Hood With Improved Air Inlet

Abstract

A head and face protective enclosure for use by those working in contaminated environments. An inlet fitting for admitting respiration air to the enclosure located at the rear of the enclosure. A rearward extending air inlet projection that has a bottom wall formed with an opening for the air inlet fitting. The opening is positioned inside of the edge of the bottom wall so that the fitting is protected by the walls of the air inlet projection from impact by falling objects.

Description

This invention relates to an improved air inlet structure for a head protective hood of the type worn by persons working in a contaminated atmosphere such as sand blasters.

Persons working in contaminated atmospheres require protection from airborne particles as well as a continuous supply of cleans air for respiration. These requirements are typically supplied by a head enclosure that has an air inlet opening to which an air hose is connected for delivering respiration air to the interior of the enclosure. The head enclosure typically includes a rigid shell that overlies the crown of the head and a rigid portion that depends from the rim of the shell that encircles and protects the face and neck of the wearer. Attached to the bottom of the face and neck protecting portion is a flexible shroud which is tied or strapped around the chest of the wearer to form a more or less airtight enclosure. The fitting for the air tube is typically installed either on the crown portion or the head neck protecting portion at the rear thereof to avoid interference with the activities of the wearer.

According to the present invention, the rigid enclosure is formed with a horizontally extending projection which has a horizontal lower wall in which the air inlet opening is formed. Accordingly, the air inlet fittings are protected by the projection from impact by falling objects.

In a preferred form of the invention the crown, face and neck protecting portion, and projection for the air inlet are formed integrally of impact-resistant plastic. Typically, the crown portion flares outwardly where it joins the face and neck protecting portion and in the preferred form of the invention the air inlet projection is positioned at the same level as the outwardly flaring rim portion so as to blend smoothly into the crown portion thereby avoiding any unduly sharp projections from the crown. Thus, objects striking the projection will be deflected outwardly away from the air connecting fittings.

Another aspect of the preferred form of the invention is that the projection is located rearwardly of the side of the face and neck protecting portion; the air inlet projection has a vertical side wall that blends in tangentially with the wall of the face and neck protecting portion. Consequently, the air inlet projection does not project laterally by an undue amount.

A feature and advantage of the above-mentioned tangential relationship is that the air tube within the head closure can be installed without an unnecessary number of bends of curves.

The foregoing aspects together with the objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a head protective enclosure having an air inlet according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top view of the enclosure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear view of the enclosure in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view taken from the same aspect as FIG. 1 at an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary bottom view of the enclosure of FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, reference numeral 12 indicates a head enclosure of the type worn by persons engaging in sandblasting, lead grinding, and like tasks that produce contaminated atmospheres. Such head enclosures typically include a rigid hat or crown protecting portion 14 which flares out at its lower extremity 16 and joins a rigid face and neck protecting portion 18. Face and neck protecting portion 18 typically includes a transparent window 20 at the front thereof at a level opposite the eyes of the wearer to afford adequate vision for the wearer. Such hoods typically include a flexible shroud, fragmentarily indicated at 22, that is fastened around the lower rim of face and neck protecting portion 18. The shroud extends down to the chest of the wearer at which point it is tied or otherwise secured to the body to form a more or less airtight enclosure. Respiration air is supplied to the enclosure through an air hose 24, which is supplied with air from a compressor and filter of conventional form, not shown.

For connecting hose 24 to enclosure 12 so that air is delivered to the interior of the enclosure, the present invention provides an air inlet projection 26 disposed generally in one of the rear quarters of face and neck protecting portion 18. The projection includes a top wall 28 and a bottom wall 30 that is generally parallel to the top wall. The top and bottom walls extend generally in a horizontal direction. Projection 26 is completed by a rear wall 32 which extends vertically between the top and bottom walls and a sidewall 34 that extends vertically between the top and bottom walls. As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 5, sidewall 34 extends forwardly until it blends smoothly and tangentially into face and neck protecting portion 18 of the enclosure.

Bottom wall 30 is provided with an opening 36. As seen most clearly in FIG. 5, opening 36 is positioned inside of the outer edges of bottom wall 30 to form a margin 38 between the hole and the outer edges of the bottom wall. Extending through hole 36 from the interior of air inlet projection 26 is one leg of a 90.degree. elbow 40; the protruding portion of the elbow is threaded to receive a lock nut 42 which has an outer dimension sufficiently small that the entire nut resides within margin 38 whereby no parts of the hose connection project laterally of the edge of top and bottom walls 28 and 30 respectively. To the other leg of elbow 40 by means of a nut 44 is connected an air distribution tube 46 which extends around forward portion of enclosure 14 at a level approximating that of flared portion 16. As is conventional, air distribution tube 46 has a series of holes for directing fresh air down over the face of the wearer of the enclosure. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the tangential relationship between the sidewall 34 and face and neck protecting portion 18 permits installation of the air distribution tube 46 without an excessive number of bends or extra fittings. It can additionally be appreciated by reference to FIG. 4 that top wall 28 and bottom wall 30 are spaced from one another by an amount sufficient to receive elbow 40 therebetween.

An important feature and advantage of the present invention can be appreciated by reference to FIG. 2 which is a top view looking down on air inlet projection 26. Because nut 42 lies totally inside of the outer edges of top wall 28, any objects falling from above will strike the air inlet projection but will not strike the fittings employing to attach air hose 24 to the helmet. Accordingly, a continuous supply of fresh air is assured even should some falling object strike projection 26. Moreover, because top wall 28 is positioned at about the same level as flared portion 16, see FIG. 3, foreign objects striking the crown portion 14 near air inlet projection 26 are likely to be deflected outwardly rather than subjecting the projection to a full impact force. Additionally, because the sidewall 34 meets face and neck protecting portion 18 at a tangent to the latter, (see FIG. 5) projection 26 does not extend laterally of the maximum transverse dimension of the helmet so that the projection will not interfere with the wearer's movements even in restricted spaces.

Thus, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved air inlet for a head protective enclosure which materially increases the safety with which the device is used since the air inlet fittings are so disposed as to be out of the direct path of any falling objects that may strike the enclosure.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious that other adaptations and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a head enclosure of the type including a rigid crown portion for overlying the head of a wearer, an outwardly flaring rigid flange around the lower region of the crown portion, and a rigid face and neck protecting portion surrounding the flange and depending substantially vertically therefrom, the improvement comprising means projecting rearwardly from said face and neck protecting portion for defining an air inlet to the head enclosure, said means including upper and lower horizontal spaced apart walls integral with and projecting generally perpendicularly from said face and neck protecting portion, said lower wall defining an air inlet opening therethrough, said opening being disposed sufficiently interior of the outer extremity of said lower wall to define a margin so that an air conduit can be connected in depending relation of said lower wall in communication with said opening and reside totally within the outer extremities of said walls.

2. A head enclosure according to claim 1 wherein said upper wall is disposed in vertical alignment with said outwardly flaring flange so that said upper wall projects smoothly in a discontinuity-free manner from said head enclosure.

3. A head enclosure according to claim 1 wherein said air inlet defining means is disposed rearwardly of the front-to-back mid-point of said enclosure, said air inlet defining means including a generally vertical sidewall extending between said upper and lower walls, the forward extremity of said side wall being tangent to said face and neck protecting portion.