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US 6,381,757 B1Granted
Inflatable chin strap for a helmet
OwnerGus A. Rush, IIIinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A protective chin strap for headwear such as an athletic helmet is provided with a chin portion including an inflatable pouch and a manually operated valve pump so that the wearer can inflate the pouch to adjust the tension of the strap to adjust the force holding the helmet on the head of the wearer as well as at the same time provide a shock absorbing cushion on the chin of the user.
Claims18
A retaining member to hold head wear on the head of a user, comprising:
- an elongated strip having opposite ends for attachment to the head wear,
- a chin engaging portion including an inflatable member, said portion being located intermediate said opposite ends, said inflatable member being integrally formed of a resilient materials, said inflatable member comprising a wall portion,
- a controllable valve adapted for communicating with an interior of said inflatable member through a flexible duct connected to said wall portion for selectively allowing an inflation medium to be added to the inflatable member, the inflatable member adapted to be inflatable independent of any inflatable member of the head wear,
- whereby the controllable valve is adapted to be controllable by the user while the head wear is being worn by the user, the chin engaging portion is engaged with a chin of the user and both opposite ends are attached to the head wear to allow inflation medium to be added to the inflatable member by the user so that a fit of the retaining medium with respect to the user is adjustable by the user independent of a fit of the head wear.
1 more element
The retaining member 6, and further including a pump in operable communication with the valve for pumping the inflation medium into the inflatable member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.