Protective sports helmet

Abstract

A protective sports helmet that includes an energy attenuating faceguard connection system, which includes at least one connector that secures the faceguard to the helmet shell without a connection point in the shell's brow region. The lack of a brow region connection point results in a gap or clearance between the faceguard and the shell that has a functional interplay with the connector upon an impact to the faceguard. In general terms, when a substantially on-center impact to the faceguard occurs, the faceguard is displaced towards the shell and the connector bracket flexes outward relative to the helmet shell to help dissipate impact energy.

1 . A football helmet comprising:
 a shell configured to receive a head of a wearer of the helmet, the shell having a front region, a rear region, left side region and right side region, wherein each side region has an ear opening;   a faceguard assembly including:
 a faceguard comprising a plurality of bar members including an upper horizontal bar member extending across the front region of the shell without contacting said front region, 
 a upper left connector bracket that secures a peripheral bar member of the faceguard to the shell, the upper left connector bracket having a clamshell configuration with a rear segment and a front segment, wherein said front segment includes an upper left opening that receives a upper left elongated coupler to couple the upper left connector bracket and the faceguard to the left side region, 
 a lower left connector bracket that secures a peripheral bar member of the faceguard to the shell, the lower left connector bracket having a clamshell configuration with a rear segment and a front segment, wherein said front segment includes an lower left opening that receives a upper left elongated coupler to couple the lower left connector bracket and the faceguard to the left side region, 
 a upper right connector bracket that secures a peripheral bar member of the faceguard to the shell, the upper right connector bracket having a clamshell configuration with a rear segment and a front segment, wherein said front segment includes an upper right opening that receives a upper right elongated coupler to couple the upper right connector bracket and the faceguard to the right side region, 
 a lower right connector bracket that secures a peripheral bar member of the faceguard to the shell, the lower right connector bracket having a clamshell configuration with a rear segment and a front segment, wherein said front segment includes an lower right opening that receives a lower right elongated coupler to couple the lower right connector bracket and the faceguard to the right side region, 
 wherein a continuous gap is formed between the upper horizontal bar member of the faceguard and the front region of the shell prior to an impact force being applied to the faceguard, 
 wherein the continuous gap extends along the length of the upper horizontal bar member and the front shell region, the helmet lacking a component that is coupled to both the front shell region and the faceguard, and 
 wherein, when the helmet is worn by a wearer, each of the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right elongated couplers are positioned forward of the ear openings. 
   
     
     
         2 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein both the upper left and upper right connector bracket have a hinge that operably joins said front and rear segments; and
 wherein when an on-center impact force is applied to the faceguard, the front bracket segment remains stable while the rear bracket segment moves substantially normal to an outer surface of the shell to facilitate movement of the upper horizontal bar member towards the front region of the shell.   
     
     
         3 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein when an on-center impact force is applied to the faceguard, the upper left and upper right connector brackets moves substantially normal to an outer surface of the shell to facilitate movement of the upper horizontal bar member towards the front region of the shell in response to said impact force. 
     
     
         4 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein, when the faceguard assembly is in an installed position prior to an impact force being applied to the faceguard, the positional arrangement between said upper horizontal bar member of the faceguard and an extent of the front region of the shell provides a continuous gap greater than 0.25 inch. 
     
     
         5 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein in an installed position prior to an impact force being applied to the faceguard, the rear bracket segment is positioned at a first distance defined between an inner wall of the rear bracket segment and the shell;
 wherein upon an impact force being applied to the faceguard, the rear bracket segment being displaced a second distance defined between said inner wall and said shell; and,   wherein the first distance is less than the second distance.   
     
     
         6 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein the upper horizontal bar member has a curvilinear configuration that corresponds to a curvilinear configuration of a brow region of the front portion of the shell to provide the continuous gap. 
     
     
         7 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein shell has a front bumper that includes an internal fastener that extends through the shell and is not externally visible, wherein the internal fastener secures the front bumper to the front region of the shell, and
 wherein the upper horizontal bar member extends across both: (i) the front region of the shell and (ii) the front bumper without contacting either: (i) the front region of the shell or (ii) the front bumper.   
     
     
         8 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein the front bumper lacks an external faceguard connector. 
     
     
         9 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein the front bumper lacks a fastener that extends through the entirety of the front bumper. 
     
     
         10 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein when an on-center impact force is applied to the faceguard, the upper left and upper right connector brackets flex outward relative to the shell and the upper horizontal bar member moves towards the front bumper in response to said impact force. 
     
     
         11 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein the front bumper includes an internal pocket that has an access slot designed to allow for the insertion of a nut, and wherein a portion of the internal fastener extends into the nut and resides within the internal pocket. 
     
     
         12 . The football helmet of  claim 1 , wherein each side region includes a lower recessed channel extending upward and rearward from a lower edge of the shell, and wherein the lower recessed channel is configured to receive an extent of a lower elongated strap member that extends outwardly from the central protective member. 
     
     
         13 . A football helmet comprising:
 a shell configured to receive a head of a wearer of the helmet, the shell having:
 a front region, 
 a rear region, 
 a first side region having a first interface area with an outer surface, said outer surface of the first interface area is offset from an outer surface of the shell that is adjacent to the first interface area, and 
 a second side region having a second interface area with an outer surface, said outer surface of the second interface area is offset from an outer surface of the shell that is adjacent to the second interface area; 
 a faceguard assembly including:
 a faceguard including opposed peripheral bar members including an upper horizontal bar member extending across the front region of the shell without contacting said front region; 
 a pair of connector brackets for securing the faceguard to the shell, a first connector bracket securing a first peripheral bar member to a first interface area of the shell and a second connector bracket securing a second peripheral bar member to a second interface area of the shell, the first and second connector brackets each having a clamshell configuration with a rear segment and a front segment, wherein said front segment includes an opening that receives an elongated coupler to couple the bracket and the faceguard to a respective first or second interface area of the shell; 
 
 wherein a continuous gap is formed between the upper horizontal bar member of the faceguard and the front region of the shell prior to an impact force being applied to the faceguard, 
 wherein the continuous gap extends along the length of the upper horizontal bar member and the front shell region, whereby the helmet lacks a component that connects the faceguard to the front region of the shell. 
   
     
     
         14 . The football helmet of  claim 13 , wherein when an on-center impact force is applied to the faceguard, the front bracket segment remains stable while the rear bracket segment moves substantially normal to the respective interface area of the shell to facilitate movement of the upper horizontal bar member towards the front region of the shell. 
     
     
         15 . The football helmet of  claim 14 , wherein when an off-center impact force is applied off-center to the faceguard, the first connector bracket moves differently than the second connector bracket, wherein the rear segment of the first connector bracket moves towards the first interface area of the shell and the rear segment of the second connector bracket moves substantially normal to the second interface area of the shell. 
     
     
         16 . The football helmet of  claim 13 , wherein the continuous gap extends beyond the front region of the shell and into ear flap regions of the shell. 
     
     
         17 . The football helmet of  claim 13 , wherein the first interface area is located within a first ear flap region of the shell and the second interface area is located within a second and opposing ear flap region of the shell. 
     
     
         18 . The football helmet of  claim 13 , wherein, when the faceguard assembly is in an installed position prior to an impact force being applied to the faceguard, the positional arrangement between said upper horizontal bar member of the faceguard and said front bumper provides a continuous gap that is between 0.25 and 0.50 inch. 
     
     
         19 . The football helmet of  claim 13 , wherein in an installed position prior to an impact force being applied to the faceguard, the rear bracket segment is positioned at a first distance defined between an inner wall of the rear bracket segment and the shell;
 wherein upon an impact force being applied to the faceguard, the rear bracket segment is displaced a second distance defined between said inner wall and said shell; and,   wherein the first distance is less than the second distance.   
     
     
         20 . The football helmet of  claim 13 , wherein the upper horizontal bar member has a curvilinear configuration that corresponds to a curvilinear configuration of a brow region of the front portion of the shell to provide the continuous gap.