PROTECTIVE HELMET WITH ATTACHMENT RING
A protective helmet adapted to receive and protect the head of a wearer includes an outer shell and an attachment ring removably secured to the outer shell, such that the attachment ring can be selectively attached to or detached and removed from the outer shell. The outer shell is shaped to protect the head of the wearer of the protective helmet and defines a bottom opening and an internal cavity for receiving the head of the wearer. The attachment ring acts as a point of attachment for, and thus secures, one or more components of the protective helmet configured to engage the head of the wearer, such that the components secured to the attachment ring are transported with the attachment ring when the attachment ring is detached and removed from the outer shell.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/882,728 filed on Aug. 5, 2019, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a protective helmet. Protective helmets are commonly worn in the workplace to prevent or reduce the likelihood of head injuries. For example, a hard hat is the most common and well-recognized protective helmet. For another example, a fire helmet is another common protective helmet. Such protective helmets, including hard hats and fire helmets, commonly are comprised of three primary components—an outer shell, a headband, and a suspension—which cooperate to reduce the potential for injury by attenuating some translational energy of the force of an impact to the helmet. Certain protective helmets, including fire helmets, sometimes also include an inner shell (or liner) positioned between the outer shell and the suspension, which also aids in attenuating some translational energy of the force of an impact to the outer shell of the helmet.
The construction of such protective helmets is further described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,888,831, 6,609,254, 6,862,747, 7,000,262, 7,043,772, 7,174,575, and 7,213,271, each of which is assigned to the present applicant and is incorporated herein by reference.
With respect to fire helmets and similar protective helmets, other components may be included to hold the helmet in place and to increase user comfort. For example, the protective helmet may include: a chinstrap which keeps the helmet on the head when the user is moving around; comfort liners for the brow and the crown; and/or edge trim which covers any sharp edges around the bottom of the helmet. In current practice, such components are attached directly to the helmet, typically using screws, rivets, or some form of snap fastener. This often requires internal bosses and/or ribs on the inside of the helmet for retaining threaded inserts and other forms of receivers. The addition of such features can create stress concentrators on the outer shell of the helmet, which can reduce the ability of the helmet to withstand impacts. The addition of such features can also cause wall thickness differences, which can lead to finish imperfections on the surface of the outer shell. Furthermore, the directionality of any such additional features can create difficulties in molding.
With respect to fire helmets, another concern is decontamination. Contaminants collect on the inside of the helmet during the act of putting out a fire. Many of these contaminants are considered carcinogenic. These contaminants collect in all the nooks and crevices inside of a helmet. Accordingly, fire helmets need to be disassembled in order to effectively clean and decontaminate them. This can be time-consuming, especially when there are a number of components attached directly to the helmet. When such components are fixed with rivets or similar retaining devices, decontamination becomes even more difficult. Additionally, contamination often also collects underneath the inner shell (or liner), and removing the inner shell (or liner) is also often quite difficult.
Thus, there remains a need for an improved means by which to secure components to fire helmets and similar protective helmets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is a protective helmet, such as a fire or rescue helmet, which includes an attachment ring.
A protective helmet made in accordance with the present invention includes an outer shell to which an exemplary attachment ring is removably secured, such that the attachment ring can be selectively attached to or detached and removed from the outer shell. The outer shell is shaped to protect the head of the wearer of the protective helmet and defines a bottom opening and an internal cavity for receiving the head of the wearer. The attachment ring acts as a point of attachment for, and thus secures, one or more components of the protective helmet configured to engage the head of the wearer. In other words, each component of the protective helmet configured to engage the head of the wearer is secured to the attachment ring. Thus, instead of having to disassociate each respective component of the helmet configured to engage the head of the wearer from direct contact with the outer shell, as is common with protective helmets of known construction, such components can be removed from the internal cavity or otherwise disassociated from the outer shell for cleaning or decontamination simply by removing the attachment ring. By securing each component of the protective configured to engage the head of the wearer to the attachment ring instead of directly to the outer shell in such embodiments, the outer shell can be constructed free of internal bosses and/or ribs for securing such components, which may reduce the ability of the protective helmet to withstand impacts, cause finish imperfections, and/or make molding of the outer shell more difficult.
In some embodiments, the protective helmet includes a headband assembly secured to the attachment ring, which holds the protective helmet on the head of the wearer and helps to maintain a degree of spacing between the head of the wearer and the outer shell to attenuate translational energy of the force of an impact to the protective helmet. To further hold the protective helmet in place on the head of the wearer, in some embodiments, the protective helmet further includes a chinstrap secured to the attachment ring. In some embodiments, the attachment ring is the exclusive structure of the protective helmet to which the headband assembly and the chinstrap are secured.
In some embodiments, the protective helmet further includes an inner liner positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell to further attenuate the translational energy of the force of an impact. In some embodiments, the inner liner is supported by a shelf defined by the attachment ring, such that the inner liner can be removed from the internal cavity defined by the outer shell by detaching and removing the attachment ring from the outer shell. In some embodiments, the attachment ring includes inner wall portions that extend upwardly from the shelf to sandwich the inner liner between the attachment ring and the outer shell, thereby maintaining the position of the inner liner when the protective helmet is assembled.
For increased comfort, in some embodiments, the protective helmet includes an internal padding positioned within internal cavity defined by the outer shell which provides an intermediate layer between the head of the wearer and an interior surface of the inner liner when the protective element is worn.
The attachment ring is removably secured to the outer shell using a minimal number of fasteners in order to facilitate quick and simple attachment and detachment of the attachment ring from the outer shell, and thus the various components secured thereto or supported thereby. As a further refinement, in some embodiments, the protective helmet further includes components which do not engage the head of the wearer and are positioned on the exterior of the outer shell, such as a visor assembly and a rear edge trim, which are secured to the outer shell via the same fasteners as the attachment ring.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe present invention is a protective helmet, such as a fire or rescue helmet, which includes an attachment ring.
Referring now to
Referring still to
Referring still to
Referring now specifically to
Referring now specifically to
As perhaps shown best in
Referring now again to
Referring now again specifically to
Referring now to
Referring still to
Referring now to
The second bracket 56 is substantially identical to the first bracket 54, and, as such, is secured to the attachment ring 40 using fasteners in the same manner as the first bracket 54. In this regard, a posterior portion of attachment ring 40 defines a first opening 41c and a second opening 41d to receive fasteners that are substantially identical to the fasteners 55a, 55b shown in
As shown in
Referring now specifically to
Furthermore, as shown in
The headband 52 is secured to the second bracket 56 in the same manner as the first bracket 54. In this regard, the headband 52 also includes a second pair of upwardly extending arms 52b, which are substantially identical to the first pair of upwardly extending arms 52a. And, the second bracket 56 is substantially identical to the first bracket 54 and includes a second pair of upwardly extending arms 56c, with each arm 56c defining one or more openings 56d.
Referring now to
Referring now again specifically to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Accordingly, as a result of the attachment ring 40 being removably secured to the outer shell 20, each component of the protective helmet 10 which is positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell 20 and/or configured to engage the head of the wearer secured to or supported by the attachment ring 40 can be quickly and easily disassociated from the outer shell 20, thereby providing better access to clean or decontaminate such components. Additionally, because the rear edge trim 90 supporting the visor assembly 80 is secured to the outer shell 20 by the same fasteners 25 which removably secure the attachment ring 40, the rear edge trim 90 and visor assembly 80 are also disassociated from the outer shell 20 for such purposes simultaneously with removal of the attachment ring 40. As such, each component of the protective helmet 10 can be disassociated from the outer shell 20 simply by manipulating a minimal number of fasteners 25. Furthermore, as each component of the protective helmet 10 is secured to the outer shell 20 by either the attachment ring 40 or the rear edge trim 90, the outer shell 20 can be constructed free of internal bosses and/or ribs which may reduce ability of the protective helmet 10 to withstand impacts, cause finish imperfections, and/or make molding of the outer shell 20 more difficult.
Although the exemplary attachment ring 40 is primarily described herein as securing the headband assembly 50, the chinstrap 60, and the internal padding 70, and as supporting an inner liner 30, one of skill in the art will appreciate and recognize that additional or alternative components may be secured to or supported by the attachment ring 40 without departing from the spirt or scope of the present invention. For example, in some embodiments, the protective helmet 10 may include a suspension secured to the headband assembly 50 in place of or in addition to the internal padding 70.
One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that additional embodiments are also possible without departing from the teachings of the present invention. This detailed description, and particularly the specific details of the exemplary embodiment disclosed therein, is given primarily for clarity of understanding, and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, for modifications will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A protective helmet adapted to receive and protect the head of a wearer, comprising:
- an outer shell shaped to protect the head of the wearer, the outer shell defining an opening and an internal cavity for receiving the head of the wearer; and
- an attachment ring removably secured to the outer shell and extending coextensively with the opening defined by the outer shell, the attachment ring securing one or more components of the protective helmet configured to engage the head of the wearer, such that the one or more components configured to engage the head of the wearer are transported with the attachment ring when the attachment ring is detached and removed from the outer shell.
2. The protective helmet as recited in claim I, wherein the one or more components configured to engage the head of the wearer includes a headband assembly.
3. The protective helmet as recited in claim 2, wherein the attachment ring is the exclusive structure of the protective helmet to which the headband assembly is secured.
4. The protective helmet as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more components configured to engage the head of the wearer includes a chinstrap. The protective helmet as recited in claim 4, wherein the attachment ring is the exclusive structure of the protective helmet to which the chinstrap is secured.
6. The protective helmet as recited in claim 1, and further comprising:
- an inner liner positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell.
7. The protective helmet as recited in claim 6, wherein the inner liner is supported by a shelf defined by the attachment ring.
8. The protective helmet as recited in claim 7, wherein the inner liner is sandwiched between the outer shell and the attachment ring.
9. The protective helmet as recited in claim 6, wherein the one or more components configured to engage the head of the wearer includes an internal padding positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell, the internal padding providing an intermediate layer between the head of the wearer and an interior surface of the inner liner when the protective helmet is worn.
10. A protective helmet adapted to receive and protect a head of a wearer, comprising:
- an outer shell shaped to protect the head of the wearer, the outer shell defining an opening and an internal cavity for receiving the head of the wearer;
- a headband assembly for engaging the head of the wearer positioned at least partially within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell; and
- an attachment ring removably secured to the outer shell;
- wherein the headband assembly is secured to the attachment ring, such that the headband assembly can be removed from the internal cavity defined by the outer shell by detaching and removing the attachment ring from the outer shell.
11. The protective helmet as recited in claim 10, and further comprising:
- an inner liner positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell and supported by a shelf defined by the attachment ring.
12. The protective helmet as recited in claim 11, wherein the inner liner is sandwiched between the outer shell and the attachment ring.
13. The protective helmet as recited in claim 11, and further comprising:
- an internal padding secured to the attachment ring and positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell, the internal padding providing an intermediate layer between the head of the wearer and an interior surface of the inner liner when the protective helmet is worn.
14. The protective helmet as recited in claim 10, wherein the attachment ring is the exclusive structure of the protective helmet to which the headband assembly is secured.
15. The protective helmet as recited in claim 10, and further comprising:
- a chinstrap for engaging the head of the wearer and secured to the attachment ring;
- wherein the attachment ring is the exclusive structure of the protective helmet to which the chinstrap is secured.
16. A protective helmet adapted to receive and protect the head of a wearer, comprising:
- an outer shell shaped to protect the head of the wearer, the outer shell defining an opening and an internal cavity for receiving the head of the wearer;
- an attachment ring removably secured to the outer shell; and
- an inner liner positioned within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell;
- wherein the attachment ring defines a shelf on which the inner liner is supported, such that the inner liner can be removed from the internal cavity defined by the outer shell by detaching and removing the attachment ring from the outer shell.
17. The protective helmet as recited in claim 16, wherein the inner liner is sandwiched between the outer shell and the attachment ring.
18. The protective helmet as recited in claim 16, and further comprising:
- a headband assembly for engaging the head of the wearer positioned at least partially within the internal cavity defined by the outer shell;
- wherein the headband assembly is secured to the attachment ring, such that the headband assembly can be removed from the internal cavity defined by the outer shell by detaching and removing the attachment ring from the outer shell.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 4, 2020
Publication Date: Feb 11, 2021
Inventors: David Amos Ward (Lexington, KY), William Chad Wedding (Lexington, KY), Matthew G. Plunkett (Lexington, KY)
Application Number: 16/985,142