Athletic knee guard

Claim 1

A knee guard useful for protecting an athlete's knee from injury, comprising: a first rigid shell of generally hemicylindrical shape for resting generally matingly against a front portion of a person's leg slightly above the person's knee, said first shell including a pair of arms extending generally downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, each to a respective position on opposite sides of said knee; a second rigid shell of generally hemicylindrical shape for resting generally matingly against a front portion of a person's leg slightly below the person's knee, said second shell including a pair of arms extending generally upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, each to a respective one of said positions on opposite sides of said knee; means for attaching said first shell above the person's knee; means for attaching said second shell below the person's knee; a plurality of rigid generally arcuate bars, each extending from a respective one to a respective other of said positions on opposite sides of said knee with a central portion of each bar forward of said knee, said central portions being progressively spaced one after another from said first rigid shell to said second rigid shell, said arcuate bars abutting one another to form a continuous guard surface from said first shell to said second shell when the person's knee is straightened, an uppermost one of said arcuate bars abutting said first shell and a lowermost one of said arcuate bars abutting said second shell when the person's knee is straightened; a pair of pivot means, one at each of said positions, each pivot means pivotally connecting a respective arm of said first shell, a respective arm of said second shell and a respective end portion of each of said arcuate bars to pivot thereabout; and fabric interconnecting successive of said arcuate bars to one another and further connecting the uppermost one of said arcuate bars to said first rigid shell and connecting the lowermost one of said arcuate bars to said second rigid shell.