Visor holder for a head protective helmet

A visor holder for a head protective helmet whereby to secure a clear plastic visor thereto. The holder is a single molded plastic piece which has a narrow frontal curved portion and opposed depending rear visor attachment portions. The visor holder is adapted to be secured to a helmet and side mounting brackets are provided for the adjustable attachment of the depending rear visor attachment portions of the holder to a helmet. The holder also has vent holes in a frontal curved portion thereof for moisture release and air exchange.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a visor holder for attaching a clear plastic visor to helmets of different sizes and shapes.

BACKGROUND ART

In our U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,719, there is shown an attachment system whereby to secure a clear plastic visor to a wire grid face protector of a helmet. The clear plastic lens or visor is secured to a connector which is attached to the wire grid face protector. Accordingly, a wire grid face protector is required to mount the lens and as such, it has limited applications and adaptations in that it can be used with specific helmets having a particular wire grid face protector which is not easily securable to helmets of different sizes and shapes. Often, there is no need to provide a wire grid face protector in certain sports as these are often a nuisance. These structures are also not aesthetically pleasing.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A feature of the present invention is to provide a visor holder which is adjustable and capable of securing a clear plastic lens to helmets of different sizes and shapes.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a visor holder which is aesthetically pleasing, robust, which provides ventilation to the lens or visor when attached thereto.

Another feature of the present invention is to provide a visor holder which is easy to secure to a helmet and which provides ease of attachment of a protective visor thereto.

According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a visor holder for a head protective helmet wherein the holder is comprised of a single molded piece having a narrow frontal curved portion and opposed depending rear visor attachment portions. Securement means is provided for immovably securing the holder about the peripheral forehead and temple area of a helmet. The securement means has a pair of side mounting brackets adapted to be secured to a helmet adjacent the temple area on opposed sides thereof for adjustable interconnection with interlocking means on an inner surface of the depending rear visor attachment portions to adapt the visor holder to helmets of different sizes and shapes. Attachment means is formed integral in the opposed depending rear visor attachment portions for releasable connection of a visor thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly toFIGS. 1 to 3, there is shown generally at10the visor holder of the present invention. It is comprised of the single molded piece formed by injection molded polycarbonate plastics or other suitable material. The single molded piece defines a narrow frontal curved portion12and opposed depending rear visor attachment portions13and13′. A connector14is formed integral in the central area of the narrow frontal curved portion12and provided with two elongated slots15and15′ whereby to connect to existing threaded post bolts11that are inserted through elongated slots in the helmet and project in the frontal peripheral portion16of the frontal area17of a helmet18, as illustrated inFIG. 5. The slots15and15′ of the connector14provide for adjustable securement to the existing threaded post bolts11, as shown inFIG. 5. Fasteners19are used for the securement.

As shown inFIG. 4, the securement means for attaching the visor holder to a helmet further comprises a pair of side mounting brackets20which are adapted to be secured to a helmet adjacent the temple area21.

The visor holder is further provided with vent means in the form of vent holes23, seeFIG. 2, integrally formed in the narrow frontal curved portion12of the holder10and disposed above the forehead of the wearer person wearing the helmet. Visor attachment means in the form of holes24and24′ are provided respectively in the depending rear visor attachment portions13and13′ and are shaped to receive a retention clip25, formed integral with the clear plastic visor26, as illustrated inFIG. 5. The visor26is shaped whereby to be compressed to fit inside the depending rear visor attachment portions13and13′ with the retention clip25projecting outwardly from the outer surface27of the visor at opposed attachment ends28. When the clips25register with the holes24and24′, the clip springs into the attachment holes24to secure the visor to the visor holder. To remove the visor, it is only necessary to push in the clips25and move the visor forward to remove it.

As shown inFIG. 1, the depending rear visor attachment portions13and13′ are provided in the upper part thereof with interlocking means in the form of a plurality of projecting teeth elements30which are herein shown as being of saw tooth cross-section. These teeth elements30are disposed in series with one another and disposed adjacent an elongated slot31through which is received a fastener32, seeFIG. 6, which is engageable with a threaded bore32′ of the associated bracket20, as shown inFIG. 4, secured to the temple area21of the helmet18. The bracket20is also provided with a series of serrated depressions33dimensioned to interlock with the series of teeth30provided in the inner face34of the depending rear visor attachment portions13and13′. One or two of these serrated depressions could be sufficient but preferably a series provides for a more secured connection. Accordingly, the visor holder10can be adjustably secured to a variety of helmet sizes and shapes by simply fitting the visor holder with the attachment bracket and securing the attachment bracket20to the helmet in the approximate required area as the adjustment can then be made with this adjustable feature of the interlocking teeth. Accordingly, the serrated depressions33constitute a securement means. The bracket20is also provided with slots46to provide adjustable connection over the temple area21of the helmet18by the use of fasteners45. There are at least two parallel slots46to permit rigid connection and prevent tilting of the bracket.

As shown inFIG. 4, the serrated depressions33are disposed along a top edge36and formed in the outer face37of the bracket20and disposed for facial alignment with the toothed elements30when the holder is secured to a helmet by the fasteners32.

As also shown inFIGS. 1 and 3, the series of toothed elements30are disposed in substantially parallel alignment with the slot31and extends along parallel longitudinal axes projecting in a horizontal plane38, seeFIG. 3, of the narrow frontal curved portion of the holder.

As shown inFIGS. 5 and 6, the visor26is herein provided with a rearwardly projecting flange40extending centrally from a top edge41of the visor and extending forwardly of the connector14. The projecting flange40is adapted to receive an insignia, such as shown at42thereon and which is visible when worn by a user person, as shown inFIG. 6. It is also an aesthetic feature.

As shown inFIG. 7, the clear plastic visor26may be tinted in at least a portion thereof, and as herein shown there are two distinct tint tones, namely an upper tint tone portion at43and a lower tint tone portion44with the tones being of different colors. It is also envisaged that the tone can have a single tint but degraded from dark to clear with the darkest part of the tone being of course, in the upper portion of the lens whereby to provide glare shading.

Accordingly, with the visor holder of the present invention it is possible to adapt clear plastic visors to helmets of different sizes and shapes thereby making it possible to use a common visor or lens on helmets formed by different fabricators.

It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiments described herein, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.