Patent Application
20130061376
Not applicable.
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to concussion-resistant helmets worn by the riders of recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATVs, snowmobiles power boats and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to improving sound suppression for such helmets.
II. Related Art
Millions of people throughout the world participate in and enjoy recreational motor sports such as motorcycling, snowmobiling and power boating. However, at the end of a long day on the road, trail or water a rider of a recreational vehicle used in such sports will experience fatigue, a ringing sensation in his or her ears, and a loss of hearing that can last for days or even become permanent. This is due in part to the sounds generated by the engine of such a vehicle and the rider's close proximity to the engine for an extended period of time. Another significant contributing factor is wind noise produced around the rider's head while the rider is in motion.
By way of example, when a motorcycle rider is stopped at a stop light of a busy intersection with a standard helmet on and the visor close the rider experiences sound levels of 80 to 90 decibels. When the motorcycle is in motion and traveling at speeds between 35 miles per hour and 65 miles per hour, wind noise in such a helmet is the range of 110 to 116 decibels or even higher. At these exposure levels, the exposure time should be limited to no more than fifteen minutes a day to prevent hearing loss. The story is the same for snowmobile riders. Snowmobiles generate sound at about 105 decibels and the same wind noise will be encountered at the same speeds irrespective of the vehicle being ridden. Riders who do not wear a helmet at all (or wear skull caps or half shell models as opposed to a standard full coverage helmet) experience ten times more wind noise.
Many states place no restrictions on the noise generated by motorcycles, snowmobiles and other recreational vehicles. Those states that have adopted statutes or regulations placing restrictions on the noise generated by such vehicles have done so for the benefit of pedestrians and other bystanders rather than to protect the hearing of riders. For example, Michigan has adopted a sound restriction related to motorcycles of 86 decibels, but the measurement is taken 50 feet from the motorcycle when the motorcycle is traveling at more than 35 miles per hour. The sound level at the motorcycle itself and experienced by the rider is much higher due to proximity to the motorcycle. Also, the pedestrian's exposure to the noise generated by a particular motorcycle is often very brief. Riders are often exposed to such noise for hours at a time. New Hampshire's regulation does measure noise 20 inches from the exhaust pipe, but sets the threshold at 105 decibels. At this decibel level, exposure should be limited to one hour a day. No state has adopted a regulation that takes into account wind noise.
In fact, several states have adopted regulations antithetical to the protection of riders from hearing loss. Use of a custom set of ear plugs is a well-known and effective way to suppress sound. Several states have made it illegal to operate a motor vehicle such as a motorcycle while wearing ear plugs in both ears. These regulations make no sense. Why protect one ear from hearing loss, but not the other? Also, at highway speeds wind noise will drown out any other noise that the rider might hear eliminating any safety benefit derived from such a regulation.
As noted above, wearing a standard motorcycle or snowmobile helmet will attenuate noise to a significant degree, but no enough to prevent fatigue, or temporary or permanent hearing loss. The fact that helmet manufacturers have not addressed hearing loss issues suggests other overriding factors exist including comfort, fashion, and the current regulatory framework. There certainly are other techniques which could be employed when designing helmets to reduce vehicle and wind noise. However, none heretofore known are both legal in all jurisdictions and widely acceptable to consumers.
Pilots and others working in close proximity to jet aircraft are exposed to even higher and more damaging sound levels, levels in excess of 140 decibels. Sound at this level not only can result in hearing loss but also significant pain. Various ear muffs have been employed to protect the hearing of those working in close proximity to jet aircraft. Likewise, various helmets have been employed having built-in ear muffs.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,771 to Bixby discloses an aviator's helmet having ear cups for receiving and fitting around the ears of the aviator. Wire springs are used to attach the ear cups to the shell of the helmet. Cables with pull tabs extend through the shell of the helmet so the cups can be retracted from the ears when the helmet is doffed. The arrangement shown in Bixby offers several disadvantages. First, mounting of the springs and cables requires penetration of the shell of the helmet. Second, sound generated by movement of these parts will be transmitted to the ear cups. Third, donning and doffing the helmet becomes more difficult because the wearer is required to pull on the pull tabs while doing so to retract the ear cups.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,572 to Aileo and U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,410 to Westgate attempt to overcome the problems with the Bixby design by eliminating the springs, cables and pull tabs. The ear cups of the designs of the Aileo and Westgate patents are instead mounted on straps adjacent the wearer's ears. Aileo shows the ear cups mounted on the inside of the straps and foam cushioning pads mounted on the outside of the straps. The foam cushioning pads keep the ear cups from contacting the helmet shell. However, the pads will rub against the shell and transmit sound through the cup caused by such rubbing. In Westgate, the foam pads are replaced with an inflatable bladder attached to the shell. However, the shell will rub against the bladder causing sound generated by such rubbing to be transmitted to the wearer's ears. Also, both Westgate and Aileo incorporate straps to support the cups. Helmets without such straps, such as standard motorcycle and snowmobile helmets, cannot easily be retrofitted to confoLlu to what is shown in Aileo and Westgate.
Still another problem with the Westgate and Aileo systems is the space required to mount ear cups as shown. This is why the shells of the helmets shown in Westgate and U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,890 to Deopuria et al have pronounced outwardly projecting ear domes. While helmets used by aviators typically have such outwardly projecting ear domes, helmets used by motorcycle and snowmobile riders typically have shells with smooth, uninterrupted contours and without outwardly projecting ear domes. These helmets are designed to have a snug fit and a smooth exterior because it has heretofore been believed that these features provide the best noise attenuation value. Also, and from a fashion standpoint, snowmobilers and motorcyclists will not find helmets with protruding ear domes to be acceptable.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus for protecting the hearing of the riders of recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles and to accommodate such an apparatus within existing helmets used by such riders or in new helmets which would be acceptable from a comfort, safety and fashion standpoint.
The invention overcomes the above-noted disadvantages and other deficiencies of the prior art by providing helmets for recreational vehicle riders and kits and methods for retrofitting preexisting helmets improve the sound suppression characteristics of the helmets. Such helmets include a hard exterior shell having a generally smooth uninterrupted contour without any outwardly projecting ear domes over the ears of the rider. Concussion padding is disposed within the hard exterior shell conforming substantially to the shape of the shell. First and second apertures are disposed in the padding in the areas in which the shell covers the rider's ears when the helmet is placed on the head of the rider. An inner liner is disposed within the hard exterior shell and cooperating with the shell to encapsulate the padding. First and second ear cups are provided. Each ear cup comprises a wall having a back portion, a rim portion, and a concave front portion, an acoustical noise-reducing member positioned within the concave front portion, and a comfort pad covering the rim portion. First and second compressible members are also provided. First and second non-shell penetrating attachment members are provided for attaching the first compressible member directly to the shell within the first aperture and the second compressible member directly to the shell within the second aperture. Third and fourth attachment members are also provided. The third attachment member attaches the first ear cup directly to the first compressible member and the fourth attachment member attaches the second ear cup directly to the second compressible member. As such, the compressible members cooperate with the shell and the ear cups so that the ear cups surround the ears of the rider and seals are formed between the comfort pads and the rider's head to encapsulate and isolate the ears to attenuate sound.
In at least one embodiment, the compressible members are inflatable bladders. Fluid lines couple the bladders to a bulb pump which is squeezed to inject fluid, e.g., air, into the bladders. A relief valve is also provided which may be opened to deflate the bladders. In other embodiments, the compressible members comprise one or more foam pads. When a compressible member comprises a plurality of foam pads, the pads may be of differing thickness and densities.
The attachment members may be of varying types. An adhesive may be used to secure a compressible member directly to the shell and, in turn, directly to the ear cup. Alternatively, the attachment member may be double-backed tape (i.e., a tape having an adhesive on both sides) used to secure the compressible member directly to the shell and also directly to the ear cup. Likewise, Velcro may be used to directly secure the compressible member to the helmet shell and the ear cup to the compressible member. Such attachment members may be mixed such that, for example, an adhesive is used to directly attach the compressible member to the shell and Velcro is used to attach the ear cup to the compressible member. What is important is that the attachment members do not penetrate the shell so as to form openings that might weaken or interfere with the structural integrity of the shell. Such openings and any object protracting from the shell could also serve to increase wind noise.
The noise-reducing members may be any suitable acoustical structure that will fit within the concave portion of the ear cup such as an acoustical foam. The comfort pad may be in the form of exposed foam, covered foam or a membrane filled with a gel or liquid or any combination thereof. Alternative materials which provide the requisite seal and desired level of comfort may also be employed.
These and other advantageous attributes will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings and detailed description provided below.
The present invention is ideally suited for use with standard helmets, such as motorcycle helmets and snowmobile helmets worn by recreational vehicle riders. As illustrated in
Recreational vehicle helmets also almost universally include a concussion pad 2 disposed within the hard exterior shell 1. The concussion padding 2 has an outer surface that generally conforms to the shape of the shell 1. An inner liner 3 is often integrally formed over or attached to the inside surface of the concussion padding 2. The liner 3 cooperates with the shell 1 to encapsulate the concussion padding 2. As illustrated in
Given the arrangement of the shell 1, concussion padding 2 and the liner 3, the manner in which the helmet fits snuggly and the absence of ear domes, most recreational vehicle helmets rely exclusively on the acoustical characteristics of the shell 1, concussion padding 2 and liner 3 to limit sound reaching the ears of the rider. However, these features of the helmet provide insufficient hearing protection. Decibel levels reaching the ear are still sufficient to cause a ringing sensation and even permanent hearing loss, particularly if the rider is engaged in motorcycling, snowmobiling, or a related motor sport activity over an extended period of time. Some riders do employ ear plugs which fit into the canal of their ears, but these tend to be uncomfortable, illegal in some jurisdictions, and thus an ineffective solution. Traditional ear cups used in military helmets are simply too big to be employed given the space limitations imposed by the shell 1 and/or concussion padding 2.
The present invention solves these problems by providing a very slim, low profile ear cup 10, the design of which is shown in
The above-described ear cup 10 is noteworthy because of its very low profile. Prior art ear cups typically comprise a shell generally having an outside depth dimension of 50 mm or more. The depth of the comfort pad used on such cups is often at least 15 mm making the total depth at least 65 mm. Since two such ear cups are required, the total dimension that must be accommodated is more than 130 mm or more than 5 inches. There simply is not enough room to accommodate such ear cups in a standard recreational vehicle helmet. Ear cup 10 is much slimmer. The outside depth dimension when measured as indicated at 21 in
It is important that the ear cups 10 be resiliently mounted to the shell 1 rather than rigidly fixed to the shell 1. This is so the ear cups 10 will be able to move toward the shell 1 as the helmet is donned and doffed by the rider and so a tight seal is formed surrounding the rider's ears between the comfort pads 24 covering the rim portions 16 of the cups 10 and the rider's face. For this reason, first and second compressible members 3 are provided.
As shown in
Various attachment members may be employed to secure pads 36 and 38 together, to secure the compressible member to the shell and to secure the compressible member to the center section of the back of the wall of the ear cuff. Hook and loop Velcro-type attachment members 40, 42, and 44 are shown in
The embodiment shown in
The reader should appreciate that the improvements described above may be implemented at the time the helmet is manufactured. Helmets may also be retrofitted at some later point in time to provide the advantages of the present invention. To facilitate such retrofitting of a helmet, a kit may be provided. The kit includes first and second ear cups of the type described above with reference to
The kit will also include sufficient material to form (a) first and second attachment members used to directly attach the first compressible member to the shell within the first aperture and the second compressible member to the shell within the second aperture; and (b) third and fourth attachment members attaching the first ear cup to the first compressible member and the second ear cup to the second compressible member. Such material may be a suitable length of Velcro, a suitable length of double-sided adhesive tape, a supply of glue, or the like. Again, the material provided should not require any penetration through the shell or ear cup to maintain the structural integrity and the sound suppression capabilities of the shell and ear cups.
The instructions provided will also advise the purchaser how to operate the pump or how to form the compressible members out of foam pads to permit donning and doffing of the helmet and to form a tight seal around the ears between the comfort pads of the ear cups and the rider's face.
As noted above, standard helmets used by riders of recreational vehicles such as snowmobiles, motorcycles, power boats, and ATVs have a hard exterior shell 1 and concussion padding 2. At step 100, apertures (such as apertures 28) are disposed in the concussion padding 2 of the helmet in the area in which the shell 1 of the helmet covers the rider's ears when the helmet is placed on the rider's head. These first and second apertures should have a large enough cross-section to later receive compression members such as compression member 30 as shown in
At step 102, first and second ear cups 10 like those shown in
At step 106, the compressive members provided at step 104 are attached directly to the inner surface of the shell within the first and second apertures formed at step 100. These attachments are made using non-shell penetrating attachment members such as Velcro, a double-sided tape or an adhesive glue. This method of attachment ensures the structural integrity and sound suppression capabilities of the shell are maintained.
At step 108, the ear cups provided at step 102 are directly attached to the compressible members provided at step 104. Again, an adhesive glue, double-sided tape, or Velcro may be used to make this attachment. While
At step 110, adjustments are made so the compressible members cooperate with the shell and ear cups such that the ear cups surround the ears of the rider and effective sound attenuating seals are formed between the comfort pads of the ear cups and the rider's head to attenuate sound. Such adjustments may be made when providing the compressible members. This is particularly contemplated when compressible members such as members 30 are employed. Such adjustments may be made when attaching the compressible members to the shell or the ear cups to the compressible members. This is particularly important when double-sided tape or adhesives are used as attachment members. Adjustments may be made later when Velcro is used as the attachment members because Velcro will permit later adjustment of the positions of compressible members relative to the shell and of the positions of the ear cups relative to the compressible members. When bladders such as 50 are used as the compressible members, adjustments may be made by increasing or decreasing the volume of fluid in the bladders.
When making such adjustments, one should consider whether the rider will be wearing one or more ear buds in addition to the helmet. Ear buds are often plugged into a music player or cellular telephone to enable a user to hear the music or the telephone conversation. Comfort pads of the type described above will seal around the wires attached to the ear buds when proper adjustments are made to the compressible members, for example, when the bladders 50 are inflated with the proper volume of fluid.
The present invention offers a number of advantages. Sound reaching the ears of the drivers or passengers of recreational vehicles such as motorcycles and snowmobiles is reduced to acceptable levels. Helmets manufactured or modified in accordance with the invention are comfortable to wear. Such helmets may be donned and doffed without unduly pulling or pushing on the outer structures of the ears. Unlike ear plugs which may not be used in many jurisdictions and, in any event cannot be used in conjunction with ear buds, the present invention may be used with or without ear buds as the rider sees fit.
The disclosed embodiments are, of course, illustrative of the invention, but are not intended to be limiting. The invention can be practiced in other ways and the embodiments most certainly may be implemented without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention is inclusive of any embodiment falling within the scope of the claims and all equivalents thereof.
This application is a non-provisional application for Application No. 61/573,650, filed Sep. 9, 2011 and claims priority from that application which is also deemed incorporated by reference in its entirety in this application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 61573650 | Sep 2011 | US |
| Child | 13455492 | US |
