Abstract:
A protective helmet having a rigid outer helmet shell, an inner pad assembly formed from a resilient material and threaded fasteners partially embedded in the inner pad assembly and adapted to secure the inner pad assembly into the outer helmet shell. The embedded fastener has a threaded aperture to receive a securement means such as a threaded screw, and a non-circular portion, which protrudes from the inner pad assembly and is inserted in a corresponding mounting hole on the outer helmet shell. The non-circular portion of the fastener prevents rotation of the fastener when the threaded securement means is fastened into the threaded aperture during installation or removal of the inner padding assembly.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to protective helmet suitable for use by an occupant or operator of a racing car, motorcycle or the like or for use in sporting activities such as football, bicycling, lacrosse, hockey and the like, and more particularly to a pad assembly for use in this protective helmet and comprising a fastener system which attaches the inner resilient pad to an outer rigid helmet shell. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of protective headgear in various types of sports or hazardous activities is well known. Conventional protective helmets have one or more inner pads secured by fasteners to the inner surfaces of a rigid helmet shell and are generally adapted to conform to the shape of a wearer&#39;s bead. One of the problems associated with the use of such helmet arises when the inner pads of the helmet are not properly fitted to the head of the user. Another disadvantage of known helmets is that the inner pads of the helmet are attached by metal rivets which do not permit removal of the inner pads and which may protrude into the helmet resulting in injury to the wearer upon impact. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective helmet which comprises an outer rigid helmet shell and one or more releasably attached inner pad assemblies. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide an improved fastener system for use in protective helmet which releasably attaches an inner pad to an outer rigid helmet shell. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a novel protective helmet including a helmet shell having one or more pad assemblies releasably secured to an inner surface of the helmet shell, each pad assembly having an integrally formed fastener, and wherein the fastener secures the pad assembly to the helmet shell in a fixed orientation thereby eliminating rotation between the helmet shell and the pad assembly. 
     In accordance with the present invention, there has been provided a novel pad assembly for use in a protective helmet shell, said pad assembly formed from a resilient material and comprising a back surface defining a helmet shell contacting surface, a front surface defining a wearer contacting surface, and side surfaces connecting said back and front surfaces, said pad assembly further comprising a fastener embedded into said pad assembly and extending outward from the back surface of said pad assembly, said fastener having base means for retaining said fastener to said pad assembly, post means adapted to conform to a mounting hole in said helmet shell, said post means and said mounting hole being of substantially corresponding shape whereby said post means is capable of being inserted into said mounting hole, so that said post means are non-rotatably mounted in said mounting hole. 
     Also provided in accordance with the present invention is a protective helmet comprising an outer rigid helmet shell shaped to protect the top, rear, front and sides of a wearer&#39;s head, and an inner pad assembly formed from a resilient material and comprising a back surface defining a helmet shell contacting surface, a front surface defining a wearer contacting surface, and side surfaces connecting said back and front surfaces, said pad assembly further comprising a fastener imbedded into said pad assembly and extending outward from the back surface of said pad assembly, said fastener having base means for retaining said fastener to said pad assembly, post means adapted to conform to a counting hole in said helmet shell, said post means and said mounting hole being of substantially corresponding shape whereby said post means is capable of being inserted into said mounting hole, so that said post means are non-rotatably mounted in said mounting hole, said protective helmet further comprising securement means for attaching said helmet shell to said pad assembly. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the protective helmet of the present invention illustrating the helmet shell, pad assembly and fastener components. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the pad assembly and associated fastener and the manner of securing the pad assembly to the helmet shell. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fastener of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the fastener illustrating the base portion of the fastener. 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the main body taken substantially as indicated along the line  5 — 5  of FIG.  4 . 
     FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b , respectively, show the fastener of the present invention in a fastened position and an unfastened position. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a protective helmet comprising an outer helmet shell  10  which is preferably made of a relatively rigid material, such as a polycarbonate alloy, a rigid thermoplastic, or a thermosetting resin. The helmet shell  10  is provided with a plurality of mounting holes  50   a ,  50   b  and  50   c , each one having a shape which substantially conforms to a post part of a fastener, as hereinafter described, which in inserted into the mounting hole and releasably secured therein by securement means  40 . 
     The protective helmet further comprises a pad assembly  20  positioned within the helmet shell  10  to dissipate forces applied against the helmet shell  10  thereby protecting a wearer&#39;s head from the applied forces. The pad assembly  20  is releasably secured to the inner surface of the helmet shell  10  by means of fastener  30  which interconnects the pad assembly  20  to the helmet shell  10  with securement means  40  shown, for illustrative purposes, as a threaded screw. The securement means  40  establishes a stable but releasable connection between the helmet shell  10  and the pad assembly  20 . 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein the protective headgear comprises an outer helmet shell and three separate pad assemblies, wherein a first pad assembly is secured to a front portion of the helmet shell, a third pad assembly is secured to a rear portion of the helmet shell and a second pad assembly is slidably attached to the first and third pad assemblies, the first, second and third pad assemblies covering substantially the entire inner surface of the helmet shell. In this embodiment, the pad assembly  20  generally includes three slidably connected pads  20   a ,  20   b  and  20   c  respectively, wherein pad  20   a  is secured to a front portion of the helmet shell by inserting fasteners  30   b  and  30   c  through mounting holes  50   b  and  50   c  respectively, and utilizing securement means  40   b  and  40   c  to provide a releasable connection between the helmet shell  10  and the pad assembly  20   a . Similarly, pad  20   c  is secured to a rear portion of the helmet shell by inserting fastener  30   a  through mounting hole  50   a  and securement means  40   a . Pad  20   c  is similarly attached or affixed to an opposite side of helmet shell  10  which is not shown in the figures. In accordance with this embodiment of the invention, central pad  20   b  is slidably connected to pads  20   a  and  20   c  by means of interlocking tongue means and is not secured to the helmet shell. 
     The pad assembly  20  of the present invention may be formed from any resilient, moldable, shock absorbing materials such as a foamed styrene polymer, a foamed urethane polymer or other rigid foam-like material being light in weight and having shock absorbing properties. The pad assembly  20  has a back surface  21  defining a helmet shell contacting surface, a front surface  22  defining a wearer contacting surface, and side surfaces  23  connecting said back and front surfaces and defining a thickness  24  of the pad assembly  20 . The pad assembly  20  may have its outer surfaces treated to provide washable surfaces of the pads, for example, by dipping the pads in a suitable material such as liquid vinyl, urethane or latex. In addition, the pad assembly may have a densified outer layer defining either the front surface  22 , the back surface  21  or both the front and back surfaces. The process of densifying a pad assembly is more fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,610, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2-5, the pad assembly further comprises a fastener  30  having a base portion  35  defining a first end which is embedded into the pad assembly, a post part  37  defining a second end which extends outward and protrudes from the back surface of the pad assembly. The base portion  35  functions to prevent the fastener  30  from being pulled from the pad assembly  20  and the non-circular post part functions to prevent rotary and lateral deflection of the pad assembly  20  with respect to the helmet shell  10 . The fastener  30  has an outer surface  31  and an inner surface  32 , said inner surface defining a threaded aperture  38  extending longitudinally from the post part  37  to the base portion  35  through a central portion of the fastener. The threaded aperture  38  preferably has a diameter and helical threads which are adapted to accept a securement means  40  in the form of a threaded screw. The outer surface  31  of the fastener  30  has top and bottom side walls and left and right side walls, and includes the base portion  35  defining the first end of the fastener, the non-circular post part  37  defining the second opposite end of said fastener  30 , and a support flange  36  intermediate the base portion  35  and the post part  37 . As shown in FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b , the base portion  35  and the support flange  36  of fastener  30  are embedded within the thickness of the pad assembly  20  such that base portion  35  is intermediate the front surface  22  and the back surface  21  of the pad assembly  20 . More specifically, it is important that the base portion  35  be spaced from the front surface  22  of the pad assembly  20  by an amount in excess of the expected deformation of the pad upon impact with an applied force. The base portion  35  extends laterally outward from at least two opposite side walls of the fastener and has a major surface which is generally parallel to the front and back surfaces of the pad assembly  20 . The base portion should extend in a lateral direction extending outward from the longitudinal threaded aperture  38  to an extent which is sufficient to anchor the fastener  30  into the pad assembly  20  and prevent its removal from the pad. The shape of the base portion  35  of fastener  30  is not, per se, critical to the invention, provided of course that it extends laterally outward from the side walls of fastener  30  in an amount sufficient to prevent the fastener  30  from being removed from the pad assembly  20 . Accordingly, base portion ( 35 ) may be in the form of a circular or elliptical disk or may be in the form of one or more laterally extending rigid, substantially planar surfaces, such as for example two, three, four or more laterally extending legs in a manner similar to spokes emanating from a central hub. It is preferred that the base portion  35  be non-circular so as to prevent rotation of the fastener  30  within the pad assembly  20  and thereby provide correct alignment between the pad assembly  20  and the helmet shell  10 . Base portion  35  is preferably in the form of an elongated rectangle formed by two legs extending from opposite side walls of fastener  30  or in the form of a cross formed by four legs extending laterally outward from the side walls and having an angle of 90 degrees between adjacent legs. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the support flange  36  has an upper surface  39  which is preferably co-planar with the back surface  21  of the pad assembly  20 . The support flange  36  extends laterally outward from opposite side walls of the fastener in a length which is greater than the width of the post part  37  but which is less than the lateral length of the base portion  35 . The shape of support flange  36  is not, per se, critical to the invention provided that it is larger than the post part  37 , and is capable of supporting helmet shell  10  when pad assembly  20  is releasably secured to helmet shell  10  as shown in FIG. 6 b . In a preferred embodiment, the base portion  35  comprises a pair of laterally extending legs which extend from opposite left and right side walls, and the support flange  36  comprises a pair of semi-circular surfaces  39  which extend laterally outward from the side walls of fastener  30  in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinally extending threaded fastener  38 . 
     Securement means  40  may comprise any conventional releasable fastener such as threaded screws, bolts, rib fasteners, spring clips, and the like. It is preferred that the securement means comprises a threaded screw. While the fastener and securement means can be constructed from suitable materials such metals, nylon-type materials, plastics, and the like, it is preferred that the fastener and securement means be constructed of plastics or nylon-type materials to provide added protection to a wearer of the helmet. 
     As shown in FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b , in use, the post part  37  is inserted into a mating mounting hole  50  formed in the helmet shell ( 10 ). The length of post part  37  is chosen in such a way that, after the post part  37  is inserted into mounting hole  50 , and secured with securement means  40 , an inner surface of helmet shell  10  contacts surfaces  39  of support flange  36  on fastener  30  as shown in FIG. 6 b . Thus, the length of the post part  37  generally corresponds to the thickness of the outer shell of the helmet shell such that when the non-circular post part is engaged in the mating mounting hole in the helmet shell, the inner surface of the helmet shell contacts the support flange  36  and the outer surface of the helmet shell in co-planar with post part  37  or optionally extends beyond post part  37 . In this manner, when the threaded screw is engaged in the fastener, the helmet shell is securely attached to the pad assembly. 
     The pad assembly of the present invention may be made by conventional injection molding techniques wherein fastener  30  is placed in a suitably shaped pad mold and a foamed polymer is injected therein, the polymer is permitted to cure into a rigid structure, and the pad assembly is then removed from the pad mold. 
     In assembling the protective helmet of the present invention, a pad assembly  20  is placed in position in a helmet shell  10 , wherein the fastener  30  is aligned with mounting hole  50  in the helmet shell  10 , the non-circular post part  37  is inserted into the correspondingly shaped mounting hole  50  and is releasably secured in place by means of securement means  40 . As illustrated in FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b , the securement means  40  is in the form of a threaded screw, having threaded screw post  42  which extends through mounting hole  50  in helmet shell  10  and is engagingly housed in the threaded aperture  38  of the fastener  30 . 
     With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specifications are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.