Apparel – Head coverings – With forced air circulator
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-01
2002-06-18
Lindsey, Rodney M. (Department: 3765)
Apparel
Head coverings
With forced air circulator
C002S411000, C002S424000, C002S410000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06405382
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a helmet having a head protecting body with an outer shell, in which an air supply path for introducing air outside the outer shell into the head protecting body is formed in the head protecting body, and an exhaust path for exhausting air in the head protecting body outside the outer shell is formed in the head protecting body apart from the air supply path.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, as a helmet to be worn by the head of a helmet wearer (to be referred to as a “wearer” hereinafter) such as the rider of a motor cycle, a full-face-type helmet is known. Usually, the cap-shaped head protecting body of such a full-face-type helmet has a chin ventilator mechanism under a window opening formed to oppose the face of the wearer. The chin ventilator mechanism has a chin air supply path extending from an air supply port or air supply notch formed in the chin region (i.e., a region opposing the chin of the wearer) of the outer shell. In addition to the chin air supply path, a breath guard is attached to the head protecting body between the mouth of the wearer and a shield plate in order to prevent the shield plate from being fogged by the breath exhaled by the wearer.
In such a conventional helmet, outer air is introduced, near the lower end of the inner surface of the shield plate, into the head protecting body through the chin air supply path. The introduced outer air is let to flow upward along the inner surface of the shield plate, and the breath guard prevents the breath exhaled by the wearer from being directly directed toward the shield plate, thereby preventing fogging of the shield plate.
In this conventional helmet, when the humidity is very high due to a rainfall, the shield plate is inevitably fogged due to the breath exhaled by the wearer, and anti-fogging of the shield plate cannot be performed well. Therefore, as a countermeasure, in the conventional helmet, a pair of right and left exhaust holes may be formed in the chin region of an impact absorbing liner. A pair of right and left exhaust holes may be formed in a corresponding chin region of an outer liner, and a pair of right and left chin exhaust paths may be formed to extend from the liner-side exhaust holes to the outer-shell-side exhaust holes.
In the conventional helmet with the above arrangement, the air supply hole for the chin air supply path must be formed at substantially the central portion of the chin region of the outer shell, and the pair of right and left air supply holes for the pair of right and left chin air supply paths must be formed on the right and left sides of the chin region of the outer shell. This requires a complicated process of forming the air supply hole and exhaust holes in the outer shell, and it is cumbersome and time-consuming to obtain an outer shell with a high strength. Also, the outer shell has a large design limitation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to correcting the drawbacks described above of the conventional helmet effectively with a comparatively simple arrangement.
It is, therefore, the main object of the present invention to provide a helmet in which an air supply path for introducing air outside an outer shell into a head protecting body and an exhaust path for exhausting air in the head protecting body outside the outer shell are formed in the head protecting body apart from and adjacent to each other, so that air is supplied to and exhausted from a predetermined region in the head protecting body simultaneously, thereby ventilating the predetermined area well.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a helmet in which since an air supply hole for an air supply path and an exhaust hole for an exhaust path need not be separately formed in an outer shell independently of each other, the process of forming both an air supply hole portion for an air supply path and an exhaust hole portion for an exhaust path in the outer shell can be comparatively simple, an outer shell with a high strength can be obtained comparatively easily, and design limitation on the outer shell can be made comparatively small.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a helmet in which an air supply path can have a comparatively simple structure and outer air can flow in the air supply path in a good state.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a helmet in which an air exhaust path can have a comparatively simple structure.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a helmet in which since air is supplied to and exhausted from the chin region in the head protecting body simultaneously, the chin region can be ventilated well, so that even when the humidity is very high due to a rainfall, the shield plate can be effectively prevented from being fogged by the breath exhaled by the wearer.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a helmet in which air in the head protecting body can be let to flow out effectively from the air outlet port of a head air path, so that the interior of the head protecting body can be ventilated better.
The present invention relates to a helmet comprising a head protecting body with an outer shell, wherein an air supply path for introducing air outside the outer shell into the head protecting body is formed in the head protecting body, an exhaust path for exhausting air in the head protecting body outside the outer shell is formed in the head protecting body apart from the air supply path, and an air supply/exhaust hole serving as a hole to be shared by an air supply hole portion for the air supply path and an exhaust hole portion for the exhaust path is formed in the outer shell.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, one half of the air supply/exhaust hole, which is on a central side of the helmet in a horizontal direction, forms the air supply hole portion for the air supply path, and the other half of the air supply/exhaust hole, which is opposite to the central side of the helmet in the horizontal direction, forms the exhaust hole portion for the exhaust path.
The present invention and the first aspect described have, according to the second aspect, an air supply path main body which forms the air supply path together with the air supply hole portion of the air supply/exhaust hole, and an air supply path forming member used for forming the air supply path main body is disposed on an inner surface of a chin region of the outer shell.
In the second aspect of the present invention, according to the third aspect, the air supply path forming member has at least three (more preferably at least four) straightening air supply paths.
In the second and third aspects of the present invention, according to the fourth aspect, an air supply port forming member with an inner air supply port forming portion is arranged between the outer shell and the air supply path forming member.
In the fourth aspect of the present invention, according to the fifth aspect, a shutter member for opening/closing a ventilation port of the inner air supply port forming portion is provided to the air supply port forming member.
The second to fifth aspects have, according to the sixth aspect, an exhaust path main body for constituting the exhaust path together with the exhaust hole portion of the air supply/exhaust hole, and an impact absorbing liner arranged inside the outer shell, and the exhaust path main body comprises a recess formed in an outer surface of the impact absorbing liner, an aperture formed in the impact absorbing liner to be continuous to the recess, and a partitioning plate of the air supply path forming member.
In the sixth aspect, according to the seventh aspect, a bottom surface of the recess forms a slant surface slanting backward toward that side of the helmet which is opposite to a central longitudinal section line side, and the slant surface has a slant angle within a range of 0.5° to 5° (more preferably 1° to 3°).
In the sixth and seventh aspects of the present invention
Jones Day Reavis & Pogue
Lindsey Rodney M.
Shoei Co., Ltd.
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