Cycling helmet system

Abstract

A system for preventing insects from entering the vent openings of bicycle helmets including a preferably elastic shell-shaped covering of an open mesh material wherein the mesh openings are sized to prevent insects from passing through such that when the covering or barrier is mounted over or in the helmet, the desired insect prevention is achieved.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a device and system for preventing annoying and/or harmful insects such as mosquitoes and bees from entering the vent openings provided in sports helmets and other related occupational protective helmets. The invention is particularly geared to cycling helmets but is not limited to such cycling helmets. Cycling helmets normally include an outer protective shell of relatively thick-engineered plastic material with the shell of a generally concave shape to fit on the wearer's head while cycling. An inner web structure to receive and cradle the user's head and provide adjustment means for variously sized wearer's heads is attached to the inner portions of the shell and normally spaced from the inner shell surface. Appropriate straps to secure and maintain the helmet in place during use are also of known conventional means such as nylon or polypropylene webbing.

When cycling and especially when the cyclist adopts a head down position on the cycle, the forward progress of the cycle places the helmet's vent openings directly in the path of airborne insects present in front of the cycle and may be driven or otherwise forced through the vent openings and thus access the user's head space causing a distraction to the cyclist. In the case of larger insects such as bees, the user or cyclist may likely suffer a bee sting. Such distractions could lead to cycling accidents and/or general annoyance to the safety and pleasure that cycling brings.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device and system to prevent insects from entering interior portions of a cycling helmet through the vent openings thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which can be easily fitted over the helmet and removed therefrom when the weather conditions, environment, etc. is such that insects are not present.

A still further object of the subject invention is to provide a device that can be fitted to or otherwise accommodate a wide variety of helmet sizes and shapes and which does not materially increase air drag when implemented.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by an insect prevention system in combination with a sports helmet of the type having an outer shell having one or more vents extending therethrough so as to permit air to pass therethrough to cool the helmet wearer's head, the helmet shell having a terminal peripheral edge including an inner surface adjacent to the terminal peripheral edge, comprising a covering adapted to overlie the helmet shell, said covering including a central open mesh portion of a fabric material having a first thickness and terminating in a peripheral edge portion of a materially greater thickness than the fabric material central portion, said covering peripheral edge portion adapted to engage the peripheral edge of the helmet shell with portions thereof extending upwardly into the shell and in contact with the inner surface of the shell adjacent the peripheral edge thereof.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cyclist wearing a conventional cycling helmet with the mesh covering device of the present invention superposed thereover and then positioned thereon;

FIG. 1A is a partial sectional view through the lower peripheral rim of the helmet with the covering utilized or fitted thereon;

FIG. 1B is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 1A but with an alternate configuration of the peripheral structure of the covering;

FIG. 1C is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 1A but with still another alternate configuration of the peripheral structure of the covering device;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one form of the mesh covering device of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a partial sectional view along the lines 2A-2A showing the lower terminal portion of the covering terminating in an enlarged band;

FIG. 2B is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 2A but illustrating the embodiment where the band includes a terminal bead;

FIG. 2C is a partial sectional view similar to FIG. 2A but showing the alternate configuration of FIG. 1C where the covering lower peripheral portion includes a drawstring.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a helmet with the mesh covering device positioned thereon in one fitment manner;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a helmet with the mesh covering device of the present invention positioned thereon in an alternate fitment manner in which rear portions of the helmet and vent openings thereof are left uncovered by the covering;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a helmet with the mesh covering positioned thereon in a still further fitment manner and further illustrating how additional features such as indicia, reflectors and/or lighting can be placed on the exterior shell of the helmet and held in position thereon by the mesh covering;

FIG. 6 is a still further alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is also another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7A is a sectional view along the line 7A-7A of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1 thereof, a conventional cycling helmet 10 is shown atop the head 12 of a wearer or cyclist. The helmet 10 includes a generally shallow dome-shaped shell 14 having an outer surface 15 and a concave interior space 16 adapted to fit over the wearer's head 12. Conventional interior bands (not shown) are positioned in and attached to the shell's interior space 16 to accommodate the wearer's head 12 and to provide adjustable fitting means. Straps 18 extend downwardly from the shell 14 and/or the bands for securing the device 10 of the present invention under the wearer's chin area to ensure the helmet 10 is kept securely in place during active movement such as present in cycling and other occupational activities by the wearer.

The helmet's shell 14 is generally formed of engineered lightweight plastic material and includes one or more vent openings 20 that extend entirely through the shell 14 for the above stated purpose of allowing ambient air to pass therethrough to ventilate and cool the wearer's head 12. Usually vent openings 20 are located in the front portion 14A of the shell 14 as well as in the central portion 14B and the rear portion 14C. Ambient air enters the helmet's interior space 16 through the front and central portion openings 14A, 14B and exits (drag effect) through the rear portion openings 14C dependent to some extent on the attitude of the helmet determined by the wearer's riding position.

The helmet's shell 14 terminates in a terminal peripheral edge 18 that may be round, oval or of a somewhat irregular circumferential shape dependent on the helmet's design. The shell's interior space 16 further includes an inner surface portion 21 adjacent the terminal peripheral edge.

A covering 30 formed of a mesh material 32 is adapted to substantially overlie the entire exterior shell 14 surface. The covering 30 includes a top 33 and is generally cup-shaped and preferably is formed of an elastic material that can be stretched to a size large enough to fit over the entire shell 14. The covering 30 includes a peripheral edge band 34 of increased thickness which band 34 when positioned on the shell 14 passes over and contacts the shell's peripheral edge 18 and is adapted to overlie and contact the inner surface portion 21 of the shell 14. The band 34 provides both wear resistance to combat its repeated frictional contact with the edge 18 as well as to provide more heft or bulk for the user to grasp while stretching the band to fit such covering 30 over the helmet 10 as well as to provide tear resistance.

The band 34 may terminate in an enlarged elastic bead 36 to provide even greater strength and contact with the shell's inner surface portions 21. When utilizing the bead 36, the extent and thickness of the band 34 may be reduced or eliminated. The mesh material 32 defines a plurality of generally equally-spaced regular openings or holes of an extent small enough to prevent the particular or intended insect species desired to be excluded from passing through the vent openings 20 to the helmet's interior head space 16. Generally, the mesh material's openings or holes are sized to exclude the smallest sized insects such as mosquitoes but different mesh coverings having larger openings could be selected to only exclude larger insects such a bees.

Suitable materials for the covering 30 include commercially available stretch knit fabrics of the type utilized for pantyhose and therapeutic stockings. Such fabrics normally are tubular knitted and inherently provide a mesh-like construction which includes openings or holes the extent of which can be regulated by the knitting process. Such fabrics are stretchable and can include areas of reinforcing bands of thicker dimension than the main fabric extent. Generally, knitted fabrics inherently include an open mesh-like structure suitable for use in the present invention; however, woven fabrics or other fabrics produced by other processes such as flocking, etc. may be utilized in the construction of the covering 30 providing the desired open structure is achieved. U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,861 issued May 10, 1977 to Imboden et al and U.S. Pat. No. 8,468,856 issued Jun. 25, 2013 to Fukui provide general background material for producing pantyhose fabric. U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,367 issued May 3, 2005 to Mitchell et al shows how reinforcing bands of greater thickness than a main fabric body can be produced. The disclosures set forth in the above-indicated patents are hereby incorporated into the present application by specific reference thereto.

Fabric from a commercial pantyhose product, namely, readily available L'eggs everyday support denier 30 with the leg areas cinched together to form a pouch, was placed over and secured to a bicycle helmet to cover the vent openings 20 and the helmet 10 utilized in cycling along a section of a bike path with no bugs or other insects entering the helmet's head space 16 through vent openings 20 and with essentially no noticeable drag caused by the fabric.

An added feature of the covering 30 apart from the main objective of preventing insects from entering the helmet's interior through the vents is that when the covering 30 is positioned with its peripheral edges over the terminal rim of the helmet (tucked under as shown in FIG. 1B) is that the bead 36 when utilized and to some extent the band 34 are intentionally positioned to engage or press against the forehead and temple portions of the wearer's head to, in effect, fill in or close any gaps present between the wearer's head and the proximal areas of the helmet. When present, such gaps offer an access avenue for insects to reach the helmet's interior. By filling in and closing such gaps via the presence of the bead 36, etc., such access is blocked and thus provides a further object of the invention.

Turning now to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B, it should be noted that the elasticity of the band 34 and/or the bead 36 tends to urge the covering 30 or at least the peripheral portions thereof to the covering's non-stretched position. The covering's placement in contact with the inner surface portion 21 adjacent the peripheral rim or edge 18 of the shell 14 tends to place an engaging retracting force as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1B upon that adjacent surface portion 21 to maintain the covering 30 in place over the shell 14. In those cases when the band 34 with or without the bead 36 is not tucked under the edge 18, the engaging retracting force of the band will be against the outside surface of the shell and thus in a direction opposite that of the arrow shown in FIG. 1B. As such, the grip of the band 34 and thus the covering 30 is dependent to a greater degree on the frictional contact with the shell outer surface than the above described mode when at least part of the band is tucked under the shell edge 18.

In contrast to the above, the FIGS. 1C and 2C drawings illustrate an alternate configuration of the covering periphery wherein a pull string or draw cord 50 is inserted into a closed pocket or casing 52 similar to waistbands incorporating a drawstring or elasticized cording oftentimes found on pajama bottoms, lounge/sweat pants and even swim trunks and the like so that when the opposed ends of the string or cord 50 are drawn in and tied after placing the covering over the shell 14the covering'speripheral extent will be reduced and the force applied by the drawstring 50 will keep the covering 30 in place. In this case, the covering 30 need not be smaller in size than the 1A, 1B embodiments because there is no need to stretch the covering 30 to fit over the shell 14. However with all the embodiments of the invention, it may be desirable to form the covering 30 from either an elastic material or one as in the case of stretchable woven or knitted fabrics such that the covering 30 is stretched over the helmet 10 for fitment thereon. When the covering 30 is released, the covering 30 shrinks in size to conform to the shape of the outer surface of the shell 14. This achieves a smooth, snug fitting appearance to the mounted covering 30.

When not mounted on the shell in a use position, the covering 30 can be compacted and conveniently stored in the helmet's shell in either a pouch or compartment (see FIG. 7) for such purpose. Alternatively, the covering 30 can be tucked into openings or creases formed between the impact absorbing material within the shell interior and the shell itself.

With some helmet designs such as shown in FIG. 4, a rear panel 19 that extends downwardly to engage the rear portions of the user's head 12 is provided to assure a better helmet 10 fit. With such aforementioned designs, the bead 36 can be modified to include secondary extensions or bead loops 38 that extend rearwardly from the main bead 36 and engagement means on the outer surface of the rear panel and/or the shell area 14C such as grooves 21 so that the mesh covering 30 does not extend over the entire surface of the helmet 10 but is securely positioned thereon. Such configuration leaves the rear areas of the helmet 10 with those vent openings 20 located there open to minimize any reduction in drag air effect.

A further advantage of forming the covering 30 from a stretchable fabric is illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein secondary features may be added or otherwise displayed on the outer surface 15 of the helmet shell 14. For instance, thin paper or plastic sheet decals bearing insignia or indicia can be placed on the shell 14 and when the covering 30 is fitted thereover, the covering 30 will press against the decal, etc. to keep such decals and the like securely in place. Also, reflectors can be similarly placed on the shell surface 15 and held in place by the covering 30 as above described. Likewise, a lighting unit having a self-contained energy source (battery) could be placed on the shell 14 (preferable in a depression formed in the shell) and held by the covering.

Turning now to FIG. 6, a further modification of the invention is shown wherein an insect barrier 60 is mounted inside the helmet 10, that is, within the interior space 16. Such interior space 16 is defined by the shell inner surface and particularly the upper inside surface 23 of the helmet 10. An insect barrier 60 is positioned against the inner helmet surface 23 and held in position either by the user's head or by a rigid or semi-rigid form 66 preferably constructed from a porous foam plastic material engineered to provide an impact resistant padding. The contour of the form 66 preferably mimics the shape or curvature of the helmet's interior and is provided with openings 20A that align with the vent openings 20 of the helmet 10. The form 66 fits over the wearer's head 12 and is held in place thereby as is the insect barrier 60 that is sandwiched in between the helmet and the form. The barrier 60 may be of the same materials from which the covering 30 of the previous embodiments are constructed or the barrier 60 can be rigid providing the desired mesh openings are sized to prevent the targeted insect species from passing therethrough. The barrier 60 may include spacers (not shown) integrally formed on the upper surface 62 thereof or separately fixed on the inside helmet surface 10 to ensure that large insects with extended stingers cannot reach the wearer's head 12.

However, such spacers are not needed when the form 66 is used to hold the barrier 60 in position because the form 66 inherently provides such needed space.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a further embodiment of the invention in the form of a novel storage compartment for the covering 30 is depicted. Therein, the protective shell 10 includes an interior insert 70 similar to form 66 of FIG. 6. The insert 70 includes an outer surface 71 and a recess 72 formed in the rear wall thereof. The recess 72 is open at the bottom and forms a compartment 74 between the insert 70 and the interior wall of the shell 10 when the insert is positioned within the shell 10. Such compartment 74 is thus open at the bottom such that the covering 30 when balled up, that is, compressed, can be inserted into the compartment 74 for storage purposes.

In addition, the compartment 74 may include a bottom closure in the form of a tab 76 formed of a plastic sheet material or a relatively stiff yet flexible fabric. The proximal end of the tab 76 is attached to the interior wall of the insert 70 as by adhesives, snap connectors, Velcro-type or other hook and loop fasteners or the like and extends over the open compartment bottom and is connected to the outer rear surface of the shell 10 via snap fasteners 78, 80 provided on the opposite tab end and shell outer surface respectively. In addition, such connection could be accomplished by utilizing Velcro-type or other hook and loop tape connectors or fasteners. The underside of the tab 76 is also preferably provided with means for attaching a portion, e.g., the bead 36, of the covering 30 thereto as by a Velcro-type strip 82. Thus, a portion of the bead 36 and/or band 34 of the covering 30 is attached to the strip 82 to center the covering vis-á-vis the helmet 10. When the use of the covering 30 is needed or otherwise desired, the wearer can open the tab 76 and permit the covering 30 to simply drop down or out or manually dislodge the covering 30 and then grasp the peripheral portion of the covering 30 not attached to the tab 76 to pull the covering 30 up or otherwise position the covering 30over the helmet 10 to the active use position thereby preventing insects from passing through the vents. The upper portion of FIG. 7 shows the covering 30 pulled out of the compartment and partially covering the helmet 10. It should be noted that the covering 30 would then be fully drawn over the helmet 10 and tucked under the rim thereof. Such compartment construction thus provides a mechanism to both don and/or store the covering 30.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying this invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An insect prevention system in combination with a sports helmet having an outer shell having one or more helmet vents extending therethrough so as to permit air to pass therethrough to cool a helmet wearer's head, the outer shell having a terminal peripheral edge including an inner surface adjacent the terminal peripheral edge, comprising a covering adapted to overlie the helmet shell, said covering including a central open mesh portion of a fabric material having a first thickness and terminating in an elastic peripheral edge portion of a materially greater thickness than the central open mesh portion, said covering peripheral edge portion the terminal peripheral edge of the outer shell with portions of the covering extending upwardly into the outer shell and in contact with the inner surface of the outer shell adjacent the terminal peripheral edge thereof.

2. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 1, wherein the covering peripheral edge portion is expandable and contractible.

3. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 2, wherein the covering peripheral edge portion is elastic.

4. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 3, wherein the covering peripheral edge comprises an elastic bead.

5. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 3, wherein the covering central open mesh portion is elastic.

6. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 4, wherein the outer shell includes a rear downwardly extending panel with an outer surface provided with means for engaging at least one secondary elastic cord or bead extending rearwardly from the covering peripheral edge elastic bead.

7. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 6, said means for engaging being an inwardly extending groove within the outer shell at the panel thereof.

8. An insect prevention system in combination with a sports helmet having an outer shell having one or more vents extending therethrough so as to permit air to pass therethrough to cool a helmet wearer's head, the outer shell having an elastic terminal peripheral edge including an inner surface adjacent the terminal peripheral edge, comprising a covering overlying the outer shell, said covering including a central open mesh portion of a fabric material having a first thickness and terminating in an elastic peripheral edge portion of a materially greater thickness than the open mesh central portion.

9. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 8, wherein the covering central open mesh portion is elastic.

10. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 9, wherein the outer shell includes an outer top surface having a secondary device positioned therein and held in place by the covering central open mesh portion.

11. The insect prevention system in combination with the sports helmet of claim 10, wherein the secondary device includes a non-adhesive sheet including indicia thereon.

12. An insect prevention system for use in combination with a sports helmet of the type having an outer shell having one or more vents extending therethrough to cool the helmet wearer's head, the helmet shell having an upper interior surface comprising a barrier adapted to fit inside the helmet shell and in contact with the upper interior surface thereof, said barrier formed of an open mesh fabric material wherein the extent of the mesh openings prevent insects from passing through said vents into the interior of the helmet, and a form of rigid material adapted to engage said barrier to hold the barrier in place.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the helmet shell includes a downwardly extending rear portion having an inner surface and a semi-rigid or rigid form positioned within said shell, said form including a recessed portion at the rear thereof such that when the form is positioned with the shell an open bottom compartment is formed between the recess and the shell rear inner surface, said recess adapted to store the covering when the covering is in a non-use storage position.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the form includes a tab extending from the bottom of the recess across the open bottom of the compartment and connecting to the outer shell surface proximal to the compartment, the upper surface of said tab including means for attaching a portion of said covering thereto.