U.S. patent application number 11/858569 was filed with the patent office on 2009-01-01 for sun visor assembly and safety helmet having the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to HJC CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Joong Koo Ahn, Weon Yeol Choi.
Application Number | 20090000015 11/858569 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40152827 |
Filed Date | 2009-01-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090000015 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ahn; Joong Koo ; et
al. |
January 1, 2009 |
SUN VISOR ASSEMBLY AND SAFETY HELMET HAVING THE SAME
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a safety helmet; and, more
particularly, to a safety helmet having an extended sun visor
capable of preventing light from entering directly into eyes of a
helmet wearer. A safety helmet includes a cap having a front
opening portion; a sun visor fixed on the cap to be protruded from
an upper portion of the front opening portion toward the front; and
an extended member located on a front end portion of the sun visor
to pivot about the sun visor.
Inventors: |
Ahn; Joong Koo;
(Gyeonggi-do, KR) ; Choi; Weon Yeol; (Gyeonggi-do,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PEARNE & GORDON LLP
1801 EAST 9TH STREET, SUITE 1200
CLEVELAND
OH
44114-3108
US
|
Assignee: |
HJC CO., LTD.
Gyeonggi-do
KR
|
Family ID: |
40152827 |
Appl. No.: |
11/858569 |
Filed: |
September 20, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/422 ; 2/12;
2/425 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A42B 3/227 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/422 ; 2/12;
2/425 |
International
Class: |
A42B 1/24 20060101
A42B001/24; A42B 3/00 20060101 A42B003/00; A42B 3/22 20060101
A42B003/22; A63B 71/10 20060101 A63B071/10 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 26, 2007 |
KR |
10-2007-0063323 |
Claims
1. A safety helmet comprising: a cap having a front opening
portion; a sun visor fixed on the cap to be protruded from an upper
portion of the front opening portion toward the front; and an
extended member located on a front end portion of the sun visor to
pivot about the sun visor.
2. The safety helmet of claim 1, wherein the extended member is
connected to both lower end sides of the sun visor.
3. The safety helmet of claim 1, wherein the extended member
includes a translucent or opaque region.
4. The safety helmet of claim 1, wherein the safety helmet further
comprises a pivot controlling mechanism for pivoting the extended
member about the sun visor in a step by step.
5. The safety helmet of claim 4, wherein the pivot controlling
mechanism includes a protrusion formed on a lower side of the sun
visor and more than one grooves, formed on an upper side of the
extended member, for accommodating therein the protrusion when the
extended member pivots about the sun visor.
6. The safety helmet of claim 5, wherein the pivot controlling
mechanism includes a separation preventing portion, formed on a
rear end portion of more than one grooves, for supporting the
protrusion, and controls a pivot angle of the extended member with
respect to the sun visor.
7. The safety helmet of claim 4, wherein the pivot controlling
mechanism further includes magnetic members, attached on the lower
side of the sun visor and the upper side of the extended member,
for connecting with each other.
8. The safety helmet of claim 5, wherein the pivot controlling
mechanism further includes an engaged portion formed adjacent to
one groove except for a front and a rear groove among said more
than one grooves and a stopper accommodated in the engaged portion
when the protrusion is accommodated in said one groove.
9. A sun visor assembly fixed on a front portion of a cap of a
safety helmet, the sun visor assembly comprising: a sun visor fixed
on the cap of the safety helmet having a front opening portion; an
extended member located on a front end portion of the sun visor to
pivot about the sun visor.
10. The sun visor assembly of claim 9, wherein the extended member
is connected to both lower end sides of the sun visor.
11. The sun visor assembly of claim 9, wherein the extended member
has a translucent or opaque region.
12. The sun visor assembly of claim 9, wherein the safety helmet
further comprises a pivot controlling mechanism for pivoting the
extended member about the sun visor in a step by step.
13. The sun visor assembly of claim 12, wherein the pivot
controlling mechanism includes a protrusion formed on a lower side
of the sun visor and more than one grooves, formed on an upper side
of the extended member, for accommodating therein the protrusion
when the extended member pivots about the sun visor.
14. The sun visor assembly of claim 13, wherein the pivot
controlling mechanism includes a separation preventing portion,
formed on a rear end portion of more than one grooves, for
supporting the protrusion, and controls a pivot angle of the
extended member with respect to the sun visor.
15. The sun visor assembly of claim 12, wherein the pivot
controlling mechanism further includes magnetic members, attached
on the lower side of the sun visor and the upper side of the
extended member, for connecting with each other.
16. The sun visor assembly of claim 13, wherein the pivot
controlling mechanism further includes an engaged portion formed
adjacent to one groove except for a front and a rear groove among
said more than one grooves and a stopper accommodated in the
engaged portion when the protrusion is accommodated in said one
groove.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a safety helmet; and, more
particularly, to a safety helmet having an extended sun visor
capable of preventing light from entering directly into eyes of a
helmet wearer.
BACKGROUND
[0002] When driving a two-wheeled vehicle such as a motorcycle, a
safety helmet must be worn to protect the head of the rider.
Further, such safety helmet generally has a visor capable of
allowing the rider to normally breathe, and at the same time,
obtaining field of vision by protecting light and wind generated
from the front while driving the motorcycle.
[0003] In general, the visor may be classified into a wind shield
visor for protecting the wearer's eyes from the wind and a sun
visor for protecting the wearer's eyes from the light. Such visors
function to block the wind and the light by independently mounting
the wind shield visor and the sun visor on the helmet or by making
the visor to have a limited permeability against the light.
[0004] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional safety
helmet. As shown in FIG. 1, the safety helmet includes a cap 1; a
sun visor 4 extended from a front opening portion 2 in a front
direction and fixed to both side surfaces 3 of the cap 1.
[0005] According to some conventional techniques, a configuration
of allowing the sun visor 4 to pivot about the cap 1 within a
limited angle range has been proposed. However, such configuration
has a problem that a complicated connection mechanism has been
required in order to connect the sun visor 4 with the cap 1 such
that the sun visor 4 is rotatable within the limited angle
range.
[0006] In the meantime, if the sun visor 4 is fixed to the cap 1,
the connecting mechanism can become simple. However, exterior light
may enter directly into the front opening portion 2 according to
the incident angle of the exterior light, and therefore, the
original function that the sun visor 4 blocks the exterior light
can not be accomplished.
SUMMARY
[0007] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to
provide a sun visor assembly and a safety helmet having the same,
wherein the sun visor assembly has a simple configuration and is
easy to control a pivot angle thereof according to the incident
angle of the light.
[0008] In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, there is
provided a safety helmet including a cap having a front opening
portion; a sun visor fixed on the cap to be protruded from an upper
portion of the front opening portion toward the front; and an
extended member located on a front end portion of the sun visor to
pivot about the sun visor.
[0009] In accordance with another embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a sun visor assembly fixed on a front portion of
a cap of a safety helmet, the sun visor assembly including a sun
visor fixed on the cap of the safety helmet having a front opening
portion; an extended member located on a front end portion of the
sun visor to pivot about the sun visor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The disclosure may best be understood by reference to the
following description taken in conjunction with the following
figures:
[0011] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional safety
helmet;
[0012] FIG. 2 offers an assembly perspective view of a safety
helmet in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an extended member of a sun
visor of the safety helmet in accordance with the embodiment of the
present invention;
[0014] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate operation of the extended member
in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a diagram of showing an effect in a state that a
user wears the safety helmet in accordance with the embodiment of
the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 6 provides a perspective view of showing magnetic
members provided in the safety helmet in accordance with the
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0017] FIGS. 7A to 7C shows a partially enlarged view in which the
sun visor and the extended member are connected with each other in
accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] In the following description, numerous specific details are
set forth. It will be apparent, however, that these embodiments may
be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In
other instances, well known process steps or elements have not been
described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the
disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 2 offers an assembly perspective view of a safety
helmet in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0020] The safety helmet includes a cap 100 provided with a front
opening portion; a sun visor 200 fixed to the cap 100 to be
protruded from an upper portion of the front opening portion toward
a front direction; and an extended member 300 connected to a front
end portion of the sun visor 200, the extended member 300 pivoting
about the sun visor 200.
[0021] A fixing groove 110 formed on both side surfaces of the cap
100 and a fixing protrusion 210 formed on a rear portion of an
inner surface of the sun visor 200 are connected with each other,
thereby fixing the sun visor 200 to the cap 100. However, the
fixing groove 110 and the fixing protrusion 210 are not limited to
the above mentioned configuration. That is, they may be a concave
and a project having a polygonal shape, and also, may be joint
members like a screw and a nut. It is sufficient as long as the
fixing groove 110 and the fixing protrusion 210 can connect and fix
the cap 100 and the sun visor 200 with each other.
[0022] Further, the extended member 300 is pivotally connected to
the sun visor 200 by connecting pins 320 protruded from both side
surfaces of a rear portion of the extended member 300 in a
lengthwise direction thereof to grooves 220 formed on both inner
side surfaces of a front portion of the sun visor 200.
[0023] The sun visor 200 fixed to the cap 100 can block large
amount of light coming directly into the front opening portion of
the cap 100, but it is possible that there is light not to be
protected by the sun visor 200. In this case, the light coming
directly into the front opening portion can be blocked by
controlling the pivot angle of the extended member 300 with respect
to the sun visor 200.
[0024] Further, the extended member 300 may be configured to
include a translucent or opaque region. The opaque region is used
to completely shut out the light, and the translucent region is
used to block large amount of the light and to obtain the front
field of vision against the extended member 300.
[0025] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the extended member 300 of
the sun visor 200 of the safety helmet in accordance with the
embodiment of the present invention.
[0026] The extended member 300 includes pins 320 pivotally
connected to the grooves 220 of the sun visor 200; magnetic members
330, attached to the front portion of the extended member 300, for
joining the sun visor 200 with the extended member 300; a groove
portion 380, connected to a central rear portion of the extended
member 300 to have a connection with the sun visor 200 in a step by
step; an engaged portion 340 formed adjacent to a central groove
382 except a front groove 381 and a rear groove 383; and a
separation preventing portion 390 formed adjacent to the rear
groove 383.
[0027] The pins 320 are protruded from both sides of the rear
portion of the extended member 300 in the lengthwise direction
thereof. Further, the pins 320 are pivotally connected to the
grooves 220 of the sun visor 200, thereby pivotally connecting the
extended member 300 to the sun visor 200.
[0028] The magnetic members 330 are attached to an upper side of
the front portion of the extended member 300. Further, if the
extended member 330 pivots about the sun visor 200 at a maximum
angle in a front direction, the magnetic members 330 are contacted
with magnetic members 230 (which will be describe later) attached
to a lower side of the front portion of the sun visor 200, thereby
fixing the sun visor 200 to the extended member 300.
[0029] The groove portion 380 has a plurality of grooves at the
central portion of the extended member 300, and functions to
connect the sun visor 200 with the extended member 300. The number
of grooves of the groove portion 380 depends on the number of times
of pivoting the extended member 300 about the sun visor 200 in a
step-by-step. In accordance with the embodiment of the present
invention, the groove portion 380 is configured to have three
grooves 381 to 383.
[0030] Further, the engaged portion 340 is formed adjacent to the
central groove 382 among the groove portion 380. Accordingly, when
the central groove 382 is connected to the sun visor 200, the
engaged portion 340 is additionally connected to the sun visor
200.
[0031] The separation preventing portion 390 is formed to be
protruded from the rear groove 383 toward the upper side of the
extended member 300, and supports protrusion 240 (which will be
describe later) of the sun visor 200. When the extended member 300
pivots about the sun visor 200 at a maximum angle in the front
direction, the separation preventing portion 390 functions to limit
the pivot angle of the extended member 300.
[0032] The joining operation of the groove portion 380, the
separation preventing portion 390 and the engaged portion 340 will
be described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7C.
[0033] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate operation of the extended member
in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.
[0034] FIG. 4A offers a diagram in a state that the extended member
300 pivots about the sun visor 200 at a maximum angle in a rear
direction, and is fixed to the sun visor 200. If a wearer of the
safety helmet in accordance with the embodiment of the present
invention wants to block light which is not blocked by the sun
visor 200 while driving a motorcycle, the wearer pushes the
separation preventing portion 390 of the extended member 300 along
the arrow direction (shown in FIG. 4A) at first. If the separation
preventing portion 390 located at the rear portion of the extended
member 300 is pushed up, the front portion of the extended member
300 pivots about the sun visor 200 in a lower direction.
Accordingly, the magnetic members 230 and 330 are separated so that
the extended member 300 can pivot about the pin 320.
[0035] Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4B, the light which is not
blocked may be additionally blocked by pivoting the extended member
300 about the sun visor 200 in the front direction.
[0036] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an effect when a rider wears the
safety helmet in accordance with the embodiment of the present
invention.
[0037] In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention,
since the sun visor 200 is fixed to the cap 100, light which is not
blocked by the sun visor 200 may be come into the eye of the wearer
according to the angle of the light. The light which is not blocked
can be additionally blocked by moving the extended member 300
capable of pivoting about the sun visor 200 in a front direction
(marked by a dashed line)
[0038] FIG. 6 provides a diagram showing magnetic members provided
in the safety helmet in accordance with the embodiment of the
present invention.
[0039] Referring to FIG. 6, if the extended member 300 pivots about
the sun visor 200 at the maximum angle in the rear direction, the
magnetic members 230 attached to the lower side of the front
portion of the sun visor 200 and the magnetic members 330 attached
to the upper side of the front portion of the extended member 300
are connected and fixed to each other. Accordingly, the pivot angle
of the extended member 300 is limited not to be pivoted in a rear
direction, and at the same time, the extended member 300 is
strongly joined to the sun visor 200 so that the extended member
300 may not be allowed to pivot in a front direction when driving
the motorcycle.
[0040] In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention,
although the sun visor 200 and the extended member 300 are
respectively provided with two magnetic members 230 and 330, they
are provided with a single central magnetic member and more than
three magnetic members may be attached thereto. However, it is
sufficient as long as the magnetic member can fix the sun visor 200
and the extended member 300 with each other. For example, the sun
visor 200 and the extended member 300 may be fixed with each other
by using a hook member or adhesive member.
[0041] The joining operation of the sun visor 200 and the extended
member 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 7A to 7C.
[0042] The sun visor 200 and the extended member 300 are connected
and fixed to each other by a pivot controlling mechanism. The pivot
controlling mechanism includes the protrusion 240 formed on the
inner side of the central portion of the sun visor 200 and
protruded toward the lower side of the sun visor 200; the groove
portion 380, formed on the rear portion of the extended portion
300, for accommodating therein the protrusion 240; the separation
preventing portion 390 located adjacent to the rear groove 383 and
protruded toward the upper side of the extended member 300; the
magnetic members 230 and 330 attached to the sun visor 200 and the
extended member 300, respectively; the engaged portion 340 located
adjacent to the central groove 382; a stopper 250 formed on a rear
position of the protrusion 240 and protruded toward the lower side
of the sun visor 200.
[0043] FIG. 7A is a partially enlarged diagram in which the
extended member 300 pivots about the sun visor 200 at a maximum
angle in the front direction in accordance with the embodiment of
the present invention.
[0044] As shown in FIG. 7A, if the extended member pivots at the
maximum angle in the front direction, the protrusion 240 is
accommodated in the rear groove 383. Here, since the separation
preventing portion 390 located adjacent to the rear groove 383
supports the protrusion 240, the pivot angle of the extended member
300 in the front direction is limited due to the separation
preventing portion 390 and the protrusion 240, if the wearer wants
to pivot the extended member 300 in the front direction.
[0045] If the wearer pushes the extended member 300 in the rear
direction, the protrusion 240 leaves from the rear groove 383 and
moves toward the rear direction. During the rear movement of the
extended member 300, the protrusion 240 is again accommodated in
the central groove 382 so that the extended member 300 is fixed to
the sun visor 200. However, it may be easy for the protrusion 240
to leave from the central groove 382 if a strong impact or a power
toward the front is applied to the extended member 300. In result,
the extended member 300 slides down toward the front direction
against the wearer's intention.
[0046] Accordingly, by accommodating the stopper 250 of the sun
visor 200 in the engaged portion 340 of the extended member 300
when the protrusion 240 is accommodated in the central groove 382,
the above-described sliding of the extended member 300 can be
prevented.
[0047] The engaged portion 340 may be formed to have a
predetermined elasticity. That is, if force is applied to the
engaged portion 340 when one end of the engaged portion 340 is
contacted to the lower side of the stopper 250, the engaged portion
340 is bent down by the elasticity. Thereafter, if the stopper 250
is accommodated in the engaged portion 340, the engaged portion 340
is restored to the original state, thereby connecting the stopper
250 to the engaged portion 340.
[0048] As shown in FIG. 7c, if the wearer pivots the extended
member 300 at the maximum angle in the rear direction, the
protrusion 240 leaves from the central groove 382, and then, is
accommodated in the front groove 381. Further, the stopper 250
leaves from the engaged portion 340 to be a separated state.
[0049] Like the above-described separation preventing portion 390,
the engaged portion 340 and the stopper 250, the magnetic members
230 and 330, which function to limit the pivot angle of the sun
visor 200 with respect to the extended member 300 are attached to
the sun visor 200 and the extended member 300, respectively.
Accordingly, if the extended member 300 is pivoted at the maximum
angle in the rear direction, the sun visor 200 and the extended
member 300 are fixed with each other by the magnetic members 230
and 330. For the reason, the pivot angle of the extended member 300
with respect to the sun visor 200 is limited, and further, the
extended member 300 and the sun visor 200 are firmly fixed with
each other.
[0050] In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention,
the sun visor assembly can be configured by adopting the simple
connecting configuration of the sun visor and the extended member,
thereby effectively blocking the light.
[0051] Furthermore, in accordance with the embodiment of the
present invention, there is provided the safety helmet including
the sun visor assembly having the simple connecting configuration
of the sun visor and the extended member, thereby effectively
blocking the light.
[0052] While the invention has been shown and described with
respect to the embodiments of the present invention, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and
modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
* * * * *