Protective headgear

Claim 1

A protective headpiece comprising: a skullcap means made of a thin collapsible sheet of resilient material and shaped to surround and conform to a human head and to cover all portions of the head except the facial region so that when the headpiece is worn the skullcap means receives and clings to the wearer's head and entirely supports the headpiece in place until it is pulled off by the wearer, a shell means made of collapsible cushioning material secured to the exterior surface of the skull cap means to provide protection from impacts to the head, said shell means comprising a plurality of inflatable flap members secured to the skullcap means, said flap members being shaped and positioned to provide gas filled cushions around a wearer's head, said cushions being shaped to form a pillow located to cover the crown of the wearer's head, toroidal tubes located to extend horizontally around the head at the forehead level, and at least one curved tube located to extend horizontally around the back of the neck, the headpiece being collapsible and foldable to occupy a minimal volume during storage; a gas delivery tube connected with the interior of each flap member; a self-contained source of pressurized gas connected to said tube; means to release gas from the source to inflate the flap members; and a blow tube mechanism, including a one-way valve, connected to the gas delivery tube to provide backup means for inflating the flap members.