Disclosed is a safety helmet including an energy distribution part arranged in a body part of the safety helmet for distributing the energy of an impact in the safety helmet.

The present helmet invention combines lightweight, impact absorption materials, force distribution structures, and means for affixing a facemask and straps to the helmet for reducing the risk of head injury. The internal construction of the helmet uses the combination of three or more elliptically shaped rings, each referred to as a halo ring. The halo rings are rigidly affixed to u-shaped torsion bars, and together form a cage. The cage covers areas of the head and skull vulnerable to injury, operating to disperse and thereby dissipate external impacts at any point where forces on the helmet's external surface are transferred to the ovoid-like cage.

A helmet can include a helmet body formed of a foam energy-absorbing material in which the helmet body includes inner and outer opposing surfaces. A plurality of lower slots can be formed completely through the helmet body and can be open at a lower edge of the helmet body. A plurality of upper slots can be formed completely through the helmet body and be open at a top portion of the helmet body to form a star shape. An S-shaped panel of the helmet body can include an undulating form from the alternating and overlapping positions of the plurality of lower slots and the plurality of upper slots. A reinforcing halo can be disposed within the helmet body to reinforce areas of weakness in the helmet body resulting from the plurality of lower slots and the plurality of upper slots.

Protective headgear apparatus (such as a helmet used for contact sports) is formed to comprise a non-rigid outer shell in the form of multiple layers of open-cell foam, each layer having a different density. A flexible, lightweight metal frame (i.e., a cage) is disposed to contact the inner surface of the outer shell (i.e., bonded in a manner that essentially locks the frame to the foam layer), and an open-cell foam cushion layer (in a waffle-like pattern) is bonded to the exposed surface of the metal frame. The various foam layers are preferably impregnated with activated carbon particles that electrostatically absorb (i.e., capture) the energy caused by blows to the outer shell. The captured energy is thereafter distributed throughout the volume of the foam layer itself, so as to minimize the amount of energy that reaches the wearer's head.

Embodiments of helmets including impact structures are disclosed. An example helmet includes an exterior shell including an inner surface, an outer surface; and a lower perimeter edge adjoining the inner surface and the outer surface. The lower perimeter edge defines a recess positioned on each side of the exterior shell. The example helmet further includes an interior liner positioned along the inner surface of the exterior shell, and further includes an impact structure associated with each recess. The impact structure is positioned at least partially below the interior liner and the exterior shell, and the impact structure includes a contact interface positioned to abut the interior liner.

Helmet (1) comprising: a shell (2): one or more inserts (3) of a cellular energy-absorbing material: one or more retainers (4) crossing the one or more inserts (3) from side to side and fixed to the shell (2) at opposing sides of each insert (3) for constraining it to the shell (2), the one or more retainers (4) are shaped so laterally and inwardly trap the one or more inserts (3).

A helmet includes a shell having an interior surface, a padding disposed along the interior surface of the shell, and a chinbar. The padding defines a first engagement surface positioned at a first lateral side of the padding and a second engagement surface positioned at an opposing second lateral side of the padding. The chinbar includes a cage, a first flange, and a second flange. The cage includes a first end defining a third engagement surface and a second end defining a fourth engagement surface. The third engagement surface interfaces with the first engagement surface and the fourth engagement surface interfaces with the second engagement surface. The first flange extends from the first end of the cage. The second flange extends from the second end of the cage. The first flange and the second flange of the chinbar are embedded within the padding.

A structure, or series of structures, for absorbing, dissipating, and deflecting impact energy that can be used in a helmet, car bumper, footwear, or other situation where impact energy needs to be absorbed. The structure, or series of securities, consisting of geometrical designs such as interlaced leaf spring pairs or helical ribbons made from materials such as a nickel-titanium shape-memory alloy, polycarbonate, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, (ABS), Poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide, (PPTA, also known as Kevlar), or other polymers or elastomers, carbon fiber composite, metal, ceramic, or any combination thereof, (such as carbon fiber reinforced polymer).

An apparatus for attachment to headgear is disclosed including a plurality of headgear pads each having a sloped shape, each headgear pad having a base, an apex and a sloped portion connected between the base and apex, wherein the base is adapted to be physically attached to the headgear. Also disclosed is a method for attaching a plurality of headgear pads to headgear for use by a wearer, the method including selecting a pattern for placement of the plurality of headgear pads onto the headgear, marking the headgear with the pattern, attaching a first headgear pad selected from a plurality of headgear pads to the headgear in accordance to the marking and continuing attaching headgear pads until the pattern is complete.

A protective football helmet is provided having a face guard mounting system with at least one pair of opposed recessed mounting regions that ensure a low-profile mounting arrangement for a face guard to the helmet. The recessed mounting regions are formed in both the inner and outer surfaces of the helmet shell along a frontal opening in the shell. As a result of the streamlined frontal appearance provided by the face guard mounting system, the width of the face guard closely corresponds to the width of the helmet at the recessed mounting regions.