Segmented Foam Helmet With Reinforcing Halo
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional helmets often fail to effectively manage energy from impacts without crushing or deforming, and they do not provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate unique head shapes and sizes, leading to inadequate protection and fit.
Innovation Solution
A helmet design featuring a foam energy-absorbing material with a unique geometry of slots and channels that allows for elastic deformation, combined with an annular reinforcing halo to enhance structural integrity, enabling the helmet to flex and absorb energy without breaking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional helmets use rigid foam material to absorb impact energy, then energy absorption capability is improved, but flexibility and adaptability to different head shapes deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The helmet shell is divided into multiple segments or panels separated by slots, allowing each segment to move independently and flex during impact. This segmentation enables the rigid foam material to maintain its energy absorption properties while the overall structure gains flexibility to conform to different head shapes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a flexible membrane or thin film layer between the rigid foam and the outer shell, or within the slot structures, allowing the helmet to flex and adapt to various head shapes while the rigid foam core continues to provide impact energy absorption.
2Adaptability or versatility
If slots are added to the helmet body to improve flexibility, then adaptability to head shapes is improved, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The slots are strategically positioned and sized to provide flexibility only in specific regions where it is needed for adaptation, while other regions maintain full structural integrity. The reinforcing halo is placed at critical stress points to strengthen areas where slots create potential weaknesses.
Solution Approach 2:
The helmet combines multiple materials with different properties: rigid foam for energy absorption, flexible membrane for adaptability, and reinforcing materials (such as thermoplastic or metal halo) for structural strength. This composite structure allows each material to perform its optimal function.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the helmet is designed to be flexible for better fit, then comfort and adaptability are improved, but impact energy management capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The helmet is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to be flexible during normal wear for comfort and fit, but to stiffen and manage impact energy effectively when subjected to external forces. The slot geometry and material properties enable this dynamic transition between flexible and rigid states.
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 effectively manages energy from impacts through elastic and plastic deformation, providing improved fit and protection by allowing the helmet to flex and absorb energy without crushing, while the reinforcing halo addresses potential weaknesses in the design.
Implementation Method 1
The helmet effectively manages energy from impacts through elastic and plastic deformation
Implementation Method 2
The helmet effectively manages energy from impacts through elastic and plastic deformation
Data Source
AI summary
A helmet can include a helmet body formed of a foam energy-absorbing material in which the helmet body includes inner and outer opposing surfaces. A plurality of lower slots can be formed completely through the helmet body and can be open at a lower edge of the helmet body. A plurality of upper slots can be formed completely through the helmet body and be open at a top portion of the helmet body to form a star shape. An S-shaped panel of the helmet body can include an undulating form from the alternating and overlapping positions of the plurality of lower slots and the plurality of upper slots. A reinforcing halo can be disposed within the helmet body to reinforce areas of weakness in the helmet body resulting from the plurality of lower slots and the plurality of upper slots.