Abstract:
A self load-balancing, headset-wearing accommodating helmet strap system useable with a helmet shell having front, rear and opposite lateral sides, and including (a) a chin-strap cinching subsystem having (1) a pair of opposite-side, elongate, flexible, lateral strap elements intended for use on opposite lateral sides of such a helmet shell, and (2) an elongate chin-engaging component with opposite ends slideably mounted on and between the opposite ends of different ones of the lateral strap elements, and (b), for each of the lateral strap elements, a pair of attaching devices, with one such device being designed for attaching one end of a lateral strap element adjacent an associated front lateral side of a helmet shell, and the other attaching device being designed for attaching the other end of the same lateral strap element adjacent an associated rear lateral side of the helmet shell. The system of the invention accommodates other helmet-internal componentry (namely, a suspension and attached load-cushioning pads) in a manner easily enabling lateral self-load-balancing of an entire helmet system, and in a context which also accommodates the non-interfering wearing of an audio communication headset.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to prior-filed, co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/653,744, filed Feb. 16, 2005, for “Headset-Accommodating, Load-Balancing, Shock-Cushioning Helmet System”. The entire disclosure content of that prior-filed provisional application is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a self-load-balancing helmet strap system which featuring a chin-strap cinching, or simply a chin-strap, subsystem which uniquely accommodates the wearing and use, along with a load-cushioning helmet per se, of an audio headset communication system of the type having the usual central, elongate, overhead band (headband), and pair of lateral earphone units mounted adjacent opposite ends of this band. Very specifically, the system of the present invention is designed especially to accommodate both (a) automatic lateral load balancing, and (b) cooperative wearing and use of a helmet shell and an audio headset, without in any way compromising the utility of an internal, load-cushioning pad system which is critically designed to provide both comfort and shock-absorbing protection for the wearer.  
         [0003]     A preferred and best mode embodiment of the invention is described and illustrated herein in the context of a military helmet—an environment wherein the invention has been found to offer special utility. In this setting, the invention is described in relation to certain other helmet componentry, including an internal suspension frame, or suspension (two different styles are described herein), for mounting various internal components, such as a load-cushioning pad system, and a special pad-position-adjustable load-cushioning pad system per se. In the environment of this other helmet-associated structure, it will be important to note how the features of the present invention uniquely cooperate with this other structure.  
         [0004]     While it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various kinds of helmet-shell internal suspensions and load-cushioning pad systems may be employed along with the present invention, one embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described herein in relation to (a) a helmet-shell suspension structure made in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,409 B2 covering an invention entitled “Helmet Liner Suspension Structure”, and (b) a suspension-mountable load-cushioning pad system made in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,099 B2 covering an invention entitled “Body-Contact Cushioning Interface Structure”. The suspension and load-cushioning pad system illustrated and disclosed respectively by these two patents cooperatively present to the head of a wearer a frame-supported arrangement of adjustably, changeably and removeably attachable acceleration-rate-sensitive, shock-absorbing pads. These pads are designed to provide high-level shock-impact protection to the head of a wearer under circumstances where, preferably, an entire helmet system utilizing these components is bilaterally load-balanced on a wearer&#39;s head.  
         [0005]     In another embodiment of the invention, where additional lateral and vertical clearance inside the opposite sides of a helmet shell may be desired to accommodate especially bulky headset earphone units, a shorter, rear-sector-disposed helmet-shell suspension structure is used—having an overall “length” whereby its opposite ends terminate, inside the helmet shell, rearwardly “short” of where such earphone units will reside when the subject headset is worn.  
         [0006]     As will be seen, the system of the present invention, which is largely featured in the structure of and mounting for a unique chin-strap cinching subsystem, accommodates this other helmet-internal componentry (suspension and load-cushioning pads) in a manner easily enabling lateral self-load-balancing of an entire helmet system, and in a context which, in the bargain, so-to-speak, also uniquely accommodates non-interfering presence of an audio communication headset of the type generally described above. In other words, the system of the present invention not only easily accommodates the cooperative wearing, with a helmet, of an audio headset, but does so in a manner, and with features, which uniquely also accommodate and offer proper lateral self-load-balancing on a wearer&#39;s head.  
         [0007]     In a military helmet, protective load-cushioning, lateral-load-balancing, and, for certain military personnel, easy accommodation for the simultaneous wearing of auxiliary headgear, such as a communication audio headset, are high on the list of important conditions to-be-achieved. As will be seen from the description which follows below, the present invention uniquely and successfully addresses these considerations, and does so in a manner which promotes all of them without compromising any. Significantly, and as will also be seen, the very same features of the present invention which promote and accommodate proper lateral self-load-balancing to deal, for example, with the different specific ways in which different wearer&#39;s choose to position helmets on their heads, also deal with the successful accommodation of auxiliary headgear, such as the mentioned audio communication headset structure.  
         [0008]     Conventional helmet systems, and especially the chin-strap cinching subsystems which are employed in such systems, present non-adaptable configurations at the lateral sides of a helmet with respect to the features of conventional chin-strap subsystems. This non-adaptability, and the adverse conditions which it creates, are particularly experienced near the lower perimeter portions of a wearer&#39;s ears where such non-adaptability creates unacceptable spatial-interference conflicts with auxiliary equipment, such as with the earphone units in communication audio headsets. Such conflicts lead to significant, and potentially uncomfortable, not to mention dangerous, wearing conditions for a wearer such as a soldier.  
         [0009]     Thus, in prior art structures there is, effectively, an interference-space conflict which typically exists between the space occupied by a simultaneously worn helmet system and a headset. Very specifically, conventional lateral strap components which form parts of a typical chin-strap cinching subsystem in an overall helmet system are so constructed with “rigidified” positions relative to a helmet shell, that they effectively nearly always overlie lower perimeter regions of a wearer&#39;s ears, and do so in a manner which interferes with easy, comfortable and safe wearing of a headset along with a helmet load-cushioning system.  
         [0010]     The present invention significantly addresses these prior art “interference” problems, and as will be seen, does so in a practical, simple and inexpensive manner. Fundamentally, the invention proposes a unique chin-strap cinching subsystem, wherein opposite-side, flexible, lateral strap-elements carry a chin-engaging component in a relatively freely-slidable fashion which allows the lateral strap elements to clear the lower perimeter regions of a wearer&#39;s ears. This ear-perimeter accommodation allows, as an important consequence, for the easy co-wearing of a headset in a manner which does not compromise desirable lateral load-balancing with respect to the way in which an associated helmet sits on a wearer&#39;s head. In fact, the slidability just described tends uniquely to enhance the capability of the chin-strap cinching subsystem of this invention to enable and accommodate self-seeking, lateral-load-balancing with respect to a wearer&#39;s head. The system of the invention does this even in the context of the cooperative use, in the shell of a helmet, of a load-pad cushioning system of the type described in the above referenced &#39;099 patent, which cushioning system allows a wearer freely to remove, adjust and reposition the locations of load-cushioning pads inside the shell of a helmet.  
         [0011]     The various important features and advantages of the present invention, some of which have just been mentioned, will become more fully apparent as the detailed description which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view illustrating a conventional military helmet assembly in a condition being worn by a soldier. In this view the lateral “interference” problem (adjacent the wearer&#39;s ears), and as generally outlined above, is clearly evident.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is similar to  FIG. 1 , except that this figure shows a military helmet possessing a chin-strap cinching subsystem which has been made and mounted in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Here, one can observe the significant lateral clearance which is provided around the lower perimeter portions of a wearer&#39;s ears.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  illustrates the worn helmet assembly of  FIG. 2  in a situation where an audio communication headset is also being worn by a soldier.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a bottom elevation looking into the underside of the helmet system per se of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , and showing the various details of construction of the structure of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is similar to  FIG. 2 , except that it illustrates a modified form of the invention employed with a shortened, helmet-shell-internal, rear-sector suspension structure (shown fragmentarily in dashed lines), like that mentioned earlier herein, to provide extra lateral and vertical clearance for especially bulky earphone units (such as the earphone unit pictured fragmentarily in dash-dot lines in this figure). 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     Turning attention now to the drawings, and beginning with  FIG. 1 , as was mentioned above, this figure illustrates the prior art interference and lateral load-balancing issues which exist in an overall helmet assembly employing a chin-strap cinching subsystem  6  of conventional design and mounting. One can clearly observe in  FIG. 1  how lateral strap elements  8   a ,  8   b ,  8   c  which form part of the illustrated, conventional chin-strap cinching subsystem  8 , nominally directly overlie lower perimeter portions  10  of a wearer&#39;s ear—a condition which means that these straps are so positioned that they will definitively interfere with positioning of the lateral earphone units of any headset (not shown) which might also be worn by the user pictured in  FIG. 1 . Such interference is a direct result of the “typical” design of the illustrated, conventional chin-strap cinching subsystem, wherein one can see that, as a practical matter, the relative positions of the lateral strap elements, and of the portion  8   d  of the cinching subsystem which engages the chin, are effectively “rigidified”—a condition effectively assuring both headset interference, and lateral load imbalance, in all but one, or only a very few, wearing dispositions.  
         [0018]     Looking now at  FIGS. 2-4 , inclusive, wherein  FIG. 4  isolates and individuates a helmet and the incorporated structure of the present invention in a manner useful for seeing structural details of the invention, indicated generally at  20  is a military helmet having a shell  20   a  inside of which is suitably anchored (in this particular embodiment of the invention) an all-around suspension, or suspension frame,  22  which is made herein is accordance with the teachings of above-referred-to, prior-issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,409 B2. As will be more fully developed shortly, shell  20   a , via suspension frame  22 , is equipped with a self-load-balancing, self-adjusting, load-balancing chin-strap cinching subsystem  24  which is constructed in accordance with a preferred and best mode embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]     Suspension  22 , in general terms, includes a wrap-around, elongate band  22   a  which is directly and appropriately anchored to the inside of shell  20   a , with this band suitably carrying a pair of forward, lateral, chin-strap lateral-element attaching structures, or devices,  26  which, as illustrated in the figures herein, take the form of conventional, strap-attaching D-rings. These D-rings, while conventional per se in their individual construction, as incorporated herein in the context of the practice and behavior of the present invention, play a special role in the functional performance of the particular embodiment of the invention now being described. They do this, as will become more fully apparent, by furnishing relative-motion, lateral sliding, pivotal-style mountings/connections for the forward ends of lateral strap elements employed in the chin-strap subsystem of the invention.  
         [0020]     Also suitably carried on band  22   a  near the rear of helmet shell  20   a , are two lateral-element rear end attaching devices generally shown at  28 . Devices  28  are also per se conventional in design, and are configured to accommodate quick-release attaching of the rear ends of the mentioned chin-strap subsystem lateral elements. These devices  28  receive the rear ends of such lateral elements in a manner which allows for adjustable, “pull/relax” tightening and loosening of such lateral-element rear ends so as to enable the establishing and releasing of desired tension in the associated lateral elements of subsystem  24 . Cinching and loosening, effectively, of the chin-strap subsystem herein is especially simplified and enabled by the employment of devices  28 . Uniquely, merely by pulling on and loosening the two, rear, chin-strap-subsystem lateral strap element ends which connect with these devices ( 28 ), all major chin-strap subsystem adjustments, including lateral load balancing relative to other components installed in helmet  20 , are accomplished. Attaching devices  28  are also referred to herein as pull-to-cinch-and-tighten, friction-action mountings.  
         [0021]     Chin-strap cinching subsystem  24 , along with attaching devices  26 ,  28 , collectively form the helmet strap system of the present invention.  
         [0022]     Additionally, suspension band  22 a carries an appropriate distribution (six herein) of one of the two, usual “operative parts” of conventional hook-and-pile fastening elements  30  (see the dashed lines in  FIG. 4 ). It is to these fastening elements that plural (also six herein, referred to as a “collection”) acceleration-rate-sensitive, head-engaging, load-cushioning pads  32 ,  34 ,  36 ,  38 ,  40 ,  42  are removably, changeably, and repositionably attachable inside helmet shell  20   a . In additional to these just-mentioned six cushioning pads, also installed in helmet shell  20   a  are two overhead cushioning pads which are shown at  43  in  FIG. 4 . These overhead pads, which are also adjustably and removably attached through conventional hook-and-pile fastening structure, are preferably also made in accordance with the teachings of the above-referenced &#39;099 U.S. Patent. The outer surfaces of all of these load-cushioning pads are appropriately provided either with a fabric which is constructed to co-act directly with hook-and-pile fastening elements, such as elements  30 , or are prepared with attached patches of material which will perform this attachment function.  
         [0023]     In  FIG. 4 , the eight illustrated cushioning pads are shown positioned in what may be considered to be a special manner for accommodating the co-wearing of an audio communication headset, and this special arrangement is one wherein the overhead pads inside helmet shell  20   a  have been arranged to furnish an accommodation pathway, or lateral clearance path,  41  which extends somewhat as a laterally extending, arcuate channel inside the helmet shell disposed over the inner top thereof to afford pre-clearance for accommodating the usual headband portion of a conventional audio headset. The overhead pads may also be selectively repositioned to abut one another (not specifically shown) to close path  41 , and create, effectively, a “singular” overhead pad cushioning structure.  
         [0024]     Chin-strap subsystem  24  includes an elongate, transverse chin-strap element, or chin-engaging component,  46 , and a pair of elongate, lateral strap elements, or straps,  48 ,  50  (generally mentioned above). Component  46  is formed with a stitched-together pair of sub-straps clearly shown at  52 ,  54 , with the longer one ( 52 ) of these two sub-straps, adjacent its opposite ends, being folded in reverse-bend loops  52   a  which generally freely and slideably receive central, elongate portions  48   a ,  50   a  in lateral straps  48 ,  50 , respectively. The interfaces between loops  52   a  and strap portions  48   a ,  50   a  are referred to herein as relative-motion sliding interfaces. The term “relative motion” as used herein refers to “whole body” relative motion. This means that each of the two “relative-motion” components can move as a whole with respect to the other component. Loops  52   a  herein are alike, and are held closed by appropriate releasable snaps  56 . Portions  48   a ,  50   a  are formed herein by folding and stitching lengths of straps  48 ,  50 , respectively, around, essentially, the long axes (not shown) of these straps.  
         [0025]     If desired, the inside surfaces of loops  52   a  may be equipped with a modest frictioning material whereby, when the chin-strap subsystem is cinched to tightness, the tendency of these loops to engage in relative sliding motion is minimized. Such a feature may be useful under certain circumstances to stabilize the components in the chin-strap subsystem in properly cinched positions with respect to a particular wearer&#39;s head.  
         [0026]     The arrangement of substantially free, slideable connections/interconnections and resulting adjustability between chin-strap component  46  and lateral straps  48 ,  50  results in component  46  effectively “floating relatively freely” on and along portions  48   a ,  50   a  in the lateral straps. A significant consequence of this unique arrangement is that the opposite ends of component  46  are not, during initial fitting of helmet  20  in place, committed, locked, and rigidified, in effect, to predetermined fixed locations along the lateral chin-strap elements. As will seen, it is this important feature of applicant&#39;s invention which both allows the unique chin-strap subsystem of this invention to promote self-seeking lateral load balancing when a helmet is cinched into place on a wearer&#39;s head, and also provides for clearance and non-interfering accommodation adjacent the lower perimeter portions  10  of a wearer&#39;s ears to allow for headset earphone-unit clearance. This can clearly be seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3  in the drawings.  
         [0027]     In  FIG. 2 , no headset is being worn, and one can plainly see the ample lower clearance which is provided by lateral strap portion  50   a  for the lower portion  10  of the illustrated wearer&#39;s ear. In  FIG. 3 , a headset  58  having lateral earphone units, such as lateral earphone unit  58   a,  is shown being worn, with very ample non-interfering clearance being provided by lateral strap portion  50   a . This clearance definitively allows for free (i.e., non-obstructed) sliding engagement to exist between lateral strap portion  50   a,  and a loop  52   a  in chin-engaging component  46 , thus to allow for the feature of self-lateral-load-balancing mentioned earlier herein.  
         [0028]     Completing a description of what is shown in  FIG. 4 , the front, or forward, ends of lateral straps  48 ,  50  are reverse-bend-looped, as shown at  48   b ,  50   b , and through these loops, are freely slideably attached to the curved regions of D-rings  26 . This arrangement provides an important degree of self-adjusting adaptability for the whole chin-strap subsystem of the invention.  
         [0029]     Directing attention now to  FIG. 5  in the drawings, here, as was mentioned earlier, there is generally illustrated, using fragmentary dashed and dash-dot lines, a modified form of the invention in which a rear-sector, shortened, internal suspension frame, or suspension,  60  is employed and anchored suitably to the rear inside of helmet shell  20   a . The opposite ends of this suspension, such as end  60   a  seen in  FIG. 5 , terminate “short” of the ears, and thus “short” of where a headset&#39;s earphone units, such as the earphone unit pictured fragmentarily in dash-dot lines at  62  in this figure, will reside when the subject headset is worn.  
         [0030]     Where such an alternative form of suspension is employed, appropriate mounting locations for load-cushioning pads will be provided, as an illustration, directly against the inside of the helmet shell, per se.  
         [0031]     In this embodiment of the invention, the forward ends of lateral straps  48 ,  50 , such as the forward end  50   b  of lateral strap  50 , are attached directly to helmet shell  20   a  at the sites of conventionally provided helmet-shell attaching hardware, such as the screw attaching hardware (pivotal-style attaching device) shown at  64  in  FIG. 5 . This attachment, in accordance with practice of the present invention, permits pivoting, or rocking, of the attached forward ends of the lateral straps, as indicated by double-headed curved arrow  66  for attached strap end  50   b  in  FIG. 5 . The “longitudinally folded” portions  48   a ,  50   a  of the lateral straps are appropriately extended (see portion  50   a  in  FIG. 5 ) in proximity to forward ends  48   b ,  50   b , respectively, so as to assure good peripheral visibility for the wearer.  
         [0032]     Experience with the chin-strap subsystem of the present invention indicates that, no matter what turns out to be the specific organization, disposition, etc. of the cushioning pads disposed inside a helmet shell, the various chin-strap elements will automatically “sense” that organization and disposition, and through relative sliding and angulating motions which are accommodated within the chin-strap subsystem, will self-adjust to establish a properly load-balanced condition, without requiring any special care or attention by the wearer.  
         [0033]     When a helmet- 20  wearer plans to use an audio communication headset in conjunction with wearing a helmet, the headband portion of such a headset will be given adequate clearance via passage  41  to pass over the head without in any way interfering with seating of any of the load-cushioning pads, and the headset earphone units at opposite sides of the headset will be afforded proper non-interfering lateral clearance by the lateral strap elements in the chin-strap subsystem of the invention because of the special construction described above for this subsystem. This condition of appropriate lateral non-interfering behavior is plainly pictured in  FIGS. 3 and 5 . Moreover, one will observe that this lateral non-interference with headset earphone units will also result under circumstances where cinching and tightening of a helmet in place results in appropriate load balancing with respect to the various load-cushioning pads.  
         [0034]     Thus, a preferred and best mode embodiment of a helmet strap system, and of an included chin-strap cinching subsystem employable in a helmet shell in accordance with practice of the present invention, has been disclosed and illustrated herein. Very clearly, this unique structure is relatively simple in organization, and inexpensive in construction, and quite evidently resolves the interference-problem issues that attend conventional helmet systems, particularly when auxiliary equipment, such an a audio headset, is worn at the same time with an overriding helmet. Uniquely, the interference problems of the prior art are resolved by features of the present invention, which features also uniquely contribute to a quality and characteristic of self-seeking, self-adjusting lateral load balancing which takes place substantially automatically when a helmet strap system made in accordance with the invention is cinched, along with a helmet shell and load-cushioning pad system, into place on a wearer&#39;s head.  
         [0035]     Accordingly, while a preferred and best mode embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated herein, it will be clear to those generally skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended that the claims to invention which now follow be read to encompass all such variations and modifications.