U.S. patent application number 14/694851 was filed with the patent office on 2015-10-29 for personal protective equipment liner.
The applicant listed for this patent is Gustavus Alston Rush, Gus A. Rush, III. Invention is credited to Gustavus Alston Rush, Gus A. Rush, III.
Application Number | 20150305430 14/694851 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54333529 |
Filed Date | 2015-10-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150305430 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rush; Gustavus Alston ; et
al. |
October 29, 2015 |
Personal Protective Equipment Liner
Abstract
A protective liner for personal protective equipment comprises a
foam component and a polymer component. The foam component is
embedded in parallel with the polymer component such that the foam
component and the polymer component absorb energy in parallel
during impact.
Inventors: |
Rush; Gustavus Alston;
(Starkville, MS) ; Rush, III; Gus A.; (Meridian,
MS) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Rush; Gustavus Alston
Rush, III; Gus A. |
Starkville
Meridian |
MS
MS |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
54333529 |
Appl. No.: |
14/694851 |
Filed: |
April 23, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61983127 |
Apr 23, 2014 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
2/412 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 31/28 20190201;
A42B 3/128 20130101; A42B 3/124 20130101; A42B 3/121 20130101; A42B
3/125 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A42B 3/12 20060101
A42B003/12; A42B 3/06 20060101 A42B003/06 |
Claims
1. A protective liner for use in personal protective equipment,
comprising: a polymer component; and a foam component embedded in
parallel with the polymer component.
2. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the foam component
comprises one or more layers of at least one of: open-cell foam,
semi-open cell foam, closed foam, or viscoelastic foam.
3. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the polymer component
comprises at least one of a thermoplastic or a thermoset.
4. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the polymer component
comprises an engineered chamber configuration comprising one or
more engineered chambers.
5. The protective liner of claim 4, wherein the engineered
chambered configuration comprises at least one of: a
honeycomb-shaped configuration, a hemisphere-shaped configuration,
or a tetrahedron-shaped configuration.
6. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the polymer component
is an encapsulant that encapsulates the foam component.
7. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the foam component
comprises a geometric form of at least one of: a cylinder, a prism,
a cube, a tetrahedron, or a cuboid.
8. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the protective personal
equipment is a helmet, the protective liner is disposed within an
interior portion of the helmet, energy generated by an impact to
the helmet is absorbed in parallel by the foam component and the
polymer component, the polymer component increases rebound of the
foam component impacted by absorption of the energy.
9. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the protective liner
comprises an inert gas for optimizing thermal conductivity of the
protective liner.
10. The protective liner of claim 1, wherein the inert gas
comprises at least one of helium or argon.
11. An item of personal protective equipment, comprising: a shell;
and a protective liner disposed within an interior portion of the
shell, the protective liner comprising a foam component embedded in
parallel with a polymer component comprising at least one of a
thermoplastic or a thermoset.
12. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 11, wherein
the polymer component comprises an encapsulant, and the polymer
component encapsulates a geometric form of the foam component.
13. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 12, wherein
the geometric form comprises at least one of: a cylinder, a prism,
a cube, a tetrahedron, or a cuboid.
14. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 11, wherein
the polymer component comprises one or more engineered chambers,
the foam component being embedded in the one or more engineered
chambers.
15. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 14, wherein
the polymer component comprises at least one of: a honeycomb-shaped
configuration, a hemisphere-shaped configuration, or a
tetrahedron-shaped configuration.
16. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 11, wherein
the foam component comprises one or more layers of at least one of:
open-cell foam, semi-open cell foam, closed foam, or viscoelastic
foam.
17. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 11, wherein
the polymer component comprises thermoplastic urethane.
18. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 11, wherein
the protective liner is a single unit.
19. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 11, wherein
the protective liner comprises a plurality of units that are
separate relative to each other.
20. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 19, wherein
individual ones of the plurality of units are connected to adjacent
ones of the plurality of units via an interconnecting channel, the
interconnecting channel allowing for at least one of fluid transfer
or gas transfer.
21. An item of personal protective equipment, comprising: a shell;
and means for absorbing energy generated by an impact to the shell,
wherein the means for absorbing the energy is disposed along an
interior portion of the shell.
22. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 21, wherein
the shell is flexible.
23. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 21, wherein
the shell is rigid.
24. The item of personal protective equipment of claim 21, wherein
the means for absorbing the energy comprises a protective liner.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a non-provisional application of,
and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No.
61/983,127, filed on Apr. 23, 2014 and titled "ENERGY ABSORBING
PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR LINER COMPOSITE," which is incorporated by
reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI), commonly referred to as
"a concussion," is an injury that frequently occurs in contact
sports, such as football. Sport-related brain injuries have been
estimated to occur 1.6 to 3.8 million times every year.
Additionally, it is estimated that some football players receive up
to 1,500 head impacts per season. Although every impact may not
result in MTBI, numerous impacts to the head can result in
long-term brain damage through an impact induced neurodegenerative
disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better
understood with reference to the following drawings. The components
in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead
being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the
disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals
designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
[0004] FIG. 1 is a drawing of an example of a configuration of a
protective liner where a foam component is embedded in engineered
chambers of a thermoplastic and/or thermoset component according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0005] FIG. 2 is a drawing of an example of SKYDEX.RTM. brand
engineered chamber thermoplastic urethane (TPU) which can be used
for the thermoplastic component of the protective liner of FIG.
1.
[0006] FIG. 3 is a drawing of an example of a cross-sectional view
of a helmet including the protective liner of FIG. 1 according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0007] FIG. 4 is a drawing of an example of another cross-sectional
view of the helmet of FIG. 3 including multiple protective liners
of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0008] FIG. 5 is a drawing of an example of another configuration
of a protective liner a foam component is embedded in engineered
chambers of a thermoplastic and/or thermoset component according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 6 is a drawing of an example of the protective liner of
FIG. 5 according to various embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0010] FIGS. 7A-7C are drawings of examples of another
configuration of a protective liner where a thermoplastic and/or
thermoset component encapsulates a foam component according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0011] FIG. 8 is a drawing of an example of a cross sectional view
of a helmet including multiple protective liners of FIGS. 7A-7B
according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 9 is a drawing of an example a perspective view of a
helmet including multiple protective liners of FIGS. 7A-7C
according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] The present disclosure relates to protective liners for
personal protective equipment. The protective liner provides energy
absorption and may be disposed along the interior surface of
personal protective equipment such as, for example, American
football helmets, sports helmets, military helmets, boxing
headgear, construction helmets, bump caps, shoulder pads, shin
guards, body pads, ballistic vests, shoes, and/or any other
appropriate type of personal protective equipment. For example, the
protective liner may be used in helmets and/or headgear to protect
a wearer's head and reduce the likelihood of Mild Traumatic Brain
Injury (MTBI), Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), or other
types of injuries.
[0014] The protective liner comprises a foam component and a
thermoplastic and/or thermoset component. The foam component may
comprise one or more layers of open-cell, closed-cell, semi-open
cell, and/or viscoelastic foam (VEF). The thermoplastic and/or
thermoset component may comprise a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE),
such as, thermoplastic urethane (TPU), a thermoset and/or any other
type of thermoset or thermoplastic/thermoplastic elastomer.
[0015] In some embodiments, the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
component comprises a chambered component having one or more
engineered chambers. The geometric configuration of the engineered
chambers may comprise a hemisphere configuration, a
honeycomb-shaped configuration, a tetrahedron-shaped structure
and/or any other appropriate geometric configuration. The foam
component may be inserted into the engineered chambers of the
thermoplastic and/or thermoset component to form the protective
liner.
[0016] In other embodiments, the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
component may comprise a thermoplastic and/or thermoset encapsulant
component that encapsulates the foam component that is in a base
geometric form. The foam component may comprise a base geometric
form such as, for example, a cylinder, a prism, a cube, a
tetrahedron, a cuboid, and/or other type of appropriate geometric
shape. As such, the thermoplastic and/or thermoset component
encapsulates the geometric form of the foam component to produce
the protective headgear liner.
[0017] The foam component and the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
component are configured with each other such that when an object
impacts a helmet, headgear, and/or other type of personal
protective equipment including the protective liner, a portion of
the kinetic energy resulting from the impact is absorbed in
parallel by the components, instead of being transferred to the
wearer's head and/or other protected portion of the body. The foam
component allows for a higher energy absorption during impact while
the thermoplastic and/or thermoset component allows for a higher
resilience (or return to shape) of the foam component. Because the
amount of energy that is transferred to the wearer's head and/or
other protected portion of the body is less than the amount that
would otherwise be transferred if the personal protective equipment
did not comprise the protective liner, the risk in experiencing
various types of injuries by the wearer is reduced.
[0018] In the following discussion, a general description of the
system and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of
the operation of the same.
[0019] Turning now to FIG. 1, shown is a drawing of an example of
one configuration of a protective liner 10a according to various
embodiments of the present disclsoure. The protective liner 10a
comprises a foam component 12a embedded in a thermoplastic and/or
thermoset chambered component 14a. One or more thermoplastic and/or
thermoset sheets 16 are disposed along the top surface and the
bottom surface of the protective headgear liner 10a. The foam
component 12a may comprise one or more layers of open-cell,
closed-cell, semi-open cell, and/or viscoelastic foam (VEF). In
some embodiments, the foam component 12a comprises multiple layers
of foam stacked in series, which may differ in density, base
material, and/or cellular structure.
[0020] The thermoplastic chambered component 14a shown in FIG. 1
comprises a hemisphere shaped structure. However, it should be
noted that although the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered
component 14a of FIG. 1 comprises a hemisphere shaped structure,
the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14a may
comprise a variety of geometric configurations such as, for
example, a hemisphere configuration, a honeycomb-shaped
configuration (FIGS. 5 and 6), a tetrahedron-shaped structure
and/or any other appropriate geometric configuration. The
thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14a may comprise
thermoplastic elastomer, such as, for example, thermoplastic
urethane, a thermoset, and/or other various types of TPE and/or
thermoset material(s). In some embodiments, the thermoplastic
and/or thermoset chambered component 14a may comprise an engineered
chamber TPU configuration such as SKYDEX.RTM. brand engineered
chamber TPU as shown in FIG. 2. U.S. Patent entitled "Construction
method for cushioning component" issued on Nov. 2, 1999 and
assigned patent number U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,451, and U.S. Patent
entitled "Cushioning system with parallel sheets having opposing
indentions for linear deflection under load" issued on Aug. 18,
2009 and assigned patent number U.S. Pat. No. 7,574,760 provide
detailed descriptions of the SKYDEX.RTM. brand TPU and are
incorporated by reference in their entirety. In other embodiments,
the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14a may
comprise other suitable types of engineered chamber thermoplasitc
and/or thermoset configurations as described herein.
[0021] The foam component 12a may be disposed within the
thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14a. The
configuration of the foam component 12a being disposed within the
thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14a allows the
foam component 12a and the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered
component 14a to absorb energy in parallel to each other. Further,
the foam component 12a allows for a higher energy absorption during
impact while the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component
14a allows for a higher resilience (or return to shape) of the foam
component 12a.
[0022] In some embodiments, the foam component 12a may be attached
to the surrounding wall of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
chambered component 14a. The foam component 12a may be attached to
the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14a by an
adhesive, a resin, and/or any other suitable substance that can be
used to securely attach the foam component 12a to the thermoplastic
and/or thermoset chambered component 14a.
[0023] In some embodiments, the top portion and the bottom portion
the foam component 12a may comprise one or more thermoplastic
sheets 16. Similar to the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered
component 14a, the one or more thermoplastic and/or thermoset
sheets 16 may comprise thermoplastic elastomer, such as, for
example, thermoplastic urethane, a thermoset, and/or other various
types of TPE and/or thermoset material(s). In some embodiments, the
one or more thermoplastic sheets 16 are attached directly to the
top and/or bottom portions of the protective liner 10a via an
adhesive, a resin, and/or other suitable material that may be used
to securely attach the one or more thermoplastic sheets 16 to the
top and/or bottom portions of the protective liner 10a. The one or
more thermoplastic and/or thermoset sheets 16 may provide
additional energy absorption and protection of the protective liner
10a.
[0024] The manufacturing method of protective liner 10a entails
injection molding and/or other type of molding process of the
thermoplastic chambered component 14a and the insertion of the foam
component 12a. The foam component 12a may be inserted after foam
production or may be injection molded into the thermoplastic and/or
thermoset chambered component 14a. The foam component 12a may also
be inserted into the chamber of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
chambered component 14a during or between the injections for the
molding process of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered
component 14a. The foam component 12a may be produced from slab,
bonding, and/or molding processes. The thermoplastic and/or
thermoset chambered component 14a may be produced from various
types of molding processes.
[0025] Moving on to FIG. 3, shown is a drawing of an example of a
cross-sectional view of a helmet 18a including the protective liner
10a according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The
helmet 18a comprises the protective liner 10a disposed along the
interior curvature of the helmet shell 20. The helmet shell 20 may
comprise the shell of a type of rigid and/or flexible headgear such
as, for example, a sporting helmet, a military helmet, construction
helmet, a bump cap and/or any other type of helmet/headgear.
[0026] In some embodiments, the protective liner 10a may be
attached to the helmet shell 20 by an adhesive, a resin, a hook and
loop component, and/or any other appropriate attachment component
for securely attaching the protective liner 10a to the interior
curvature of the helmet shell 20. In some embodiments, a foam sheet
22 may be disposed along the curvature of the bottom layer of the
protective liner 10a. The foam sheet 22 may comprise one or more
layers of open-cell, closed-cell, semi-open cell, and/or
viscoelastic foam in series. In some embodiments, the foam sheet 22
may differ from the foam component 12a in density, base material,
and/or cellular structure. For example, the foam component 12a and
the foam sheet 22 may both comprise the same open-cell foam. In
other embodiments, the foam component 12a may comprise open-cell
foam while the other foam sheet 22 may comprise closed-cell foam.
Further, the densities of the foam component 12a and the foam sheet
22 may be different in some embodiments and the same in other
embodiments.
[0027] Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is a drawing of an example
of another cross-sectional view of the helmet 18a according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure. The helmet 18a may
comprise one or more pieces of the protective liner 10a disposed
along the interior of the helmet shell 20. In some embodiments, the
protective liner 10a comprises a single piece that covers at least
a portion of the interior of the helmet shell 20. In other
embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, the protective liner 10a may
comprise multiple pieces disposed along preferred portions of the
helmet shell 20. In some embodiments, the protective liner 10a may
not be disposed along the portion of the helmet shell 20 that
aligns with the ear of the helmet wearer.
[0028] Moving on to FIG. 5, shown is a drawing of an example of
another configuration of a protective liner 10b, according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure. The protective liner
10b differs from the protective liner 10a in that the geometric
configuration of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered
component 14b is honeycomb-shaped rather than hemisphere shaped. As
with the protective liner 10a, the foam component 12b is embedded
in the thermoplastic and/or thermoset chambered component 14b such
that the foam component 12b and the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
chambered component 14b absorb energy in parallel to each other in
order to reduce risk of injury to the wearer of headgear including
the protective liner 10b. As shown in FIG. 5, the protective liner
10b may comprise one or more thermoplastic and/or thermoset sheets
16 disposed along the top and bottom portions of the protective
liner 10b. FIG. 6 illustrates the protective liner 10b without the
one or more thermoplastic and/or thermoset sheets 16 disposed along
the top and the bottom portions of the protective liner 10b. In
addition, the various methods of manufacture of the protective
liner 10b are similar to the methods discussed above with respect
to the protective liner 10a.
[0029] Referring next to FIGS. 7A-7C, shown are drawings of
examples of another configuration of a protective liner 10c
according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 7A
illustrates a perspective view of the protective liner 10c. FIG. 7B
illustrates a drawing of an example of a cross sectional view of
the protective liner 10c where the foam component is a single foam
layer. FIG. 7C illustrates a drawing of an example of cross
sectional view of the protective liner 10c where the foam component
comprises multiple foam layers.
[0030] The protective liner 10c differs from the protective liner
10a of FIG. 1 and the protective liner 10b of FIG. 5, in that the
protective liner 10c of FIGS. 7A-7C comprises a foam component 12c
encapsulated by a thermoplastic and/or thermoset encapsulant
component 24. The foam component 12c may comprise one or more
layers of open-cell, semi-open-cell, closed-cell, or viscoelastic
foam any of which may also be a nanocomposite foam. In some
embodiments, the foam component 12c may comprise one or more layers
of foam, which may differ in density, base material, and/or
cellular structure. In some embodiments, the foam component 12c may
comprise a cylindrical geometric form. In other embodiments, the
foam component 12c may comprise other base geometric forms such as,
for example, a prism, a cube, a tetrahedron, a cuboid, and/or other
type of appropriate geometric shape.
[0031] The thermoplastic and/or thermoset encapsulant component 24
comprises thermoplastic elastomer, such as, for example,
thermoplastic urethane, a thermoset, and/or other various type of
TPE and/or thermoset material(s). The thermoplastic and/or
thermoset encapsulant component 24 encapsulates the geometric form
of the foam component 12c. In some embodiments, the foam component
12c is attached to the wall of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
encapsulant component 24 by adhesive, resin, and/or other suitable
material. In other embodiments, the foam component 12c is not
directly attached to the wall of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset
encapsulant component 24. In some embodiments, the protective liner
10c may comprise may be filled with Helium, Argon, and/or other
gases to alter the temperature effects of the foam component 12c
for heat dispersion and/or pressure effects of the protective liner
10c for increased energy absorption.
[0032] Turning now to FIG. 7C, shown is a drawing of an example of
the protective liner 10c showing the foam component 12 comprising
multiple layers of the foam component 12c, 12d. In some
embodiments, the foam layers may be adhered to one another by an
adhesive, resin, a gelatinous material, a hydrogel, and/or other
suitable material. In other embodiments, layers of the foam
component 12c, 12d may be stacked in series, but are not adhered to
one another.
[0033] The manufacturing method of protective liner 10c entails
vacuum forming of the thermoplastic and/or thermoset encapsulant
component 24 either directly on the foam base and/or vacuum forming
of thermoplastic and/or thermoset encapsulant component 24 onto a
mold from which the foam base is inserted and then sealed to a base
thermoplastic and/or thermoset layer. The protective liner(s) 10c
may be produced individually or in sections that are interconnected
by the interconnected channels 26 (FIG. 8).
[0034] Turning now to FIG. 8, shown is a drawing of an example of
cross-sectional view of a helmet 18b comprising multiple protective
liners 10c. In some embodiments, the protective liners 10b may be
connected to adjacent protective liners 10b by an interconnecting
channel 26. The interconnecting channel 26 may comprise a foam
material, a thermoplastic and/or thermoset material, and/or other
suitable material that may be used to connect the protective liners
10c to one another. In other embodiments, the protective liners 10c
are unconnected from to one another. In some embodiments, the
protective liners 10c are attached to the interior curvature of the
helmet shell 20. The protective liners 10c may be attached to the
interior curvature of the helmet shell 20 via an adhesive, a resin,
hook and loop component, and/or any other appropriate attachment
material for attaching the protective liner(s) 10b to the interior
curvature of the helmet shell 20.
[0035] Referring next to FIG. 9, shown is a drawing of an example
of a perspective view of the helmet 18b comprising multiple
protective liners 10c attached to a helmet shell 20 according to
various embodiments of the present disclosure. The multiple
protective liners 10c may be disposed along various preferred
portions of the helmet 18b. In some embodiments, the protective
liner 10a and/or the protective liner 10b may be used in
conjunction with the protective liner 10c. As such, a helmet 18a,
18b (hereinafter referred to as 18) may comprise one or more pieces
of the configuration of protective liner 10a with one or more
pieces of the configuration of protective liner 10c. In addition,
as shown in FIG. 3, a foam sheet 22 may be disposed along the
bottom portion of the protective liner(s) 10c for additional
protection.
[0036] The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure
are merely examples of implementations to set forth for a clear
understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations
and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments
without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of
the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended
to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure.
Disjunctive language used herein, such as the phrase "at least one
of X, Y, or Z," unless specifically stated otherwise, is used in
general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either X, Y, or
Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z). Thus, such
disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and should not,
imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least
one of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.
* * * * *