Patent Publication Number: US-6711753-B2

Title: Shield fixing structure in helmet

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/987,018, filed Nov. 13, 2001, now abandoned, the priority of which is hereby claimed. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a fixing structure for shield installed in a full-face type helmet and an open-face type helmet wearing to protect the head part and the face part of a driver when the driver rides on various kinds of motorized vehicles or moving devices such as a motorcycle and an automobile or the like. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The present applicant has already described a proposal in the gazette of Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-60444 about the fixing structure for shield in which when the engagement protuberances are contacted with the stoppers at the full-opened upper limit position of the shield and the engagement protuberances ride over the stoppers, the guide pieces at the hub installed at the fixing parts of the shield are released in engagements with the engagement steps formed at the notches of the hub fitting arranged at the shell, the guide pieces can be removed from the inlet formed at the notch for fitting or removing the guide pieces, the hub is pulled out of the notch under this state, thereby the shield can be removed from the shell. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The fixing structure described in the gazette is operated such that the shield is turned to the position where the engagement protuberances ride over the stoppers under operation not found in usual use for widening the shield or twisting the shield in consideration of releasing the engagement between the engagement protuberances and the stoppers at a position where the engagement protuberances are contacted with the stoppers in the full-opened upper limit position of the shield, the guide pieces are coincided with the inlet at the aforesaid position to enable it to be removed from the notch of the hub, thereby the shield is removed from the helmet. 
     In addition, in the case of performing opening or closing operation of the shield under its normal use, the guide pieces and the engagement steps are always engaged with each other, the engagement protuberances are contacted with the stoppers at the full-opened upper limit position of the shield to prevent it from being turned over the former limit position, so that the shield is not removed from the shell. 
     With the invention described above, when the shield is removed, the shield can be removed through one-finger touch operation without using a setscrew at all. 
     Problem to be solved by the present invention is to improve convenience in shield fixing or removing operation while holding the superior effect of the fixing structure proposed in the aforesaid gazette and it is an object of the present invention to provide the fixing structure of shield capable of accomplishing the problem. 
     A technical means employed by the present invention to accomplish the aforesaid object relates to a fixing structure for a shield  1  installed at the front surface of a helmet main body, wherein an engagement protuberance  101  is contacted with a stopper  5  at a full-opened upper limit position of the shield  1 , and when the engagement protuberance  101  rides over the stopper  5 , a guide piece  81  at a hub  82  installed at a fixing part  2  for the shield  1  is released from the engaged state with the engagement step  33  formed at a notch  31  for supporting the hub  82  of the engagement male members B arranged at right and left sides of a helmet A and can be released from an inlet  32  for releasing the guide piece  81  formed at the notch  31 , wherein an engagement protuberance  101  is formed with a passing notch  102  having such a size as one through which the stopper  5  can pass, the stopper  5  can be slid against the engagement male member B to be coincided with or removed from the passing notch  102  and integrally engaged while being always biased in a direction repelling from the passing notch  102 , the stopper  5  is held by a holding part  10  for holding a position coinciding with the passing notch  102  at a position above the full-opened upper limit position of the shield  1  under operation of the operating part  93  slid against a biasing force at the full-opened upper limit position of the shield  1 , the engagement with the engagement protuberance  101  is released to enable the shield  1  to be turned more upwardly from the full-opened upper limit position and in turn, in the case that the shield  1  is turned from this state to a position where it can be released and that it is not turned up to the position where it can be released and the shield  1  is descended from the full-opened upper limit position, the stopper  5  is released from the holding part  10  and it returns to its initial state with the aforesaid biasing force. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing a helmet to which a fixing structure of the present invention is applied. 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a substantial part of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III—III of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV—IV of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a state in which a shield is set at its full-opened upper limit position. 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 at a state shown in FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII—VII of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII—VIII of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing a state in which a stopper slides and faces against a passing notch. 
     FIG. 10 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 under a state of FIG.  9 . 
     FIG. 11 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 7 under a state of FIG.  9 . 
     FIG. 12 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 8 under a state of FIG.  9 . 
     FIG. 13 is an enlarged view showing a substantial part where a shield can be removed. 
     FIG. 14 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3 where the shield is removed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The fixing structure described in the gazette of Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-60444 has a click means positioned in a concentric manner with the supporting part acting as a center of turning operation of the shield. 
     The click means is used for adjusting an opening or closing angle during opening or closing of the shield in a stepwise manner, wherein the shield is held at a predetermined position in a resilient manner in a range from the full-closed lower limit position to the full-opened upper limit position. 
     The preferred embodiment to be mentioned later will be described in reference to its example provided with a click means. However, the present invention is not limited to the fixing structure provided with the click means. 
     In addition, the preferred embodiment to be described later will be described in reference to an example in which it is installed in the open face type helmet. However, the fixing structure of the present invention can be installed in a full-face type helmet. 
     In accordance with the present invention, when the shield  1  is set at the full-opened upper limit position, the engagement protuberance  101  is contacted with the stopper  5  to restrict its more turning operation (refer to FIGS. 5 to  8 ). 
     When the stopper  5  is slid from the turning restricted state toward the passing notch  102  under operation of the operating part  93 , it is held by the holding part  10  at the position where it is coincided with the passing notch  102  (refer to FIGS. 9 to  12 ). 
     Under this state, the guide piece  81  is engaged with the engagement step  33  and this engagement state prevents the hub  82  from being released from the notch  31 . 
     When the shield  1  is turned upwardly from this state, the passing notch  102  passes through the stopper  5 , the engagement protuberance  101  rides over the stopper  5  to cause the engaged state of the guide piece  81  with the engagement step  33  to be released and at the same time the guide piece  81  is coincided with the inlet  32  to enable the hub  82  to be released from the notch  31  (refer to FIG.  13 ). 
     As the shield  1  is manually widened in an outward direction from the releasing enabled position, or resiliency of the shield  1  is applied, the hub  82  is released out of the notch  31  and the shield  1  is removed (refer to FIG.  14 ). 
     When the shield  1  is removed, the stopper  5  is released in its held state with the holding part  10  and at the same time it is slid by a biasing force in such a direction as one in which it is repelled from the passing notch  10  and it is returned back to its initial state (refer to FIG.  14 ). 
     Accordingly, if the operating part  93  is operated, it is possible to remove the shield  1  through normal opening operation of the shield  1 . 
     When it is desired to fix the shield  1 , the shield  1  is set at the aforesaid removable position, the hub  82  is pushed into the notch  31 , resulting in that the pushing surface  92  is pushed by the guide piece  81 , it is slid in such a direction as one in which it is released from the notch  31  to release the notch  31 , the hub  82  is pushed into the notch  31 , the pushing surface  92  slides toward the notch  31  to close the notch  31  and thereby the shield  1  is supported. 
     Moving amount of the pushing surface  92  at this time is up to a location before the site where the stopper  5  slid under operation of the operating part  93 , and it is not held at the holding part  10  through sliding operation of the stopper  5  performed by the fixing operation. 
     Then, when the shield  1  is turned downwardly, the engagement protuberance  101  rides over the stopper  5 , reaches the full-opened upper limit position and the shield  1  becomes a normal state in which it can be turned to open or close as shown in FIGS. 1 to  4 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, a slant surface inclined toward a thickness direction is formed at a location of the stopper  5  where the engagement protuberance  101  is contacted through lower turning operation of the shield  1 , the engagement protuberance  101  moves downward along the slant surface to cause the shield  1  to be gradually widened in an outward direction and ride over the stopper  5  and it is returned back to its original state with its own resilient force in concurrent with this riding over operation. 
     Referring now to the drawings, one preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows, wherein FIG. 1 shows an open face type helmet A to which the fixing structure of the present invention is applied. B denotes engagement male members installed at the right and left sides of the helmet A. C denotes engagement female members for installing the shield  1  in such a way that it can be turned up and down while being integrally installed at the right and left fixing parts  2  of the shield  1 , disengaged or engaged in respect to the engagement male members B. 
     Since the engagement male members B, the engagement female members C and the fixing parts  2  are the same in their right side and left side structures, only their left side structure will be illustrated and described. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2 to  14 , the fixing structure of the present invention will be described as follows. 
     The engagement male member B is comprised of a supporting part  3  becoming a turning center of the fixing part  2 ; a resilient piece  41  having an arcuate outer circumferential surface constituting one of the click means  4  acted resiliently against turning of the fixing part  2  to restrict its turning operation at a predetermined position; and a stopper  5  for restricting a turning range of the shield  1 . 
     The engagement female member C is comprised of a guide plate  42  constituting the other click means  4  in which several arcuate engagement parts  421  having an outer circumferential surface of the resilient piece  41  adaptively engaged with it by a predetermined angle are formed; and a pivot part  8  rotatably engaged with the supporting part  3 . 
     The supporting part  3  and the resilient piece  41  are integrally molded, generate a resilient force when the supporting part  3  is engaged with the pivot part  8  to cause the outer circumferential surface of the resilient piece  41  to be pushed against the engagement part  421  and then an opening or closing angle of the shield  1  to be adequately changed over. 
     The stopper  5  is contacted with the engagement protuberance  101  (refer to FIG. 5) arranged in the fixing part  2  at the full-opened upper limit position of the shield  1  to cause a further turning of the shield  1  to be restricted and concurrently when the shield  1  is turned downwardly from the position exceeding the full-opened upper limit position, the engagement protuberance  101  widens the shield  1  in an outward direction, the engagement protuberance  101  rides over the stopper  5  and it is slidably engaged with the engagement male member B and integrally formed with it. 
     Reference numeral  102  denotes a passing notch (refer to FIGS. 5 and 8) opposing against the stopper  5  when the stopper  5  is slid by the operating lever  93  and then turning of the shield  1  causes the passing notch to pass by the stopper  5  and enables the shield  1  to be turned over the full-opened upper limit position. 
     As to the constitution of the supporting part  3  and the pivot part  8 , it is the same as that disclosed in the gazette of Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-60444, so that its practical description is eliminated. In the figure, reference numeral  31  denotes a notch part, reference numeral  32  denotes an inlet, reference numeral  33  denotes an engagement step, reference numeral  81  denotes a guide piece and reference numeral  82  denotes a hub. 
     The stopper  5  will be described in detail as follows. 
     The stopper  5  has a protuberance shape in the same manner as that disclosed in the gazette of Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-60444, wherein its side facing the full-opened upper limit position is applied as a vertical surface part  52  and its opposite side is applied as a slant surface part  53 , its size is set to such a value as one in which it may pass through the passing notch  102 . 
     Further, a closing part  9  for closing the inlet  32  of the supporting part and an operating part  93  (called as an operating lever) for slidingly operating the stopper  5  are integrally provided through a connecting plate  51 , and the closing part  9  is always biased in such a direction as one in which it closes the inlet. 
     The closing part  9  has a guiding surface  91  for pressing the upper surface of the guide piece  81  and a pushing surface  92  cooperatively arranged at the guiding surface and inclined toward its thickness. When it is slid as the stopper  5  slides and it is placed at a position where it can enter or come out of the inlet  32  and further the stopper  5  is moved away from the passing notch  102  and can be contacted with the engagement protuberance  101 , the closing part  9  closes the inlet  32 , the guiding surface  91  guides the turning operation of the guide piece  81  as the hub  82  is turned, and under a state in which the stopper  5  faces against the passing notch  102 , the closing part  9  releases the inlet  32  to release the guide of the guide piece  81  (refer to FIGS. 5,  6 ,  9  and  10 ). 
     Further, when the shield  1  is fixed, the hub  82  is fitted to the notch  31 . In this case, the guide piece  81  pushes against the pushing surface  92 , thereby the closing part  9  slides in a guide releasing direction to release the inlet  32  and it closes by a biasing force in concurrent with operation in which the hub  82  is fitted to the notch  31 . 
     The operating lever  93  is set at such a position as one in which it is exposed to be enabled to operate at the full-opened upper limit position of the shield  1  (refer to FIG.  9 ). 
     Reference numeral  34  denotes a leaf spring which is integrally arranged at the engagement male member B so as to bias the stopper  5  in the aforesaid direction. 
     The leaf spring  34  pushes against a pushing wall  92  integrally arranged at the connecting plate  51  behind the closing part  9  and the stopper  5  is biased by the biasing force in a direction moving away from the passing notch  102 . 
     Biasing force of the leaf spring  34  biases the stopper  5  in such a direction as one in which the closing part  9  always closes the inlet  32 . 
     Sliding structure of the stopper  5  is made such that a protuberance  94  integrally formed with the engagement male member B and formed along a sliding direction of the stopper  5  is held by a protuberance  95  integrally formed at the location opposing against the protuberance  94  of the connecting plate  51  and by the operating lever  93  to cause the stopper  5  to be slid (refer to FIGS. 2,  4 ,  7  and  11 ). 
     In addition, the connecting plate  51  is held at its front side and rear side to cause the stopper  5  and the engagement male member B to be integrally engaged to each other. 
     More practically, the end part of the raised portion of the protuberance  95  and the pressing plate  96  for pressing the front surface side of the connecting plate  51  are integrally arranged at the base part of the protuberance  94  and in turn the extremity end side of the leaf spring  34  is formed with a pressing protuberance  98  for pressing the rear surface side of the connecting plate  51  while being engaged with the engagement notch  97  arranged at the lower end of the pressing wall  92 , the front side and the rear side of the connecting plate  51  are held by these pressing plate  96  and pressing protuberance  98  to cause the stopper  5  to be integrally engaged with the engagement male member B (refer to FIGS.  2  and  4 ). 
     With such an arrangement as above, the stopper  5  is slidably and integrally engaged with the engagement male member B to become one unit, so that its installing work to the helmet A becomes quite easy. 
     Reference numeral  10  denotes a holding part for keeping opposed states of both stopper  5  and passing notch  102  when the stopper  5  slides in the passing notch  102  and for holding the released state of the closing part  9 . 
     The holding part  10  is constituted by a deformed plate  12  constituting one of the holding parts  10  and integrally arranged at the connecting plate  51  with resiliency; a hook protuberance  13  integrally projected outside the extremity end of the deformed plate  12 ; and a hook stopper  14  constituting the other of the holding parts  10 , arranged at the fixing part  2  and having the hook protuberance  13  engaged with it. 
     The hook protuberance  13  is comprised of a hook surface  15  hooked with the hook stopper  14  at its extremity end, and a slant surface  16  cooperatively arranged at the hook surface  15  and inclined at its extremity end and toward its thick portion. When the stopper  5  slides toward the passing notch  102 , the slant surface  16  is pushed while being contacted with the hook stopper  14  to cause the deformed plate  12  to be flexed inward, thereby the hook protuberance  13  rides over the engagement (hook) stopper  14 , the deformed plate  12  returns back to its original state by its resiliency and the hook surface  15  is hooked to the hook stopper  14 . 
     The hook stopper  14  is set to have such a length as one to cause the hook protuberance  13  to be hooked when the shield  1  is over the full-opened upper limit position and it is raised into an arcuate shape in concentric with the pivot part  8 . 
     Fitting and removing operations for the shield having such a fixing structure as one described above will be described as follows. 
     At first, when the shield  1  is turned upward to reach its full-opened upper limit position, the stopper  5  is contacted with the engagement protuberance  101 , its further turning is restricted and at the same time the operating lever  93  is exposed at the state in which it can be operated and the hook stopper  14  reaches such a position as one in which the hook protuberance  13  can be engaged (refer to FIGS. 5 to  8 ). 
     When the operating lever  93  is slid from the turning restricted state against the biasing force of the leaf spring  34 , the stopper  5  slides and reaches a location where the passing notch  102  can be passed and concurrently the closing part  9  slides to come out of the inlet  32  and releases guiding of the guide piece  81 , and further the hook protuberance  13  is engaged with the hook stopper  14  to keep the hook released state and the passing enabled state (refer to FIGS. 9 to  12 ). 
     Under this state, the guide piece  81  and the engagement step  33  are engaged to each other to prevent the hub  82  from being removed from the notch  31 . 
     When the shield  1  is turned upward from the hook released state and the passing enabled state, the passing notch  102  passes through the stopper  5 , the engaged state between the guide piece  81  and the engagement step  33  is released, the guide piece  81  is coincided with the inlet  32  in such a way that it can be pulled out of it, thereby the hub  82  can be removed from the notch  31  (refer to FIG.  13 ). 
     The shield  1  is widened outwardly by its own resilient force in concurrent with the removing enabled state, the hub  82  is removed from the notch  31  and the shield  1  is removed (refer to FIG.  14 ). 
     When the shield  1  is removed, the hook protuberance  13  is released from the hook stopper  14  and the stopper  5  slides by a biasing force of the leaf spring  34  in a direction where it is repelled from the passing notch  102  and at the same time the closing part  9  closes the inlet  32  and it is returned back to its initial state (refer to FIG.  14 ). 
     In order to fix the shield  1 , the shield  1  is positioned at the aforesaid removing-enabled state, the hub  82  is pushed into the notch  31 , the guide piece  81  pushes against the pressing surface  92  as described above, the closing part  9  is slid in a guide releasing direction to release the inlet  32 . 
     In concurrent with fitting of the hub  82  with the notch  31 , the closing part  9  returns back to its original state by the biasing force to close the inlet and then the guiding of the guide piece  81  is started. 
     As the shield  1  is turned downwardly from this state, the engagement protuberance  101  moves along the slant surface  53  of the stopper  5  in the same manner as that described in the gazette, the shield  1  widens gradually in an outward direction, the engagement protuberance  101  rides over the stopper  5  and at the same time, the shield  1  returns back to its original state by its own resilient force, thereby it becomes a normal openable or closable turning state shown in FIGS. 1 to  4 . 
     As described above, the present invention can provide the fixing structure for the shield in which the shield fixing or removing operation can be carried out in its improved convenience upon holding the superior effect of the fixing structure proposed in the aforesaid gazette due to the fact that the shield can be removed under normal opening operation performed through operation of the operating part. 
     In addition, the state in which it is oppositely faced against the passing notch of the stopper is held by the holding part, the shield can be turned without releasing and keep on stopping the stopper with a hand of the user by himself or by herself. 
     Then, under a state in which the stopper is slid and held at the full-opened upper limit position, the guide piece is engaged with the engagement step to hold the fixed state of the shield, the shield is turned more upward from the full-opened upper limit position, thereby the engagement between the guide piece and the engagement step is released for the first time to enable the guide piece to be removed from the inlet, so that even if the operating part is operated erroneously at the full-opened upper limit position, the shield can not be released only by this operation. 
     Further, if it is turned downward from the full-opened upper limit position where the stopper is held, the held state of the stopper is released automatically, so that even if the stopper is slid erroneously at the full-opened upper limit position and so on, it can be returned rapidly back to a normal shield fixing state. 
     Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the shield from being removed during the normal shield opening or closing turning operation. 
     Further, the engagement male member and the stopper are integrally engaged with each other to accomplish one unit, so that its installing work for the helmet or its decomposing or maintenance work becomes quite easy. 
     Having described specific preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications can be effected therein by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.