Apparel – Guard or protector – For wearer's head
Patent
1997-08-12
2000-10-17
Neas, Michael A.
Apparel
Guard or protector
For wearer's head
2417, A42B 300
Patent
active
06131207&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention is related to an improvement to a helmet, and more specifically a helmet whose outer shell includes resilient bending means in its lower rear portion. The helmet is more especially adapted to be worn by aircraft and helicopter pilots, but non exclusively, since the invention can be used for any type of helmet.
Protective helmets are already known which are used in various fields and are worn by diverse users, such as cyclists, motorcyclists, firemen, skiers and others, such as aircraft and helicopter pilots. All of the current helmets, irrespective of their use, include a generally sphere-shaped rigid outer shell including a facial opening, and whose cavity thus formed includes protective and comfort padding elements adapted to nest the user's head.
For each type of utilization, manufacturers have attempted to design helmets having a specific configuration. But although many improvements have thus; been envisioned, developed and implemented, all has not been accomplished. Indeed, the general comfort of the current helmets is fairly satisfactory as a whole, but it must be noted that the comfort of the helmet at the level of the user's nape leaves a lot to be desired, in spite of the presence in most current helmets of padding made of flexible material, or of a strip arranged within the rear portion of the shell, fairly complex and costly adjusting means then being provided so that the padding or the strap can be adapted to the size and shape of the user's nape.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the current devices and systems for the holding and comfort of the nape and proposes a new helmet in which the rear portion of the shell includes particularly simple resilient adaptation means. The adaptation to the user's nape occurs automatically, thereby providing, it with a comfort which had not been achieved to date.
Thus, the protective helmet according to the invention is of the type including a main outer shell constituted by a wall having a front facial opening, and is characterized in that the lower rear portion of the wall includes resilient bending means, the main outer shell being made of a deformable material.
According to complementary characteristics, the wall of the outer shell is made of plastic, or of a composite material of the type constituted, for example, by at least one layer of glass fibers and/or carbon fibers and/or aramid fibers or the like, impregnated with a thermoplastic or thermohardening resin.
The main outer shell of the helmet of the invention includes a plurality of wall portions, namely, an upper front wall portion extended rearwardly by an upper rear wall portion, which is itself extended downwardly by a lower rear wall portion limited downwardly by a lower edge, said lower rear wall portion including at least one notch opening which advantageously opens downwardly on the lower edge.
According to various embodiments, the lower rear wall portion includes two, three, four, or more slit-shaped lateral cutouts.
In a preferred arrangement, the protective helmet includes a nape cushion that is partially retained in the shell by the cutouts of the wall.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description that follows, with reference to the annexed drawings which are only provided by way of non-limiting examples.
FIG. 1 is an external lateral view of a helmet according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the helmet;
FIG. 3 is a rear view more particularly showing the invention;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view along IV--IV of FIG. 3, but on a larger scale, showing how the fastening of the nape cushion is carried out;
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view along V--V of FIG. 3, illustrating how the finish of the lower edge of the helmet is obtained;
FIGS. 6 and 7 show the shell alone, in a front view (FIG. 6) and in a rear view (FIG. 7);
FIG. 8 is a perspective rear view, whereas FIG. 9 shows the nape cushion with its fastening means in the same conditions;
FI
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Basson Gilles
Noyerie Jean-Paul
Gallet S.A.
Neas Michael A.
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