Abstract:
A one-piece adjustable headgear strap is constructed of lightweight material, for example plastic, and therefore is inexpensively manufactured and comfortable to wear. The strap is constructed with an adjustment mechanism that enables it to be easily adjusted around the head of wearer with just one hand. The adjustment mechanism is also integrally formed with the headband of the headgear support and is therefore inexpensive to manufacture due to its one-piece construction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention pertains to an adjustable headgear support for use with protective headgear such as construction hard hats, fire fighter helmets, welding helmets and the like. In particular, the present invention pertains to a one-piece adjustable headgear support that is lightweight and therefore comfortable to the wearer, can be easily adjusted around the head of the wearer with just one hand, and is inexpensive to manufacture due to its one-piece construction. 
     (2) Description of the Related Art 
     Protective headgear, for example construction hard hats, welding helmets, fire fighter helmets and the like typically include headgear supports with headbands or head straps that are adjustable so that the headgear can be supported comfortably on any size head by the headband. However, in many prior art headgear supports the headband adjustment mechanism is difficult to operate and requires that the headgear be removed from the head in order to make adjustments in the size of the loop formed by the headband. To overcome this inconvenience, headgear headbands were designed that could be adjusted while worn on the head of the user. However, many prior art headgear headbands designed to be adjusted while worn on the head of the user would not reliably operate to both decrease the size of the loop formed by the headband and increase the size of the loop formed by the headband. In addition, some prior art designs that did operate reliably required a construction of several separate component parts. For example, some headgear headbands have manual knobs that are easily rotated by hand in opposite directions to increase or decrease the size of the loop formed by the headband. These multiple part designs increase the cost of manufacturing the adjustable headgear headband. 
     What is needed to overcome the disadvantages associated with protective headgear adjustable headbands is a headband construction that is inexpensive to manufacture, can be easily adjusted increasing its loop size or decreasing its loop size, and does not compromise the comfort of the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The headgear support of the invention overcomes disadvantages of prior art headgear supports by providing a headband that is of one-piece construction and includes an adjustment mechanism that can be operated by one hand of the headgear wearer. The headband of the headgear support has a length between opposite ends that is sufficiently large to wrap around the head of a user with the opposite ends overlapping. An adjustable cross-over band crosses over the top of the head of the user and is also formed as one piece with the headband. The headband is formed with a clasp at one of its ends and a series of catches at its opposite end, where individual catches can be engaged by the clasp to hold the headband in an adjusted loop configuration around the user&#39;s head. A pair of finger abutments, one formed on the clasp and the other formed at the end of the series of catches, can be squeezed together by the thumb and forefinger of a user to pass the series of catches through the clasp when adjusting the size of the headband around the head of a user. The clasp is integrally connected to the headband by a pair of torsion arms on opposite sides of the clasp. The clasp has a pawl that engages with the series of catches on one side of the torsion arms and a finger tab on the opposite side of the torsion arms. By pressing inwardly on the finger tab the clasp is pivoting about the torsion arms causing the pawl to disengage from the catches, thereby enabling the loop configuration of the headband to be enlarged using just one hand. 
     All of the component parts of the headgear support are preferably molded of plastic and are integrally connected together giving the headgear support an inexpensive and simple to operate construction. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further features of the invention are set forth in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and in the drawing figures wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the one piece adjustable headgear support of the invention employed in one operative environment of the headgear support; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of a pair of headband straps of the headgear support having size adjustment mechanisms; 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the headgear straps of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rear of the headgear support removed from its operative environment of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a rear elevation view of the headgear support; and 
     FIG. 6 is a side elevation view illustrating the headgear support adjusted to the size of a user&#39;s head. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The one-piece adjustable headgear support of the invention is designed to be used with a variety of different types of protective headgear. FIG. 1 shows the headgear support  12  employed with a welding helmet  14 . However, the welding helmet  14  is only one example of the type of protective headgear with which the headgear support  12  may be used. For example, the headgear support  12  could be used with construction hard hats, fire fighters&#39; helmets and other types of headgear. In addition, the headgear need not necessarily be protective of the user&#39;s head. The headgear support is designed to provide comfortable, lightweight and inexpensive support to any type of headgear. 
     In the preferred embodiment the headgear support  12  is constructed as one-piece to reduce its manufacturing cost. Preferably, a plastic material is used in forming the headgear support  12  in its one-piece construction. The one-piece support includes a headband  16  that wraps around the user&#39;s head and a crossover band  18  that extends over the user&#39;s head. Again, both the headband  16  and the crossover strap  18  are constructed as one piece, preferably from plastic. 
     The crossover strap  18  has first  22  and second  24  parts that each extend upwardly from the headband  16  to their respective distal ends  26 ,  28 . The two parts  22 ,  24  of the crossover strap are provided with an adjustment mechanism in the form of a projecting post  32  adjacent the distal end  26  of the first part  22  and a series of complementary holes  34  adjacent the second end  28  of the second part  24 . By inserting the post  32  in a selected one of the holes  34  the length of the strap between its proximal ends  36 ,  38  that extend integrally from the headband  16  can be adjusted. Crossover straps of this type are known in the art. 
     The headband  16  includes a forward portion  42  that extends between the proximal ends  36 ,  38  of the crossover strap  18 . This forward portion  42  of the headband passes across the forehead of a person wearing the headgear support. 
     In the illustrated embodiment of the headgear support  12  shown in the drawing figures, the support has a pair of pivot adjustment mechanisms  44  mounted on the headband  16  adjacent the proximal ends  36 ,  38  of the crossover strap. These pivot adjustment mechanisms  44  attach the headgear support  12  to the welding helmet  14  and enable the welding helmet to be pivoted rearwardly and forwardly over the head of a wearer of the headgear support  12 . The pivot mechanisms  44  are known in the art and when the headgear support  12  is used with an other type of headgear that does not require the pivoting movement, the pivot mechanisms  44  are replaced by other known attachment mechanisms that attach the headgear support  12  to the headgear. 
     The headband also has first  46  and second  48  straps that extend rearwardly from the connection of the headband to the crossover strap  18  to their respective distal ends  52 ,  54 . The first strap  46  has an interior surface  56  that lies against the back of a user&#39;s head and an opposite exterior surface  58 . A series of catches or ratchet teeth  62  are provided on the first strap exterior surface  58  extending along the surface for a distance from the first strap distal end  52 . Each of the catches or teeth  62  has a tapered surface  64  that faces toward the first strap distal end  52  and a locking surface  66  that projects perpendicularly from the strap exterior surface  58 . The series of teeth  62  are centered on the strap exterior surface  58  with smooth margin surfaces  68  above and below the series of teeth. A first strap finger abutment  72  also projects from the first strap exterior surface  58 . The finger abutment  72  has a general triangular configuration and cross section and is positioned on the opposite side of the series of teeth  62  from the strap distal end  52 . The series of ratchet teeth  62  and the finger abutment  72  are all formed integrally with the first strap  46 . 
     The second strap  48  also has opposite interior  74  and exterior  76  surfaces with the interior surface  74  lying against the back of a user&#39;s head. A connector is formed on the exterior surface  76  adjacent the strap distal end  54 . The connector includes two pairs of guide flanges  78 ,  82  that extend outwardly from the respective top and bottom edges of the second strap  48  and over the exterior surface  76  of the strap. The pairs of flanges  78 ,  82  extend outwardly from the strap exterior surface  76  a distance that is slightly larger than the thickness of the first strap  46  and extend over the second strap exterior surface  76  a distance that is slightly smaller than the top and bottom margin surfaces  68  of the first strap. The connector also includes a clasp  84  that is mounted to the second strap  48  by a pair of resilient, torsion arms  86 ,  88 . Like the pairs of flanges  78 ,  82 , the two torsion arms  86 ,  88  project outwardly from the top and bottom edges of the strap a distance that is slightly larger than the thickness of the first strap  46 , and then extend over the second strap exterior surface  76  to where they connect with the clasp  84 . The clasp  84  includes a pawl  92  that extends from the torsion arms  86 ,  88  away from the second strap distal end  54  and toward the strap exterior surface  76 . The opposite end of the clasp  84  has a finger tab  94  that extends from the pair of torsion arms  86 ,  88  toward the second strap distal end  54  and over the strap exterior surface  76 . The clasp  84  also includes a second finger abutment  96  that projects outwardly from the clasp between the torsion arms  86 ,  88 . As stated above, the pair of torsion arms  86 ,  88  are resilient and bias the pawl  92  toward the second strap exterior surface  76 . A guide bar  98  projects outwardly from the top and bottom edges of the second strap  48  and over the second strap exterior surface  76 . The guide bar  98  is positioned out from the second strap exterior surface  76  a sufficient distance to allow the first strap  46  and the series of ratchet teeth  62  to pass beneath the guide bar. The pairs of flanges  78 ,  82 , the clasp  84 , the pair of torsion arms  86 ,  88 , the clasp pawl  92 , the clasp finger tab  94 , the second finger abutment  96 , and the guide bar  98  are all formed integrally on the second strap  48 . In the preferred embodiment all of these component parts are molded as a single piece of plastic. 
     In use, the first strap end  52  is inserted into the connector portion of the second strap end  54  so that the edge margins  68  of the first strap end pass beneath the pairs of flanges  78 ,  82  and the series of teeth  62  pass beneath the clasp pawl  92 . The resilience of the torsion arms  86 ,  88  bias the pawl  92  against the ratchet teeth  62 . As the first strap end  52  is pushed through the pairs of flanges  78 ,  82  the tapered surfaces  64  of the teeth cause the pawl  92  to slide over the teeth against the bias of the torsion arms  86 ,  88  and thereby ratchet over the teeth. For finer adjustment of the headband on the user&#39;s head, the user positions their thumb and forefinger outside the first finger abutment  72  and the second finger abutment  96  and squeezes the two abutments toward each other, thus reducing the diameter or loop of the headband and adjusting it to the size of the user&#39;s head using only one hand. The resilience of the torsion arms  86 ,  88  holds the pawl  92  against the first end  52  of the strap with the pawl engaging against the locking surface  66  of one of the teeth, thereby securely holding the headband in its adjusted size. To release the strap, the user presses the finger tab  94  of the clasp  84  causing the pawl  92  to pivot about the torsion arms  86 ,  88  and out of engagement with the locking surface  66  of the tooth. With the pawl  92  released from the tooth locking surface  66  the user can insert their fingers beneath the strap second end  54  and pull the strap second end  54  from the strap first end  52 , thereby increasing the size of the headband by using only one hand. Thus, the one-piece construction of the headgear support of the invention provides an inexpensive and lightweight support for headgear that can be easily adjusted to a smaller size or a larger size using only one hand. 
     While the present invention has been described by reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood that modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the following claims.