EP1387624B1

EP1387624B1 - Protective structure for articulations and method for making the same

Info

Publication number: EP1387624B1
Application number: EP02735977A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Paolo c/o Dainese S.p.A. PRETTO
Original assignee: Dainese SpA
Current assignee: Dainese SpA
Priority date: 2001-05-17
Filing date: 2002-05-07
Publication date: 2008-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 2022-05-07
Also published as: DE60225436T2; ITRM20010261A1; EP1387624A2; ATE387864T1; DE60225436D1; ITRM20010261A0; ES2302813T3; WO2002091867A1; WO2002091867A3

Abstract

Protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, comprising a first protective member (2) and a second protective member (3), each thereof apt to protect the limb portion concerned in the articulation, the structure (1) being characterized in that it comprises elastic means (4) for connecting said first member (2) and said second member (3) therebetween, said elastic means (4) being also apt to protect the underlying articulation.

Description

The present invention refers to a protective structure for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports.
As it is known, the protective clothing for dynamic sports provides protections to be used for shielding the body parts at higher risk of trauma in case of fall or impact against an obstacle. See by example document US-A-5 337 418 .
Typically, besides the so-called 'back protection' in the sportsperson's clothing there are provided protective accessories dedicated to the articulations, characteristically shaped as semirigid shells, made integral to the clothing item and apt to cover the anatomical zone at risk of serious injuries.
The art is aware of various types of protectors for articulations, typically made with more or less rigid materials, anyhow scarcely or even not flexible, being destined to absorb and to distribute the forces generated by a knock.
Known protectors always entail a drawback, in that the rigidity and the extension of the protector on the articulation result from a compromise between the sought level of protection, and therefore of safety, and the wearer's comfort. In fact, typically, the sportsperson upon wearing the clothing item incorporating this type of protections assumes a posture dictated by the latter rather than a natural one.
Hence, object of the present invention is to provide a protective structure for articulations overcoming said drawback by means of the particular arrangement of the protective constituent members thereof, making it particularly effective as a protection, and concomitantly particularly flexible and, hence, extremely comfortable to the wearer.
Hence, the present invention provides a protective structure for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, comprising a first protective member and a second protective member, each apt to protect the limb portion concerned in the articulation,
characterized in that it further comprises elastic means for connecting said first member and said second member therebetween, said elastic means being also apt to protect the underlying articulation.
Advantageously, the particular shape of the structure of the present invention allows to carry out excursions and rotations of the interested articulation in a wholly natural (anatomical) way, though not compromising the inherent safety thereof.
Hereinafter, a detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the present invention will be provided, given by way of a non-limiting example, making reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view schematically depicting a clothing item incorporating a plurality of protections for articulations according to the protective structure for articulations of the present invention;
Figs. 2A and 2B are a bottom plan view and a sectional view, respectively, depicting the protective structure of the present invention according to a first embodiment thereof;
Fig. 2C is a cross-sectional view of the protective structure of Figs. 2A and 2B;
Figs. 3A and 3B are a bottom plan view and a sectional view, respectively, depicting the protective structure of the present invention according to a second embodiment thereof;
Fig. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the protective structure of Figs. 3A and 3B;
Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the structure of Figs. 3A, 3B and 3C in a bent condition;
Fig. 5A is a bottom plan view showing the concave side of the protective structure of the present invention according to a third embodiment thereof;
Fig. 5B is a top plan view showing the convex side of the structure of Fig. 5A in a compressed condition;
Fig. 5C is a side longitudinal sectional view of the structure of Fig. 5B;
Fig. 6 is a side view depicting the structure of Figs. 5A, 5B and 5C in a condition bent and inserted on a clothing item;
Fig. 7A is a bottom plan view showing the concave side of the protective structure of the present invention according to a fourth embodiment thereof;
Fig. 7B is a top plan view showing the concave side of the structure of Fig. 7A in a compressed condition;
Fig. 7C is a side longitudinal sectional view of the structure of Fig. 7B;
Fig. 8A is a side view depicting the structure of Figs. 7A, 7B and 7C in a condition bent and inserted in a clothing item; and
Fig. 8B is a side view depicting a further embodiment of the structure of the present invention in a bent condition and arranged on a clothing item.

With reference to Fig. 1, a clothing item incorporating a plurality of protections is illustrated. The latter typically protect articulations of the upper and lower limbs, and each thereof is made of a protective structure 1 for articulations according to the present invention (better illustrated hereinafter).
With reference now to Figs. 2A, 2B and 2C, the protective structure 1 for articulations of the present invention is illustrated. According to the present invention, the structure 1 has a first member 2 and a second member 3, each apt to protect the limb portion concerned in the articulation. The members 2 and 3 are mutually connected by a flexible structure 4 made of a plurality of laminated members 5, each thereof connected to the respective adjacent laminated member 5 by spacers 6.
Each spacer 6 is integral to two adjacent laminated members 5. Moreover, the arrangement is such as to implement a structure having the spacers 6 staggered the one with respect to the other.
Moreover, the laminated members (segments) 5 are shaped, made of a material having high rigidity in a direction orthogonal to the articulation and high flexibility in a direction substantially tangential thereto.
The structure 4 thus obtained has optimum features of elasticity provided by the compliance of the assembly of laminated members 5, and, concomitantly, it effectively protects the articulation by virtue of the transversal thickness of the latter. Furthermore, by virtue of the shape of the structure 4, the latter is particularly flexible and apt to follow all the rotations of the underlying articulation, without compromising the protective function thereof.
The shape and the dimensions of the end members 2 and 3 are unessential features of the invention, as the elasticity of the protection is provided to the latter by the specific shape of the structure 4, whereas for the end members merely the covering of the zones nearby the articulation is required. Hence, the former could also be absent, though the covering of a zone more extended than that concerned in the articulation is generally required.
With reference now to Figs. 3A, 3B and 3C, a second embodiment of the structure of the present invention is illustrated. For simplicity's sake, same components will have same numbers, and a further detailed description thereof will be omitted.
In case the protection is made of plastics material, the entire structure consisting of the end members 2 and 3, connected to the plurality of laminated segments 5 by the spacers 6, can advantageously be piece-formed. According to this embodiment, it is provided that the flexible structure 4 be made of the assembly of the laminated members 5, each thereof being connected to the respective adjacent one by a pair of spacers 6. The spacers 6 are located onto two lines parallel thereamong, however other locations are viable as well.
It has to be pointed out that the elasticity of the structure 4, as well as that of the assembly 1, is given by the flexural and torsional elasticity of the spacers 6, as it is depicted in Fig. 4.
The two embodiments of structure as hereto illustrated can be held covering the articulation by suitable self-supporting means, or be inserted in the clothing item, into suitable pockets.
In the case of insertion into the clothing item, according to the present invention the protection can be provided integral to the same cloth of the clothing item, so as to simplify the manufacture of the protective clothing and to attain a higher reliability in the protective action.
With reference now to Figs. 5A, 5B and 5C, a third embodiment of the structure of the present invention is illustrated. In this case as well, for simplicity's sake, same components will have same numbers, and a further detailed description thereof will be omitted.
According to the present embodiment, the structure 1 is obtained from a mold in which the flexible structure 4 is honeycomb-shaped, and it is integrally obtained therefrom together with the protective members 2 and 3.
As it is apparent from Figs. 5A, 5B and 5C, according to the present embodiment, initially at opened mold and onto one of the two dies thereof, a support 9 made of cloth (or, e.g., of suitably treated leather or the like) is placed, thereby allowing the plastics material to adhere to the support during closed mold injection. After the injection of plastics material, the product of the molding will consist of the structure as shown in Fig. 5A, the cloth 9, or leather, etc. being made integral to the outer side thereof.
Subsequently, e.g. when packaging the clothing item, the structure 1 thus made is axially compressed in order to generate transversal bends 8 as depicted in Figs. 5B and 5C. Then, the structure is secured at two sidelines, e.g., by respective seams or bondings 10 and 11. Characteristically, the product thus obtained will allow the relative rotation of the two ends 2 and 3, as depicted in Fig. 6 and be easily incorporated in the clothing item with simple seams.
With reference now to Figs. 7A, 7B and 7C, a fourth embodiment of the protective structure of the present invention is illustrated. For simplicity's sake, same components will have same numbers, and a further detailed description thereof will be omitted.
The present fourth embodiment of the structure 1 is simplified with respect to the preceding embodiment.
In this case, it is provided that the mold have no member for connecting the laminated members thereamong, as it is the cloth (or the leather) that, upon being made integral thereto, serves as member for connecting the laminated segments 5 and the end members 2 and 3 thereamong.
For the making of the structure 1 according to said embodiment, the process as hereto illustrated is carried out.
With reference to Fig. 8A, the structure of Figs. 7A, 7B e 7C is illustrated, in a bent condition.
This versatility meets all the needs dictated by the type of sport practice and the type of clothing item at issue, anyhow making the protective structure 1 an integral component of the sportswear incorporating such protections.
In particular, in certain sports there can be a demand for protections made of materials especially resisting to repeated impacts and arranged on the outside of the clothing item in order not to damage the supporting cloth in a fall. More precisely, and with reference to Fig. 8B, according to the present invention there can be provided that at the manufacturing stage the supporting cloth (or leather) 9 be placed onto the mold die facing the inside of the protection 1, so that the latter be applied on the outside of the assembled clothing item. Thus, the resisting structure is located externally to the item and, upon impacting, also protects the cloth (or leather).
Moreover, the structure 1 as illustrated in the preceding embodiments is apt to protect any sportsperson's articulation, both of the lower and of the upper limbs. E.g., though it is not shown in the Figs., the structure 1 thus made is also suitable for tinier articulations, like the finger ones.
Of course, the above description of the present embodiment applying the innovative principles of the present invention is susceptible of ameliorative variants encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

A protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, comprising a first protective member (2) and a second protective member (3), each apt to protect the limb portion concerned in the articulation,
characterized in that it further comprises elastic means (4) for connecting said first member (2) to said second member (3), said elastic means (4) having an internal structure suitable for protecting the underlying articulation.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to claim 1, wherein said first and second covering members (2), (3) have an anatomical shape apt to engage with the respective limb portions concerned in the articulation to be protected.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said elastic connecting means (4) comprises a plurality of segments (5), each segment having a substantially laminated shape.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to the preceding claim, wherein said laminated segments (5) have a shape which confere high rigidity in the direction orthogonal to the articulation and a high flexibility in a direction substantially tangential thereto.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said elastic means (4) further comprises a plurality of spacers (6), each thereof located between two respective adjacent laminated segments (5).
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to any one of the claims 1-4, wherein said first member (2), said second member (3) and said plurality of laminated segments (5) are integrally obtained from a single molded piece.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to the preceding claim, wherein said plurality of laminated segments (5) is honeycomb-shaped.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said first member (2) and said second member (3) have a honeycomb structure.
The protective structure (1) for articulations, in particular for use in dynamic sports, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is integral to the clothing item of which it is a component part.
A method for making the protective structure (1) for articulations according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:
placing a supporting material (9) apt to constitute a portion of the clothing item on a mold die;

closing said mold and forming said structure (1) in said mold so as to make said structure integral to said supporting material (9); and

axially pressing said structure (1) thus formed so as to obtain a structure (1) having a plurality of transversal folds (8) on said structure (1) securing said supporting material (9) on said plurality of folds (8) by respective seams or bondings (10,11).