MOUTH GUARD RETAINING DEVICE

Abstract

A mouth guard retaining device is provided for retaining a mouth guard against a protective helmet when the mouth guard is not in use. The device includes an elongated member having a connection device at a lower end for connection with a portion of the helmet and a detent or reversely folded portion at another end which is operable to displace the elongated member. The member is formed of synthetic plastic material which has a limited degree of flexure so that the member is displaceable between a normal closed condition where the detent engages the helmet and an open condition where the detent is spaced from the helmet to allow the user to insert or remove the mouth guard from the device.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many sporting competitions, the participants either elect or are required to wear mouth guards to protect the teeth, jaw, and tongue of the participant. Mouth guards are provided in various shapes, sizes and configurations and are formed of a wide variety of materials to provide a number of alternatives to the participant depending on the sport being played, the degree of protection desired, and the degree of comfort to the user. For example, some mouth guards are formed of a synthetic rubber material and are designed for the user to bite onto the guard to provide protection to the upper and lower teeth. These guards are not necessarily fitted to the user and thus do not often provide the best fit. Other guards are formed of synthetic plastic material. The guards are heated to make them pliable and then the user bites into the softened material so that the guard is molded to the user's teeth to provide a custom fit.

While mouth guards are very effective at affording protection to the user's mouth, they often make it difficult for the participant to communicate with other participants. Accordingly, it is common for participants to remove their mouth guards when play is stopped. This can lead to mouth guards inadvertently being dropped onto the playing surface where they may be contaminated or lost, particularly when the mouth guard is dropped on an outdoor playing field.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Many sports, such as football and lacrosse, require participants to wear a helmet which includes a face mask. Participants often wedge their mouth guards between the bars of the face mask in order to free their hands to call plays or to hold a ball or stick. If the participant is wearing a helmet including a face mask, such as a football helmet or lacrosse helmet, it is common practice for the user to wedge the mouth guard between the bars of the mask. However, the mouth guard often becomes dislodged from the mask and falls to the ground, sometimes without the user's knowledge.

Various devices are known in the art to retain a mouth guard on a helmet. For example, some mouth guards include an integral strap which is connected with the face mask of the helmet. When not in use, the mouth guard dangles from the helmet. When in use, the guard is placed into the user's mouth. However, the strap extends out from the mouth between the lips which can lead to discomfort. Moreover, straps are awkward for use with mouth guards of the type which afford protection to the both the upper and lower teeth.

The present invention was developed in order to overcome these and other drawbacks by providing a helmet accessory in the form of a retaining clip which can securely hold any type of protective mouth guard when not in use by a participant in a sporting or other event.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a retaining device for a mouth guard in the form of an elongated member having a connection device at one end of said elongated member for connecting the member with a helmet and a detent at the other end of the member. The detent is operable by the user to displace the member from a normal closed position adjacent the helmet to an extended open position spaced from the helmet. When in the extended position, the user can arrange the mouth guard between the member and the helmet. With the detent released by the user, the member returns to its normal position and the mouth guard is securely held in place. When the user desires to remove the mouth guard from the member, the user displaces the detent to move the member to its extended position and the mouth guard can be removed from between the member and the helmet. Once removed, the detent is released and the member returns to is normal position.

The elongated member is preferably formed of a resilient material such as synthetic plastic. It is also provided with an extended portion beyond the detent for gripping by the user to displace the detent from the normal position to the extended position.

In an alternative embodiment, the elongated member is reversely folded to define a channel between the member and the reversely folded portion. The channel may serve multiple functions. First, the channel is configured to receive a mouth guard and may hold the mouth guard against the helmet. Alternatively, the reversely folded over portion engages the helmet and cooperates with the channel and the elongated member to provide increased flexibility to the retaining device. In the event of impact to the retaining device, the elongated member flexes into the channel and absorbs the impact force thereby preventing the mouth guard from being dislodged from the retaining device.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connection device is a compression fitting. More particularly, the lower end of the elongated member contains a concave recess for receiving a portion of the helmet or face mask. At least one pair of aligned openings is provided in the portions of the connection device on opposite sides of the recess. A screw passes through the openings for drawing the connection device portions of the member together. When a portion of the helmet is arranged in the recess, the compression fitting clamps the elongated member on the helmet portion or on a face mask.

In a further embodiment, the elongated member further includes one or more notches to permit air circulation and prevent the accumulation of moisture which leads to rotation of the retaining device on the face mask.

According to another embodiment, the connection device includes a projection that engages an edge of the helmet to properly position the retaining device. More particularly, the projection positions the retaining device in spaced relation from the face mask and helmet and prevents the retaining device from rotating about the face mask and away from the helmet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a football helmet having a mouth guard retaining device according to the invention connected therewith;

FIG. 2 is a detailed front perspective view of the mouth guard retaining device according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the retaining device of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the retaining device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the connection device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a front plan view of the mouth guard retaining device according to an alternative embodiment the invention;

FIG. 7 is a side plan view of the retaining device of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the retaining device of FIG. 6;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The mouth guard retaining device according to the invention will first be described with reference to FIG. 1 which shows a conventional football helmet 2 having a face mask 4 connected therewith. The face mask is connected with the helmet in a known manner and includes a plurality of bars 6 which cooperate to protect the face of the wearer from injury. A chin strap 8 is connected with the helmet to hold the helmet onto the head of the wearer.

A retaining device 10 according to the invention is connected with an upper bar 12 of the face mask to securely hold a mouth guard 14 against the helmet 2. As will be developed in greater detail below, the retaining device is displaceable relative to the helmet to secure and release the mouth guard.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, the retaining device 12 will be described in greater detail. The device is formed as an elongated member 16 having a connection device 18 at its lower end for connecting the member with the helmet, and preferably with a portion of the face mask of the helmet. A detent 20, which is shown more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4, is provided at the upper end of the member. The detent is operable by the user to displace the member from a normal closed position adjacent the helmet as shown in FIG. 1 to an extended open position spaced from the helmet. When the elongated member is in the extended position, the user can place the mouth guard between the member and the helmet. With the detent released by the user, the member returns to its normal position and the mouth guard is securely held in place. When the user desires to remove the mouth guard from the member, the user displaces the detent to move the member to its extended position and the mouth guard can be removed from between the member and the helmet. Once removed, the detent is released and the member returns to is normal position. To assist with displacing the detent, an extension 22 is provided on the upper end of the member 16 which can be engaged by a finger of the user to pull the upper end of the retaining member away from the helmet.

The elongated member is preferably formed of a resilient material with a limited degree of flexure. A suitable material is synthetic plastic. It has a normal position, but may be bent or flexed from the normal position when an external force is applied. When the force is removed, the material reverts or springs back to its normal position.

The connection device 18 is a preferably a compression fitting which is shown in detail in FIG. 5. More particularly, the lower end of the elongated member 16 contains a concave recess 24 which extends laterally of the member. The recess thus separates two lower portions 18a and 18b of the connection device. A through opening 26 is provided in one portion 18a of the connection device. A threaded opening 28 is provided in the other portion 18b of the connection device on the opposite side of the recess 24. The openings 26 and 28 are aligned and receive a screw 30. If desired, the connection device 18 contains a second through opening 32 in the portion 18a and a second threaded opening 34 in the portion 18b and aligned with the opening 32 for receiving a second screw 36. With the screws removed, the portions 18a and 18b of the connection device may be separated to allow a portion of the helmet, or preferably a bar of the face mask, to be arranged in the recess. The screws 30 and 36 are inserted and tightened relative to the respective threaded openings 28 and 34 to draw the portion 18b of the connection device toward the portion 18a to clamp the elongated member on the helmet portion via a compression fit.

A projection 38 extends rearwardly from the elongated member 16 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The projection abuts against the helmet as does the detent when the retaining device is in the normal position. It also provides structural stability to the retaining device and acts as a guide or stop for the mouth guard when it is arranged between the retaining device and the helmet.

Referring now to FIGS. 6-8, an alternative embodiment of the retaining device 110 according to the invention will now be described. The device is formed as an elongated member 116 having a connection device 118 at its lower end for connecting the member with the helmet, and preferably with a portion of the face mask of the helmet. The elongated member includes a reversely folded portion 122 which defines a channel 140 between the elongated member and the folded portion. The folded portion 122 normally engages the helmet and prevents a mouth guard from being displaced vertically as will be developed below.

As in the embodiment of FIGS. 2-5, the retaining device is preferably formed of a resilient material such as synthetic plastic with a limited degree of flexure.

The connection device 118 is a preferably a compression fitting. The lower end of the elongated member 116 contains a lateral concave recess 124 which separates two lower portions 118a and 118b of the connection device. Through openings 126,132 are provided in one portion 118a of the connection device and threaded openings 128, 134 are provided in the other portion 118b of the connection device on the opposite side of the recess 124. Screws are inserted and tightened relative to the respective threaded openings 128 and 134 to draw the portion 118b of the connection device toward the portion 118a to clamp the elongated member on the helmet portion via a compression fit.

The elongated member 116 is contoured to include a convex or contoured projection 138 extending generally opposite the reversely folded portion 122 as shown in FIG. 7. The projection 138 defines a swale 142 intermediate the connection device 118. The swale receives a mouth guard and the projection acts as a guide or stop for the mouth guard when it is arranged between the retaining device and the helmet. The flexure of the reversely folded portion absorbs and dissipates impact forces against the retaining device to prevent the mouth guard from being unintentionally dislodged. In addition, the free end 122a of the reversely folded portion further limits vertical displacement of a mouth guard arranged in the swale. The biasing force of the retaining device presses the elongated member and the projection against the mouth guard to pin the mouth guard against the helmet and store it during a stoppage in play. In order to remove the mouth guard, the upper end 122b of the reversely folded portion is pulled away from the helmet and the user pulls the mouth guard from between the retaining device and the helmet.

Depending on the width of the channel 140, the retaining device of FIGS. 6-8 may be used to retain a mouth guard within the channel 140. Because of the resiliency of the gripping device, the user can grasp the upper end of the elongated member, pull it away from the helmet, and wedge a mouth guard into the channel. The natural tendency of the gripping device to return to its normal position causes the reversely folded portion 122 to retain the mouth guard within the channel because of the pressure created by the reversely folded portion against the elongated member. Similarly, the entire assembly holds the mouth guard—which is in the channel—against the helmet because of the force exerted by the extended member in the direction of the helmet as it returns to its normal position.

The retaining device further includes a plurality of notches 144, 146 which serve two functions. The first is to enhance the flexibility of the device during installation, when extending and releasing the elongated member 116 and in the event of impact to the device. The second is to allow for the flow of air which aids in the reduction of any accumulated moisture between the retaining device and the face mask. An accumulation of moisture may cause the retaining device to rotate on the face mask.

As shown more particularly in FIGS. 7 and 8, one of the lower portions of the connection device 118b includes a projection 144 having a general T-shaped configuration, although other configurations may be provided. When the retaining device is clamped on the facemask, the upper surface of the projection engages an edge of the helmet and operates to prevent the retaining device from rotating about the face mask and away from the helmet.

While the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.

Claims

1. A clip for retaining a mouth guard against a helmet including a face mask, comprising an elongated member formed of resilient material and operable between normal and extended positions, said elongated member including(a) a connection device at one end for clamping said member onto a portion of a helmet face mask;(b) a reversely folded portion at another end of said elongated member; and(c) a convex projection extending from said elongated member intermediate said connection device and said reversely folded portion to define a swale for receiving a mouth guard, whereby when said member is in the extended position, a mouth guard may be inserted or removed from said swale and when member is returned to the normal position, said member retains the mouth guard against the helmet.

2. A retaining device as defined in claim 1, wherein said elongated member is formed of synthetic plastic material.

3. A retaining device as defined in claim 2, wherein said connection device comprises a compression fitting.

4. A retaining device as defined in claim 4, wherein said compression fitting includes a concave recess for receiving a portion of the face mask.

5. A retaining device as defined in claim 5, wherein said compression fitting further comprises at least one pair of aligned openings within portions of said connection device on opposite sides of said recess and a screw passing through said openings for drawing said connection device portions together, whereby when a portion of the face mask is arranged in said recess, said compression fitting is operable to clamp said elongated member on the face mask portion.

6. A retaining device as defined in claim 1, wherein said reversely folded portion defines a channel for receiving a mouth guard.

7. A retaining device as defined in claim 1, wherein said connection device includes a rearward projection arranged adjacent to an edge of the helmet to prevent the retaining device from rotating about the face mask and away from the helmet.

8. A retaining device as defined in claim 1, wherein said retaining device includes at least a notch in said connection device on either side of said elongated member to enhance air circulation and prevent accumulation of moisture.