Athletic protective device

Abstract

An athletic protective device includes a rigid cup member and a resilient padding member. The cup member has a convex outer surface to bear an external impact force, a concave inner surface to confront the groin area of a user, and a peripheral abutment edge joining the outer and inner peripheral regions and having two edge segments. The padding member includes a cup-shaped lining body which has a convex abutment surface mating with the concave inner surface entirely, left and right dampening walls which extend from the lining body to flank the edge segments, respectively, and two flanges which extend respectively from the dampening walls to contact the groin area. The flanges are configured such that they do not stand in the way of bending of the dampening walls towards the groin area when the external impact force is being transmitted through the edge segments.

1 . An athletic protective device comprising:
 a rigid cup member including
 upper and lower ends opposite to each other along a longitudinal line, 
 a convex outer surface adapted to bear an external impact force, and having an outer crest area which defines a centerline, and an outer peripheral region which extends to said upper and lower ends, and which surrounds said outer crest area to radially transmit the external impact force away from said outer crest area, 
 a concave inner surface which is opposite to said convex outer surface, and which is adapted to confront the groin area of a user's body, said concave inner surface having an inner vaulted area to correspond to said outer crest area, and an inner peripheral region that surrounds the centerline, and that corresponds to said outer peripheral region, and 
 a peripheral abutment edge which surrounds the centerline, and which joins said outer and inner peripheral regions, said peripheral abutment edge including left and right edge segments which are opposite to each other relative to the longitudinal line; and 
   a resilient padding member formed from a material more flexible than that of said rigid cup member, and including
 a cup-shaped lining body with a periphery, said cup-shaped lining body having a convex abutment surface that is configured to mate with, and to intimately contact, said concave inner surface entirely, and a concave confronting surface that is opposite to said convex abutment surface, and that is adapted to be spaced apart from the groin area of the user's body, 
 left and right dampening walls which extend from said periphery of said cup-shaped lining body to flank said left and right edge segments, respectively, and which respectively terminate at left and right joining regions that are flush with said outer peripheral region, and 
 left and right flanges which are disposed to extend respectively from said left and right joining regions away from said outer peripheral region, and which are adapted to be brought into contact with corresponding parts of the groin area of the user's body, said left and right flanges being configured to have a thickness such that said left and right flanges does not stand in the way of bending of said left and right dampening walls towards the corresponding parts of the groin area when the external impact force is being transmitted through said left and right edge segments. 
   
   
   
       2 . The athletic protective device of  claim 1 , wherein each of said left and right flanges includes a transitional portion which extends from a respective one of said left and right joining regions to terminate at an end portion that has a curved cross-section, the thickness of said transitional portion being smaller than that of said cup-shaped lining body. 
   
   
       3 . The athletic protective device of  claim 2 , wherein said transitional portion of each of said left and right flanges has an outer surface which is flush with said convex outer surface, and an inner surface which is offset from said concave confronting surface relative to left and right reference lines, respectively, the left and right reference lines extending along a contour of said inner peripheral region away from said inner vaulted area. 
   
   
       4 . The athletic protective device of  claim 1 , wherein said rigid cup member has a larger thickness at said upper and lower ends and a smaller thickness at said peripheral abutment edge, said resilient padding member further including upper and lower flanges which interconnect respective end portions of said left and right flanges and which are molded with and disposed to be outboard to said upper and lower ends, respectively. 
   
   
       5 . The athletic protective device of  claim 1 , wherein said rigid cup member has a plurality of vent holes, said resilient padding member having a plurality of apertures corresponding to and communicated with said vent holes. 
   
   
       6 . The athletic protective device of  claim 3 , wherein said transitional portion of each of said left and right flanges has a cutout area such that flexibility of said left and right flanges is increased, and said end portion of each of said left and right flanges has a semi-circular cross-section.