benefits of using the same.

FIGS. 1-4 show a helmet 20 configuration having a first embodiment of an inflatable outer shell 26. Outer shell 26 has two layers (outer layer 22 and inner layer 44) covering a rigid prior art helmet 30. Outer shell 26 is an inflated air chamber ensconced within a highly durable polymeric or rubber material with one or more air valves (one way inflation valve) 34 (similar to those found on footballs or basketball) to allow a user to inflate the chambers to a desired air pressure (e.g., between 1 PSI to 30 PSI).

Outer shell 26 may be made up of a single air chamber or several, small multiple ones with each such chamber having its own air release valve(s) or opening 35. As shown, the chambers can be separated by partitions 28 between the chambers to form air chamber segments 42. A collecting chamber 48 is segment having the air valve 34 and openings 35 into each segment 42.

The purpose of the openings 35 is to release the air into an adjacent segment 42 and permit the gradual collapse of a chamber when the pressure inside increases from outside contact, while maintaining the structural integrity of the layer. The amount of airflow between segments 42 can be based on the diameter 37 of the opening or by two-way pressure release valves. Multiple openings 35 between segments 42 can also be included as air may be released through alternate valves if one or more valves are directly covered and are involved in the impact area. As shown, the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 only have openings 35 into segment 48, but not between segments 42, though alternative embodiments could be configured this way. The configuration of openings 35 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 allow for a more dampened air flow during impact to offer more resistance to the impact.

Attachment points 33 can be included to provide a more secure fit and connection of outer shell 26 to rigid helmet 30. These attachments can be hook and loop fastener, pressure sensitive adhesives, snaps, buckles, composite screws like used in golf cleats, or other types of adhesives, and the like. Also, as show in FIG. 1, an optional strap 21 can be adjacent to a rigid helmet strap 23, each adjustable by a buckle 25 and 27 respectively to adjust to a user's head/chin 31.

Additional features of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 can include an earhole 32 to be adjacent to the earhole of the rigid helmet 30. A closed or open foam insert 46 can be included to attach inside rigid helmet 30. An optional inflatable neck brace 24 (See, FIGS. 1-3, 6, 8, 9) can attach to outer shell 26 via hook and loop fasteners 36/38 attached to neck brace 36 and outer shell 26 respectively as shown. Neck brace 24 can have its own air valve 40, which is such as found in beach balls and basketballs as described above. Neck brace 24, as shown in FIG. 9 has an interior surface 84 and outer surface 80 and inner chamber 82.

Accordingly, with outer shell 26 firmly attached to the rigid helmet 30, which is made up of another energy absorbent, uniformly consistent material reduced impact to the user is realized. For example, on impact, such as a tackle in football, the first embodiment 20 the first protective layer outer shell 26 increases the impact time (duration of impact) by subjecting itself to deformation. When the pressure on the air within the chamber rises, air released through openings 35 the collapse of the chamber by releasing the air within the same. The pliable material of outer layer 22 and inner layer 44 further deform before the force of the impact, now diminished, reaches rigid helmet 30 lowering the deceleration rate of the user's 31 head.

Thus, in the case of a collision between the user 31 of the first embodiment 20 and an opposing player in football, the absorbing layers increase the time of impact, which reduces the impact force that in turn reduces the potential damage to the opposing player. The same benefits apply in the case of a young child whose hand may get caught between two such multi-layered helmets (in a school football match) or when a bicycle rider using such a helmet has an impact between the helmet and the ground. If the outer shell 26 is damaged, it can be easily detached and replaced with a new one.

When the impact force is no longer in effect, such as when the ball that strikes the helmet has bounced off or when the helmets of the football players are no longer in contact, the elastic nature of the inner and outer walls (22, 44) regain their original shape. During this process of the compressed air transferred into segments 48 and 24 equilibrate to equal air pressure within all the segments. To maintain equilibrium, the adjacent segments while giving out the air contained in their segments (to the ones regaining their original shape) in turn suck in air from the environment through the adjacent opening. Similarly, the elastic nature of the innermost layer makes the layer retain its original shape.

In a modification of the preferred embodiment, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a helmet arrangement 20ii have a similar outer shell 26 configuration, but instead of a foam layer 46 attached to the rigid helmet 30, a second inner inflatable shell 66 is used. Inner shell 66 similarly has an outer surface 68 to attach to the interior surface of rigid helmet 30 in the same fashion as outer shell 26 attaches to the outer surface of rigid shell 30. Inner shell 66 has two layers (outer layer 68 and inner layer 60) separated into segments 64 by partitions 62. Segments 64 all have openings 35 (not shown, though configured similarly to outer shell's 26 collector segment 48 and air valve 34). In an alternate embodiment of the present helmet arrangements 20iii, FIGS. 6-7, 10 show the outer shell 26 removed with inner shell 66 in place.

In another modification of the preferred embodiment, FIGS. 11-12 show an arrangement of flexible and expandable hollow tubes 90 made from rubber, polymers and the like. Although helmet arrangement 20iv is shown as having generally parallel tubes 90, this is only for illustrative purposes and it is understood that many tube patterns and configurations would be possible within the scope of this embodiment. In this embodiment tubes 90 can be separated by a dimension 92 dimension of distance between inflatable tubes 90 of about 0.5″ or about 0.75″ or about 0.25″-1.00″. Outer dimension 94 of inflatable tubes 90 can be about 0.5″ or about 0.3″-0.75″ under ambient air pressure. Tubes 90 can be connected to a collector segment 48 having opening 35 (not shown but similar those in FIG. 3 and having an air valve 35. Tubes 90 can be held in place by attachment within a cap 98 or by connecting to securing straps (or tubes) 97 or by a plurality of fastener locations 33 such as described above.

In yet another modification of the preferred embodiment, FIGS. 13-14 shown a helmet arrangement v employing a web of tubes as in embodiment 20v, but these are arranged and attached to the inner surface of rigid helmet 30. As is additionally shown, tubes 90 have an inner dimension 96 of about 0.25″ or about 0.15″-0.5″ in ambient air pressure. Tubes 90 can be inflated in embodiment 20v to adjust to fit a user's head 31. Tubes 90 can be rated to expand to twice its dimension with 30 PSI.

In yet another embodiment (a combination of embodiments 20iv and 20v) tubes 90 can be placed on the outer and inner surface of rigid helmet 30.

While the embodiments have been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, the present embodiments attempt to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Throughout this specification and the drawings and figures associated with this specification, numerical labels of previously shown or discussed features may be reused in another drawing figure to indicate similar features.

Claims

1. A protective headgear assembly that reduces the impact forces by spreading them laterally and uses air to resist the impact forces and decrease the rate of deceleration of the human head on impact, comprising:

an energy absorbent inflatable outer shell made of uniformly consistent viscoelastic material in contact with and placed directly on the outer surface of a rigid helmet;

the outer shell layer having an inner layer and an outer layer separated into segments by partitions;

the segments having openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the outer shell; and

the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the segments to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining segments on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.

2. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, where the energy absorbent, viscoelastic layer is made of polyurethane.

3. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, where the energy absorbent, viscoelastic layer is made of rubber.

4. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, where the segment openings are in the range of about 0.5 cm to about 0.05 cm.

5. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the inner and outer layers are in the range of about 0.08″ to 0.250″.

6. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, further comprising an inner shell layer having an inner layer and an outer layer separated into segments by partitions;

the segments having an openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the outer shell;

the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the segments to to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining segments on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.

7. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, further comprising a detachable neck brace.

8. The protective headgear assembly of claim 1, further comprising fasteners between the outer shell layer and the rigid helmet selected from the list consisting of: hook and loop fasteners, pressure sensitive adhesives, snaps, buckles, composite screws, and combinations thereof.

9. A protective headgear assembly that reduces the impact forces by spreading them laterally and uses air to resist the impact forces and decrease the rate of deceleration of the human head on impact, comprising:

an energy absorbent inflatable matrix of uniformly consistent hollow rubber tubes in contact with and placed directly on the outer surface of a rigid helmet;

the hollow tubes having openings into a common collector segment having an air valve to receive air from outside of the hollow tube matrix;

the openings providing a restricted passage for the air in the hollow tubes to escape into the collector segment then distributed into remaining tubes on impact, then returning to equilibrium after the impact.