ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,295,431, issued on May 13, was assigned to SPORT MASKA INC. (St-Laurent, Canada).
"Shoulder pads" was invented by Jean-Francois Beland (Montreal).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Protective shoulder pads, such as the type worn for playing ice hockey, including a central panel configured to cover a portion of a chest of the wearer and defining a centerline extending centrally therethrough, and two side panels partially overlapping the central panel and each disposed on opposite sides of a centerline of the central panel. Each of the side panels is rotatable relative to the central panel about a rotation axis located proximate an upper end of...