EARMUFF UNIT FOR USE WITHIN A HEAD PROTECTIVE GEAR AND HEAD PROTECTIVE GEAR

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an earmuff unit for use within a head protective gear. The earmuff unit includes an ear pad and a connection element. A longitudinal end of the connection element is connected to a laterally inner surface of a lower end of the ear pad, and a respective other longitudinal end of the connection element is connected to an inner padding of the head protective gear, where the inner padding is not a part of the earmuff unit.

Description

DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to an earmuff unit for use within a head protective gear, said earmuff unit comprising an ear pad.

Earmuff units contribute considerably to noise reduction as they provide a close contact to the user's ear or even a closed space around the user's ear. This is not only true for proper earmuff units, i.e. earmuff units merely intended for protecting the user from noise, but also for over-the-ear headphone units and also for on-ear headphone units comprising at least one loudspeaker and providing a predefined acoustic environment allowing the loudspeaker to be operated at a lower volume. Furthermore, said predefined acoustic environment is of particular importance when applying Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) so as to further reduce the noise level.

When putting the head protective gear on or taking it off, however, at least the lower part of the ear pad may enter into contact with the user's ear which may limit the user's ability to put on the head protective gear, possibly require a special effort such as pushing elements of the head protective gear sideways with the user's fingers, which may be experienced by the user at least as unpleasant and sometimes even painful.

It is to be noted already at this point that, in the context of the present invention, the terms “lower” and “upper” refer to a state in which the user wears the earmuff unit over his/her ear. In this state, the user's earlobe forms a lower part of the user's ear, while the ear's helix is located in the ear's upper part.

In view of the above, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved earmuff unit.

According to the present invention, this object is solved by an earmuff unit as defined at the outset and further comprising a connection element, one longitudinal end of said connection element being connected to a laterally inner surface of a lower end of said ear pad, and a respective other longitudinal end of said connection element being adapted to be connected to an inner padding of the head protective gear. It is to be noted that neither the inner padding nor the head protective gear are elements of the earmuff unit.

As a consequence of the construction according to the invention, the connection element provides a smooth transition from the inner padding to the ear pad, thus avoiding any unpleasant or even painful contact with the user's ears, when putting the head protective gear on or off. Consequently, the earmuff unit according to the present invention provides, in addition to providing a general protection of the ear, e.g. from dust, insects, and the like, comfort when putting the head protective gear on or taking it off.

It should be noted that the head protective gear generally may be of any design, as long as its shell covers the user's ears. In particular, the head protective gear may include a hard shell or a soft shell. As head protective gears including a hard shell, motorcycle helmet, sports helmets, professional protective helmets and the like are known. These helmets may be of different design. In particular, the helmet may be a full helmet, a cross helmet, a flip-up helmet, a jet helmet and the like, but not a brain cap. Head protective gears including a soft shell, for example, are used in martial arts, e.g. boxing, kickboxing and the like.

It should be noted in the context of the present invention that if the ear pad is intended to surround the ear of the user of the head protective gear, it needs not to surround the ear completely. In particular with head protective gears, e.g. motorcycle helmets, worn when driving/riding on public streets or roads, there might be a concern that ear pads completely surrounding the user's ear could limit the user's ability to hear sounds from the environment, thus causing a potential accident risk. Different solutions could be envisaged in order to mitigate or even dispel such concerns. For example, sound from the environment could be recorded using an external microphone and mixed to the signal supplied to a speaker located in the ear pad. According to a further example, a hole penetrating the or cut into the ear pad could be provided, allowing sound from the environment to enter into the space surrounded by the ear pad. The position and/or dimensions and/or shape of such a hole may easily be adopted to the specific application of the head protective gear. For example, this hole could be located in the lower part of the ear pad and/or in the back of the ear pad. According to a still further example, a hole could be provided which penetrates not only the earmuff unit, but also the shell of the head protective gear in a substantially radial direction with respect to the user's head. Preferably, this hole can take different shapes, measures or directions or be a combination of more than one hole, all for a purpose of enabling hearing some environmental sound while lowering wind noise.

In order to further increase the user's comfort when putting the head protective gear on or taking it off, it is suggested that an inner surface of the ear pad is adapted and intended to be in flush or near flush alignment with an adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear. Accordingly, steps or other types of projections may be avoided at the transition between the inner padding and the ear pad.

As a further improvement to the user's comfort, a flexible element may be arranged in at least a lower portion of the ear pad's circumference. The flexible element, for example, may be a compressible element integrated in said ear pad. By compressing the compressible element the ear pad may compensate any remaining steps at the transition between the inner padding and the ear pad.

If said compressible element is elastically compressible, the ear pad may automatically return to its initial state after having been compressed in order to allow to pass the user's ears when putting the helmet on or off. For example, said compressible element is made from, preferably elastically, compressible foam material.

It should be noted that in the context of the present invention the term “foam material” is intended to cover also materials having a foam-like structure, e.g. natural or artificial sponges.

If said connection element is elastically stretchable, wrinkling of the connection element in a state in which the user wears the head protective gear may be avoided.

If said flexible element is arranged in an upper portion of the ear pad's circumference as well, putting glasses, e.g. optometric glasses, sun glasses or the like, on or off when wearing the head protective gear may be facilitated. In particular, the flexible element or its compressible element may easily yield to the pressure exerted by the glasses' temples and slip aside giving way to the temples' movement along the user's head. Furthermore, it is conceivable to provide ear pas having a depression or recess allowing the temples even easier to pass the ear pad.

According to a further embodiment, said connection element may be a strip element, the width of said strip element preferably being substantially equal to the width of said ear pad.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a head protective gear having an outer shell and an inner padding and including at least one earmuff unit according to the first aspect of the present invention and mounted in an allocated recess of the inner padding.

According to a third aspect, the present invention relates to a head protective gear having an outer shell and an inner padding and including at least one earmuff unit mounted in an allocated recess of the inner padding, said earmuff unit comprising an ear pad, an inner surface of the ear pad being in flush or near flush alignment with an adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear. Accordingly, steps or gaps or other types of projections which possibly could fold or clamp the user's ear may be avoided at the transition between the inner padding and the ear pad.

Advantageously a height difference between the inner surface of the ear pad and the adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear may amount to less than 5 mm and/or the width of a gap between the inner surface of the ear pad and the adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear may amount to less than 5 mm.

Furthermore, the ear pad of the head protective gear according to the second aspect may include the advantageous ear pad features of the ear pad of the head protective gear according to the afore-discussed first aspect.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail referring to a specific embodiment. Merely for the sake of simplicity, the earmuff units shown in the drawings are designed as over-the-ear headphone units, and the head protective gear is designed as a helmet, in particular a motorcycle helmet. It is to be understood, however, that this is not intended in any way to limit the scope of protection.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a helmet including two headphone units according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the inside of the helmet seen in a direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an ear pad of the headphone unit of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a helmet including two headphone units according to a second aspect of the invention.

In FIG. 1, a helmet (as an example of a head protective gear) is generally denoted by reference numeral 10. The helmet 10 comprises an outer shell 12 and an inner padding 14, schematically indicated in FIG. 1. Generally, the helmet 10 may be of any design, as long as the outer shell 12 covers the user's ears. In other words, the helmet 10 may be a full helmet, a cross helmet, a flip-up helmet, a jet helmet and the like, but not a brain cap.

At the locations intended to protect the user's ears, the padding 14 has two recesses 16, which are intended to receive two earmuff units according to the present invention, in particular two headphone units 20. Each of the headphone units 20 comprises a housing 22 rigidly supporting a loudspeaker (not shown), and an ear pad 30 connected to the housing 22 at a side facing towards the user's head. Furthermore, an acoustic mesh (not shown) may be arranged between said housing 22 and said ear pad 30.

As may be seen from FIGS. 1 to 3, a connecting element 60 is connected with its one longitudinal end 60a to a lower end 30a of the ear pad's main body 30b, while its respective other longitudinal end 60b may be connected to an inner surface 14a of the inner padding 14 of the helmet 10. Advantageously, the connection element 60 may be connected to the laterally inner side 30d of the ear pad's main body 30b, in order to provide a smooth transition to the inner padding 14. Furthermore, the inner surface 30d of the ear pad 30 may be in flush or near flush alignment with the adjacent inner surface 14a of the inner padding 14, in order to avoid any steps or other types of projections at the transition between the ear pad 30 and the inner padding 14.

In this context, it is further advantageous if the width w of said connection element 60 is substantially equal to the width W of said ear pad 30.

The ear pad 30 is intended to surround the user's ear in a condition in which the ear pad 30 is abutting against the user's head. To this end, the ear pad 30 includes a flexible element 26 which may be made from a compressible material, e.g. a compressible foam material. In order to allow the flexible element 26 to automatically return to its expanded state, the flexible element 26 may be made from an elastically compressible material, e.g. an elastically compressible foam material. It is, however, also conceivable that the ear pad 30 is provided with means 64 (only schematically indicated in FIG. 3) for inflating the flexible element 26. In this context, it is advantageous if the foam material is an open-pore foam material, preferably having a closed outer surface 26d.

It is to be added that, as a further improvement, the headphone unit 20 according to the present invention may be provided with active noise cancellation properties. To this end, at least one microphone (not shown) may be mounted to the housing 20 substantially in front of the loudspeaker.

Furthermore, an additional microphone (not shown) may be provided outside the headphone unit 20.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a helmet 110 according to a second aspect of the invention. In the following, helmet 110 will be described only inso-far as it differs from the helmet 10 of FIGS. 1 to 3. With respect to all other features, it is referred to the afore-given description of helmet 10.

As may be seen from FIG. 4, helmet 110 has having an outer shell 112 and an inner padding 114 and includes two headphone units 120 mounted in an allocated recess 116 of the inner padding 114. Each headphone unit 120 comprises an ear pad 130, an inner surface 130d of the ear pad 130 being in flush or near flush alignment with an adjacent inner surface 114a of the inner padding 114 of the helmet 110. Accordingly, any steps or gaps or other types of projections, in particular at the lower end of the headphone unit 120, which possibly could fold or clamp the user's ear may be avoided at the transition between the inner padding 114 and the ear pad 130.

Advantageously a height difference dh between the inner surface 130d of the ear pad 130 and the adjacent inner surface 114a of the inner padding 114 of the helmet 110 may amount to less than 5 mm. In addition or as an alternative the width dw of a gap 170 between the inner surface 130d of the ear pad 130 and the adjacent inner surface 114a of the inner padding 114 of the helmet 110 may amount to less than 5 mm.

Claims

1. An earmuff unit for use within a head protective gear comprising:

an ear pad including a lower end having a laterally inner surface; and

a connection element, wherein one longitudinal end of the connection element is connected to the laterally inner surface of the lower end of the ear pad, and wherein a respective other longitudinal end of the connection element is connected to an inner padding of the head protective gear, wherein the inner padding is separate from the earmuff unit.

2. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the ear pad is adapted to be in flush alignment with an adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear.

3. The earmuff unit of claim 1, further comprising a flexible element arranged in at least a lower portion of a circumference of the ear pad.

4. The earmuff unit of claim 3, wherein the flexible element is a compressible element integrated in the ear pad.

5. The earmuff unit of claim 4, wherein the compressible element is elastically compressible.

6. The earmuff unit of claim 4, wherein the compressible element comprises an elastically compressible foam material.

7. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein the connection element is elastically stretchable.

8. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein the connection element comprises a strip element.

9. The earmuff unit of claim 8, wherein a width of the connection element is equal to a width of the ear pad.

10. A head protective gear comprising:

an outer shell;

an inner padding having an allocated recess; and

at least one earmuff unit mounted in the allocated recess, the at least one earmuff unit comprising: an ear pad including a lower end having a laterally inner surface; and a connection element, wherein one longitudinal end of the connection element is connected to the laterally inner surface of the lower end of the ear pad, and wherein a respective other longitudinal end of the connection element is connected to the inner padding of the head protective gear.

11. A head protective gear comprising:

an outer shell;

an inner padding having an allocated recess; and

at least one earmuff unit comprising: an ear pad having an inner surface and being in flush alignment with an adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear.

12. The head protective gear of claim 11, wherein a height difference between the inner surface of the ear pad and the adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear is less than 5 mm.

13. (canceled)

14. The head protective gear of claim 11, wherein a width of a gap between the inner surface of the ear pad and the adjacent inner surface of the inner padding of the head protective gear is less than 5 mm.

15. The head protective gear of claim 11, further comprising:

a flexible element arranged in at least a lower portion of a circumference of the ear pad.

16. The head protective gear of claim 15, wherein the flexible element is a compressible element integrated in the ear pad.

17. The head protective gear of claim 16, wherein the compressible element is elastically compressible.

18. The head protective gear of claim 16, wherein the compressible element comprises an elastically compressible foam material.