An impact protection and shock absorbing device includes a support surface, and a plurality of flexible spines, configured of one or more sizes, each having a length defined from a base portion at the support surface to a distal portion thereof, and whereby each spine extends in one or more longitudinal directions outwardly from the support surface, at one or more angles less than 90 degrees. Sufficient deflecting of one or more spines by impact force causes impinging and deflecting of one or more other spines thereby dispersing and reducing impact forces.

A system for protecting a head of a wearer from an impact force includes a helmet defining an interior space for housing the head and at least one damper coupled to the helmet at a first end and extending therefrom along a longitudinal axis to a second end. The damper includes of a plurality compressible energy damper elements concentrically arranged about the longitudinal axis. The plurality of compressible energy damper elements includes an outer damper element and an inner damper element. The outer damper element surrounds the inner damper element and extends to the second end of the damper. The outer damper element has a first uncompressed length and the inner element has a second uncompressed length that is different from the first uncompressed length. Alternatively, the plurality of compressible damper elements are concentrically arranged and are arranged end to end in series.

A helmet having an inner shell with a first projection and a second projection, an outer shell, and at least one shock absorption system. Each shock absorption system comprises a first recess disposed in the first projection, a second recess disposed in the second projection, and a leaf spring having a first leg, a second leg, and a curved middle portion. The first leg is received by the first recess and the second leg is received by the second recess. The leaf spring is adapted to flex and extend into the first and second recesses in response to an external impact to the helmet. The inner shell and outer shell may be composed of a synthetic fiber. The shock absorption system may also include a compression spring disposed between a flange of the leaf spring and the second projection of the inner shell.

A helmet manufacturing method involves: producing a shell and a protector, the shell having two opposing cheek-protecting portions, the protector having a jaw-protecting portion and a neck-protecting portion connected to the jaw-protecting portion; putting the shell and the protector in a die such that bottom edges of the cheek-protecting portions of the shell connect to a top edge of the neck-protecting portion of the protector; introducing a foam material into the die, apply heat and pressure to the foam material such that the foam material expands and binds to an inner side of the shell and an inner side of the protector; and taking a helmet finished product out of the die. Therefore, both the jaw-protecting portion of the integrally-formed protector and the helmet finished product are reinforced.

A helmet for receiving the head of a hockey or lacrosse player, the helmet having an outer shell and an inner lining covering at least partially the inner surface of the outer shell. In one embodiment, the helmet comprises a skeleton at least partially covered by the inner lining, a movable occipital pad and movable temple pads. The inner lining can be made of an absorptive material such as foam, expanded polypropylene or expanded polyethylene and can be overmolded onto the skeleton. The occipital pad and the temple pads may be arranged with an inward bias so as to help the helmet self-adjust to provide an advantageous fit on the player's head. In some embodiments, the outer shell and skeleton, or the outer shell and the inner lining, cooperate to define a ventilation system.

A protective football helmet is provided having a one-piece molded shell with an impact attenuation system. This system includes an impact attenuation member formed in an extent of the front shell portion by removing material from the front portion. The impact attenuation member is purposely engineered to change how the front portion responds to an impact force applied substantially normal to the front portion as compared to how other portions of the shell respond to that impact force. In one version, the impact attenuation member is a cantilevered segment formed in the front portion of the shell.

Described herein are helmets comprising at least one surface reinforcing component. In some embodiments the surface reinforcing component comprises at least one anchoring feature embedded in a structural feature of the helmet, such as a force absorbing element. In other embodiments, the surface reinforcing component comprises fasteners configured to mate with a respective fastener on a shell of the helmet.

Helmet-mounted systems (100) that may include lighting systems (102) and solar-powered battery systems (112), automated controls (116), and/or integrated sensors (104) that result in an automated and fully integrated systems that do not require user-initiated recharging of batteries or require a user to manually turn the components of the system on and off.

An improved design for an athletic helmet incorporating non-Newtonian fluid shock absorbing structures.

A football helmet including a one-piece outer shell defining an exterior and an interior. The shell includes a plurality of slots penetrating at least partially through the shell from the exterior to the interior of the shell. Each slot may be disposed adjacent to at least one other slot and each pair of adjacent slots defines an energy absorbing beam portion between the adjacent slots. Each beam portion is configured to deform and absorb energy when the exterior of the shell is impacted from a normal direction.