Helmet for impact protection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11638458-B2
Application number	US-202117371277-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2021
Priority date	Aug 17, 2015
Publication date	May 2, 2023
Grant date	May 2, 2023

Abstract

A helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, such as a hockey, lacrosse, football or other sports player. The helmet may have various features to protect the wearer's head against impacts, such as linear impacts and rotational impacts. For example, pads of the helmet may be movable relative to one another in response to an impact on the helmet. The helmet may comprise a frame comprising a plurality of frame members carrying respective ones of the pads and configured to move relative to one another in response to the impact to allow relative movement of the pads.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, the helmet comprising:
an outer shell; and
inner padding disposed within the outer shell and comprising:
a network of structural members interconnected at nodes that is configured to resiliently deform from an original configuration in response to an impact on the helmet and return to the original configuration after the impact on the helmet; and
a pad adjacent to the network of structural members.

2. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein the structural members are elongated.

3. The helmet of claim 2 , wherein given ones of the structural members are curved.

4. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein at least three of the structural members intersect at each of multiple ones of the nodes.

5. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein the pad is disposed between the outer shell and the network of structural members.

6. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein the pad is configured to be disposed between the network of structural members and the wearer's head.

7. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein: the pad is a first pad; and the inner padding comprises a second pad separate from the first pad and adjacent to the network of structural members.

8. The helmet of claim 7 , wherein the first pad and the second pad are disposed between the outer shell and the network of structural members.

9. The helmet of claim 7 , wherein the first pad and the second pad are configured to be disposed between the network of structural members and the wearer's head.

10. The helmet of claim 7 , wherein: the first pad is disposed between the outer shell and the network of structural members; and the second pad is configured to be disposed between the network of structural members and the wearer's head.

11. The helmet of claim 7 , wherein: the inner padding comprises a third pad and a fourth pad separate from one another, separate from the first pad and the second pad, and adjacent to the network of structural members.

12. The helmet of claim 11 , wherein: the first pad and the second pad are disposed between the outer shell and the network of structural members; and the third pad and the fourth pad are configured to be disposed between the network of structural members and the wearer's head.

13. The helmet of claim 7 , wherein the first pad and the second pad are mounted to respective ones of the nodes and configured to move relative to one another in response to the impact on the helmet.

14. The helmet of claim 7 , wherein a material of the first pad is different from a material of the second pad.

15. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein an elastic modulus of a material of the network of structural is no more than 10 GPa.

16. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein an elastic modulus of a material of the network of structural is no more than 5 GPa.

17. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein the network of structural members includes thermoplastic material.

18. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein the network of structural members is fastened to the outer shell.

19. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein the network of structural members is thinner than the pad.

20. The helmet of claim 1 , comprising an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a fit of the helmet on the wearer's head.

21. The helmet of claim 20 , wherein individual ones of the structural members are configured to move relative to one another when the adjustment mechanism is operated to adjust the fit of the helmet on the wearer's head.

22. The helmet of claim 20 , wherein the outer shell comprises a plurality of shell members configured to move relative one another when the adjustment mechanism is operated to adjust the fit of the helmet on the wearer's head.

23. The helmet of claim 20 , wherein: the outer shell comprises a plurality of shell members; and the shell members are configured to move relative to one another and individual ones of the structural members are configured to move relative to one another when the adjustment mechanism is operated to adjust the fit of the helmet on the wearer's head.

24. The helmet of claim 1 , wherein: the outer shell comprises a plurality of ventilation holes allowing air to circulate around the wearer's head: and the ventilation holes overlap with the network of structural members.

25. A helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, the helmet comprising:
an outer shell; and
inner padding disposed within the outer shell and comprising:
a network of structural members interconnected at nodes that is configured to resiliently deform from an original configuration in response to an impact on the helmet and return to the original configuration after the impact on the helmet; and
a pad disposed between the outer shell and the network of structural members.

26. A helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, the helmet comprising:
an outer shell comprising a plurality of shell members;
inner padding disposed within the outer shell, the inner padding comprising a network of structural members interconnected at nodes that is configured to resiliently deform from an original configuration in response to an impact on the helmet and return to the original configuration after the impact on the helmet; and
an adjustment mechanism configured to move the shell members relative to one another and move portions of the inner padding relative to one another for adjusting a fit of the helmet on the wearer's head.

Assignees

• Bauer Hockey Llc

Inventors

• Durocher Jacques

Classifications

• A42B3/127 Primary

  with removable or adjustable pads · CPC title