In this post I am going to talk about the manufacturing of the helmet. The helmet outer shell is constructed using a plastic called poly-carbonate alloy. The poly-carbonate alloy arrives at the manufacturing plant in pellet form—in boxes of thermoplastic pellets. The pellets are loaded into an injection-molding machine, melted, and forced into a mold the size of a football helmet. It takes about one minute to mold one shell. Shells come in small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes. Then, a multi-drill fixture drills 14-15 holes into the mold. Next they assemble air-liners to go inside the helmet. These air-liners inflate to make sure that the helmet fits correctly and helps in dispersing the energy of an impact. Other special liners contain special foams and elastic materials. Like air, these materials are designed to absorb energy and decrease the impact of a blow to the head. The foam-based liners are made in several pieces—one is for the back, neck, sides and top of the helmet. To make the special foams for the liner, large sheets of foam are cut to size. Then, a vinyl encasement is cut to size. A piece of vinyl is loaded into a vacuum former. The pieces of the foam are put into the vinyl and thermoformed to make an airtight seal. Another layer of vinyl is placed on top of the thermoform. Face masks are then attached. There are several different styles of face masks. The face masks are made out of steel wire and coated with plastic. There also are three different versions of plastic face masks. The chin straps are then attached and there you have an American football helmet

Hello my name is Karl. This is my blog on The Geography of American Football. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave a comment.