There is provided a surface-treated copper foil including a surface coating layer provided on at least one surface of a copper foil, the surface coating layer being mainly composed of silicon with a hydrogen content of 1 to 35 atomic % and/or a carbon content of 1 to 15 atomic %. This foil can be manufactured by forming a surface coating layer composed mainly of silicon with the above hydrogen and carbon contents on at least one surface of the copper foil by PVD or CVD. The present invention can provide a copper foil with a surface coating layer that can achieve a high bonding strength to a resin layer even if the copper foil has an extremely smooth surface such as one formed by vapor deposition, for example, sputtering and also has a desirable insulation resistance suitable for achieving a fine pitch in a printed wiring board.

An apparatus for providing a target for a projectile comprises an elongate member extending between first and second ends, sized to span a playing surface. The apparatus further comprises first and second support legs extending from the first and second ends of the elongate member, each of the first and second support legs having a length selected to position the elongate member above and outside of a possible path of the projectile and a plurality of lights located on the elongate member selectable by a user to provide a visual target for a user. After the elongate member is positioned above and outside a possible path of the projectile a desired path for the projectile is selected and one of a plurality of lights on the elongate member to provide a visual target for a user expected to produce the desired path in the projectile is illuminated.

A football board game for playing a game board version of football between opposing players is provided. The game comprises a game table having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a side wall around the complete perimeter of the game table. First and second legs are secured to the bottom surface of the game table with the legs extendable to support the game table above a surface and retractable to a position against the bottom surface of the game table. A carpeted football field is mounted to the top surface of the game table and configured to represent a standard football field and marked appropriately with yard lines, goal lines, and yardage. Two field goalposts are positionable on opposite ends of the football field. Also included are a set of thirty-two NFL cards, a pair of dice, two team figure helmets, and two yellow time out cards.

A shooting range including a shooting station positioned at one end of a firing lane. A projectile trap is disposed at an opposite end of the firing lane for collecting projectiles fired from the shooting station. The projectile trap comprises a deceleration chamber defined by a first scroll wall and a second scroll wall for dissipating kinetic energy of the projectiles and a funneling portion for directing projectiles into the deceleration chamber. The first scroll wall is curved and has a concave surface. The first scroll wall is positioned so that the concave surface of the first scroll wall generally faces in a direction towards the shooting station. The first scroll wall comprises a steel body substrate and has an enhanced impact resistant portion. The enhanced impact resistant portion has an impact resistant layer comprising a plurality of ceramic particles and a binding material bound to a forward facing surface of the steel body substrate.

Disclosed is a dart game apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention in order to implement the aforementioned object. The dart game apparatus includes: a dart target having a plurality of score areas; a sensing module configured to sense an electrical signal changed as a dart pin hits the dart target; a controller configured to control an overall operation of the dart game apparatus; and a camera module configured to include a plurality of camera units, wherein the camera module includes a first camera unit configured to photograph a throw line which is a location where a player throws a dart and a whole body of the player, a second camera unit configured to photograph at least a part of a body for identifying the player, a third camera unit configured to photograph the entirety of the dart target, and a fourth camera unit configured to photograph at least a partial area in an area formed between the throw line and the dart game apparatus in order to photograph a blind zone which is not photographed by the first camera unit, the second camera unit, and the third camera unit.

A method of automatically generating a calibration file for a card handling device comprises automatically generating a calibration file stored in memory of a main control system for a card handling device. Automatically generating the calibration file comprises identifying at least one parameter associated with a rank area around a rank of at least a portion of the card, identifying at least one parameter associated with a suit area around a suit of the at least a portion of the card, and storing the at least one parameter associated with the rank area and the at least one parameter associated with the suit area in the calibration file. Additionally, a method of automatically generating deck libraries for one or more decks of cards comprises automatically generating a plurality of master images for the cards of the first deck type using the parameters from the calibration file.

A heat-insulating shroud for facilitating temperature control of a heated article includes a flexible cover, made from a heat-insulating material, for covering a surface of the heated article, at least one air inlet defined in a first section of the flexible cover, and at least one air outlet defined in a second section of the flexible cover. In a cooling mode of operation, the flexible cover defines an air channel over the surface of the heated article for channeling an air stream from the air inlet(s) over the surface of the heated article towards the air outlet(s). The channeling of the air stream facilitates cooling the heated article. In a heat-conservation mode of operation, the flexible cover of heat-insulating material insulates the heated article from heat loss. Each air outlet may have a closure that opens during the cooling mode of operation and closes during the heat-conservation mode of operation.

Disclosed is a heat exchanger including: a heat exchanger body; a gas inlet for introducing exhaust gas into the heat exchanger body; a coolant inlet for introducing a coolant into the heat exchanger body; a gas outlet for discharging the exhaust gas that is cooled by heat exchange with the coolant; and a coolant outlet for discharging the coolant that completes heat exchange with the exhaust gas. In this case, the heat exchanger body includes: a laminated tube core formed by laminating a plurality of gas channels side by side; a housing formed so as to enclose the laminated tube core except for opposite ends thereof; and a wave fin plate integrally provided with a plurality of wave fins and arranged within each of the gas channels, wherein each of the wave fins includes a fixed pitch section, and a variable pitch section.

Integrated heat spreaders having electromagnetically-formed features, and semiconductor packages incorporating such integrated heat spreaders, are described. In an example, an integrated heat spreader includes a top plate flattened using an electromagnetic forming process. Methods of manufacturing integrated heat spreaders having electromagnetically-formed features are also described.

Methods and apparatus to parallelize data decompression are disclosed. An example method adjusting a first one of initial starting positions to determine a first adjusted starting position by decoding the bitstream starting at a training position in the bitstream, the decoding including traversing the bitstream from the training position as though first data located at the training position is a valid token; and merging, by executing an instruction with the processor, first decoded data generated by decoding a first segment of the compressed data bitstream starting from the first adjusted starting position with second decoded data generated by decoding a second segment of the compressed data bitstream, the decoding of the second segment starting from a second position in the compressed data bitstream and being performed in parallel with the decoding of the first segment, and the second segment preceding the first segment in the compressed data bitstream.

The pulse width modulator includes a subtraction unit configured to perform subtraction between an m value digital signal and a pulse width modulation signal; a feedforward filter unit configured such that a ΔΣ modulator to which an output signal of the subtraction unit is input and which includes integrators of a second order or higher is in cascade connection, and configured to operate with a sampling frequency FS; a product-sum computing unit configured to operate with a sampling frequency (FS/n) (n: an integer of two or more) to perform product-sum computing of an output signal of each integrator of the feedforward filter unit; and a pulse width modulation unit configured to operate with the sampling frequency (FS/n) to perform pulse width modulation of an output signal of the product-sum computing unit to output a pulse width modulation signal.

Disclosed are an apparatus and method for compressing continuous data. The apparatus for compressing continuous data may include a data generator configured to calculate differences between adjacent values in original continuous data and generate data based on the calculated differences.

Disclosed are methods and systems for significantly compressing sparse multidimensional ordered series data comprised of indexed data sets, wherein each data set comprises an index, a first variable and a second variable. The methods and systems are particularly suited for compression of data recorded in double precision floating point format.

An ultrasound device including an asynchronous successive approximation analog-to-digital converter and method are provided. The device includes at least one ultrasonic transducer, a plurality of asynchronous successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converters (ADC) coupled to the at least one ultrasonic transducer, at least one asynchronous SAR in the plurality having a sample and hold stage, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a comparator, and control circuitry, wherein a DAC update event following at least one bit conversion is synchronized to a corresponding DAC update event of at least one other ADC in the plurality of ADCs.

Aspects of dynamic data compression selection are presented. In an example method, as uncompressed data chunks of a data stream are compressed, at least one performance factor affecting selection of one of multiple compression algorithms for the uncompressed data chunks of the data stream may be determined. Each of the multiple compression algorithms may facilitate a different expected compression ratio. One of the multiple compression algorithms may be selected separately for each uncompressed data chunk of the data stream based on the at least one performance factor. Each uncompressed data chunk may be compressed using the selected one of the multiple compression algorithms for the uncompressed data chunk.

Continuous-time analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) such as continuous-time delta-sigma ADCs and continuous-time pipeline ADCs, has input resistor structure at the input. The input resistor structure is typically tunable, and the tunability is usually provided by metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) switches. Core MOSFETs, which has a terminal-to-terminal voltage

A probabilistic digitizer for extracting information from a Josephson comparator is disclosed. The digitizer uses statistical methods to aggregate over a set of comparator readouts, effectively increasing the sensitivity of the comparator even when an input signal falls within the comparator's gray zone. Among other uses, such a digitizer may be used to discriminate between states of a qubit.

A circuit and a method for converting an analog signal to a digital value representation is disclosed. In one aspect, the circuit includes an incremental sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The circuit further includes a first input line for providing a primary analog signal representing a sensor measurement to the incremental sigma-delta ADC. The circuit further includes a second input line for providing a secondary analog signal to the incremental sigma-delta ADC. The incremental sigma-delta ADC receives the primary and secondary analog signals during a first period (TADC1) and a second period (TADC2), respectively. The circuit further includes a filter configured to weight the digital values in a sequence of digital values output by the incremental sigma-delta ADC, and to output a single digital value representing the sensor measurement.

Method for producing a uranium concentrate in the form of solid particles, by precipitation from a uranium-containing solution using a precipitating agent, in a vertical reactor comprising a base, a top, a central part, an upper part, and a lower part, the solid particles of the uranium concentrate forming a fluidized bed under the action of a rising liquid current which circulates from the base towards the top of the reactor successively passing through the lower part, the central part and the upper part of the reactor, and which is created by introducing a liquid recycling current (flow) at the base of the reactor, said liquid recycling current being tapped at a first determined level (A) in the upper part of the reactor and sent back without settling to the base of the reactor, excess liquid being also evacuated via an overflow located at a second determined level (B) in the upper part of the reactor; a method in which the upper limit (C) of the fluidized bed of solid particles is controlled so that it is positioned at a level below the first and second determined levels.

The present invention relates to a process for the wet production of granules from powdered materials, in particular raw materials for the production of glass. The process of the invention comprises the following successive steps: (i) the powdered materials to be granulated are divided into at least two portions: a first portion and a second portion; (ii) a binder liquid is added to the first portion of powdered materials; (iii) the first mixture thus obtained is agglomerated in the granulator in order to obtain granules (a); (iv) the second portion of powdered materials is added to the granulator; and (v) the new mixture obtained is agglomerated in the granulator in order to obtain granules (b). This sequenced granulation process allows granules to be obtained that have a degree of moisture that assures their stability and their ease of handling eliminating the drying step.

The present invention relates to means and methods for producing crystals or crystalline substances. In particular, crystals or crystalline substances which are useful as pharmaceutical ingredients can be manufactured.

This invention refers to a novel process to obtain magnesium hydroxide and sodium sulfate from a solid raw material, which contains sodium and magnesium soluble salts, preferably in the form of sulfates, coming from a natural source or as a byproduct of an industrial process. The process consisting in the conditioning of the raw material to guarantee the correct concentrations of sodium and magnesium sulfates that is subjected to a salting-out crystallization when mixed with sodium sulfate obtaining sodium sulfate; the resulting solution is subjected to an alkali treatment to precipitate the magnesium hydroxide and the mother liquor is fed to a regeneration stage of the alkali used in the precipitation of the magnesium hydroxide as well in the sodium sulfate solution for the crystallization. The crystallization can be performed as a multistage process countercurrent to increase the purity of sodium sulfate.

Method for the production of a coarse-grained ammonium sulphate product by crystallization and installation for carrying out the method from an ammonium sulphate solution in a DTB type crystallizer having an internal suspension circuit and a clarifying zone, from which a clarified partial flow of solution is constantly drawn off into an external circuit, is heated in a heat exchanger to dissolve the solids contained therein and is guided back as a clear solution into the lower region of the crystallizer. A fine crystal suspension flow is drawn off from the clarifying zone as a further partial flow and guided back into the internal circuit of the crystallization stage without any previous dissolution of the solid proportion contained therein.

The invention provides a process comprising: a crystallization step of concentrating and crystallizing the ammonium salt of sulfuric acid from an aqueous solution that contains the ammonium salt of sulfuric acid; a solid-liquid separation step of solid-liquid separating the ammonium salt of sulfuric acid obtained in the crystallization step, and a crystallization mother liquid recycling step of recycling a crystallization mother liquid obtained in the solid-liquid separation step to at least one step selected from the crystallization step and one or more steps that precede the crystallization step, in which not all of the crystallization mother liquid is recycled.

A method of producing a titanium dioxide pigment is provided. Also provided is a method of improving the processability of titanium dioxide particles without adversely affecting the rheological properties of the titanium dioxide particles.

Mineral, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, agricultural, nutraceutical, and other compositions are produced using a mineral composition containing minimal concentrations of cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury and containing relatively high concentrations of micro and macro mineral elements, of rare earth elements, of calcium, and of silica. The mineral concentrations are produced by processing naturally occurring clay soil to concentrate mineral elements naturally occurring in the soil.

A method of producing a surface-treated carbon black powder dispersion includes subjecting carbon black fine particles having a volume average particle size of 100 nm to 20 μm to wet granulation and drying by heating to obtain granulated carbon black having a hardness of 12 cN or less and a pH of less than 7, grinding the granulated carbon black to obtain a ground product having a volume average particle size of 20 nm to 20 μm, and subjecting the ground product to wet oxidization in an aqueous medium. The resulting surface-treated carbon black powder dispersion exhibits excellent print density, print quality, discharge stability, and storage stability when used as an inkjet printer aqueous black ink.

A process for producing granules containing one or more complexing agent salts of the general formula from an aqueous starting solution, containing the one or more complexing agent salts in a concentration of from 10 to 80% by weight, based on the total weight of the aqueous starting solution, in a jet apparatus.

The present invention pertains to a process for producing sodium chloride comprising the steps of (i) preparing a brine comprising at least 150 g/l of sodium chloride by dissolving a sodium chloride source in water, (ii) subjecting the resulting brine to a eutectic freeze crystallization step by indirect cooling of said brine, resulting in the formation of ice, sodium chloride dihydrate, and a mother liquor, (iii) separating the sodium chloride dihydrate formed in step (ii) from the ice and optionally mother liquor at the eutectic temperature, such that a sodium chloride dihydrate-rich stream is formed, and (iv) feeding said sodium chloride dihydrate-rich stream to a recrystallizer to form sodium chloride and a mother liquor.

The present invention relates to compositions and methods to increase the output of a high quality product from the precipitation liquor crystallization process exemplified through the aluminum hydroxide recovery processes such as the Bayer process. The invention is a method of increasing the size of precipitates from a liquor. The invention in one embodiment relates to the use of a crystal growth modifier compositions added to the precipitation process to increase the particle size distribution of the precipitated alumina trihydrate.

Aspects of the present invention relate to a process to obtain potassium chloride that includes submitting brine to concentration, separating brine after concentration, resulting in a first solid content and a first liquid content, cooling the first liquid content, separating the first liquid content after cooling, thus resulting in a second solid content and a second liquid content, enriching the second solid content, and separating the second solid content after enrichment, thus resulting in a third solid content and a third liquid content. Aspects of this process are environmentally safe, as the process includes stages using solvents and equipment which does not harm the environment. Moreover, aspects of this process present a significant energy consumption reduction.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of granules comprising the steps of: providing a granulation zone comprising particles, the particles being kept in motion; providing a first feed stream comprising a liquid composition into the granulation zone, the liquid composition being applied onto or over the moving particles in the granulation zone; withdrawing a product stream comprising granules from the granulation zone, the granules being the result of layered growth of the moving particles in the granulation zone; wherein a second feed stream comprising granulation nuclei is fed into the granulation zone, wherein the granulation nuclei have a particle size distribution characterized by a standard deviation of the particle size that is less than 15% of the mean particle size, and wherein the second feed stream comprises between 0.05 wt % and 50 wt % of the product stream.

A process for the production of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate out of trona, comprising crushing trona ore and dissolving it in a leaching tank containing a solution comprising sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, and an additive selected from the group consisting of: phosphates, phospholipids, carboxylates, carboxilic acids, and combinations thereof, saturated in sodium bicarbonate, in order to produce solid particles suspended in a production solution comprising sodium carbonate, the solid particles containing insoluble impurities and at least 65% by weight of sodium bicarbonate. The solid particles are separated from the production solution containing sodium carbonate. At least part of the production solution containing sodium carbonate is taken out of the leaching tank.

A system and a method are provided that take a potentially dangerous waste product and process the product to create a marketable asset. The system and method are configured to create “tb” from “tbgs” by removing the volatility that exists in the “tbgs.” The resultant “tb” may be substantially non-volatile.

The present invention pertains to a process for producing sodium chloride comprising the steps of: (i) preparing a brine having a sodium chloride concentration which is higher than the sodium chloride concentration of the eutectic point but lower than the sodium chloride concentration of a saturated brine by dissolving a sodium chloride source in water; (ii) cooling the resulting brine by indirect cooling in a self-cleaning fluidized bed heat exchanger/crystallizer to a temperature lower than 0° C. but higher than the eutectic temperature of the resulting brine, thereby forming a slurry comprising sodium chloride dihydrate and a mother liquor; (iii) feeding the sodium chloride dihydrate to a recrystallizer to form sodium chloride and a mother liquor, and (iv) recycling at least part of the mother liquor obtained in step (ii) and/or step (iii) to step (i).

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing composite carbon fibers in which two or more carbon fibers are dispersed in a nearly homogenous state, the composite carbon fibers capable of being easily dispersed in a matrix such as a resin without leaving aggregate, and imparting low resistance. Disclosed is a method for producing composite carbon fibers, which comprises imparting a cavitation effect to slurry containing 6% by mass or less of two or more carbon fibers each having a different average fiber diameter under a pressure of 100 MPa or more and less than 245 MPa thereby to form a composite.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of articles of manufacture made of or based on sulphur, which comprises cooling of liquid sulphur in a volume of containment until the sulphur mass solidifies and forming of the product, characterized in that elastic pressure waves are applied to the cooling mass of liquid sulphur to produce a crystalline suspension of solid sulphur in liquid sulphur.

Process for the combined regeneration of at least two soluble salts contained in a residue of an industrial process comprising heavy metals, comprising: adding an amount of reactive aqueous solution needed to completely dissolve the salts which are desired to be regenerated to the residue; subjecting the resulting aqueous suspension to a separation to obtain an aqueous production solution on the one hand and insoluble impurities on the other hand, which are removed; successively subjected the aqueous production solution to at least two selective crystallization steps intended to crystallize, separately, the at least two soluble salts which are desired to be regenerated, which are washed, dried and regenerated separately; and adjusting the concentration of at least one of the soluble salts to be regenerated in the aqueous production solution, at the moment when such solution is subjected to the step of crystallization of this salt, to give rise to the selective crystallization of this salt, by addition of a controlled amount of this salt to the aqueous production solution upstream of the crystallization step.

In one embodiment, a method for producing a naturally purified salt product such as magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, wherein the salt mixture is treated with a solution comprising magnesium chloride; the first slurry is separated to provide a second slurry, which is further separated to yield a first liquid stream; the first liquid stream is crystallized to provide the naturally purified salt product. In another embodiment, a high purity salt product is produced. In another embodiment, other products that are produced include naturally purified sodium chloride and magnesium chloride.

Provided is a method and an apparatus for purifying potassium nitrate from the solid waste produced by a chemical glass-strengthening process. In the method, the solid waste is melted into a liquid waste at first. Potassium nitrate of various purity grades can be obtained by batch processing the liquid waste through stepwise cooling processes of cooling the liquid waste to a first temperature facilitating the potassium nitrate contained in the liquid waste to be crystallized at a first rate and then cooling the liquid waste to a second temperature close to the freezing point of the potassium nitrate at a second rate that is slower than the first rate. The recovered potassium nitrate from the solid waste can be recycled and reused.

A process is provided for preparing a salt product with reduced sodium content including the step of providing a concentrated brine, which is typically seawater, to which has been added potassium chloride. The mixture is transferred to a crystallizer unit where at least a portion of the mix is transferred to the crystallizer through a washing column. Liquid is evaporated from the crystallizer such that crystals form, crystals are passed from the crystallizer through said washing column to a separating unit such that in the passing through the washing column the crystals are rinsed with the brine portion being transferred as a counter current through the column. The inventive process is characterized by recycling of the brine from which the salt crystallizes, thus all main ingredients of the mixed input brine reach a steady equilibrium concentration in the mother liquor in the crystallizer. These will then precipitate as crystals, as more of the respective substances gets added to the mother liquor through inflow of mixed input brine. None of the liquor is purged out of the system as in conventional salt crystallizers. All the components in the feed are substantially contained in the product from the crystallizer either as crystalline material or soluble ingredients.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fine crystal particle production method and device that are excellent in mixing efficiency. This object is achieved by a method for producing fine crystal particles, comprising: a swirl flow producing step at which a swirl flow of liquid a comprising reactant A is supplied into a cylinder having a circumferential surface partially or wholly composed of a porous membrane; and a reaction step at which liquid b comprising reactant B which is reactive with the reactant A is supplied through the porous membrane to the swirl flow to effect mixing, whereby the reactants A and B are reacted to precipitate fine crystal particles.

A production saltwater disposal facility comprising a separator configured to receive production saltwater from a pipeline or a vehicle and separate hydrocarbons from the production saltwater, wherein the production saltwater received from the pipeline or vehicle is substantially the same composition as when the production saltwater was located in a subterranean formation, a hydrocarbon storage tank configured to receive hydrocarbons from the separator, a settling pit configured to receive the production saltwater from the separator and separate metals and/or other solids from the saltwater, an evaporator in fluid communication with the settling pit and comprising a nozzle configured to emit a stream of the saltwater along a path in air such that water in the saltwater evaporates, and a collection pit positioned under the path and configured to collect the salt from the saltwater after the water has evaporated.

Catalyst activator, in particular, a catalyst activator for heat conditioning a catalyst. The activator includes a vessel for containing a catalyst charge having an internal diameter of at least 1.2 meters and/or an internal volume of at least 5 m3; a fluidisation grid plate disposed in the vessel, the fluidisation grid plate having an upper major surface and a lower major surface; an array of generally conical depressions in the upper major surface that overlap by less than 17%; and an array of holes perforating the fluidisation grid plate, the holes extending from at least some of the generally conical depressions through the lower surface.

An elastic wave device including a substrate, an interdigital transducer (IDT) electrode provided on an upper surface of the substrate, a first wiring electrode provided on the upper surface of the substrate and connected to the IDT electrode, a dielectric film that does not cover a first region of the first wiring electrode but covers a second region of the first wiring electrode above the substrate, the first wiring electrode including a cutout in the second region, and a second wiring electrode that covers an upper surface of the first wiring electrode in the first region and an upper surface of the dielectric film in the second region above the substrate.

A MEMS piezoelectric device includes a monolithic semiconductor body having first and second main surfaces extending parallel to a horizontal plane formed by first and second horizontal axes. A housing cavity is arranged within the monolithic semiconductor body. A membrane is suspended above the housing cavity at the first main surface. A piezoelectric material layer is arranged above a first surface of the membrane with a proof mass coupled to a second surface, opposite to the first surface, along the vertical axis. An electrode arrangement is provided in contact with the piezoelectric material layer. The proof mass causes deformation of the piezoelectric material layer in response to environmental mechanical vibrations. The proof mass is coupled to the membrane by a connection element arranged, in a central position, between the membrane and the proof mass in the direction of the vertical axis.

A fog-resistant structure and a protective device for eyes is configured such that a transparent conductive film is formed on one surface of a lens or shield, a linear electrode is provided on upper and lower portions of the surface of the lens or shield so that each of a central region and opposite side regions of the lens or shield has substantially equal spacing between the upper and lower linear electrodes. Thus each region of the lens or shield has no difference in temperature without regulating power supplied to the transparent conductive film, thereby eliminating wasted power consumption and allowing even a structure using a battery as the power supply to have much longer available time.

An embodiment of a leg protector of the present disclosure includes an upper thigh pad that is structurally attached to an upper bracing shell including lateral and medial uprights. The upper shell and thigh pad can be held to the player via a strap and/or garment. The uprights extend to uni- or polycentric hinges arranged on, and in one embodiment biased against, either side of the player's knee. A connecting member extends in a frontward direction from each hinge and attaches to a patella pad held in place over the player's knee. The patella pad may additionally be connected to the thigh pad via one or more connecting strip. Each hinge is also connected to a lower bracing shell, which includes lateral and medial uprights that extend down and around the player's lower leg, anteriorly or posteriorly. The lower shell can also be fitted via a strap or garment.

Protective gear is provided, such as, for example, protective headgear that includes a rigid helmet structure, an engagement system configured to engage a user's head, and a plurality of tethering devices coupled between the engagement system and the rigid helmet structure to suspend the rigid helmet structure from the user's head when the protective headgear is worn. The protective headgear further includes at least one damper coupled to one or more of the plurality of tethering devices to resist motion of the rigid helmet structure relative to the engagement system when the rigid structure is impacted during an impact event.

A protection device, system and/or method including a protection body portion adapted to be one or both of connected to or disposed on the lower edge of a wearer's headgear. In some implementations, the protection body portion may be triangular and the connecting of the device to headgear may include a removable connective component is located at the apex of a second edge and a third edge of the protection body portion at the farthest point from the headgear.