Hockey helmet

April 30, 1963

3,087,166

L. D. HOWARD

HOCKEY HELMET

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Σίί£ά&amp;7ΰ. Howard,

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April 30, 1963

3,087,166

L. D. HOWARD

HOCKEY HELMET

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Ji.Howard,

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3,087,166

Patented Apr. 30, 1963

United States Patent Office

3,087,166 HOCKEY HELMET Luther D. Howard, Brockton, Mass., assignor to Stall &amp;

Dean Manufacturing Company, Brockton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts

Filed Dec. 6,1960, Ser. No. 74,059

Claims. (Cl. 2—3)

My present invention relates to athletic equipment and especially protective head gear for participants in games such as hockey. More particularly it aims to provide 'an improved specialized helmet for hockey players, especially ice hockey but useful also for head protection for participants in field hockey, lacrosse and other sports involving the use of sticks and pucks or balls.

The helmet as herein disclosed by way of example is particularly adapted for use by juvenile and “little league” ice hockey players. Among the objects of the invention is to provide for such helmet the capacity of simple and rapid adjustment to various head sizes, so that a given helmet is quickly fittable to players differing in head size. The resultant universal helmet, with respect to head size variation, further enables a team to be adequately equipped by a lesser number of helmets than if a plurality of each of the entire range of sizes had to be kept available. The same applies also to the retail sports goods dealers, in that under the present invention they need not carry such extensive stocks of helmets of different sizes.

In the drawings illustrating by way of example one embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 shows the helmet in side elevation in use position on a wearer;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the helmet of FIG. 1 but with an inner layer of the back panel unstitched and folded forward in order more clearly to show the construction and arrangement of certain adjustable securing means of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the helmet in an intermediate position of adjustment, substantially as in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, the helmet as a whole comprises a front panel 5 and a back panel 6, each separately constructed and permanently connected centrally of the upper margins as by a strap 7 of elastic webbing of substantial strength and having the opposite front and back ends securely fixed to· the front and back panels 5 and 6 respectively. This top connector strap 7 is of a length to extend centrally over the wearer’s head and possesses longitudinal elasticity affording capacity for the two panels 5, 6 to be separated one from the other under resilient tensioning of the webbing strap 7 in the fore and aft direction, for accommodating different head sizes of different wearers and for retaining the helmet in worn position at any adjusted size thereof.

The front panel 5 comprises a generally half circular element including an intermediate frontal portion 9 for covering the wearer’s forehead and having integral with it side portions 11, 11 including dependent areas Ila, Ila adapted to cover the wearer’s temples. Such front panel is composed of ia plurality of layers or laminations including a tough flexible but form-retaining outer layer 13 of natural or artificial leather, flexible fibreboard or the like, an inner cushioning layer 15 of heavy felt, foamed synthetic or natural rubber or other cushioning material and at least at the central portion an inner covering layer 17 of soft flexible material such as suede leather or the like adapted to serve as a 'sweat band. These several layers are secured together as by strong through stitching as indicated at 19.

The back panel 6 likewise is of laminar construction. It comprises a convexo-concave outer semi-rigid formretaining and relatively stiff outer layer 8 of fibreboard, natural or artifical leather or the like, a separate internal layer 10 of the similar or preferably somewhat stiffer sheet material secured to the inner face of the outer layer 8 only at spaced points as by a number of rivets 10α of which three are indicated on FIG. 3; see 5 also FIG. 1. This back panel 6 is of a size and shape to extend from adjacent the wearer’s crown downwardly over the basal portion of the skull and the described inner member 10 reinforces the major central and lower portion of the outer panel member 8. At the inner face 10 of the internal piece 10 'and of the margin portions of the outer member 8 is a heavy cushioning layer 12 of felt, foam material or the like similarly as for the front panel 5. Said outer and inner layers 8 and 12 are secured together as a unit as by the heavy through stitching 14.

The front and back panels 5 and 6 which together comprise the body of the helmet are further and adjustably interconnected, in addition to the connecting overhead elastic webbing 7, by flexible side connector strips 20 and 21. These each comprise a length of longitudinally re20 silient elastic webbing having the front ends fixedly attached as a 22, 23 to the rear edges of the front panel 5 as by insertion between the layers thereof and anchoring by the described stitching 19. At each of the upper side margins or comer areas of the back panel 6 the outer mem25 ber 8 of the latter has a generally vertical slot 16, 18 through which the free ends of the side connector strips 20, 21 are slidably passed into the space between the outer and inner layers 8, 10 of said panel 6. Said strip ends thus located within the panel 6 are each turned back 30 upon and securely stitched to themselves to provide loops 24, 25 for the helmet adjusting and securing purposes to be described.

Desirably the helmet further comprises an under-chin harness or strap-type connector means such as represented 35 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Such means as shown comprises at each side of the helmet a dependent strap element 26 of V-form having the flared upper ends of the legs inserted between the layers of and stitched to the lower margins of the front and back panels 5, 6 respectively. Such de40 pending strap elements, each of which may be of a single strap of leather or other material folded upon itself, are adapted to be adjustably interconnected at their, lower ends as by a cross connector strap of elastic webbing 27. One end of such connector strap 27 is permanently at45 tached as by stitching to the lower end of one of the depending side straps 26, as at 27α, FIG. i2, and the other end is adapted for releasable and adjustable attachment to the lower end of the other depending side strap 26 as by snap fastener means 29, 29, FIGS. 1 and 2. For 5θ purposes of adjustment said cross connector piece 27 may have a number of alternatively available fastener elements distributed along it or it may be equipped with a sliding buckle member such as 30, FIG. 1, which itself carries at the inner face a snap fastener element for cooperation 55 with such element at the lower end of the adjacent depending side strap 26.

Further in accordance with the invention, quickly available and readily manipulable means is provided in association with the front and back panels and the side ₆₀ straps 20, 21 thereof. Said means as illustrated comprises a single unitary tie cord 35 together with two pairs of ports or cord passage formations in the outer layer 8 of the back panel 6 at the upper central area thereof. These include an upper laterally spaced and generally ₆g horizontally aligned port pair 36, 37 and a lower generally similarly spaced port pair 38, 39 in approximate vertical line respectively with the individual upper ports 36, 37.

The adjusting cord element 35, having at each end a 70 suitable tying length thereof at the outside of the back panel, is passed inwardly through an upper port 36, noting particularly FIG. 2, thence laterally outwardly across

3,087,166 to and through the loop 24 of the adjacent side connector strap 20, thence reversely laterally ’back to and out through the lower port 38 vertically below the port 36 through which it entered. Externally of the back panel 6 said adjusting draw cord 35 extends laterally across to and then inward through the other lower port 39, then laterally across to and through the loop 25 of the adjacent other side strap 21 and thence reversely back , to and out through the other upper port 37 to the exterior of the back panel 6 where again a sufficient length of the cord is made available for tying purposes in any relative position of adjustment of the front and back panels.

Assuming that the two panels 5, 6 of the helmet are in an intermediate relative position of size adjustment, as for example as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and it is desired to adjust the helmet to a smaller head size, it is necessary merely to untie the ends of the cord 35 and grasp the readily available external projecting end portions thereof and draw upon them equally. As evident from examination of FIG. 2, such outward draft upon the two end portions of the cord 35 shortens the inside-panel looped portions thereof, thereby at the same time drawing the loops 24, 25 of the two side straps 2®, 21 laterally and rearwardly toward each other and toward the center of the back panel 6. By reason of the circuitous looping of the cord through the series of ports 36-39 frictional engagement particularly of the external cord portion 35x with the back panel between the lower ports 38, 39 tends to hold the parts in any position of relative adjustment to which they are moved. Such positioning is further insured by tying together the two outer end portions of the cord 35 in the manner as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. Conversely, relative adjustment of the panels for accommodating the helmet to larger head sizes is readily effected by an opposite procedure, again by untying the adjusting cord 35 and manually drawing apart the front and back panels 5, 6 to whatever extent is desired within the range capacity of the particular helmet.

My invention is not limited to the particular embodiments thereof illustrated and described herein, and I set forth its scope in my following claims.