Patent Publication Number: US-11653710-B2

Title: Construction helmet

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a construction helmet, especially to a construction helmet which allows a user to adjust the length of straps and provides a comfortable contact with a user&#39;s head. The design of the construction helmet can be applied to safety helmets, protective masks, and hats with support frames therein. 
     Description of Related Art 
     At the construction site, there are a lot of rope access works or obstacles on the road. The construction personnel may get head injuries caused by objects falling from heights or accidents resulted from collisions with obstacles on the road. Thus workers must wear safety helmets not only to decrease the risk for head injuries and protect themselves but also to comply with related regulations. 
     Most of safety helmets or the housing of protections masks are produced by plastic injection mode so that they have similar sizes and standards. However, people have different head types and various models of the safety helmets are required. While in use, adjustable straps for the safety helmets are easy to adjust the length for good and comfortable fit to a user&#39;s head and prevention of fall-off. 
     The adjustable strap is practical to use so that there are more different designs available now which are more convenient to use. For example, an improved adjustment structure of straps of a safety helmet is revealed in Taiwanese Pat. No. TW 560257(U). Yet this safety helmet has many components so that the assembling is getting difficult, the overall volume is larger and the production cost is even higher. 
     Thus there is room for improvement and there is a need to provide a novel construction helmet. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a construction helmet which allows a user to adjust the length of straps and provides a comfortable contact with a user&#39;s head. The design of the construction helmet can be applied to safety helmets, protective masks, and hats with support frames therein. 
     In order to achieve the above object, a construction helmet according to the present invention includes support frame mounted therein and an adjustment assembly. The support frame is provided with a head cushion being fixed thereon by easy fastening and used for allowing a user&#39;s forehead to abut against. Left and right straps are extended from two sides of the support frame while an adjustment assembly is disposed between the left and right straps for adjusting the length of the straps. The adjustment assembly includes a base, a rotating member mounted in the base, and a toothed disc arranged over the rotating member and positioned in an outer cap. Two connecting strip are extending from two sides of the rotating member and connected to the left and right straps respectively. The toothed disc which is driven by the outer cap further drives the rotating member to rotate for changing the length of the connecting strips. Thereby the construction helmet provides better comfort and ease of wearing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  2    is an explosive view of an adjustment assembly of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of an adjustment assembly of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  4    is a sectional view of an adjustment assembly of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  5    is a top view of an adjustment assembly of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  6    is a sectional view of an adjustment assembly being operated and used of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  7    is a top view of an adjustment assembly being operated and used of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  8    is a schematic drawing showing a section of a head cushion of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  9    is another schematic drawing showing a section of a head cushion of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  10    is a partial sectional view of a forehead section of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG.  11    is a schematic drawing showing a section of an embodiment being assembled according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Refer to  FIG.  1 - 3   , and  FIG.  10   , a construction helmet according to the present invention includes a support frame  1  mounted therein and an adjustment assembly  2 . The support frame  1  consists of a forehead section  11  corresponding to a user&#39;s forehead and left and right straps  12  extended from two sides of the forehead section  11  respectively. The adjustment assembly  2  is disposed between the left and right straps  12  and used for adjustment of the length of the left and right straps  12 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , the adjustment assembly  2  is composed of a base  21 , a rotating member  22 , a toothed disc  23 , and an outer cap  24 . The base  21  consists of a mounting space  211 , a positioning pin  212  arranged at the center of the mounting space  211 , a circular flange  213  disposed on an outer wall of the mounting space  211 , a positioning teeth portion  214  formed circularly on an upper part of an inner wall of the mounting space  211 , and two notches  215  formed on two opposite positions of the wall of the mounting space  211  respectively. 
     The rotating member  22  includes a snap portion  221  at the center thereof, a positioning hole  222  disposed in the snap portion  221 , a radial teeth portion  223 , two connecting strips  224 , and two connecting holes  225 . The positioning hole  222  is for mounting and positioning the positioning pin  212  therein and allowing the rotating member  22  to be mounted in the mounting space  211 . A strap winding space (A) is formed between the rotating member  22  and the snap portion  221  while the radial teeth portion  223  is disposed on a surface of one end of the rotating member  22  and located around the snap portion  221 . One end of the connecting strip  224  is extending from the rotating member  22  integrally and located at the position corresponding to the notch  215  for being mounted into the notch  215  while the other end (distal end) of the connecting strip  224  is provided with the connecting hole  225  used for connection with the strap  12 . 
     The toothed disc  23  is provided with a mounting hole  231  which the snap portion  221  is mounted therein or released therefrom, a first teeth portion  232  arranged around the mounting hole  231  and used being engaged with the radial teeth portion  223 , and at least one elastic locking tooth portion  233  corresponding to the positioning teeth portion  214 . 
     The outer cap  24  is covering the base  21  and is composed of a plurality of locking and positioning member  241  arranged at an inner wall thereof for fixing the toothed disc  23  therein, a protruding locking block  242  disposed on the inner wall thereof and engaged with the circular flange  213  of the base  21  correspondingly, and two indentations  243  on the wall thereof for allowing the connecting strips  224  to pass through. 
     While being assembled, refer to  FIG.  1    and  FIG.  8 - 11   , a head cushion  3  is disposed on the forehead section  11  of the support frame  1  and used for allowing a user&#39;s forehead to abut against the construction helmet elastically and providing a user comfortable and soft feeling while in contact with the construction helmet. The head cushion  3  also allows sweat absorption. Refer to  FIG.  1    and  FIG.  8   , the forehead section  11  consists of a straight segment  111 , an upper elastic portion  112  and a lower elastic portion  113  extending upward and downward from the forehead section  11  respectively. The upper elastic portion  112  is provided with a plurality of upper elastic pieces  1121  and an upper notch  1122  is formed between the two adjacent upper elastic pieces  1121 . The lower elastic portion  113  includes a plurality of lower elastic pieces  1131  and a lower notch  1132  is formed between the two adjacent lower elastic pieces  1131 . The upper notches  1122  and the lower notches  1132  are in a staggered arrangement. The left side and the right side of the forehead section  11  are both provided with an upper hole  114  and a lower hole  115  while the head cushion  3  is provided with fasteners  31  disposed on the position corresponding to the upper and the lower holes  114 ,  115 . While mounting the head cushion  3  to the forehead section  11 , first two of the fasteners  31  of the head cushion  3  are inserted and positioned in the upper holes  114  or the lower holes  115 . Then the head cushion  3  is wrapped around the straight segment  111 , the upper elastic portion  112 , and the lower elastic portion  113  from inside to outside for covering the forehead section  11  therein. Next the rest two of the fasteners  31  are inserted and mounted in the lower holes  115  or the upper holes  114 , as shown in FIG.  9 . Thereby the forehead section  11  is enclosed in the head cushion  3  easily, as shown in  FIG.  10    and  FIG.  11   . 
     When a user wear the construction helmet, the construction helmet is abutting against the user with different head circumferences with the assistance of elasticity from the upper elastic portion  112  and the lower elastic portion  113 . Elastic curved portions B are further formed at the positions where the upper elastic portion  112  and the lower elastic portion  113  are connected to the straight segment  111 , as shown in  FIG.  8   ,  FIG.  10   , and  FIG.  11   . Owing to the optimal elasticity provided by the elastic curved portions B, the present construction helmet is better fit and more comfortable for a user&#39;s head with different circumferences while in contact with the head cushion  3 . 
     Refer to  FIGS.  1 - 3   , during assembly of the adjustment assembly  2 , the rotating member  22  is mounted into the mounting space  211  of the base  21  and the positioning pin  212  is inserted into the positioning hole  222  of the rotating member  22  for fixing the rotating member  22  inside the mounting space  211 . At the same time, the connecting strips  224  are passed through the notches  215  on the wall of the base  21  correspondingly and then the connecting holes  225  on the distal end of the respective connecting strips  224  are connected to the left and right straps  12  of the support frame  1  respectively. Next the toothed disc  23  is pushed into the locking and positioning members  241  on the inner wall of the outer cap  24  for being fastened in the outer cap  24  by the locking and positioning members  241 . The circumference of the toothed disc  23  is provided with a nick  234  while the inner wall of the outer cap  24  is provided with a protruding block  244  corresponding to the nick  234 . The protruding block  244  is mounted and locked in the nick  234  so that the toothed disc  23  is able to be rotated along with the outer cap  24 . The outer cap  24  is placed on the base  21  for covering the base  21  and the protruding locking block  242  of the outer cap  24  is engaged with the circular flange  213  of the base  21  correspondingly while the connecting strip  224  of the rotating member  22  is passed through the indentation  243 . The outer cap  24  is further provided with a concave portion  245  in which the snap portion  221  of the snap portion  221  are mounted. 
     As shown in  FIG.  4   , after the assembly of the adjustment assembly  2  being completed, the outer cap  24  is in the pressed state. At the moment, the snap portion  221  is mounted and locked in the mounting hole  231  of the toothed disc  23  while the first teeth portion  232  of the toothed disc  23  is engaged with the radial teeth portion  223  of the rotating member  22  and the elastic locking tooth portion  233  of the toothed disc  23  is also engaged with the positioning teeth portion  214  of the base  21 . By the engagement of the first teeth portion  232  with the radial teeth portion  223  in combination with the engagement of the elastic locking tooth portion  233  with the positioning teeth portion  214 , the rotating member  22  can be securely positioned without retrograde rotations. 
     While the length of the left and right straps  12  is adjusted by a user, the outer cap  24  is rotated and the toothed disc  23  is further driven to rotate by the outer cap  24 . Thus the first teeth portion  232  drives the radial teeth portion  223  engaged therewith to rotate and the radial teeth portion  223  further drives the rotating member  22  to rotate along with the outer cap  24 . While the rotating member  22  is rotated, the connecting strips  224  are wound around the rotating member  22  in the strap winding space (A). Thereby the length of the connecting strips  224  is changed. During the length adjustment process, the elastic locking tooth portion  233  of the toothed disc  23  is able to rotate along with the first teeth portion  232  without being limited due to its elasticity when the first teeth portion  232  is rotated clockwise. After completing the adjustment and the outer cap  24  is no more rotated, the rotating member  22  starts turning back. By the elastic locking tooth portion  233  being engaged with the positioning teeth portion  214  of the base  21 , the rotating member  22  is positioned and unable to turn back for maintaining the length of the connecting strips  224  after the adjustment, as shown in  FIG.  4   . 
     When the length of the connecting strips  224  is too short or a user intends to turn the rotating member  22  back, as shown in  FIG.  6    and  FIG.  7   , the outer cap  24  is pulled up (as shown in  FIG.  6   ) so that the toothed disc  23  is released from the rotating member  22 . Namely, the snap portion  221  is released from the mounting hole  231  of the toothed disc  23 . Not only the first teeth portion  232  is released from the radial teeth portion  223 , the elastic locking tooth portion  233  is also released from the positioning teeth portion  214 . As to the outer cap  24 , it is pulled up within a certain range due to limitation caused by the protruding locking block  242  being engaged with the circular flange  213  of the base  21 . By loose engagement mentioned above, the rotating member  22  can be turned back or the connecting strips  224  can be adjusted to have longer length, as shown in  FIG.  7   . 
     Besides extending from and integrated with the rotating member  22 , the connecting strip  224  can also be connected to the rotating member  22  in a removable manner or the connecting strip  224  can also be connected to the rotating member  22  or the connecting strip  224  and the rotating member  22  are made of different materials and connected to each other. Two wings  216  are extending from two sides of the base  21  respectively and each of the wings  216  can be attached to the user&#39;s head for positioning. 
     Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalent.