DEVICE FOR REDUCING HEAD AND NECK INJURY FOR HELMET WEARER
First Claim
1. A motion restrictor system for reducing the risk of head or spine injury, said system comprising:
- a protective helmet presenting a helmet lower margin that defines a lower helmet opening, with the opening receiving a neck of the user when the helmet is worn,said helmet swinging between forward and rearward helmet positions spaced angularly relative to one another along a fore-and-aft bisecting plane to define therebetween a helmet range of swinging movement, wherein the forward and rearward helmet positions are associated with corresponding flexion and extension spine positions of the user and the helmet range of swinging movement is at least about forty-five degrees; and
a motion restrictor device wearable with the helmet to reduce the risk of head or spine injury caused by injurious movement of the helmet,said motion restrictor device including—
a harness wearable by the user of the helmet, anda helmet-engaging component supported on the harness,said helmet-engaging component presenting laterally spaced apart, fore-and-aft extending helmet-engagement surfaces positioned on opposite sides of the neck of the user when the device is worn,each of said helmet-engagement surfaces being configured to shift while in contact with the helmet lower margin as the helmet moves along the helmet range of swinging movement,said helmet-engaging component being operable to yieldably bias the helmet-engagement surfaces toward the lower margin when the device and helmet are worn, such that contact with the helmet is maintained with at least one of the helmet-engagement surfaces through at least substantially the entire helmet range of swinging movement.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A motion restrictor device is wearable with a helmet to reduce the risk of head or spine injury caused by injurious movement of the helmet. The device includes a harness wearable by a user of the helmet and a helmet-engaging component supported on the harness. The helmet-engaging component presents laterally spaced apart, fore-and-aft extending helmet-engagement surfaces positioned on opposite sides of the neck of the user when the device is worn.
10 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A motion restrictor system for reducing the risk of head or spine injury, said system comprising:
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a protective helmet presenting a helmet lower margin that defines a lower helmet opening, with the opening receiving a neck of the user when the helmet is worn, said helmet swinging between forward and rearward helmet positions spaced angularly relative to one another along a fore-and-aft bisecting plane to define therebetween a helmet range of swinging movement, wherein the forward and rearward helmet positions are associated with corresponding flexion and extension spine positions of the user and the helmet range of swinging movement is at least about forty-five degrees; and a motion restrictor device wearable with the helmet to reduce the risk of head or spine injury caused by injurious movement of the helmet, said motion restrictor device including— a harness wearable by the user of the helmet, and a helmet-engaging component supported on the harness, said helmet-engaging component presenting laterally spaced apart, fore-and-aft extending helmet-engagement surfaces positioned on opposite sides of the neck of the user when the device is worn, each of said helmet-engagement surfaces being configured to shift while in contact with the helmet lower margin as the helmet moves along the helmet range of swinging movement, said helmet-engaging component being operable to yieldably bias the helmet-engagement surfaces toward the lower margin when the device and helmet are worn, such that contact with the helmet is maintained with at least one of the helmet-engagement surfaces through at least substantially the entire helmet range of swinging movement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A motion restrictor system wearable by a user, said system comprising:
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a protective helmet presenting a helmet lower margin that defines a lower helmet opening, with the opening receiving a neck of the user when the helmet is worn, said helmet opening extending in a fore-and-aft direction to present opposite fore and aft helmet opening ends, said helmet lower margin presenting a primary contact region spaced between the helmet opening ends; and a motion restrictor device wearable with the helmet to reduce the risk of head or spine injury caused by injurious movement of the helmet, said motion restrictor device including— a harness wearable by the user of the helmet, a helmet-engaging component supported on the harness, said helmet-engaging component including a pair of laterally spaced apart, fore-and-aft extending helmet-engaging levers positioned on opposite sides of the neck of the user when the device is worn, each of said helmet-engaging levers being swingable while in contact with the helmet lower margin as the helmet moves fore-and-aft, said helmet-engaging component being operable to yieldably bias each of the helmet-engaging levers toward the lower margin when the device and helmet are worn, such that contact with the helmet within the primary contact region is maintained with at least one of the helmet-engaging levers as the helmet moves fore-and-aft. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A motion restrictor device to be worn with a protective helmet so as to reduce the risk of head or spine injury caused by injurious movement of the helmet, said motion restrictor device comprising:
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a harness wearable by a user of the helmet; and a helmet-engaging component supported on the harness, said helmet-engaging component presenting laterally spaced apart, fore-and-aft extending helmet-engagement surfaces positioned on opposite sides of the neck of the user when the device is worn, said helmet-engaging component being operable to yieldably bias each of the helmet-engagement surfaces toward the helmet when the device is worn, such that contact with the helmet is maintained as the helmet-engagement surface shifts through the range of motion, said harness including a back panel dimensioned and configured to be placed against the back of the user, said harness further including a breastplate dimensioned and configured to be placed against the chest of the user, said harness including a pair of flexible shoulder straps, each of which is attached relative to the back panel and the breastplate and extends therebetween for placement on top of a corresponding one of the shoulders of the user. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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Specification