HELMET LINER
A helmet liner includes an outer protective layer, an inner protective layer and a plurality of breakable connecting members. The outer protective layer has a first base layer and a plurality of first bulges. The plural first bulges are provided on the first base layer and located at the inner side of the first base layer. The inner protective layer has a second base layer and a plurality of second bulges. The plural second bulges provided on the second base layer and located at the outer side of the second base layer. The plural connecting members are connected between the first bulges and the second bulges so as to endow the helmet liner with reliable impact-absorbing capacity and ensure safety of helmet wearers.
The present invention relates to helmets, and more particularly to a helmet liner.
2. Description of Related ArtA known helmet, as shown in
As the first layer of protection provided by the conventional helmet, the shell 100 is hard and has a smooth surface, so that when a wearer gets impacted at his/her head, the hardness of the shell 100 reduces the impact force and the smooth surface of the shell 100 redirects the impact force form directly hitting the head of the wearer, thereby providing force-reducing effects.
The second layer of protection provided by the conventional helmet is attributable to the slight resilience of the styrofoam liner 90 that absorbs the vibration of the shell 100 caused by the impact and protects the head of the wearer from crush injury.
However, when the shell 100 receives an impact force that is greater than is protection capacity and consequently breaks or deforms, the impacting source will further compress the styrofoam liner 90. While the compressed styrofoam liner 90 can partially offset the impact force with its limited resilience, the surplus impact force will keep compressing the styrofoam liner 90 into a high-density, hard block, totally losing its impact-absorbing ability and leave the head of the wearer unprotected.
Hence, it is desirable to improve the impact-absorbing ability of the styrofoam liner, thereby ensuring safety of helmet wearers.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of the present invention is to provide a helmet liner, which has improved ability to absorb impact, thereby protecting helmet wearers with enhanced safety.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the disclosed a helmet liner comprises: an outer protective layer, being made of thermoplastic, the outer protective layer having a first base layer and a plurality of first bulges, the first bulges being provided on the first base layer and located at an inner side of the first base layer; an inner protective layer, being located at an inner side of the outer protective layer and separated from the outer protective layer by a predetermined distance, the inner protective layer being made of thermoplastic, the inner protective layer having a second base layer and a plurality of second bulges, the second bulges being provided on the second base layer and located at an outer side of the second base layer; and a plurality of breakable connecting members, being made of thermoplastic, the connecting members having a predetermined length, the predetermined length being smaller than the predetermined distance, and the connecting members being connected between the first bulges and the second bulges; wherein, when the outer protective layer receives an external inward force that is smaller than a predetermined pressure, the first base layer deforms and drives the first bulges to move from a first position to a second position with the connecting members remaining intact, and when the external force is greater than the predetermined pressure, the connecting members break.
Thereby, the disclosed helmet liner provides reliable impact-absorbing capacity and ensures safety of helmet wearers.
For further illustrating the means and functions by which the present invention achieves the certain objectives, the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
As shown in
The outer protective layer 11 is made of extendable thermoplastic, which is polystyrene foam in the present embodiment. The outer protective layer 11 has a first base layer 13 and a plurality of first bulges 15. The plural first bulges 15 are provided on the first base layer 13 located at the inner side of the first base layer 13.
The inner protective layer 21 is located at the inner side of the outer protective layer 11 and separated from the outer protective layer 11 by a predetermined distance. The inner protective layer 21 is made of extendable thermoplastic, which is polystyrene foam in the present embodiment. The inner protective layer 21 has a second base layer 23 and a plurality of second bulges 25. The plural second bulges 25 are provided on the second base layer 23 and located at the outer side of the second base layer 23.
The plural breakable connecting members 31 are made of extendable thermoplastic, which is polystyrene foam in the present embodiment. The plural connecting members 31 have a predetermined length are connected between the first bulges 15 and the second bulges 25. The predetermined length is smaller than the predetermined distance.
As shown in
In practical use of the first preferred embodiment, the thermoplastic may alternatively be nylon (PA), polycarbonate (PC) or other thermoplastic materials. Therefore, all the thermoplastic materials being extendable after cured shall be included in the scope of the present invention, and the materials of the outer protective layer 11, the inner protective layer 21 and the connecting members 31 are not limited to what is recited for the first preferred embodiment. In addition, the impact-absorbing capacity of the connecting members 31 may vary depending on the thermoplastic material used, and therefore the threshold of the external force is not limited to 1.1 Mpa are recited for the first preferred embodiment.
In the first preferred embodiment, as shown in
In the first preferred embodiment, as shown in
In the first preferred embodiment, as shown in
In the first preferred embodiment, as shown in
With the technical features of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention as described previously, the first preferred embodiment of the present invention has different aspects.
As shown in
Reference is further made to
With the first bulges, second bulges and connecting members, the helmet liner of the present invention endows the helmet liner with reliable impact-absorbing capacity and ensures safety of helmet wearers.
The helmet liner 10′ as provided in the second preferred embodiment of the present invention is similar to the first preferred embodiment except for the following technical features.
In the second preferred embodiment as shown in
The rest of the structure and effects of the second preferred embodiment are substantively similar to their counterparts in the first preferred embodiment and not redundantly described herein.
The helmet liner 10″ as provided in the third preferred embodiment of the present invention is similar to the first preferred embodiment except for the following technical features.
The third preferred embodiment is depicted in
The rest of the structure and effects of the third preferred embodiment are substantively similar to their counterparts in the first preferred embodiment and not redundantly described herein.
Claims
1. A helmet liner, comprising:
- an outer protective layer, being made of thermoplastic, the outer protective layer having a first base layer and a plurality of first bulges, the first bulges being provided on the first base layer and located at an inner side of the first base layer;
- an inner protective layer, being located at an inner side of the outer protective layer and separated from the outer protective layer by a predetermined distance, the inner protective layer being made of thermoplastic, the inner protective layer having a second base layer and a plurality of second bulges, the second bulges being provided on the second base layer and located at an outer side of the second base layer; and
- a plurality of breakable connecting members, being made of thermoplastic, the connecting members having a predetermined length, the predetermined length being smaller than the predetermined distance, and the connecting members being connected between the first bulges and the second bulges;
- wherein, when the outer protective layer receives an external inward force that is smaller than a predetermined pressure, the first base layer deforms and drives the first bulges to move from a first position to a second position with the connecting members remaining unbroken, and when the external force is greater than the predetermined pressure, the connecting members break.
2. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein the predetermined pressure is 1.1 Mpa.
3. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein each of the first bulges and each of the second bulges have their site projections overlapping each other.
4. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein each of the first bulges and each of the second bulges have their site projections not overlapping each other.
5. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein the connecting members are connected to tops of the first and second bulges.
6. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein the connecting members are arranged unidirectionally.
7. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein the connecting members are connected to the first and second bulges in a one-to-one or one-to-many manner.
8. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein in each of the first bulges a width at its end near the first base layer is greater than a width at its end far from the first base layer, and in each of the second bulges a width at its end near the second base layer is greater than a width at its end far from the second base layer.
9. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein the first bulges move from the first position to the second position in a manner that with the first bulge moving the earliest defined as a central bulge, the other first bulges move from the first position to the second position in an inside-out sequence against the central bulge.
10. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein when the external force is greater than the predetermined pressure, the first bulges moves from the second position to a third position, so that the first bulges abut against the second base layer and the second bulges abut against the first base layer.
11. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein when the external force is greater than the predetermined pressure, the first bulges moves from the second position to a third position, so that the first bulges do not abut against the second base layer and the second bulges abut against the first base layer.
12. The helmet liner of claim 1, wherein when the external force is greater than the predetermined pressure, the first bulges moves from the second position to a third position, so that the first bulges abut against the second base layer and the second bulges do not abut against the first base layer.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 21, 2019
Publication Date: Jan 14, 2021
Inventors: DE-SHIN LIU (CHIA-YI COUNTY), TZU-HAO CHEN (CHIA-YI COUNTY), CHIA-SHAM CHIEN (CHIA-YI COUNTY)
Application Number: 16/547,291