U.S. patent number 3,593,338 [Application Number 04/809,864] was granted by the patent office on 1971-07-20 for visor-latching construction in safety helmet.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Sierra Engineering Co.. Invention is credited to William H. Penny.
United States Patent |
3,593,338 |
Penny |
July 20, 1971 |
VISOR-LATCHING CONSTRUCTION IN SAFETY HELMET
Abstract
A device which is particularly adapted for holding a moveable
visor on a headgear in a predetermined position which includes a
tooth rack mounted on the headgear and a tooth clutch or latch jaw
mounted on and movable with the visor, the clutch jaw being
moveable between an engaged position where the teeth on the jaw
intermesh with the teeth on the rack to a disengaged position where
the teeth do not intermesh, the clutch jaw being moveable between
these positions responsive to the movement of a lever which is
readily accessible to the wearer of the headgear.
Inventors: |
Penny; William H. (Arcadia,
CA) |
Assignee: |
Sierra Engineering Co. (Sierra
Madre, CA)
|
Family
ID: |
25202377 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/809,864 |
Filed: |
March 24, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/427 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A42B
3/225 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A42B
3/18 (20060101); A42B 3/22 (20060101); A42b
003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;2/6,8,3 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Guest; Alfred R.
Claims
I claim:
1. A visored helmet having an open front and closed sides adapted
to be worn by a person, said helmet comprising:
a moveable visor lens;
visor lens runners mounted on opposed lateral edges of said visor
lens;
visor tracks mounted on the sides of said helmet and slidably
receiving said lens runners;
a toothed rack mounted on said helmet adjacent and parallel to a
said visor track;
a latch means including a latch jaw guide mounted on a lateral edge
of said visor lens adjacent said toothed rack;
a toothed latch jaw slidably mounted on said latch jaw guide, said
latch jaw being moveable between an engaged position where the
teeth on said jaw intermesh with the teeth on said rack and a
disengaged position where said teeth do not intermesh;
a lever moveably mounted on said latch jaw guide; and
a cam means including a cam surface and a cam pin means operatively
associated with said latch jaw and moveable responsive to the
movement of said lever whereby the movement of said lever moves
said latch jaw between said engaged and disengaged positions and
said visor is adapted to be held by said latch at various positions
relative to the open front of said helmet.
2. The visored helmet of claim 1 wherein said helmet is provided
with two visor lenses slidably mounted in superimposed relationship
to one another, a toothed rack on each side of said helmet adjacent
and parallel to respective visor tracks, and a latch operatively
associated with each of said lenses, said respective latches being
disposed on opposite sides of said helmet adjacent the said
respective toothed racks.
3. A visor construction for mounting on headgear wherein said visor
construction includes a transparent visor moveably mounted on said
headgear for movement between an extended position in the line of
sight of the wearer of said headgear and a retracted position out
of said line of sight, said visor construction comprising:
a visor track;
a visor lens runner slidably mounted on said track and carrying
said visor;
a toothed rack mounted on said headgear;
latch means mounted on said visor positioned in engageable
relationship with said rack, said latch means including;
a toothed latch jaw moveably mounted in a latch jaw guide for
movement between an engaged position where the teeth on said jaw
intermesh with the teeth on said rack and a disengaged position
where said teeth do not intermesh;
lever actuated cam means operatively associated with said latch jaw
and adapted to move said latch jaw between said positions, said
lever actuated cam means including;
a lever moveably mounted on said latch jaw guide adjacent said
latch jaw;
a cam surface on said latch jaw; and
a cam pin means moveable with said lever and operatively associated
with said cam surface whereby said latch jaw moves from one said
position to the other said position responsive to the movement of
said lever.
4. The visor construction of claim 3 wherein said cam means
includes a V-shaped cam slot in said latch jaw and a slot engaging
pin carried by said lever whereby the movement of said pin from the
apex to either leg of said V-shaped slot moves said latch jaw
positions.
Description
The present invention provides a device which is particularly
suitable for use with moveable visors on headgear pieces. The
clutch or latch device of this invention is operable under adverse
conditions. The ready accessibility of the lever to the wearer of
the headgear permits this clutch to be operated by a heavily gloved
hand with speed and accuracy. When the clutch device is affixed to
the moveable visor, it also serves as a handle to move the visor
from one desired position to another. The arrangement of the lever
is such that it operates when it is displaced in either direction
about a pivot point. When the wearer of the headgear pushes on the
lever in either direction, the lever moves to disengage the clutch
and then serves as a handle by which to move the visor to the
desired position. The result is that the wearer of the helmet only
makes one motion in one direction to accomplish both the
disengaging of the clutch and the movement of the visor.
The convenience and the efficient utility of this clutch device are
also very useful in many other structures where two elements of the
structure are moveable relative to one another but must be
releasably held in fixed relationship to one another at various
positions.
In the drawings there is illustrated:
FIG. 1, a side elevation of a dual visor helmet with a clutch or
latch device operatively associated with each visor;
FIG. 2, a broken side elevation partly in cross section of the dual
visor portion of the helmet illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 in FIG.
1;
FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, partially in cross section, of
the clutch device with the clutch shown in the engaged
position;
FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of the clutch device;
FIG. 6 is broken side elevation similar to FIG. 4 showing the
clutch in the disengaged position; and
FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the clutch device.
Referring particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated a
helmet 10, which is provided with a generally spherical curved
crown 12 and curved lobes 14 depending from the lower edge of the
crown at diametrically opposed sides thereof. When the helmet is
placed on the head of a wearer, lobes 14 cover and protect the
sides of the head and the ears of the wearer. The front opening of
the helmet is defined between the forward downwardly presented edge
16 of crown 12 and the forwardly presented edges of the side lobes
14. The face of the wearer is exposed through the opening thus
defined. In a typical helmet of the kind illustrated in the
drawings, the forward edge of the crown 16 extends across the
forehead of the wearer, approximately at the level of the
eyebrows.
In the visor construction represented in the drawings a visor
attachment 18 is secured to helmet 10. The visor construction
includes a visor housing 20 which is curved in both the horizontal
and vertical planes to embrace the forward portion of the helmet
crown 12 in the region directly above the forward crown edge 16.
The housing has a forwardly presented wall 22 along the upper edge
of which is a rearwardly directed flange 24. Flange 24 seats
against the outer surface of the helmet crown 12 to space the upper
edge of the forwardly presented housing wall 22 from the crown.
Indicated at 30 and 32 in FIGS. 2 and 3 are a pair of transparent
visors or lenses moveably mounted in spaced apart superimposed
relationship. Each transparent visor lens 30 and 32 is curved
horizontally and vertically to match the curvature of visor housing
20. The visor housing wall 22 and the visor lenses 30 and 32 are
circularly curved, in each vertical plane parallel to the
fore-and-aft plane of the symmetry of the helmet 10, about a common
axis extending normally to said planes. The two end edges of each
visor 30 and 32 are also circularly curved about a common axis.
Track members 27 and 29 are secured to the outer surface of helmet
10 at about the respective temples of the helmet 10 above and
forwardly of lobes 14. The visor lenses 30 and 32 are mounted at
their downwardly and rearwardly extending edge ends on visor lens
runners 34 and 36, respectively. Visor lens runners 34 and 36, see
FIG. 3, are received in respective visor tracks 28 and 26. The
respective visor tracks 26 and 28 are provided in the forwardly
presented sides of track members 27 and 29. The arcuate rearwardly
presented sides of track members 27 and 29 are provided with
toothed tracks 38 and 40, respectively. Track member 27 is affixed
to the exterior temple area of the right side of helmet 10. Track
member 29 is mounted to the interior temple area of visor housing
20 on the left side of helmet 10. Clutch or latch devices 42 and 44
are mounted on and moveable with respective visor lenses 30 and 32.
Clutch or latch devices 42 and 44 comprise respectively clutch jaw
guides 46 and 48, which are adapted to slidably receive and guide
toothed or latch jaws 50 and 52, respectively. Clutch jaws 50 and
52 are normally biased forwardly toward the respective toothed
racks 38 and 40 by means of respective clutch latch springs 54 and
56. Levers 58 and 60 cooperate through cam means to move clutch
jaws 50 and 52, respectively, out of engagement with respective
racks 38 and 40. Levers 58 and 60 are pivotally mounted to
respective clutch jaw guides 46 and 48 by means pivot pins 62 and
64, respectively. Levers 58 and 60 are shaped so that their lateral
sides enclose the open lateral sides of respective clutch jaw
guides 46 and 48 and thus serve to confine and guide clutch jaws 50
and 52 slidably along a channel in operative relationship to racks
38 and 40. The upper and lower sides of the levers 58 and 60
overlap and enclose the upper and lower sides of clutch jaw guides
46 and 48, respectively, so as to provide a convenient surface
against which the operator of the clutch may push to disengage
clutch jaws 50 and 52 and move the structure to which the clutch
device is attached.
Slots 66 and 68 are provided in respective clutch jaws 50 and 52.
Slots 66 and 68 have a generally V-shaped configuration with the
apex pointed rearwardly away from the respective toothed racks.
Slot-engaging pins 70 and 72 are positioned in respective slots 66
and 68. The surfaces of slots 66 and 68 act as cam surfaces, and
the respective slot-engaging pins 70 and 72 act as cam followers.
The slot-engaging pins 70 and 72 are mounted on and carried by
levers 58 and 60, respectively.
The levers 58 and 60 are pivotally mounted on about the
longitudinal axis of the respective clutch jaw guides 46 and 48.
The levers 58 and 60 are bidirectional in their actions so that
pivotal movement of a lever in either direction causes the
disengagement of the clutch jaw from the rack. Placing the pivot
pin, slot-engaging pin, and the apex of a V-shaped slot on about
the center line of the clutch jaw guide permits the bidirectional
operation of the lever. The continued application of a force,
applied in the same manner and direction as that required to
disengage the clutch, will cause the disengaged clutch device and
the structure to which it is attached to move under the urgings of
the applied force. When the force is removed from the lever, the
spring urges the clutch jaw outwardly into engagement with the
rack. When it is desired to disengage the clutch and move it in the
opposite direction, a force applied to the lever in the opposite
direction will first result in the disengagement of the clutch and
then the movement of the disengaged clutch device and associated
structure in the opposite direction. Thus, to accomplish the dual
operations of first disengaging the clutch and second moving the
clutch device and the attached structure the operator need only
push on the lever in the direction in which he wishes to move the
structure.
The slots in which the slot-engaging pins move need only have one
cam surface extending at an acute angle to the path through which
the clutch jaw slidably moves in order to accomplish disengagement
of the clutch. However, where it is desired to have a bidirectional
operation of the lever, it is necessary to have two such cam
surfaces extending at different angles so that the slots become the
legs of a generally V-shaped compound slot. The clutch springs are
of sufficient strength to cause the clutch jaw to return to the
engaged position with the slot engaging pin in the neutral position
at the apex of the V-shaped slot when pressure is released from the
lever.
Referring particularly to FIG. 3, there is illustrated the
attachment of the clutch devices to the moveable visor lens 30 and
32. The outer visor lense 30 is provided with a clutch device 42 on
the right side of the headgear at the temple, and the inner visor
lense 32 is provided with a clutch device 44 on the left side of
the headgear at the temple.
The two transparent visor lenses 30 and 32 are provided with
different light transmission characteristics so that by alternately
extending and retracting one or both of the visors a wide variety
of ambient light conditions may be compensated for. The visor
housing 20 provides a durable housing into which the visor lenses
30 and 32 may be retracted when the helmet is not in use so as to
protect the transparent visors from scratches and other damage.
What has been described are preferred embodiments in which
modifications and changes may be made without departing from the
spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.
* * * * *