REMOVING PADS WITHIN A HELMET CONTACTING A WEARER'S HEAD WHILE MINIMIZING MOVEMENT OF THE WEARER'S HEAD DURING REMOVAL
Pads on an interior of a helmet contact portions of a wearer's head to secure the helmet to the wearer's head. To simplify removal of the helmet from the wearer's head, an exterior surface of a helmet includes an opening and a pad, or a receptacle plate to which a pad is coupled, includes a fastener opening. The opening in the helmet and the fastener opening in the pad are aligned and a fastener is inserted into the opening in the helmet so fastener is also inserted to the fastener opening in the pad, securing the pad to an interior surface of the helmet. To remove the pad from the interior of the helmet, the fastener is removed from the fastener opening in the pad. As the fastener is accessible from the exterior surface of the helmet, the pad may be removed with minimal movement of the wearer's head.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/276,663, filed Jan. 8, 2016, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDThis invention relates generally to protective helmets, and more specifically to removing pads within a protective helmet contacting a wearer while minimizing movement of the wearer's head during removal.
In many applications, helmets protect wearers' heads from impact to provide wearers with protection from injury. For example, helmets protect participants in football and lacrosse from injury caused by impact to the participants' heads. Pads included in an interior of a helmet contact portions of a wearer's head and aid to securing the helmet to the wearer's head. Many helmets include jaw pads positioned along an interior surface of the helmets and contacting a wearer's jaw when the helmet is worn.
However, during certain emergency situations, for example when a head, neck, or spine injury has been sustained, pads in a helmet's interior aiding in securing the helmet to the wearer's head may complicate removal of the helmet from the wearer's head. For example, jaw pads are conventionally secured to a helmet through hook and loop fasteners or snap fasteners. If a jaw pad is to be removed from a helmet while a wearer's head is in the helmet, conventional fasteners require prying the jaw pad away from the interior surface of the helmet to release the fasteners, which may cause undesirable movement of the wearer's head that may increase a risk of injury to the wearer.
SUMMARYPads, such as jaw pads, on an interior of a helmet contact portions of a wearer's head to secure the helmet to the wearer's head. In certain situations, such as when a head, neck, or spine injury has been sustained, minimizing movement of the wearer's head while removing the helmet from the wearer's head is desirable. However, contact between pads and portions of the wearer's head securing the helmet to the wearer's head may make removal of the helmet difficult without moving the wearer's head.
To simplify removal of the helmet from the wearer's head, pads may be removed from contacting the wearer's head via various mechanisms that couple a pad to an interior of the helmet while allowing the pad to be removed from the helmet with minimal movement of the wearer's head or minimal rotation or translation of the wearer's cervical spine or occipital joint. However, these mechanisms maintain attachment of the pad to the interior of the helmet under normal circumstances when inadvertent detachment would be undesirable. For example, an exterior surface of a helmet includes an opening, while a pad assembly includes a fastener opening. In some embodiments, the pad assembly is a jaw pad to which a fastener opening is coupled through any suitable method. Alternatively, the pad assembly comprises the jaw pad coupled to a receptacle plate that includes the fastener opening.
The opening in the helmet and the fastener opening in the pad assembly are aligned and a fastener is inserted into the opening in the helmet, which is configured so the fastener is also inserted to the fastener opening in the pad assembly (or in the receptacle plate) to secure the pad assembly to an interior surface of the helmet. The fastener may secure the pad assembly to the interior surface of the helmet through any suitable mechanism, such as a threaded interconnection, a spring, an adhesive, or a cam retention feature. As another example, the fastener is a snap post and the fastener opening of the pad assembly comprises a snap base into which the snap post snaps to secure the pad assembly to the interior surface of the helmet. To remove the pad from the interior of the helmet, the fastener is removed from the fastener opening of the pad assembly, allowing the pad assembly to be repositioned relative to the interior surface of the helmet. As the fastener is accessible from the exterior surface of the helmet, the pad assembly may be removed from the interior of the helmet with minimal movement of the wearer's head.
Various other mechanisms may be used to couple a pad to the interior surface of the helmet while simplifying removal of the pad from the interior surface of the helmet. For example, a removable adhesive is applied to a surface of the pad and the surface of the pad to which the adhesive was applied is affixed to the interior surface of the helmet. As another example, the pad comprises a core material encased by a covering. An opening is created in the covering and the core material is removed from the pad via the opening, decreasing contact between the pad and the wearer's head to allow the helmet to be more easily moved relative to the wearer's head. Alternatively, a connector is threaded through an opening in an exterior surface of the helmet into an opening in a pad so the connector is accessible from the exterior surface of the helmet. Tension is applied to the connector to secure the pad to an interior surface of the helmet. To remove the pad, the connector is removed via the exterior surface of the helmet, allowing the pad to move relative to the interior surface of the helmet.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION Removable Securing a Jaw Pad to an Interior Surface of a HelmetAny suitable type of fastener 125 may be used to secure the pad assembly 100 to the interior surface of the helmet 105. As an example, the opening 120 in the helmet 105 and the fastener opening 115 in the pad assembly 100 are threaded, and the fastener 125 is a screw. Alternatively, the fastener opening 115 in the pad assembly includes a ball detent and the fastener 125 comprises a hollow cylinder including a ball and a spring or a living hinge applying pressure to the ball; when the ball in the fastener 125 is aligned with the detent in the fastener opening 115, the ball is partially inserted into the detent. As another example, the fastener 125 is a cam screw and the fastener opening 115 in the pad assembly 100 includes a cam lock nut to secure the pad assembly 100 to the interior surface of the helmet 105. As an additional example, the fastener 125 is a quarter-turn fastener configured to be secured to a portion of the fastener opening 115 of the pad assembly 100 when the fastener 125 is rotated one-quarter turn from a reference position. In other embodiments, the fastener 125 and the fastener opening 115 in the receptacle plate 110 may use any suitable securing mechanism. As another example, the fastener 125 is a snap post and the fastener opening 115 of the pad assembly comprises a snap base into which the snap post is snapped to secure the pad assembly 100 to the interior surface of the helmet 105. Examples of alternative securing mechanisms include: a rotational ball lock, a push-pull ball lock, a push-pull spring lock, and a magnetic locking mechanism; however, any suitable securing mechanism may be used in other embodiments. During normal maintenance of the helmet 105, the pad assembly 100 is removed from the fastener 125, while the fastener 125 remains secured into the opening 120 in the helmet 105.
In an emergency injury situation, to remove the jaw pad 100 from the helmet 105, the fastener 125 is removed from the opening 115 in the pad assembly 100, causing causes the pad assembly 100 to become unsecured from the interior surface of the helmet 105. In some embodiments, the pad assembly 100 is compressed against the fastener 125 so that the fastener 125 is ejected from the fastener opening 115 when it is loosened more than a threshold amount from the fastener opening 115. Alternatively, the fastener opening 115 in the pad assembly 100 includes a spring that is compressed when the fastener 125 is secured in the fastener opening 115 and ejects the fastener 125 from the fastener opening 115 when the fastener 125 is loosened at least a threshold amount from the opening 115. With the fastener 125 removed from the opening 115 in the pad assembly 100, the pad assembly 100 can be moved vertically relative to the wearer's head, allowing the pad assembly 100 to be moved from its position on the interior of the helmet 105 to an opening at the base of the helmet 105 to remove the pad assembly 100 from the interior of the helmet 105 without moving the wearer's head. Removing the pad assembly 100 from the interior of the helmet 105 allows more freedom of movement for the wearer's jaw without removing the helmet 105 from the wearer's head. Additionally, removing the pad assembly 100 from the interior of the helmet 105 allows the helmet 105 to be lifted vertically away from the wearer's head without movement or undue pressure to the wearer. While
As shown in
The jaw pad 600 in
In other embodiments, a jaw pad includes an adjustment mechanism configured to modify contact between the jaw pad and a portion of a wearer's head when a helmet including the jaw pad is worn. The adjustment mechanism may be any mechanism capable of modifying positioning of the jaw pad relative to the wearer's head. Example adjustment mechanisms include: a ratcheting mechanism coupled to a surface of the jaw pad and coupled to an interior surface of a helmet, a spring pin, a bladder coupled to an interior surface of the helmet and to the surface of the jaw pad (e.g., filling the bladder with a gas or with a liquid expands the bladder and pushes the jaw pad towards an interior of the helmet). To remove the helmet in certain situations, the adjustment mechanism is modified to reduce contact between the jaw pad and the portion of the wearer's head. After reducing contact between the jaw pad and the wearer's head, the helmet may be moved vertically relative to the wearer's head for removal. For example, if the adjustment mechanism is a bladder, air or liquid is removed from the bladder to move the jaw pad away from the interior of the helmet, which reduces contact between the jaw pad and the portion of the wearer's head.
Tension is applied to the connector 800 to secure the jaw pad 805 to an interior surface of the helmet 810. For example, a cord or a flexible strap is tightened to secure the jaw pad 805 to the interior surface of the helmet 810. To remove the jaw pad 805, the connector 800 is removed via the exterior surface of the helmet 810, allowing the jaw pad 805 to move relative to the interior surface of the helmet 810. In some embodiments, the connector 800 includes a fastening mechanism that maintains tension to the connector 800 when activated and releases tension to the connector 800 when deactivated; hence, deactivating the fastening mechanism allows the jaw pad 805 to be moved relative to the interior surface of the helmet 810 to be removed from the helmet 810. Alternatively, the connector 800 is severed to release tension to the connector 800 and allow removal of the jaw pad 805 from the interior surface of the helmet 810.
Other mechanisms may be used to couple a jaw pad to the interior surface of the helmet while simplifying removal of the jaw pad from the interior surface of the helmet. For example, a removable adhesive is applied to a surface of the jaw pad and the surface of the pad to which the adhesive was applied is affixed to the interior surface of the helmet. The adhesive may be removed using any suitable method to allow removal of the jaw pad from the interior surface of the helmet. For example, the adhesive may be chemically removed, thermally removed (i.e. via heating or cooling), or mechanically removed (e.g., pulled away). If the adhesive is mechanically removed, the interior surface of the helmet may include characteristics (e.g. guide lines) to identify a location of the jaw pad from which the adhesive may be accessed for removal.
SUMMARYThe foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.
Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art.
Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon.
Claims
1. A method comprising:
- aligning a fastener opening in a pad assembly with an opening of a helmet, a surface of the pad assembly contacting an interior surface of the helmet and the opening of the helmet extending from the exterior surface of the helmet to an interior surface of the helmet;
- inserting a fastener into the opening of the helmet from the exterior surface of the helmet, the fastener at least partially extending through the opening of the helmet and into the fastener opening in the pad assembly; and
- securing the pad assembly to the internal surface of the helmet by securing the fastener to the fastener opening in the pad assembly.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- removing the fastener from the fastener opening in the pad assembly; and
- removing the pad assembly from the helmet.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein securing the pad assembly to the internal surface of the helmet by securing the fastener to the opening in the pad assembly comprises:
- aligning a ball in the fastener with a detent in the fastener opening in the pad assembly.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein removing the fastener from the fastener opening in the jaw pad assembly comprises:
- repositioning the fastener so the ball in the fastener is not aligned with the detent in the fastener opening in the pad assembly.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein securing the pad assembly to the internal surface of the helmet by securing the fastener to the fastener opening in the pad assembly comprises:
- inserting a portion of the fastener into a detent in a snap base that comprises the fastener opening in the pad assembly.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein removing the fastener from the opening in the jaw pad assembly comprises:
- removing the portion of the fastener from the detent in the snap base that comprises the fastener opening in the pad assembly.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the pad assembly comprises a jaw pad coupled to a receptacle plate including the fastener opening, and aligning the opening in the pad assembly with the opening of the helmet comprises:
- aligning the fastener opening in the receptacle plate with the opening of the helmet.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein inserting the fastener into the opening of the helmet from the exterior surface of the helmet comprises:
- inserting the fastener into the opening of the helmet from the exterior surface of the helmet so a portion of the fastener is inserted into the fastener opening in the receptacle plate.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- removing the pad assembly from the fastener while the fastener remains inserted into the opening of the helmet.
10. A system comprising:
- a helmet including an opening extending from an exterior surface of the helmet through an interior surface of the helmet;
- a receptacle plate including a fastener opening, the receptacle plate configured to be positioned proximate to the interior surface of the helmet so the fastener opening of the receptacle plate is aligned with the opening of the helmet;
- a jaw pad configured to be coupled to the receptacle plate; and
- a fastener configured to be inserted into the opening of the helmet from the exterior surface of the helmet so a portion of the fastener extends through the opening of the helmet and into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate securing the receptacle plate to the interior surface of the helmet, while another portion of the fastener remains accessible from the external surface of the helmet.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the receptacle plate is further configured to be removed from the interior surface of the helmet in response to the portion of the fastener extending into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate being removed from the fastener opening of the receptacle plate.
12. The system of claim 10, further comprising an insert configured to be inserted into the opening of the helmet and including a securing mechanism, the fastener configured to be inserted into the opening of the helmet from the exterior surface of the helmet so the portion of the fastener extends through the insert and into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate, and the fastener is secured by the securing mechanism when the fastener is tightened.
13. The system of claim 10, wherein the jaw pad is configured to be compressed against the portion of the fastener extending through the opening of the helmet and into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the compression of the jaw pad against the portion of the fastener ejects the fastener from the fastener opening of the receptacle plate in response to the fastener being loosened at least a threshold amount.
15. The system of claim 10, wherein the receptacle plate further includes a spring positioned proximate to the fastener opening of the receptacle plate, the spring configured to be compressed when the portion of the fastener is inserted into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate and secured in the fastener opening of the receptacle plate.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the spring is further configured to eject the fastener from the fastener opening of the receptacle plate in response to the fastener being loosened at least a threshold amount.
17. The system of claim 10, wherein the fastener opening of the receptacle plate includes a living hinge configured to be compressed when the portion of the fastener is inserted into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate and secured in the opening of the receptacle plate.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the living hinge is further configured to eject the fastener from the fastener opening of the receptacle plate in response to the fastener being loosened at least a threshold amount.
19. The system of claim 10, wherein the jaw pad is configured to be removed from the receptacle plate while the portion of the fastener remains inserted into the fastener opening of the receptacle plate.
20. A system comprising:
- a helmet including an opening extending from an exterior surface of the helmet through an interior surface of the helmet;
- a jaw pad including a fastener opening, the jaw pad configured to be positioned proximate to the interior surface of the helmet so the fastener opening of the jaw pad is aligned with the opening of the helmet;
- a fastener configured to be inserted into the opening of the helmet from the exterior surface of the helmet so a portion of the fastener extends through the opening of the helmet and into the fastener opening of the jaw pad securing the jaw pad to the interior surface of the helmet, while another portion of the fastener remains accessible from the external surface of the helmet.
21. The system of claim 20, wherein the jaw pad is further configured to be removed from the interior surface of the helmet in response to the portion of the fastener extending into the fastener opening of the jaw pad being removed from the fastener opening of the jaw pad.
22. The system of claim 20, wherein the fastener opening of the jaw pad includes a living hinge configured to be compressed when the portion of the fastener is inserted into the fastener opening of the jaw pad and secured in the fastener opening of the jaw pad.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the living hinge is further configured to eject the fastener from the fastener opening of the jaw pad in response to the fastener being loosened at least a threshold amount.
24. The system of claim 20, wherein the jaw pad is configured to be removed from the jaw pad while the portion of the fastener remains inserted into the fastener opening of the jaw pad.
25. The system of claim 20, wherein the fastener opening is mechanically coupled to the jaw pad.
26. The system of claim 20, wherein the fastener opening is integrally formed in the jaw pad.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 5, 2017
Publication Date: Jul 13, 2017
Inventors: Kurt V. Fischer (Edmonds, WA), Susan Lucille Rogers (Coupeville, WA)
Application Number: 15/399,055