STORAGE ATTACHMENT FOR SAFETY HELMETS

Abstract

Systems and methods for attaching storage to safety helmets are presented. The systems and methods involve adding external storage to a safety helmet by insertion of a substantially ring shaped apparatus onto the safety helmet, which includes one or more storage compartments, and once inserted produces a fit that is one or more of either snug, interference, or a press fit. The addition of further safety features such as lights and the inclusion of safety equipment such as safety glasses, hearing protection, dust mask, or first aid equipment are also disclosed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX

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FIELD

The present application relates to safety helmets and particularly to the inclusion of storage.

BACKGROUND

A safety helmet (a.k.a. hardhat) is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Within the helmet are suspension bands that help spread the helmet's weight and distribute the force of any impact over the top of the head in order to eliminate the build-up of force at any one point in particular. The suspension bands provide a space of approximately 30 mm (1.2 inch) between the helmet's shell and the wearer's head, so that if an object strikes the shell, the impact is less likely to be transmitted directly to the skull. Unfortunately, many wearers of safety helmets have considered the space between the helmet and their head a convenient place to store items ranging from packs of cigarettes to cell phones and even other safety items such as dust masks and earplugs. Any additional items stored within the safety helmet pose a potential risk of allowing the force of an impact to be transmitted directly to skull at a single point rather than being distributed.

Unfortunately, without additional storage available to them, wearers of safety helmets will likely continue to put themselves at risk by storing items inside the helmet.

Therefore, there continues to be a need for additional storage associated with safety helmets that does not compromise the integrity of the helmet and its internal suspension system.

SUMMARY

In order to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art, systems and methods are described herein.

One aspect of the claimed invention involves an apparatus for attaching storage to safety helmets that is substantially ring shaped, contains one or more storage compartments, and the apparatus is configured such that when it is placed on top of the safety helmet the apparatus produces a fit that it is one or more of either snug, interference, or a press fit.

Another aspect involves a method of adding storage to a safety helmet comprising inserting on to the top of the safety helmet a ring shaped device that has one or more external storage compartments and when inserted produces a fit that is one or more of either snug, interference, or a press fit.

These and other aspects described herein present in the claims result in features and/or can provide advantages over current technology.

The advantages and features described herein are a few of the many advantages and features available from representative embodiments and are presented only to assist in understanding the invention. It should be understood that they are not to be considered limitations on the invention as defined by the claims, or limitations on equivalents to the claims. For instance, some of these advantages or features are mutually exclusive or contradictory, in that they cannot be simultaneously present in a single embodiment. Similarly, some advantages are applicable to one aspect of the invention, and inapplicable to others. Thus, the elaborated features and advantages should not be considered dispositive in determining equivalence. Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following description, from the drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A, shows in simplified form, a representative safety helmet;

FIG. 1B shows, in simplified form, an exemplary apparatus for adding external storage to a safety helmet;

FIG. 1C shows, in simplified form, the apparatus inserted onto a representative safety helmet;

FIG. 2A shows, in simplified form, the addition of a split in the apparatus;

FIG. 2B shows, in simplified form, the split apparatus inserted onto a representative safety helmet;

FIG. 3A shows, in simplified form, the inclusion of one or more helmet attachments;

FIG. 3B shows, in simplified form, the split apparatus inserted onto a representative safety helmet;

FIG. 4A shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light to the apparatus;

FIG. 4B shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light to the apparatus and inserted onto a representative safety helmet;

FIG. 5A shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light 400 to a split apparatus;

FIG. 5B shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light to the split apparatus and inserted onto a representative safety helmet; and

FIG. 6 shows, in simplified form, the inclusion of one or more ring accessories.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The instant devices and approach provide a way to for attaching external storage to safety helmets, without compromising the internal suspension system, that comprises: a substantially ring shaped apparatus that has an interior shape that substantially conforms to the exterior shape, above a brim, of a safety helmet and an interior taper of the ring that substantially conforms to the exterior taper, above the brim, of the safety helmet such that when inserted over the safety helmet the ring forms an interference fit with the safety helmet, when inserted onto the helmet from the top, and included with the ring is one or more storage compartments.

A safety helmet, or hardhat, (see FIG. 1A) is a type of helmet predominantly used in workplace environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the head from injury due to falling objects, impact with other objects, debris, rain, and electric shock. Within the interior of the helmet, there are suspension bands (not shown in FIG. 1A) that help spread the helmet's weight and distribute the force of any impact over the top of the head in order to eliminate the build-up of force at any one point in particular. The suspension bands provide a space of approximately 30 mm (1.2 inch) between the helmet's shell and the wearer's head, so that if an object strikes the shell, the impact is less likely to be transmitted directly to the skull. Unfortunately, many wearers of safety helmets have considered the space between the helmet and their head a convenient place to store items ranging from packs of cigarettes to cell phones and even other safety items such as dust masks and earplugs, which poses a potential risk of the force of an impact being transmitted directly to skull at a single point rather than being distributed.

In addition to the internal suspension, many safety helmets have external features as well. FIG. 1A, shows in simplified form, a representative safety helmet 100. The helmet 100 shown includes several features that are typical of what can be found on many safety helmets but designs may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Shown on the helmet 100 is a brim 102 that typically extends around the entire helmet and will often vary in the extent that it extends outward from the main helmet surface 104. [Note: In helmets where there is only a partial brim, for example only in the front of the helmet, for the purposes of this document the brim is inclusive of the outer edge of the bottom of the helmet when there is no visible brim.

The outer surface 104 of the helmet has an external taper 105, which typically continuously varies in angle as it rises from the brim 102 to the top of the helmet in order to produce a dome shaped. However, in some helmets the angle may be initially fixed as it rises from the brim 102, prior to transitioning into the arched shape that produces the dome.

Many helmets also include a mid-line reinforcement ridge 107 to improve impact resistance, as well as one or more external bosses 108A, 108B, which have various functional aspects, such as for the attachment of a chin strap.

Having described the various features of a typical helmet 100, what will now be described is an exemplary apparatus for adding external storage. FIG. 1B shows, in simplified form, an exemplary apparatus for adding external storage to a safety helmet.

In FIG. 1B we see a substantially ring shaped apparatus 110 that is configured to have an interior surface 114 that substantially conforms to that of one or more of a plurality of safety helmets. The interior surface also has an interior taper 115 that is configured to substantially conform to that of one or more of a plurality of safety helmets. The interior taper 115 may be a fixed angle or continuously vary such that it matches the exterior taper of a particular safety helmet. The point being that the combination of the interior surface 114 and the interior taper 115 of the apparatus 110 are configured to allow the apparatus to one or more of fit snuggly, produce an interference fit, or produce a press fit onto a safety helmet.

In order to accommodate the various external features of a particular safety helmet the apparatus is shown configured with several representative ring features: external extension 117, internal recesses 118A, and through cuts 118B. Other ring features may be necessary to accommodate particular features of a particular safety helmet such as internal extensions. The point being not the particular set of ring features but that the apparatus is configured with appropriate ring features such that the combination of the interior surface 114 (inclusive of any ring features) and the interior taper 115 of the apparatus 110 are configured to allow the apparatus to one or more of fit snuggly, produce an interference fit, or produce a press fit onto a safety helmet. It should be noted that the ring features may be individually configured to provide either clearance around an external feature of the safety helmet of a fit with a particular feature that is either: snug, interference, or produce a press fit and it is the combination of the interior surface 114, inclusive of any ring features, and the interior taper 115 of the apparatus 110 that produces the overall fit.

The apparatus includes one or more storage units 120, which may include one or more of storage separators and/or a lid (or doors) and may (or may not) be sealable from the external elements. While it is anticipate that the storage will be most commonly located such then when inserted onto the safety helmet it will be located towards the back of the helmet, other configuration such as front, side, and event storage around the entire length of the helmet are also anticipated.

Ideally the interior surface 122 (that facing the helmet) of the one or more storage units 120 is configured such that it fits as closely as possible to the helmet in order to allow any added weight to be placed into the helmet to be as close to helmet as possible. Additionally, it is anticipated that the weight of the apparatus may be configured such that it is balanced at the center of the ring, either with or without a predetermined amount of weight to be added to the storage.

FIG. 1C shows, in simplified form, the apparatus 110 inserted onto a representative safety helmet 100.

Having described a representative apparatus, various configurations will now be described.

FIG. 2A shows, in simplified form, the addition of a split 200 in the apparatus. The apparatus 110A of FIG. 2A is represented as being identical to the apparatus 110 of FIG. 1B, except a split 200 has been added in order to increase the flexibility of the ring in order to facilitate not only installation but in particular removal of the apparatus. [Note: while the split 200 is shown at the front of the apparatus other locations are also anticipated and by varying the location of the split 200, such as close to or opposite the storage, various mechanical properties can be achieved. In order to create the desired fit that is one or more of either: snug, interference, or a press fit onto a safety helmet.]

FIG. 2B shows, in simplified form, the split apparatus 110A inserted onto a representative safety helmet 100.

FIG. 3A shows, in simplified form, the inclusion of one or more helmet attachments 300, 310. The apparatus 110B of FIG. 3A is represented as being identical to the apparatus 110 of FIG. 1B, except one or more helmet attachments 300, 310 have been included in order to facilitate the apparatus remaining on the helmet. The use of one or more helmet attachments can be particularly advantageous when the apparatus is configured to provide a snug rather than an interference or press fit onto to a helmet. [Note: The use of helmet attachments is also particularly advantageous when combined with the split 200 of FIG. 2B, in which case it is often advantageous to include a helmet attachment on each side of the split.]

As shown in FIG. 3A the rear helmet attachment 310 is anticipated to be fixed clip that the back of the helmet is inserted into and, in this particular case, the apparatus is then rotated onto the helmet using the rear helmet attachment 310 as a pivot point. Then the front helmet attachment 300 is then snapped over the brim of the helmet to lock it in place. While front 300 and rear 310 helmet attachments have been shown, side helmet attachments are also anticipated, as well as alternate configurations of the helmet attachments such as adjustable straps or stretchable straps to accommodate various brim sizes.

In this regard, it should be understood that the helmet attachment are representative of typical, known attachments for purposes of understanding. It is to be understood that other attachments, whether standard or proprietary can be used to the same or similar effect for again, the important aspect being the ability to secure the apparatus to the helmet and not the particular attachment utilized.

FIG. 3B shows, in simplified form, the split apparatus 110B inserted onto a representative safety helmet 100.

FIG. 4A shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light 400. The apparatus 110C of FIG. 4A is represented as being identical to the apparatus 110 of FIG. 1B, except attachment receptacles 420 have been added such that mating light attachments 410 of the light 400 allows the light 400 to be attached.

FIG. 4B shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light 400 to the apparatus 110C and inserted onto a representative safety helmet 100.

Similarly, FIG. 5A shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light 400 to a split apparatus 110D. The apparatus 110D of FIG. 5A is represented as being identical to the apparatus 110A of FIG. 2A, except attachment receptacles 520 have been added such that mating light attachments 410 of the light 400 allow the light to be attached and are designed to span the split 200. In this way, if the light 400 is attached to the apparatus 110 D after it has been inserted onto a helmet then the light can be configured to lock the apparatus 110D onto the helmet by producing the desired fit. In this way, the possible need for helmet attachments, as represented in FIG. 3A, may not be necessary.

While the use of a light is shown in FIG. 5A as a means of securing a split apparatus once it has been placed upon a helmet, other mechanisms such as a buckle or hasp are also anticipated.

In this regard, it should be understood that the means of locking a split apparatus are representative of typical, known means of locking for purposes of understanding. It is to be understood that other means of locking, whether standard or proprietary can be used to the same or similar effect for again, the important aspect being the ability to lock the split apparatus and produce the desired fit after it has been inserted onto the helmet and not the particular locking utilized.

FIG. 5B shows, in simplified form, the addition of a light 400 to the split apparatus 110D and inserted onto a representative safety helmet 100.

FIG. 6 shows, in simplified form, the inclusion of one or more ring accessories 600, 610, 620. The apparatus 110E of FIG. 6 is represented as being identical to the apparatus 110 of FIG. 1B, except one or more ring accessories 600, 610, 620 have been included in order to extend the functionality of the apparatus 110E. For example, one or more chinstrap accessory 600 have been included to allow a chinstrap to be attached to the apparatus 110E. One or more clip accessories 610 have been added as a convenient way for allowing items, such as a pencil or safety glasses, to be conveniently attached apparatus and still allow for the items quick removal. Additionally a hanging accessory 620 is shown as included to facilitate hanging the apparatus 110E, either with or without the helmet 100 attached, onto a storage hook (not shown) or alternatively items could be hung from the hanging accessory 620. As such, the safety features of the helmet can be significantly extended by providing a convenient means for storing necessary safety equipment that may or may not fit in the storage compartment 120. For example, the storage compartment might include one or more of: ear plugs (hearing protection), face mask, first aid materials (bandages, antiseptic wipes . . . etc.) and the ring accessories would allow the attachment of safety glasses that might not otherwise fit in the storage compartment 120.

Additional, safety can be achieved to any of the apparatus specified by adding reflective elements or high visibility coloring the apparatus (either in part or in whole), such as florescent yellow, orange, or even adding glow in the dark coloring.

By adding battery power to the apparatus additional features such as one or more lights going around the apparatus can be added. Additionally, a one-way or a two-way radio could be incorporated into the apparatus that either had a microphone and/or head phones that extended permanently over the brim to an accessible location or were retractable. Alternatively, for a radio, sound could be conducted into the helmet through external vibrations supplied by the apparatus.

Finally, it is worth noting that while the above has been discussed in relationship to safety helmets it is applicable to any hat that has a rigid structure, e.g. a bicycle helmet.

Finally, it is to be understood that various different variants of the invention, including representative embodiments and extensions have been presented to assist in understanding the invention. It should be understood that such implementations are not to be considered limitations on either the invention or equivalents except to the extent they are expressly in the claims. It should therefore be understood that, for the convenience of the reader, the above description has only focused on a representative sample of all possible embodiments, a sample that teaches the principles of the invention. The description has not attempted to exhaustively enumerate all possible permutations, combinations or variations of the invention, since others will necessarily arise out of combining aspects of different variants described herein to form new variants, through the use of particular hardware or software, or through specific types of applications in which the invention can be used. That alternate embodiments may not have been presented for a specific portion of the description, or that further undescribed alternate or variant embodiments may be available for a portion of the invention, is not to be considered a disclaimer of those alternate or variant embodiments to the extent they also incorporate the minimum essential aspects of the invention, as claimed in the appended claims, or an equivalent thereof.

Claims

1. An apparatus for attaching storage to safety helmets comprising:

A substantially ring shaped apparatus that has an interior shape that substantially conforms to the exterior shape, above a brim, of a safety helmet and an interior taper that substantially conforms to the exterior taper, above the brim, of the safety helmet such that when inserted over the safety helmet the ring form a fit that is one or more of either snug, interference, or a press fit; and the ring comprises one or more storage compartments.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more storage compartments are sealable from the elements.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ring further comprises one or more helmet attachments.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ring includes an attachment for a light.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ring is a split ring.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the ring includes a locking mechanism that spans the split.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the locking mechanism incorporates attaching a light to the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ring further comprises one or ring accessories configured to allow items to be attached externally to the ring.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the ring further comprises one or ring accessories configure to allow the ring to hung from the ring accessory when attached to the safety helmet.

10. A method of adding storage to a safety helmet comprising:

inserting on to the top of the safety helmet a ring shaped device that has one or more external storage compartments and has an interior shape that substantially conforms to the exterior shape of the safety helmet;

causing a fit that is one or more of either snug, interference, or a press fit; and the ring comprises on or more storage compartments.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the ring further comprises one or more attachment accessories and the method further involves facilitating the device remaining on the helmet by attaching the attachment accessories to the safety helmet.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the ring shaped device is a split ring.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the ring includes a locking mechanism that spans the split and the method includes locking the device in place after it has been inserted on to the top of the safety helmet in order to produce the desired fit.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the locking mechanism incorporates attaching a light to the device.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprises storing one or more of the following with the device: safety glasses, hearing protection, dust mask or first aid supplies.

16. The method of claim 10 further comprises applying highly visible colors to the device.