Protective Guard Apparatus

Abstract

A protective guard for a body part is disclosed herein. The protective guard includes a base, a first shell, and a second shell. The base includes an upper region, a lower region, and a middle region, where the middle region enables the upper region and lower region to move with respect to one another. The first shell may be disposed on the upper region, while the second shell may be disposed on the lower region. The first shell may be anatomically shaped to a body part of a person, such as a shin or an upper portion of the arm. The second shell may be anatomically shaped to a different body part, such as an ankle or an elbow. The first shell may have at least two areas, where the first area be more flexible than the second area.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 139,170, entitled “Protective Guard Apparatus”, filed Mar. 27, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to an apparatus that protects body parts of an athlete. More specifically, the present invention relates to wearable apparatuses that protect the shin, medial side of the ankle, medial side of the foot, and / or the elbow of a batter.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Protective guards are used by athletes in various situations. Soccer players use shin guards; catchers use helmets, chest protectors, and leg guards; football players use helmets and shoulder pads; etc. Baseball batters typically wear leg guards and arm guards while they bat. The leg guard of a batter protects the medial side of the lead leg and foot (leg an...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The protective guard is designed to be a comfortable and flexible covering for a person's body part. It is made up of a base, a first shell, and a second shell. The base is made of a soft and flexible material and has a groove that allows the first and second regions to move with respect to each other. The first shell is shaped to fit a specific body part and is made of two areas with different durometer values, allowing for flexibility and comfort. The second shell, also shaped to fit a specific body part, provides more support and protection. This allows the protective guard to closely fit the contours of the user's body and provide adequate protection without limiting their freedom of movement. The groove between the first and second regions allows for movement of the user's body parts without limiting the freedom of movement of the protective guard.

Problems solved by technology

When a ball is hit directly at an unprotected lead leg and foot of the batter, the ball can inflict serious damage to the leg and foot of the batter, including broken bones.

While these leg guards and arm guards exist and are currently used by batters, the currently available leg and arm guards are bulky, heavy, and are not shaped to the specific human anatomy that they are designed to protect.

Bulky and heavy arm guards make it more difficult for the batter to move the body parts protected by the guards.

The cumbersome size of the leg and arm guards may restrict the freedom of movement, while the weight may restrict the speed at which the batter can make the necessary movements.

Furthermore, because the leg and arm guards may not be anatomically shaped to the specific part of the human anatomy that they are designed to protect, the leg and arm guards may either prevent specific movements by the batter, or may shift their position on the body of the batter when movements are made.

Thus, while proper protection may be accomplished by currently available leg and arm guards, the currently available leg and arm guards restrict movement of the batter and impact the batter's performance on the baseball field.

In addition, because of the large amounts of material required to manufacture the bulky designs of current leg and arm guards, manufacturing the current leg and arm guards is costly.

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