Abstract:
A shoulder pad assembly includes a flexible vest, a pair of shoulder pads coupled to the vest, and first and second straps. The flexible vest has a back side and right and left front sides. The first strap has a first end region coupled to and extending from a first location on the back side and a second end region refastenably and selectively attached to the right or left front sides. The second strap has a third end region coupled to and extending from a second location on the back side and a fourth end region refastenably and selectively attached to the right or left front sides. At least a portion of the left front side is configured to releasably engage the first or the second straps, and at least a portion of the right front side is configured to releasably engage the first or the second straps.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 from and is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/077,288 filed by Patrick J. Udelhofen on Mar. 18, 2008 and entitled PROTECTIVE SHOULDER PADS, the full disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to protective shoulder pads for use in sports. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Protective shoulder pads are worn by players in a number of contact sports, such as football, hockey, and lacrosse. Because of the physical nature of such sports, it is important for the protective gear to fit the players with the protective padding aligned with the intended areas on the players&#39; bodies. Misaligned protective gear could jeopardize a player&#39;s safety. It is also important for the protective gear to fit comfortably. An uncomfortable fit could hinder a player&#39;s performance. 
     Athletes of all shapes and sizes are expected to wear essentially the same protective gear in many contact sports leagues. Conventional shoulder pads typically include a lace-up closure in the front, which can be loosened or tightened to accommodate a player&#39;s chest size. However, the adjustability of the lace-up closure does not address height differences among players. Consequently, shoulder pads that include merely a lace-up closure in the front may tend to “ride up” on taller players. Furthermore, the process of donning lace-up shoulder pads is time-consuming, and simply adjusting lace-up shoulder pads is time-consuming as well. 
     It would thus be desirable to provide a protective shoulder pad assembly that can be adjusted to fit athletes in a wide range of both height and girth. In doing so, it would also be desirable to provide a protective shoulder pad assembly that can be adjusted quickly and easily. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention presents a protective shoulder pad assembly for use in contact sports. The protective shoulder pad assembly features straps that can adjust the fit of the assembly both horizontally and vertically in order to accommodate players in a wide range of sizes. 
     The shoulder pad assembly includes a flexible vest and a pair of rigid shoulder pads attached to the vest. A pair of straps extends from a back portion of the vest and is refastenably attached to a front portion of the vest. More particularly, a first strap extending from a back right side of the vest is refastenably attached to a front right side of the vest, and a second strap extending from a back left side of the vest is refastenably attached to a front left side of the vest. The front of the vest also includes a portion on the front left side to which the first strap may be refastenably attached and a portion on the front right side to which the second strap may be refastenably attached. Thus, the two straps can be crossed over one another in an “X” configuration and refastenably attached to the front portion of the vest, thereby directly securing each strap to both a front right portion and a front left portion of the vest. Additionally, the two straps can be refastenably attached to one another when crossed over one another on the front of the vest. 
     Although the straps are capable of crossing over one another in the front and being refastenably attached to opposite sides of the front of the vest, the straps do not need to be crossed over one another in order to secure the shoulder pad assembly to the wearer. One of the attributes of the design is that the shoulder pad assembly can be adjusted to fit a wide range of wearers. Thus, a smaller or thinner player would be able to wear the shoulder pad assembly with the straps crossed over one another in the front and refastenably attached to opposite front portions of the vest, while a more robust player could wear the same shoulder pad assembly with the strap that extends from the back right side refastenably attached to the front right side of the vest and the strap that extends from the back left side refastenably attached to the front left side of the vest and no overlapping of the straps in the front. 
     The first strap and the second strap may be the only straps extending from the back of the vest to the front of the vest. In certain embodiments, the two straps are each permanently attached to the back of the vest. Alternatively, the two straps may be refastenably attached to the back of the vest. Additionally, the two straps may each be adjustable in length. The two straps and the front of the vest may include hook-and-loop fasteners for the refastenable attachment areas. 
     The shoulder pad assembly suitably includes a fastening component attached to a central edge of the front right side of the vest and a mating fastening component attached to a central edge of the front left side of the vest. The fastening component and the mating fastening component are releasably engageable and can form a closure between the front right side of the vest and the front left side of the vest. This closure, when formed of hook-and-loop fasteners for example, can be adjustable with respect to the circumferential distance about a wearer&#39;s chest. This closure can also maintain the shoulder pad assembly in place on a wearer prior to fastening the straps to the front of the vest. 
     The rigid shoulder pads may each include a rigid upper shoulder pad and a rigid lower shoulder pad operatively connected to one another. For example, the upper shoulder pad may be secured to the vest atop the shoulder while the lower shoulder pad is connected to the vest by a strap. The lower shoulder pads may hang somewhat freely above the wearer&#39;s biceps, thus protecting the wearer while not hindering the wearer&#39;s freedom of movement. 
     A pair of inner pads may be attached to an inner surface of the flexible vest. The inner pads may be refastenably attached to the vest, thereby allowing the inner pads to be removed or replaced. For example, the inner pads may be available in a variety of sizes, and the inner pads of different sizes may each be releasably engageable with the inner surface of the flexible vest. Thus, a player may opt for thicker or thinner pads, or larger or smaller pads. Juvenile teams with limited amounts of protective gear may particularly benefit from the convenience of being able to adjust the shoulder pad assembly to accommodate wearers in a wide range of sizes, as well as wearers who vary in their preference of pad thicknesses. Additionally, the inner pads may be machine-washable. 
     Any one or more of the shoulder pad assembly embodiments described herein may be used in football, hockey, lacrosse, and any other contact sport. The shoulder pad assembly provides a wide range of size adjustability, and allows the adjustments to be made quickly and easily. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a shoulder pad assembly worn by a football player. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a shoulder pad assembly worn by a relatively large athlete. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a shoulder pad assembly worn by a relatively small athlete. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the shoulder pad assembly in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the shoulder pad assembly in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a shoulder pad assembly illustrating the refastenability of the straps. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of a shoulder pad assembly and corresponding inner pads. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a protective shoulder pad assembly is indicated generally at  20 . The adjustability of the shoulder pad assembly  20  provides a comfortable fit on athletes in a wide range of sizes. Additionally, an adjustable strap system allows adjustments to be made quickly and easily. 
     The shoulder pad assembly  20  includes a flexible vest  22  and a pair of rigid shoulder pads  24  attached to the vest  22 . A pair of straps  30 ,  32  extends from a back portion  34  of the vest  22  and is refastenably attached to a front portion  36  of the vest  22 . More particularly, a first strap  30  extending from a back right side of the vest  22  is refastenably attached to a front right side  38  of the vest  22 , and a second strap  32  extending from a back left side of the vest  22  is refastenably attached to a front left side  40  of the vest  22 . In alternative preferred embodiments, the straps  30  and  32  can be fixedly or removably coupled to other locations on the flexible vest (e.g., front, side, etc.). As illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , the shoulder pad assembly  20  can accommodate a relatively large athlete, with the straps  30 ,  32  extending from the back portion  34  of the vest  22 , under the wearer&#39;s arms, and up to the front portion  38  of the vest  22 , thus providing both horizontal and vertical adjustability. The multidirectional adjustability provides a comfortable secure fit for the athletes of varying sizes. 
     Additionally, the front  36  of the vest  22  also includes a portion  42  on the front left side to which the first strap  30  may be refastenably attached and a portion  44  on the front right side to which the second strap  32  may be refastenably attached. The portion  44  can take the form of a patch or may extend about larger areas of the outer surface of the front side of the vest, up to and including the entire outer surface of the front side of the vest. Thus, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the two straps  30 ,  32  can be crossed over one another in an “X” configuration and refastenably attached to the front portion  36  of the vest  22 , thereby directly securing each strap  30 ,  32  to both a front right side  38  and a front left side  40  of the vest  22 . The two straps  30 ,  32  can also be refastenably attached to one another when crossed over one another on the front of the vest  22 . 
     Although the straps  30 ,  32  are capable of crossing over one another in the front and being refastenably attached to opposite sides of the front  36  of the vest  22 , the straps  30 ,  32  do not need to be crossed over one another in order to secure the shoulder pad assembly  20  to the wearer. One of the attributes of the design is that the shoulder pad assembly  20  can be adjusted to fit a wide range of wearers. Thus, a smaller or thinner player would be able to wear the shoulder pad assembly  20  with the straps  30 ,  32  crossed over one another in the front  36  and refastenably attached to opposite front portions of the vest  22  ( FIGS. 3 and 5 ), while a more robust player could wear the same shoulder pad assembly  20  with the strap  30  that extends from the back right side refastenably attached to the front right side  38  of the vest  22  and the strap  32  that extends from the back left side refastenably attached to the front left side  40  of the vest  22  with no overlapping of the straps  30 ,  32  in the front ( FIGS. 2 and 4 ). The increased flexibility enables a single set of shoulder pads to accommodate the needs of athletes of varying body types and sizes. 
     Whether the straps  30 ,  32  are crossed over one another in an “X” configuration or not, the ends of the straps  30 ,  32  are attached to the front  36  of the vest  22  at an angle that is non-parallel with the wearer&#39;s waist. More particularly, the ends of the straps  30 ,  32  are attached to the front  36  of the vest  22  at an angle between about 15 degrees and 55 degrees from the wearer&#39;s waist, with the wearer&#39;s waist being essentially horizontal. In other preferred embodiments, the straps can be positioned to extend at an angle less than or greater than the range of 15-55 degrees. In other embodiments, the strap or straps can extend in a generally horizontal position. 
     The wrap-around design of the straps  30 ,  32  with the angled attachment to the front  36  of the vest  22  provides both a horizontal and vertical distribution of forces regardless of the size of the wearer. Thus, the first strap  30  and the second strap  32  may be the only straps extending from the back  34  of the vest  22  to the front  36  of the vest  22 , in contrast with strap systems that require one set of straps to hold the vest in place horizontally and a second set of straps that anchor the vest vertically. In certain embodiments, the two straps  30 ,  32  are each permanently attached to the back  34  of the vest  22 , or are otherwise integral with the back  34  of the vest  22 . Alternatively, the two straps  30 ,  32  may be refastenably attached to the back  34  of the vest  22 , such that the pair of straps  30 ,  32  may be interchangeable with other pairs of straps of varying lengths or stretchability, for example. Additionally, the two straps  30 ,  32  may each be adjustable in length. 
     The adjustable strap system renders the shoulder pad assembly  20  beneficial for both professional and non-professional sports. For professional athletes in particular, the ease of donning and adjusting the shoulder pad assembly  20  requires less time and concentration compared to prior art shoulder pad assemblies that include a lace-up front closure. In juvenile sports leagues, equipment is often limited and thus shared among players. The adjustability of the shoulder pad assembly  20  that enables one size assembly  20  to accommodate a wide range of users can reduce equipment costs by allowing a team to share a smaller number of shoulder pad assemblies  20 . 
     The vest  22  and the straps  30 ,  32  can be made primarily of a flexible material, such as nylon, cotton, or other suitable synthetic or natural materials, or combinations thereof. The vest  22  and/or straps  30 ,  32  may also include padding for additional comfort and shock absorption. Structural enhancements, such as rigid plastic shoulder arches, may be either permanently or refastenably attached to the vest  22  with rivets, hook-and-loop fasteners, or other fastening devices. The vest  22  and/or straps  30 ,  32  may include elastomeric materials for enhanced conformity about a wearer&#39;s body. 
     As used herein, the terms “refastenably attached,” “releasably engageable,” and the like, refer to elements that can be fastened and unfastened an unlimited number of times without damaging the fastening components or the substrates to which the fastening components are affixed. The two straps  30 ,  32  and the front  36  of the vest  22  may include hook-and-loop fasteners, such as Velcro® hook-and-loop fasteners, for the refastenable attachment areas. Alternatively, the refastenable attachment areas may include buttons, snaps, buckles, or any other suitable type of fastening mechanism. As noted above, the two straps  30 ,  32  can be refastenably attached to one another when crossed over one another on the front  36  of the vest  22 . The straps  30 ,  32  may each include fastening components and mating fastening components on the interior sides and exterior sides of the cross-over zones  46  of the straps  30 ,  32  to allow either right-over-left or left-over-right attachment configurations.  FIG. 6  illustrates the unfastening of a shoulder pad assembly  20  in which a left strap  32  is fastened over a right strap  30 . 
     In addition to the strap system, the shoulder pad assembly  20  suitably includes at least one fastener coupling central edge regions  52  and  54  of the front right side  38  and the front left side  40  of the vest. In one preferred embodiment, a fastening component  48  can be attached to the central edge region  52  of the front right side  38  of the vest  22  and a mating fastening component  50  can be attached to the central edge region  54  of the front left side  40  of the vest  22 . The fastening component  48  and the mating fastening component  50  are releasably engageable and can form a closure between the front right side  38  of the vest  22  and the front left side  40  of the vest  22 . This closure, when formed of hook-and-loop fasteners for example, can be adjustable with respect to the circumferential distance about a wearer&#39;s chest. For example, on a larger wearer as in  FIG. 2 , the distance between the front right side  38  of the vest  22  and the front left side  40  of the vest  22  is maximized, while on a thinner wearer as in  FIG. 3 , the distance between the front right side  38  of the vest  22  and the front left side  40  of the vest  22  is minimized. As illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the fastening component  48  and mating fastening component  50  do not have to be attached directly to the central edge region  52  of the front right side  38  of the vest  22  and the central edge region  54  of the front left side  40  of the vest  22 , respectively. As shown, the fastening component  48  may extend outward from the central edge region  52  of the front right side  38  of the vest  22  while the mating fastening component  50  is positioned on an inner surface of the vest  22  a short distance from the central edge region  54  of the front left side  40  of the vest  22 , or any similar configuration. This closure can also maintain the shoulder pad assembly  20  in place on a wearer prior to fastening the straps  30 ,  32  to the front  36  of the vest  22 . In alternative embodiments, other forms of fastening components can be used to couple the front left and right sides of the vest, such as, for example, buckles, tongue and groove connectors, ties, buttons, laces, etc. 
     The rigid shoulder pads  24  may each include a rigid upper shoulder pad  26  and a rigid lower shoulder pad  28  operatively connected to one another. For example, the upper shoulder pad  26  may be secured to the vest  22  atop the shoulder, such as with nylon straps riveted to the vest  22  and/or nylon straps refastenably attached to the vest  22  with hook-and-loop fasteners, while the lower shoulder pad  28  is connected to the vest  22  by a nylon strap sewn or otherwise secured to the vest  22  or the upper shoulder pad  26 . The lower shoulder pads  28  may hang somewhat freely above the wearer&#39;s biceps, thus protecting the wearer while not hindering the wearer&#39;s freedom of movement. The rigid shoulder pads  24  may be molded from relatively rigid plastic and attached to a padded layer  58  positioned between the wearer and the molded plastic shell  56 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . In other preferred embodiments, one or more rigid pads can be attached to the front or rear of the vest to provide further impact protection to the user. 
     Additionally, one or more of the vest  22  or the pads  24  and  26  can include indicia  70  indicative of a logo, a trademark, instructions, a design or other configuration. Further the vest  22  and the pads  24  and  26  can be formed in a variety of different colors, color combinations or design patterns. 
     One or more inner pads  60  may be attached to an inner surface of the flexible vest  22 . As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , a pair of inner pads  60  may be refastenably attached to the vest  22 , such as with hook-and-loop fasteners  62 , thereby allowing the inner pads  60  to be removed or replaced. For example, the inner pads  60  may be available in a variety of sizes, and the inner pads  60  of different sizes may each be releasably engageable with the inner surface of the flexible vest  22 . The fasteners  62  can be configured in the form of discrete spaced apart patches or the inner surface of the vest in part or as a whole can be formed of a loop and/or hook type material. In still other preferred embodiments, other types fasteners can be used to attach or couple the inner pad(s) to the vest. Thus, a player may opt for thicker or thinner pads, or larger or smaller pads. Juvenile teams with limited quantities of protective gear may particularly benefit from the convenience of being able to adjust the shoulder pad assembly  20  to accommodate wearers in a wide range of sizes, as well as wearers who vary in their preference of pad thicknesses. Furthermore, the ability to quickly replace sweat-soaked inner pads with a clean set of pads allows for extended use of the shoulder pad assembly  20  during play. Additionally, the inner pads  60  may be machine-washable, thus allowing for easy maintenance. 
     The inner pads  60  may be formed of virtually any compressible and resilient material, such as polyurethane foam, and may be surrounded by polyester or other suitable outer covering. The inner pads  60  may provide additional neck padding  64 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . Additionally, the inner pads  60  may include anchors  66  to which rib pads or other protective padding may be tethered. For example, the anchors  66  may be molded from a relatively rigid plastic and sewn to the inner pads  60  such that straps extending from the rib pads may be inserted through slots  68  in the anchors  66  and fastened to the rib pads. 
     Any one or more of the protective shoulder pad assembly embodiments described herein may be used in football, hockey, lacrosse, and any other contact sport. In particular, the shoulder pad assembly  20  may be used in organized professional league sports and/or in competitive play. Regardless of the sport, the shoulder pad assembly  20  provides a wide range of size adjustability, and allows the adjustments to be made quickly and easily. 
     While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, while the embodiments described herein are illustrated in a shoulder pad assembly for a football player, the principles of the present invention could also be used for protective shoulder pad assemblies in practically any other type of contact sport. Accordingly, it will be intended to include all such alternatives, modifications and variations set forth within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.