Helmet and method of removing the same

Details Helmet and method of removing the same Helmet and method of removing the same

1998-05-18

2001-07-10

Neas, Michael A. (Department: 3741)

Apparel

Guard or protector

For wearer's head

C002S421000, C002S424000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06256797

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a helmet which has a head protecting cap portion worn by the rider of a motor cycle or the like to protect his/her head, the head protecting cap portion having one or a plurality of inside pads on the inside thereof, and to a method of relatively easily removing the helmet from the head.
2. Description of the Invention
A full-face-type helmet has been known. This helmet includes a full-face-type head protecting cap portion worn by the rider of a motor cycle or the like on his/her head, a shield plate capable of opening/closing the window opening formed in the front surface of the head protecting cap portion to oppose the portion between the forehead and chin of the helmet wearer, and chin straps attached to the head protecting cap portion. According to such a full-face-type helmet, almost the entire head of the helmet wearer can be protected by the head protecting cap portion.
The conventional full-face-type helmet having the above structure, however, is not easy to wear and remove from the head of wearer because the head protecting cap portion is also of a full-face type. According to recent full-face-type helmets, to improve the safety of the helmets and feeling of wearing them during a drive, the lower end portion of the head protecting cap portion is narrowed. In addition, it is heightened more to fit the head and face of the wearer due to inside pads for the checks and the like. Owing to this structure, when a helmet wearer, e.g., the rider of a motor cycle, has a traffic accident, a person who takes care of the rider needs a large force to remove the full-face-type head protecting cap portion from the head of the helmet wearer. For this reason, it is considerably difficult for one person to remove the helmet from the wearer.
This point will be described below with reference to FIG.
13
.
FIG. 13
shows an experiment aimed at measuring the force required to remove a full-face-type helmet
1
. A bolt
61
with a ring is attached to the top portion of a head protecting cap portion
2
of a conventional full-face-type helmet
1
worn on the head of a helmet wearer
10
. The lower end of a spring balancer
62
is coupled to the bolt
61
.
In the state shown in
FIG. 13
(the chin straps (not shown) were unfastened from the chin of the wearer
10
), the upper end of the spring balancer
62
was pulled upward. In this case, the helmet
1
could not be removed until a tension of 16 kg was applied to the top portion of the head protecting cap portion
2
. In contrast to this, when the pair of right and left inside pads for the cheeks were detached from the interior of the head protecting cap portion
2
, the helmet
1
could be removed by applying only a tension of 2.5 kg to the top portion of the head protecting cap portion
2
.
The experiment shown in
FIG. 13
revealed that a large force was usually required to remove the full-face-type helmet
1
, and that not so large force was required to remove the full-face-type helmet
1
when the blockish inside pads for the cheeks were detached from the interior of the head protecting cap portion
2
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present inventors have made this invention on the basis of the results of the experiment shown in FIG.
13
.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide a helmet which allows the head protecting cap portion of the helmet to be removed from the head of a helmet wearer with a relatively small force by relatively easy removing operation even if the helmet is difficult to remove from the head of the helmet wearer.
It is another object of this invention to provide a helmet which allows inside pads to be pulled out from the helmet relatively easily while the helmet is worn on the head of a helmet wearer, but has a good appearance in a normal use state.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a helmet which allows inside pads to be reliably mounted on a head protecting cap portion, but allows relatively easy disengagement of the pads, thereby further facilitating the removing operation.
In accordance with one aspect of this invention, in the aforementioned helmet, a pull member protruding downwards from at least one of the inside pads is mounted on at least the one of the inside pads to at least partly pull out at least the one of the inside pads from the head protecting cap portion while the helmet is worn.
In accordance with another aspect of this invention, the invention realtes to a method of removing the helmet described above from a head of a helmet wearer. In here, a pull member is mounted on at least one of the inside pads to at least partly pull out at least the one of the inside pads from the head protecting cap portion while the helmet is worn by the wearer; the pull member is pulled to pull out at least the one of the inside pads from the head protecting cap portion at least partly when the helmet worn on the head is to be removed from the head; and the head protecting cap portion is removed from the head of the helmet wearer.
In this invention, it is preferable that the pull member comprises a string-like member having two end portions fixed to each of the inside pads so as to be spaced apart from each other by an appropriate distance in such a state that the member hangs in a substantially semi-looped form. Further, it is preferable that the tape material is formed into a flat, substantially U-shaped member by folding the material at positions near one end portion and the other end portion thereof.
Moreover, both folding angles of the tape material at the two positions are preferable to fall within a range of about 60° to about 120°, and much preferable to fall within a range of about 75° to about 105°. Further, a width of the tape material is preferable to fall within a range of about 2 cm to about 12 cm, and much preferable to fall within a range of about 4 cm to about 9 cm.
In this invention, it is preferable that the pull member is substantially red. Further, a distance between two ends of the substantially semi-looped portion of said pull member is preferable to fall within a range of about 2 cm to about 8 cm, and much preferable to fall within a range of about 3 cm to about 6 cm. Moreover, a total length of the substantially semi-looped portion of the pull member is preferable to be larger than the distance between the two ends of the substantially semi-looped portion by a value falling within a range of about 0.3 cm to about 6 cm, and it is much preferable to be larger than the distance between the two ends of the substantially semi-looped portion by a value falling within a range of about 0.5 cm to about 4 cm. Besides, two ends of the substantially semi-looped portion of the pull member are preferable to be located on an outer surface of at least one of the inside pads at a position between a lower end of the inside pad and a level higher than the lower end by about 15 mm, and are much preferable to be located on an outer surface of at least one of said inside pads at a position between a level higher than a lower end of said inside pad by about 2 mm and a level higher than the lower end by about 8 mm.
In this invention, it is preferable that the one or plurality of inside pads include an inside pad for a left cheek and an inside pad for a right cheek, and the pull member is mounted on each of the pair of left and right inside pads. Further, it is preferable that at least the one inside pad is mounted on the head protecting cap portion by using one or a plurality of mounting mechanisms, and at least one of the mounting mechanisms comprises an engaged stud formed on one of at least the one inside pad and the head protecting cap portion, an engaging aperture formed in the other to be fitted on the engaged stud, and an operating member which is operated to move one of the engaged stud and the engaging aperture relative to the other so as to disengage the engaged stud from said engaging aperture. Besides, it is preferable that the engaged stud is integrally formed wit

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