Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Limiting Sports Helmet

Abstract

A smart hard shell helmet for protection of head injury having a plurality of air filled inflatable bladders inside the shell, a valve on at least one bladder that responds to a controller, at least one flexible extendible strap extended from the bladder to a one point on the inside of the helmet, accelerometers operably connected to the helmet and wearer's head for sensing g force changes, pressure sensors in the bladders, an electrically actuated valve responsive to pressure and force measurement determined by the controller thresholds being met, and the valve exhausts a portion of the air in the bladder to the atmosphere extending the strap to the second state followed by the strap returning to the first state by drawing atmospheric air through the valve and re-inflating the bladder.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]Not Applicable.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to helmets, and more particularly to a sports helmet that utilizes microprocessor controlled valves and re-inflatable bladders for reducing head impact in the helmet and configured for customizable operation.[0003]The present invention is an improvement in headgear or helmets for high impact sports such as football, lacrosse, or any other sport where potential head injury can occur. Previous attempts at reducing such injuries have resulted in helmets with more internal cushioning, advanced materials, or design of the shell to withstand impact. These solutions fail to significantly diminish the G forces that are repeatedly experienced by football players during practice and games, which are the leading cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes. Further, prior attempts to create injury reducing helmets were not configurable for a particular user, or us...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004]A primary advantage of the invention is to provide a helmet and method of reducing head injury in high impact sports.

[0005]Another advantage of the invention is to provide a customizable helmet that operates based on collected data for a particular user.

[0006]Yet another advantage of the invention is to provide a helmet with re-inflatable bladders to cushion head impact within the helmet.

[0007]Still yet another advantage of the invention is to provide a software collection system of impacts to permit fine-tuning of the bladder, valve and microprocessor control of the helmet.

[0008]Yet another advantage of the invention is to provide an immediate resettable helmet system that can be used over and over during play.

[0009]In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is shown a smart helmet for protection of head injury in contact sports having a hard shell defining a compartment for receiving a portion of a wearer's head, the shell having an interior surface and an exterior surface, a plurality of inflatable bladders filled with air, the bladders on the interior surface of the shell, a valve disposed on at least one bladder responsive to signals from a controller, at least one flexible extendible strap having a first relaxed state and a second extended state operably engaged to at least one bladder and at least one point on the inside of the helmet, at least one accelerometer attached to the helmet operably connected to the helmet body for sensing g force change on the helmet in operation, at least a second accelerometer operably connected to the wearer's head for sensing g force change on the wearer's head in operation, an electrically actuated valve on the bladder responsive to an accelerometer force measurement determined by the controller threshold being met, and the valve, in response to control signals from a controller, exhausts a portion of the air in the bladder to the atmosphere extending the strap to the second state followed by the strap returning to the first state by drawing atmospheric air through the valve and re-inflating the bladder.

Problems solved by technology

These solutions fail to significantly diminish the G forces that are repeatedly experienced by football players during practice and games, which are the leading cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes.

Further, prior attempts to create injury reducing helmets were not configurable for a particular user, or useable repeatedly during play.

Images