Patent Application
20150264987
The invention relates generally to protective equipment wearable by wearers such as individuals engaging in sports (e.g., lacrosse, hockey, baseball, etc.).
Protective equipment, such as arm protectors, leg protectors, shoulder pads, etc., is used by wearers engaging in various sports (e.g., lacrosse, hockey, baseball, football, etc.) and other activities. In order to be effective, a wearer's protective equipment provides protection against impacts or other types of contact that could otherwise hurt or injure the wearer. In addition, it is often desirable for the protective equipment to not be cumbersome or otherwise impede motion of the wearer or discomfort the wearer.
For example, a lacrosse, hockey or other sports player typically wears arm protectors, leg protectors, and/or shoulder pads to protect himself/herself from impacts with a stick or other implement, a puck, ball or other object, and/or other players during play, but it is usually desirable for the player to remain as mobile and comfortable as possible. This can present challenges in terms of design of the protective equipment. For instance, to protect joints of the player, which move significantly, it is usually useful for the protective equipment to minimize resistance to motion of the player's joints while at the same time providing adequate protection to the player's joints.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for improvements in protective equipment wearable by sports players and other individuals.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an arm protector for protecting an arm of a wearer. The arm protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's arm; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member is fastened to the base by a fastening zone which spans less than half of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an arm protector for protecting an arm of a wearer. The arm protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's arm; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member includes a lateral portion movable relative to the base. The lateral portion of the pad member extends from a longitudinal end of the pad member and corresponds to at least one-third of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an arm protector for protecting an arm of a wearer. The arm protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's arm; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member is fastened to the base such that, when the arm protector is worn on the wearer's arm, a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end of the pad member are movable adjacent to one another.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an arm protector for protecting an arm of a wearer. The arm protector comprises: a sleeve mountable about the wearer's arm; and a pad member stitched to the sleeve and comprising protective padding. The pad member is stitched to the sleeve by stitching spanning less than one-quarter of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a protector for protecting a limb of a wearer. The protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's limb; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member is fastened to the base by a fastening zone which spans less than half of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a protector for protecting a limb of a wearer. The protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's limb; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member includes a lateral portion movable relative to the base. The lateral portion of the pad member extends from a longitudinal end of the pad member and corresponds to at least one-third of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a protector for protecting a limb of a wearer. The protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's limb; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member is fastened to the base such that, when the protector is worn on the wearer's limb, a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end of the pad member are movable adjacent to one another.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a protector for protecting a body part of a wearer. The protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's body part; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member is fastened to the base by a fastening zone which spans less than half of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a protector for protecting a body part of a wearer. The protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's body part; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member includes a lateral portion movable relative to the base. The lateral portion of the pad member extends from a longitudinal end of the pad member and corresponds to at least one-third of a length of the pad member.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a protector for protecting a body part of a wearer. The protector comprises: a base for engaging the wearer's body part; and a pad member fastened to the base and comprising protective padding. The pad member is fastened to the base such that, when the protector is worn on the wearer's body part, a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end of the pad member are movable adjacent to one another.
These and other aspects of the invention will now become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A detailed description of embodiments of the invention is provided below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments of the invention and are an aid for understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention.
The arm protector 10 is configured to protect the player's arm (i.e., provide protection to at least part of the player's arm). In this embodiment, the arm protector 10 provides protection to an upper arm (e.g., bicep) region, a lower (e.g., forearm) region, and an elbow region of the player's arm. In this example, the arm protector 10 may be referred to as an “arm guard” or “arm pad”.
In this embodiment, the arm protector 10 comprises a base 12 for engaging the player's arm and a plurality of pad members 141-143 fastened to the base 12. The arm protector 10 also comprises a plurality of straps 201, 202 extending from respective ones of the pad members 141, 143. As further discussed later, the arm protector 10 may be configured to provide a better fit on the player's arm, less resistance to bending of the player's arm, and/or improved breathability or ventilation of the player's arm and the arm protector 10 itself.
The base 12 engages the player's arm when the arm protector 10 is worn. In this embodiment, the base 12 comprises a sleeve 22 mountable about the player's arm.
In this embodiment, the sleeve 22 is configured to fit the player's arm snuggly. More particularly, in this embodiment, the sleeve 22 has a generally cylindrical shape which is implemented by stitching or otherwise affixing (e.g., by an adhesive, ultrasonic welding, etc.) opposite end portions of the sleeve 22 to one another. An unfolded view of the sleeve 22 is shown in
The base 12 may be implemented in various other ways in other embodiments. For example, in other embodiments, the base 12 may comprise a plurality of sleeves similar to the sleeve 22, such as an upper sleeve and a lower sleeve, which are interconnected. As another example, in other embodiments, the base 12 may comprise a structure that engages the player's arm without wrapping about the player's arm when the arm protector 10 is worn (e.g., a liner contacting the player's arm only on one, two, or three sides of the player's arm, but not wrapping around the player's arm).
The pad members 141-143 protect various regions of the player's arm. In this embodiment, the pad member 141 is an upper pad member for positioning above an elbow of the player's arm to protect an upper arm (e.g., bicep) region of the player's arm, the pad member 142 is an intermediate pad member for positioning over the elbow of the player's arm to protect an elbow region of the player's arm, and the pad member 143 is a lower pad member for positioning below the elbow of the wearer's arm to protect a lower (e.g., forearm) region of the player's arm.
Each pad member 14x of the pad members 141-143 provides padded protection to the wearer's arm. To that end, with additional reference to
In addition to the protective padding 30, in this embodiment, the pad member 14x comprises an outer covering 32 and an inner lining 34 between which the protective padding 30 is disposed. The inner lining 34 faces towards the player's arm, while the outer covering 32 faces away from the player's arm. In this example of implementation, the inner lining 34 is operable to contact the base 12. In this case, the inner lining 34 comprises fabric. For instance, the fabric of the inner lining 34 may comprise a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, or any other suitable fabric. Also, in this example of implementation, the outer covering 32 may be exposed to more wear since it is operable to endure impacts in use. In this case, the outer covering 32 comprises flexible non-foam polymeric material. For instance, in some examples, the flexible non-foam polymeric material of the outer covering 32 may comprise polyurethane. In addition, in this embodiment, the pad member 14x comprises a band 37 extending around a periphery of the pad member 14x to retain (e.g., clamp) together the inner lining 34, the protective padding 30, and the outer covering 32. The band 37 may comprise any suitable material and may be secured to the outer covering 32, the inner lining 34, and/or the protective padding 30 in any suitable way. In this example, the band 37 is comprises a fabric (e.g., spandex, nylon or any other suitable fabric) and is clamped about and stitched to the outer covering 32, the inner lining 34, and the protective padding 30.
In this embodiment, the pad member 14x is flexible such that it can bend about the player's arm when the arm protector 10 is worn. More particularly, in this example, when the player's arm is inserted into the sleeve 22 and the straps 201, 202 are wrapped about the player's arm, the pad member 14x bends and folds about the player's arm.
As shown in
Each of the pad members 141-143 may be implemented in various other ways in other embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, each of the pad members 141-143 may comprise any other suitable material (e.g., a rigid material such that the outer covering 34 is a rigid shell) and/or may have any other suitable shape.
Each pad member 14x of the pad members 141-143 is fastened to the base 12 by a fastening zone 40. The fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14x is that zone which encompasses every fastener fastening the pad member 14x to the base 12. Thus, one or more fasteners fasten the pad member 14x to the base 12 and the fastening zone 40 encompasses the one or more fasteners fastening the pad member 14x to the base 12, i.e., spans between extremities of the one or more fasteners fastening the pad member 14x to the base 12. As such, the fastening zone 40 may be viewed as having a dimension F spanning between extremities of the one or more fasteners fastening the pad member 14x to the base 12.
For example, in this embodiment, each pad member 14y of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143 is fastened to the base 12 by a plurality of fasteners 501-504. In this example, each of the fasteners 501-504 comprises a stitching 52. More particularly, in this example, the stitching 52 is a stitch line (i.e., a line of stitches). Each of the fasteners 501-504 may be any other suitable fastener in other embodiments (e.g., any other mechanical fastener such as a tack, a rivet, a button, a screw, etc., or an adhesive). The fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y encompasses the fasteners 501-504, i.e., spans between extremities of the fasteners 501-504. The dimension F of the fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y, which in this case is a width of the fastening zone 40, thus spans between extremities of the fasteners 501, 502. In this example, the fasteners 501-504 are arranged in a generally rectangular or “box-like” configuration. The fasteners 501-504 may be arranged in any other configuration in other examples. Similarly, in this embodiment, as shown in
Each of the pad members 141-143 is movable relative to the base 12. Notably, in this embodiment, each of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143 is allowed a significant degree of freedom of movement relative to the base 12, including movement away from the base 12. This may allow the arm protector 10 to better fit on the player's arm, reduce resistance to bending of the player's arm, and/or increase breathability or ventilation of the player's arm and the arm protector 10 itself.
More particularly, in this embodiment, each pad member 14y of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143 includes lateral portions 661, 662 that are movable relative to the base 12. The lateral portion 661 extends from the longitudinal end 631 of the pad member 14y and the lateral portion 662 extends from the longitudinal end 632 of the pad member 14y. Each of the lateral portions 661, 662 corresponds to a substantial part of the length L of the pad member 14y. For example, in some embodiments, a given one of the lateral portions 661, 662 may correspond to at least one-third of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases at least half of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases at least three-fifths of the length L of the pad member 14y, and in some cases an even greater portion of the length L of the pad member 14y. In this embodiment, each of the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y corresponds to approximately 48% of the length L of the pad member 14y, respectively.
In order to be movable relative to the base 12, in this embodiment, each of the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y is free of fastening to the base 12 (i.e., does not include any fastener fastening that lateral portion of the pad member 14y to the base 12). Each of the lateral portions 661, 662 can thus freely move relative to the base 12. For instance, in this embodiment, when the arm protector 10 is worn on the player's arm, the longitudinal ends 631, 632 of the pad member 14y are movable adjacent to one another, as shown in
In this embodiment, the pad member 14y comprises a central portion 68 between its lateral portions 661, 662 that includes the fasteners 501, 502 fastening the pad member 14y to the base 12. More particularly, in this example, the central portion 68 is stitched to the sleeve 22 by the stitching 52 of each of the fasteners 501, 502.
As the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y which are free of fastening to the base 12 to move freely relative to the base 12 correspond to substantial parts of the length L of the pad member 14y, in this embodiment, the fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y is “narrow”. That is, the fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y is of small extent compared to the length L of the pad member 14y. In other words, the dimension F of the fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y is considerably less than the length L of the pad member 14y. For example, in some embodiments, the fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y may span less than half of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases no more than one-third of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases no more than one-quarter of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases no more than one-fifth of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases no more than one-tenth of the length L of the pad member 14y, in some cases no more than one-twentieth of the length L of the pad member 14y, and in some cases an even smaller portion of the length L of the pad member 14y.
The pad member 14y being movable relative to the base 12 may provide certain benefits. For example, the pad member 14y may allow a greater mobility of the player's arm. More specifically, the player's arm may be less constrained since its positioning is not limited by the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y which can move as the player's arm moves, thereby allowing the arm protector 10 to present less resistance to bending of the player's arm. In addition, an improved breathability or ventilation of the player's arm and the arm protector 10 itself may be achieved since the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y do not have to be constantly pressed against the base 12. For example, when the player is not playing (e.g., on sidelines or between quarters, halves or periods), the straps 201, 202 can be detached such that the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y can move away from the base 12, thus allowing more air circulation around the base 12 and, therefore, the player's arm. Also, when the base 12 is moist from the player's sweat, ventilation may be more easily achieved since the lateral portions 661, 662 of the pad member 14y are not permanently in contact with the base 12. For instance, once the player removes the arm protector 10, the base 12 may be more open to ventilation, allowing an increased surface area of the base 12 to be exposed to air.
In this embodiment, the intermediate pad member 142 is mounted to the base 12 differently than the upper and lower pad members 141, 143. More particularly, in this embodiment, the intermediate pad member 142 is fastened to the base 12 adjacent to its longitudinal ends 631, 632 by the fasteners 501, 502 and adjacent to its top and bottom regions by the fasteners 503, 504. In contrast to the upper and lower pad members 141, 143, the fastening zone 40 of the intermediate pad member 142 is not narrow but is rather large, spanning most, in this case, substantially an entirety of the length L of the intermediate pad member 142. Thus, in this embodiment, the dimension F of the fastening zone 40 of the intermediate pad member 142 corresponds to substantially all of the length L of the intermediate pad member 142. As such, the fastening zone 40 of the intermediate pad member 142 is considerably larger than the fastening zone 40 of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143.
The straps 201, 202 help to further secure the arm protector 10 to the player's arm. More particularly, in this embodiment, the straps 201, 202 allow the upper and lower pad members 141, 143 to be retained in a bent configuration folded upon the base 12. In order to achieve this, in this example, the arm protector 10 comprises connectors 211 and 212 to respectively connect a free end portion of a strap 20y to a pad member 14y of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143. Each connector 21y comprises a connecting element 701 on the strap 20y and a connecting element 702 on the pad member 14y that are engageable with one another to interconnect the free end portion of the strap 20y to the pad member 14y. In this embodiment, each of the connectors 211, 212 comprises a hook-and-loop connector, with respective ones of its connecting elements 701, 702 being hook elements and loop elements. In other embodiments, the connectors 211, 212 may comprise snap buttons or any other suitable type of connector.
The arm protector 10 may be configured in various other ways in other embodiments.
For example, in other embodiments, the fastening zone 40 of each pad member 14y of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143 may include any number of fasteners fastening the pad member 144 to the base 12 arranged in any suitable configuration. For instance, in some embodiments, the fastening zone 40 of the pad member 14y may include a single (i.e., only one) fastener, such as a single stitching, which may be, for example, a straight-line stitching 150 as shown in
As another example, in other embodiments, instead of being free of fastening to the base 12, a lateral portion 66i of the lateral portions 661, 662 of each pad member 14y of the upper and lower pad members 141, 143 may comprise a fastener that fastens the lateral portion 66i to the base 12 but allows the lateral portion 66i to move relative to the base 12. For example, in some embodiments, as shown in
Although in this embodiment the protector 10 is an arm protector for protecting a wearer's arm, in other embodiments, a protector constructed using principles described herein in respect of the protector 10 may be another type of protector to protect another limb or other body part of a wearer. For example, in other embodiments, a leg protector (e.g., sometimes referred to as a leg pad or a shin guard) for protecting a wearer's leg may be constructed using principles described herein in respect of the protector 10.
While in this embodiment the protector 10 is for a player playing lacrosse, in other embodiments, a protector constructed using principles described herein in respect of the protector 10 may be another type of protector for a player playing another type of sport, such as another type of contact sport (sometimes referred to as “full-contact sport” or “collision sport”) in which there are significant impact forces on the player due to player-to-player and/or player-to-object contact. For example, in other embodiments, a protector constructed using principles described herein in respect of the protector 10 may be a hockey protector (e.g., a hockey elbow pad or a hockey leg pad) for a hockey player. As another example, in other embodiments, a protector constructed using principles described herein may be a baseball or softball protector (e.g., a batter's elbow pad or catcher's leg guard) for a baseball or softball player. As yet another example, in other embodiments, a protector constructed using principles described herein may be a soccer protector (e.g., a soccer leg guard) for a soccer player.
Any feature of any embodiment discussed herein may be combined with any feature of any other embodiment discussed herein in some examples of implementation.
Certain additional elements that may be needed for operation of certain embodiments have not been described or illustrated as they are assumed to be within the purview of those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, certain embodiments may be free of, may lack and/or may function without any element that is not specifically disclosed herein.
Although various embodiments and examples have been presented, this was for the purpose of describing, but not limiting, the invention. Various modifications and enhancements will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and are within the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.
