US3751728A - Football helmet - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved football helmet in which the lower section of the helmet is fabricated of transparent plastic so as to eliminate blind areas of vision caused by use of pressure helmets. A safety hazard in the use of football helmets occurs from restriction of sidewise and upwards vision. Football players wearing conventional helmets have been injuried because they did not avoid objects which were obscured by the sides or rim of the helmets they were wearing.

Description

United States Patent 1 Thompkins [451 Aug. 14, 1973 FOOTBALL HELMET [75] Inventor: Johnnie Thompkins, Rialto, Calif.

{ 73] Assignee: The Raymond Lee Organization,

1nc.,New York, NY. a part interest 22 Filed: Feb. 7, 1972 [211 App]. No.: 224,060

[52] US. Cl 2/3 R [51] Int. Cl A42b 3/00 [58] Field of Search 2/3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 2/205, 172

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,293,308 8/1942 Riddell, Sr. et a1. 2/3 R 2,988,749 6/1961 Crouzet 2/3 R 6/1961 Rozzi, Sr... 10/1950 3,181,532 5/1965 Harris 2/3 R X 3,562,813 2/1971 Origer 2/3 R Primary Examiner-James R. Boler Atl0rney1-l0ward l. Podell [57] ABSTRACT An improved football helmet in which the lower section of the helmet is fabricated of transparent plastic so as to eliminate blind areas of vision caused by use of pressure helmets.

A safety hazard in the use of football helmets occurs from restriction of sidewise and upwards vision. Football players wearing conventional helmets have been injuried because they did not avoid objects which were obscured by the sides or rim of the helmets they were wearing.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures FOOTBALL HELMET SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a football helmet which permits unrestricted angles of vision to the wearer and furnishes the necessary shock and impact resistance to the head of the wearer.

The helmet of my invention is fabricated of a resilient transparent plastic in those areas which are within the wearers field of sidewise or upwards vision.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects and features of the invention may be understood with reference to the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention taken together with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. I is an illustration of a football player wearing the helmet of my invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side view of the football helmet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now descriptively to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a football player wearing the helmet of my invention. As is not unusual in the act of catching a pass, his head 11 is pointed at right angles to the direction of his motion.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the preferred embodiment, the upper 19 and the rear portions 21 of the helmet 20 are fabricated from a customary opaque material, while the sections 22 of the helmet 20 which are within the sidewise or upwards field of vision are fabricated of a transparent impact resistant plastic. Similarly in the preferred embodiment, the nose guard 23 is fabricated of transparent plastic.

In the preferred embodiment, the boundaries of the transparent area 22 extend above and to the rear of the ear piece 24, and forward across the upper rim of the helmet.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein without departing from the scope thereof, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended to be interpreted in an illustrative and not a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A football helmet which permits unrestricted angles of vision to the wearer while furnishing his head necessary shock and impact resistance, said helmet being in the form of a headpiece shaped to fit over and about the head of a football player so as to protect, when worn, the head of the player from impact injury by distributing any impact forces directed in play at a portion of the head of the wearer over a wide area which is the area of the contact surface between the head of the player inside the helmet, said helmet being of a shape to cover, when worn, the sides, back, top and forehead of the wearer, withthe helmet shaped with an open section that fits about the lower face and the neck of the wearer, with those areas of the helmet, when worn, within the field of vision of the wearer constructed of a transparent impact resistant plastic, and with the remaining sections of the helmet being opaque so as to serve as identification means.

2. A football helmet as described in claim 1 in which the football helmet is formed of transparent material in those sections of the helmet adjoining the open section of the helmet along the upper forward rim adjoining the open section of the helmet and the forward sides of the helmet adjoining the open section of the helmet.

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Claims (2)

1. A football helmet which permits unrestricted angles of vision to the wearer while furnishing his head necessary shock and impact resistance, said helmet being in the form of a headpiece shaped to fit over and about the head of a football player so as to protect, when worn, the head of the player from impact injury by distributing any impact forces directed in play at a portion of the head of the wearer over a wide area which is the area of the contact surface between the head of the player inside the helmet, said helmet being of a shape to cover, when worn, the sides, back, top and forehead of the wearer, with the helmet shaped with an open section that fits about the lower face and the neck of the wearer, with those areas of the helmet, when worn, within the field of vision of the wearer constructed of a transparent impact resistant plastic, and with the remaining sections of the helmet being opaque so as to serve as identification means.

2. A football Helmet as described in claim 1 in which the football helmet is formed of transparent material in those sections of the helmet adjoining the open section of the helmet along the upper forward rim adjoining the open section of the helmet and the forward sides of the helmet adjoining the open section of the helmet.

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