Corrugated Fiber Board < back

Corrugated fiber-board consists of fluted or “corrugated” paper (often reinforced with fiber), that is either sandwiched between two sheets of paper product or adhered to a single sheet. To put a finer point on it, this is the material most “cardboard” packing boxes are made from. Corrugated paper products date back to the 1850s and were used in the construction of hats and, by the 1870s, the common cardboard box.

In recent years, a few small companies and inventors have experimented with employing interlocking rows of corrugated paper to make a sort of honeycomb helmet liner for cycling helmets. Much like a crushable EPS foam, the cardboard honeycomb is designed to collapse during an impact and reduce the amount of force transferred to the wearer’s head. The corrugated material is typically coated with an acrylic waterproofing agent to prevent it from absorbing sweat.

Most of the helmets employing this material have been of the experimental, prototype variety, but at least one brand has introduced a helmet that pairs traditional crushable foam liner material (EPS) with the fiber-board honeycomb and a thermoplastic shell.

While corrugated fiber-board is a relatively inexpensive product, labor costs associated with assembly of the interlaced honeycomb structure may well exceed the costs of manufacturing many of the crushable foam liners already popular on the market.

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