Protective Sports And Safety Equipment And Foam Used With The Protective Equipment

Abstract

Protective equipment used in association with headgear, in particular helmets and face masks, and other parts of the body including arms, legs, back and torso. The equipment includes a modified foam made according to the invention. Preferably the foam comprises polyurethane or urethane based foams with an aramid compound consisting of aramid fiber, and / or aramid pulp.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 615,676 filed Dec. 28, 2023, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to the field of protective equipment and modified foam which forms part of the equipment. Protective equipment includes headgear such as helmets and face masks and protection for the body, arms, legs, back and torso.

[0003] The headgear and other protective equipment contains foam modified with aramid pulp and / or aramid fiber. The aramid is generally cut prior to inclusion into a foam material. A preferred foam is polyurethane. Any urethane based foam is also preferred.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The invention addresses the need for protective equipment that is more durable and provides greater protection to body parts. It is also an objective to provide protective equipment with a more robust shock attenuation and dissipation compared with protective equipment not made according to the invention. Robust shock attenuation and dissipation upon impact are measured by testing for peak acceleration (g), severity index (SI), and head injury criterion (SIC) of samples made according to the invention and compared with samples not made according to the invention.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIG. 1 is a drawing of a cross-section of a polyurethane foam.

[0006] FIG. 2 is a drawing of the same cross-section of foam with an anvil on top of the foam.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONExamples

[0007] The foam formulation of the invention was made with an aramid material in a chopped fiber format that is mixed into the foam formulation. This formulation plus aramid was tested to determine if it would provide a more robust shock attenuation and dissipation upon impact compared with a foam formulation that did not contain aramid material (i.e., samples A-C).

[0008] To determine these results, foam samples of the formulations were tested for shock attenuation performance measured by peak acceleration (“g”), severity index (SI) and head injury criterion (HIC).

[0009] These tests employed a CADEX Twin Wire Impact Machine with a CADEX control system and acquisition card. Such machines are used for impact attenuation evaluation which complies with ECE 2006, EN 1077, EN 1078 and other standards. Each foam sample was held flat on a three-inch M.E.P. pad while a five-kilogram anvil was dropped from 24 inch and 48 inch heights. Each foam sample that was tested measured between 0.45 inch and 0.55 inch with the orange polyurethane foam infused with aramid measuring at 0.52 inch. The orange polyurethane foam otherwise known as “Hero Tech” foam was compared to three other types of test samples that did not have aramid in the foam.

[0010] On the 24 inch drop tests, each foam sample was given nine minutes of rest in between impacts. At an overall view, samples A, B, and C performed 66%, 16% and 55% worse compared to “Hero Tech” samples respectively. Sample B, which is the same formula as the “Hero Tech” foam but without aramid performed 7%, 21%, and 20% worse when comparing peak acceleration or “g's”, severity index (SI), and head injury criterion (HIC), measurements respectively.

[0011] Moving on to the 48 inch drop test, the same four samples were used. Each sample was given fifteen minutes of rest in between impacts. Most notably, when comparing peak acceleration or “g's” there is no significant difference in “Hero Tech's” performance when drop height is changed. However, Sample B, shows a 5% decrease in performance when drop height is changed.

[0012] The results of these tests are as follows.24″ Drop Test (Anvil)AverageAverageAverageSamplePeakSeverityHead InjuryPeakSeverityHead InjuryNameAccelerationIndexCriterionAccelerationIndexCriterionHero Foam96.72333.51301.4896.93334.55302.5296.97334.34302.48———97.11335.79303.59Sample A130.05597.26521.37131.59611.53540.71131.91613.63545.73−36%−83%−79%132.82623.69555.03Sample B102.9400.25358.01103.79405.64362.91103.84406.56363.71 −7%−21%−20%104.62410.1367.02Sample C125.18554.75493.28126.75566.23503.30127.44572.75508.76−31%−69%−66%127.63571.2507.8648″ Drop Test (Anvil)AverageAverageAverageSamplePeakSeverityHead InjuryPeakSeverityHead InjuryNameAccelerationIndexCriterionAccelerationIndexCriterionHero Foam150.28905.68813.48149.57901.50810.20149.03893.56803.11———149.41905.27814.01Sample A203.781620.281422.91203.771621.591423.71204.231629.591430.76−36%−80%−76%203.31614.911417.47Sample B164.061134.231011.57166.401157.761030.96166.811159.441032.55−11%−28%−27%168.321179.611048.76Sample C198.361531.091357.87198.651539.511360.25198.261546.011357.12−33%−71%−68%199.321541.431365.77Peak acceleration or “g's” is determined by measuring the acceleration of the test samples during the impact of the foam sample by a five kilogram anvil.

[0014] The severity index (SI) is a method for measuring a helmet's ability to reduce linear head accelerations caused by impact forces to the helmet as defined by National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). As identified in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) Number 208, the head injury criterion (HIC) is used to describe its relationship to the risk of injury and relationship of HIC value. In general, it is a measure of likelihood of head injury arising from an impact.

[0015] As noted above, the results for peak acceleration or g's, severity index (SI) and head injury criterion (HIC) were materially better for the inventive samples than for the samples A-C that are not made according to the invention. The results are due at least in part to the reduction in rate of acceleration of the inventive samples during the test.

[0016] The invention can be used in association with protective equipment such as headgear, in particular, helmets and face masks. It can also be employed with other forms of protection for the body, arms, legs, back and torso. Equipment includes a modified foam made according to the invention. The foam is preferably polyurethane or urethane based foams with an aramid in the form of aramid fiber and aramid pulp. The aramid is mixed with the foam in a rate of one part aramid to ten to one hundred parts of foam. The foam can be incorporated in the equipment in the form of helmets, helmet shells and face masks with padding. A special padding can be used in the form of specialized pads that provide the helmet with a more robust attenuation and dissipation of energy caused by head impact.

Claims

1. Protective equipment comprising headgear and equipment protecting arms, legs, back, torso and other parts of the body, said protective equipment comprising a foam comprising at least one of aramid fiber and aramid pulp.

2. Protective equipment according to claim 1 wherein the foam contains between about 0.1 to 10.0 parts of at least one aramid selected from aramid fiber and aramid pulp.

3. Protective equipment according to claim 1 wherein the foam comprises polyurethane and at least one of aramid fiber and aramid pulp.

4. Protective equipment according to claim 1 comprising a pad consisting of foam and at least one of aramid fiber and aramid pulp.

5. Protective equipment according to claim 4 which comprises protective equipment comprising headgear selected from helmets and face masks.

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