US3162861A - Batter's chest protector - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1964 o. E. GUSTAFSON BATTERS CHEST PROTECTOR Filed June 10, 1963 Dam/140 E. GUSTAFJG/V B) gW+ 47'7'0R/VEY5 United States Patent 3,162,861 BATTERS (IHEST PRGTECTOR Donald E. Gustatson, 43166 Nielson Court Mission, San Jose Eistrict, Fremont, Calif. Fiied lune it), 1963, Ser. No. 286,722 1 Claim. (Q2. ?.2-)

This invention relates generally to protectors for shielding a persons body from external blows, and more particularly to a protector for use by a baseball player when batting.

With the increase of participation by youngsters in little league and other baseball activities, much attention has been focused on occurrences of severe injury to the players. While head injuries are now relatively rare as a result of various types of protective headgear, it has become evident that a ball striking the unprotected chest region of the batter can cause serious and sometimes fatal injury to the heart. It is possible that youngsters not fully matured are more susceptible to this type of injury, and in any event are usually less able to move quickly to escape being struck by a wild pitch.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a novel protector for use by a baseball player while batting and which presents a minimal restriction to the free movement of the players body and mms.

Another object of my invention is to provide a batters protector which is extremely lightwei ht, yet which is capable of receiving severe localized impact and safely distributing the shock over a relatively large body area.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a protector embodying the present invention shown mounted in position on a persons body.

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation view of the protector shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the protector shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional side view taken along the plane of line 44 in FIGURE 2.

Describing now an embodiment of my invention, there is depicted in FIGURE 1 a protector 11 mounted in operable position on the wearer. As shown, the protector is of generally concave-convex cross-sectional form, and has a central portion 12 adapted to overlie the wearers chest and diaphragm regions. A pair of integral side portions 13 and 14 extend generally rearwardly from the central portion 12, and are adapted to overlie the wearers sidm below the armpits.

An important feature in the construction of the protector 11 relates to the inclusion of an extremely lightweight form retaining outer sheet of material 16. The sheet 16 may be made of a suitable plastic, and while nominal resiliency or deformability may exist, the sheet 16 should have a generally rigid characteristic. When a ball strikes the sheet 16, causing a sharp licalized impact, the rigidness of the sheet eifectuates a general distribution of the force over a large area of the body,

3,ld2,8fil Fatented ec. 29, 1964 thereby safely cushioning the blow. To increase the wearers comfort, and to increase the impact cushioning effect, it is preferable that an inner layer 37 of flexible resilient material, such as foam rubber, be secured to the inner surface of the outer sheet in, and generally conformed to its shape.

As shown in the drawings, the lower edge 18 of the protector ii is generally coplanar, and is adapted for disposition below the diaphragm region of the wearer, which is located immediately below the front portion of the rib cage. The upper edge 15? of the central portion is of generallyarcuate shape, and inclines downwardly towards the side portions 13 and 14, whereby the latter are of lesser height than the central portion.

Strap means are provided to secure the sheet 26 in position on the wearer, and preferably include a pair of straws 2i and 22 respectively secured to the side portions 13 and lid. The straps can then be positioned around the wearers back and buckled or therwise secured together, thus maintaining the protector in position.

Because of the instant protectors light weight, upper edge contour, and generally convex shape, it is able to aiford effective cushioning of sharp localized blows, while enabling substantially uninhibited movement of the wearers arms and body. Consequently, it has been found to be a practical and effective means for virtually eliminating the possibility of heart fatalities arising from blows to the wearers general chest region.

What is claimed is:

A protector of the character described comprising an outer sheet of shock distributing and form retaining material of generally rigid characteristics having a generally concave-convex cross-section, said sheet including a central portion adapted to overlie the chest and diaphragm regions of the wearer, said central portion having an arcuate upper edge with a maximum height at the central portion thereof, a pair of side portions formed integrally with and extending rearwardly from opposite sides of said central portion and terminating in rear edge portions of substantial height, each of said side portions having an upper edge merging with the upper edge of said central portion and being of substantially lesser height than said central portion, said side portions adapted to overlie the side rib cage regions of the wearer below the armpits, said portions having a common lower edge adapted to be positioned above the waist of the wearer, a shock absorbing sheet of flexible resilient foam material secured to the inner surface of said outer sheet and substantially coextensive therewith, and strap means secured to said protector for retaining the same in position on the wearer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 418,396 12/89 Buck 2--2.5 925,851 6/09 Sullivan 2-2 2,468,841 5/49 Siegel 22 2,7 33,443 2/56 Holder 222 2,75 6,429 7/56 Malachowski 22 FOREIGN PATENTS 108,801 8/17 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT V. SLOAN, Examiner.

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