U.S. patent number 3,925,822 [Application Number 05/480,572] was granted by the patent office on 1975-12-16 for safety harness for a helmet.
Invention is credited to John H. Sawyer.
United States Patent |
3,925,822 |
Sawyer |
December 16, 1975 |
Safety harness for a helmet
Abstract
A safety harness for securely holding a helmet on the head of a
person, such as, a motor cyclist to prevent accidental displacement
of the helmet from the head even in case of a severe accident which
includes a strap arrangement adapted to be worn by the body of the
person and which is manually releasable from the body of the person
and from the helmet.
Inventors: |
Sawyer; John H. (Pensacola,
FL) |
Family
ID: |
23908481 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/480,572 |
Filed: |
June 18, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/421 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A42B
3/0473 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A42B
3/04 (20060101); A42B 001/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;2/3,2,1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Guest; Alfred R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Connors; Edward F.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In combination, a crash helmet for motor cyclists or the like
having an opening on each side thereof adjacent the lower edge of
the helmet and a centrally disposed opening at the rear of the
helmet adjacent the lower edge thereof and having a chin strap, a
safety harness cooperating with the chin strap for securing said
helmet on the head of the cyclist to prevent accidental
dislodgement of the helmet from the head of the cyclist during an
accident comprising a fastening element secured in each side
opening of the helmet, a flexible shoulder strap for engaging over
each shoulder of the cyclist, a flexible connecting strap removably
and swivelly secured to each said fastening element and to each
shoulder strap, a flexible chest strap to which the opposite ends
of each shoulder strap is attached, a rear fastening element
secured in the rear central opening of the helmet, a flexible back
strap removably and swivelly secured at one end to said rear
fastening element and at its other end to said chest strap, a
flexible waist strap for encircling the waist of the cyclist, a
right and left side flexible strap each secured at one end to said
chest strap and at their opposite ends to said waist strap and a
second flexible back strap secured at one end to said chest strap
and at its other end to said waist strap.
2. For use with a motorcycle crash helmet or the like having
integral opposing sides, top and back with the sides having spaced
apart front edges that define a face opening and with the sides and
back having free bottom edges and said helmet having a chin strap
provided with opposing ends attached to the sides adjacent their
front edges, a safety body harness comprising flexible strap means
adapted to be fastened around the upper torso of the body of a
wearer of the helmet, flexible shoulder straps adapted to fit over
the shoulders of a wearer and having opposing front and back ends
adjustably connected to the front and back of the torso encircling
flexible strap means, flexible connecting straps connected to the
shoulder straps and extending upwardly from about the middle
thereof, means removably and swivelly attaching said connecting
straps to the sides of the helmet rearwardly of the front edges
thereof and adjacent the bottom edges of the sides, a flexible back
strap connected to the back of the torso encircling strap means
substantially at the middle thereof and means removably and
swivelly connecting the back strap to the back of the helmet
adjacent the bottom edge thereof and substantially at the middle
thereof whereby said straps connect the sides and back of the
helmet to the torso encircling strap means and exert a downward and
rearward pull on the worn helmet about its transverse and
longitudinal axes to bring the chin strap into firm engagement with
the under surface of the chin of a wearer so that accidental
dislodgement of the helmet from the head of a wearer is
prevented.
3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said torso encircling strap
means includes an adjustable flexible waist encircling strap having
a front and rear portion, an adjustable flexible chest encircling
strap having a front and rear portion, adjustable flexible vertical
straps connecting the front portions of the waist and the chest
straps, and an adjustable flexible vertical strap connecting the
rear portions of the waist and the chest straps substantially at
the middle thereof.
4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said back ends of the shoulder
straps and the lower end of the back strap are attached at a common
point to the rear portion of the chest strap substantially at the
middle thereof.
5. The invention of claim 2 wherein said means removably and
swivelly attaching the connecting straps to the sides of the helmet
and for removably and swivelly attaching the back strap to the back
of the helmet includes rings fastened to the helmet sides and back,
said sides and back having transverse openings, screw means fitted
in said openings for attaching the rings to the helmet and said
straps having upper ends provided with snap hooks adapted to engage
in the rings.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention generally appertains to new and novel
improvements in safety harnesses for securely attaching helmets to
the head of persons, for example, the heads of motor cyclists or
athletes in cases in which severe or critical injury may be
inflicted to the head of the wearer of the helmet.
2. State Of The Prior Art
There are many and varied known types of devices for holding
helmets on the heads of persons but in the main the prior art
devices are used in connection with football player helmets and do
not afford the safety factor, the freedom of movement and the
security of the present device which can be worn with any
conventional garments.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a safety
harness for securely attaching the helmet of a person, such as a
motor cyclist, to the head of the person so that the helmet cannot
be inadvertently dislodged from the person's head while riding a
motor cycle even in the event of an accident in which the cyclist
may be thrown from the motor cycle thus preventing injury to the
person's head.
Another important object of the present invention is to provide
such a safety harness which can be quickly and easily donned and
removed from the body of the person.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a harness
which can be worn with comfort and freedom of movement with any
conventional type of clothing.
Generally considered, the present invention includes a strap
arrangement comprising a chest strap to which are attached right
and left shoulder straps adapted to engage over the shoulders of
the wearer and which in turn are adapted to be secured to the
helmet. A waist strap adapted to encircle the waist of the wearer
to which the shoulder straps are secured and a back strap which is
secured to the chest strap and to the waist strap. The shoulder
straps are also attached to the waist strap. The chest and waist
straps may be easily and quickly unbuckled to permit removal of the
harness from the body of the person without disturbing the
connection of the shoulder and back straps to the helmet.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the device as operatively
mounted on a person and on a helmet.
FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of the same.
FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the same.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the device constructed in accordance with
the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a view taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a side elevation of helmet showing the transverse and
longitudinal axes of the helmet and
FIG. 7 is a rear elevation of helmet showing both axes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawing and
initially to FIGS. 1 through 3 thereof, the reference numeral 10
generally designates a person which in the present instance is a
motor cyclist showing a conventional type of crash helmet 11
applied to the head of the person 10. An opening 12 is formed at
each side of the helmet adjacent the lower edge thereof. A strap
loop 13 is secured to each side of the helmet adjacent said opening
12 by a tubular nut 14 having an internally threaded tubular
extension 15 and an enlarged head 16. A screw 17 includes a
threaded shank 18 arranged to be threaded into the tubular
extension 15 of the nut 14 and has an enlarged head 19. A ring 20
is carried by the strap loop 13 into which engages a snap hook 21.
A connecting strap 22 is carried by the snap hook 21 and the
connecting strap is provided with a conventional adjusting device
23 by means of which the length of the connecting strap 22 may be
varied. The upper end of the strap 22 is folded over upon itself
and the folded over portion is stitched to the main part of the
strap as at 22a to form a loop which retains the snap hook 21 in
place.
Each of the connecting straps is adjustably connected to a shoulder
strap 24 each of which is provided with a conventional adjusting
device 25 for adjusting the length of the shoulder strap 24. Each
shoulder strap 24 is connected to a chest strap 26 at their forward
ends. At their rear ends the shoulder straps 24 are secured to the
chest strap 26 in overlapping relation as by sewing or the like as
indicated at 27. The chest strap 26 is provided adjacent each end
thereof with a conventional adjusting device for adjusting the
length of the chest strap as indicated at 28.
An opening similar to the openings 12 in the side of the helmet is
provided in the medial portion of the helmet adjacent the lower
back edge thereof and a strap loop 29 similar to the strap loop 13
is secured to the rear of the helmet adjacent said opening by a
tubular nut 30 similar to the tubular nut 14, the extension 15 and
the screw 17 which attaches the connecting straps 22 to the helmet.
A ring 31 is carried by the strap loop 29 to which is detachably
connected an upper back strap 32 by means of a snap hook 33. The
upper back strap carries at the upper end thereof a conventional
adjusting device 34 and the lower end portion of the upper back
strap 32 is connected to the chest strap as by sewing or the like
as indicated at 27.
The lower back strap 35 has its upper end secured as by sewing as
indicated at 27 to the chest strap and its lower end is attached to
a waist strap 36. The lower back strap carries a conventional
adjusting device 37 by means of which the length of the lower back
strap may be adjusted. The lower back strap is detachably and
adjustably connected to the waist strap. One end of the waist strap
36 carries a conventional toothed type buckle 38 by means of which
the waist strap is detachably and adjustably secured around the
waist of the person 10.
A pair of side straps 39 extend between the chest strap and the
waist strap at the front of the person 10. The upper end portion of
each side strap 39 is folded upon itself and the folded over
portion is secured as by stitching 40 or the like to the upper main
portion of the side strap to form a loop so that the side strap may
be adjusted laterally on the chest strap. The lower end portion of
each side strap 39 carries a conventional adjusting device 41 so
that the length of each side strap 39 may be adjusted.
One end of the chest strap 26 carries a ring 42 into which snaps a
snap hook 43 carried by the opposite end of the chest strap so that
the chest strap may be easily and readily secured about the chest
of the wearer under his armpits.
THE USE OF THE HARNESS
Assuming that the crash helmet 11 is placed upon the head of the
person, shap hooks 21 of the connecting straps 22 may be engaged in
the rings 20 on the helmet 11 and the arms of the person 10 may be
inserted through the space between the shoulder strap 24 and the
chest strap 26. The chest strap 26 may then be encircled around the
chest of the user and the snap hook 43 snapped into the ring 42 of
the chest strap. The waist strap 36 may then be secured around the
waist of the user 10 and secured therearound by the toothed type
buckle 38.
The conventional chin strap 44 of the helmet may then be secured in
the conventional manner. The upper back strap 32 is so adjusted
that it exerts a slight pull on the helmet downwardly and
rearwardly about the transverse axis T--T of the helmet so that the
chin strap 44 is brought up snugly against the underside of the
person's chin to prevent further rearward and downward movement of
the helmet about its transverse axis T--T to prevent accidental
dislodgement of the helmet rearwardly. The connecting straps 22 are
so adjusted that they will tend to cause a movement about the
longitudinal axis L--L of the helmet in opposite directions to
substantially nullify the movement of the helmet in opposite
lateral movements to prevent lateral dislodgement of the helmet.
This movement of the helmet about its transverse and longitudinal
axes is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings. This lateral
movement of the helmet will tend to bring the chin strap 44 into
firmer engagement with the under surface of the chin of the wearer
at opposite sides of the chin.
It is thus apparent that the harness of the present invention
cooperates with the conventional chin strap 44 of the helmet
11.
The conventional chin strap on the helmet prevents the helmet from
being dislodged rearwardly and the present safety harness exerts a
pull rearwardly and downwardly at the center of the helmet and at
each side thereof to prevent accidental dislodging of the helmet
forwardly and laterally. Accordingly, the present safety harness
supplements and cooperates with the chin strap to prevent
dislodgement of the helmet in all directions. The rearward and
lateral pull on the helmet by the present safety harness tends to
keep the conventional chin strap engaged under the chin of the
wearer for imparting a comfortable and secure feeling to the wearer
of the helmet.
In the case of crash helmets worn by motor cyclists and the like a
much more secure fastening means is required than a chin strap or
other means employed for holding a football player's helmet in
place since in an accident involving a motorcycle and for example
an automobile the force of the impact is more violent and greater
securing means is essential in order to hold the helmet in place
even if the motor cyclist is thrown a considerable distance through
the air. Even if either the chest strap or the waist strap of the
present invention becomes unbuckled during an accident the other
strap will hold the harness securely to the body of the user and
hold the helmet securely on the head of the cyclist.
Of course, while the best known form of the present invention has
been described herein and shown in the drawing, it is obvious that
changes can be made therein so that the inventive concept is only
restricted by the spirit and terms of the appended claims.
It will be noted that this harness may be worn by all ages and
sexes.
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