Patent Application
20050047116
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a light source and, more particularly, to an auxiliary light source for self-contained breathing masks.
2. Prior Art
Police, firemen, miners and others who are required to enter or work in areas of little or no ambient illumination must carry with them some form of artificial light in order to perform their work and avoid hazards. Safety lights mounted on various parts of a user's body including head coverings are known in the prior art. The workers typically use safety helmets to protect their heads from falling rocks, timbers, tools, debris and other objects. In order to leave the worker's hands free, it is desirable to attach a light source to the protective helmet so that it shines forward in the direction in which the user faces when the helmet is worn in its normal position.
In some prior art systems, firemen's helmets are provided with front and rear lights. The helmets include both a front light assembly and a rear light assembly, however, such light assemblies have halogen light bulbs which provide for relatively high heat output and do not provide for the advantages of a light emitting diode type assembly.
While prior art versions of helmet mounted head lamps are useful, they suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the area of illumination is typically limited to a cone shaped region directly in front of the user which is narrower than the typical person's field of view. Under these circumstances, hazardous objects at the periphery of a person's vision are not illuminated by the head lamp, thus exposing the user to unexpected injury from objects outside of the comparatively small illuminated area or requiring the user to constantly move his or her head from side to side and up and down to sequentially illuminate adjacent regions.
A second problem with present day helmet mounted head lamps is that they often interfere with a protective face mask attached to the user's helmet. For example, the head lamp prevents the protective mask from being raised out of the way if it becomes damaged or interferes with the user's ability to help a victim (e.g., when mouth to mouth resuscitation is needed). Under these circumstances, the user may need to remove the helmet or tip it back out of the way, thereby increasing his or her risk of injury because its protective function has been compromised.
Accordingly, a need remains for an auxiliary light source for self-contained breathing masks in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a light source that is safer to use, small in size, reliable, and provides efficient and superior illumination. Such a light source's small size advantageously adds little weight to any attached mask. The light emitting diodes offer superior illumination, durability and reliability in comparison to traditional light sources.
In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary light source for self-contained breathing masks. These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are provided by a device attachable to an existing self-contained breathing mask that has a support rim and a transparent shield supported thereby along a frontal portion of the mask.
The device includes a plurality of illuminable light-emitting sources and a plurality of opaque reflectors positioned rearwardly of the light-emitting sources for conveniently directing light rays forwardly therefrom along a predetermined line of sight defined in front of a user. A plurality of substantially rectangular transparent lenses are positioned over selected groups of the light-emitting sources respectively and are spaced apart along a width of the mask such that the lenses can advantageously be attached to the mask support rim. Each such lens includes a plurality of integrally disposed finger portions defining mounting brackets.
The mounting brackets extend rearwardly of the lenses and are engageable with the mask support rim for assisting to maintain the lenses at a substantially stable position during operating conditions. Such mounting brackets preferably extend rearwardly beyond the light-emitting sources and the reflector for assisting to maintain the light rays reflected therefrom at a substantially fixed path. The device preferably further includes a plurality of fastening members for threadably connecting the lenses to the mask support rim.
A central panel is secured to the mask support rim by a fastening member. Such a panel is medially positioned between the lenses and is formed from non-corrosive material so that the light-emitting sources are not affected by the presence of atmospheric moisture.
A plurality of flexible rubber seals are sandwiched between the panel and the lenses respectively such that the light rays are advantageously directed forwardly of the mask and not laterally across a central portion of the mask shield.
A control switch and a power supply source are electrically coupled thereto and to the light-emitting sources respectively such that a user may readily toggle the device between operating and non-operating modes while the mask is positioned over the user's head. Such a power supply source preferably includes a battery pack oppositely disposed from the control switch.
The device may further include a plurality of glare shields connected to the lenses for cooperating with the rubber seals in advantageously assisting to channel the light rays away from the mask shield. Such glare shields extend forwardly from the lenses at an angle offset from a horizontal plane and are preferably formed from an opaque material.
The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, this embodiment is provided so that this application will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the true scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the figures.
The device of this invention is referred to generally in
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While the invention has been described with respect to a certain specific embodiment, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
In particular, with respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the present invention may include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation. The assembly and use of the present invention are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art.
