Patent Application
20240315383
The present invention relates to hearing protectors, and more particularly to a hearing protection apparatus that attaches, locates, and stores earplugs near a wearer's ears by attaching to a hat and enables the earplugs to be inserted into the wearer's ears with one hand.
Hearing protection is of critical importance in a variety of circumstances, including hunting, combat, construction, and factory work. Two common types of hearing protection currently available are foam earplugs with or without a connecting tether and headphones that fit over the years. Foam earplugs can be inconvenient to use, easy to lose, and can take a significant amount of time to expand to become effective. Headphones are large, require two hands to place over the wearer's ears, and are inconvenient to carry in the field when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,828,201 to Herring et al. discloses a hearing protection device that attaches to a rear band of a baseball cap. Herring et al. has the disadvantages of being limited to only baseball cap applications, requiring the user to reach to the rear of their head using both hands, uses a longer tether that can get snagged or tangled, and only permits the deployment of both earplugs simultaneously. The earplugs are more likely to be inadvertently pulled out of the user's ears in the event the tethers get snagged. The rear-mounted location not only requires longer tethers for each earplug, but also becomes very inconvenient if the user is wearing a hoodie-style sweatshirt or jacket or a coat with a hood. Furthermore, there is no provision for storing the earplugs within the device when not in use.
ReadyMax Zip-Outs® Ear Plugs for Hard Hats manufactured by ReadyMax of Sparks, Nevada adhere to the rear brim of a hard hat. Although one-handed operation of a single earplug is possible, the user must reach to the rear of their head, which requires longer tethers for each earplug that can get snagged or tangled, and poses difficulty for grasping and inserting the plug into the ear on the opposite side of the arm being used. The earplugs are more likely to be inadvertently pulled out of the user's ears in the event the tethers get snagged. Furthermore, there is no provision for storing the earplugs within the device when not in use.
In combat or hunting situations, a user may need to rapidly or conveniently utilize hearing protection before taking a shot without disturbing their shooting position, grip on the firearm, or aim through the rifle scope. Hearing protectors that require both hands for use, that are stored in pockets, or that require a long and awkward reach to the back of the head are highly disadvantageous in the circumstances. These disadvantageous features prevent the hearing protectors from being deployed quickly, which could result in the loss of a shot opportunity or require a shot to be taken without hearing protection. Furthermore, earplugs that are exposed to the environment when not in use are vulnerable to becoming contaminated with dirt and debris, which creates the undesirable possibility of introducing contaminants into the wearer's ears when the earplugs are inserted.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved hearing protection apparatus that attaches, locates, and stores earplugs near a wearer's ears by attaching to a hat and enables the earplugs to be inserted into the wearer's ears with one hand without disturbing their body, position, grip, or aim. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the hearing protection apparatus according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of attaching, storing, and locating earplugs near a wearer's ears by attaching to a hat and enabling the earplugs to be inserted into the wearer's ears with one hand.
The present invention provides an improved hearing protection apparatus, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide an improved hearing protection apparatus that has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned above.
To attain this, the preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprises a pair of assemblies, each assembly including a body, an attachment facility connected to the body and configured to removably receive a lower edge (i.e. band) of a hat, a retractable tether extending from the body and having a free end, and an earplug attached to the free end of the retractable tether. The attachment facility may be a clip defining an upwardly open channel. There may be a hat having opposed right and left edge locations each proximate to a wearer's ear, and the attachment facilities may be connected respectively to the right and left edge locations. A retraction actuator may be connected to the body and operable to retract the tethers to a retracted condition in response to actuation of the retraction actuator. There may be separate retraction actuators for each assembly, the retraction actuators being operable independently of each other. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.
An embodiment of the hearing protection apparatus of the present invention is shown and generally designated by the reference numeral 10.
A retraction actuator 42 is connected to the body 20 and operable to retract the retractable tethers 24 to a retracted condition in response to actuation of the retraction actuator. Each assembly 18 has a separate retraction actuator, the retraction actuators being operable independently of each other. The retraction actuator includes a button 44 having an actuation surface 46. In the current embodiment, the actuation surface faces peripherally away from the hat 12. The retraction actuator does not maintain the retractable tether under tension when the earplug is worn within the wearer's ears 38, 40, making the earplug comfortable to wear. In the current embodiment, the earplug is a rubber-tipped earplug that can be twisted into an ear very quickly with only one hand and blocks out sound very well.
Each body 20 defines a receptacle 48 configured to receive the earplug 28. Each earplug has a free end 50, and the receptacle is a bore receiving the free end. Insertion of the earplug into the receptacle prevents the earplug from becoming contaminated with dirt and debris when not in use and prevents the introduction of contamination into the wearer's ears 38, 40. Storage of the earplug within the receptacle also decreases the chance of the earplug snagging on an object in the environment.
While current embodiments of a hearing protection apparatus have been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Although hats and helmets have been disclosed, the hearing protection apparatus is also suitable for use with hardhats, binocular harnesses, backpack straps, and Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE) webbing. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/454,064 filed on Mar. 23, 2023, entitled “SHOOTING EAR PLUG CLIP,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that is taught and disclosed therein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63454064 | Mar 2023 | US |
