Patent Grant
7103924
The present invention relates generally to protective equipment for shielding a wearer's body from unwanted forces and potential injury. More particularly, the present invention relates to protective equipment having moveable armor modules for providing a wide range of unfettered body movement while providing maximum cushioning against blows imparted upon the upper body during athletic competition.
Upper body protective equipment is commonly worn by participants of contact sports for the purpose of preventing injuries to their shoulders, back, and chest. These kinds of injuries ordinarily are associated with sports such as lacrosse, hockey, and football. In these contact sports, various situations may cause upper body injuries. Examples of these situations include tackling or otherwise bumping into other players, falling to the playing surface, being struck by another player's game equipment, or being struck by the game ball itself. Of course, upper body protective equipment may reduce or prevent injuries resulting from various other circumstances, including those not associated with contact sports.
Existing upper body protective equipment utilizes a relatively significant amount of foam padding for absorbing the energy of blows delivered to the wearer's upper body. Moreover, a rigid cover, typically made of plastic, usually overlays the foam padding to distribute the force of the blow across a larger area of the foam padding. As is known in the art, distributing the force in this manner permits the foam padding to absorb a substantial portion of the energy associated with the blow thereby preventing the force from being imparted directly to the wearer's body.
One drawback of foam padding is that the repeated compression and expansion of the foam padding may over time cause the foam padding to fatigue and lose its ability to absorb energy. Another drawback is that the combined use of the foam padding and the rigid cover adds relatively significant weight to the protective equipment. Heavier equipment is undesirable as it causes a wearer to expend more energy participating in the sport due to the burden of having to carry this additional weight.
Another drawback of existing upper body protective equipment is that the rigid cover can interfere with the free movement of the wearer's limbs. For example, a relatively large rigid cover can be utilized to protect the wearer's shoulder. The edge of this rigid cover can become sandwiched between the wearer's upper arm and his neck or simply pinch the wearer's neck as the wearer lifts his arm, e.g. when a lacrosse player begins to throw the lacrosse ball. This obviously causes significant discomfort to a wearer and can interfere with his ability to participate in the sport. Moreover, it is contemplated that the rigid cover can be positioned over other portions of the body and prevent the wearer from freely moving various other limbs. Attempts to provide protective equipment that provides increased freedom of movement for a wearer have resulted in a corresponding decrease in the amount of upper body protection provided. There is thus a tradeoff between freedom of movement and maximum protection.
Yet another drawback of existing protective equipment is that the contiguous rigid cover and foam combination typically forms a continuous section of padding that can substantially insulate the wearer's body. In other words, the protective equipment can form a thermal barrier that prevents heat from efficiently dissipating from the wearer's body. This thermal barrier can substantially increase the wearer's body temperature as he generates an increasing amount of heat during his participation in the game. This result is obviously disadvantageous because it can decrease the comfort level of the wearer, compromise his physical ability to participate in the sport, or even present a risk to the wearer's health.
Still another drawback of existing upper body protective equipment is that the equipment can include a series of external belt fasteners utilized for attaching separate padding sections of the garment together. These external belt fasteners are disadvantageous because they can provide a hold for opponents or otherwise allow for the opponent's equipment, e.g. lacrosse stick, to be caught thereon.
A further drawback of existing upper body protective equipment is that they can include separate portions of decorative fabric that are stitched together. Stitching these portions of fabric together is disadvantageous because it typically requires a substantial amount of time to stitch the fabric portions together. Moreover, the size of these stitched designs is limited due to conventional sewing or stitching processes. For this reason, the manufacturing cycle time and the costs associated therewith can be substantially high. Moreover, to reduce these increased costs, existing upper body protective equipment can instead include decorative markings that are painted or otherwise applied to the surface of the rigid cover. However, these markings have minimum longevity and can be easily scratched or otherwise scraped off the protective equipment, including during normal usage. Such results clearly are undesirable.
Therefore, a need exists for a piece of upper body protective equipment that cushions against powerful blows, allows for the unfettered movement of the wearer's arms in all directions, efficiently dissipates heat from the wearer, decreases the weight of the equipment carried by the wearer, and decreases the manufacturing cycle time and the costs associated therewith.
Protective gear also exists to protect other parts of the body from injury during contact athletic events. Such protective equipment includes, gloves, elbow pads, shin guards, and hip pads. Similar to the upper body protective equipment described above, this protective equipment can include similar structural limitations and thus suffers from the same deficiencies discussed above.
Therefore, a need also exists for protective equipment to cover any part of the body and cushion against powerful blows, allows for the free movement of any of the wearer's limbs in all directions, efficiently dissipates heat from the wearer, decreases the weight of the equipment carried by the wearer, and decreases the manufacturing cycle time and the costs in connection therewith.
It is therefore one advantage of the present invention to provide a piece of upper body protective equipment that allows a wearer to move his limbs in all directions and simultaneously provides improved protection for the body of the wearer.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a piece of upper body protective equipment that is durable and can withstand a substantial number of blows over a significant period of time.
It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide a piece of upper body protective equipment that dissipates heat from a wearer and allows the wearer to preserve his physical stamina and energy for participating in the sport.
It is yet another advantage of the present invention to provide a piece of upper body protective equipment that is lightweight and allows a wearer to expend less energy carrying the garment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a piece of upper body protective equipment that includes internal fasteners which attach separate padding sections of the equipment without providing a hold for opponents or otherwise allowing an opponent's equipment to be caught thereon.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a piece of upper body protective equipment that includes two or more pieces of fabric attached together by a radio frequency weld to decrease the manufacturing cycle time and the costs associated therewith and allows for smaller and more intricate designs.
In accordance with the above and the other advantages of the present invention, a piece of protective equipment is provided for cushioning blows imparted upon the body of a user. In one embodiment, the piece of protective equipment includes a chest protector portion, a back protector portion, and a pair of telescopic shoulder protector portions in connection between the chest protector portion and the back protector portion. Each shoulder protector portion includes an inner-shoulder protector portion and an outer-shoulder protector portion that is telescopically coupled to the mid-shoulder protector portion. Each outer-shoulder protector portion is moveable between an extended position and a retracted position allowing an individual wearing the piece of protective equipment to raise his arm without interference from the protective equipment.
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and appended claims.
For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference should now be made to the embodiments illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawings and described below by way of examples of the invention.
In the following figures, the same reference numerals are used to identify the same components in the various views.
Referring to
The equipment 10 includes a pair of telescopic shoulder protector portions 12, 14 (as discussed in detail in connection with for
As shown in
The straps 30, 32 are intended to prevent the inner-shoulder protector portion 60 from extending entirely beyond the protective shoulder portion 22, 23. In this regard, the straps 30, 32 act as a detent member to limit the movement of the inner-shoulder protector portion 60 such that the inner-shoulder protector portion 60 always overlaps at least a minimum amount of the protective shoulder portion 22, 23 when the inner-shoulder protector portion 62 is in the fully extended position. In that regard, the telescopic shoulder protector portion 12 has a continuous structure for protecting the wearer's entire shoulder when the telescopic shoulder protector portion 12 is disposed in the fully extended position, the fully retracted position, or any position therebetween.
It is noted that a variety of suitable straps 30, 32, other than inelastic strap members, can be utilized to limit the extension of the inner-shoulder portion 62. In addition, it is understood that the straps 30, 32 can attach or otherwise anchor the inner-shoulder protector portion 62 to various structures, including the protective neck portions 22, 23, the chest protector portion 16, the back protector portion 18, or various other suitable structures as desired.
Similarly, the pair of protective neck portions 22, 23 are also preferably secured to a respective one of the side chest protector portions 24, 26. Additionally, the middle chest protector portion 28 is secured to each of the side protector portions 24, 26 such as by hook or loop attachment or an adjustable strap. The telescopic shoulder portions 12, 14 are each secured to a respective side front protector 24, 26 by a strap 43, 45. The telescopic shoulder protector portions 12, 14 are secured to the back protection portion 18 by straps 47, 49 or other suitable attachment devices. Any of the straps or connections between the components can be adjustable straps, flexible straps, elastic straps, hook and loop attachment or other suitable attachment mechanism, which interconnects the various components of the equipment 10. Alternatively, buckles or other suitable attachment mechanism may also be utilized. The attachment of the straps or the securing mechanism to the parts will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.
The equipment 10 also preferably includes a pair of arm protector segments 40, 42 extending from each of the telescopic shoulder protector portions 12, 14. These arm protector segments 40, 42 are well known in the art and may be constructed from a variety of different compositions, including foam padding. The arm protector segments 40, 42 also preferably have a plastic covering or shell formed thereon for added protection. Each of the arm protection segments 40, 42 is secured to a respective one of the pair of telescopic shoulder portions 12, 14 by strap 48, 50.
Each of the arm protector segments 40, 42 has a securing strap 52, 54, preferably comprised of elastic, that is intended wrap around a wearer's arm and keep the pad in position. It will be understood that the equipment 10 may take on a variety of different configurations with differently configured or oriented protector portions. Moreover, the protector portions can be secured or otherwise attached to one another in a variety of different ways and at a variety of different points as will be understood by one ordinary skill in the art. Additionally, the front side protector portion 24 is secured to the back side protector portion 24 by a strap 44. Further, the front side protector portion 26 is secured to the back side protector portion 36 by a strap 46. These straps can also be any suitable attachment mechanism.
Referring now
As shown in
This overlapping configuration maximizes protection for the user and eliminates any gaps between adjacent segment portions or between a wearer's neck and the equipment. This configuration differs from previous configurations, which in order to allow the shoulder segment to move leaves a gap between the shoulder segment and a wearer's neck, which exposes a portion of the wearer's shoulder or collarbone during play.
Referring now to
The combined use of foam padding 82 and the wire screen layer 82 provides the inner-shoulder protector portion 62 with substantial strength without significantly increasing the weight of the equipment 10. Specifically, in comparison to the foam padding, the robust nature of wire screen can provide a greater amount of strength and energy absorbing capability to the mid-shoulder protector portion 62 than the foam padding. In addition, the wire screen layer 82 can withstand a substantially greater number of blows than the foam padding because the foam padding can fatigue more quickly and lose its resiliency after compressing and expanding a particular number of times. For these reasons, a relatively low amount of foam padding can be utilized within the foam padding layer 80 for the purpose of decreasing the overall weight of the equipment 10 without compromising the strength of the structure of the equipment 10. Alternatively, depending upon the thickness of the wire screen layer 82, it may have only a little impact resistance capabilities.
The rigid cover 86 in one embodiment is a plastic piece that is formed by compression molding techniques. This allows for a covering having high strength and light weight. The rigid cover 86 is intended to distribute the force of a delivered blow across a substantial portion of the wire screen layer 82 and the foam padding layer 80. This configuration allows for a substantial amount of the delivered blow to be absorbed by the rigid cover 86 and prolongs the length of the durability of the foam padding for the same reasons discussed above in connection with the wire mesh layer 82 the foam padding. This rigid cover 86 may alternatively be comprised of various other suitable materials.
Furthermore, the rigid cover 86 has a series of openings 84 integrally formed therein for allowing heat to dissipate from the wearer's body through the equipment 10. In particular, heat from the wearer's shoulder can pass through the relatively thin foam padding layer 80, then subsequently through the reinforcement wire screen layer 82, and finally through the openings 84 formed in the rigid cover 86. This construction is beneficial because it can assist the wearer in maintaining his body temperature below a maximum threshold temperature thereby preserving the wearer's physical stamina and energy for participating in the game. The rigid cover 86, the wire screen layer 82, and the openings may also be employed on other portions of the equipment 10, including the chest protector portion 16, the back protector portion 18, the front side protector portions 24, 26, the back side protector portions 34, 36, and the arm protector segments 40, 42.
Referring now to
Turning now to
Referring now to
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and alternate embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only in terms of the appended claims.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1277706 | Dorfman | Sep 1918 | A |
| 4590622 | Wolfe et al. | May 1986 | A |
| 5159715 | Jurga et al. | Nov 1992 | A |
| 5623728 | Wagner | Apr 1997 | A |
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| 6182288 | Kibbee | Feb 2001 | B1 |
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| 6247188 | Beland | Jun 2001 | B1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20040205881 A1 | Oct 2004 | US |
