Helmet having high pressure non-bursting gas cells

Abstract

A helmet having non-bursting gas cells preferably includes a hard helmet shell, an outside gas cell impact layer and an inside gas cell impact layer. The outside gas cell impact layer preferably includes at least one gas cell layer and an outside layer of sheet material. Each gas cell layer includes a plurality of gas cells created between two plastic sheets. The inside gas cell impact layer includes the at least one gas cell layer. The inside and outside gas cell impact layers may be permanently or removably attached to hard helmet shell. A second embodiment of the helmet having non-bursting gas cells preferably includes the hard helmet shell, the outside gas cell impact layer and an inside gas cell inflatable impact layer. The inside gas cell inflatable impact layer preferably includes at least one inflatable gas cell layer and a check valve.

Claims

1. A helmet having non-bursting gas cells comprising: a hard shell helmet capable of protecting a human head; at least one pre-inflated outside gas cell layer includes an outside base sheet and an outside cell sheet, a plurality of outside gas cells are created by joining said outside cell sheet to said outside base sheet, each one of said plurality of outside gas cells retains gas therein and does not pass the gas therein to an adjacent one of said plurality of outside gas cells, said plurality of outside cells do not burst upon impact, said at least one pre-inflated outside gas cell layer is retained on an outside surface of said helmet shell, a minimum pressure of gas inside said plurality of outside gas cells is at least 1.2 atmospheres; and at least one inside gas cell layer includes an inside base sheet and an inside cell sheet, a plurality of inside gas cells are created by joining said inside cell sheet to said inside base sheet, each one of said plurality of inside gas cells retains gas therein and does not pass the gas therein to an adjacent one of said plurality of inside gas cells, said plurality of inside cells do not burst upon impact, said at least one inside gas cell layer is retained in an inside surface of said helmet shell, a minimum pressure inside said plurality of inside gas cells is at least 1.2 atmospheres.

2. The helmet having non-bursting gas cells of claim 1, further comprising: an outer layer of sheet material is attached to said outside cell sheet.

3. The helmet having non-bursting gas cells of claim 1 wherein: said plurality of inside and outside gas cells having a shape of at least one of hexagon and round.

4. The helmet having non-bursting gas cells of claim 1 wherein: said helmet is one of a football helmet, a motorcycle helmet, a bicycle helmet, a baseball helmet, baseball cap, construction helmet, medical helmet, a lacrosse helmet, an ice hockey helmet, a horseback riding helmet, a skiing helmet, a lacrosse helmet, a construction and military combat helmet.

5. The helmet having non-bursting gas cells of claim 1 wherein: the gas of said at least one pre-inflated outside gas cell layer and said inside gas cell layer being one of air, substantially pure nitrogen and argon.

6. A soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection comprising: a base shell member fabricated from a flexible sheet, said base shell member includes a substantially hemispherical shape, said base shell member is adapted to cover substantially all of a top of a user's head; at least one impact layer includes a plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles, an entire outer surface area of said plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles are sealed to prevent the escape of the gas therein during an impact, each one of said plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles retains gas therein and does not pass the gas therein to an adjacent one of said plurality of outside gas cells, said at least one impact layer is attached to an outer surface of said base shell member, a minimum pressure of gas inside said plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles is at least 1.2 atmospheres; and a retention strap is attached to opposing sides of said base shell member, wherein said soft helmet is adapted to be retained on a human head with said retention strap.

7. The soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection of claim 6 wherein: at least one ventilation opening is formed between adjacent bubbles of said plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles and through said at least one impact layer and said base shell member.

8. The soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection of claim 6 wherein: said at least one impact layer is fabricated from two sheets of air impermeable material.

9. The soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection of claim 6 wherein: at least one second impact layer, said at least one impact layer and said at least one second impact layer have a plurality of small round bubbles.

10. A soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection comprising: a base shell member fabricated from a flexible sheet, said base shell member includes a substantially hemispherical shape, said base shell member is adapted to cover substantially all of a top of a user's head; at least one impact layer includes a plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles, said at least one impact layer is fabricated from two sheets of gas impermeable material, each one of said plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles retains gas therein and does not pass the gas therein to an adjacent one of said plurality of non-bursting bubbles, said plurality of non-bursting bubbles do not burst upon impact, said at least one impact layer is attached to an outside surface of said base shell member, a minimum pressure of gas inside said plurality of non-bursting gas filled bubbles is at least 1.2 atmospheres; and a retention strap is attached to opposing sides of said base shell member, wherein said soft helmet is adapted to be retained on a human head with said retention strap.

11. The soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection claim 10 wherein: at least one ventilation opening is formed between adjacent bubbles of said plurality of bubbles and through said at least one impact layer and said base shell member.

12. The soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection claim 10 wherein: said gas being one of air, substantially pure nitrogen and argon.

13. The soft helmet having blunt force trauma protection claim 10 wherein: at least one second impact layer, said at least one impact layer and said at least one second impact layer have a plurality of small round bubbles.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a side view of a user wearing a soft helmet in accordance with the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a side cross sectional view of a user wearing a soft helmet in accordance with the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is a top view of a soft helmet in accordance with the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4 is a side view of a second embodiment of a soft helmet in accordance with the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5 is a side cross sectional view of a second embodiment of a soft helmet in accordance with the present invention.

(6) FIG. 6 is a top view of a second embodiment of a soft helmet in accordance with the present

(7) FIG. 7 is a front cross sectional view cut through FIG. 6 of a second embodiment of a soft helmet in accordance with the present.

(8) FIG. 8 is a perspective cut-away view of a helmet having non-bursting gas cells with inside and outside gas cell impact layers in accordance with the present invention.

(9) FIG. 9 is a perspective cut-away view of a helmet having non-bursting gas cells with an inside gas cell inflatable layer and an outside gas cell impact layer in accordance with the present invention.

(10) FIG. 10 is a top view of an inside gas cell inflatable layer of a helmet having non-bursting gas cells in accordance with the present invention.

(11) FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of an inside gas cell inflatable layer of a helmet having non-bursting gas cells in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(12) With reference now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a side view of a user wearing a soft helmet 1. The soft helmet 1 includes a base shell member 10, at least one gas bubble impact layer 12 and a retention strap 14. The base shell member 10 is shaped or formed to fit on a top of a human head 100. The base shell member 10 is fabricated from a flexible sheet of synthetic fiber material, such as Kevlar. The at least one gas bubble impact layer 12 includes a plurality of gas filled bubbles 16, which do not burst upon impact. The plurality of bubbles 16 are created between two flexible sheets of material 18, 20. The flexible sheets of material 18, 20 are fabricated from air impermeable material. The gas is preferably air, but could be any other suitable gas, such as substantially pure nitrogen or argon. Each bubble 16 retains the gas therein and does not pass it to an adjacent bubble 16. Each bubble 16 preferably includes a substantially elliptical shape in a horizontal plane and a substantially half elliptical shape in a vertical plane for increasing aerodynamics.

(13) The plurality of bubbles 16 may be different sizes to optimize nesting of the bubbles 16 on the impact layer 12. The at least one gas bubble impact layer 12 is permanently attached to the base shell member 10 with adhesive or any other suitable substance or method. With reference to FIG. 3, ventilation openings 22 are preferably formed through the impact layer 12 and the base shell member 10. The retention strap 14 is preferably secured to opposing sides of a bottom of the base shell member 10 with sewing or any other suitable method. Retention straps are well known in the art and need not be explained in detail.

(14) A second embodiment of a soft helmet 2 includes the base shell member 10, at least two gas bubble impact layers 24, 26 and the removable retention strap 14. The base shell member 10 is shaped or formed to fit on the top of the human head 100. The at least two gas bubble impact layers 24, 26 include a plurality of small gas filled bubbles 28, which do not burst upon impact. The plurality of small bubbles 28 are created between two flexible sheets of material 30, 32. Each small bubble 28 retains the gas therein and does not pass it to an adjacent bubble 28. Each small bubble 28 preferably includes a substantially round shape in a horizontal plane. The soft helmet 2 is suitable for cycling. The first impact layer 24 is permanently attached to the base shell member 10 with adhesive or any other suitable substance or method. The second impact layer 26 is permanently attached to a top of the first impact layer 24 with adhesive or any other suitable method. Ventilation openings 34 are preferably formed through the at least two impact layers 24, 26 and the base member 10. The removable retention strap 14 is preferably secured to opposing sides of the bottom of the base shell member 10 with sewing or any other suitable method.

(15) With reference to FIG. 8, a helmet having non-bursting gas cells 3 preferably includes a hard helmet shell 40, an outside gas cell impact layer 42 and an inside gas cell impact layer 44. The gas cells 50 in the inside and outside gas cell impact layers do not burst upon impact. The hard helmet shell 40 is any type of prior art helmet, such as a football helmet, a motorcycle helmet, a bicycle helmet, a baseball helmet, baseball cap, construction helmet, medical helmet, lacrosse helmet or any type of protective helmet for a human head. The outside gas cell impact layer 42 preferably includes at least one gas cell layer 46 and an outside layer of sheet material 48. Team identification may be printed on the outside layer of sheet material 48. The at least one gas cell layer 46 includes a plurality of gas cells 50 created by a base sheet 52 and a cell sheet 54. Gas is not transferred between the plurality of gas cells 50. The plurality of gas cells 50 preferably have a hexagon shape, but other shapes may also be used, such as round or square.

(16) The at least one gas cell layer 46 may be permanently attached to an outside surface of the hard helmet shell 40 or removably attached with a removable attachment system 56. The removable attachment system 56 is preferably hook and loop fastening pads, but other suitable removable attachment systems may also be used. A second gas cell layer 46 may be attached to a top of the gas cell layer 46 with adhesive or any other suitable method. The outside layer of sheet material 48 is permanently attached to a top of the gas cell layer 46 or the second gas cell layer 46 with adhesive or any other suitable method. The inside gas cell impact layer 44 includes the at least one gas cell layer 46. The at least one gas cell layer 46 may be permanently attached to an inside surface of the hard helmet shell 40 or removably attached with the removable attachment system 56. Alternatively, a minimum pressure of the gas inside each gas bubble 16, 28 and each gas cell 50 is one of 1.2 atmospheres (1.0 atmosphere of pressure is 14.7 psi), 1.5 atmospheres or 2.0 atmospheres. Each gas bubble 16, 28 and each gas cell 50 may be filled inside an enclosure, which is pressurized to the same or nearly the same pressure.

(17) With reference to FIG. 9, a second embodiment of the helmet having non-bursting gas cells 4 preferably includes the hard helmet shell 40, the outside gas cell impact layer 42 an inside gas cell inflatable impact layer 58. The gas cells 50 in the inside and outside gas cell impact layers do not burst upon impact. The outside gas cell impact layer 42 preferably includes the at least one gas cell layer 46 and the outside layer of sheet material 48. The outside gas cell impact layer 42 may be permanently or removably attached to an outside surface of the hard helmet shell as previously described.

(18) With reference to FIGS. 10-11, the inside gas cell inflatable layer 58 preferably includes at least one inflatable gas cell layer 60 and a check valve 62. The outer perimeter of the inflatable gas cell layer 60 is shaped to fit inside the hard helmet shell 40. A plurality of gas cells 66, a plurality of gas passages 68 and an gas manifold 70 are preferably formed between a base sheet 72 and a cell sheet 74. Pressurized gas flows into an entrance of the check valve 62 through the fill nozzle 76. The pressured gas flows into the gas fill manifold 70 through the check valve 62. The gas fill manifold 70 distributes the pressurized gas to the plurality of gas passages 68 and the plurality of gas cells 66. The inside gas cell inflatable layer 58 may be permanently or removably attached to an inside surface of the hard helmet shell 40. The fill nozzle 76 of the check valve preferably extends past an outside surface of the helmet 40. Gas pressure may be measured with an gas pressure gage.

(19) While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.