US3435460A - Sponge rubber scrimmage caps - Google Patents

Description

April 1 1969 M. M. GRANT SPONGE RUBBER SCRIMMAGE CAPS F1led Jan. 20. 1966 United States Patent O 3,435,460 SPONGE RUBBER SCRIMMAGE CAPS Munro M. Grant, Elyria, Ohio, assignor to The Ohio Athlefic Specialty Company, Elyra, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Jan. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 521,974 Int. Cl. A42b 1/08; A42c /00 U.S. Cl. 23 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSRE There is disclosed herein a protective device for 3. football helmet comprising a hemispherical cap adapted to fit over the crown of the helmet and means carried by the cap for detachably engaging the car apertures of the helmet.

My invention relates to a protective cap to be worn on or with a football helmet or the like and relates more particularly to a cap adapted for use in scrimmage.

The improved cap of my invention is snapped over the hard outside helmet crown, giving both the wearer and opponent added protection in scrimmage as Well as protecting the finish of the helmet; and such caps may be made in dilerent colors to distinguish the several teams involved in scrimmage.

Other objects of my invention are to provide a scrimmage cap for helmets of the type referred to having a shockabsorbing material in the form of sponge, foam rubber or the like encasing the same in plastic material, such as urethylene, vinyl, or the like, weather-sealing the shock-absorbing material and protecting it against tear or damage.

Other objects of my invention are to provide the cap of the type referred to which can be worn externally over the helmet and which can be easily secured to or detached from said helmet and to secure the same in such manner on the helmet as to enable the cap to be worn with any helmet of conventional design.

Another object of my invention is to provide a cap of the type referred to in which the cap is resiliently retained on the helmet.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a cap of the type referred to which will be relatively simple in construction, being composed of but few parts, easily assembled, and highly efficient in use.

Other objects of my invention Will become more readily apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein my invention is illustrated and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a helmet with the improved cap of my invention secured thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the cap of my invention, which is attached as shown in FIGURE 1 to a helmet;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the helmet securing means of the cap;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 4 with the helmet omitted from the showing.

Referring now to the drawings, in all of which like parts are designated by like reference characters, 1 desig- 3,435,460 Patented Apr. 1, 1969 mates a helmet of conventional type to which the improved scrimmage cap is secured.

Said cap is, as illustrated in FIGURE 2, generally semi-circular in form, composed of a crown section 3 integrally formed With a skirt portion 4.

The protective cap, it Will be observed by reference to FIGURE 1, fits over the crown and sides of the helmet terminating a spaced distance above the car apertures and above the forehead portion of the helmet and above the lower back portion of the helmet, as best shown in FIGURE 1. The protective cap as shown in FIGURE 5, comprises a dome-shaped portion 5 of sponge rubber, encased in plastic material of similar form; and said plastic casing may be of the same material, both externally and internally of the resilient portion 5, or the external and internal covering therefore may be of different types of plastic material, if desired.

Said internal and external casing members for the sponge portion 5 and designated at 6 and 7, are integrally secured around their outer edges to form a sealed weatherprotecting covering for the said resilient dome-shaped cap member 5.

Fastening means are employed to secure the scrimmage cap to the helmet and to hold the same in a designated position thereon so that the same Will not slip or take a position which may impair its usefulness.

Illustrative of fastening means which may be employed is a fastening means shown at 10, which in the form shown is a strap 11 of such length as to cover the crown and sides of the helmet crossing the cap from one side to the other and being riveted thereto as by rivets 12, 13 and 13a.

Secured to both of the ends of the strap and depending therefrom are elastic support members 14 and 15; such support members are provided With hook means 16 and 17 which are secured to the ends of the elastic members 14 and 15 as best shown in FIGURE 3.

The hooks 16, 17, are, as shown in FIGURE 1, adapted to be hooked into the car apertures 20 and 21 of the helmet to secure the scrimmage cap thereto. Other fastening means may be employed for fastening the cap to the helmet and may be mounted on the helmet in various ways, as will be obvous to those -skilled in the art to which this invention appertains.

When the cap is assembled on the helmet, as shown in FIGURE 1, the same forms a cushioning member to protect the helmet against damage and protect both opponent and player wearer as Well. When the player is not engaged in scrimmage, as for a regular game, the cap can be removed from the helmet and the unscarred helmet used in the conventional manner.

In scrimmage it is diflcult to identify players on opposite teams which are chosen for the purpose of the practice session and When caps of the type shown herein are placed on the regular helmets of such players the players on the various teams can be distingushed from each other by the difierent colors in which the caps may be made.

What I daim is:

1. A protective device for use in combinafion With 3. football helmet, said protective device comprising a hollow, generally hemispherical cap of resilient material, an interor and exterior casing therefor, means for detachably securing said cap to a football helmet, said cap adapted to extend over the crown of the helmet with a major portion of the same disposed upwardly from the forehead edge of the helmet and covering a portion of the sides and back Of the helmet above the car regions of the helmet, said means for detachably securing said cap to a football helmet comprising fastening means including elastic support members depending from the side edges of said cap and hook means carried by the lower ends of said support members for engaging the car apertures of the helmet.

2. A protecti-ve devce as set forth in claim I, said fastening means including a strap extending across the crown of the cap and secured to the exterior portion of said casing Whereby said cap and said fastening means are removable as a unit by disengaging said hook means from the helmet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hipkiss 23 Maillart 210 Sharkey 23 XR McKissick et al. 23 Carlini --fl------------ 2:3

Derr 23 Pitman 23 Marchello 23 JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

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