A football helmet includes a plastic shell with side regions having an ear flap with a face guard connector, an ear opening, a slot, and a snap connector. The helmet also includes an internal padding assembly removably connected to the plastic shell and including a jaw pad with a force attenuating layer. When the helmet is worn, a front edge of the jaw pad is positioned both in front of a coronal plane and below a basic plane of a head of the helmet wearer. A chin strap assembly releasably secures the helmet to the wearer and includes a lower flexible strap extending outwardly from each side of a central protective member. When the helmet is worn, an extent of the lower flexible strap is received by the slot when said strap is affixed to the snap connector. The shell also includes a raised central band integrally formed as part of the shell and extending across the crown region to the rear region. An arrangement of elongated vent openings flank the raised central band.

A clamping device for positioning longitudinal fixation elements includes (a) a first clamp having a substantially S-shape and including three clamping arms defining first and second clamp openings for receiving longitudinal fixation elements therein, the first and second clamping openings extending along channel axes corresponding to longitudinal axes of the longitudinal fixation elements to be received therein and being open to an exterior of the clamp body via insertion slots through which the longitudinal bone fixation elements are insertable into the first and second clamp openings laterally relative to the channel axes; (b) a second clamp including first and second clamping arms defining a third clamp opening therebetween for receiving a longitudinal fixation element; (c) a first borehole extending through the three arms of the first clamp and the first and second arms of the second clamp along a first axis; (d) a shaft extending through the first borehole; and (e) a locking member engagable with the shaft to lock the locking elements within the first and second clamps and prevent rotation of the first and second clamps relative to one another about the first axis.

An apparatus for attenuating the transmission of an impact force from a faceguard to a helmet shell includes: at least one lobe configured to constrain at least a portion of the faceguard; a fastener attachment disk extending through recesses in the helmet shell; and a force attenuation protrusion coaxially aligned with the fastener attachment feature

A football helmet includes a plastic shell with side regions having an ear flap with a face guard connector, an ear opening, a slot, and a snap connector. The helmet also includes an internal padding assembly removably connected to the plastic shell and including a jaw pad with a force attenuating layer. When the helmet is worn, a front edge of the jaw pad is positioned both in front of a coronal plane and below a basic plane of a head of the helmet wearer. A chin strap assembly releasably secures the helmet to the wearer and includes a lower flexible strap extending outwardly from each side of a central protective member. When the helmet is worn, an extent of the lower flexible strap is received by the slot when said strap is affixed to the snap connector. The shell also includes a raised central band integrally formed as part of the shell and extending across the crown region to the rear region. An arrangement of elongated vent openings flank the raised central band.

A football helmet includes a plastic shell with side regions having an ear flap with a face guard connector, an ear opening, a slot, and a snap connector. The helmet also includes an internal padding assembly removably connected to the plastic shell and including a jaw pad with a force attenuating layer. When the helmet is worn, a front edge of the jaw pad is positioned both in front of a coronal plane and below a basic plane of a head of the helmet wearer. A chin strap assembly releasably secures the helmet to the wearer and includes a lower flexible strap extending outwardly from each side of a central protective member. When the helmet is worn, an extent of the lower flexible strap is received by the slot when said strap is affixed to the snap connector. The shell also includes a raised central band integrally formed as part of the shell and extending across the crown region to the rear region. An arrangement of elongated vent openings flank the raised central band.

The present invention provides a protective sports helmet for a wearer engaged in a contact sport, such as football. The helmet includes a shell having a front region, a rear region, two side regions, and an ear flap depending from a side region. A jaw flap extends forwardly from each ear flap, wherein the jaw flap overlies an extent of a mandible of the wearer. The shell also includes a raised central band that extends from the front region across the crown to the rear region. The central band has lower side portions that extend from the rear region towards the side region of the shell and terminate proximate an ear opening in the shell. The central band has a width defined by a pair of opposed sidewalls that extend transversely from an outer surface of the shell. The shell also includes a first plurality of vent openings aligned along a first side of the raised central band and a second plurality of vent openings aligned along a second side of the band.