Loading patent…
AssigneePhillips Helmets Limited
InventorKenneth David Phillips
Estimating the term…
The present invention provides protective headgear comprising a shell (26) having an inwardly facing surface which in use faces the head (10) of a user of the headgear and an outwardly facing surface which in use faces away from the head (10) of a user. An outer layer (28) overlies at least a portion of the outwardly facing surface of the shell (26) and rupturing means (30) is provided for fixedly attaching the outer layer (28) to the remainder of the headgear at one or more locations. The rupturing means (30) is configured so as to fail when a force greater than a selected threshold is received on an outer surface (28) of the headgear which acts in an at least part tangential direction to rotate the headgear and the head (10) of the user. Upon failure of the rupturing means (30) at the one or more locations, the received force causes at least part of the outer layer (28) receiving the force to move relative to the shell (26) in a manner which is similar to the protective movement of the human scalp (18) relative to the skull (16). The present invention also relates to protective armour (100) and to a method of modifying protective headgear and protective armour.
Protective headgear comprising:
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rupturing means comprises an adhesive.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rupturing means is graduated so as to fail incrementally, with partial failure of the rupturing means occurring at a force less than the selected threshold and partial failure continuing with increasing force until total failure of the rupturing means occurs at the selected threshold.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer layer is substantially inelastic in shear.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the shell comprises a composite material.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the shell comprises a laminate structure.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the shell comprises any one or more of polypropylene, polycarbonate, ABS, polycarbonate/ABS blend, high density polyethylene (HDPE), carbon fibre composites, glass reinforced plastics, Zytel (a nylon manufactured by DuPont), Celstran (a long strand glass, carbon or aramid fibre material in a modulus carrier such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate, ABS, TPU or nylon), Twintex (glass fibre reinforced polypropylene manufactured by Vetrotex), Curv PP (a polypropylene. fibre reinforced material manufactured by BP), or Kevlar composites (aramid fibres in a resin carrier).
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer layer comprises a composite material.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer layer is a laminate structure.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer layer comprises any one or more of thermoplastic elastomers such as Santoprene (manufactured by Advanced Elastomer Systems in a range of grades), Hytrel in a solid or foamed form, thermoset elastomers such as polyurethane elastomers (typically in the hardness range 50 shore A to 70 shore D), High Q (a rubber manufactured by Astron), sorbothane, natural or synthetic rubbers or plasticised foams, low or high density polyethylene (LDPE or HDPE) or conventional thermoplastic or thermosetting plastics.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer layer is reinforced with high stiffness, low elongation fibres such as glass, carbon or aramid (Kevlar) fibres so as to reduce the overall elasticity of the outer layer.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising a layer of low density foam located between the shell and the head of a user.
Protective headgear as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising a layer of incompressible fluid located between the shell and the head of a user and encapsulated in a flexible sac.
Protective headgear comprising:
Protective armour comprising:
Protective armour comprising:
A method of modifying existing protective headgear wherein:
A method of modifying existing protective headgear wherein:
A method of modifying existing protective armour wherein:
A method of modifying existing protective armour wherein:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.