Athletic gear or other devices comprising post-molded expandable components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11912844-B2
Application number	US-202117471985-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2021
Priority date	Feb 9, 2016
Publication date	Feb 27, 2024
Grant date	Feb 27, 2024

Abstract

A device (e.g., an article of athletic gear) comprising a post-molded expandable component, which is a part of the device that is configured to be expanded or has been expanded after being molded. This may allow the post-molded expandable component to have enhanced characteristics (e.g., be more shock-absorbent, lighter, etc.), to be cost-effectively manufactured (e.g., by using less material and/or making it in various sizes), and/or to be customized for a user (e.g., by custom-fitting it to the user).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An article of athletic gear wearable by a user, the article of athletic gear comprising:
an outer part that comprises an outer surface of the article of athletic gear; and
expandable material covered by the outer part, formed into an initial three-dimensional configuration and subsequently expanded to an expanded three-dimensional configuration that is a scaled-up version of the initial three-dimensional configuration.

2. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material comprises a polymeric substance and expandable microspheres.

3. The article of athletic gear of claim 2 , wherein the expandable microspheres constitute at least 20% of the expandable material by weight.

4. The article of athletic gear of claim 2 , wherein the expandable microspheres constitute at least 40% of the expandable material by weight.

5. The article of athletic gear of claim 2 , wherein the expandable microspheres constitute a majority of the expandable material by weight.

6. The article of athletic gear of claim 2 , wherein a density of the expandable material is no more than 70% of a density of the polymeric substance.

7. The article of athletic gear of claim 2 , wherein the polymeric substance is elastomeric.

8. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein an expansion ratio of the expandable material is at least 10.

9. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein an expansion ratio of the expandable material is at least 20.

10. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material is formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration by being injection molded into the initial three-dimensional configuration.

11. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material is formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration by being molded into the initial three-dimensional configuration in a mold and subsequently expanded to the expanded three-dimensional configuration upon removal from the mold.

12. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material is thicker than the outer part.

13. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein: the outer part is a shell; and the expandable material is disposed within the shell.

14. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the outer part is colored differently than the expandable material.

15. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material is covered by the outer part before expansion of the expandable material into the expanded three-dimensional configuration.

16. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , comprising a component that comprises the expandable material, wherein the component comprises a plurality of regions that differ in stiffness and are at least partly made of the expandable material.

17. The article of athletic gear of claim 16 , wherein: a first one of the regions of the component is configured to be disposed closer to the user than a second one of the regions of the component; and the second one of the regions of the component is stiffer than the first one of the regions of the component.

18. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , comprising a component that comprises the expandable material, wherein the component comprises a plurality of regions that differ in density and are at least partly made of the expandable material.

19. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material is shaped into a plurality of portions that are at least one of curved and angular and are present in the initial three-dimensional configuration and in the expanded three-dimensional configuration.

20. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , comprising a predetermined arrangement of shaped elements that are made of the expandable material, intersect one another, and are present in the initial three-dimensional configuration and in the expanded three-dimensional configuration.

21. The article of athletic gear of claim 20 , wherein the shaped elements are regularly arranged.

22. The article of athletic gear of claim 20 , wherein the shaped elements are relief elements of a texture of the outer surface of the article of athletic gear.

23. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the outer part comprises graphics including different colors.

24. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein the expandable material is formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration using additive manufacturing.

25. The article of athletic gear of claim 23 , wherein the expandable material formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration using additive manufacturing is formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration using selective laser sintering (SLS).

26. The article of athletic gear of claim 23 , wherein the expandable material formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration using additive manufacturing is formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration using stereolithography (SLA).

27. The article of athletic gear of claim 23 , wherein the expandable material formed into the initial three-dimensional configuration using additive manufacturing is molded into the initial three-dimensional configuration in a 3D-printed mold.

28. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein: the article of athletic gear is an article of protective athletic gear wearable by the user to protect the user; the article of protective athletic gear comprises a pad; and the pad comprises the expandable material.

29. The article of athletic gear of claim 1 , wherein: the article of athletic gear is a helmet wearable by the user to protect a head of the user; the helmet comprises an outer shell that comprises the outer part; and the helmet comprises a liner that comprises the expandable material.

30. A method of making an article of athletic gear wearable by a user, the method comprising:
forming expandable material into an initial three-dimensional configuration;
expanding the expandable material from the initial three-dimensional configuration to an expanded three-dimensional configuration that is a scaled-up version of the initial three-dimensional configuration; and
providing an outer part that comprises an outer surface of the article of athletic gear and covers the expandable material in the expanded three-dimensional configuration.

31. A method of making an article of athletic gear wearable by a user, the method comprising:
forming expandable material into an initial three-dimensional configuration using 3D printing;
expanding the expandable material from the initial three-dimensional configuration to an expanded three-dimensional configuration that is a scaled-up version of the initial three-dimensional configuration; and
providing an outer part that comprises an outer surface of the article of athletic gear and covers the expandable material in the expanded three-dimensional configuration.

Assignees

• Bauer Hockey Llc

Inventors

• Krick Thierry
• Asselin François
• Laperrière Jean-François
• Ladouceur Martin
• Labonté Ivan
• Beauregard Marco

Classifications

• C08J9/32 Primary

  from compositions containing microballoons, e.g. syntactic foams · CPC title

• A42B3/125

  with a padded structure, e.g. foam · CPC title

• A42C2/007

  Manufacturing custom-sized helmets · CPC title

• A63B59/20

  having means, e.g. pockets, netting or adhesive type surfaces, for catching or holding a ball, e.g. for lacrosse or pelota · CPC title

• A63B59/54

  made of plastic · CPC title