Intelligent protective gear bracing mechanism
OwnerAvery Audrey Kwan, Robert T. Knightinventors
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Abstract
Protective gear such as a helmet includes an intelligent bracing mechanism such as an intelligent neck bracing mechanism. The intelligent bracing mechanism detects imminent mechanical forces such as impact, shear, and rotational forces and stiffens the bracing mechanism so that forces imparted onto the protective gear can be distributed to one or more other locations. In one example, a sensor detects an imminent mechanical force impact on an outer shell of a helmet and stiffens a neck brace connected to the helmet to distribute some of the energy from the impact onto the shoulders.
Claims20
A neck bracing mechanism, comprising:
- a neck bracing outer surface;
- a bracing mechanism connected to a helmet and the neck bracing outer surface, wherein the bracing mechanism is configured to detect an imminent, mechanical force impact on the helmet and alter the stiffness of the bracing mechanism upon detection of the imminent, mechanical force impact to distribute energy from the mechanical force impact onto shoulders supporting the neck bracing mechanism.
A protective gear bracing mechanism, comprising:
- a protective gear bracing outer surface;
- a bracing mechanism connected to protective gear and the protective gear bracing outer surface, wherein the bracing mechanism is configured to detect an imminent, mechanical force impact on the protective gear and alter the stiffness of the bracing mechanism upon detection of the imminent, mechanical force impact to distribute energy from the mechanical force impact onto another surface supporting the protective gear bracing mechanism.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.