Patent ID: 8327465

Claim:
A combination of a helmet and a separate neck pad, said helmet comprising a shell and a shock-absorbing liner within the shell, said shell and said shock-absorbing liner defining a peripheral channel therebetween that extends around a lower side opening of the helmet for a head of a user, said neck pad comprising a main body and a curved plate which extends away from the main body and is insertable in the peripheral channel in said helmet, said helmet including a plurality of spaced engaging members in said peripheral channel and said neck pad including a plurality of correspondingly spaced fitting members on said curved plate, at least one of said plurality of engaging members comprising an inclined surface which extends into said peripheral channel and an engaging surface at an end of said inclined surface, and at least one of said plurality of fitting members comprising a tab which extends away from said curved plate, said fitting members and said engaging members being biased such that when said curved plate is inserted in said peripheral channel during attachment of said neck pad to said helmet, said tab of said at least one of said plurality of fitting members will contact, then ride over said inclined surface of said at least one engaging member, and then engage with said engaging surface of said at least one engaging member, whereas when said neck pad is disengaged from said helmet, said neck pad is rotated relative to said helmet such that said fitting members will move along said peripheral channel out of alignment with said engaging members, enabling removal of said curved plate from within said peripheral channel.