Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1
1051
SPORTS CHEST PROTECTOR
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
1 o This invention relates to chest protective device for sports persons,
particularly
hockey and baseball players.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Serious injury, including death, occasionally occurs when a very hard blow to
the
chest is made by a flying projectile or other object, for example a hockey
puck, baseball
or hockey stick.
In Canada in 1998, at least five fatalities were caused by a hockey puck
striking a
2o player in the chest, directly, or under the arm pit.
Traditional shoulder pads generally formed of a rigid plastic material, are
open at
each side under the arms, and offer no protection from pucks shot from the
side, and
little protection from pucks shot directly from the front. Traditionally,
there is a sheet of
closed-cell foam hanging in front of each of the rib cages and at the back
with the two
sheets being connected at the sides by a strap and a piece of Velcro fastening
material.
Studies performed in the United States at the University of Michigan on chest
impacts and air bags concluded that open-cell foam material has favourable
physical
properties which can be used to reduce injury, and while traditional closed-
cell foam
material is ineffective to prevent injury from direct impact.
There thus remains an urgent need to provide a suitably, cost-effective,
comfortable and practical chest device to reduce the risk of cardiac arrest
when the chest
is struck by a flying projectile, brandished hockey stick and the like.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved chest
protector,
particularly for sports persons such as hockey and baseball players open to
being hit by a
s fast hard object such as a puck, baseball or hockey stick.
Accordingly, in its broadest aspect, the invention provides a chest protector
suitably shaped as to be fittable to the upper torso of a person and having a
portion
operably adjacent to the heart region surface of the chest, so located as to
protect said
heart region surface from a blow subjected to the chest, said heart portion
comprising a
bicomponent foamed material pad comprising a layer of an open-cell foamed
material
and a layer of a closed-cell foamed material adjacent thereto.
In a preferred embodiment, the pad comprises said open-cell layer sandwiched
between a pair of said closed cell material layers.
The open-cell foamed material may be of any suitable thickness which provides
1 s an 'air-bag' type cushioning effect by dispersing the energy force of the
impact radially
outwards from the direct point of impact.
In a more preferred embodiment, the heart portion further comprises a film of
a
resiliently, flexible thermoplastics material, for example, formed of a
polyolefin selected
from, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene and copolymers thereof; or, for
example,
formed of a nylon film, sheet or small mesh.
The film, sheet or mesh of the thermoplastics material enhances the
disbursement
of the impact force of the object throughout the area of the film across the
whole torso to
assist in minimizing the force at the point of impact, while the open-cell
foam material
absorbs some of the impact at the point of contact.
2s Preferably, the mesh is of a fine mesh size, for example, less than O.Smm
square,
more preferably less than 0.2mm square when formed of a nylon in a raschel
knit
constitution.
The pad may comprise a plurality of open and closed-cell material layers and
associated films, mesh and the like. Most preferably, the protector is of such
size and
shape as to provide a 'round the torso' approach to chest protection.
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A most preferred embodiment comprises a four member sandwich, layered in the
order of a first or outer closed-cell foam material layer, a thermoplastic
film, or mesh, the
open-cell foamed material layer and a second or inner closed-cell foam
material layer.
The chest protectors according to the invention may be readily made by, for
example, encapsulating the film or mesh and foamed material layers together as
being
held loosely adjacent one to another within a suitable membrane, cloth or the
like.
The pad may be incorporated as a built-in part of an original piece of
shoulder
pad protection device or as a retrofit pad to an existing set of shoulder
pads, for example,
as an after-market addition.
1 o The protector as hereinabove defined is of particular utility when the pad
according to the invention is located adjacent 'under an arm' area to provide
protection
against a side impact.
Without being bound by theory, it is believed that use of merely closed-cell
foam
material alone is not satisfactory because this material does not provide for
dispersal or
absorption of the force of the impact radially away from the point of impact
and allows
the direct transfer of the force through to the chest.
In a further aspect, the invention pads as hereinberfore defined for use in a
chest
protector as hereinabove defined.
By the term 'open-cell' foamed material in this specification and claims is
meant
2o air foamed material that allows for the dispersal of air in the cells to
other open cells by
the force of the impact which impacted foam disperses the force substantially,
beneficially from the impact point. Closed-cell foamed material means closed-
cell
foamed material wherein the air trapped within each cell is not free to enter
into or
receive air from adjacent cells.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order that the invention may be better understood, preferred embodiments
will
3o now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying
drawings,
where in
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Fig. 1 represents a sketch of a chest protection device with a protective pad
according tot the invention;
Fig. 2 represents the embodiment if Fig 1. Encased in a mesh according to the
invention;
Fig 3. is a baseball chest protector according to the invention;
Fig. 4 is a diagramatic cross section of a protective pad according to the
invention; and wherein the same numerals denote like parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to Fig.l, this shows the upper torso 10 of a hockey player 12
wearing a chest protecting array of rigid polyethylene plastic plates shown
generally as
14 seen in the prior art. Superimposed on front plate 16 at the heart region
of player 12
is a protective pad 18 shown in more detail in Fig.4, held to plate 16 by
retaining bands
20, each fastened at one end thereof 22 by a buckle fitting 24 and together by
VelcroTM
fastening.
A cross-member band 28 completes the fastening to plate 16 of bands 20, pad 18
partially encircles the chest under left armpit 30.
2o Fig. 2 shows the embodiment of Fig.l having a raschel-type mesh of nylon
envelope 32;
Fig.3 shows a baseball catcher's chest protector 34 of the prior art having a
pad
18 sewn into a central portion of protector 34 according to the invention;
Fig. 4 shows a diagrammatic cross-section of part of a pad 18 as open cell
foamed material layer 38 between a pair of closed-cell foamed material layers
40
having a nylon mesh envelope 42.
Although this disclosure has been described and illustrated certain preferred
emodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not
restricted to
those particular embodiments. Rather, the invention includes all embodiments
which are
3o functional or mechanical equivalent of the specific embodiments and
features that have
been described and illustrated.
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