A shock absorbing system for force attenuation, impact modification or reduction, employs an envelope having a chamber containing a first working fluid, the envelope deformable in response to the impulse to attenuate impact force. A plurality of resilient supplemental absorber elements dispersed within the chamber. The plurality of resilient supplemental absorber elements are deformable in response to the force to assist in attenuating impact force and provide additional resilient restoring force to return the envelope to a pre-impact shape. In alternative implementations, a unitary cell for energy dissipation employs an envelope having a chamber containing a first working fluid and an inner element contained within the chamber and having an inner chamber containing a second working fluid.

Embodiments of the invention relate to an intelligent shin guard (10) comprising the electronic components of a microprocessor (11), data sensors (12, 13), a memory (14), at least one wireless communication interface (15) and a power supply (17) integrated into the body of the shin guard, the wireless communication interface enabling the sending of at least a portion of data captured by the sensors with respect to a sports session.

A shin guard for a hockey player includes a knee portion having a knee cap adapted to cover a knee of the hockey player, and a shin portion located below the knee portion and extending from a lower end adapted to be proximate a foot of the hockey player toward the knee cap to cover a shin of the hockey player. The shin portion includes a shin cap having an outer side facing away from the shin and an inner side facing toward the shin, a main padded liner overlapping at least a portion of the inner side of the shin cap, and a shin comfort liner mounted internally of the main padded liner. The shin comfort liner is movable relative to the shin cap between first and second positions, the shin comfort liner moving away from the knee cap from the first position to the second position.

A method of forming a plate for an article of footwear is disclosed. The method includes applying a first strand portion to a base layer including positioning adjacent segments of the first strand portion to form a first layer on the base layer. The adjacent segments of the first strand portion having a greater density across a width of the plate between a medial side and a lateral side at a forefoot region of the plate than at a midfoot region of the plate and at a heel region of the plate. The method also includes applying at least one of heat and pressure to the first strand portion and to the base layer to conform the first strand portion and the base layer to a predetermined shape.

An adjustable knee wedge may include a wedge shaped first compressible block, a wedge shaped second compressible block releasably coupled to the wedge shaped first compressible block and a leg guard mounting interface coupled to at least one of the first compressible block and the second compressible block.

The invention relates to footwear and portions thereof having structural features and decorative designs thereon, and related systems and methods for manufacturing same. An exemplary method for providing a feature on a surface of an object includes positioning a laser proximate the surface of the object, directing a laser beam from the laser to the surface of the object to mark or engrave at least a portion of the surface of the object, and moving at least one of the laser and the object to create a pattern on the surface of the object, the pattern providing at least one of an aesthetic and a structural feature on the surface of the object.

Protective equipment for protecting a portion of a user's body (such as a leg guard for protecting part of a user's leg) may include a cap configured to cover a first portion of a user's body and a cap-extension element connected to an end of the cap and configured to cover at least another portion of the user's body. The cap-extension element is removable from the cap and connectable to the cap via an attachment mechanism. The attachment mechanism may include a tab element on the cap-extension element that connects to a socket element on the cap. The protective equipment may include a cap liner attached to the cap, a cap-extension liner attached to the cap-extension element, and the attachment mechanism may include liner-attachment elements on the liners.

A body limb protection system includes an outer layer, an inner layer, and a force dampening and defusing structure. The outer layer includes a first material composition and has an exterior surface that includes a substantially planer area. The inner layer includes a second material composition and has a shape corresponding to a body limb portion. The force dampening and defusing structure is positioned between the inner layer and the outer layer. The force dampening and defusing structure has a shape corresponding to a difference between the shapes of the inner and outer layers. The force dampening and defusing structure includes a plurality of components arranged to reduce pressure on the body limb portion when a force is applied to the substantially planer area.

The present disclosure is directed to articles that include one or more coated fiber(s) (i.e., fiber(s) with a cured coating disposed thereon), where the coating includes a matrix of crosslinked polymers and optionally a colorant (e.g., pigment particles or dye or both). The cured coating is a product of crosslinking a coating composition including uncrosslinked polymers (e.g., a dispersion of uncrosslinked polymers in a carrier, wherein the uncrosslinked polymers are crosslinked to form the matrix of crosslinked polymers). The present disclosure is also directed to articles including the coated fibers, methods of forming the coated fibers and articles, and methods of making articles including the coated fibers.

Hockey goalkeeper leg pads wearable on legs of a hockey goalkeeper to protect the legs, in which protective parts (e.g., pad members) of the hockey goalkeeper leg pads are adjustable to adjust how the hockey goalkeeper leg pads fit on the legs, and their adjustability is provided in a way that may be relatively light, easy to use, and simple to manufacture.