Protective shoulder pads for a contact sport

Abstract

A football shoulder pad assembly worn by a player is disclosed. The shoulder pad assembly includes a pair of curvilinear, continuous arch members worn over the shoulder of the player with the front arch portion extending over an extent of a chest and the rear arch portion extending over an extent of a back of the player. Each front arch portion including an upper connection slot with an elongated configuration and a lower connection aperture. The shoulder pad assembly also includes a front upper arch connector mechanism including a flexible upper strap and a pair of upper couplers slidingly received in said upper connection slots and a front lower arch connector mechanism including a flexible lower strap and a pair of lower couplers that pivots in said lower connection apertures. The rear arch portions including upper connection slots and lower connection apertures and coupled in a substantially similar manner.

1 . A football shoulder pad assembly worn by a player engaged in the play or practice of football, the football shoulder pad assembly comprising:
 a pair of curvilinear, continuous arch members, each arch member having a front arch portion depending from an upper arch portion and a rear arch portion depending from the upper arch portion, each arch member configured to be worn over the shoulder of the player with the front arch portion extending over an extent of a chest region of the player and the rear arch portion extending over an extent of a back region of the player, each front arch portion including an upper connection slot with an elongated configuration and a lower connection aperture, and each rear arch portion including an upper connection slot with an elongated configuration;   a front upper arch connector mechanism including a flexible upper strap and a pair of upper couplers secured at opposite end portions of the flexible upper strap, wherein each upper coupler is slidingly received in said upper connection slot;   a front lower arch connector mechanism including a flexible lower strap and a pair of lower couplers secured at opposite end portions of the front lower strap, wherein each lower coupler pivots in said lower connection aperture; and   a rear upper arch connector mechanism including a flexible upper strap and a pair of upper couplers secured at opposite end portions of the flexible upper strap, wherein each upper coupler is slidingly received in said upper connection slot.   
     
     
         2 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the upper couplers of the front upper arch connector mechanism are pins that are configured to slide within the connection slots in response to an impact applied to the protective shoulder pad assembly. 
     
     
         3 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, whereby in the neutral position the arch members are spaced a distance apart and are substantially symmetrically aligned about a midline sagittal plane such that corresponding exterior surfaces of the arch members at the connector slots are substantially parallel to each other. 
     
     
         4 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, whereby in the neutral position the arch members are spaced a distance apart, and
 wherein when an impact is received by an extent of the pad assembly, at least one of the arch members experience relative movement and is displaced from the neutral position.   
     
     
         5 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein when an impact is received by an extent of the pad assembly, the left and right arch members experience relative movement, and
 wherein the relative movement of the left and right arch members includes: (i) fore and aft movement of the body arch members, (ii) upward and downward shearing movement of the body arch members, and (iii) lateral movement of the body arch members about one or more pivot points of the lower arch connector mechanism.   
     
     
         6 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, and
 wherein in the neutral position, the pair of front arch portions substantially reside in the same plane until an impact is received by the shoulder pad assembly whereby the front upper arch connector mechanism allows a displacement of one of the front arch portion to another plane.   
     
     
         7 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, and
 wherein in the neutral position, the pair of front arch portions substantially reside in the same plane until an impact is received by the shoulder pad assembly whereby the front upper arch connector mechanism allows rotational displacement of one of the front arch portion to another plane.   
     
     
         8 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, and
 wherein in the neutral position, the pair of front arch portions substantially reside in the same plane until an impact is received by the shoulder pad assembly whereby the front upper arch connector mechanism allows shear displacement of one of the front arch portion with respect to the other front arch portion within the same plane.   
     
     
         9 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, wherein the elongated connection slots have one of a linear, curvilinear, or arcuate configuration. 
     
     
         10 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the upper coupler is slidingly displaced in the upper connection slot in response to an impact force being applied to one of arch members. 
     
     
         11 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the sliding displacement of the upper coupler in the upper connector slot is measured in terms of angular displacement that is approximately 8 degrees. 
     
     
         12 . A football shoulder pad assembly worn by a player engaged in the play or practice of football, the football shoulder pad assembly comprising:
 a left continuous arch member and a right continuous arch member configured to be worn over the shoulder of the player whereby each arch member has (i) a front arch portion extending downward from an upper arch portion and over an extent of a chest region of the player and (ii) a rear arch portion extending downward from an upper arch portion and over an extent of a back region of the player;   a front upper arch connector mechanism including a flexible upper strap and a pair of upper couplers secured at opposite end portions of the flexible upper strap, wherein each upper coupler is slidingly received in an upper connection slot formed in the front arch portion;   a front lower arch connector mechanism including a flexible lower strap and a pair of lower couplers secured at opposite end portions of the front lower strap, wherein each lower coupler pivots in a lower connection aperture formed in the front arch portion;   a rear upper arch connector mechanism including a flexible upper strap and a pair of upper couplers secured at opposite end portions of the flexible upper strap, wherein each upper coupler is slidingly received in an upper connection slot formed in the rear arch portion; and   a rear lower arch connector mechanism including a flexible lower strap and a pair of lower couplers secured at opposite end portions of the front lower strap, wherein each lower coupler pivots in a lower connection aperture formed in the rear arch portion.   
     
     
         13 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the upper couplers of the front upper arch connector mechanism are pins that are configured to slide within the connection slots in response to an impact applied to the protective shoulder pad assembly. 
     
     
         14 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, whereby in the neutral position the arch members are spaced a distance apart and are substantially symmetrically aligned about a midline sagittal plane such that corresponding exterior surfaces of the arch members at the connector slots are substantially parallel to each other. 
     
     
         15 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, whereby in the neutral position the arch members are spaced a distance apart, and
 wherein when an impact is received by an extent of the pad assembly, at least one of the arch members experience relative movement and is displaced from the neutral position.   
     
     
         16 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein when an impact is received by an extent of the pad assembly, the left and right arch members experience relative movement, and
 wherein the relative movement of the left and right arch members includes: (i) fore and aft movement of the body arch members, (ii) upward and downward shearing movement of the body arch members, and (iii) lateral movement of the body arch members about one or more pivot points of the lower arch connector mechanism.   
     
     
         17 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, and
 wherein in the neutral position, the pair of front arch portions substantially reside in the same plane until an impact is received by the shoulder pad assembly whereby the front upper arch connector mechanism allows a displacement of one of the front arch portion to another plane.   
     
     
         18 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, and
 wherein in the neutral position, the pair of front arch portions substantially reside in the same plane until an impact is received by the shoulder pad assembly whereby the front upper arch connector mechanism allows rotational displacement of one of the front arch portion to another plane.   
     
     
         19 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, and
 wherein in the neutral position, the pair of front arch portions substantially reside in the same plane until an impact is received by the shoulder pad assembly whereby the front upper arch connector mechanism allows shear displacement of one of the front arch portion with respect to the other front arch portion within the same plane.   
     
     
         20 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the arch members are in a neutral position prior to an impact being received by the shoulder pad assembly, wherein the elongated connection slots have one of a linear, curvilinear, or arcuate configuration. 
     
     
         21 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the upper coupler is slidingly displaced in the upper connection slot in response to an impact force being applied to one of arch members, and wherein said sliding displacement of the upper coupler in the upper connector slot is measured in terms of angular displacement that is approximately 8 degrees. 
     
     
         22 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 12 , wherein each of the left and right arch members include a front lower strap connector mechanism and a rear lower strap connector mechanism to adjustably connect the front arch portions and the rear arch portions of the arch members. 
     
     
         23 . The football shoulder pad assembly of  claim 22 , wherein the front lower strap connector mechanism and the rear lower strap connector mechanism include: (i) a flexible belt, (ii) a fastener extending through a pivot aperture formed in a lower extent of the front arch portion, (iii) a fastener slidingly received in a slot formed in a lower extent of the front arch portion, (iv) a fastener extending through a pivot aperture formed in a lower extent of the rear arch portion, and (v) a fastener slidingly received in a slot formed in a lower extent of the rear arch portion.