Shock absorbing body protector

Claim 1

An epaulet for protecting the shoulder area of a wearer's body, comprising: a semirigid shell having an arcuate shape for covering said shoulder area, said shell having an inside surface and an outside surface; a plurality of air cells between said inside surface of said shell and said shoulder area for retaining a volume of air having a pressure, each air cell of said plurality in pneumatic communication with at least one other air cell of said plurality, said semirigid shell covering each air cell of said plurality of air cells; a hand-operable pump connected to said plurality of air cells for inflating said plurality of air cells, said pump having a substantially hemispherical resilient bulb portion protruding above said outside surface of said semirigid shell and a substantially flat portion disposed below said inside surface of said semirigid shell and adjacent said plurality of air cells; a pressure indicator for providing an indication of said air pressure of said volume, said pressure indicator having a resilient bulb portion protruding above said outside surface of said semirigid shell; and said shell having a longitudinal rib having first and second ends, said resilient bulb portion of said pump disposed adjacent to said first end of said rib and said resilient bulb portion of said pressure indicator disposed adjacent said second end of said rib for protecting each said resilient bulb portion.