1. A helmet comprising:
a generally hemispherical-shaped rigid shell adapted to fit over the head of a person and cover a substantial portion of the person’s crown when worn, the shell comprising a shell bottom rim, a left shell exterior surface, a right shell exterior surface and a back shell exterior surface;
a generally horseshoe-shaped rigid neck shield partially overlapping the shell back exterior surface and at least portions of the shell left and shell right exterior surfaces proximate the bottom rim, the neck shield including a top edge, a bottom edge and a neck shield exterior surface, the neck shield being adapted to cover at least a substantial portion of back and sides of the person’s neck when the helmet is worn; and
a plurality of elongated straps, each strap having a first end and a second end, the first end of each strap being coupled to one of the left, right and back shell exterior surfaces, the second end of each strap being coupled to the neck shield exterior surface generally proximate the top edge, each strap being substantially straight and vertically disposed when the helmet is being worn by the person when the person is in an upright position;
wherein a first vertical distance between a top fastener of each strap of the plurality of straps and the top edge of the neck shield is equal to or greater than a second vertical distance between the bottom rim of the shell directly below the strap and the bottom edge of the neck shield.
2. The helmet of claim 1 wherein the shell and the neck shield are substantially comprised of a ballistic material.
3. The helmet of claim 2, wherein the neck shield comprises two or more overlapping segments.
4. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the neck shield includes an interior surface and wherein the interior surface comprises a plurality of generally horizontally-extending inwardly projecting ridges located between the top and bottom edges.
5. The helmet of claim 4, wherein the plurality of evenly spaced inwardly projecting ridges are disposed over a portion of the neck shield interior surface.
6. The helmet of claim 4, wherein the neck shield flares outwardly proximate the bottom rim.
7. The helmet of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of elongated straps comprise woven aramid fibers.
8. The helmet of claim 7, wherein each strap is coated with an ultraviolet inhibiting material.
9. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the plurality of elongated straps comprises four straps with a first strap being located on the left shell exterior surface, a second strap being located on the right shell exterior surface, a third strap being located on the shell back exterior surface closer to the left shell exterior surface than the right shell exterior surface, and a fourth strap being located on the shell back exterior surface closer to the right shell exterior surface than the left shell exterior surface.
10. The helmet of claim 1 further including one or more biasing mechanisms, wherein each biasing mechanism is coupled to both the shell and the neck shield and is configured to bias the neck shield downwardly.
11. The helmet of claim 10 wherein the one or more biasing mechanisms comprise elastomeric bands.
12. The helmet of claim 1, wherein each strap of the plurality of elongated straps are coupled to the shell with one or more rivets.
13. The helmet of claim 1 wherein the first end of each strap is coupled to one of the left, right and back shell exterior surfaces at a first location about 2.5\u2033 or more above a second location wherein the second end of each strap is coupled to the neck shield exterior surface generally proximate the top edge.
14. The helmet of claim 1 wherein a distance between interior surfaces of a left portion and a right portion of the neck shield is at least 0.20\u2033 greater than a distance between corresponding left and right exterior surfaces of the shell where the neck shield overlaps the shell.
15. An extension for attachment to a military helmet, the extension comprising:
a generally horseshoe-shaped rigid neck shield including a top edge, a bottom edge, an exterior surface and an interior surface, the interior surface including a plurality of generally horizontally-extending inwardly projecting ridges;
a plurality of elongated flexible straps; each strap having a first end and a second end, the first end of each strap being coupled to the exterior surface; and
a plurality of attachment means, each attachment means being located proximate the second end of a corresponding strap, the attachment means adapted to couple the strap to the military helmet, the distance between the location wherein the first end is coupled to the exterior surface and the attachment means is about 2.5\u2033 or more;
wherein the neck shield is adapted to hang from the plurality of straps when the straps are coupled to the military helmet using the plurality of attachment means with the top edge of the neck shield overlapping the outside surface of the military helmet and the neck shield covering at least a substantial portion of a back and sides of a person’s neck.
16. The extension of claim 15, wherein the neck shield has a top portion with a substantially vertical cross section and a bottom portion integral with and extending from the top portion, the bottom portion flaring outwardly proximate the bottom edge.
17. The extension of claim 15, wherein the first end of each strap is coupled to the neck shield proximate the top edge thereof.
18. A military helmet comprising:
a generally hemispherical-shaped rigid shell adapted to fit over the head of a person and cover a substantial portion of the person’s crown when worn, the shell comprising a ballistic material and having a shell bottom rim, a left shell exterior surface, a right shell exterior surface and a back shell exterior surface;
a generally horseshoe-shaped rigid neck shield partially overlapping the shell back exterior surface and at least portions of the shell left and shell right exterior surfaces proximate the bottom rim, the neck shield comprising a ballistic material and including a top edge, a bottom edge, a neck shield exterior surface and a neck shield interior surface, the neck shield interior surface including a plurality of horizontally-extending spaced inwardly projecting ridges disposed thereon, the neck shield being adapted to cover at least a substantial portion of back and sides of the person’s neck when the military helmet is worn; and
three or more elongated straps comprised of a flexible stretch resistant material having a high tensile strength, each strap having a first end and a second end, the first end of each strap being attached to one of the left, right and back exterior surfaces, the second end of each strap being coupled to the neck shield exterior surface generally proximate the top edge, each strap being substantially straight and vertically disposed when the helmet is being worn by the person when the person is in an upright position;
wherein a first vertical distance between an attachment point of each strap of the plurality of straps to the shell and the top edge of the neck shield is equal to or greater than a second vertical distance between the bottom rim of the shell directly below the strap and the bottom edge of the neck shield.
19. The military helmet of claim 18, wherein the neck shield has a generally vertical cross section except for a bottom portion proximate the bottom edge that flares outwardly.
20. The helmet of claim 18 wherein the first end of each strap is coupled to one of the left, right and back shell exterior surfaces at a first location about 2.5\u2033 or more above a second location wherein the second end of each strap is coupled to the neck shield exterior surface generally proximate the top edge.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A fastener for attaching to a body tissue, having a longitudinal direction, a proximal end, and a distal end, and comprising:
a head portion disposed near the proximal end of the fastener, and having a proximal surface, a distal surface, and a passage that extends through the head portion from the proximal surface to the distal surface;
a body portion extending from the distal surface of the head portion in the longitudinal direction; and
an anchoring element extending from the body portion, and comprising at least one barb at least partially disposed adjacent the distal end of the fastener.
2. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the at least one barb has a proximal end and a distal end, and wherein the barb’s proximal end is wider than the barb’s distal end, as measured in a direction orthogonal to longitudinal direction.
3. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the at least one barb further comprises an upper facet and a lower facet, said facets tapering to an angled leading edge.
4. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the anchoring element comprises two barbs disposed on opposite sides of the fastener.
5. The fastener of claim 4, wherein the two barbs are longitudinally offset from each other.
6. The fastener of claim 2, wherein the anchoring element comprises two barbs disposed on opposite sides of the fastener.
7. The fastener of claim 6, wherein distal ends of the two barbs are longitudinally offset from each other.
8. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the head portion further comprises at least one anchor tab disposed on the distal surface of the head portion.
9. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the passage is a bore.
10. The fastener of claim 9, wherein the bore is rectangular.
11. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the fastener is made of absorbable material.
12. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the passage is a channel.
13. The fastener of claim 1, wherein the distal head face and proximal head face are substantially flat surfaces.
14. An applicator for applying a barbed fastener to a body tissue, the applicator comprising:
an elongated tubular portion having a longitudinal axis extending from a proximal end to a distal end and having a tube interior accessible by proximal and distal tube openings, the tube interior being sized and configured for receiving the barbed fastener;
an indexer disposed at least partially inside the tube interior, the indexer having an elongated indexer body member and a fastener engaging portion adapted to engage the barbed fastener and move the barbed fastener from an initial fastener position in the tube interior to a firing position as the indexer moves from a first longitudinal position to a second, more distal longitudinal position; and
a driver disposed at least partially inside the tube interior, the driver having a driver engaging portion at its distal end, the driver engaging portion being adapted to engage the barbed fastener in the firing position and selectively apply an ejection force to the barbed fastener, thereby ejecting the barbed fastener from the tube interior through the distal opening.
15. The applicator of claim 14, wherein the ejection force is applied to the barbed fastener by the driver as the driver is moved distally from a pre-firing driver position to a distal-most driver position adjacent the distal tube opening.
16. The applicator of claim 15 wherein a biasing force is applied to the driver by a spring when said driver is in the pre-firing driver position, said biasing force serving to bias the driver toward the distal-most driver position.
17. The applicator of claim 15 wherein the applicator is configured for operation through a repeatable operation cycle comprising:
an initial stage, in which the indexer is in its first longitudinal position and the driver is in its distal-most position;
a pre-firing stage, in which the indexer is in its second, more distal longitudinal position and the driver is in its pre-firing position; and
a post-firing stage, in which the indexer is in its second, more distal longitudinal position, and the driver is in its distal-most position.
18. The applicator of claim 17, wherein the indexer and driver are operably coupled with an actuation assembly configured to selectively control and coordinate movement of the indexer and driver from their initial stage positions to their pre-firing stage positions, from their pre-firing stage positions to their post-firing stage positions, and from their post-firing stage positions back to their initial stage positions.
19. The applicator of claim 18, wherein the actuation assembly comprises a trigger configured for rotational movement between an initial trigger position, a pre-firing trigger position and a post-firing trigger position, the trigger and actuation assembly being adapted so that movement of the trigger from the initial trigger position to the pre-firing trigger position causes the indexer and driver to move from their initial stage positions to their pre-firing stage positions, further movement of the trigger to the post-firing trigger position causes the indexer and driver to move from their pre-firing stage positions to their post-firing stage positions, and movement of the trigger back to the initial trigger position causes the indexer and driver to move from their post-firing stage positions back to their initial stage positions.
20. The applicator of claim 14, wherein the barbed fastener comprises a head portion having a fastener passage formed therethrough and wherein the elongated indexer body member is configured for slidable disposition through the fastener passage.
21. The applicator of claim 14, wherein:
the tube interior is sized and configured for receiving one or more additional fasteners substantially identical to the barbed fastener, the additional fasteners being serially positionable within the tube interior proximal to the barbed fastener along the longitudinal axis,
the indexer has one or more additional engaging portions adapted to engage the additional fasteners and to move each of the additional fasteners from a first longitudinal fastener position to a second more distal longitudinal fastener position at the same time the indexer moves the barbed fastener from its initial fastener position to its firing position.
22. The applicator of claim 21, wherein the second longitudinal position of the distal-most of the additional fasteners is the same as the initial fastener position of the barbed fastener.
23. The applicator of claim 21 further comprising: means for preventing the additional fasteners from moving in a proximal direction when the indexer returns from its second, more distal longitudinal position to the first longitudinal position.
24. The applicator of claim 21, wherein the elongated tube portion comprises one or more lance tabs projecting inward from an inner surface of the elongated tube portion at an angle toward the distal end of the elongated tube portion and capable of flexing outward, the lance tabs being configured to engage and prevent the proximal movement of the additional fasteners while allowing their distal movement by the indexer.
25. A method of applying a fastener to a pre-determined target insertion point on a body tissue, comprising:
providing a fastener having a head portion having a passage formed therethrough, an anchoring element configured for engaging the body tissue, and a body portion extending distally from the head portion to connect the anchoring element thereto;
providing a fastener applicator comprising
an elongated tubular portion having a longitudinal axis extending from a proximal end to a distal end and having a tube interior accessible by proximal and distal tube openings,
an indexer disposed at least partially inside the tube interior, the indexer being adapted to selectively move the fastener from an initial position to a firing position adjacent the distal tube opening, and
a driver disposed at least partially inside the tube interior, the driver being adapted to engage the fastener in the firing position and selectively apply an ejection force to the fastener;
placing the fastener in the initial position within the tube interior;
causing the indexer to selectively move the fastener from the initial position to the firing position;
positioning the distal opening of the tube assembly adjacent the target insertion point; and
causing the driver to apply the ejection force to the fastener, thereby ejecting the fastener through the distal opening and into the body tissue at the target insertion point.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the ejection force is applied to the barbed fastener by the driver as the driver is moved distally from a pre-firing driver position to a distal-most driver position adjacent the distal tube opening.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein a biasing force is applied to the driver by a spring when said driver is in the pre-firing driver position, said biasing force serving to bias the driver toward the distal-most driver position.
28. The method of claim 25, wherein the applicator includes an actuation assembly having a trigger configured for rotational movement between an initial trigger position, a pre-firing trigger position and a post-firing trigger position, the trigger and actuation assembly being adapted so that movement of the trigger from the initial trigger position to the pre-firing trigger position causes the indexer to move the fastener from the initial position to the firing position, further movement of the trigger to the post-firing trigger position causes the driver to apply the ejection force to the fastener, thereby ejecting the fastener through the distal opening and into the body tissue at the target insertion point.