Self-adjusting cap lamp bracket

A combined headpiece, light source, and protective face shield. The orienion of the emitted light beam from the light source remains the same whether the face shield is in a down protective position or a raised unprotective position for the user's face. This allows the user to use both hands while at the same time having the beam directed forward to illuminate the environment. A hinge and bracket assembly joining the face shield to the light source allow the source to maintain its desired orientation. A flexible power supply lamp cord rigidly attached to the headpiece supplies a retaining force to the lamp and its attached hinged bracket to act to maintain it in its moved position. Although this invention has application to many different types of end uses, its preferred embodiment was primarily designed and constructed for use by miner's underground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This disclosure relates to a combined headpiece with a protective face 
shield and an automatically adjusting light source. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
In many hostile environments, face shields are mounted on headpieces of 
users, and at the same time, a light source is employed with the 
headpiece. Breathable gas may be supplied to the user at the same time. 
One of the best examples of such a use is disclosed in our preferred 
embodiment wherein a miner's lamp cap has an adjustable face shield. 
Normally, in the prior art, if the miner wishes to speak, eat, wear any 
type of auxiliary breathing device, etc., the face shield would be raised 
and the lamp rigidly attached on the cap would move, as a consequence, 
having its beam directed upwardly towards the mine roof. Should the use of 
both hands be required, as in an emergency, this misdirected lamp beam 
could cause severe problems. Essentially, our invention seeks to overcome 
these prior art problems by allowing a user to not only raise the face 
shield and have both hands free, but also have the lamp beam automatically 
directed to a forward facing direction at the same time. 
The prior art patent literature is replete with headgear combined with 
lamps attached or mounted on the headgear. Besides miners, physicians and 
surgeons, firemen, and motorcyclists, any users wishing to illuminate 
their environment could have used such headpieces. Examples are disclosed 
in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,745,993 (Feinbloom), 4,090,232 (Golden), 4,199,802 
(Malm), and 4,234,910 (Price). In the Feinbloom and Golden inventions, a 
pivot attaching the lamp is provided to allow the lamp's beam direction to 
be manually adjusted by the user. Price allows the direction of the 
emitted light beam to be changed by the user as the user's head is moved. 
The Malm invention uses a relatively complex pendulum/cable linkage to 
direct the beam from the light source in the same direction as the user's 
head (see column 3, lines 3-35). This latter invention, although it does 
not employ a face shield, is functionally the closest known prior art. 
However, our invention is much less complex in structure than Malm, and 
also employs a face shield interconnected to the light source. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A combined headpiece, lamp, and a face shield. As the face shield is 
rotated about a fixed axis on the headpiece, a counterrotation movement is 
imparted through a hinged bracket causing the lamp beam to remain directed 
in the same direction as it was before the shield was rotated. This 
counterrotation movement is automatically imparted to the lamp by a 
tensioned device attached to the lamp which connects to the face shield.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The FIG. 1 preferred embodiment shows a more or less typical miner's safety 
headpiece, cap, hat, or helmet 1 with a safety shield 3. This shield is 
attached to the hat by two safety pins 5 (only one shown). In turn, these 
pins--one on each side of the hat above the user's eyes--act as pivot 
points to allow the shield to be manually raised or lowered by the miner. 
An electrical lamp cord 7 connects the lamp 9 to a self-contained (or 
battery) power source (not shown) carried by the user on his or her belt. 
Nylon, plastic or other type clips 11 and 12 firmly fix the cord to the 
upper surface of the hat. The lamp cord is constructed of a material which 
allows it to flex and at the same time is strong enough to exert a force 
when compressed. The cord is also slightly tensioned between its clips and 
the lamp, thereby transmitting some force to the lamp which biases it to 
remain in the position of FIG. 1. When the face shield is in a down or 
face protecting position, the lamp's emitted light beam is directed 
forwardly, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, in the same direction the user 
would normally be looking. In this situation, the lamp bracket 13 would be 
in a closed position and interconnecting the lamp to the upper middle edge 
of the face safety shield. 
Many circumstances exist wherein the user may desire or be required to 
raise the safety shield to the up position as depicted in FIG. 2. Besides 
the apparent times the user may desire to raise the shield--to eat, speak, 
or talk without obstruction--there are times the shield must be raised. 
For example, if the user were a miner and a self-rescue portable breathing 
unit were required to be used. Whatever the reason, it may be desirable or 
critical to keep the light beam directed in the same initial FIG. 1 
direction rather than allowing it to shine upwardly. 
The mechanism which allows the lamp to retain its original orientation 
after the shield is raised is illustrated in the enlarged side view of 
FIG. 3. It is made up of the aforesaid lamp bracket assembly 13. This 
assembly has a hinge 15 connected on one half to the top of the face 
shield and connected on the other half to the main body of the lamp 
bracket 27. A pivot pin 19 interconnects the two halves 21 and 23 of the 
hinge to provide for its pivotal movement thereabout as the shield is 
moved. Above the upper hinge half 23, a rivet or other type of fastner 
rigidly joins the hinge to the main body 27 of the lamp bracket. The cap 
lamp is then attached to the lamp bracket assembly 13 using the lamp 
holding clip 17. 
When the face shield is moved by a user from the FIG. 1 to FIG. 2 position, 
the shield rotates about pins 5 and the lamp automatically counterrotates 
about pivot 19 the same degree of angular displacement. Thus, if shield is 
moved ninety degrees (90.degree.) clockwise, the lamp is rotated a like 
90.degree. angular displacement counterclockwise. Initially, when the face 
shield is in a down user protective position, the two hinge halves 21 and 
23 are parallel and abutting each other as in FIG. 1. When the shield is 
manually moved about its pivot, the force supplied by the now more 
compressed cord 7 rigidly fixed to the hat acts to force the hinge into 
its opened--about 90.degree. between the plates--FIG. 2 position. If the 
lamp were to strike a low roof obstruction, the opened hinge would give 
and then return to its original position without transferring the shock 
directly to the headpiece or user. Conversely, when the shield is down, as 
in FIG. 1, the cap lamp is retained in position (closed hinge) by the 
tension created by the lamp cord. 
Variations as to the details of the disclosed preferred embodiment are 
possible. Also, the type of end user or environment is not necessarily to 
be limited to miners in underground mines. None, however, should be used 
to change the scope and spirit of our invention which is to be limited 
only by the claims that follow.