WO1998009545A1

WO1998009545A1 - Neck, collar bone, and spinal cord protection assembly

Info

Publication number: WO1998009545A1
Application number: PCT/US1996/014318
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael J. Gajor
Original assignee: Powersports Safety Corporation
Priority date: 1996-09-06
Filing date: 1996-09-06
Publication date: 1998-03-12
Also published as: AU6967696A

Abstract

A resilient elastomeric cervical collar assembly (10) has a non-skinned resilient elastomeric foam core (12) with a U-shaped neck collar section (18) and integrally formed with laterally extending wings (20). A porous woven cover (14) is shaped to correspond with the shape of the core and has fasteners (27) on each of its wing sections (26) to connect to mounting straps (16) and having an ice pack retaining pocket (94) arced about the rear bight section of the collar section (24).

Description

NECK, COLLAR BONE, AND SPINAL CORD PROTECTION ASSEMBLY

This application is a continuation-in-part of PCT application US96/ 02701 filed on February 29, 1996 claiming a priority date of August 18, 1995 based on U.S. Provisional Application U.S.S.N. 60/002,495.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The field of this invention relates to a device that protects or reduces risks to a persons neck or collar bone during helmet bearing sports for example vehicular races or American Football.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sports such as moto-cross racing, car racing, and American football are popular sports. Safety equipment for each sport has been developed to protect various parts of the bodies, e.g. padded plastic helmets for the head, and cantilevered padded plastic shoulder pad assemblies in football which are capable of withstanding impacts .

One area of continued concern for increased protection is the neck, spine, and collar bone. A protective neck collar is desired for all of these sports. While a collar is needed to prevent excessive bending of the neck, the collar should not impede normal motion of the neck to allow the head to make the necessary turns to provide the needed field of vision from left to right and vertically up and down. Neck collars have been long known but the attachment mechanisms have been needlessly cumbersome. Furthermore, many foam type cushion devices are made from a closed cell foam forming its own skin. These self-skinned foams while providing adequate protection, are overly heavy and heat insulating. As a result, the collars retain too much heat against the wearer and are uncomfortable . What is needed is a neck, collar bone and spinal cord protection device that is used in conjunction with a helmet and allows normal motion of the neck but protects against excessive motion of the head and helmet. What is further needed is a neck, collar bone, and spinal cord protection device that is comfortable, light weight, and is easy to mount and remove from the wearer .

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a cervical collar assembly has a resilient elastomeric cushion member with a collar section and laterally extending wings that rest upon the shoulders of the wearer. A cover preferably made from a woven porous cloth has its shape conformed to the cushion member. The cover has respective wing sections being connectable to a respective mounting strap extending for and aft at each side of the central collar section to anchor the collar assembly to the wearer.

The collar section is U-shaped with two distal front ends forming a front opening and inner wall. The inner wall is preferably spaced from the neck of the wearer for clearance therebetween. The outer wall is spaced enough to provide sufficient thickness to abut the lower edge of a helmet of the wearer if the helmet is sufficiently canted from the normal upright wearing position.

According to another aspect of the invention, the back section of the cover has an extending slit to open and close to allow the cushion member to be inserted therethrough. Preferably a fastener such as a hook and loop or zipper closes the slit and preferably extends across the rear section of the cover. Just inside the slit is an adjustment strap which has its length adjustable which adjusts the distance between the two front distal ends of the collar section. A front strap in one embodiment extends across the front opening under the chin of the wearer.

The cushion member may provide air flow under the collar and wings by downwardly extending and spaced apart protrusions depending from the lower surface of the cushion member. The protrusion may be in the form of dimples, ribs, or other shaped embossments. The air may flow through the porous cover material and through the spaces defined between and about the protrusions.

In a desired embodiment, each wing section of the cover has at least one wing fastener be attachable to the strap. Preferably the fastener is in the form of a flap that can be opened or closed onto the mounting strap. In one embodiment the flap when closed forms a pair of slots that run lateral in a direction between the neck collar and the outer distal end of the wing to receive the respective mounting strap therethrough. Preferably a hook and loop fastener retains the flaps in the closed position.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a resilient elastomeric collar has a neck collar section and laterally extending engagement wings. The wings fit under the shoulder pads of the wearer. Each wing has a laterally extending slot to accommodate the collar bone of the wearer such that the wing exerts pressure on the shoulder in front of and behind the collar bone during an impact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference now is made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of the device in accordance with the invention shown in place on a wearer seated in a race car seat; Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment shown in figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view thereof;

Figure 4 is back view thereof;

Figure 5 is a top view of the elastomeric cushion core member;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the elastomeric cushion core member shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the second embodiment in accordance with the invention adapted for moto-crosε racing;

Figure 9 is a front elevational view of the embodiment shown in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a rear elevational view of the embodiment shown in Figure 8;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a third embodiment according to the invention adapted to be used with illustrated football shoulder pads;

Figure 12 is a top plan view of the cushion cervical collar shown in Figure 11; and

Figure 13 is a side partially segmented view of the embodiment shown in Figure 11 shown in place on a football player.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to figures 1 and 2, a cervical protective assembly generally indicated as 10 includes an elastomeric cushion core 12, flame resistant cloth cover 14 and harness or mounting straps 16. The cushion core 12 is shaped to provide a U-shaped neck collar section 18, laterally extending integrally formed shoulder wings 20 that extend from a lower edge 22 of the neck collar section 18. The core is made from a light weight resilient elastomeric material that is flame resistant. An unskinned commercially available urethane foam such as Foam x Crib. 5 is suitable. Of course, the pad can be designed with other compounds and be designed with more or less resilient damping effect depending on the roughness of the moto-cross or jet-ski race or other applicable sport or activity as well as the amount of flex desired by the wearer.

The cover 14 as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 is shaped to conform to the cushion core 12 and has a central collar section 24 and two wing sections 26 that form respective interior cavity sections 28 and 29 to receive the cushion core 12. The woven cloth may be light weight nylon or cotton canvas type material such as No ex III, both being a porous breathing material. Each wing section 26 of the cover 14 has fastener section 27 for attaching harness straps 16 thereto. Each fastener 27 includes a first flap 28 having on portion 30 of a hook and loop fastener and a second flap 32 having a complementary portion 34 of the hook and loop fastener that can be closed and fastened together to form a loop with a plurality of laterally extending slots 36 therethrough that are spaced in the fore and aft direction to allow the harness straps 16 to extend therethrough. As shown in Figure 1, the rear section of straps 16 are anchored through the back of race car seat 47. The front end 43 of each strap 16 extends down the chest 24 and connects to a five way harness buckle 44 located at the front of the wearer 45 with the respective straps 16 extending fore and aft of each side of the collar section 14 over the wing sections. The harness buckle 44 is anchored via straps 49 that are anchored about the race car seat 47. The harness straps retain the collar assembly in place or the upper shoulder 46 of wearer 45 may crisscross along both the chest 38 and back seat 40 of the wearer as shown in figure 1.

Of course, the straps and wings may be opera- bly secured to each other in other fashion, for example snaps, or buckles. As shown in Figure 4, the flaps are opened and can be easily laterally disengaged from the straps 16.

As shown in figures 5 and 6, the neck collar section 18 is generally u-shaped with two distal front ends 48 forming a front opening 50. The outer wall 51 of the collar section has an outwardly extending lower flange 52 and upper flange 54 as clearly shown in Figure 6. The inner wall 56 is straight and is normally spaced approximately 3/4" from the neck 47 of the wearer 45 to form clearance 58. The inner wall may be otherwise contoured for design considerations. The front distal ends 48 are bent downwardly to rest against the upper section of the wearer's chest 24 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and to make clearance for the wearer's chin 45 as the wearer turns his head to the left and right. A front strap 60 extends between the front ends 48 with a hook and loop fastener 62 removably connecting the strap 60 to one of the ends 48 as shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 4, the rear section 64 of the cover 16 has a horizontal slit 66 that is openable to provide insertion or removal of the core 12 shown in Figure 5 from the cover 16. Each edge of the slit has a complementary strip of hook and loop fasteners 68 to secure the slit 66 in a closed position. When the slit 66 is in the open position as shown in Figure 4 , there is access to a rear strap 70 that extends from each wing section 26 of cover 12. Just inside the slit at the rear section 64. The length of strap 70 is adjustable via a complementary hook and loop section 72. The adjustment of the length of strap 70 pinches the rear section 64 which in turn laterally bends or moves the front distal ends 48 outward to adjust the front opening 50. To provide further comfort and increased coolness to the user, the bottom surface 72 of the wings 20 of core 12 are provided with a series of embossments 73 as shown in figures 6 and 7 such as longitudinal ribs to decrease the surface to surface contact with the core 12 and provide for air flow through the porous cover 14 and between the core 12 and person 45. The embossments may take a variety of other shapes such as frustoconical or cylindrical protuberances. Alternatively, a plurality of semi-spherical or other shaped cavities may also be formed in the lower surface to accomplish the same results.

As shown in Figure 2, the collar assembly 10 has a height of approximately 3" such that its upper surface 74 are vertically spaced below the lower edge 76 of a helmet 78 to provide unrestricted motion of the helmet during minor motion. However, during severe jolting or shaking, the lower edge 76 of the helmet 78 engages the top surface 74 such that the collar assembly 10 resiliently dampens and curtails the jolting and shocks to the head and restricts excessive motion to the head and consequently the neck and spinal chord. In order to assure proper engagement of the edge 76 to the top surface 74, the collar needs to be at least 2" thick from the inner wall 56 to the outer wall 51 that is spaced from neck 47.

A second embodiment is shown in figures 8, 9, and 10. This collar assembly 110 is directed for attachment to thinner straps 116 found commonly in use with moto-cross racing or other like activities such as jet skiing where the participant is not fully harnessed in a seat as previously described for car racing. In this embodiment, the wings 126 of cover 114 have a single flap 128 having its underside surface having a hook and loop fastener 130. A lateral outer edge 131 of the flap is attached to the wing. The flap can be closed onto the surface of the wing that has a complementary hook and loop fastener 134 secured therein. The strap 116 is thinner than the flap or the hook and loop fasteners such that the flap fully extends over the strap 116 and the exposed hook and loop fastener 130 and 134 are engaged to secure the strap in place.

The straps 116 may have a rear distal end 80 permanently sewn onto a rear shoulder section 82 of a shirt 84. The front distal section 86 of the strap 116 may have a slot 88 that is secured by a button 89. Alternatively, a Velcro® type fastener section can be sewn thereon. The cover 114 may be a light weight 400 denier woven nylon material that provides for air circulation. As shown in Figure 10, the rear section 164 has a slit 166 with a zipper 92 extending substantially there across including across the rear edge of wing section 126. A core 112 substantially the same as described before is fitted through the open slit such that the cover closely conforms to the shape of the core.

The cover 114 may have a pocket 94 sewn to and extending about the inner wall 156 of the collar section such that it is arced about the neck 47 of the wearer. The pocket has an open top 96 lined with a Velcro™ for closing the top 96 to retain an ice pack or cooling pack therein to cool off the wearer's neck 47. Alternative- ly, the pocket may have an operble side for sliding in a flexible ice pack.

A third embodiment is shown in Figures 11-13. In these figures, a cushion collar cervical device assembly 210 can be adapted to be worn by a football player under conventional shoulder pads 215. The cervical collar device 210 has a cushion core member 212 and cover 214 similar to the other described embodiments with a collar section 218 and two laterally extending wings 220. Each wing 220 has a rear section 221 and front section 223 with a laterally extending slot 225 therebetween. The slot 225 can be completely through the wing 220 or just partially forming a recess 276 in the undersurface. The slot 225 is positioned midway between the fore and aft edges of the wing 220 to be positioned directly above the collar bone 46 of the wearer 45 to form a gap 229 between the shoulder pads 215 and wearer 45. When impact on the shoulder pads 215 occurs such as upon a tackle or block that commonly occurs in football, as the shoulder pads 215 are pressed against the shoulder, impact pressure upon the collar bone 46 is reduced by diverting most of the impact through front and rear sections 223 and 221 on either side of the collar bone 46 because the collar bone 46 is free to move into gap 229. In this fashion, a light weight protective cervical collar assembly is constructed that is easily mounted onto the wearer and provides for a comfortable fit and adequate ventilation about the neck and shoul- ders of the wearer to eliminate undue heat build up as found in prior art devices.

Other variations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMSThe embodiments in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A resilient cervical collar assembly for a wearer of a helmet characterized by: a resilient elastomeric cushion core member having a central collar section sized to fit about a person's neck under a lower edge of a helmet assembly and a pair of shoulder wings laterally extending sideways from the central collar section for positioning on the shoulders of the wearer; a cover member having an interior cavity with respective collar and wing sections defining respective collar and wing cavity sections for receiving respective collar section and shoulder wings of said elastomeric cushion core member; first fasteners connected to the exterior of said cover above said wing cavities for being operably connectable to a respective strap extending fore and aft on each side of the central collar section, said straps having distal sections being anchored for securing the collar assembly to the wearer.

2. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 1 further characterized by: said cover having a laterally extending slit at a rear section thereof that is openable to receive said elastomeric cushion member and said cover having a second fastener for closing said slit.

3. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 2 further characterized by: said first fasteners being a first element and a first flap movable between an opened and closed position and having a second element thereon that is engagable to said first element when in said closed position; said first flap when in said closed position secured onto said strap with said strap extending through a rear slit opening and front slot opening under said flap; and said wings each having a plurality of slots therein that receive each strap therethrough.

4. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 3 further characterized by: said second element of said fastener being on a second flap, said first and second flaps when engaged to each other forming a loop with front and rear slot openings that receive said straps therethrough.

5. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 2 further characterized by: said collar section being generally U-shaped with two front distal ends defining a front opening having a rear bight section; an adjustment strap extending across the rear bight section inside said laterally extending slit with a first and second end attached near said respective wing cavity sections of said cover; said adjustment strap having its length being adjustable to crimp the rear bight section together and thereby adjusting the lateral distance between the two front distal ends.

6. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 5 further characterized by: a front strap being attachable across said front opening between said two front distal ends.

7. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 6 further characterized by: said front strap being attachable through a hook and loop attachment; said adjustment strap having its length adjustable through a hook and loop adjustment device; said second fastener for closing said laterally extending slit being a hook and loop fastener.

8. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 2 further characterized by: said cover being made from a woven cloth material.

9. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 8 further characterized by: a pocket sewn into the inner wall of the collar section constructed for receiving and retaining an ice pack arced about the wearer's neck.

10. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 8 further characterized by: said second fastener for closing said laterally extending slit being a zipper with said zipper extending across the rear side of said wing sections.

11. A cover for a resilient cervical cushion member, said cover characterized by: an interior cavity with a central collar section defining a cavity and two laterally extending wing sections defining wing cavities; and a laterally extending slit at a rear section thereof that is openable to receive said elastomeric cervical cushion member and closable via a fastener.

12. A cover as defined in claim 11 further characterized by: first fasteners connected to the upper exterior of said cover above said wing cavities for being operably connectable to a respective strap extending fore and aft on each side of said central collar section.

13. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 11 further characterized by: said cover being made from a woven cloth material.

14. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 11 further characterized by: said collar section being generally U-shaped with two front distal ends defining a front opening and having a rear bight section; an adjustment strap extending across the rear bight section inside said laterally extending slit with a first and second end attached near said respective wing cavity sections of said cover; said strap having its length being adjustable to crimp the rear bight section together and thereby adjusting the lateral distance between the two front distal ends.

15. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 11 further characterized by: a pocket sewn into the inner wall of the collar section constructed for receiving and retaining an ice pack arced about the wearer's neck.

16. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 14 further characterized by: a front strap being attachable across said front opening between said two front distal ends.

17. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 16 further characterized by: said front strap being attachable through a hook and loop attachment; said adjustment strap having its length adjustable through a hook and loop adjustment device; said second fastener for closing said laterally extending slit being a hook and loop fastener.

18. A resilient cervical collar assembly as defined in claim 11 further characterized by: said second fastener for closing said laterally extending slit being a zipper with said zipper extending across the rear side of said wing sections.

19. A resilient cervical collar device for a wearer of a helmet and shoulder pads, said collar device characterized by: a central collar section sized to fit about a person's neck under a lower edge of a helmet; a pair of shoulder wings laterally extending sideways from said central collar section with a central laterally extending slot for positioning on the shoulders of the person about the torsal and frontal sides of the person's collar bone under said shoulder pads; said shoulder wings being integrally formed with said collar section and being made from the same resilient elastomeric material.

20. A resilient cervical collar device as defined in claim 19 further characterized by: said collar section being generally U-shaped and two front distal ends being spaced apart to form a front opening; and an inner wall normally spaced from the person's neck to form a gap therebetween and an upper wall normally spaced from a bottom edge of the helmet.