CA1053402A - Protective neck device - Google Patents

Protective neck device

Info

Publication number
CA1053402A
CA1053402A CA238,768A CA238768A CA1053402A CA 1053402 A CA1053402 A CA 1053402A CA 238768 A CA238768 A CA 238768A CA 1053402 A CA1053402 A CA 1053402A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
cover
neck
band
protector
cushion
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA238,768A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Edward M. Crouch
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA238,768A priority Critical patent/CA1053402A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1053402A publication Critical patent/CA1053402A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A41WEARING APPAREL
    • A41DOUTERWEAR; PROTECTIVE GARMENTS; ACCESSORIES
    • A41D13/00Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches
    • A41D13/05Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches protecting only a particular body part
    • A41D13/0512Neck or shoulders area

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Otolaryngology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Professional, Industrial, Or Sporting Protective Garments (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A neck and chest protector that covers substantially the periphery of the neck and throat is held in place with attachment means which interconnect behind the neck. In one embodiment, a resilient cushion is secured along one side of a flexible band intermediate the band and neck, the band acting as a shield to deflect a striking missile and to spread the force of a blow which is absorbed by the cushion. The chest is protected by soft body armour in the form of a bib which is suspended from a frontal portion of the band. A fabric enclos-ure is provided as a comfortable sanitary cover to contain the band, cushion and bib and includes a closable opening through which the band, cushion and bib may be withdrawn. In another embodiment, the flexible band is substituted with soft body armour material that is wrapped around the resilient cushion to form a protective cover.

Description

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This invention relates to a neck and chest protector and ntore particularly to said protector having a cushioned neck portion and a protective shield.
Sports activities that are fast moving and which employ projectiles in the course of a game frequently produce injuries to the participants unless adequate protection is provided. Ex-amples of such sports activities are hockey, lacrosse, handball and the like. In each of these sports, a relatively hard missile is used and is passed amongst the participants at high speed.
Since a concentrated hard blow to the chest or neck area of a player could produce a serious injury, it is most important that such areas be adequately protected.
Safety devices to protect portions of the human torso are well known in the prior art. Generally, the devices comprise large and cumbersome pads with an arrangement of straps and laces to hold the pads in position. Examples of such pads are common in the protective equipment used, for example, by hockey and football players. A problem, however, occurs for sports partic-ipants such as handball players who, while being exposed to pot-entially serious injury, do not attire themselves suitably forprotection against severe blows to the neck and chest. The very nature of many games, which require speed,l endurance and fast responses, discourages the use of heavy and cumbersome padding.
Moreover, since fashion often plays an important part in the dress of sports participants, the awkward appearance of some convention-al padding further negatives its use.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a neck and chest protector for a sports participant which is of light weight construction and which provides effective protection from cuts and blows inflicted by game apparatus.
A further object of the invention is to provide a neck and chest protector that is easily and quickly secured in position -- 1 -- ~,`G

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without requiring extensive adjustments and which may be there-fore readily used by any sports participant irrespective of stature or size.
A still further object of the invention is to pro-vide a comfortable neck and chest protector fabricated of soft and flexible body armour materials that are arranged in over-lying integral relation to provide improved protection from the aforesaid cuts and blows.
The foregoing disadvantages of the prior art may be overcome and the objectives of the present invention achieved by recourse to my invention, one aspect of which is a neck and chest protector that includes a neck band having in-durated flexible walls curved to fit snugly and shield substan-tially the periphery of the neck and to spread the force of a blow applied thereto. A resilient cushion is secured in inti-mate contact along one side of the band intermediate the band and neck for absorbing the force of the blow. A first cover of soft body armour material encloses the band and cushion. A
protective bib of the armour material is attached to the first cover along a frontal portion thereof and depends downwardly therefrom along the chest. First attachment means are secured to one end of the first cover. A second cover is provided for enclosing the band, cushion, first cover and bib in shielding relation with the neck and chest, the second cover having an opening in one end of a corresponding neck portion through which the first attachment means extend for interconnection at the back of the neck. Second attachment means secured to the second cover at an end opposite the first attachment means coact therewith to releasably interconnect the free ends of the band for positioning the protector in the shielding re-lation and retaining the combination in overlying integral relation.

, 1~534~2 Another aspect of my invention is a neck and chest protector that includes a neck band having indurated flexible walls curved to fit snugly and shield substantially the per-iphery of the neck and to spead the force of a blow applied thereto. A resilient cushion is secured in intimate contact along one side of the band intermediate the band and neck for absorbing the force of the blow, the cushion being fabricated of a shock absorbing unicellular foam material having a pre-determined slow rate of shock compression. A first cover of soft body armour material encloses the band and cushion. A
protective bib of the armour material is attached to the first cover along a frontal portion thereof and depends down-wardly therefrom along the chest. First attachment means are secured to one end of the neck band. A second cover encloses the band, cushion, first cover and bib in shielding relation of the neck and chest, the second cover having an opening in one end of a corresponding neck portion through which the first attachment means extend for interconnection at the back of the neck. Second attachment means are secured to the second cover at an end opposite the first attachment means and coact there-with to releasably interconnect the free ends of the band for positioning the protector in the aforementioned shielding re-lation and retaining the combination in overlying integral relation.
The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to embodiments thereof shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FigO 1 is a perspective view of a neck band assembly that embodies the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment - 2a -of the invention, including a cover having a bib portion;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment of Fig. 2 enclosed in a protective outer cover; and Fig. 4 is a front elevation view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a neck band assembly 10 which includes a neck band in the form of a deflection shield 11 having indurated flexible walls adapted to cover substantially the periphery of the neck of a person wearing the protector. The shield 11 may be advantageously formed from plastic strip material that can be thermally set to a predetermined curve to fit the neck. The assembly 10 also includes a resilient cushion 12, shown secured along the inner side of the shield 11 intermediate the shield and neck.
The assembly 10 functions effectively since the shield 11 tends to deflect any flying missile or object, or a blow as from a hockey stick, and further tends to distri-bute the force of the blow over a wide area~ The force of the blow is then absorbed by the cushion 12. It should be noted that the cushion 12 is inadequate alone since any striking object or missile may cause injury if there is sufficient force to fully collapse the cushion when it is struck. The combination, therefore, of the shield 11 and the cushion 12 overcomes the difficulty by distributing the load over a larger area, thereby allowing the assembly 10 structure to accept harder blows without injury to the person wearing the protector.
The resilient cushion 12 is approximately two inches in width and may be fabricated from a foam type or - 2b -10534(~2 similar material. The shield 11 comprises a band one inch in width which is made of a plastic material and is tapered together with the cushion 12 to comfortably fit around the Adams apple portion of the throat. The shield 11 is attached to the cushion 12 by means of a suitable adhesive.
Fig. 2 is aperspective view of a cover 13 having a bib portion 14. In one embodiment of the invention, the neck band assembly 10 is enclosed in the cover 13. The purpose of the cover 13 is two-fold, firstly to enclose the assembly 10 in a tough cover to prevent deterioration of the cushion 12 ;~

~5340Z

through abrasion and contact with the human body and also to provide a strong structural member from which the bib portion 14 may be secured to hang downwardly over the frontal area of the chest. Both the cover 13 and the bib portion 14 are made from soft body armour such as 25 or 30 mill ballistic nylon material.
In this way, protection is afforded the frontal chest area while increasing the amount of protection provided to the throat.
Another suitable body armour is fabricated of KEVLAR-29 (trade mark) which is an aramid fibre. This fibre is used to manufacture a baseline fabric of 1000 denier KEVLAR-29 from which the soft body armour is fabricated.
The bib portion 1~ is shown attached to the cover 13 and is approximately 11 inches in width and 7 inches in length.
Attachment means are shown as comprising a hook type strip 15 of VELCRO (trade mark) material and a co-acting loop type strip 16 also fashioned from the same material. The strip 15 is secured by means of a tape 19 that is stitched to the free end 17 of the cover 13. However, the strip 16 is secured directly to an end portion 2 3 of a protective outer cover 20 shown in Fig. 3. The bib portion 14, on the other hand, is secured along a lower side 18 of the cover 13. The method of securing the bib is not crit-ical and it may be conveniently sewn to the side 18.
In another embodiment of the invention, the assembly 10 is substituted with a strip of ENSOLITE (trade mark), a shock absorbing unicellular foam material, wrapped in soft body armour which forms the cover 13. The cover 13 of 1000 denier KEVLAR-29 fabric is cut resistant and distributes the force of a blow over a greater area in the manner of the shield 11. The advantage of the ENSOLITE material is its high shock absorbency due to its unicellular structure. Upon impact, the cells slowly compress to absorb applied forces. Recovery is equally slow. Since the thickness of the ENSOLITE strip is only 1/4 of an inch, the use ~0534QZ

of the foregoing materials reduce the weight of the neck and chest protector from about 6 1/2 oz. to about 3 1/2 oz.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment of Fig.
2 shown enclosed in a protective outer cover 20. The cover 20 is provided with a closable opening 21, shown in Fig. 3 in a closed position, through which the embodiment of Fig. 2 may be inserted or withdrawn. Opening and closing the opening 21 is made by way of VELCRO material corresponding to that used in strips 15 and 16. These corresponding strips are inside the cover 20 at the opening 21 and therefore are not visible in Fig. 3. A
free end 22 of the cover 20 includes an opening (not shown) through which the tape 19 and strip 15 extend.
Fig. 4 is a front elevation view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 and illustrates the area covered by the neck and chest protector of the invention as well as the appearance thereof when it is fitted on an individual. In this respect, the strips 15 and 16 are releasably secured behind the neck of the wearer. It will be noted that the cover 20 is of the same general size and form of the cover 13 and the bib portion 14 and that the entire protector assembly is placed inside the cover 13 for purposes of sanitation. Thus, in the course of a game, the cover 20 may be readily changed should it become soiled. The cover 20 is fabricated of a jersey type material and in the embod-iments described is mainly an appearance item. However, in the event that still further protection is required, the neck and chest protector may be further strengthened by fabricating the cover 20 of ballistic nylon material or KEVLAR-29 soft body armour.

Claims (12)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EX-CLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A neck and chest protector, comprising in combination:
a neck band having indurated flexible walls curved to fit snugly and shield substantially the periphery of the neck and to spread the force of a blow applied thereto;
a resilient cushion secured in intimate contact along one side of the band intermediate the band and neck for ab-sorbing the force of said blow;
a first cover of soft body armour material enclosing said band and cushion;
a protective bib of said armour material attached to the first cover along a frontal portion thereof and de-pending downwardly therefrom along the chest;
first attachment means secured to one end of the first cover;
a second cover enclosing the band, cushion, first cover and bib in shielding relation of the neck and chest, the second cover having an opening in one end of a corresponding neck portion through which the first attachment means extend for interconnection at the back of the neck; and second attachment means secured to the second cover at an end opposite said first attachment means and coacting therewith to releasably interconnect the free ends of said band for positioning the protector in said shielding relation and retaining said combination in overlying integral relation.
2. A protector as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the band is a plastic strip.
3. A protector as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the second cover is fabricated of said armour material.
4. A protector as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the second cover is made of jersey fabric.
5. A protector as claimed in Claim 3 or 4 wherein the attachment means comprise a hook type fabric strip attached to the first cover and a coacting loop type fabric strip attached to the second cover.
6. A neck and chest protector comprising in com-bination:
a neck band having indurated flexible walls curved to fit snugly and shield substantially the periphery of the neck and to spread the force of a blow applied thereto;
a resilient cushion secured in intimate contact along one side of the band intermediate the band and neck for absorbing the force of said blow, said cushion being fab-ricated of a shock absorbing unicellular foam material having a predetermined slow rate of shock compression;
a first cover of soft body armour material enclosing said band and cushion;
a protective bib of said armour material attached to the first cover along a frontal portion thereof and de-pending downwardly therefrom along the chest;
first attachment means secured to one end of the neck band;
a second cover enclosing the band, cushion, first cover and bib in shielding relation of the neck and chest, the second cover having an opening in one end of a corres-ponding neck portion through which the first attachment means extend for interconnection at the back of the neck; and second attachment means secured to the second cover at an end opposite said first attachment means and coacting therewith to releasably interconnect the free ends of said band for positioning the protector in said shielding relation and retaining said combination in overlying integral relation.
7. A protector as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the band is a plastic strip.
8. A protector as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the second cover is fabricated of said body armour material.
9. A protector as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the second cover is made of jersey fabric.
10. A protector as claimed in Claim 3 or 8 wherein the soft body armour material is fabricated of 20-30 mil ballistic nylon fabric.
11. A protector as claimed in Claim 3 or 8 wherein the soft body armour material is a fabric formed of 1000 denier aramid fibre.
12. A protector as claimed in Claim 8 or 9 wherein the attachment means comprise a hook type fabric strip attached to the first cover and a coacting loop type fabric strip attached to the second cover.
CA238,768A 1975-10-31 1975-10-31 Protective neck device Expired CA1053402A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA238,768A CA1053402A (en) 1975-10-31 1975-10-31 Protective neck device

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA238,768A CA1053402A (en) 1975-10-31 1975-10-31 Protective neck device

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1053402A true CA1053402A (en) 1979-05-01

Family

ID=4104411

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA238,768A Expired CA1053402A (en) 1975-10-31 1975-10-31 Protective neck device

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1053402A (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0019822A1 (en) * 1979-05-21 1980-12-10 Temova Etablissement Vest for therapeutic treatment
WO1999030582A1 (en) * 1997-12-16 1999-06-24 Erhardt Friedrich Schumann Slash resistant garments
US6836900B1 (en) 2004-05-03 2005-01-04 James F. Fus, Sr. Bib
US8397316B2 (en) 2009-07-17 2013-03-19 Wayne R. Rosen Article of protective clothing

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0019822A1 (en) * 1979-05-21 1980-12-10 Temova Etablissement Vest for therapeutic treatment
WO1999030582A1 (en) * 1997-12-16 1999-06-24 Erhardt Friedrich Schumann Slash resistant garments
US6044498A (en) * 1997-12-16 2000-04-04 E. I. Du Pont Nemours And Company Slash and cut resistant garments for protecting a person from injury
US6836900B1 (en) 2004-05-03 2005-01-04 James F. Fus, Sr. Bib
US8397316B2 (en) 2009-07-17 2013-03-19 Wayne R. Rosen Article of protective clothing

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