Helmet with visor

Abstract: A helmet comprising a visor (3) having a visor body (5) covering a window opening (2) in a front surface of a cap body (1) of the helmet, and an end member (6) pivotally mounted on the cap body (1), the visor body (5) and the end member (6) being coupled to each other. A click stop mechanism (24) is provided between the end member (6) and a base plate (10) fixed to the cap body (1), and a cover (11) is secured to cover the end member (6). Preferably, the visor body (5) is formed from a polycarbonate, an acrylic resin, or a polyvinyl chloride, and the end member (6) is formed from a polyacetal, nylon or ABS. This arrangement provides good visibility through the visor (3) combined with increased durability of the click stop mechanism (24) which retains the visor (3) at a desired degree of opening.

Description: The present invention relates to a helmet for use by a driver or a passenger of a motorcycle or an automobile, and particularly relates to the construction and mounting of a visor on such a helmet. In a conventional arrangement a visor is constructed from a single transparent member, and a click stop mechanism is provided between the transparent member and the cap body or shell of a helmet, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,907,299. Ideally, a visor should have both a high transparency, so as not to impair the vision of a user wearing the helmet, and good wear and shock resistance so as to provide increased durability of the click stop mechanism. It is however difficult to satisfy all of these physical requirements by use of a visor constructed from a single material. JP-U-64010035, which represents the closest prior art, discloses a helmet comprising a visor, the visor comprising a transparent visor body and an end member which has a wear resistance greater than that of the visor body, the end member being coupled to an end of the visor body and being pivotally mounted on the helmet, a click stop mechanism being provided between the end member and the helmet, and a cover being secured to the helmet so as to cover the end member, wherein: the end member has an arcuate shape corresponding to a shape of an end of the visor body for receiving the end of the visor body; the end member is coupled to the end of the visor body; the end of the visor body is superposed on a portion of the end member; and the superposed portions of the end member and the visor body are coupled together by eyelets which are arranged along the substantially arcuate shape of the end of the visor body. According to the present invention the end member is provided with a substantially arcuate step corresponding to the shape of the end of the visor body; the end member has a thin-wall portion extending from the substantially arcuate step; and the end of the visor body is superposed on the thin wall portion of the end member. With the above construction, a good field of view can be provided through the visor body, and the durability of the click stop mechanism can be increased by the end member. Moreover, not only the end member but also a junction between the end member and visor body can be covered by the cover, significantly improving the external appearance of the helmet. For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which: Figs. 1 to 5 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein Fig. 1 is a side view of a helmet provided with a visor; Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential portion of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the joint between the helmet and the visor; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line 5-5 in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an essential portion of the joint between the helmet and the visor according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figs. 1 to 5 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring first to Fig. 1, a cap body 1 of a helmet for riding a vehicle is of the full-face type, having a chin covering portion 1a immediately below a window opening 2 on a front surface of the cap body 1. A visor 3 for opening and closing the window opening 2 is attached at its left and right ends to the cap body 1 through a pivotally mounting device 4. The visor 3 is curved at its central portion forwardly to fit around the correspondingly shaped front surface of the cap body 1. The pivotally mounting device 4 for the visor 3 will be described in connection with Figs. 3 to 5. The left and right side structures of the pivotally mounting device are identical to each other and hence, only the left side structure will be described below. The visor 3 includes a transparent visor body 5 capable of completely covering the window opening 2, and end members comprising plates 6 each coupled to a corresponding one of left and right ends of the shield body 5. Each of the end plates 6 has a support hole 7 at a central portion thereof, and an arcuate step 8 concentric with the support hole 7 in an outer surface thereof. The visor 3 is superposed on the end plate 6, so that the end of the visor 3 mates with the arcuate step 8. And the visor body 5 and the end plate 6 are coupled to each other by three eyelets 9 arranged along the arcuate step 8. In this manner, the outer surfaces of the visor body 5 and the end plate 6 are made into continuous smooth surfaces (see Fig. 5). In this case, the visor body 5 is made of a synthetic resin having a high transparency and a low refractive index, such as polycarbonate, acrylic, and polyvinyl chloride by any appropriate means, such as by molding and the like. The end plate 6 is made of a synthetic resin having high wear and shock resistance, such as polyacetal, nylon and ABS by any appropriate means, such as by molding and the like. A base plate 10 and a cover 11 for covering the end plate 6 which is superposed on the base plate 10 are secured in a manner which will be described hereinafter. It should be noted that the base plate 10 is formed of a synthetic resin having high wear and shock resistance and a high resilience, such as polyacetal, nylon and ABS. A pair of circular recesses 12 and 13 are provided in an outer surface of the base plate 10 at vertically spaced apart locations, and through holes 14 and 15 are made in central portions of the recesses 12 and 13, respectively. Nuts 16 and 17 are embedded in the cap body 1 in correspondence to the through holes 14 and 15, respectively. The cover 11 is provided with a first cylindrical recess comprising a pivot 18 passed through the support hole 7 in the end plate 6 and fitted in the upper recess 12, and with a second cylindrical recess comprising a pivot 19 fitted in the lower recess 13, these pivots 18 and 19 being mounted with their tip ends projecting toward the base plate 10. Through holes 20 and 21 are provided in the tip end walls of the pivots 18 and 19 coaxially with the through hoes 14 and 15, respectively. In a condition in which the first pivot 18 passed through the support hole 7 has been fitted into the upper recess 12, a machine screw 22 inserted sequentially through the through holes 20 and 14 is screwed into the nut 16 and tightened. In addition, with the second pivot 19 fitted into the lower recess 13, a machine screw 23 is inserted sequentially through the through holes 21 and 15, and screwed into the nut 17 and tightened. In this manner, the base plate 10 and the cover 11 are fixed to the cap body 1, so that the visor 3 can be pivotally moved or turned about the first pivot 18 between the base plate 10 and the cover 11. A large number of movable click teeth 25 are formed in a rear and outer edge of the end plate 6 in the shape of a sector concentric with the first pivot 18, and a resilient arm 27 is integrally connected to the base plate 10 and has several stationary click teeth 26 meshed with the movable click teeth 25. The resilient arm 27 has a resilience in a radial direction of the first pivot 18, so that the stationary click teeth 26 are engaged with the movable teeth 25 by a resilient force thereof. The movable click teeth 25, the stationary click teeth 26 and the resilient arm 27 constitute a click stop mechanism 24 for retaining the visor 3 at desired degrees of opening in a stepwise manner. An operating lever 28 is pivotally carried on the second pivot 19 which is positioned on the right side of the cap body 1. The operating lever 28 includes a boss portion 29 fitted over the second pivot 19, and a lever portion 30 extending in one tangential direction of the boss portion 29. A notch 31 is provided at a lower portion of the cover 11 for permitting the lever portion 30 to be exposed from the cover 11. The operating lever 28 is integrally formed from a synthetic resin, and a resilient arm 33 is integrally connected to the boss portion 29 and has a single movable click tooth 32 at its tip end. A large number of stationary click teeth 34 are formed on an outer surface of the second pivot 19 and are adapted to be engaged by the movable click tooth 32 by a resilient force of the resilient arm 33. Thus, the operating lever 28 is pivotally movable about the second pivot 19 between a retreat limit A in which the lever portion 30 abuts against a rear end edge of the notch 31 of the cover 11 and an advance limit B in which the lever portion 30 abuts against a front end edge of the notch 31 (see Fig. 1), wherein the pivotal position thereof can be maintained in a stepwise manner by engagement of both the click teeth 32 and 34. Further, the boss portion 29 is integrally provided with a cam portion 35 which is abutable against a lower edge of the visor 3. The cam portion 35 is formed so that as the operating lever 28 is pivotally moved or turned from the retreat limit A to the advance limit B, the lower edge of the visor 3 is gradually urged up. The operation of this embodiment will be described below. If the user holds a knob 3a and lowers the visor 3 to the retreat limit after returning of the operating lever 28 to the retreat limit A, the visor 3 is brought into a fully closed state in which it is in close contact with a peripheral edge of the window opening 2. If the opening lever 28 is now turned toward the advance limit B, the cam portion 35 thereof gradually urges the lower edge of the visor 3 upwards. This enables the visor 3 to be opened by a desired small opening degree such that the movable click teeth 25 in the click stop mechanism 24 moves one pitch relative to the stationary click teeth 26. If the know 3a is then held to turn the visor 3 upwards, the movable and stationary click teeth 25 and 26 have their engaged positions changed step by step while deflecting the resilient arm 27, so that the visor 3 can be retained at a fully opened position and at a position less than the fully open position, as required. In such a visor system, the visor 3, as described above, is comprised of the visor body 5 formed of a synthetic resin as described above and having a higher transparency and a lower refractive index, and the end plate 6 formed of a synthetic resin as described above having higher wear and shock resistance, the visor body 5 and the end plate 6 being coupled to each other, and the movable click teeth 25 of the click stop mechanism 24 being formed on the end plate 6. Therefore, it is possible to provide good visibility through the visor body 5 and increased durability of the click stop mechanism 24. In addition, the base plate 10 including the resilient arm 27 having the stationary click teeth 26 of the click stop mechanism 24 is formed of a synthetic resin as described above, having higher wear and shock resistance and resilience and therefore, it is possible to provide a further increased durability of the click stop mechanism 24 while maintaining a higher retaining force. Moreover, since the end plate 6 is covered by the cover 11, a junction between the visor body 5 and the end plate 6 is also not exposed outside the cover 11 and hence, it is possible to provide an improved appearance. Fig. 6 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment has a construction substantially similar to that of the previous embodiment, except that a click stop mechanism 24 includes a large number of movable click teeth 25' formed on an inner surface of an end plate 6 and arranged radially about the first pivot 18, and a resilient piece 27' which is integrally connected to a base plate 10 and which includes stationary click teeth 26' provided on an outer surface thereof and has a resilience in an axial direction of the first pivot 18, so that the stationary click teeth 26' are resiliently brought into engagement with the movable click teeth 25'.

Claims: A helmet comprising a visor (3), the visor (3) comprising a transparent visor body (5) and an end member (6) which has a wear resistance greater than that of the visor body (5), the end member (6) being coupled to an end of the visor body (5) and being pivotally mounted on the helmet, a click stop mechanism (24) being provided between the end member (6) and the helmet, and a cover (11) being secured to the helmet so as to cover the end member (6), wherein: the end member 6 has an arcuate shape corresponding to a shape of an end of the visor body (5) for receiving the end of the visor body (5); the end member (6) is coupled to the end of the visor body (5); the end of the visor body (5) is superposed on a portion of the end member (6); and the superposed portions of the end member (6) and the visor body (5) are coupled together by eyelets which are arranged along the substantially arcuate shape of the end of the visor body (5), characterised in that: the end member (6) is provided with a substantially arcuate step corresponding to the shape of the end of the visor body (5); the end member (6) has a thin-wall portion extending from the substantially arcuate step; and the end of the visor body (5) is superposed on the thin wall portion of the end member (6). A helmet as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the click stop mechanism (24) includes a plurality of movable click teeth (25) and stationary click teeth (26), the movable click teeth (25) being formed on an outer periphery of the end member (6) and having a shape of a sector concentric with a pivotal axis of the visor (3), the stationary click teeth (26) being provided on a tip end of a resilient arm (27) which is integrally connected to the base plate (10) secured to the shell (1) inside the end member (6) and is resilient in a radial direction of the pivotal axis of the visor (3), and the movable click teeth (25) being resiliently brought into engagement with the stationary click teeth (26). A helmet as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the click stop mechanism (24) includes a plurality of movable click teeth (25') and stationary click teeth (26'), the movable click teeth (25') being formed on an inner surface of the end member (6) and arranged radially about a pivotal axis of the visor (3), the stationary click teeth (26') being provided on an outer surface of a resilient piece (27') which is integrally connected to the base plate (10) secured to the shell (1) inside the end member (6) and is resilient in a direction of the pivotal axis of the visor (3) and the movable click teeth (25') being resiliently brought into engagement with the stationary click teeth (26'). A helmet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said visor body (5) is made from polycarbonate, acrylic resin, or a polyvinyl chloride, and said end member (6) is made from polyacetal, nylon or ABS. A helmet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said base plate (10) is made from polyacetal, nylon or ABS.

Inventors: KAMATA EITARO, KAMATA, EITARO
Applicants: SHOEI KAKO KK, SHOEI KAKO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A42B3
IPC codes: A42B3