Many sports that are fun to play can also be dangerous. For example, baseball, lacrosse, cricket and hockey are all fun to play but because they involve a ball or puck that is hard and travels fast, they can be dangerous, too. In baseball, a batter is taught to turn his back to a pitch that is high and inside, and brace for the ball's impact. Doing this though exposes the batter's neck and upper back such that when the ball hits him/her, the ball typically hits the exposed neck and/or upper back. In baseball, a player can also get hit in the neck and/or upper back while running the bases. Cricket is similar to baseball and thus there is a real possibility for the ball to hit a cricket player in the neck and/or upper back. In lacrosse, the ball may get deflected, passed toward someone or shot toward the goal and if one momentarily has his back turned to the play, the ball might strike him/her in the neck or upper back. In addition, other players might strike one with their crosse (stick) or forearm. Hockey is similar to lacrosse and thus there is a real possibility for a puck or other player's stick and/or forearm to hit a hockey player in the neck and/or upper back.
Helmets provide great protection for the players of each of these sports, but unfortunately, they only protect the players head and face, not the player's neck. This is especially true for the posterior region of a player's neck. Because the posterior region of the neck does not have much flesh and/or muscle, getting hit there by a ball, puck, stick and/or forearm can cause significant pain and damage if one or more of the neck's vertebrae are broken.
Thus, there is a need for a guard that can protect the posterior region of one's neck from damage caused by a ball, puck, stick and/or forearm hitting one's neck.
In one aspect of the invention, a guard to protect one's neck absorbs kinetic energy from an object that, if not for the guard, would strike the person's neck. The guard includes a body that has a material that deforms when an object strikes it, a shape configured to cover the posterior region of each of the cervical vertebrae of a person's spine when the guard is worn by a person to protect their neck, and a coupler to position and hold the body over the posterior region of each of the cervical vertebrae of a person's spine. The guard's body also includes a first region positioned above a person's first cervical vertebrae, when the guard is worn by a person to protect their neck; and a second region positioned above a person's last cervical vertebrae, when the guard is worn by a person to protect their neck.
By configuring the guard in this manner, when a person wears the guard to protect their neck, the coupler releasably positions and holds the body over the posterior region of each of the cervical vertebrae of the person's spine. Then, when an object like a baseball or a lacrosse ball, or a cricket ball moves toward the person's neck, the object strikes the guard. The guard then absorbs some of the kinetic energy from the ball and deflects the ball away from the person's neck, before the ball can strike the person's neck and cause serious damage. For example, a batter who turns his back to a pitch that is high and inside might get hit by the ball in the posterior region of his neck or upper back. Similarly, a base runner in baseball who runs from first base to second base might get hit in the posterior region of his neck or upper back by a baseball thrown from the first base man to the second baseman. If the batter and base runner are wearing the guard, then the ball would hit guard and get deflected away from the person's neck or upper back before the seriously damaging the batter's or runner's neck or upper back.
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The guard 20 includes a body 22 having a shape that is configured to cover the posterior region 24 of each of the cervical vertebrae 26 of a person's spine when the guard 20 is worn by the person to protect their neck. More specifically, the guard's body 22 hangs down over the posterior region 24 of a person's neck and forms a gap 27 between the body 20 and the posterior region 24. The body 22 also has a material that, when a moving object strikes the material, absorbs kinetic energy from the moving object without breaking or deforming to the extent that the body 22 smashes against the posterior region 24 of the neck. As discussed in greater detail in conjunction with
By configuring the guard 20 in this manner, when a person wears the guard 20 to protect their neck, the coupler 32 positions and holds the body 22 over the posterior region 24 of each of the cervical vertebrae 26 of the person's spine. Then, when an object like a baseball or a lacrosse ball, or a cricket ball moves toward the person's neck, the object strikes the guard 20, not the neck. The guard 20 then absorbs some of the kinetic energy from the ball and deflects the ball away from the person's neck. For example, a batter who turns his back to a pitch that is high and inside might get hit by the ball in the posterior region 24 of his neck or upper-back. Similarly, a base runner in baseball who runs from first base to second base might get hit in the posterior region 24 of his neck by a baseball thrown from the first baseman to the second baseman. If the batter and base runner are wearing the guard 20, then the ball would hit guard 20 and get deflected away from the person's neck before seriously damaging his/her neck.
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Other embodiments of the coupler 32 are possible. For example, the coupler 32 may include one or more than two strap/anchor 34a/36a pairs that incorporate a Velcro® mechanism. As another example, the coupler 32 may include one or more strap/anchor pairs that incorporate a conventional snap mechanism. In such embodiments, the strap 34a may include the female portion of the snap, and the male portion may be fastened to the helmet 21. As yet another example, the coupler 32 may include a strap whose length is adjustable to allow the guard 20 to be worn closer or further away from the location of the strap's corresponding anchor. As yet another example, the coupler 32 may include a strap that also has the anchor. In such embodiments, the strap may be inserted through a vent hole in the helmet 21 and then fastened back onto itself. As still another example, the coupler 32 may also include a mechanism that fastens the body 22 to the lower-neck and/or the upper-back of the person to help position and hold the body 22 over the posterior region 24 of each of the cervical vertebrae 26. As still another example, the coupler may permanently, not releasably, fix the body 22 to the helmet 21.
The body 22 may include any desired material capable of performing these functions. For example, in this and other embodiments the whole body 22 is 0.125 inches thick and includes a composite material having the thermoplastic polymer acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS). With the ABS composite, the body 22 has significant impact resistance and toughness to resist breaking when an object having a significant amount of kinetic energy hits the body 22. For example, a baseball traveling 100 miles-per-hour has about 145 Joules of kinetic energy. With the ABS composite material, the body 22 may elastically deform when hit by a baseball traveling 100 miles-per-hour but should not break.
Other embodiments are possible. For example, the body 22 may include a material that plastically deforms when hit by a moving object but does not plastically deform to the extent that the body 22 hits the posterior region 24 of a person's neck.
The body 22 also includes a shape that may be configured as desired to cover the posterior region of one's cervical vertebrae 26 (
Other embodiments are possible. For example, three different embodiments of the body 22 each having a different shape are shown and discussed in conjunction with
The body 22 also includes a first region 42 and a second region 44. The first region 42 lies over one's first cervical vertebrae—the vertebrae closest to one's head—when one wears the guard 20. And the second region 44 lies over one's last cervical vertebrae—the vertebrae farthest from one's head—when one wears the guard 20. In this and other embodiments, the first and second regions 42 and 44, respectively, are similar in size and shape. In other embodiments, however, the first and second regions 42 and 44 may not be similar in size and shape. For example, as shown and discussed in conjunction with
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The sleeve 56 may be configured as desired. For example, in this and other embodiments the sleeve 56 includes neoprene material and is sized to receive and snuggly retain the body 54. For the guard 50 shown in
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The preceding discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.
This application claims priority from the commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/196,783 filed 24 Jul. 2015, and titled “HELMET HEAD/NECK GUARD”, and incorporated by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2016/039351 | 6/24/2016 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2017/019217 | 2/2/2017 | WO | A |
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