Articulated head, neck and shoulder protective device

An articulated head, neck and shoulder protective device particularly adapted for use by football players. The device includes a shoulder protector having an annular track at its center large enough for the wearer's head to pass through. A helmet assembly is rotatably mounted upon the annular track. The helmet assembly includes an annular ring which rides on the shoulder protector's annular track, a circular helmet carrying housing having two upwardly projecting flanges and a helmet pivotably mounted on the two flanges of the helmet carrying housing.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
American football is a man-to-man collision sport and a variety of serious 
injuries to the head and neck can and do result from collisions on the 
football field and during practice. While conventional football helmets 
and shoulder pads do a relatively good job of protecting the head and 
shoulders of the player, they afford almost no protection to the neck and 
the most devastating injuries suffered by football players are neck and 
upper spinal injuries. These injuries can result in permanent paralysis or 
death. 
A number of attempts have been made to improve the protection afforded the 
head and neck of football players. See, for example, Varteression U.S. 
Pat. No. 3,873,996 and Newman U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,193. While devices such 
as those shown in these patents offer some protection to a player's neck, 
the devices themselves could serve as a source of injury to other players. 
More importantly, such devices do not protect the player during a head-on 
collision. 
It is a major object of my invention to provide adequate protection of the 
head, neck and shoulders of football players even during a head-on 
collision. A further object of my invention is to provide adequate 
protection without undue restriction of the player's head, neck, shoulders 
and arms and at the same time restricting excessive head movements which 
may result in serious injury. 
After considerable experimentation and testing, I have invented a unique 
head, neck and shoulder protective device which provides adequate 
protection particularly of the player's neck even during a head-on 
collision. My device is made largely of molded high strength thermosetting 
materials and includes a shoulder protector having at its center an 
annular track which surrounds a hole large enough for the player's head to 
pass through. A helmet assembly is rotatably mounted on the annular track. 
The helmet assembly includes an annular ring rotatable upon the track, a 
circular helmet carrying housing which has two upwardly projecting flanges 
onto which a helmet is pivotably mounted. 
Preferably the track upon which the annular ring rotates includes a 
plurality of conical rollers which fit into an annular groove in the 
bottom side of the annular ring, so as to provide almost frictionless 
rotation of the helmet assembly in response to sideways movements of the 
player's head. 
The helmet, helmet carrying housing, shoulder protector and some other 
parts are preferably molded of a light weight high impact strength 
material such as boron or carbon fiber reinforced styrene or epoxy resin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the major elements of my invention. In FIG. 1 a 
football player wears an articulated head, neck and shoulder protective 
device which includes a shoulder protector 4 held in place by a harness 22 
and belt. As best shown in FIG. 2, the shoulder protector 4 includes an 
annular track 25 whose central opening is large enough to permit the 
player's head to pass through. Annular track 25 includes a plurality of 
spaced apart bearing mounts 9 shown in greater detail in FIG. 3. Each 
bearing mount 9 supports a roller bearing 8 preferably made of nylon or 
similar high strength plastic material. 
A rotatable ring 3 is mounted on rollers 8. Ring 3 may be made in various 
vertical dimensions in order to "custom fit" my device to the height of 
the player. As best shown in FIG. 4, ring 3 has an annular groove in its 
bottom side into which fits the series of rollers 8, and as shown in FIGS. 
4 and 5 track 25 and ring 3 are joined together by a C-shaped locking ring 
15. 
A helmet carrying housing 2 is mounted on ring 3 and helmet 1 is mounted on 
housing 2 by the arrangement best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Ring 3 contains 
two bifurcated upwardly projecting flanges 6 which with the assistance of 
locking tabs 7 and screws 16 are fitted into the two recessed slots in 
helmet carrying housing 2 where they are secured by a pair of locking 
screws 10 and locking screw retainers 11 which are shown in detail in FIG. 
11. Helmet 1 contains two recessed portions 26 into which fit the upwardly 
projecting portions of housing 2. 
Helmet 1 is mounted on helmet housing 2 so that it pivots on the center 
line of the helmet's ear holes 27. The helmet is attached to housing 2 
preferably by two-piece fasteners 12 and 13 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 9 or 
by a one piece fastener 14 shown in FIG. 10, but in any event the 
fasteners must be hollow to allow the passage of sound into the helmet. 
Helmet 1 includes a face mask 5 whose method of mounting onto the helmet is 
shown in FIG. 8. The helmet also includes foam padding 23 on its inside as 
shown in FIG. 15. Face mask 5 is preferably molded as a single piece of 
nylon or similar high strength plastic material and includes two elongated 
tabs 18 which fit into recesses 19 in helmet 1 and two eyelets 20 which 
are fastened into recesses 21 in the helmet by a pair of screws 17 as 
shown in FIG. 8. 
FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 show cross-sectional views of my unique shoulder 
protector 4. The main body of protector 4 is molded of a suitable high 
strength light weight plastic such as fiber reinforced styrene into which 
are molded a plurality of flexible metal support rods 28 as shown in FIGS. 
12 and 14. Those portions of the main body which cover the player's 
shoulders are lined with a layer of foam padding 24 shown in FIG. 13 but 
omitted from FIGS. 12 and 14. In order to provide both flexibility and 
ventilation, a series of openings 29 are provided in the main body and the 
layer of padding which lie in the grooves between the raised ridges on the 
protector as shown in FIG. 14. 
In use, the football player wears the shoulder protector 4 and its harness 
22 beneath a jersey, with the helmet carrying housing 2 and helmet 1 
projecting out through the neck of the jersey. One or more inflatable 
annular or donut rings may be inserted within the helmet in order to fit 
the player's head snugly within the helmet. 
Free motion of the player's head from side to side or up and down is 
provided by the rotatable retaining ring and the pivot pins mounting the 
helmet onto the helmet carrying housing. The impact of a head-on collision 
is absorbed by the player's shoulders rather than the player's neck and 
spine. Likewise, the impact of a blow to the side of the head is absorbed 
by the helmet, helmet housing, retaining ring and shoulder protector 
rather than the player's head and neck. My articulated device does not 
allow excessive sideways tilting or bending of the neck. Thus my device 
permits desirable movement of the player's head and neck while preventing 
those movements of the head and neck which can cause serious injury. 
While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my head, neck 
and shoulder protective device, various modifications and rearrangements 
will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, retaining ring 
3 and helmet housing 2 could be made as a single piece so that the helmet 
could then be readily disconnected from the helmet housing at the ear 
pivots. Also, a number of stops could be included to limit rotational 
movement within a desired range. No limitation of my invention should be 
implied by the foregoing description since the spirit and scope of my 
invention is set forth only in the appended claims.