COLLAPSIBLE HELMET
A collapsible helmet for cyclists, the collapsible helmet comprising: at least one elongate, curved central portion adapted to extend over a crown of a user's head from front to back; and, a plurality of side portions supported either side of the at least one central portion, the plurality of side portions configured to nest substantially under the at least one central portion when in a collapsed position, and the plurality of side portions configured to form a helmet when in an operative position; and, at least one flexible strap interconnecting the plurality of side portions and the at least one central portion, wherein the at least one flexible strap limits the relative separation of the plurality of side portions in the operative position.
This invention pertains generally to the field of collapsible helmets, and in particular collapsible helmets for use by cyclists.
In some countries it is a legal requirement to wear a bicycle helmet when cycling on roads, pavements and in other public areas. In some of these countries, these laws apply just to children, but in others they also apply to adults. A bicycle helmet is designed to attenuate head impacts should the cyclist be involved in an accident, protecting the head from injury.
However, if the wearing of helmets is not a legal requirement, the inconvenience of having to carry such a bulky item around tends to steer cyclists away from wearing one. Upon arriving at their destination, they would need to securely stow the helmet with the bicycle, or provide necessary carrying means to take it with them. With cycling helmets incorporating suitable materials and technology to ensure maximum impact protection, whilst allowing for sufficient head ventilation and aerodynamics, they are not cheap items. They are therefore unlikely to be left with the bicycle where they run the risk of being stolen.
Over the last decade, city centres and other urban areas, have begun to introduce cycling schemes where members of the public can hire a bicycle from a number of ranks throughout the city. The majority of such schemes do not include cycling helmets, and therefore a user is responsible for providing their own. Due to the inconvenience of carrying a helmet with you, it is again likely that the user will ride the bicycle without wearing a helmet, risking injury should they be involved in an accident. Bicycle helmets that provide the user with sufficient impact protection are not manufactured cheaply enough to allow them to be made available in such a situation.
A typical bicycle helmet comprises a rigid shell for superior impact protection. Due to their size and the nature of their construction, they would not fit inside a typical briefcase or handbag, and therefore require that the user carry additional luggage to support such an item.
A number of attempts have been made to market collapsible helmets, and in particular collapsible helmets for cyclists. Whilst these collapsible helmets do go some way towards reducing the size of the helmet, and therefore the volume required to store such a helmet when not in use, they do not appear to reduce the overall dimensions sufficiently to ensure that they are carried and used and are not aesthetically pleasing. They also tend to prove to be far more expensive than buying a standard helmet, and in some cases, compromise on impact protection to allow for some collapsibility.
The prior art shows a number of devices which attempt to address the needs in various ways.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,765 (Fallon et al) discloses a safety helmet comprising a substantially rigid curved top panel that extends over the crown of a wearer's head, and a pair of elongate side panels that extend around a respective side of the wearer's head, each side panel being pivotally connected at its two ends to the two ends of the top panel. The side panels are configured to by pivotally inwardly such that they lie substantially within a volume defined by the top panel. Whilst going some way to reducing the overall volume taken up by the cycling helmet when in a stowed position, by providing two side panels and hinged or pivotal means to move these side panels into their stowed position, the overall volume in such a stowed position is still of a considerable size.
GB 2 482 866 (Neopitou) discloses a helmet made from a flexible material, that allows a user to reduce the helmet down to a flat pack shape for stowage purposes. Whilst allowing the overall volume or the stowed helmet to be considerably reduced, the impact protection afforded by such a helmet is compromised.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention aim to provide a collapsible helmet for use by cyclists that provides sufficient impact protection to the head of a wearer, whilst collapsing down to a suitable volume for ease of storage when in a stowed position.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a collapsible helmet for cyclists, the collapsible helmet comprising:
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- at least one elongate, curved central portion adapted to extend over a crown of a user's head from front to back; and,
- a plurality of side portions supported either side of the at least one central portion, the plurality of side portions configured to nest substantially under the at least one central portion when in a collapsed position, and the plurality of side portions configured to form a helmet when in an operative position; and,
- at least one flexible strap interconnecting the plurality of side portions and the at least one central portion, wherein the at least one flexible strap limits the relative separation of the plurality of side portions in the operative position.
Preferably, the plurality of side portions supported either side of the at least one central portion comprise a pair of elongate curved side portions on either side of the at least one central portion.
The at least one central portion may comprise two parallel central portions.
Preferably, the flexible strap comprises an inelastic material.
Preferably, the at least one central portion and/or plurality of side portions comprise an impact absorbing material.
The impact absorbing material may comprise any one of the following materials: polyurethane, polyethylene, polystyrene, rubber, silicone gel.
The at least one central portion and the plurality of side portions may comprise a plastics material formed by injection moulding.
The collapsible helmet may comprise a chin strap.
Preferably, the at least one flexible strap is configured to incorporate the chin strap.
The flexible strap may be stitched to the at least one central portion and plurality of side portions.
Alternatively, the flexible strap may be bonded to the at least one central portion and plurality of side portions.
The flexible strap may be bonded within the at least one central portion and plurality of side portions during the injection moulding process.
A collapsible helmet according to any one of the preceding claims, whereby, in use, the plurality of side portions are movable between a collapsed position, substantially contained within the volume of the at least one central portion, and an operative position, forming the sides of the helmet.
For a better understanding of the invention and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:
In the figures like references denote like or corresponding parts.
As shown in
The side portions 3 adjacent to the central portion 2 as shown in
The collapsible helmet 1 may comprise further side portions 3, not shown in the Figures, whereby on either side of the central portion 2 the side portions 3 are all configured to nest within the volume created by the central portion 2.
The collapsible helmet 1 comprises a plurality of flexible straps 4 that interconnect the side portions 3 and the central portion 2. These flexible straps 4 are sufficiently flexible to allow the side portions 3 to be moved to nest beneath the central portion 2, whilst also being configured to resist relative movement of the side portions 3 beyond an operative position, when in use as a helmet. These flexible straps 4 may be linked through the mass of the side portions 3, or secured to the inner or outer surface of the side portions 3. The flexible straps 4 may comprise an inelastic material, that does not stretch, but is flexible in that it can be folded easily upon itself, much like webbing or similar strapping materials.
The collapsible helmet 1 may incorporate a chin strap 5 to support the collapsible helmet 1 onto the head of the wearer. The chin strap 5 may be formed as part of the flexible straps 4, or may comprise a separate strap that is secured to the side portions 3 or central portion 2. The chin strap 5 may comprise fastening means and adjustable means to accommodate different sizes of head.
The collapsible helmet 1 comprises a shell made up of the at least one central portion 2 and the plurality of side portions 3. The central portion 2 and side portions 3 comprise an impact absorbing material, or be made up of an outer layer of substantially rigid material and an inner layer of cushioning material. The central portion 2 and side portions 3 may comprise a plastics material, and the plastics material may be lined with a suitable impact absorbing material. The central portion 2 and side portions 3 may comprise a number of materials, but preferably comprise a material that will deform on receipt of an impact loading such as to absorb impact energy and thus reduce the level of any impact that may be experienced by a user of the collapsible helmet 1. Such absorption is preferably by way of recoverable deformation, such as would be possible with materials such as polyurethane. Other suitable materials include but are not limited to: polyethylene, polystyrene, crushable foams such as expanded polystyrene, expanded polypropylene and expanded polyurethane, rubber and silicone gel. It is thought that the collapsible helmet 1 if produced from certain cost-effective materials, could be produced at a significantly low cost to make the collapsible helmet 1 viable as a disposable option, or one which can be worn for a limited number of times. This would make the collapsible helmet 1 suitable for use within inner city bike schemes, where the collapsible helmets 1 could be provided through a machine or otherwise at the site of the bike park.
The collapsible helmet 1 may comprise a plurality of side portions 3 either side of the central portion 2, not shown. The collapsible helmet 1 may incorporate 3, 4 or 5 side portions 3 either side of the central portion 2, all interconnected by at least one flexible strap 4 and all being nestable beneath the central portion 2 such that they are wholly contained within the volume created by the central portion 2.
The flexible strap 4 is secured to the central portions 2 and side portions 3 by way of bonding, heating or stitching. The flexible strap 4 in a further embodiment may be configured to loop through the plurality of side portions 3 and/or the at least one central portion 2.
Whilst the collapsible helmet 1 is suitable for use by cyclists, it is not limited to this purpose, and may also be used as a collapsible helmet 1 for other purposes, such as a hard helmet for construction, a helmet for other sporting endeavours such as rock-climbing, snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding and rollerblading and other similar activities where a helmet is often worn to protect the head of a participant from injury.
Claims
1. A collapsible helmet for cyclists, the collapsible helmet comprising:
- at least one elongate, curved central portion adapted to extend over a crown of a user's head from front to back; and,
- a plurality of side portions supported either side of the at least one central portion, the plurality of side portions configured to nest substantially under the at least one central portion when in a collapsed position, and the plurality of side portions configured to form a helmet when in an operative position; and,
- at least one flexible strap interconnecting the plurality of side portions and the at least one central portion, wherein the at least one flexible strap limits the relative separation of the plurality of side portions in the operative position.
2. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of side portions supported either side of the at least one central portion comprises a pair of elongate curved side portions on either side of the at least one central portion.
3. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one central portion comprises two central portions.
4. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible strap comprises an inelastic material.
5. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one central portion and/or plurality of side portions comprise an impact absorbing material.
6. A collapsible helmet according to claim 5, wherein the impact absorbing material comprises any one of the following materials: polyurethane, polyethylene, polystyrene, expanded foam, rubber, silicone gel.
7. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one central portion and the plurality of side portions comprise a plastics material formed by injection moulding.
8. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the collapsible helmet comprises a chin strap.
9. A collapsible helmet according to claim 8, wherein the at least one flexible strap is configured to incorporate the chin strap.
10. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the flexible strap is stitched to the at least one central portion and plurality of side portions.
11. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the flexible strap is bonded to the at least one central portion and plurality of side portions.
12. A collapsible helmet according to claim 11, wherein the flexible strap is bonded within the at least one central portion and plurality of side portions during the injection moulding process.
13. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the central portion and plurality of side portions are made from one or more of the following materials: polyethylene, polystyrene, crushable foams such as expanded polystyrene, expanded polypropylene and expanded polyurethane, rubber and silicone gel.
14. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible strap is made from one or more of the following materials: polypropylene webbing, nylon, polyester, cord, woven strapping, composite strapping, paper.
15. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible strap is secured to the central portion and plurality of side portions by one or more of the following means: adhesive bonding, in-moulding, hook and loop fastening, welding, stitching, mechanical fastening with mechanical fasteners.
16. A collapsible helmet according to claim 1, whereby, in use, the plurality of side portions are movable between a collapsed position, substantially contained within the volume of the at least one central portion, and an operative position, forming the sides of the helmet.
17. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 11, 2016
Publication Date: Feb 22, 2018
Inventor: Samuel Scott Terry (London)
Application Number: 15/556,748