Helmet

Abstract: A helmet includes a cap body (2), a wall element (6) mounted on the cap body (2) to define an air-stream inlet (C) between the wall element (6) and a front wall of the cap body (2), and an air intake hole (29) provided in the front wall to be open to the air-stream inlet (c). The wall element (6) is provided with an airstream outlet (31) which is opened and closed by a shutter.

Description: The present invention relates to a helmet primarily, although not exclusively for use by a motorcycle rider or the like, and more particularly, improvements in a helmet comprising a cap body, a wall element mounted on the cap body to define an air-stream inlet between the wall element and a front wall of the cap body, and an air intake hole provided in the front wall which is open to the air-stream inlet and a shutter on the wall element. A helmet of this type but without a shutter on the wall element has already been proposed by the present applicant (see the specification and drawings of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 117511/89 - published for opposition under No. 44589/92). A helmet of this type has the advantage that much of the air-stream incident on it can be collected into the air-stream inlet and supplied to the air intake hole by utilizing the entire wall element (e.g. visor) thereby providing an effective ventilation within the cap body. In the above described helmet, in order to adjust the flow rate of the air-stream into the air intake hole, a shutter is mounted on the front wall of the cap body for opening and closing the air intake hole. However, this helmet suffers from the disadvantage that particularly if a visor which projects a long way from the cap body is used, the operations of opening and closing the shutter may be obstructed by the visor and thus becomes difficult. JP-U-63-94924, which represents the most relevant state of the art discloses a helmet comprising a cap body, a wall element projecting from the cap body and defining an air-stream inlet, an air intake hole provided in a front wall of the cap body and opening into the air-stream inlet, and a shutter on the wall element. According to the present invention, the air-stream inlet is defined between the wall element and the cap body, an air-stream outlet is provided in the wall element and the shutter is provided for opening and closing the air-stream outlet. With the above construction, the flow rate of the air-stream supplied into the air intake hole by utilizing the entire wall element can be effectively increased by closing the shutter mounted on the wall element while the pressure generated inside the wall element can be reduced by opening the shutter to reduce the flow rate of the air-stream into the air intake hole and to reduce the flapping action caused by the air-stream on the wall element. Moreover, since the shutter is mounted on the wall element, the opening and closing operation thereof is easy. 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: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a helmet with a shutter opened and a shield plate held at a closed position; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line II-II in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the helmet; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along a line IV-IV in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the shield plate held at an opened position; Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion indicated by an arrow VI in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along a line VII-VII in Fig. 1, but showing the shutter as being closed; Fig. 8 is a plan view of an essential portion of a wall element (e.g. visor); Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along a line IX-IX in Fig. 1; and; Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a modification of a shutter. Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, a helmet 1 for riding a vehicle is shown to have a cap body 2 formed into a full-face type having a chin cover portion 4 immediately below an opening 3 in a front face. A shield plate 5 and a wall element (visor) 6 are detachably mounted on the cap body 2. The shield plate 5 and the visor 6 are formed of synthetic resin, and the mounting structure thereof to the cap body 2 will be described below. As clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a nut 7₁ is embedded in each of left and right sidewalls of the cap body 2, and at a laterally central portion of a front wall 8 of the cap body 2, there is provided an adjusting means 9 for adjusting the mounting position of the visor 6 in a longitudinal or front and rear direction of the cap body. The adjusting means 9 is comprised of a body 10 of substantially T-shape as viewed in plan , and a machine screw 11 serving as a fixing element threadedly engaged in a nut 7₂ of the cap body 2 to fix the body 10 to the cap body 2. The body 10 includes a channeled main portion 12 and an elongated hole 14 is provided in a ceiling wall 13 of the main portion 12 so as to extend longitudinally of the cap body for receiving the machine screw 11 therethrough. A projecting stopper 15 is provided on an outer surface of the ceiling wall 13 rearwardly of the elongated hole 14. Thus, the body 10 is movable longitudinally of the cap body by loosening the machine screw 11 and is capable of being fixed, by the machine screw 11, to the cap body at any position in a region of movement thereof limited by the elongated hole 14. A mounting hole 16 is provided in each of left and right opposite ends of the visor 6, and a machine screw 17 is passed through each of the mounting holes 16 and is threadedly engaged into the nut 7₁. A cylindrical support 18 is projectingly mounted on an inner surface of the visor 6 at a laterally central portion thereof closer to a rear edge and is engaged (fitted over in the illustrated embodiment) with the stopper 15. In this manner, the visor 6 is attached to the cap body 2 so as to project forwardly of the opening 3 in the front face along a line tangential to an outer surface of the cap body 2, so that the movement of the visor 6 in the longitudinal direction of the cap body 2 is limited by the stopper 15. If the mounting position of the visor 6 in the longitudinal direction of the cap body 2 is desired to be adjusted in order to deal with flapping by wind, shading from the sunlight, insurance of the field of view and the like, the machine screw 11 may be loosened to move the body 10. This ensures the mounting position of the visor 6 in the longitudinal direction of the cap body being easily adjusted. The mounting position after adjustment is held by threadedly tightening the machine screw 11 into the nut 7₂. Even if the visor 6 is removed from the cap body 2 for the purpose of cleaning of the visor 6 and the cap body 2 or for the other purpose, the adjusting means 9 is left on the cap body 2. Therefore, when the visor 6 is to be attached again to the cap body 2, the visor 6 can be disposed at the same mounting position as before removal by fitting the stopper 15 into the cylindrical support 18. An inner surface of the visor 6 is formed with bosses 19 each surrounding corresponding one of mounting holes 16. Each of the bosses 19 is rotatably fitted in corresponding one of support holes 20 made in left and right opposite ends of the shield plate 5. This ensures that the shield plate 5 can be pivotally moved about pivots provided by the two bosses 19 between a closed position in which the opening 3 in the front face is closed and an opened position in which the opening 3 in the front face is opened. When in the closed position, the shield plate 5 is in close contact with a seal rubber 21 mounted around a peripheral edge of the opening 3 in the front face. A closure retaining means 22 is mounted in the following manner between the cap body 2 and the shield plate 5 to retain the shield plate 5 pivotally moved to the closed position and is comprised of a first 22₁ and a second engage element 22₂. The first engage element 22₁ is slidably fitted on the main portion 12 of the adjusting means 9 from its front end side and includes an engage projection 23 at a front end thereof. In the first engage element 22₁ , the machine screw 11 in the adjusting means 9 is inserted as a fixing element into an elongated hole 24 extending in the longitudinal direction of the cap body. This ensures that the first engage element 22₁ can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the cap body by loosening the machine screw 11. The first engage element 22₁ is fixed, together with the main portion 12, to the cap body 2 through the machine screw 11 at any position within a region of movement limited by the elongated hole 24 by utilizing the deflection of the main portion 12 in the adjusting means 9. The body 10 of the adjusting means 9 and the first engage element 22₁ can easily be fixed in a fitted relation to each other by the single machine screw 11 in this manner, and the relative rotation between the body 10 and the first engage element 22₁ about the machine screw 11 is reliably prevented by fitting the stopper 15 into the cylindrical support 18. The second engage element 22₂ is attached to an upper edge of the shield plate 5 at its laterally central portion and includes a mounting portion 25 extending along the shield plate 5, and a U-shaped engage pawl 26 provided on the mounting portion 25 to project from the upper edge of the shield plate 5. The engage pawl 26 corresponds to the engage projection 23 of the first engage element 22₁. In the above construction, the shield plate 5 can be held at the closed position by bringing the engage pawl 26 of the second engage element 22₂ into engagement with the engage projection 23 of the first engage element 22₁. The engagement and disengagement between the engage projection 23 and the engage pawl 26 can smoothly be carried out through the aid of the elasticity of the shield plate 5. In this case, because the second engage element 22₂ is located at a position remotest from the two mounting positions of the shield plate 5 on the cap body 2, the effective utilization of the elasticity of the shield plate 5 ensures that the second engage element 22₂ exhibits a larger engaging force, thereby reliably maintaining the closed position of the shield plate 5. If the closed position of the shield plate 5 is desired to be adjusted, the machine screw 11 may be loosened and with the two engage elements 22₁ and 22₂ engaged, the first engage element 22₁ may be moved and then fixed to the cap body by the machine screw 11. By attaching the visor 6 to the cap body 2 in the above manner, a tip end of the visor 6 projects above the opening 3 in the front face and thus forwardly from the opposed position of the cap body 2 to the front wall 8, thereby defining a housing chamber C between the visor 6 and the front wall 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, so that the shield plate 5 pivotally moved to the opened position is received or housed in the housing chamber C. In this housed state of the shield plate 5, the visor 6 serves as a protecting cover for the shield plate 5, and this makes it possible to avoid the contact of the shield plate 5 with other components. As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5, a housed-state retaining means 27 is provided between the visor 6 and the laterally central portion of the shield plate 5 for retaining the shield plate 5 housed. The housed-state retaining means 27 is comprised of an engage projection 28 mounted on the inner surface of the visor at the laterally central portion thereof forwardly of the cylindrical support 18, and the engage pawl 26 of the second engage element 22₂ mounted on the shield plate 5. As clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in the housed state of the shield plate 5, the engage pawl 26 of the shield plate 5 rides across the engage projection 28 of the visor 6, so that an engage surface 26a of the engage pawl 26 which is closer to the mounting portion 25 is engaged with an engage surface 28a of the engage projection 28 which is closer to the cylindrical support 18. The engagement and disengagement between the engage projection 28 and the engage pawl 26 are achieved by utilizing the elasticity of at least one, e.g., both in the illustrated embodiment, of the shield plate 5 and the visor 6. In this case, the engage projection 28 and the engage pawl 26 are located at positions remotest from the mounting positions of the visor 6 and the shield plate 5 on the cap body 2 and therefore, the effective utilization of the elasticity of the visor 6 and the shield plate 5 ensures that the engage projection 28 and the engage pawl 26 exhibit larger engaging forces, which makes it possible to reliably retain the shield plate 5 housed. As clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 7, the housing chamber C also serves as an air-stream inlet or flow-in space (which will be identified by the same reference character as the housing chamber C for covenience, hereinafter). In this case, a rear end of the air-stream flow-in space C is opened due to fitting of the stopper 15 in the cylindrical support 18 and hence, if a rider wearing the helmet 1 drives a motorcycle, the air-stream flowing into the space C flows therefrom rearwardly of the visor 6, which makes it possible to prevent the visor 6 from being flapped by the air-stream even during travelling of the motorcycle at higher speed. On opposite sides of the main portion 12 of the adjusting means 9, the front wall 8 of the cap body 2 is provided with two air intake holes 29 leading to the air-stream flow-in space C. An inlet of each of the air intake holes 29 is opened in an outer surface of the front wall 8, and an outlet of each air intake hole 29 is opened in an inner surface of the front wall 8. The body 10 has a guide wall 30 raised along an upper half peripheral edge in the inlet of each air intake hole 29. An air stream outlet or escape opening 31 is formed into a laterally long rectangular shape in the visor 6 forwardly of the engage projection 28 for permitting the air-stream to escape therethrough into the air-stream flow-in space C, and a shutter 32 of synthetic resin is mounted on the visor 6 for opening and closing the air-stream outlet 31. The mounting structure of the shutter 32 on the visor 6 will be described below. As clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 8, a pair of elongated holes 33 are provided in parallel in the visor 6 to extend rearwardly from near the left and right opposite ends of the air-stream outlet 31, and they have front ends which are formed into wider portions 33a by notching opposed inner edges of the elongated holes 33. A flat plate portion 34 of the shutter 32 has a size sufficient to completely close the air-stream outlet 31 and is placed on the outer surface of the visor 6. A pair of support legs 35 are provided on a lower surface of the flat plate portion 34 at its left and right opposite side edges and are slidably inserted through the elongated holes 33, respectively. The support legs 35 are hook-shaped with their folded ends 35a directed outwardly. Each of the folded ends 35a abuts against a lower face of an outer edge of each elongated hole 33. This ensures that each support leg 35 is held in the visor 6 so that it cannot be slipped out. As clearly shown in Figs. 3, 8 and 9, a first recess 36₁ and a second recess 36₂ are formed at a predetermined distance in the lower face of the outer edge of each elongated hole 33. If the folded end 35a of each support leg 35 is engaged into each first recess 36₁ closer to the air-stream outlet 31, the shutter 32 is located in its closed position in which the air-stream outlet 31 is completely closed by the flat plate portion 34. If the folded end 35a is engaged into each second recess 36₂, the shutter 32 is located in its opened position in which the air-stream outlet 31 is completely opened. The visor 6 has a guide hole 38 made therein between both the elongated holes 33 in parallel to the elongated holes 33. The shutter 32 has a longitudinally extending guide projection 37 formed thereon at a central portion of the lower surface of the flat plate portion 34 and slidably fitted in the guide hole 38 in the visor 6. The guide projection 37 and the guide hole 38 cooperate to permit a smooth opening and closing movement of the shutter 32. In attaching the shutter 32 to the visor 6, the wider portion 33a of the elongated hole 33 is used to insert each support leg 35 through the corresponding elongated hole 33 by deflecting the flat plate portion 34 so that the two support legs 35 approach to each other. In the above construction, if the air-stream outlet 31 is closed by the shutter 32, much of the air-stream incident on the helmet is collected into the air-stream flow-in space C by the entire visor 6, so that the pressure in the space C is increased. Hence, the flow rates of the air-stream introduced directly into the air intake hole 29 and the air-stream introduced into the air intake hole 29 through a path bent by the guide wall 30 become maximum. The air-stream flowing past the air intake hole 29 is guided into the cap body 2 and serves to ventilate the inside of the cap body 2. On the other hand, if the air-stream outlet 31 is opened by the shutter, the air-stream in the air-stream flow-in space C is escaped through the air-stream outlet 31 by drawing-out effect of the air-stream flowing along the outer surface of the visor 6, so that the pressure in the space C is reduced. Therefore, the flow rate of the air-stream into the air intake hole 29 if reduced and at the same time, the flapping action of the air-stream on the visor 6 is reduced. Such an opening and closing operation of the shutter 32 is conducted in the visor 6 and hence, the operability is good. Fig. 10 illustrates a modification of a shutter 32. The shutter 32 is opened and closed through a hinge 39 located at a front edge of the air-stream outlet 31. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the cap body 2 is comprised of a shell 40 made of fiber-reinforced synthetic resion, a buffer liner 41 made of foamed polystylene bonded to an inner surface of the shell 40, a top pad 42 covering a ceiling surface of the buffer liner 41, and an air-permeable fit pad 43 covering the inner peripheral surface excluding the ceiling surface of the buffer liner 41 and the chin covering portion 4. As clearly shown in Fig. 1, at left and right opposite sides thereof, the chin covering portion 4 is provided with a plurality of air intake ports 44 for introducing the air-stream and a screen 45 is mounted on an inner surface of the chin covering portion 4 to cover outlets of the air intake ports 44. It will be understood that the helmet according to the present invention is not limited to the full-face type and includes a jet (or open face) type.

Claims: A helmet, comprising a cap body (2), a wall element (6) projecting from the cap body (2) and defining an air-stream inlet (C), an air intake hole (29) provided in a front wall of the cap body (2) and opening into the air-stream inlet (C), and a shutter (32) on the wall element (6), characterised in that the air-stream inlet (C) is defined between the wall element (6) and the cap body (2), an air-stream outlet (31) is provided in the wall element (6) and the shutter (32) is provided for opening and closing the air-stream outlet (31). A helmet as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the wall element has a pair of parallel elongated holes (33) extending rearwardly from left and right opposite ends of the air-stream outlet (31), and a guide hole (38) located between the elongated holes and extending in parallel to the latter, the shutter (32) being retained in the wall element (6) by a pair of support legs (35) each slidably inserted through a corresponding one of the elongated holes (33), and having a guide projection (37) slidably fitted in the guide hole (38). A helmet as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the shutter (32) is attached to the wall element (6) by means of a hinge (39) located at a front edge of the air-stream outlet (31).

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