Carbon Fiber Football Helmet with air bag bladder

Abstract

The device of this invention comprises: (1) a multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet with four separate interior air bag bladders for padding; (2) Velcro attachments to the interior air bag bladders that connect to the inside of the carbon fiber football helmet at four points, which include the back of the helmet, the front of the helmet, the right side of the helmet, and the left side of the helmet; (3) a clear polycarbonate military grade face shield, (4) an air pump valve with a hose that is attached to the four interior air bag bladders inside the back of the helmet; (5) nylon hardware that attaches the clear polycarbonate face shield to the multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet; (6) a four point chin strap manufactured by Shock Doctor; and (7) a multi-layer carbon fiber chin guard formed to the carbon fiber football helmet adding strength to the helmet.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM (EFS-WEB)

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to helmets. More specifically, the present invention relates to football helmets.

2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

In the prior art, football helmets allow for head trauma. Thus, there is a need to re-invent the football helmet to help reduce head trauma.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal object to solve at least one of the disadvantages with other attempted solutions or to create other utility by re-inventing a football helmet that helps reduce head trauma by 80% and reduces the weight of the helmet by 50%, using carbon fiber. The football helmet of the present invention uses air bag bladders inside the helmet to replace the heavy padding, which reduces the weight of the football helmet. The air bag bladders also slow down the energy shock to the head that is transmitted from contact from other players or the ground, greatly reducing head trauma.

The device of this invention comprises: (1) a multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet with four separate interior air bag bladders for padding; (2) Velcro attachments to the interior air bag bladder padding that connects to the inside of the carbon fiber football helmet at four points, which include the back of the helmet, the front of the helmet, the right side of the helmet, and the left side of the helmet; (3) a clear polycarbonate military grade face shield, (4) an air pump valve with a hose that is attached to the four interior air bag bladder padding inside the back of the helmet, inside the front of the helmet, inside the right side of the helmet, and inside the left side of the helmet; (5) nylon hardware that attaches the clear polycarbonate face shield to the multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet; (6) a four point chin strap manufactured by Shock Doctor; and (7) a multi-layer carbon fiber chin guard formed to the carbon fiber football helmet adding strength to the helmet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several aspects described below.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the device of the present invention in which at least one of the embodiments of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the device of the present invention in which at least one of the embodiments of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the device of the present invention in which at least one of the embodiments of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the device of the present invention showing a carbon fiber football helmet with a chin bar for added strength and to mount to a polycarbonate military grade face shield in which at least one of the embodiments of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the device of the present invention showing a military grade polycarbonate fiber face shield showing holes for nylon bolts, nuts, and straps to attach it to a carbon fiber football helmet in which at least one of the embodiments of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the device of the present invention showing an air bag bladder with Velcro fabric attached at four points and with nylon fabric inclosing the air bag bladder on all sides in which at least one of the embodiments of the present invention is shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal object to solve at least one of the disadvantages with other attempted solutions or to create other utility by providing a football helmet that decreases head trauma. The present invention involves a new light weight carbon fiber football helmet with an air bag bladder padding to reduce its weight and decrease head trauma.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the device of the present. FIG. 1 shows a multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet 4. FIG. 1 also shows a clear polycarbonate military grade face shield 12. In addition, FIG. 1 shows an air pump valve with a hose 8 that is attached to the four interior air bag bladders inside the back of the helmet 4. Furthermore, FIG. 1 shows nylon hardware 2 that attaches the clear polycarbonate face shield 12 to the multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet 4. Moreover, FIG. 1 shows a four point chin strap manufactured by Shock Doctor 1. FIG. 1 also shows a multi-layer carbon fiber chin guard 14 formed to the carbon fiber football helmet 4 adding strength to the helmet 4. In addition, FIG. 1 shows a lower attachment 3 of the face shield to the chin guard and an upper attachment 2 that uses nylon hardware to connect the face shield to the football helmet 4.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the device of the present. FIG. 2 shows a multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet 4. FIG. 2 also shows a clear polycarbonate military grade face shield 12. In addition, FIG. 2 shows an air pump valve with a hose 8 that is attached to the four interior air bag bladders inside the back of the helmet 4. Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows a four point chin strap manufactured by Shock Doctor 1. Moreover, FIG. 2 also shows a multi-layer carbon fiber chin guard 14 formed to the carbon fiber football helmet adding strength to the helmet 4. FIG. 2 shows a lower attachment of the face shield to the chin guard 3 and an upper attachment 2 that uses nylon hardware to connect the face shield to the football helmet 4.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the device of the present. FIG. 3 shows a multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet 4. FIG. 3 also shows a clear polycarbonate military grade face shield 12. In addition, FIG. 3 shows an air pump valve with a hose 8 that is attached to the four interior air bag bladders inside the back of the helmet 4. Furthermore, FIG. 3 shows a four point chin strap manufactured by Shock Doctor 1. Moreover, FIG. 3 also shows a multi-layer carbon fiber chin guard 14 formed to the carbon fiber football helmet adding strength to the helmet 4. FIG. 3 shows a lower attachment 3 of the face shield to the chin guard 14. In addition, FIG. 3 shows four separate interior air bag bladders for padding 13 at four points, which include the back of the helmet 4, the front of the helmet 4, the right side of the helmet 4, and the left side of the helmet 4. The air bag bladders for padding 13 have Velcro to attach to the interior air bag bladders 13 that connect to the inside of the carbon fiber football helmet 4.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a multi-layer carbon fiber football helmet 4 with a chin bar 14 for added strength and to mount to polycarbonate military grade face shield 12, as shown in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 4, Velcro strips 5 are bonded to the football helmet 4. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, stainless steel snaps 6 attach to the football helmet 4 at four points, two on each side of football helmet 4 attach to a chin strap manufactured by Shock Doctor 1. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, a stainless steel enforcement ring 7 on the inside of the football helmet 4 attaches to the stainless steel snaps 6 on the outside of the football helmet 4 at four points, two on each side.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a military grade polycarbonate fiber face shield 12 showing holes for nylon bolts, nuts, and straps to attach to the carbon fiber football helmet 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, nylon bolts 9 attach the polycarbonate military grade face shield 12 to the football helmet 4. The nylon bolts 9 also attach the straps to the chin bar 14 at three points. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, nylon nuts 10 attach to face shield 12 to football helmet 4 at two points. The nylon bolts 9 also attach straps at three points on chin bar 14. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, a nylon strap 11 attaches the face shield 12 to chin bar 14 at three points. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, a polycarbonate military grade face shield 12 mounted to football helmet 4 at two sides and three points on the chin bar 14 with nylon bolts 9, nylon nuts 10, and nylon straps 11.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the air bag bladder 13 with Velcro fabric 5 attached at four points with nylon fabric enclosing the air bag bladder 13 on all sides. As shown in FIG. 6, Velcro strips 5 are attached to nylon protective cover that encloses the air bag 13. A nylon protective cover around the air bag bladder 13 inside the football helmet 4 attaches to the Velcro at four points to the football helmet 4, two on each side.

As described in the foregoing paragraphs, the device of this invention comprises a chin strap 1, a helmet 4 comprised of carbon fiber, an air pump valve 8, a polycarbonate military grade face shield 12, an air bag bladder padding 13, and a multi-layer carbon fiber chin guard 14.

The air bag bladder padding 13 is attached to the inside shell of the football helmet 4 to protect the head from injury and concussion. The shell of the helmet 4 of this invention is made of a carbon fiber that is very lightweight. This helmet 4 is lighter than a typical football helmet due in part to the lightweight shell of the helmet 4 and the bladder 13, which is filled with air. The helmet 4 has a built in chin guard 14 for added strength. The helmet 4 also has an attachment point for a military grade polycarbonate fiber face shield 12 to protect the user's face. The helmet 4 uses a standard chin strap 1 similar to one manufactured by Shock Doctor. The attachments from the helmet 4 to the padding are with Velcro strips 5 for easy removal. This design of a carbon fiber football helmet 4 with an air bag bladder 13 and a full military grade polycarbonate face shield 12 reduces to total weight by 50 percent and increases visibility. Using an air bladder inside of the helmet 4 greatly reduces the shock to the brain during contact with other players, reducing injuries and concussions.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A new light weight football helmet, comprising:

a. a shell comprised of carbon fiber,

b. an air bag bladder padding,

c. Velcro strips adhered to the interior of the shell for attaching and removing the air bag bladder padding,

d. a face shield, comprised of polycarbonate,

e. a chin guard,

f. a chin strap, and

g. at least one attachment point for connecting the face shield to the shell.