Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Limiting Sports Helmet

Abstract

A smart hard shell helmet for protection of head injury having a plurality of air filled inflatable bladders inside the shell, a valve on at least one bladder that responds to a controller, at least one flexible extendible strap extended from the bladder to a one point on the inside of the helmet, accelerometers operably connected to the helmet and wearer's head for sensing g force changes, pressure sensors in the bladders, an electrically actuated valve responsive to pressure and force measurement determined by the controller thresholds being met, and the valve exhausts a portion of the air in the bladder to the atmosphere extending the strap to the second state followed by the strap returning to the first state by drawing atmospheric air through the valve and re-inflating the bladder.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports comprising:
 a. a hard shell defining a compartment for receiving a portion of a wearer's head, the shell having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   b. a plurality of inflatable bladders filled with air, the bladders on the interior surface of the shell;   c. a valve disposed on at least one bladder responsive to signals from a controller;   d. at least one flexible extendible strap having a first relaxed state and a second extended state operably engaged to at least one bladder and at least one point on the inside of the helmet;   e. at least one accelerometer attached to the helmet operably connected to the helmet body for sensing g force change on the helmet in operation;   f. at least a second accelerometer operably connected to the wearer's head for sensing g force change on the wearer's head in operation,   g. an electrically actuated valve on the bladder responsive to an accelerometer force measurement determined by the controller threshold being met; and   h. the valve, in response to control signals from a controller, exhausts a portion of the air in the bladder to the atmosphere extending the strap to the second state followed by the strap returning to the first state by drawing atmospheric air through the valve and re-inflating the bladder.   
     
     
         2 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the accelerometer measures in the x, y and z directions. 
     
     
         3 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the bladders are comprised of foam. 
     
     
         4 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 1  further comprising a head cap connected to the inside of the helmet. 
     
     
         5 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of straps. 
     
     
         6 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the valve is spring biased in a closed position. 
     
     
         7 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the valve is operably connected to an electric motor. 
     
     
         8 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports comprising:
 a. a hard shell defining a compartment for receiving a portion of a wearer's head, the shell having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   b. a plurality of inflatable bladders having memory foam in the bladder, the bladder positioned on the interior surface of the shell;   c. a valve disposed on each bladder responsive to signals from a controller;   d. a memory foam material in at least one bladder that has a resting configuration and a second compressed configuration, that re-inflates the bladder after an impact event by drawing atmospheric air through the valve and returns to the resting configuration;   e. at least one accelerometer attached to the helmet operably connected to the helmet body for sensing force change on the helmet in operation;   f. at least a second accelerometer attached to the helmet operably connected to the wearer's head for sensing g force change on the wearer's head in operation,   g. an electrically actuated valve on the bladder responsive to an accelerometer force measurement determined by the controller threshold being met; and where the controller produces a signal and the controller:   h. expels air through the valve to atmosphere in response to the signal; and   i. re-inflates the bladder by drawing air into the valve as the memory foam resumes its resting shape; and closes the valve awaiting the next impact event.   
     
     
         9 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  further comprising a head accelerometer operably engaged to the user. 
     
     
         10 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  further comprising pressure sensors operably connected to the bladders. 
     
     
         11 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  further comprising digital memory. 
     
     
         12 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  further comprising an operable connection to software for analyzing player impact events. 
     
     
         13 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the helmet is configured to a particular player's head dimensions. 
     
     
         14 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the stored data pertaining to head impacts generates a signal to the microcontroller regarding minimum thresholds having been met. 
     
     
         15 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the valves are spring biased in a closed position. 
     
     
         16 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 8  where the bladders have a thickness dimension between approximately one to four inches. 
     
     
         17 . A smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports comprising:
 a. a hard shell defining a compartment for receiving a portion of a wearer's head, the shell having an interior surface and an exterior surface;   b. a plurality of inflatable bladders filled with air, each bladder positioned on the interior surface of the shell;   c. a valve disposed on each bladder responsive to signals from a controller;   d. a memory containing material in at least one bladder that re-inflates the bladder after an impact event by drawing atmospheric air through the valve;   e. a least one accelerometer attached to the helmet operably connected to the helmet body for sensing acceleration change on the helmet in operation;   f. at least a second accelerometer operably connected to the wearer's head for sensing g force change on the wearer's head in operation,   g. an electrically actuated valve on the bladder responsive to an accelerometer measurement determined by the controller threshold being met; and where the controller produces a signal and the controller:   h. activates a motor by electrical power to one or more valves to an open state to expel air; and   i. turns off electrical power to return the valves to a closed state.   
     
     
         18 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 17  wherein the motor is battery powered. 
     
     
         19 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 18  further comprising a transmitter of data to a remote storage device. 
     
     
         20 . The smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports as claimed in  claim 17  wherein the controller thresholds are modified interactively using historical user impact event data stored in a memory.