Apparel – Guard or protector – For wearer's head
Patent
1990-04-06
1992-03-03
Schroeder, Werner H.
Apparel
Guard or protector
For wearer's head
2425, A42B 108
Patent
active
050919970
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention pertains to a safety helmet, especially for motorcyclists, with a visor plate covering the face opening, which is mounted pivotably on the side of the helmet shell and is lockable at least in its closed position by means of a locking device consisting of a locking cam and a locking element provided with at least one locking recess, as well as a spring element tensioning the locking cam and the locking element against each other in the direction of the pivot of the visor, with the locking element or locking cam being pivotably mounted with the visor plate.
Safety helmets with visor devices for pivoting and locking the visor plate in various positions, at least in the two extreme positions, are known in the art. Moreover the conventional adjustment devices are relatively complicated and constructed from many individual parts, which considerably increases the price of a helmet. For this reason, in many cases inexpensive spring elements made of synthetics are unfortunately used for locking the visor device in the case of safety helmets. However, these spring elements have the great disadvantage that, when they are continually under load--as is the case in a visor device--they are prone to so-called "creeping," i.e., the forces eventually approach zero.
Thus, such visor devices are a major safety risk since, for example, a sudden opening due to slackening of the spring tension force at high speed can put the driver into a very dangerous situation which must always be avoided.
Due to their substantially lower tensile stress for the existing, structurally predetermined mounting space, metal springs, to date, could not be optimally dimensioned to achieve the required, predetermined endurance without breaking. For this reason, it has not been possible, to date, to use, e.g., simple, metallic leaf springs which are inexpensive to manufacture.
In addition, there is a need for the visor plate to be relatively easy to replace by a layman since damage to the visor plate frequently occurs, e.g., even by simple scratching or dulling. Accordingly, the visor device with a locking device should also be designed such that, even after replacing without specific adjustment and setting manipulations, the pivoting movement and the locking function perfectly, since incorrect attachment or incorrect locking, as mentioned above, may lead to serious accidents if, for example, when the driver turns his head, the closed visor plate is ripped open by the wind pressure due to incorrect replacement or function of the locking device, in which case the driver is exposed to the full wind pressure with simultaneous reduction of the field of vision and possibly shearing forces acting on his head.
Consequently, there is a need for safety helmets with a visor device which are both inexpensive to manufacture and simple to handle and which, in addition, guarantee a high safety level when driving, i.e., even if the driver turns or moves his head, an unintentional opening of the visor is safely prevented.
Moreover, the visor device should be designed such that it is suitable for preformed visor plates as well as for flexible visor plates which, when installed, are flat plates; multilayer plates can also be used as flexible visor plates.
Thus, according to knowledge gained prior to the present invention, an opening of the visor plate upon the occurrence of wind pressure should be safely prevented independently of whether the edge of the visor plate rests on the edge of the face opening of the helmet or its edge engages in a depression around the face opening in the helmet such that the outer contour of the helmet always runs above the visor plate.
The task of the invention is to disclose a safety helmet with a visor device which is inexpensive to manufacture and simple to handle and which, in addition, guarantees a high level of safety, even when driving at high speeds as well as after long-term use of the helmet, such that unintended opening of the visor is safely prevented when turning one's head. Moreover, the locking forces necessar
REFERENCES:
patent: 3066305 (1962-12-01), Aileo
patent: 3781914 (1974-01-01), Ramsay
patent: 3945043 (1976-03-01), DeAngelis
patent: 4170792 (1979-10-01), Higgs
patent: 4292688 (1981-10-01), Ellis
patent: 4305160 (1981-12-01), Sundahl
patent: 4718127 (1988-01-01), Rittmann et al.
patent: 4748696 (1988-07-01), Fohl
patent: 4907300 (1990-03-01), Dampney et al.
Neas Michael A.
Schroeder Werner H.
LandOfFree
Protective helmet, with pivoting and locking visor mechanism, pa does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Protective helmet, with pivoting and locking visor mechanism, pa, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Protective helmet, with pivoting and locking visor mechanism, pa will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-263173