Face armor

Face armor according to the invention comprises a face guard having dual side panels for disposition on opposite sides of the head of a person wearing the face armor, wherein a side slit extends upwardly from the bottom edge of each side panel such that the chin strap of a helmet extending to the chin of a person wearing the helmet extends over a portion of the side panel rearward of the side slit, passes through the side slit, and extends under a portion of the side panel forward of the side slit, thereby minimizing interference from the face guard to a snug and comfortable fitting of the helmet's tightened chin strap along the side of the person's head. In one embodiment fasteners close over each side slit and a portion of the chin strap to secure the forward and rearward portions of the side panel together.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to face armor for use during law enforcement training and sporting activities, and in particular to face armor for use while training for line-of-sight armed combat or while participating in competitions using non-lethal training ammunition, the face armor including a face guard having closable side slits which accommodate the chin strap of a helmet.

Description of Related Art

Live person-to-person competition using line-of-sight firearms is uniquely effective at training for law enforcement or military operations. Non-lethal training ammunition (NLTA) is frequently used during such training to approximate real life situations as closely as possible. Similarly, paint capsules (“paintballs”) are fired during sporting, security, law enforcement and military training activities to mark other participants to indicate a hit. Since both NLTAs and paintballs are fired at substantial velocity against participants, this presents a risk of physical injury, particularly to sensitive areas around the face and neck.

Special protective equipment is usually required during training or sporting activities which use NLTAs or paintballs. An important component of such protective equipment is head armor designed to prevent projectiles from impacting sensitive areas of the face, head and neck. Head armor can include face armor, such as protective goggles and face guards, a helmet, and possibly a neck guard. However, face armor typical in the prior art can be bulky, may not be comfortable to use together with helmets of different sizes and shapes, and may interfere with proper sighting of shoulder weapons.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Face armor according to the invention for use during training or sporting activities using NLTAs or paintballs includes a low-profile goggle system and a flexible protective face guard attached to the goggle system to provide impact protection to the face, head, and neck areas, and to prevent various projectiles from reaching the sensitive areas of the front and side areas of the face. The goggle system and face guard are sufficiently flexible to allow a shoulder weapon to be placed in the proper location along the side of a participant's face for sight-picture alignment, but are constructed of material substantial enough to provide impact protection against flying projectiles. The goggle system uses a fused dual lens to prevent fogging. The goggle and the attached protective material are shaped to accommodate interchangeable use with a variety of battle helmets known in the industry.

The face guard is formed to stand off slightly from the face, usually approximately ½″ to 1″, to allow the skin to breathe and for wearing comfort under strenuous training conditions. The face guard is manufactured of a malleable material that flexes inwardly towards the user's face to form a cheek well when a shoulder weapon is brought to the face to be sighted; when the shoulder weapon is lowered, the face guard returns to its original shape. The flexible nature of the face guard allows trainees to practice shoulder weapon usage under conditions which replicate real life situations as closely as possible, while protecting the head and neck from damage. The face guard material is also designed for easy clean up thereby facilitating use by multiple individuals.

Venting holes in the front and cheek panels of the face guard provide ventilation to the user's face. A permeable mesh is integrated into and across the vent holes to ensure that projectiles cannot pass or push through the vent holes to impact sensitive areas of the face while still allowing the vent holes to provide good ventilation.

The invention facilitates interchangeable use of the face guard with helmets of different sizes and dimensions by providing side slits that can accommodate chin straps of varying widths that extend from different helmets at different angles.

The goggle system includes a detachable brow piece that may be attached to the goggle system as needed.

In one embodiment a port in the brow area of the face armor receives cameras and other electronic training aids.

In another embodiment the face armor includes a flexible neck guard which drops down from the face guard and extends around the chin area and over the neck to provide protection against ammunition entering at unexpected angles such as rear entry projectiles that can ricochet upwardly off the chest area and into a wearer's face under the face guard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

Face armor according to the invention is generally indicated at element number10inFIGS. 1A, 2A and 3Aof the accompanying drawings. With additional reference toFIGS. 1B, 2B and 3B, face armor10comprises a face guard12, goggle assembly14(seeFIG. 1B), connector flange16, brow piece18, and neck guard20(seeFIGS. 1A, 2A and 3A).

The face guard12includes front panel22, cheek panels24, side panels26and nose guard28.FIGS. 6, 7 and 9show the face guard12, connector flange16, goggle assembly14, and neck guard being worn by an individual simultaneously with a protective helmet82. It is seen that the neck guard20and the front and cheek panels22,24of the face guard12fit over and protect the user's neck, mouth, cheek and chin areas. Arrays of ventilation holes30in the front panel22and cheek panels24permit air to circulate between the panels22,24and the user's face. Side panels26protect parts of the face and head rearward of the cheeks, and the nose guard28fits over and protects the nose.

The upper edges of the nose guard28and the cheek panels24and the inner edge of the side panels26collectively form an upper attachment edge32for attaching the connector flange16to the face guard12. A continuous channel34formed in the attachment edge32conforms to the shape of and receives the connector flange's lower edge36. Semi-circular indents40spaced along the lower edge36cooperatively engage with positioning bosses (not shown) distributed along the bottom of channel34to aid in correctly positioning the connector flange16on the face guard12.

The goggle assembly14is comprised of goggle frame42, dual lens44, and strap hinges46. The goggle frame42has an inner mounting flange48, a forward rim50and a spacing flange52extending between and joining inner mounting flange48and forward rim50. Spacing flange52spaces forward rim50forward of inner mounting flange48. The forward rim50is in this manner spaced away from the face of a wearer when the goggle system is being worn, as shown inFIGS. 6, 7 and 9, since the inner mounting flange48is resting directly against the wearer's face. The lens44is a gas-filled anti-fogging dual lens of a type widely used in the goggle industry. Lens44is attached to goggle frame42by inserting it between inner mounting flange48and forward rim50and extending top and bottom positioning tabs54through top and bottom slots56in the spacing flange52immediately rearward of forward rim50. The lens is thus spaced away from the user's face when the goggles are being worn. Ventilation apertures58provided in spacing flange52allow air to circulate between the wearer's face and lens44.

Strap hinges46are pivotally attached to goggle frame42by inserting pivot pins60on the top and bottom edges thereof through apertures62of the pivot arms64of the strap hinges. A head strap66is inserted through the strap openings68in the hinge body70for securing the goggle assembly around a user's head. The strap hinges46may thus swing outwardly from the goggle frame42to adjust for helmets of varying dimensions that may be worn with the face armor. SeeFIGS. 1A and 9.

The goggle assembly14is attached to the connector flange16, and hence to face guard12, by inserting a plurality of barbed fastening pegs72along the top edge of the connector flange16into receiving holes74in the bottom and sides of the spacing flange52of goggle frame46. The brow piece18may optionally be attached to the top of the goggle frame by inserting brow attachment spikes76into brow spike receiving holes78in the top of the goggle frame46.

With reference toFIGS. 1A, 2A and 3A, the neck guard20may be attached to and project below the bottom edge80of the face guard12to protect sensitive areas of the neck from projectiles.

FIG. 4shows a typical battle or training helmet82as usually worn on a person's head.FIG. 5shows face guard12and a goggle system14poised in front of a person wearing a helmet82as in preparation for placement over the person's face as indicated by arrows A and B. The face guard12and goggle system14are donned by bringing the goggle assembly14over and around the eyes. This positions the front and cheek panels22,24and nose guard28of the face guard over the cheeks, chin and nose. The side panels26are brought rearward along the side of the face and head; the upper part of the side panels26must be tucked under the helmet82as shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, and the helmet's chin strap84maneuvered into the side slit86provided in each side panel26, as shown inFIG. 6. The chin strap84is then maneuvered around and buckled under or around the chin as indicated by arrow C. In one aspect of the invention, the face guard12is flexible enough to be bent upwards enough to buckle the chin strap around the wearer's chin. Once the chin strap84is secured around the wearer's chin, the slit86may be securely closed using a hook-and-look type fastener88straddling the slit. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that, while the illustrated embodiment shows a hook-and-loop type fastener, other fasteners may be employed such as snaps or hooks which may readily be opened or closed manually. As seen inFIGS. 7 and 8the fastener88also closes over the chin strap84which further secures it in position in slit86. In this configuration the helmet's chin strap88extends from the helmet over the outer surface90of the rearward portion of the side panel26, through the side slit86, thence under the forward portion92of the side panel26and underneath the cheek and front panels24,22to and around the wearer's chin. The goggle strap66is then pulled over and fastened around the helmet82, as shown inFIG. 7. Finally, the neck guard20may be deployed. SeeFIGS. 7 and 9. The side slit makes it possible to comfortably wear face armor and a battle helmet together since the chin strap of the helmet can now extend directly from the helmet to the wearer's chin without undue interference and displacement from the face guard, so that the chin strap fits snugly and comfortably along the side of the wearer's head.

The side slots84are of a sufficient length that chin straps84of different sizes or which extend at different angles from a helmet82may all be accommodated. This enables both the face armor10and a selected one of multiple head helmets82to be worn comfortably and securely on a user's face and head.

A reinforcing mesh (not shown) is incorporated into the material of the face guard12in and around the ventilation holes30in the front and cheek panels22,24. The mesh is suitably porous to permit breathing through the face guard12, but strong enough to prevent the ventilation holes30from stretching upon impact from an NLTA, such that NLTAs cannot penetrate the face guard12through one of the ventilation holes30.

As mentioned above, the brow piece18may be optionally attached to the goggle assembly14as desired. The brow piece18may be used most advantageously if a helmet82is not being used during a training exercise. The brow piece18provides added protection against projectiles entering the sensitive eye region from above the goggles.

The neck guard20may be attached to the face guard using snaps, hook-and-look type fasteners, or other fastening means. In one embodiment, the neck guard20is an extension of the mesh material that is used to reinforce the ventilation holes30in the face guard12as discussed above.

With reference again toFIGS. 1A, 2A and 3A, in one embodiment of the invention, the face guard is constructed of a polymer that is flexible, but sufficiently tough to resist penetration by NTLAs experienced during typical training exercises. The cheek panels24will bow inwardly when an object such as a shoulder weapon is brought to the wearer's cheek, but will return to their original stand-off configuration, in which the cheek panels cover but are spaced from the wearer's cheeks, when the object is removed. This enables formation of an on-demand cheek well which assists proper sighting when using a shoulder weapon or other line-of-sight instrument, thus more faithfully replicating real-world conditions for improved training exercises.

When face armor10is worn with a helmet82, the combination provides impact protection to the face, head, and neck areas against flying projectiles. When being worn, only a small portion of the face armor is in contact with the wearer's skin, most of the face armor being formed to stand off slightly from the face allowing a comfortable fit and enabling the skin to breathe. The polymer construction enables an on-demand cheek well to be formed when an object is brought against the side panels and pressed towards the cheek for improved use of line-of-sight instruments, as well as easy cleanup for repeated use by multiple individuals.

There have thus been described and illustrated certain embodiments of face armor according to the invention. Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it should be clearly understood that the disclosure is illustrative only and is not to be taken as limiting, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims and their legal equivalents.