Patent Application
20120144566
The invention relates to visor locking mechanisms suitable for use on helmets and, more particularly, to visor locking mechanisms which lock in a reliable manner and are suitable for a wide range of applications including, e.g., skydiving and/or motor cycle helmets.
Full-face skydiving helmets with fixed face visors were developed and entered the market in the early 1990s. These fixed visor helmets did not allow the wearer to open the face shield while being worn. Flip up visor helmets entered the market in approximately 1995, however the mechanisms used to keep the face shield locked while traveling at speeds of, for example, +300 km/hr were rudimentary and resulted in many visors inadvertently opening during freefall. Such locking mechanisms were often the same as or similar to those used in motorcycle helmet designs.
The airflow that travels over a wearer's helmet while skydiving in a face to earth position is different than that experienced while riding a motorcycle. As a result the use of known motorcycle type face shield lock mechanisms often failed to remain closed during use.
In view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that there is a need for improved visor locking mechanisms that are well suited for skydiving helmets. While improved locking mechanisms are needed with regard to skydiving helmets, improved locking mechanisms may also be useful for other types of helmets including motorcycle helmets.
It is an object of the present invention to address the problems of the existing protection devices as are described above, and provide a protective helmet with a rotatable visor or face shield that requires two different locking mechanisms to be unlocked before the visor can be raised from a fully down position, such as when skydiving, to prevent inadvertent raising of the visor.
It is another object of the present invention for a single locking mechanism that will allow a face shield to be rotated upward when the single lock is disengaged, to make the face shield more convenient for less hostile environments, such as when riding a motorcycle.
It is another object of the present invention for the locking mechanism to be simple to operate, such as when a user is wearing gloves, easy to assemble and disassemble, and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is another object of the present invention to utilize two locking mechanisms under certain conditions such that if one mechanism fails, the other prevents the visor from being inadvertently raised.
It is another object of the present invention for the visor to be easily locked in place when lowered to a fully down position.
According to the present invention, there is provided a system or apparatus for preventing the inadvertent raising of a rotatable visor or face shield on a helmet, for use in various activities such as motorcycling or skydiving. The helmet visor locking mechanism and helmet incorporating such a mechanism is in response to the need for improved visor locking mechanisms for use in the sports of skydiving/parachuting where there is often a need for helmet visors and mechanisms to withstand high speeds while still being easy to flip up and locked down during use. In some cases the helmets and visor are intended to withstand speeds up to 300 km/hr.
In one form of the invention, where redundancy is less important, a single locking mechanism is provided to be used on one side of the helmet, with a simple hinge or pivot being used on the other side instead of the locking assembly of the present invention. Such embodiments are well suited for environments where there is little danger of inadvertent raising of the face shield, such as when riding a motorcycle, where the stresses placed on the helmet and visor are often lower than those encountered in the case of skydiving helmets. In such a case, the wind would be hitting the face shield essentially straight on, and therefore there would be no expectation of the wind causing the visor to inadvertently rotate upward. In this embodiment, the user can disengage or unlock the locking mechanism using one hand, and once unlocked, the face shield can be raised or rotated upward from a fully closed or fully down position.
Conversely, in an activity such as skydiving, the relative wind on the face mask would generally be both stronger, and would strike the face mask from a multitude of possible angles, such as when the skydiver is tumbling during a freefall. In such a case, the user would not want the wind to inadvertently cause the face shield to rotate upward, exposing the user's face to winds up to or exceeding 300 km/hr. For such a situation, a preferred form of the present invention would be the provision of two locking mechanisms; one on each side of the helmet. The two locking mechanisms are identical in some but not necessarily all embodiments. The visor locking mechanisms, sometimes referred to as visor lock assemblies, are fitted one to each side of a helmet in a position that facilitates the rotation of the visor as to clear the helmet on opening. These visor lock assemblies are either recessed into the helmet or mounted externally using screws or bolts, depending on the particular embodiment. This embodiment of the invention would prevent the visor from inadvertently raising if only one of the two mechanisms were unlocked or failed. This embodiment would require the user to unlock both mechanisms before the visor could be raised (rotated upward).
The locking mechanism of a preferred form of the present invention would be simple to operate, intuitive, and easy to assemble and disassemble. To open the visor the wearer places either the palms of the hand or index finger and thumb on the visor locking plates on either side of the helmet. Each plate would preferably be formed to allow fingers to easily grip it and rotate it. Grasping the visor locking plates the user pushes the visor forward to the unlocked position. With the visor held forward in this position it can then be rotated up and clear of the peripheral view, or to an intermediate position between fully open and fully closed. Once the visor begins rotating upward, the visor no longer is required to be held forward by the user.
To close the visor the user will grasp the face shield and rotate downward. As the Hub engages the locking pin the visor will spring back into its locked position.
In some embodiments, the visor locking mechanism includes: a body, an axle, a hub, a locking pin, a spring and a visor locking plate. In some embodiments the body is a plastic or machined aluminum part that provides a housing to contain the axle, hub, locking pin and spring. The body is manufactured to have clearance for the movement of both axle and hub. In some embodiments the axle is a plastic or machined aluminum part that allows the mechanism to rotate around its center and features a disc that creates the assembly's stability. The axle has a countersunk hole that enables it to be fastened to the hub. The center of the axle acts as a pin for one end of the spring.
In some embodiments the hub is a machined aluminum part. In the exemplary embodiment the hub has three raised bosses and screw holes that allow the visor locking plate and visor to be screwed to it. The hub, in some implementations, has a thread, e.g., a 5 mm thread, in it's centre as well as a spigot that allows the axle to be fastened to it. The mounting bosses act to locate the visor in the correct position. The hub has a tapered recess on one side that is designed to match the locking pin. The hub is under constant tension from the spring and in its locked position has no movement due to the recess' taper. The locking pin in some implementations is integrated into the body. The locking pin's purpose is to lock the hub in place as well as offer a low friction surface for the hub to rotate under spring tension when the visor is being rotated up and down.
The spring, in some implementations is implemented from a flexible material and may be in the form of a compressible ring, e.g., a 2.5 mm thick polyurethane ring. The polyurethane's hardness dictates its elasticity. A material with a hardness that provides adequate force to return the hub onto the locking pin and keep tension while locked is used.
The visor Locking plate acts to retain the visor between itself and the hub. The visor locking plate's shape acts as a finger grip and allows the user an area to easily hold while both pushing forward and rotating the visor into the open position.
The particular described embodiment is intended to be exemplary in nature and not necessarily limiting in terms of the scope of the invention.
Numerous additional features, benefits are discussed in the detailed description which follows.
Referring to the drawings,
It can further be seen that bolt 9 is used to anchor the center 2B of axle 2 through ring 5B of spring 5, through the aperture 1F of body 1, to be fastened to hub 3. Meanwhile, bolts 10A and 10B are positioned in holes 1C and 1D, respectively, to fasten body 1 to helmet 12.
Aperture 1F in body 1 is elongated such that axle center 2B, and hence hub 3, can either be up against the side of aperture 1F closest to locking pin 4, or when spring 5 is stretched, axle center 2B and hub 3 can be displaced away from locking pin 4, such that locking pin 4 no longer prevents hub 3 from rotating, as locking pin 4 is no longer situated within (and therefore engaged with) recess 3D. This positions axle center 2B and hub 3 up against the side of aperture 1F furthest from locking pin 4.
Ring 5B of spring 5 can be fashioned from any suitably elastic material, such as 2.5 mm thick polyurethane.
Also shown from this angle is knob 5A on spring 5, which when situated in complementary receptacle 1G of body 1 anchors spring 5 on the side of body 1 closest to locking pin 4. This keeps locking pin 4 within recess 3D, locking visor 11 in the fully down position, until hub 3 is manually pushed against the resistance of ring 5B laterally, disengaging locking pin 4 from recess 3D, allowing visor 11 to be rotated upward.
When visor 11 is rotated from an open or raised position downward to a lowered or closed position, the tension of ring 5B pulls axle 2, and hence hub 3, back toward locking pin 4, mating recess 3D with locking pin 4, and thereby locking visor 11 in a fully closed position.
In addition to the visor locking mechanism and helmet assembly, the present application is directed to a method of using a helmet of the type shown in
While the helmet and locking mechanism of the present invention are well suited for skydiving applications, it can also be used as a motorcycle helmet or in a wide variety of other helmet applications. While a visor locking mechanism is included on both sides of a helmet in some embodiments, in other embodiments a visor locking mechanism of the present invention is used on one side of a helmet with a hinge or rotatable mounting device being used on the other side of the helmet. Such embodiments are well suited for motorcycle or other applications where the stresses on the helmet visor may be loser than, for example, in the skydiving embodiment.
Numerous additional features and embodiments are possible and the thus it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the particular exemplary embodiments discussed above but may cover other embodiments and applications as well.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/421,507, filed Dec. 9, 2010 which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61421507 | Dec 2010 | US |
