Apparel – Guard or protector – For wearer's head
Patent
1986-02-14
1987-12-08
Nerbun, Peter
Apparel
Guard or protector
For wearer's head
2414, A42B 302
Patent
active
047109840
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a helmet for protection against impacts, comprising an outer protective shell, a layer made from a non-elastically compressible material for absorbing the energy of the impact, an elastically compressible layer forming the inner surface of the helmet, and an intermediate layer between the two preceding layers for distributing the pressure exerted on both sides of a portion of the layer for absorbing the energy of the impact over a larger portion of the same layer.
Helmets of this type are already known which are designed in particular to protect motorcyclists and moped riders. One helmet of this type is described in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,565. According to this patent, the intermediate layer, which is designed to distribute the pressures exerted on both sides of the impact-absorbing layer, is formed by a fluid or an incompressible gel, which is covered externally by a semi-rigid envelope. The use of a liquid or a gel presupposes its encapsulation in a highly resistant membrane which can be elastically deformed. In the solution described in the said document, the liquid or gel is in fact encapsulated in the form of small globules, from which a layer having the required thickness is formed. When the said layer is deformed, the pressure is distributed at the level of the semi-rigid envelope, the latter then transferring the pressure distributed in this manner to the impact-absorbing layer. The manufacture of the distribution layer formed from an encapsulated liquid or gel is very expensive. Furthermore, its efficiency is dependent upon a certain thickness, which thus increases the overall volume of the helmet, the absorption layer also requiring a thickness which is sufficient in order to absorb a level of energy determined by the official safety standards in the majority of countries.
Another solution proposed by N0. FR-A-2 340 066 consists in arranging the impact-absorbing layer between two rigid shells formed from reinforced plastics material. The use of a rigid inner shell necessitates the presence of a shock-absorbing layer and an elastically compressible comfort layer inside the said rigid inner shell. This is a solution which requires three layers between the head and the layer for absorbing the impacts, which gives rise to a problem of bulkiness. Furthermore, the presence of a rigid inner shell is an inconvenience in respect of comfort. The increase in the number of layers also increases the cost of manufacturing the helmet.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,717, a helmet is proposed which is formed by a hollow structure defined by two walls, inner and outer respectively, which are in the shape of the helmet, and between which an expansible plastics material is injected. It is specified in this document that the inner and outer walls may be of different materials, i.e. that the inner wall is preferably formed from a more flexible material, whilst the outer wall is formed from a material having a high impact strength. In spite of these measures, the displacement of the inner wall is limited on account of its connection to the outer wall, such that a helmet of this type cannot benefit from the maximum potential impact-absorbing effect of the expanded plastics material. An approximately equivalent solution is described in U.S. Pat. No.3,935,044, wherein the outer shell is welded to the inner stress-distributing shell after the absorption layer has been moulded and expanded on the inner shell. Once again, the inner shell is integral with the outer shell and is therefore not free to move under the effect of an impact, such that the efficiency of the absorption layer is not utilised to the maximum.
The object of the present invention is to significantly increase the impact-absorbing effect of the helmet by means of an improved distribution of the stressed, which at the same time does not have the inconveniences of the above solutions.
To this end, the subject of the present invention is a helmet for protection against impacts comprises an outer protective shell, an impact-absor
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patent: 3039108 (1962-06-01), Lohrenz
patent: 3248738 (1966-05-01), Morgan
patent: 3286275 (1966-11-01), Marchello
patent: 3465363 (1969-09-01), Raney
patent: 3935044 (1976-01-01), Daly
patent: 4006496 (1977-02-01), Marker
patent: 4075717 (1978-02-01), Lemelson
patent: 4134155 (1979-01-01), Robertson
Asper Jean-Jacques
Cottenceau Remi
Motul S.A.
Nerbun Peter
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