Patent Publication Number: US-6212689-B1

Title: Compound protective helmet

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a compound protective helmet, and more particularly, to one that allows reliable visor lift operation, and firm securing of the visor when closed. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     In the prior art, a chin protector is formed in front of the bubble of a protective helmet, and a window framed with a visor is provided above the chin protector. FIGS. 1 through 4 of the accompanying drawings show the structure and visor operation of the prior art. Referring to FIGS. 1,  2 , and  3 , the prior art helmet comprises a bubble  10 , a visor  20 , and a chin protector  30  are pivoted to the bubble  10 . A securing and release device  40  is fixed at the inner edge of the chin protector  30  to provide a full mask protective helmet by having the securing and release  40  secured in the grooves  101  provided at both sides of the bubble  10 . The securing and release device  40  is comprised of two hooks  401  linked with a cable  402 . The cable  402  is connected to a press member  403  and a resilient element  404  that presses against the press handle  403 . Therefore, when said hooks  401  of the securing and release device  40  are secured in the grooves  101  of the bubble, the protective helmet is a full mask. To lift the visor  20 , the press member  403  is pressed to pull the cables  402 , in turn, the hooks  401  disengage from the grooves as illustrated in FIG.  3 . 
     Now referring to FIG. 4, once the hooks  401  clear the grooves  101 , the chin protector  30  and the visor  20  are lifted up to a certain point to form a semi-mask protective helmet. To restore to full mask as illustrated in FIG. 1, the chin protector is pulled down to let the hooks slide along the bubble  10  to fall into the grooves  101  and to be secured there. Though the prior art gives the advantage of easy conversion between full and semi mask protective helmet, the following defects in terms of its structural design and practical use are found. 
     1. Poor securing effects. Since the securing of both the chin protector and the bubble depends on the engagement of the hooks into the grooves provided on the bubble, in practice, the hooks tend to slip away and disengage from the grooves when even a mild force is applied to lift the chin protector. 
     2. Visor must be lifted in two steps. To lift the visor, a user must first press the press member to release the chin protector before pushing up the chin protector. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a compound, full mask protective helmet of the prior art; 
     FIG. 2 is schematic view showing the rear of a chin protector of a compound protective helmet of the prior art; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the operation of a compound protective helmet of the prior art: 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a compound, semi-mask protective helmet of the prior art; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a chin protector of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a  3 D view of the helmet of the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a side view showing the securing and release device of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a side view showing the present invention with its visor partially pushed up; 
     FIG. 10 is a side view showing the present invention with its visor fully pushed up; 
     FIG. 11 is a side view showing the securing and release device of the present invention; 
     FIG. 12 is a rear view showing the securing and release device of the present invention; 
     FIG. 13 is a side view of the securing and release device with the bubble closed; and 
     FIG. 14 is a rear view taken of the configuration of FIG.  13 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 5, the present invention comprises a bubble  1 , a visor  2  pivoted to the bubble  1 , and a chin protector  3 . A threaded hole  11  is formed on each side of the bubble  1 , and a recess  12  is provided near the threaded hole  11 . A pad  13  is inserted into the recess  12 . A guide post  131  protrudes from each pad  13 . One of the two pads  13  includes a front and a rear nipple  132 ,  133 . A circular recess  134  is formed at the other side of the pad  13  corresponding to the rear nipple  133 . A curved portion of the pad  13  forms a guide slope  135 . A guide lip  141  is provided at the front edge of both sides of the bubble  1 , a groove  142  is provided below the guide lip  141 , and a guide piece  143  is provided at the top and the bottom of the groove  142 . 
     On both ends of the visor  2  at positions corresponding to the threaded holes  11  on the bubble  1  are through holes  21 . An arc key hole  22  is provided at a position corresponding to the guide post  131 , while front and rear positioning dents  23 ,  24  are provided at the front and rear ends over the arc key hole  22  at the external side of the visor  2 . 
     A securing and release device  4  is fixed inside the chin protector as illustrated in FIG.  6 . The securing and release  4  is comprised of a fixing base  41  with a longitudinal sliding base  411  at its center. A lateral sliding rail  412  is provided at both sides of the fixing base  41 . A threaded hole base  413  protrudes from the top of the sliding base  41 . A leading block  42  is positioned on a resilient element  421 . A slit  422  is provided on the leading block  42 , and a screw  423  passes through the slit  422  and is received by the threaded hole base  413  so as to position the leading block  42  in the sliding base  411 . The resilient element  421  is secured between the threaded base  413  and the leading block  42 . One end of a pair of linkages  43  is pivoted at the top of the leading block  42 , while the other end of the linkages  43  is connected to a securing lever  44  inserted into the guide rail  412 . Sloped positioning blocks  45  are provided at the upper section of both linkages  43 . The securing levers  44  extend backward along the chin protector  3 , and are secured onto a positioning piece  46  by a bending portion formed at the end of each securing lever  44 . Both of the positioning pieces are fixed with a limit piece  461  to limit the securing lever  44  so as to compromise the inner wall of the chin protector  3 . A guide trough  47  with its opening facing backward is formed at the bottom edge of both the positioning pieces  46  and the chin protector  3 . 
     FIG. 7 shows the assembly of the present invention. A fastening piece  5  is provided to penetrate in sequence a pivoting hole  3  on the chin protector  3  and a through hole  21  of the visor to fix both the chin protector  3  and the visor  2  to the bubble  1 . If the chin protector  3  is desired to be closed for the state of a full mask protective helmet, both securing levers  44  of the securing and release  4  are inserted into the restriction grooves  142  in the ear protector  14  at both sides of the bubble  1  while the visor  2  is also closed. The guide post  131  of the pad  13  on both sides of the bubble  1  protrudes into the terminal of the arc key hole  22  of the visor  2 . The positioning nipples  32  of the chin protector  3  are received in the rear positioning dents  24  at the rear part of the visor so as to allow the visor  2  to be fully or half way lifted up as illustrated in FIG.  8 . As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a secondary nipple  33  may be provided for additional positioning security. 
     Refer now to FIG. 9, which shows the visor  2  lifted up half way. Each of the guide posts  131  of the pad  13  is positioned in the middle section of the arc key hole  22  of the visor  2 . The positioning nipples  32  of the chin protector  3  are received in the front positioning dents  23  of the visor  2 . FIG. 10 shows the present invention with the visor  2  lifted all the way up. Once the visor is lifted up to its upper limit, the guide posts  131  of the pads  13  are positioned in the front end of the arc key hole  22  of the visor, and the bottom edge of the visor  2  is located on the upper side of the guide slope  135  of the pads  13 . To restore the visor  2  to its halfway opened or fully closed status, the user pushes down the visor  2  so that it slides in the guide slope  135  to the positions illustrated in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 as the case may be. 
     Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, to lift up the chin protector, the user pushes up the leading block  42  to compress the resilient element  421  inside the leading block  42  while both linkages  43  are moved upward inclining toward the sloped positioning blocks  45 . The other ends of the linkages  43  pull both securing levers  44  towards the fixing base  41  and retreat from the securing trough at the ear protector  14  of the bubble  1 ,  50  that the chin protector  3  is lifted up until the securing nipples are secured at the circular recess  134  outside the pad  13 . In the meantime, both front and rear nipples  132  and  133  of the pad  13  are pressing against the external side of the bubble  1  to provide two supports for the chin protector to secure in the position of halfway open. To restore to the full mask status, the user just pulls down the chin protector  3  so that the ends of both securing levers  44  slide along the ear protector of the bubble  1  and move through the guide lip  141 . The ear protector is guided into the restriction trough  142  by the guide groove  47  formed by the chin protector and the positioning piece  46 . The resilient element  421  is restored and both securing levers are received in the restriction trough  142  as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, that is, returned to the status as shown in FIG.  8 . 
     The present invention allows the following advantages: 
     1. The visor may be lifted halfway or all the way up as desired by the user. 
     2. The securing and release device operates by inserting its securing levers into position and effectively prevents inadvertent release. 
     The above disclosure is not intended as limiting. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the restrictions of the appended claims.