PROTECTIVE HELMET FOR THE HEAD

Abstract

Protective helmet for the head formed by an internal shock-absorbing body (3) and an external shell. The internal shock-absorbing body (3) has a built in interior reinforcement structure (5) made of filaments (6) formed by a fibre core and a coating made of carbon resin and nanofibres.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a protective helmet for the head, of the variety which comprises an internal shock-absorbing body, generally made from an expanded synthetic resin, such as expanded polystyrene, with a built in interior reinforcement structure and, an external shell made of thermoformed plastic material, such as polycarbonate, PVC or ABS, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The problem with helmets which are formed in the way described above is that the protection they offer is relatively low, essentially owing to the fact that the shock-absorbing body may be easily broken when hit.

A known way to make this kind of helmet more resistant is to fit an interior reinforcement structure to the internal shock-absorbing body.

Relative to this, it is possible to cite Canadian document CA1335027, which describes a helmet with reinforcement, which comprises an expanded synthetic resin body, which is cellular in character, susceptible to being broken upon impact and, a reinforcement member, which extends longitudinally in the lower crown of the helmet and, a plurality of reinforcements, the lower part of which is joined solidly to the reinforcement of the crown.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,756 describes a helmet with an expanded polystyrene body with a built in rigid ring, interconnected with the shell.

EP1856997 describes a helmet which comprises a body with an interior reinforcement structure, composed by a unidirectional filament.

In all of the cases mentioned above, the reinforcement built into the shock-absorbing body does not make it possible to increase the helmet's resistance considerably, owing to the way in which the reinforcement is composed, generally owing to its nature, being made of plastic material but also owing to the way in which said reinforcement is distributed throughout the shock-absorbing body.

INVENTION DESCRIPTION

The present invention aims to eliminate the problems set out above using a helmet of the variety initially exposed, which has a reinforcement structure built into the shock-absorbing body, with which the helmet's resistance may be increased considerably, thereby making it possible to reduce the weight and volume of the shock-absorbing body and in turn, the volume and weight of the helmet.

According to the invention, the interior reinforcement structure, built into the shock-absorbing body, is formed by filaments which comprise a core of fibres and a coating made of carbon resins and nanofibres, preferably with a graphene structure, henceforth referred to as “graphene nanofibres”. The filaments will be distributed throughout the shock-absorbing body, forming a net, built into the interior of said body.

The core of the filaments which come to form part of the interior reinforcement structure may be formed from either synthetic or natural mineral fibres, such as aramid, carbon, basalt or glass, etc.

The resin which comes to form part of the coating layer of the filaments may be an epoxy type resin or a thermostable polymer, which hardens when a catalyst acts upon it.

The graphene nanofibres may be carbon nanofibres, graphite nanofibres or carbon nanotubes, i.e. threadlike carbon structures. The graphene nanofibres may come to form part of the coating layer of the filaments in a ratio of weight over the resin of said layer, of between 0.1 and 5% and preferably between 0.5 and 1.5%.

The graphene nanofibres make the interior reinforcement structure more rigid and resistant, thus making it possible to reduce total weight and volume of the helmet, thereby making the same lighter.

When impacted, although the helmet breaks, it does not separate into pieces, owing to the fact that there is a built in skeleton or net inside the internal shock-absorbing body, made of expanded material, which fastens and holds the various pieces or portions, into which the helmet has broken, together, thus helping to absorb the energy of the blow and ultimately offering greater user protection. This affect is achieved by distributing the filaments throughout the entire mass of the internal shock-absorbing body and can also be attributed to the formation of said filaments, made from a fibre core and resin coating with graphene nanofibres.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings attached describe a helmet formed in accordance with the invention, serving as a non-limiting example thereof:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevation of the helmet.

FIG. 2 is an upper plan view of the helmet shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 provides a similar view to that shown in FIG. 2, albeit wherein part of the external helmet and internal shock-absorbing body has been removed, in order to demonstrate the reinforcement structure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the reinforcement structure included in the helmet shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 5 is an up-scaled perspective view of a portion of the filament which forms the structure shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT

The helmet represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, a rear elevation and an upper plan view, is of the variety usually used in cycling, although it should be noted that the invention may be applied to helmets with any formation, as a protection element for various activities (such as skiing, climbing, hockey, etc.)

The helmet in the example represented in the drawings has external recesses (1) and openings (2) intended to reduce the weight thereof and is formed by a shock-absorbing body (3), see FIG. 3, which reproduces the recesses (1) and openings (2) and, an external shell (4), see FIGS. 1 and 2, which reproduce the external surface of the internal shock-absorbing body (3), which is also coupled and fixed to the same.

The internal shock-absorbing body may be made from an expanded resin, such as expanded polystyrene and the external shell may be made from thermoformed plastic (such as polycarbonate, PVC, PP, etc.)

The helmet will be fitted with fastening means for fastening it to the head, these fastening means being of the known variety, for example being made of straps.

As can be observed in FIG. 3, the shock-absorbing body (3) has a built in interior reinforcement structure (5), which is represented in perspective in FIG. 4 and which is distributed throughout the entire shock-absorbing body, thereby forming a net.

The interior reinforcement structure (5) is formed by filament (6) which, as can be seen in FIG. 5, includes a core (7) of fibres and a coating (8) formed by a resin (9), such as epoxy resin and graphene nanofibres (10) which make the resin more rigid and resistant.

As can be deduced from FIG. 4, the filaments (6) in the structure (5) are distributed in such a way that they run between the openings (2) in the internal shock-absorbing body, thereby forming a complete network or net inside said body.

Claims

1. Protective helmet for the head, comprising an internal shock-absorbing body, which has a built in interior reinforcement structure and, an external shell made of plastic material, characterised in that the interior reinforcement structure is formed by filaments, which include a core of fibres and a coating, formed by resin and carbon nanofibers, these filaments forming a net which is built into the interior of the shock-absorbing body.

2. Helmet according to claim 1, characterised in that the carbon nanofibers come to form part of the coating layer in a ratio of between 0.1 and 5% in weight of resin.

3. Helmet according to claim 1, characterised in that the carbon nanofibers come to form part of the coating layer in a ratio of between 0.5 and 1.5% in weight of resin.

4. Helmet according to claim 1, characterised in that the carbon nanofibers have a graphene structure.

5. Helmet according to claim 1, characterised in that the filaments are made of synthetic fibres.

6. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that the filaments are made of natural mineral fibres.