Protective sports helmet
The present invention is directed to a protective sports helmet including a helmet shell, a face guard and an internal padding assembly positioned within the helmet shell. The internal padding assembly includes a brow pad having a first peripheral connection portion and a second peripheral connection portion. The internal padding assembly also includes a first jaw pad having an upper connection portion that mates with the first connection portion of the brow pad, and a second jaw pad having an upper connection portion that mates with the second connection portion of the brow pad. The internal padding assembly also includes a crown assembly with pad elements that include an internal separation layer that partitions the element into a first inflatable section and a second un-inflatable section. The connection portion of the jaw pads also mates with frontal pad elements of the crown assembly. The internal padding assembly further includes an occipital pad assembly that engages the helmet wearer's head below the occipital bone.
1. A protective sports helmet comprising:
a helmet shell; and
an internal padding assembly positioned within the helmet shell, the internal padding assembly including:
a brow pad adapted to be positioned adjacent a brow of a wearer of the helmet, the brow pad having opposed peripheral connection portions, wherein the brow pad extends continuously along an inner surface of the helmet shell and between the opposed peripheral connection portions, and wherein the brow pad has a thickness that exceeds a thickness of the helmet shell; and
a jaw pad having a connection portion that mates with one of the opposed peripheral connection portions of the brow pad, wherein the connection portion of the jaw pad has a first connection segment that extends rearward and upward, and a second connection segment that extends forward and upward from the first connection segment.
2. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , wherein the jaw pad mates with one of the opposed peripheral connection portions of the brow pad above a front edge of the helmet shell.
3. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , the internal padding assembly further including a crown pad assembly having a plurality of pad elements, wherein at least one of the pad elements is partitioned by an internal separation layer to form an un-inflatable first chamber and an inflatable second chamber.
4. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , wherein the mating between the brow pad and the jaw pad is configured to provide continuous padding engagement from a jaw region of the wearer to a forehead of the wearer.
5. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , wherein one of the opposed peripheral connection portions of the brow pad is located along a lower peripheral portion of the brow pad.
6. The protective sports helmet of claim 5 , wherein one of the opposed peripheral connection portions of the brow pad has a first connection segment that extends rearward and upward from a lower edge of the brow pad, and a second connection segment that extends forward and upward from the first connection segment.
7. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , the internal padding assembly further including an occipital pad assembly positioned along a lower rear edge of the helmet shell,
wherein the occipital pad assembly has a pair of intermediate pad elements adapted to engage a head of the wearer of the helmet below the head's occipital bone.
8. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , wherein the internal padding assembly includes a crown pad that has a projection; and
the brow pad includes a rear edge that extends between the opposed peripheral connection portions, said brow pad includes a recess that is adapted to receive the projection of the crown pad.
9. The protective sports helmet of claim 1 , wherein the internal padding assembly includes a separate occipital pad, said occipital pad has a lower edge that resides adjacent to a rear lower edge of the helmet shell.
10. A protective sports helmet comprising:
a helmet shell;
an internal padding assembly positioned within the helmet shell, the internal padding assembly including:
a crown pad;
a brow pad adapted to be positioned adjacent a brow of a wearer of the helmet, the brow pad including: (i) a first peripheral connection portion, (ii) a second peripheral connection portion, and (iii) a rear edge, and wherein the first and second peripheral connection portions are in an opposed positional relationship, and wherein the brow pad extends continuously along an inner surface of the helmet shell and between the first and second peripheral connection portions;
wherein the rear edge extends between the first peripheral connection portion and the second peripheral connection portion and includes at least two projections that define a rear recess that is configured to receive an extent of the crown pad; and
wherein each of the first and second peripheral connection portions of the brow pad has: (i) a first brow pad connection segment that extends from a lower edge of the brow pad, (ii) a second brow pad connection segment that extends forward from the first brow pad connection segment, and (iii) a third brow pad connection segment that extends upward from the second brow pad connection segment, wherein the second and third brow pad connection segments define a recess.
11. The protective sports helmet of claim 10 , wherein the internal padding assembly includes a jaw pad that has: (i) a substantially linear lower edge, (ii) a substantially linear front edge extending upward from the lower edge of the jaw pad, and (iii) an upper edge that is inclined from the front edge of the jaw pad.
12. The protective sports helmet of claim 10 , wherein the internal padding assembly includes:
a jaw pad that has: (i) a first connection portion that extends rearward and upward, and (ii) a second connection portion that extends rearward and downward; and
a side pad having a connection portion that receives at least one of the first and second connection portions of the jaw pad.
13. The protective sports helmet of claim 10 , wherein the internal padding assembly includes:
a first jaw pad having an upper connection portion that interconnects with the first peripheral connection portion of the brow pad;
a second jaw pad having an upper connection portion that interconnects with the second peripheral connection portion of the brow pad;
wherein the upper connection portion of each of the first and second jaw pads has: (i) a first jaw pad connection segment that extends rearward and upward, and (ii) a second jaw pad connection segment that extends forward and upward from the first jaw pad connection segment, and wherein the first and second jaw pad connection segments define a projection that is received by the recess.
14. The protective sports helmet of claim 13 , wherein the upper connection portion of the first jaw pad interconnects with one of the peripheral connection portions of the brow pad above a front edge of the helmet shell.
15. The protective sports helmet of claim 13 , wherein the interconnection between the brow pad and the first jaw pad is configured to provide continuous padding engagement from a jaw region of the wearer to a forehead region of the wearer.
16. The protective sports helmet of claim 13 , wherein the brow pad extends along a front edge of the helmet shell and wherein the peripheral connection portions of the brow pad are positioned beyond a lateral edge of the helmet shell that depends downward from the front edge of the helmet shell.
17. The protective sports helmet of claim 13 , wherein
the rear edge includes a plurality of teeth that define a plurality of rear recesses that are configured to receive an extent of the crown pad.
18. A protective sports helmet comprising:
a helmet shell;
an internal padding assembly positioned within the helmet shell, the internal padding assembly including:
a jaw pad that has: (i) a substantially linear lower edge, (ii) a substantially linear front edge extending upward from said lower edge of the jaw pad, and (iii) an upper edge that is inclined from said front edge of the jaw pad;
a brow pad having a first peripheral connection portion and a second peripheral connection portion that are in an opposed positional relationship with one another, wherein the brow pad extends continuously along an inner surface of the helmet shell and between the first and second peripheral connection portions; and
wherein each of the first and second peripheral connection portions of the brow pad has: (i) a first brow pad connection segment that extends from a lower edge of the brow pad, (ii) a second brow pad connection segment that extends forward from the first brow pad connection segment, and (iii) a third brow pad connection segment that extends upward from the second brow pad connection segment, wherein the second and third brow pad connection segments define a recess.
19. The protective sports helmet of claim 18 , wherein the internal padding assembly includes a crown pad; and
wherein the brow pad includes a rear edge that extends between the first peripheral connection portion of the brow pad and the second peripheral connection portion of the brow pad and includes at least two projections that define a rear recess that is configured to receive an extent of the crown pad.
20. The protective sports helmet of claim 18 , wherein the jaw pad includes: (i) a first connection portion that extends rearward and upward, and (ii) a second connection portion that extends rearward and downward; and
wherein the internal padding assembly includes a side pad having a connection portion that receives at least one of the first and second connection portions of the jaw pad.