Helmet Liner Grooves for Impact Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional helmets face challenges in providing effective impact protection while being cumbersome and bulky, especially in full-contact sports where repeated impacts can lead to traumatic brain injuries, and existing helmet liners do not efficiently absorb and distribute impact forces due to their rigid structure and storage constraints.
Innovation Solution
A helmet liner with elongate grooves and tapered pillars that can be conformed to the helmet's interior, featuring deeper longitudinal grooves and lateral grooves, allowing for energy absorption and rotational movement, made from energy-absorbing materials like polymeric foams and rate-sensitive materials, which can be stored flat for space efficiency and provide improved impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional rigid helmet structures are used to reduce impact pressure, then impact protection is improved, but the helmet becomes cumbersome and bulky, making storage and transportation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The helmet liner is divided into multiple pillars separated by grooves, creating a segmented structure that can be compressed and stored flat while maintaining impact protection when worn. The grooves allow the liner to be folded into a compact configuration for storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The liner transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic compliant structure that can deform during impact. The grooves and pillars are designed to compress and deform under impact forces, absorbing energy while allowing the liner to be stored in a flat configuration when not in use.
2Reliability
If the helmet liner is made compliant to absorb impact energy, then impact protection is improved, but the liner may not maintain its shape and form properly on the helmet
Solution Approach 1:
The liner is segmented into multiple pillars that can independently deform during impact while maintaining their positions relative to each other. This segmentation allows the liner to be compressed for energy absorption while the overall structure maintains conformity to the helmet shape through the groove connections.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the liner have different properties - the pillars are designed to be compliant and deformable for energy absorption, while the grooves provide structural continuity and shape maintenance. The base material provides overall conformity while the pillar structures provide localized compliance for impact absorption.
3Reliability
If the grooves are made deeper to improve energy absorption, then impact protection is improved, but the structural integrity and support may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves are designed with varying depths at different locations to optimize both energy absorption and structural integrity. Deeper grooves are positioned where maximum deformation is needed for energy absorption, while shallower grooves maintain structural continuity where needed for strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The liner uses composite construction with a base material and pillar structures that work together to provide both energy absorption and structural integrity. The combination of the base material's continuity and the pillar's deformable nature creates a composite structure that achieves both goals.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The helmet liner effectively reduces the transmission of impact forces to the head, enhances impact resistance, and allows for easier storage and transportation by conforming to the helmet's shape, providing continuous support and air flow while maintaining flexibility and energy absorption capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
compression of a helmet liner may absorb some energy that would otherwise be transmitted to the head of a wearer
Implementation Method 2
the ability of the helmet liner to expand in this way is constrained, then the energy absorbing characteristics of the liner may be modified
Implementation Method 3
made from energy-absorbing materials like polymeric foams and rate-sensitive materials
Data Source
AI summary
A helmet liner adapted to be conformed to an inner surface of a helmet to cushion in use the rear of a wearers head from the helmet is described. The liner comprises a plurality of elongate grooves comprising at least one longitudinal groove configured to extend in use along a longitudinal direction between the nape of a wearers neck and the crown of the wearers head, and at least one lateral groove adapted to extend in use at least partially around the head of the wearer in a lateral direction between the wearers ears. The at least one longitudinal groove is deeper than the at least one lateral groove.