Lightweight molded protective helmet

Claim 2

In a unitary lightweight protective helmet, formed by blow molding of a moldable plastic material, the combination comprising: (a) an outer surface and an adjacent spaced apart conforming inner surface, each of said surfaces being joined at their periphery by a wall formed during molding, so as to form a generally hollow interior space therebetween; (b) a plurality of molded adjacent spaced openings extending from said outer surface through said inner surface, each said opening being defined by a continuous wall connecting said outer surface to said inner surface and thereby forming a plurality of individually spaced interconnected zones located between a plurality of said adjacent openings; and (c) each of said zones being formed by a passageway bounded by proximate spaced areas on each of said respective surfaces and corresponding walls of said openings, whereby said zones are adapted to provide impact absorbing characteristics for the helmet when placed under load stress conditions.

Claim 3

A helmet as defined in claim 1, wherein said outer and inner surfaces each have a thickness of 0.05-0.10 inch and are spaced apart from each other sufficient to provide an overall thickness of 0.30-0.60 inch.

Claim 4

A helmet as defined in claim 1, wherein said spaced areas located between adjacent openings have a width dimension which is about 0.5-4.0 times the overall thickness of said outer and inner surfaces.

Claim 5

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein said openings extending through said outer and inner surfaces are circular shaped.

Claim 6

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein said openings extending through said outer and inner surfaces are elongated shaped.

Claim 7

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the wall of each said openings is oriented substantially perpendicular to said outer and inner surfaces.

Claim 8

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the wall of at least one of said openings is inclined at an angle of 45°-90° with the outer surface.

Claim 9

A helmet as defined by claim 1, including an energy-absorbing foam material provided in the space within the passageways between said outer and inner surfaces.

Claim 10

A helmet as defined in claim 1, wherein said surfaces each have a thickness of 0.05-0.10 inch and the walls each have a thickness of 0.040-0.10 inch so as to provide a helmet having an overall thickness of 0.30-0.60 inch, with the spacing between adjacent said openings being about 1 - 5 times the helmet overall thickness.

Claim 11

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of polyethylene (PE) material.

Claim 12

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of high density polyethylene (HDPE) material.

Claim 13

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material.

Claim 14

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of polypropylene (PP) material.

Claim 15

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of polyvinylchloride (PVC) material.

Claim 16

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) material.

Claim 17

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of polycarbonates (PC) material.

Claim 18

A helmet as defined by claim 1, wherein the surfaces and walls are molded of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material.

Claim 19

In a unitary lightweight protective helmet formed by stretch-blow molding of a moldable plastic material, the combination comprising: (a) an outer surface and an adjacent spaced apart conforming inner surface, each said surface being joined at their periphery by a wall formed during molding, so as to form a generally hollow interior space therebetween, said surfaces each having a thickness of 0.050-0.10 inch and an overall thickness of 0.30-0.60 inch; (b) a plurality of molded adjacent spaced openings extending from said outer surface through said inner surface, each said opening being defined by a continuous wall connecting said outer surface to said inner surface and thereby forming a plurality of spaced interconnected zones located between a plurality of said adjacent openings, said openings wall thickness being 0.040-0.090 inch; and (c) each of said zones being formed by a passageway bounded by proximate spaced areas on each of said surface layers and corresponding wall of said openings, the surface spacing area width between adjacent said openings being about 0.5-4 times the helmet overall thickness, whereby said zones are adapted to provide impact absorbing characteristics for the helmet when placed under load stress conditions.

Claim 20

In a unitary lightweight protective helmet formed by stretch-blow molding of a moldable plastic material, the combination comprising: (a) an outer surface and an adjacent spaced apart conforming inner surface, each said surface being joined at their periphery by a wall formed during molding, so as to form a generally hollow interior space therebetween, said surfaces each having a thickness of 0.050-0.10 inch and an overall thickness of 0.30-0.60 inch; (b) a plurality of molded adjacent spaced openings extending from said outer surface through said inner surface, each said opening being defined by a continuous wall connecting said outer surface to said inner surface and thereby forming a plurality of spaced interconnected zones located between a plurality of said adjacent openings, said openings wall thickness being 0.040-0.090 inch; and (c) each of said zones being formed by a passageway bounded by proximate spaced areas on each of said surface layers and corresponding wall of said openings, the surface spacing area width between adjacent said openings being about 0.5-4 times the helmet overall thickness, whereby said zones are adapted to provide impact absorbing characteristics for the helmet when placed under load stress conditions.