Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
