We claim:
1. A sport equipment for protection of the cervical spine of a user, comprising;
a helmet;
a pair of shoulder pads;
a pair of cylinders affixed to said helmet and to said shoulder pads,
a valve mounted between said shoulder pads, and
tubing joining said cylinders to said valve;
said valve being a pilot-operated valve having a threshold pressure of operation and means to allow an unrestricted flow inside said tubing when a pressure in said tubing is less than said threshold pressure, and means to block said flow when a pressure in said tubing is above said threshold pressure.
2. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a sport vest, and said valve is mounted to a back portion of said vest.
3. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cylinders are mounted to said helmet by means of ball and socket joints.
4. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said ball and socket joints has a detachable engagement comprising a retaining clip.
5. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said ball and socket joints has a limited sway angle.
6. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cylinders are mounted to said shoulder pads by means of ball and socket joints.
7. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said cylinder is a double-rod-end cylinder.
8. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of said cylinders is held to said helmet by means of a first ball and socket joint having a stem extending perpendicularly from a casing thereof, and is held to one of said shoulder pads by means of a second ball and socket joint having a stem extending longitudinally from a rod end thereof.
9. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of each of said first and second ball and socket joints has a detachable engagement comprising a retaining clip.
10. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said first and second ball and socket joints has a limited sway angle.
11. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said threshold pressure of operation is 8 psi.
12. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cylinders, said tubing and said valve form a closed circuit.
13. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 12, wherein said closed circuit contains vegetable oil.
14. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said valve is a two-position, spring-return, normally-open, pilot-operated valve.
15. A sport equipment for protection of the cervical spine of a user, comprising;
a helmet;
a pair of shoulder pads;
a pair of double-rod-end cylinders affixed to said helmet and to said shoulder pads,
a valve mounted between said shoulder pads, and
tubing joining said cylinders to said valve;
each of said cylinders is held to said helmet by means of a first ball and socket joint having a stem extending perpendicularly from a casing thereof, and is held to one of said shoulder pads by means of a second ball and socket joint having a stem extending longitudinally from a rod end thereof.
said valve being a pilot-operated valve having a threshold pressure of operation of about 8 psi, said valve further having means to allow an unrestricted movement of said cylinders when a pressure in said tubing is less than said threshold pressure, and means to block all flow of fluid to and from said cylinders when a pressure in said tubing is above said threshold pressure.
16. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 15, wherein each of said first and second ball and socket joints has a detachable engagement comprising a retaining clip.
17. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 16, wherein each of said first and second ball and socket joints has a limited sway angle.
18. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a sport vest, and said valve is mounted to a back portion of said vest.
19. A sport equipment for protection of the cervical spine, comprising;
a helmet;
a pair of shoulder pads;
a pair of air bags affixed to said helmet and to said shoulder pads,
a valve mounted between said shoulder pads, and
tubing joining said air bags to said valve;
said valve being a pilot-operated valve having a threshold pressure of operation, said valve further having means to allow an unrestricted flow of air from one of said air bags to the other when a pressure in said tubing is less than said threshold pressure, and means to block all flow of air to and from said air bags when a pressure in said tubing is above said threshold pressure.
20. The sport equipment as claimed in claim 19 wherein each of said air bags is connected to said helmet by means of a stiff brace, and each of said air bags has a curved pad on the lower side thereof for attachment to a shoulder pad of a hockey equipment.
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 grid sensor for measuring impedance distribution of a fluid in a measuring cross-section of a flow channel, comprising:
a sensor body including a conduit wall forming an inner boundary of a measuring flow conduit,
first and second grids of electrode wires that are insulated from one another and from the conduit wall of the measuring flow conduit, said electrode wires being attached in an electrically insulated manner to said sensor body such that each of said electrode wires span the a cross-section of the measuring flow conduit along a span direction, first ones of said electrode wires of said first grid intersecting, without touching, second ones of said electrode wires of said second grid at a pre-specified distance, and each of said electrode wires being individually electrically connectable from outside said sensor body;
a spring being disposed in a hole in said sensor body, each of said electrode wires being mechanically connected via an insulating bead to said spring, an axis of the hole being in the span direction of a corresponding one of said electrode wires, and the spring being attached to said sensor body in the hole;
each of said electrode wires being covered, on a side opposing said spring, with an insulating tube that is disposed in a channel in said sensor body that leads outward therefrom,
said insulating tube terminating in a cavity inside said channel which is filled with a sealing mass,
neither said insulating bead nor the insulating tube being disposed in the measuring cross-section.
2. A grid sensor in accordance with claim 1, wherein:
said hole in said sensor body in which said spring is disposed is a blind hole that extends from inside the measuring flow conduit in the span direction of a corresponding one of said electrode wires into said sensor body; and
said spring is a tensile spring which does not have any connection to outside of said sensor body.
3. A grid sensor in accordance with claim 2, wherein said tensile spring is detachably attached to a pin or a screw that is inserted into a bore perpendicular to the span direction of said corresponding one of said electrode wires that terminates in said blind hole for receiving said tensile spring.
4. A grid sensor in accordance with claim 3, wherein said pin detachably attaches said tensile spring and said tensile spring is fixed in position by a pressure ring.
5. A grid sensor in accordance with claim 1, wherein:
said hole in said sensor body in which said spring is disposed is a through-bore in said sensor body; and
said spring is a compression spring that is disposed in the through-bore, and which is positioned in the span direction of a corresponding one of said electrode wires against an edge formed by a sectional constriction of said through-bore such that said corresponding one of said electrode wires is attached to a side of said compression spring that opposes said edge.
6. A grid sensor in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of said electrode wires is covered within said insulating tube, on a side of said sensor body opposing said spring, with a metal cannula to which said wire is sealingly and securely connected outside of said sensor body.
7. A method of measuring impedance distribution of a fluid in a measuring cross-section of a flow channel comprising disposing the grid sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 4 to 6 in said flow channel.