Patent Application
20190357625
The present invention relates to a motorcycle helmet. More particularly, the present invention relates to a motorcycle helmet which is able to provide cool and clean air.
According to a recent report of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency, the concentration of particulate matters (PM2.5) of locomotive gas emissions may be as high as 730 μg/m3 depending on vehicle brand and model. When waiting for a traffic light, the concentration of particulate matters exposed by the motorcycle riders can reach 460 μg/m3, significantly higher than other commuters. This is quite unfavorable to the health, especially the respiratory system and the closely related circulation system. In order to settle these problems, motorcycle riders generally wear filtering face piece that can filter particulate matters, such as N95 masks, to protect the lungs from inhaling excessive harmful substances. In addition to the discomfort of air resistance, the use of filter mask also increases the dead space, and therefore, the wearer has to breathe harder to compensate for the oxygen intake. Another problem of the use of filtering face piece is that it might interfere the use of safety helmet, especially the full face helmet.
Troubles faced by the motorcycle riders are not only respiratory hazards. Transportation regulations compulsorily require motorcycle riders to wear helmets when riding. This requirement inevitably increases the mass loading on the neck and the heat accumulated around the head is not easy to dissipate. Meanwhile, sweat of the motorcycle riders absorbed by the helmets has lingering bad smell. The motorcycle helmet can be classified as full-faced style, jet style, semi-jet style and half-faced style. They all work to reduce the head injury in the event of a traffic accident. However, the risk of head injury when wearing a half-faced style helmet is 2.57 times that of a full-faced helmet (Yu et al. 2011), indicating the strength of full face helmet. Due to weather conditions tropical area, such as Taiwan, especially in the summer, it often makes the motorcycle riders sacrifice safety of full face helmet and choose, for comfort, jet style, semi-jet style and/or half-faced style helmets. Although many manufacturers improve the structure of their helmets, trying to solve the problem of hot issue in the helmets by guiding the incoming air flow through the top of the full face helmet, the present invention discloses a more active way to improve comfort of the helmets, and at the same time, to provide respiratory protection against particulate matters for motorcycle riders. With the present new design, safety of the full-faced helmets will not be traded for discomfort. It is a win-win invention.
Meanwhile, considering hazards of particulate matters and discomfort of conventional helmets, there are some prior designs for proper solutions. China utility model patent No. 2052625U provides a dust-proof and cold-proof helmet device for bicycle riders or pedestrians. A feature of the device is that a piece of sealing cloth is connected to the lower end of the helmet. When the air pollution is serious or the weather is cold, the wearer can tighten the zipper on the sealing cloth. Breathing air is purified by the filtering sponge, which can effectively prevent dust and cold wind. Although the patent uses the sealing cloth and the filtering sponge to achieve air filtration, the efficiency data is limited. In addition, inhaled heat and carbon dioxide accumulation inside the helmet cannot be effectively exhausted. It provides no really helpful solution for the motorcycle riders.
Alternatively, US patent No. 2017/0136268 provides a personal powered air respirator. The powered air respirator includes a helmet, a backpack, a fan, a filter for inputting air and a soft tube for guiding the air to the helmet. Advantages of the patent are dust-filtered air is sent to the helmet by the fan and the helmet can be changed to a proper type. However, using the product made according to this patent when traveling on road, or in a traffic jam is hardly enough to block contaminated air convection from the lower side of the neck of a motorcycle rider. It is inevitably to inhale dirty air.
At last, ROC utility model patent No. M518005 discloses a dust-proof helmet. It includes a helmet body, an air inlet and a blower and an air outlet. The helmet body has a space to accommodate the blower. The air inlet opening is located below a lower side of the helmet. A window is formed in front of the helmet body and connects a wearable space. The air outlet is installed at a brink of the window and connects to the wearable space. The suction device is accommodated inside the accommodating portion and has a fan and a tube. The fan has an exhausting side connected to the air outlet and a suction side. The tube has opposite ends connecting to the suction side and the suction opening, respectively. Structural design of the utility model is able to prevent dusts or particulate matters in the air and water from entering the wearable space. It can also maintain clean air inside the helmet body. However, due to a poor design of the air flow path in the helmet body, the accumulated waste heat is difficult to exhaust.
Since the prior arts are not able to solve the problems when current motorcycle helmets are used, there is a need to develop an innovative full-faced motorcycle helmet providing cool and clean air. This helmet can solve the problem of particulate matters when the motorcycle riders breathe. Meanwhile, the heat accumulated around the head can be effectively exhausted, further preventing the motorcycle riders from sweating that causes lingering bad smell.
This paragraph extracts and compiles some features of the present invention; other features will be disclosed in the follow-up paragraphs. It is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
In order to settle the problems mentioned above, a motorcycle helmet providing cool and clean air is disclosed. The motorcycle helmet includes: a helmet body, having a window opening and a wearing opening, wherein two sides of the window opening are pivotally connected to a goggle, the goggle is able to pivotally rotate to the window opening and seal the window opening, the wearing opening is mounted a first connecting device around, and there is a ventilation hole formed at an opening location on the helmet body or the goggle; a ventilation tube, wherein one end of the ventilation tube is connected to the ventilation hole; a PAPR-typed air supplier, connected to the other end of the ventilation tube, conveying external air into the helmet body via the ventilation tube after particulate matters are filtered; and a guiding towel, made of airtight materials, wherein an upper end thereof has a second connecting device, and the second connecting device is able to detachably connect to the first connecting device. When the first connecting device and the second connecting device are connected. A neck of a user wearing the motorcycle helmet is covered around by the guiding towel at least one loop and air inside the helmet body is guided to exhaust through a lower end of the guiding towel.
According to the present invention, the opening location may be at a backside of a top of the helmet body, a place of the helmet body closer to a chin of the user, or one of two sides of the goggle. A ventilation rate of the PAPR-typed air supplier may fall between 60 liter/minute and 100 liter/minute. The second connecting device may be a hook-side of a hook-and-loop fastener or a loop-side of the hook-and-loop fastener. The first connecting device may be a loop-side of a hook-and-loop fastener or a hook-side of the hook-and-loop fastener corresponding to the second connecting device.
Preferably, a material of the guiding towel may be Polypropylene (PP), polyester fiber or melt-blown polypropylene. A material of the guiding towel may also be woven fabric or functional fabric made of elastic cloth and woven fabric. The guiding towel may be externally coated with a layer of waterproofing membrane. The waterproofing membrane may be a Polyethylene (PE) membrane. A length from the upper end to the lower end of the guiding towel may not be shorter than 28 centimeters.
In some embodiments, the PAPR-typed air supplier may be externally connected to a portable secondary battery pack or a locomotive battery as a source of power. After the user puts on the motorcycle helmet, filtered air flown into the helmet body and passed through a head of the user conveys heat to external air through the guiding towel. The guiding towel further comprises a fixing device for fixing the guiding towel to cover around the neck of the user wearing the motorcycle helmet at least one loop. The fixing device may be a set of zippers, a plurality of press buttons or a hook-and-loop fastener.
With the design of the helmet body, the ventilation tube, the PAPR-typed air supplier 30 and the guiding towel 40, filtered clean air can be provided to the users. During ventilation, heat inside the helmet body can be brought out. The goal to make the helmet cool is available.
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments.
Please refer to
The helmet body 10 is a main body of the motorcycle helmet to protect safety of the user head. By appearance classification, the motorcycle helmet is full-faced type. Because the key points of the present invention are providing users clean air and taking away the heat come from the head of the motorcycle rider inside the helmet body 10, a portion of the helmet body 10 may be the same as what is used in the prior art and not emphasized by the specification. Hence, the scope of the helmet body 10 may include, but not limit to external anti-friction protection materials, an absorption impact padding, belts, a head wearing opening, a tab, a goggle, goggle fixers, a head cushion, a neck guard, a retaining edge, an ear cushion, etc.
Compared with the cap structure of existing helmets, the helmet body 10 is characterized in that it has a window opening 101, a wearing opening 102, and optionally a ventilation hole 103. Besides, there is no other hole connecting internal space and external environment. Such design is used to effectively isolated air circulation inside and outside of the helmet body 10, further preventing the motorcycle riders from inhaling air with particulate matters not filtered. Two sides of the window opening 101 have a pivotally connecting device 110, respectively (due to perspective issue, only one pivotally connecting device 110 on one side of the window opening 101 is illustrated). The pivotally connecting device 110 can pivotally connected to a goggle 11. The goggle 11 can pivotally rotate to the window opening 101 and seal the window opening 101 (
As mentioned above, the ventilation hole 103 of the helmet body 10 is optionally made. If there is no ventilation hole 103 on the helmet body 10, it can be made on the goggle 11. For illustration, a location of the ventilation hole 103 is called as an opening location hereinafter. In the present embodiment, as shown in
One end of the ventilation tube 30 is connected to the ventilation hole 103. The other end is connected to the PAPR-typed air supplier 30. Types and materials of the ventilation tube 30 are not restricted. Preferably, is it a hose, e.g. a Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) hose or an Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) hose, so that users can flexibly rotate their heads without being restricted. The PAPR-typed air supplier 30 is an air supply of a Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR). The PAPR is a high-performance particle filtering respiratory protective device, providing air for the wearer to breathe with a portable blower. The blower and batteries are usually mounted on the wearer's belt or a rear end of a helmet. The blower brings the air with contaminants to a high-efficiency filter for filtering particulate matters. If it comes with an adsorption jar, partial gaseous pollutants can be removed at the same time. Generally speaking, the PAPR-typed air supplier 30 may include a host, a high performance filter, a belt, a flow indicator, etc. Detailed structures are not limited by the present invention. However, in order to effectively provide electricity, the PAPR-typed air supplier 30 may be externally connected to a portable secondary battery pack or a locomotive battery (not shown) as a source of power. The function of the PAPR-typed air supplier 30 in the motorcycle helmet of the present invention is to filter particulate matters from the external air and then send the filtered air to inside of the helmet body 10 via the ventilation tube 20. Ventilation rates of the PAPR-typed air supplier 30 are different depending on product brands and specifications. In order to effectively provide clean and cool air while not to cause excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulation in the helmet body 10, after experiments, it is confirmed that the ventilation rate of the PAPR-typed air supplier 30 preferably falls between 60 liter/minute and 100 liter/minute.
The guiding towel 40 (plane view as illustrated in the bottom of
In the present embodiment, a plane of the guiding towel 40 is designed to a rectangle. A second connecting device 401 in an upper portion of the guiding towel 40 can be a hook-side of a hook-and-loop fastener or a loop-side of the hook-and-loop fastener. Therefore, the first connecting device 105 is a loop-side of a hook-and-loop fastener or a hook-side of the hook-and-loop fastener corresponding to the second connecting device 401. Namely, if the second connecting device 401 is a loop-side of the hook-and-loop fastener, the first connecting device 105 is a hoop-side of the hook-and-loop fastener; if the second connecting device 401 is a hoop-side of the hook-and-loop fastener, the first connecting device 105 is a loop-side of the hook-and-loop fastener. Because the first connecting device 105 is located on a lower edge of the helmet body 10, by utilizing the hook-and-loop fastener, the guiding towel 40 can be effectively connected to the helmet body 10 and prevent external air from flowing into the helmet body 10.
In the present embodiment, a material of the guiding towel 40 may be Polypropylene (PP) synthetic fiber, e.g. using a neckerchief in the market; a material of the guiding towel 40 may also be Polyester fiber, e.g. using a scarf in the market; a material of the guiding towel 40 may be melt-blown polypropylene, e.g. using a filter in a middle layer of a mask. In addition to petrochemical products, the guiding towel 40 can use natural textiles or mixed textiles. For example, a material of the guiding towel 40 can be woven fabric or functional fabric made of elastic cloth and woven fabric (soft shell). Of course, if poor air tightness is concerned, the guiding towel 40 can be externally coated with a layer of waterproofing membrane, e.g. a polyethylene (PE) membrane. It should be noticed that the length of guiding towel 40, illustrated by H in the lower portion of
Come back to
According to the spirit of the present invention, the opening location has other options. The following describes the different aspects. Please refer to
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The human body's perimeter is increasing below the neck. If the length H of the guiding towel 40 is designed longer, the guiding towel 40 with a fixed width cannot effectively meet the goal of “a neck of a user wearing the motorcycle helmet is covered around by the guiding towel 40 at least one loop”. Hence, in another embodiment, the width of the guiding towel 40 can be designed to increase from its top to its bottom, as shown in
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
