BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to helmets, and more particularly to a helmet that absorbs impact from multiple directions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most existing safety helmets are formed by a rigid casing and a buffer layer filled under the rigidity casing. When impact acts on such a known safety helmet, the rigidity casing first bears a part of the impact energy, and the buffer layer later absorbs a part of the energy. The remaining energy has to be borne by the user's head and cervical vertebra. For safety helmets, incoming impact can be divided into three types, namely radial impact, tangential impact, and diagonal impact. Radial impact can cause linear acceleration of a user's head that may lead to skull fracture and/or traumatic brain injury. Tangential impact can cause angular acceleration of a user's head that may bring about shear-based injury to brain and/or cervical vertebra. However, according to statistics, there have been seldom cases about pure radial or tangential impact. The most common type of injury is damage caused by diagonal impact, which is a combination of the two foregoing types of impact. When being subject to diagonal impact, a human head can have linear acceleration and slew acceleration at the same time, making it more vulnerable to grievous injury, such as cerebral concussion, traumatic brain injury (TBI), subdural hematoma (SDH) and diffuse axonal injury (DAI).
For ensuring protective capability of safety helmets, the relevant manufactures usually test their helmet products for impact absorption before shipment. Nevertheless, since these tests are usually designed for radial impact, the existing safety helmets may be good at absorbing radial impact, but are likely to fail to protect their user from impact acting in different directions (especially diagonal impact).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one objective of the present invention to provide a helmet that absorbs multi-direction and thereby provides improved protection to a user's head.
To attain the above objective, the helmet of the present invention comprises a shell having an inner surface, a flexible frame attached to the inner surface of the shell and having an inner surface, a pad having an inner surface and an outer surface attached to the inner surface of the shell and the inner surface of the flexible frame, and a slide-facilitating member attached to the inner surface of the pad. When the shell receives incoming impact, especially diagonal impact, the slide-facilitating member allows the shell and the flexible frame to slide with respect to a user's head. In this way, the impact force acting on the user's head can be absorbed and converted into other forms of energy, thereby providing better protection to the user's head.
Preferably, the slide-facilitating member protrudes out of the inner surface of the pad to be in contact with the user's head directly.
Preferably, the slide-facilitating member is positioned in a recess provided at the inner surface of the pad.
Preferably, the slide-facilitating member can be covered by the pad.
Preferably, the slide-facilitating member has a covering attached to the inner surface of the flexible frame, and a slide-facilitating medium wrapped by the covering.
Preferably, the slide-facilitating medium may be a colloid.
Preferably, the slide-facilitating member has a substrate attached to the inner surface of the flexible frame and a plurality of flexible bars connected to the substrate. The flexible bars have deforming property that allows such slide.
Other advantages and features of the present invention will be fully understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs denote like components of structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety helmet of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the disclosed safety helmet.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional applied view of the disclosed safety helmet.
FIG. 4, similar to FIG. 3, shows the shell receiving impact.
FIGS. 5a-5g illustrate different aspects of the slide-facilitating medium of the disclosed safety helmet.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a helmet of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is another perspective view of the helmet of the present invention.
FIG. 8 an exploded view of the helmet of the present invention.
FIG. 9 an exploded view of the pad and the slide-facilitating member provided by the helmet of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the helmet of the present invention, showing that the slide-facilitating member is formed by the covering and the slide-facilitating medium.
FIG. 11 is similar to FIG. 10, showing that the slide-facilitating member is wrapped by the pad.
FIG. 12 is similar to FIG. 11, showing that the shell is subject to incoming impact.
FIG. 13 is similar to FIG. 12, showing that the slide-facilitating medium allows the shell and the flexible frame to slide with respect to the user's head.
FIG. 14 is similar to FIG. 10, showing that the slide-facilitating member is formed by the substate and the flexible bars.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a safety helmet 10 of the present invention comprises a shell 20, a flexible frame 30, and a slide-facilitating member 40.
The shell 20 has a casing 21 and a buffer layer 22. The buffer layer 22 is adhered to the inner surface of the casing 21 by using heat and pressure activated bonding agent. The casing 21 is made of a rigid material, such as hard plastic, and serves to provide first-line protection. The buffer layer 22 is made of a shock-absorbing material, such as foam, for damping shock and buffering.
The flexible frame 30 is made of an elastic material, such as elastic plastic. As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible frame 30 has two symmetrical top ribs 32 and a side rib 34. The two top ribs 32 each have one end integratedly connected to the front end of the side rib 34, and the rear end of the side rib 34 is provided with an adjuster 36, which can be used to adjust the circumference of the side rib 34 so that the side rib 34 can fittingly wrap different sizes of users' heads. Furthermore, the top ribs 32 and the side rib 34 are each detachably attached to the inner surface of the buffer layer 22 of the shell 20 through a fastener (not shown) such as a Velcro tape. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, the top ribs 32 and the side rib 34 may each have its outer surface provided with a plurality of ball connectors 38, so that in addition to the adhesion of the fasteners to the inner surface of the buffer layer 22 of the shell 20, these ball connectors 38 can engage with sockets 23 correspondingly arranged on the buffer layer 22 to enhance the combination between the flexible frame 30 and the shell 20 while allowing easy detachment of the flexible frame 30 for convenient adjustment.
The slide-facilitating member 40 has a covering 41. The covering 41 is attached to the inner surface 35 of the flexible frame 30 using fasteners like velcro tapes. This allows the slide-facilitating member 40 to be held by the flexible frame 30, positioning the inner side of the covering 41 in direct contact with the user's head 12. This allows for easy detachment of the covering 41 for cleaning in case of stains. The slide-facilitating member 40 further has a slide-facilitating medium 42 wrapped by the covering 41. In the present embodiment, the slide-facilitating medium 42 has two aligned substrates 43 and a plurality of flexible threads 44. The two substrates 43 are fixed to the covering 41 by means of an adhesive. The flexible threads 44 are arranged between the two substrates 43 regularly or irregularly. With the presence of these flexible threads 44, the two substrates 43 can perform relative displacement easily. It is to be also noted that, the slide-facilitating member 40 shown in FIG. 2 contains two units, one corresponding to head top and the other embracing the head peripherally. However, in practice, the two units may be integrated into a unity, or alternatively be divided into three or more units, depending on practical needs.
With the foregoing configuration, when the shell 20 is subject to incoming impact, the casing 21 of the shell 20 bears part of the energy, and the buffer layer 22 of the shell 20 absorbs a part of energy. Then when the remaining energy is transmitted to the slide-facilitating member 40, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the slide-facilitating member 40 has the slide-facilitating medium 42 allow the shell 20 to slide with respect to the head 12, so that the impact force reaching the slide-facilitating member 40 is converted into potential energy generated by the relative displacement. The slide-facilitating member 40 can even slide with respect to the head 12 due to the low friction of the covering 41, so that the impact force reaching the slide-facilitating member 40 can be further converted into thermal energy generated by mutual friction. This makes the user's head 12 and cervical vertebra only have to bear the last remaining energy. In other words, when the disclosed safety helmet 10 is subject to incoming impact, it uses the deformation of the shell 20 itself, the relative slide between the shell 20 and the head 12, and the friction between the covering 41 and the head 12 to multiply absorb and convert the impact force otherwise directly acting on the head 12 into other forms of energy, so as to reliably protect the head 12 from impact coming in multiple directions, especially diagonal impact.
It is further to be noted that the slide-facilitating medium 42 may be embodied in various forms. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5a-5b, the slide-facilitating medium 42 is a fluid such as air or colloid, which uses its deforming property to allow the shell 20 to slide. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5c, the slide-facilitating medium 42 is composed of a plurality of rolling beads 46. These rolling beads 46 use their arbitrary rolling to slide the shell 20. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5d, the slide-facilitating medium 42 is composed of two aligned substrates 48 each having a low-friction surface 50. The low-friction surfaces 50 of the two substrates 48 abut against each other so that the two substrates 48 can move with respect to each other easily and in turn allow the shell 20 to side, Further, the two substrate 48 may be made of a low-friction material such as Polyoxymethylene (POM), Aramid, plastic with chemical lubricants, Polyimide (PI), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), or the like. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5e, the slide-facilitating medium 42 is in the form of two aligned magnets 52, which face each other with the magnetic poles 54 having the same polarity (not limited to the N pole or the S pole), so that the two magnets 52 can perform relative displacement easily in virtue of magnetic repulsion, thereby facilitating slide of the shell 20. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5f, the slide-facilitating medium 42 is a plate made of a viscoelastic material and having a plurality of recesses 56 and a plurality of tongues 58, these recesses and tongues 56, 58 are arranged next to each other alternately, so that when the slide-facilitating medium 42 performs elastic deformation under an external force, slide of the shell 20 is achieved. At last, alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5g, the slide-facilitating medium 42 has a substrate 60 and a plurality of flexible bars 62 connected to the substrate 60, so that the elasticity of the flexible bars 62 allows the shell 20 to slide.
Referring to FIGS. 6-7, a helmet 10′ of the present invention comprises a shell 20, a flexible frame 30, a pad 70, and a plurality of slide-facilitating members 80.
As shown in FIG. 10, the shell 20 has a casing 21 and a buffer layer 22. The casing 21 is made of a rigid material, such as hard plastic, and serves to provide first-line protection. The buffer layer 22 is covered by the casing 21 and made of a shock-absorbing material, such as foam, for damping shock and buffering.
The flexible frame 30 is made of an elastic material, such as elastic plastic. As shown in FIG. 7, the flexible frame 30 has two symmetrical top ribs 32 (at least one is sufficient) and a side rib 34. The two top ribs 32 each have one end integratedly connected to the front end of the side rib 34, and the rear end of the side rib 34 is provided with an adjuster 36, which can be used to adjust the circumference of the side rib 34, so that the side rib 34 can fittingly wrap different sizes of users' heads. Furthermore, the top ribs 32 and the side rib 34 are each detachably attached to the inner surface 23 of the shell 20 through a fastener (not shown) such as a Velcro tape. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the flexible frame 30 may each have its outer surface 33 provided with a plurality of ball connectors 38, so that in addition to the adhesion of the fasteners to the inner surface 23 of the shell 20, these ball connectors 38 can engage with sockets (not shown) correspondingly arranged on the buffer layer 22 to enhance the combination between the flexible frame 30 and the shell 20 while allowing easy detachment of the flexible frame 30 for convenient production assembly and replacement. It is worth mentioning that the inner surface 23 of the shell 20 is the side close to the user's head 12.
The pad 70 has a side portion 71 and a plurality of top portions 72 each having one end integratedly connected to the front side of the side portion 71. The number of the top portions 72 will be varied according to the shape of the helmet 10. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the pad 70 has its outer surface 73 detachably attached to the inner surface 35 of the flexible frame 30 through a fastener (not shown) such as a Velcro tape in such a way that the side portion 71 is attached to the side rib 34 and the middle two top portions 72 are attached to the top ribs 32. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, one, two or more recesses 75 are provided at the inner surface 74 of the top portions 72. However, the pad 70 can be varied in structure according to actual needs. It is worth mentioning that the inner surface 35 of the flexible frame 30 and the inner surface 74 of the pad 70 are the sides close to the user's head 12.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the slide-facilitating member 80 can be positioned in the recess 75 of the pad 70 and protrude out of the inner surface 74 of the pad 70; alternatively, as shown in FIG. 11, the slide-facilitating members 80 can be covered by the pad 70. The slide-facilitating members 80 has a covering 81, which is made of a low-friction material, such as flannel. The covering 81 has one side thereof adhered to the inner surface 74 of the pad 70 through fasteners (not shown) such as a Velcro tape, and the covering 81 has the opposite side thereof to be in contact with a user's head 12 directly. The slide-facilitating member 80 further has a slide-facilitating medium 82 wrapped by the covering 81. In the present embodiment, the slide-facilitating medium 82 is a colloid, which uses its deforming property to allow the shell 20 and flexible frame 30 to slide. It is worth mentioning that the slide-facilitating members 80 can be varied in number and location according to actual needs.
With the foregoing configuration, as shown in FIGS. 12-13, when the shell 20 is subject to incoming impact F, the casing 21 of the shell 20 bears part of the energy, and the buffer layer 22 of the shell 20 absorbs a part of energy. Then when the remaining energy is transmitted to the slide-facilitating member 80, the slide-facilitating medium 82 allows the shell 20 and the flexible frame 30 to slide with respect to the user's head 12, so that the impact force reaching the slide-facilitating member 80 is converted into potential energy generated by the relative displacement. The slide-facilitating member 80 can even slide with respect to the user's head 12, so that the impact force F reaching the slide-facilitating member 80 can be further offset by sliding or converted into a positive force absorbed by the buffer layer 22. This makes the user's head 12 and cervical vertebra only have to bear the last remaining energy. In other words, when the helmet 10′ is subject to incoming impact F, it uses the deformation of the shell 20 itself and the relative slide between the shell 20 and the user's head 12 to multiply absorb and convert the impact force F otherwise directly acting on the user's head 12 into other forms of energy, so as to reliably protect the user's head 12 from impact coming in multiple directions, especially diagonal impact.
It is further to be noted that the slide-facilitating member 90 may be embodied in various forms. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the slide-facilitating member 90 has a substrate 91 and a plurality of flexible bars 92 connected to the substrate 91, so that the elasticity of the flexible bars 92 allows the shell 20 and the flexible frame 30 to slide. Further, the substrate 91 is positioned in the recess 75 of the pad 70 and the flexible bars 92 protrude out of the inner surface 74 of the pad 70 to be in contact with the user's head 12.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Patent Application
20240277095
