Improved football shoulder pads having a restricter comprising rigid or semi-rigid inserts movably mounted each to the breast plates and back plates of shoulder pads worn by football players, which restrict the shoulder pads from putting pressure on the neck of the wearer when reaching in front of the body or above the head, as when catching a pass.

A shoulder pad for a football player, includes a rib protector pad body disposed adjacent to the body arch members and releasably connected to the pad body disposed beneath the body arch members of the shoulder pad.

The protecting device comprises a vertebral column protecting element (2) presenting at its higher end a nape protecting element (3) and at its lower end a belt (1), a tight chamber extending on these three elements and being provided with automatically releasable inflating means (10). The protecting device can be beared as a harness by means of straps (15, 16) or incorporated to a clothing. It allows in case of accident to decrease the risks or the severity of injuries to the vertebral column, ...

A cantilever strap for a shoulder pad for a football player has a central portion which overlies the acromioclavicular area of the shoulder of the football player, and has a width which is substantially greater than two inches.

A shoulder pad for football players, the shoulder pad comprising a left-side member adapted to fit over the left shoulder and a right side member adapted to fit over the right shoulder. Each side member comprises a chest panel and a back panel, adapted to extend over at least a portion of the wear's chest and back, respectively, the top edges of the chest panel and the back panel difining between them an opening over the top of the wear's shoulder. A flap overlies the opening. Front and back hin...

A shoulder pad construction in which outer plastic shells are held off of the shoulders by rigid underlying arches so that the pad is supported entirely on the chest and back rather than on the shoulders. The opposite ends of the arches are secured to the breast plates and back plates of the shells. Padding for the shells has thick front and back portions which contact the chest and upper back. Bridge portions of the padding are much thinner to avoid impacting the acromio-clavicular joints and a...

A spring arch system for a shoulder pad, such as a football shoulder pad. The spring arch system comprises inner and outer arches of generally inverted U-shape as viewed from the side. The outer arch extends substantially over the inner arch from a forward portion of the inner arch to a rearward portion of the inner arch. The spacing between the arches is such that the arches form a generally wedge-shaped configuration at least in the area of the top of the inverted U-shape. Impact on the outer ...

A shoulder pad truss arch system for a shoulder pad. The shoulder pad has a generally inverted U-shape arch member adapted to fit over a shoulder of a wearer, and the arch member has chestplate and backplate portions interconnected by a curved shoulder portion. The shoulder pad truss arch system comprises a first truss extending from the chestplate portion of the arch member to the shoulder portion of the arch member, a second truss extending from the backplate portion of the arch member to the ...

The present invention provides a method for efficiently producing an intermetallic compound porous material. Specifically, the invention provides a porous material production method comprising molding a mixed powder of at least two inorganic powders and performing a combustion synthesis reaction of the resulting molded mixed powder; wherein (1) the porous material contains an intermetallic compound, (2) the intermetallic compound has a three-dimensional network skeletal structure, and (3) the po...

In the present invention, for example with regards to a Mach-Zehnder type LN modulator which uses a Z-cut LN substrate, by providing a step by forming an etching part on the surface of the LN substrate, and forming an optical waveguide so as to position a pair of branching waveguides of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the step portion, a height difference is produced between the branching waveguides, in the perpendicular direction to the substrate surface. As a result, lines of electric force d...