Patent Publication Number: US-7210174-B2

Title: Crash helmet that is assembled easily and rapidly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a crash helmet, and more particularly to a crash helmet that is assembled and disassembled easily and rapidly. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   A conventional crash helmet comprises a helmet body, a face mask pivotally mounted on the helmet body, and a binding device for attaching the face mask to the helmet body. The binding device includes a metallic spring to provide an elastic force. Thus, when the binding device is disposed at the locked state, the metallic spring is pressed to store a restoring force, and when the binding device is disposed at the unlocked state, the metallic spring provides the restoring force. 
   However, the metallic spring has an elastic feature, so that the metallic spring is not assembled easily, thereby causing inconvenience in assembly of the binding device of the crash helmet. In addition, the metallic spring easily produces an elastic fatigue during a long-term utilization, so that the binding device is inoperative when the metallic spring is worn out, thereby decreasing the lifetime of the crash helmet. Further, the metallic spring is easily rusted, thereby incurring a sanitary problem. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a crash helmet, comprising a helmet body, a face mask, and a binding device for attaching the face mask to the helmet body. The helmet body has two opposite sides each-formed with a mounting cavity. The face mask has two opposite sides each having an inner face provided with a protruding ring having a periphery formed with two arc-shaped protruding blocks, and a gap is defined between each of the two protruding blocks and the inner face of the face mask. The binding device is mounted in the mounting cavity of the helmet body and includes a fixed board and a movable board. The fixed board is formed with a through hole and provided with an elastic positioning arm having an outward extending protruding positioning block. The movable board has a first face formed with a circular protruding plate received in the through hole of the fixed board. The movable board has a second face formed with a circular receiving recess having a periphery formed with two opposite arc-shaped receiving grooves and two opposite arc-shaped catch plates. The protruding ring of the face mask is received in the receiving recess of the movable board, and the two protruding blocks of the face mask are extended through the two receiving grooves of the movable board. Each of the two catch plates of the movable board is locked in the gap of the respective protruding block of the face mask by rotation of the movable board. The movable board has a side provided with a frame having a side formed with a locking slot lockable on the positioning block of the fixed board by rotation of the movable board. 
   The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a crash helmet that is assembled and disassembled easily and rapidly. 
   Another objective of the present invention is to provide a crash helmet that is operated easily and conveniently. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a crash helmet, wherein the face mask is mounted on and removed from the helmet body easily and rapidly by operation of the binding device, so that the crash helmet is assembled and disassembled easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating a user mounting and dismantling the crash helmet. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a crash helmet, wherein the face mask is mounted on the helmet body by the binding device without needing a metallic spring to prevent the crash helmet from being inoperative during a long-term utilization, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the crash helmet. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a crash helmet, wherein the crash helmet is made of plastic material, so that the crash helmet will not be rusted to prevent the crash helmet from being contaminated during a long-term utilization, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the crash helmet. 
   Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a crash helmet in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a partially exploded perspective view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a partially exploded perspective view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a side plan view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic operational view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic operational view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 7  is a plan cross-sectional view of the crash helmet taken along line  7 — 7  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  is a plan cross-sectional view of the crash helmet taken along line  8 — 8  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 9  is a schematic operational view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 10  is a plan cross-sectional view of the crash helmet taken along line  10 — 10  as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 11  is a schematic operational view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
       FIG. 12  is a schematic operational view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
       FIG. 13  is a plan cross-sectional view of the crash helmet taken along line  13 — 13  as shown in  FIG. 12 . 
       FIG. 14  is a schematic operational view of the crash helmet as shown in  FIG. 12 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 1–3 , a crash helmet in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a helmet body  10 , a face mask  20 , and a binding device  30  for attaching the face mask  20  to the helmet body  10 . 
   The helmet body  10  is placed on a user&#39;s head and has two opposite sides each formed with a mounting cavity  11  (see  FIG. 2 ) having two screw bores  111 . 
   The face mask  20  is an arc-shaped transparent plate to shield the user&#39;s face. The face mask  20  has two opposite sides each having an inner face provided with an inwardly extended protruding ring  21  having a periphery integrally formed with two arc-shaped protruding blocks  22 , and a gap  23  is defined between each of the two protruding blocks  22  and the inner face of the face mask  20 . The inner face of the face mask  20  is provided with a protruding flange  24  located adjacent to the protruding ring  21 . The protruding flange  24  of the face mask  20  has a first side formed with a protruding edge  25  facing the protruding ring  21  and a second side formed with an arc-shaped locking block  26 . 
   The binding device  30  includes a fixed board  31  and a movable board  32 . 
   The fixed board  31  has a first end formed with a through hole  311  aligning with one of the two screw bores  111  of the helmet body  10  and a second end formed with a through bore  316  aligning with the other one of the two screw bores  111  of the helmet body  10 . The fixed board  31  has a mediate portion provided with an adjusting arm  312  located adjacent to the through hole  311 , an inwardly curved arc-shaped slide track  313  located adjacent to the adjusting arm  312  and an elastic positioning arm  314  located adjacent to a distal end of the slide track  313 . The adjusting arm  312  is integrally formed on the fixed board  31  so that the adjusting arm  312  has a resilient feature and can be restored automatically when being pressed and deflected. The adjusting arm  312  has a face formed with a plurality of adjusting depressions  3120 . The positioning arm  314  has a first end connected to the fixed board  31  and a second end formed with an outward extending protruding positioning block  315 . 
   The movable board  32  has a first face formed with a circular protruding plate  321  received in the through hole  311  of the fixed board  31  and having a central hole  3211  aligning with one of the two screw bores  111  of the helmet body  10 . The movable board  32  has a second face formed with a circular receiving recess  322  having a periphery formed with two opposite arc-shaped receiving grooves  323  and two opposite arc-shaped catch plates  324  located between the two receiving grooves  323 . Thus, the protruding ring  21  of the face mask  20  is received in the receiving recess  322  of the movable board  32 , and the two protruding blocks  22  of the face mask  20  are extended through the two receiving grooves  323  of the movable board  32  and stopped by the two catch plates  324  of the movable board  32  by rotation of the movable board  32 . In addition, each of the two catch plates  324  of the movable board  32  is locked in the gap  23  of the respective protruding block  22  of the face mask  20 . The movable board  32  has a side provided with an upward extending arc-shaped extension arm  325  having an inner side formed with an arc-shaped locking groove  3251  and an outer side integrally formed with a slide plate  3252  having a smaller height and slidable into the slide track  313  of the fixed board  31 . The extension arm  325  of the movable board  32  has a root portion provided with a frame  327  and an elastic press plate  326  received in the frame  327  and having an end connected to the extension arm  325  and a side depending in the frame  327  and rested on the positioning block  315  of the fixed board  31 . The frame  327  of the movable board  32  has a side formed with a locking slot  328 . 
   In assembly, referring to  FIGS. 1–11 , the protruding plate  321  of the movable board  32  is received in the through hole  311  of the fixed board  31  and the distal end of the slide plate  3252  of the movable board  32  is slidable into the slide track  313  of the fixed board  31  so that the fixed board  31  is combined with the movable board  32  to form the binding device  30 . Then, the binding device  30  is mounted in the mounting cavity  11  of the helmet body  10 . Then, two screw members  33  are respectively extended through the central hole  3211  of the movable board  32  and the through bore  316  of the fixed board  31  and screwed into the two screw bores  111  of the helmet body  10 , so that the fixed board  31  is secured in the mounting cavity  11  of the helmet body  10 , and the movable board  32  is rotatable about the respective screw member  33  that is extended through the central hole  3211  of the movable board  32 , thereby forming a state as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   Then, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the protruding ring  21  of the face mask  20  is received in the receiving recess  322  of the movable board  32 , the two protruding blocks  22  of the movable board  32  are extended through the two receiving grooves  323  of the movable board  32 , and the protruding edge  25  of the protruding flange  24  of the face mask  20  is received in the uppermost one of the adjusting depressions  3120  of the adjusting arm  312 . 
   Then, the movable board  32  is rotatable about the respective screw member  33  to push the frame  327  toward the positioning arm  314  as indicated by the arrow shown in  FIG. 5 , until the locking slot  328  of the frame  327  is locked on the positioning block  315  of the positioning arm  314  as shown in  FIG. 7 , thereby forming a locking state as shown in  FIG. 6 . It is appreciated that, the positioning block  315  is lowered when being pressed to allow passage of the locking slot  328  and is then restored to lock the locking slot  328 . 
   In such a manner, each of the two catch plates  324  of the movable board  32  is inserted into and locked in the gap  23  of the respective protruding block  22  of the face mask  20  by rotation of the movable board  32 , so that the two protruding blocks  22  of the face mask  20  are stopped by the two catch plates  324  of the movable board  32 , thereby locking the face mask  20  on the movable board  32  as shown in  FIG. 8 . At this time, the locking block  26  of the face mask  20  is inserted into and locked in the locking groove  3251  of the extension arm  325  of the movable board  32 , thereby locking the face mask  20  on the movable board  32  doubly. Then, the slide plate  3252  of the movable board  32  is slidable into the slide track  313  of the fixed board  31 , thereby forming an interlocking effect. 
   Then, the face mask  20  is pushed to move downward in a stepwise manner, so that the protruding edge  25  of the protruding flange  24  of the face mask  20  is movable in the adjusting depressions  3120  of the adjusting arm  312  of the fixed board  31  to adjust the optimum position of the face mask  20 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , the protruding edge  25  of the protruding flange  24  of the face mask  20  reaches the intermediate one of the adjusting depressions  3120  of the adjusting arm  312  of the fixed board  31 , thereby forming a state as shown in  FIG. 10 . Then, the face mask  20  is pushed to move downward successively, so that the protruding edge  25  of the protruding flange  24  of the face mask  20  reaches the lowermost one of the adjusting depressions  3120  of the adjusting arm  312  of the fixed board  31 , thereby forming a state as shown in  FIG. 11 . At this time, the face mask  20  covers the whole front face of the helmet body  10 . 
   In detachment, referring to  FIGS. 12–14 , when a user wishes to detach the face mask  20  from the helmet body  10 , the face mask  20  is pushed to move upward until the protruding edge  25  of the protruding flange  24  of the face mask  20  reaches the uppermost one of the adjusting depressions  3120  of the adjusting arm  312  of the fixed board  31  as shown in  FIG. 12 . Then, the elastic press plate  326  of the movable board  32  is pressed toward the positioning block  315  of the fixed board  31  to push the positioning block  315  of the fixed board  31  to detach from the locking slot  328  of the movable board  32  as shown in  FIG. 13 , thereby unlocking the movable board  32  from the fixed board  31 , so that the movable board  32  is freely rotatable about the respective screw member  33  as shown in  FIG. 14 . In such a manner, each of the two catch plates  324  of the movable board  32  is detached from the gap  23  of the respective protruding block  22  of the face mask  20  by rotation of the movable board  32 , so that the two protruding blocks  22  of the face mask  20  are detached from the two catch plates  324  of the movable board  32 , thereby unlocking the face mask  20  from the movable board  32  as shown in  FIG. 5 . Thus, the face mask  20  is removed from the helmet body  10  easily and rapidly. 
   Accordingly, the face mask  20  is mounted on and removed from the helmet body  10  easily and rapidly by operation of the binding device  30 , so that the crash helmet is assembled and disassembled easily and rapidly, thereby facilitating a user mounting and dismantling the crash helmet. In addition, the face mask  20  is mounted on the helmet body  10  by the binding device  30  without needing a metallic spring to prevent the crash helmet from being inoperative during a long-term utilization, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the crash helmet. Further, the crash helmet is made of plastic material, so that the crash helmet will not be rusted to prevent the crash helmet from being contaminated during a long-term utilization, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the crash helmet. 
   Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.