Sports helmet with rotational impact protection

A sports helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, said sports helmet defining a cavity for receiving the wearer's head, said sports helmet comprising:

• (a) an outer shell comprising an external surface of said sports helmet:
• (b) inner padding disposed between said outer shell and the wearer's head when said sports helmet is worn;
• (c) an adjustment mechanism for adjusting an internal volume of said cavity to adjust a fit of said sports helmet on the wearer's head;
• and
• (d) a floating liner disposed between said inner padding and the wearer's head when said sports helmet is worn, said floating liner being movable relative to said outer shell in response to a rotational impact on said outer shell to absorb rotational energy from the rotational impact;
• said floating, liner being configured to accommodate adjustment of said internal volume of said cavity when said adjustment mechanism is operated by the wearer.

A sports helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, said sports helmet defining a cavity for receiving the wearer's head, said sports helmet comprising:

• (a) an outer shell comprising an external surface of said sports helmet;
• (b) inner padding disposed between said outer shell and the wearer's head when said sports helmet is worn;
• and
• (c) a floating liner disposed between said inner padding and the wearer's head when said sports helmet is worn, said floating liner being movable relative to said outer shell in response to a rotational impact on said outer shell to absorb rotational energy from the rotational impact, said floating liner comprising stretchable material such that at least part of the rotational energy is absorbed by stretching of said stretchable material.

A sports helmet for protecting a head of a wearer, said sports helmet defining a cavity for receiving the Wearer's head, said sports helmet comprising:

• (a) an outer shell comprising an external surface of said sports helmet;
• (b) inner padding disposed between said outer shell and the wearer's head when said sports helmet is worn;
• and
• (c) a floating liner disposed between said inner padding and the wearer's head when said sports helmet is worn, said floating liner being movable relative to said outer shell and said inner padding in response to a rotational impact on said outer shell to absorb rotational energy from the rotational impact, said floating liner comprising an inner surface for contacting the wearer's head and an outer surface facing said inner padding, said outer surface of said floating liner being in frictional engagement with said inner padding in response to the rotational impact such that at least part of the rotational energy is dissipated by friction between said inner padding and said outer surface of said floating liner, said outer surface of said floating liner having a coefficient of friction with said inner padding of at least 0.2 measured according to ASTM G115-10.

A hockey or lacrosse helmet for protecting a head of a hockey or lacrosse player, said helmet defining a cavity for receiving the player's head, said helmet comprising:

• (a) an outer shell comprising an external surface of said helmet, said outer shell comprising a first shell member and a second shell member moveable relative to one another for adjusting an internal volume of said cavity to adjust a fit of said helmet on the player's head;
• (b) inner padding disposed between said outer shell and the player's head when said helmet is worn;
• and
• (c) a floating liner disposed between said inner padding and the player's head when said helmet is worn, said floating liner being movable relative to said outer shell in response to a rotational impact on said outer shell to absorb rotational energy from the rotational impact, said floating liner being configured to accommodate adjustments of said internal volume of said cavity when said first shell member and said second shell member are moved relative to one another.