Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI), commonly referred to as “a concussion,” is an injury that frequently occurs in contact sports, such as football. Sport-related brain injuries have been estimated to occur 1.6 to 3.8 million times every year. Additionally, it is estimated that some football players receive up to 1,500 head impacts per season. Although every impact may not result in MTBI, numerous impacts to the head can result in long-term brain damage through an impact induced neurodegenerative disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The present disclosure relates to helmets that protect a wearer's head and reduce the likelihood of the wearer experiencing Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI), Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), or other types of injuries. The helmet in some embodiments comprises a shell that has a first portion and a second portion. The first portion of the shell may include a core layer that is surrounded by layers that are denser than the core layer. For example, the core layer may be constructed of a foam, and the surrounding layers may be constructed of a para-aramid synthetic fiber, such as a KEVLAR fiber, fixed in a matrix. Because the core layer is less dense than the surrounding layers, the first portion of the shell may mitigate shock waves that are imparted to the helmet.
Furthermore, in some embodiments, a suture may be formed in one of the layers that surrounds the core layer. An elastomeric adhesive may be disposed in the suture to hold portions of the layer together. The suture and elastomeric adhesive may also mitigate shock waves that are imparted to the helmet.
In addition, the second portion of the shell may include multiple energy dissipators, such as elastomeric tapered spirals. The energy dissipators may be configured to dissipate energy imparted to the helmet. In particular, the energy dissipators may dissipate energy through shear action in the energy dissipators.
Thus, various embodiments of the helmets described herein may mitigate shock waves, trap momentum, and dissipate energy so that the risk of wears experiencing injuries, such as MTBI and CTE, are reduced. In the following discussion, a general description of the system and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the same.
With reference to
The helmet 100 may comprise a shell 103, a facemask 106, a liner (not shown), and/or other components. The shell 103 may be the outermost portion of the helmet 100 that surrounds at least a portion of the wear's head. Accordingly, the exterior surface of the shell 103 may contact objects, such as other helmets 100, when in use. The facemask 106 may protect the face of the wearer of the helmet 100.
With reference to
For the configuration illustrated in
The second portion 206 of the shell 103 may include a side layer 219, a plurality of energy dissipators 223, and a plurality of support columns 226a-226c. In some embodiments, the side layer 219 may comprise a para-aramid synthetic fiber, such as a KEVLAR, carbon, E-glass, or S-glass fiber, fixed in a matrix, such as a polypropylene, polyurethane, polycarbonate, and/or any other suitable matrix.
The support columns 226a-226c may attach the side layer 219 to the first portion 203 of the shell 103. For the embodiments illustrated in
The energy dissipators 223 are configured to dissipate energy that is imparted to the helmet 100. In some embodiments, an energy dissipator 223 may dissipate energy by a shearing action in the energy dissipator 223. Examples of energy dissipators 223 are described in further detail below. In some embodiments, the energy dissipators 223 may be arranged in rows throughout at least a portion of the shell 103, as illustrated in
With reference to
In particular, a suture 303 may exist between the first surrounding layer portion 213a and the second surrounding layer portion 213b. The suture 303 may be regarded as being a relatively rigid joint between the first surrounding layer portion 213a and the second surrounding layer portion 213b. In some embodiments, the suture 303 may extend around the entire shell 103. In other embodiments, the suture 303 may extend around only a portion of the shell 103. The suture 303 may comprise an elastomeric adhesive. In addition to attaching the first surrounding layer portion 213a to the second surrounding layer portion 213b, the elastomeric adhesive may facilitate shear deformation in the first surrounding layer 213 when the helmet 100 is subjected to an impact.
The suture 303 may have a sinusoidal shape that is curved to conform to the shape of the shell 103. In these embodiments, the ratio of the amplitude to the wavelength may be within the range from about 0.25 to about 2.0.
With reference to
The energy dissipator 223 illustrated in
The base 403 of the energy dissipator 223 may be attached directly to the second surrounding layer 216 of the first portion 203 of the shell 103. When the helmet 100 is subjected to an impact, energy may be transferred to the energy dissipator 223 and dissipated through shear action in the energy dissipator 223.
With reference to
The base 403a of the energy dissipator 223a may be attached directly to the second surrounding layer 216 of the first portion 203 of the shell 103. When the helmet 100 is subjected to an impact, energy may be transferred to the energy dissipator 223a and dissipated through shear action in the energy dissipator 223a.
With reference to
The base 403b of the energy dissipator 223b may be attached directly to the second surrounding layer 216 of the first portion 203 of the shell 103. When the helmet 100 is subjected to an impact, energy may be transferred to the energy dissipator 223b and dissipated through shear action in the energy dissipator 223b.
Numerical values may be expressed herein in a range format. Such a range format is used for convenience and brevity, and thus, should be interpreted in a flexible manner to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. To illustrate, a concentration range of “about 0.1% to about 5%” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited concentration of about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt %, but also include individual concentrations (e.g., 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) and the sub-ranges (e.g., 0.5%, 1.1%, 2.2%, 3.3%, and 4.4%) within the indicated range. The term “about” may include traditional rounding according to significant figures of the numerical value.
The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely examples of implementations to set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure. Disjunctive language used herein, such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and should not, imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.
The present application is a non-provisional application of, and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/983,133, filed on Apr. 23, 2014 and titled “Shock-Wave Mitigating Bio-Inspired Football Helmet Design,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
This invention was made with Government support under DE-EE0002323 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61983133 | Apr 2014 | US |