Head protection system

Abstract

An apparatus to prohibit user injury from sudden impact or rotational or whiplash movement. The apparatus includes a helmet, a body harness configured to secure to the user, a plurality of tethers and a plurality of spools. Each tether has one end attached to the helmet and an opposing end fixed relative to the body harness. Each spool is positioned with a tether in wound engagement with the spool. Each spool includes a locking mechanism moveable between an unlocked condition and a locked condition. Upon pre-determined movement of at least one of the tethers, the corresponding locking mechanism moves from the unlocked condition to the locked condition to prohibit additional movement of the tether.

1 . An apparatus to prohibit user injury from sudden impact or movement, the apparatus comprising:
 a helmet;   a body harness configured to secure to a user;   a plurality of tethers, each tether having one end attached to the helmet and an opposing end fixed relative to the body harness; and   a plurality of spools positioned with each of the plurality of tethers in wound engagement with one of each of the plurality of spools, each of the plurality of spools comprising a locking mechanism moveable between an unlocked condition and a locked condition;   wherein upon pre-determined movement of at least one of the plurality of tethers, the corresponding locking mechanism moves from the unlocked condition to the locked condition to prohibit additional movement of the at least one of the plurality of tethers.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined movement is the unwinding of the at least one of the plurality of tethers relative an engaged spool at a certain acceleration. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pre-determined movement is the unwinding of the at least one of the plurality of tethers relative an engaged spool at a certain velocity. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism of the engaged spool stays in the unlocked condition when the at least one of the plurality of tethers unwinds relative to the engaged spool below a certain acceleration. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism of the engaged spool stays in the unlocked condition when the at least one of the plurality of tethers unwinds relative to the engaged spool below a certain velocity. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the certain acceleration of at least one of the plurality of tethers results in acceleration of a user's head of  100  radians/sec 2 . 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one protective sleeve, wherein the at least one protective sleeve surrounds at least one of the plurality of tethers along at least a portion of the length of the tether. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of spools are disposed adjacent to the body harness. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the helmet defines a plurality of apertures. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of fasteners, each fastener attached to an end of one of a plurality of tethers. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein each fastener is detachably inserted through one of the plurality of apertures. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the body harness is an upper body harness. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the helmet is a football helmet and the body harness is a set of shoulder pads. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a locking mechanism in the locked condition prohibits movement of the helmet relative to the body harness. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the locking mechanism resets from the locked condition to the unlocked condition when the unwinding of the at least one of the plurality of tethers relative an engaged spool falls below the certain acceleration. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the locking mechanism resets from the locked condition to the unlocked condition when the unwinding of the at least one of the plurality of tethers relative an engaged spool falls below the certain velocity. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the locking mechanism resets from the locked condition to the unlocked condition when the unwinding of the at least one of the plurality of tethers relative an engaged spool stops. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism is resettable from the locked condition to the unlocked condition by user manipulation. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each tether is removably attached to the helmet. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each tether is removably attached to the body harness.