Abstract:
Hinged receivers are provided in the space above the wearer&#39;s ears on either side of a helmet, and protective eyewear received within the receivers is accommodated for stowage in a space toward or at the front of the helmet.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to and the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/650,147, filed on Feb. 7, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     GOVERNMENT FUNDING  
       [0002]     This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DAAD16-01-C-0061 awarded by the U.S. Army. The Government has certain rights in the invention. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     This invention relates to safety helmets, in particular a device to provide integrated eye protection which may be used by the helmet wearer or optionally stowed in a protected area.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Helmets for head protection are worn in a variety of environments and for various purposes. While some helmets provide full-face protection by means of a transparent face shield, other helmets are open-faced. In open-face helmets, if eye protection is desired, it may be added by the wearer optionally wearing eyeglasses or goggles. In either case there are disadvantages. For example, the fit of the helmet around the temples may interfere with the eyeglass frames, making it difficult or uncomfortable for the eyeglasses to slide back and over the ears. The elastic strap or the frames of goggles may also interfere with the helmet shell or other accessories on the helmet. Even when glasses or goggles are properly adapted to a helmet, sometimes by special designs, often they must be stowed in a separate area when they are not needed. As a result, eyeglasses or goggles may be lost or damaged while not in use. Additionally, the need to stow the eye protection in a separate area can result in delay or difficulty in locating and adjusting it when the need arises. A need therefore exists for attaching commercially available eyewear to a protective helmet such that it can be readily deployed or stowed according to the user&#39;s need, and optionally removed from the helmet for stand-alone use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     In accordance with the present invention, hinged tubular receivers are provided in the space above the wearer&#39;s ears on either side of a helmet, and the protective eyewear is accommodated for stowage in a space toward or at the front of the helmet. The receivers may be attached to the helmet, the liner, or components of the suspension system such as a headband that circumscribes the head. Protective eyewear having substantially straight arms is manually inserted into the receivers. The eyewear may be adjusted for proper fit by sliding the arms within the tubes of the receivers, which may, in some embodiments, engage the arms of the eyewear frictionally to maintain position following wearer adjustment of the eyewear to properly sit on the bridge of the nose.  
         [0006]     The receivers themselves may be attached by a rotating, hinged or otherwise pivotable element, typically at a point rearward of the wearer&#39;s ear, for wearer adjustment as well as for rotating the eyewear upward to a stowed position. Space is provided within the helmet (e.g., between the shell and the impact liner and suspension components at the front of the helmet) to accommodate protective stowage of the eyewear between the wearer&#39;s head and the outer shell of the helmet. Means for securing the eyewear in the stowed position and allowing it to be deployed easily may include, for example, a flexible clip attached to the headband or the helmet shell within the stowage area and extending downward so that it is accessible to the wearer. When the eyewear is placed in the up position, the flexible clip mechanically engages it to resist the eyewear inadvertently dropping down. When the wearer wants to deploy the eyewear, the flexible clip is pulled, thereby releasing the eyewear so that it can be manually pulled down and adjusted to fit the wearer&#39;s face. Alternatively or in addition, the stowage area can be lined with a compressible foam sized so that the eyewear is frictionally engaged between the compressible foam and the impact liner (or suspension components at the front of the helmet) when the eyewear is pushed up for stowage by the wearer.  
         [0007]     The present invention thereby provides protected and readily available stowage for the eyewear when not in use, and allows the use of many standard eyewear products that easily can be fitted to the helmet without the need for tools.  
         [0008]     Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention comprises a pivoting assembly facilitating stowage and withdrawal of protective eyewear with respect to a helmet. The assembly comprises a pair of receivers for receiving the eyewear and means facilitating rotation of the receivers between a stowage position, with the eyewear within the helmet shell, and an operational position in front of a wearer&#39;s eyes. In general, the eyewear comprises a pair of arms and the receivers frictionally engage the arms.  
         [0009]     In a second aspect, the invention comprises a safety helmet including a shell and, within the shell, a pivoting assembly facilitating stowage and withdrawal of protective eyewear. The pivoting assembly comprises a pair of receivers for receiving the eyewear, and means facilitating rotation of the receivers between a stowage position, with the eyewear within the helmet shell, and an operational position in front of a wearer&#39;s eyes. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. Also, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  shows the right side of a helmet with protective eyewear in the down position;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  shows the right side of a helmet with protective eyewear indicated in the stowed position.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of one of the receivers, in this case the receiver on the right side of the helmet.  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of an alternate embodiment of one of the receivers.  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a helmet with protective eyewear in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a helmet shell  51  is shown from the right side of the wearer&#39;s head (the left side has symmetrical features). Protective eyewear  53  is shown in its normally worn position on the wearer&#39;s face with arms  55  inserted into the receivers  57  of the present invention, as further described below. A stowage space  60 , described in greater detail in connection with  FIG. 5 , is located inside the front of helmet shell  51 .  FIG. 2  shows the eyewear  53  in the stowed position in the stowage space  60 . In the stowed position, the eyewear  53  is within the envelope of the helmet shell.  
         [0017]     The helmet  51  is secured to the wearer&#39;s head by a conventional chin-strap  61 . In a preferred embodiment, a pair of pull-tabs  63  (the right tab being shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) slide along the downward portion of chin-strap  61  and are attached to the receivers  57  by a draw line  69 . To lower the eyewear from the stowage space  60 , the wearer pulls downward on the pull-tabs  63  on left and right sides of the helmet  51 . This pulling action is transmitted via the draw line  69  to the receivers  57 , causing the receivers to rotate about a pivot  72  until the eyewear  53  descends from the stowage space  60 . Additional adjustment by the wearer to fit the eyewear  53  precisely onto the bridge of the wearer&#39;s nose may be accomplished by sliding the arms  55  of the eyewear  53  longitudinally within the receivers  57 .  
         [0018]     One embodiment of the receivers  57  (in this case the receiver on the right side of the helmet  51 ) is shown in  FIG. 3 . The receiver  57  is preferably fabricated from a semi-flexible material (e.g., ABS or polyethylene plastic) to form an elongated tubular shape. The opening  75  at the front of the receiver is sized to allow the arms  55  of eyewear frames to be inserted and to flex the material of the receiver  57  as necessary to provide a frictional engagement therewith. The receiver  57  also has a mounting hole  72 , which fits over a post  78  on an interior element—e.g., the headband  81 —of the helmet. The receiver  57  can be retained on the post  78 , while remaining free to rotate, by any suitable expedient; the preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  uses a pair of cut-outs  84   a ,  84   b , which fit over complementary tabs  87   a ,  87   b  of retention post  78 . When the receiver  57  is first mounted onto the headband  81 , it is oriented such that the cut-outs  84   a ,  84   b  align with and pass over the tabs  87   a ,  87   b . The angular displacement between cut-outs  84   a ,  84   b  and the tabs  87   a ,  87   b  is such that receiver  57  may be rotated through its normal range of positions without aligning the tabs and the cut-outs, thereby ensuring retention of receiver  57  on post  78 .  
         [0019]     Also shown in  FIG. 3  is the pull-tab  63  attached by means of draw line  69  to a connecting area  90  of the receiver  57 . The draw line  69  can be made of plastic (e.g., nylon or polyester) or natural fibers such as cotton, woven or monofilament, and may be secured to the pull-tab  63  and connecting area  90  by a knot, loop, welding or other means conventional in the art. The length of the draw line  69  is chosen so that when the receiver  57  is rotated to the uppermost position for stowage, the pull-tab  63  is still accessible below the edge of the helmet shell  51 .  
         [0020]     An alternate embodiment of the present invention, which dispenses with the draw line, is shown in  FIG. 4 . In this embodiment, a flexible loop  93  is provided at the front of the headband  81 , and may be attached to or integral with the headband. The headband  81  and flexible loop  93  may be fabricated from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic. Flexible loop  93  has a protruding feature  95  designed to mechanically engage the bridge  96  of the eyewear  53  when the latter is pushed up into the stowed position. The loop  93  extends downward to provide an exposed end  99 , which is accessible to the wearer when the eyewear  53  is in the stowed position. To lower the eyewear to the operational position, the wearer pulls on the exposed end  99  of flexible loop  93 , thereby urging the eyewear downward and releasing the engagement between protruding feature  95  and bridge  96 . Further adjustment is accomplished by the wearer manually pulling the eyewear the remaining distance to fully remove it from stowage area  60  and sliding the arms  55  within the opening  75  in each of the receivers  57  so that the eyewear rests comfortably on the wearer&#39;s nose.  
         [0021]     A better view of the interior of a helmet in accordance with the invention is shown in  FIG. 5 . The helmet shell  51  includes an interior wall  100 , the headband  81  mounted to the shell and generally concentric with its outer contour, and, optionally, a liner  105 . The headband  81  generally comprises a flexible (e.g., plastic) band that may be fabricated as a thin, flat component which is curved into a circular shape by, for example, joining its ends together. The band may, for example, be fabricated by injection molding, but alternative fabrication techniques as are well known in the art can also be used. The ends of the band  107   a ,  107   b , may be joined at the back of the wearer&#39;s head in a manner that allows adjustment of the circumference of the headband. The headband  81  generally also comprises a plurality of connecting arms  108  to facilitate joinder to the helmet shell  51  at multiple positions. The receivers  57  may be pivotably engaged to headband  81 , as described above, or may instead be pivotably engaged to the interior wall  100  or even to the liner  105  as indicated at  109  and  110 , respectively.  
         [0022]     The stowage space  60  is generally between the interior wall  100  and the headband  81 . A compressible foam pad  111  lies between the interior wall  100  and the protective eyewear  53  to protect the lenses from abrasion. The eyewear  53  can be retained in the stowed position by frictional contact with pad  111  or other suitable expedient; the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  uses a mechanical engagement between protruding feature  95  and the bridge  96  of the eyewear  53 . A cutout  114  in pad  111  allows the flexible loop  93  to move when the exposed end  99  is manually pulled by the wearer.  
         [0023]     Having described certain embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating the concepts disclosed herein may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive.