Pad assemblies for a protective sports helmet
AssigneeRiddell, Inc.
InventorsRalph J. Infusino, Vittorio Bologna, Thad M. Ide
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pad assembly is provided for use with a protective sports helmet in a contact sport, the helmet having an opening. The pad assembly includes a pad member within a pad housing, and a retainer having a projection that fits within the helmet opening. The pad assembly also includes a cap detachably coupled to the retainer, the cap including a base portion that fits within the helmet opening and a flange portion that fits within a countersunk recess disposed around the helmet opening, the cap detachably receiving the projection of the retainer. A protective sports helmet having a pad assembly is also provided.
Claims22
A protective helmet for contact sports, the protective helmet comprising:
- a helmet shell;
- an opening formed in the helmet shell, the opening extending from an external surface of the helmet shell to an internal surface of the helmet shell;
- and
- an internal pad assembly including:
- a pad member residing within a pad housing, the pad housing residing against the internal surface of the helmet shell;
- a retainer extending from the pad housing and having a projection that is received within the opening of the helmet shell;
- and
- a cap including a base portion that is received within the opening of the helmet shell and a flange portion that extends radially outward from the base portion;
- wherein the cap engages an extent of said retainer projection to secure the pad member adjacent to the inner surface of the helmet shell to define an installed position;
- and,
- wherein in the installed position, said cap base portion is positioned between said helmet shell opening and said retainer projection.
A protective helmet for contact sports, the protective helmet comprising:
- a helmet shell, the helmet shell including (i) an opening extending from an external surface of the helmet shell to an internal surface of the helmet shell, and (ii) a countersunk recess formed in the external surface of the helmet shell and being aligned with said opening;
- and
- a pad assembly including:
- a pad member residing within a pad housing, the pad housing residing against the internal surface of the helmet shell;
- a retainer extending from the pad housing and having a projection that is received within the opening of the helmet shell;
- a cap including a base portion that is received within the opening of the helmet shell and a flange portion that extends radially outward from the base portion and that is received within the countersunk recess of the helmet shell;
- and,
- wherein in an installed position, the base portion of the cap receives an extent of the projection of the retainer to releasably secure the pad member adjacent to the inner surface of the helmet shell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.