U.S. patent application number 11/316232 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-21 for safety helmet and components thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to Artisent, Inc.. Invention is credited to Edward R. Hall, Duco W. Noordzij, Charles H. Rogers, David C. Rogers.
Application Number | 20060206994 11/316232 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37008720 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060206994 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rogers; David C. ; et
al. |
September 21, 2006 |
Safety helmet and components thereof
Abstract
An improved headband provides adjustment to fit the shape and
size of the wearer's head as well as stand-off from the inner
surface of the helmet shell. When the wearer's head is fitted
properly in the headband, the headband desirably resists
displacement toward the helmet shell in all directions.
Inventors: |
Rogers; David C.; (Boston,
MA) ; Noordzij; Duco W.; (Roxbury, MA) ; Hall;
Edward R.; (Somerville, MA) ; Rogers; Charles H.;
(Halifax, MA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP;PATENT ADMINISTRATOR
EXCHANGE PLACE
BOSTON
MA
02109-2881
US
|
Assignee: |
Artisent, Inc.
Boston
MA
|
Family ID: |
37008720 |
Appl. No.: |
11/316232 |
Filed: |
December 22, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60662063 |
Mar 15, 2005 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/418 ;
2/416 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A42B 3/145 20130101;
A42B 3/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
002/418 ;
002/416 |
International
Class: |
A42B 1/22 20060101
A42B001/22 |
Claims
1. An interior head-retention element for use in connection with a
safety helmet, the retention element comprising: a. an
adjustable-size headband for engaging a wearer's head; and b. a
plurality of stand-off attachment elements, disposed about the
headband, for facilitating spaced-apart attachment of the headband
to the helmet, the stand-off elements yieldably resisting movement
of the helmet toward the wearer's head.
2. The retention element of claim 1 wherein the stand-off
attachment elements each comprise a generally U-shaped member.
3. The retention element of claim 2 wherein the U-shaped member is
folded over a plurality of bending lines that accommodate at least
horizontal flexure.
4. The retention element of claim 3 wherein the bending lines
further accommodate vertical flexure.
5. The retention element of claim 1 comprising at least three
stand-off attachment elements disposed evenly around the
headband.
6. The retention element of claim 1 comprising at least four
stand-off attachment elements disposed evenly around the
headband.
7. The retention element of claim 3 wherein the stand-off
attachment elements have directions of horizontal flexure that
intersect within the headband.
8. The retention element of claim 1 wherein the stand-off
attachment elements each comprise an off-round engagement member
for engaging the helmet so as to resist rotation with respect
thereto.
9. A safety helmet comprising: a. a shell; b. an adjustable-size
headband for engaging a wearer's head; and b. a plurality of
stand-off attachment elements, disposed about the headband, for
facilitating spaced-apart attachment of the headband to the shell,
the stand-off elements yieldably resisting movement of the shell
toward the wearer's head.
10. The helmet of claim 9 wherein the stand-off attachment elements
each comprise a generally U-shaped member.
11. The helmet of claim 10 wherein the U-shaped member is folded
over a plurality of bending lines that accommodate at least
horizontal flexure.
12. The helmet of claim 11 wherein the bending lines further
accommodate vertical flexure.
13. The helmet of claim 9 comprising at least three stand-off
attachment elements disposed evenly around the headband.
14. The helmet of claim 9 comprising at least four stand-off
attachment elements disposed evenly around the headband.
15. The helmet of claim 9 wherein the stand-off attachment elements
have directions of horizontal flexure that intersect within the
headband.
16. The helmet of claim 9 further comprising off-round engagement
members for engaging the stand-off attachment elements to the shell
so as to resist rotation with respect thereto.
17. The helmet of claim 9 further comprising an energy-absorbing
impact liner disposed beween the headband and the shell.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application claims priority to, and the benefits
of, U.S. Ser. No. 60/662,063, filed Mar. 15, 2005, the entire
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to safety helmets, in particular a
headband for adjusting and securing the helmet to a wearer's
head.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Helmets for head protection are worn in a variety of
environments and for various purposes. Protective helmets generally
have a spherically shaped rigid outer shell which covers the head
and is secured to the user's head by means of a flexible chin
strap. Various approaches have been used to adapt helmets to fit
the variety of head shapes and sizes of different users. One such
approach is to suspend a flexible headband within the interior of
the helmet and provide a way to adjust the girth of the band to fit
the user's head. While this approach adapts easily to different
head shapes and sizes, it cannot absorb impact energy and therefore
provides little protection against trauma, especially from the side
of the helmet. Because of the importance of protecting the head
against blunt trauma, recent refinements in helmets have replaced
the headband with pads or a liner made of a compressible material,
such as foam, situated between the user's head and the helmet
shell. In these designs, however, it is difficult to provide both a
comfortable and secure fit because low-density material, which has
benefits with respect to comfort, allows the helmet to move too
easily and provides less impact protection. Higher-density
materials can absorb impact energy but do not adapt well to
different head sizes and shapes. There remains a need, therefore,
to fit a helmet to the user's head in a manner that is adjustable,
comfortable, secure, stable, yet which provides protection against
trauma.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present invention improves on conventional approaches to
fitting a safety helmet by providing a flexible headband that can
be adjusted to fit the shape and size of the wearer's head and
which also provides stand-off from the inner surface of the helmet
shell. The stand-off provides space within which impact-absorbing
materials may be situated in order to absorb blunt impact
energy.
[0005] The headband generally comprises a flexible (e.g., plastic)
band that may be fabricated as a thin, flat component which is
curved into a circular shape by, for example, joining its ends
together. In a preferred embodiment, the band is fabricated by
injection molding to create and control the features described
below, but alternative fabrication techniques as are well known in
the art can also be used. The ends of the band are desirably joined
at the back of the wearer's head in a manner that allows adjustment
of the circumference of the headband. This may be accomplished, for
example, by providing one or more tabs molded on one end which snap
into any of two or more spaced slots in the other end, thereby
providing multiple positions for joining the ends, each of which
corresponds to a smaller or larger circumference for the headband.
Other well-known means for adjusting the circumference of the
headband, such as frictional engagement, hook-and-loop fasteners,
clasps, etc., may also be used.
[0006] The headband further comprises a plurality of connecting
arms to facilitate joining the headband to the helmet shell at
multiple positions. For example, in embodiments with four
connecting arms, two are positioned on each side, one is in front
and the other is in back. In a preferred embodiment the connecting
arms are molded with thin bands oriented to provide bending lines,
sometimes referred to as "living hinges." These bending lines allow
the arms to flex horizontally and vertically. Each connecting arm
has an aperture for engaging a fastener to join the headband to the
helmet shell. The connecting arm may, for example, be joined to the
helmet using an anchor having an off-round (e.g., square or
angular) post that allows the connecting arm to resist rotation.
The connecting arm so connected is constrained to flex in a
direction approximately perpendicular to the surface of the helmet
shell. When at least two of the connecting points are oriented so
that the directions of flexure intersect at a point inside the
diameter of the circular headband, the headband resists
displacement toward the helmet shell.
[0007] As noted above, impact liner materials may be to be placed
in the top of the helmet and optionally in the space between the
headband and the helmet shell. Softer "comfort" pads may be
positioned between the impact liner and the wearer's head to
provide a cushioned surface in contact with the wearer's head. The
positional security provided by the improved headband of the
present invention means that the impact liner and comfort pads need
not play a significant role in the fit or retention of the helmet.
This allows greater choice of materials and shapes than is the case
with helmets that rely on the energy absorbing materials to also
provide positional security.
[0008] Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention comprises an
interior head-retention element for use in connection with a safety
helmet. The retention element comprises an adjustable-size headband
for engaging a wearer's head, and a plurality of stand-off
attachment elements, disposed about the headband, for facilitating
spaced-apart attachment of the headband to the helmet. The
stand-off elements yieldably resist movement of the helmet toward
the wearer's head. The resistance is yieldable in the sense that
impact energy is at least partially absorbed rather than
transmitting the energy, through excessive resistance, to the
wearer.
[0009] In preferred embodiments, the stand-off attachment elements
each comprise a generally U-shaped member. For example, as
described above, each U-shaped member may be folded over a
plurality of bending lines that accommodate at least horizontal,
and desirably some vertical flexure. The stand-off attachment
elements desirably have directions of horizontal flexure that
intersect within the headband.
[0010] In another aspect, the invention comprises a helmet
incorporating the head-retention element described above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer
to the same parts throughout the different views. Also, the
drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally
being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In
the following description, various embodiments of the present
invention are described with reference to the following drawings,
in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a user with safety
helmet in place;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the safety helmet shown in FIG.
1, taken along the line 2-2;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the safety helmet shown in FIG.
1, taken along the line 3-3;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the headband of the present
invention removed from the helmet; and
[0016] FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a portion of the headband and
other components of a helmet retention system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a helmet 10 is shown
secured to the wearer's head by a pair of flexible straps 13a, 13b
secured to the helmet 10 by respective screws 15a, 15b. The
flexible straps 13a, 13b at the front of the helmet join with
straps 13c, 13d from the back of the helmet and are secured at the
chin by means of a flexible strap 16, which scoops beneath and may
cup the chin. A detachable buckle comprising a male component 19a
and a female component 19b may be used to secure the straps. When
the buckle is detached, separating the components 19a, 19b, the
chin strap 13 is released, allowing the wearer to remove the helmet
10.
[0018] With reference to FIG. 2, which shows the helmet from the
right side of the wearer (including an outline of the wearer's head
for reference), the left half of the headband 22 of the present
invention is shown secured at the front left side of the helmet 10
by a screw 15b, and at the back left side by another screw 15c. An
impact-absorbing liner 28 may be positioned between the wearer's
head and the helmet shell 10. The impact liner can be formed from
conventional materials such as expanded polypropylene (EPP),
expanded polyethylene (EPE), expanded polystyrene (EPS), or
visco-elastic foam. Other impact-absorbing structures taught in
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,777,062 and 6,032,300 may also be used to
advantage.
[0019] Softer pads (representatively shown at 31a, 31b, 31c) may be
positioned between the wearer's head and the impact material 28 to
provide a cushioned surface in contact with the wearer's head. By
way of example, such comfort pads may be made from urethane foam or
EVA foam.
[0020] FIG. 3 shows the headband 22 of present invention attached
to the helmet shell 10 by a pair of screws 15a, 15b in front and
another pair of screws 15c, 15d in back. The impact liner 28 and
the comfort pads 31a-31e are positioned at the top of the
helmet.
[0021] FIG. 4 shows the headband 22 removed from the helmet. The
headband is preferably fabricated from a flexible plastic such as
nylon or polypropylene and molded as a flat band that may be curved
into a circular shape with the narrowed end 34a passing through a
slot 35 in the other end 34b to join the two ends of the headband
at the back of the wearer's head. Headband end 34a is molded with
tabs (not shown) sized and spaced appropriately to match a series
of slots 36 formed in headband end 34b. Providing more slots 36
than tabs in the headband allows the wearer to select from multiple
positions for joining the ends 34a, 34b, each position
corresponding to a smaller or larger circumference for the
headband, thus allowing the wearer to select a position that is
comfortable yet secure.
[0022] The headband 22 further has a pair of front connecting arms
37a, 37b and a pair of rear connecting arms 40a, 40b. The
connecting arms 37 may be shaped to have preferred bending lines or
"living hinges" (as indicated, for example, at 43a, 43b), which
allow the corresponding arm 37 to be bent approximately 90 degrees
(e.g., from vertical to horizontal), and another set of bending
lines (as indicated, for example, at 46a, 46b) which allow the
corresponding arm 37 to be bent approximately a further 90 degrees
(e.g., from horizontal to vertical) to join the headband 22 to the
helmet shell.
[0023] As best seen in FIG. 5, the connecting arm 37b is joined
through a hole 49 to the helmet shell 10 in the manner explained
below, thereby allowing the connecting arm 37b to resist rotation.
The headband 22 so connected is able to flex a small amount
vertically, which brings the wearer's head into contact with the
comfort pads 31 (see FIG. 3). In the horizontal plane, the headband
22 flexes only in the direction shown by the arrows in FIG. 4,
i.e., approximately perpendicular to the shell at the points where
the headband is joined to the shell. It is desirable that no two
connecting arms have directions of flexure that are substantially
parallel; in a headband configuration with four connecting arms,
for example, the opposing arms are oriented so that the directions
of flexure are not aligned with one another. In the preferred
embodiment, at least two such connecting points are oriented so
that the directions of flexure intersect at a point within the
contour defined by the headband. This helps the headband resist
displacement toward the helmet shell, keeping the wearer's head
centered and therefore providing space for impact absorption.
[0024] FIG. 5 illustrates details of an exemplary mode of attaching
connecting arm 37b to the helmet shell 10; connecting arms 37a, 40a
and 40b have the same assembly components. The headband 22 is
mounted to the shell 10 by passing the post 52 of an anchor 55
through hole 49 in the connecting arm 37b, and also through the
hole 58 in the helmet shell 10, then securing it using the screw
15b. The off-round (e.g., polygonal--square, for exmaple--or
angular) shape of the post 52 and the matching shape of the hole 49
allow the connecting arm to resist rotation within the hole 49. The
anchor 55 may also include a contour 61 formed to match a
complementary recession 64 molded into the connecting arm 37b to
further aid in resisting rotation.
[0025] The attachment of the energy absorbing liner 28 to the
helmet shell 10 may be accomplished by providing a tab 67 having a
hole 70 therethrough. The tab 67 may be formed directly as part of
the liner 28 if a material such as polypropylene is used for the
liner 28, or co-molded if a softer material such as EPE is used.
The attachment is made by passing the anchor post 52 through hole
70, thereby capturing the tab 67 between the connecting arm 37b and
the helmet shell 10. A chin-strap component may be attached to the
anchor 55 by passing the strap 13b through slot 73. A comfort band
76 made of a soft material, such as compressible urethane or EVA
foam, may be added on the side of the headband 22 facing the
wearer's head and secured using, for example, hook-and-loop
fasteners to improve comfort.
[0026] Having described certain embodiments of the invention, it
will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other
embodiments incorporating the concepts disclosed herein may be used
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The
described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only
illustrative and not restrictive.
* * * * *