Patent ID: 8484768

Claim:
A neck brace comprising: at least one impact surface adjacent the neck of a wearer of the brace and facing generally upwardly, such that it is spaced from a helmet when the neck brace is worn with a helmet, said impact surface being configured to limit movement of the helmet by contacting an underside of the helmet; at least one bearing surface which is shaped and configured to bear on the wearer's body; and a structure that extends between the impact surface and the bearing surface, said structure being sufficiently resilient to transfer impact loads from the helmet on the impact surface, to the wearer's body via the bearing surface, wherein the structure includes at least two parts and at least one releasable clip mechanism configured to attach the parts of the structure to one another, said clip mechanism including: (a) a protuberance defined on a first of the at least two parts of the structure; (b) a recess that is complementally shaped to the protuberance, defined in a second of the at least two parts of the structure, the protuberance and recess being shaped to allow pivotal movement between the protuberance and recess, relative to an axis within the clip mechanism, when the protuberance is received in the recess; and (c) a spigot about which the second part of the structure can pivot relative to the first part, when the protuberance is received in the recess, wherein said axis within the clip mechanism about which the protuberance and recess can pivot relative to each other when the protuberance is received inside the recess, is the axis of the spigot.