Combat helmet having force impact distribution

Abstract

A combat helmet has a shell made from a ballistic rated material, the shell having an outer surface and an inner surface such that at least a portion of the outer surface is formed as a series of adjoining polygon shaped faceted regions that help distribute any force impacted on such regions across a relatively large portion of the shell. The faceted regions are curvedly contoured, and may extend through to the inner surface of the shell. The faceted regions may cover primarily the crown section of the helmet shell, the lower section, or both.

Claims

1. A helmet configured to be worn on a human head, the helmet comprising: a helmet body having a helmet shell the helmet shell having a first overall outer surface and a first overall inner surface, the helmet shell also having a crown and a lower section, such that at least a portion of the first overall outer surface of the helmet shell is formed as a faceted region made from a series of adjoining facets such that each facet has a second outer surface that is a subset of the first overall outer surface and each facet has a convex contour and wherein the helmet shell is formed from a ballistic rated material; and a chin strap attached to the helmet shell, the chin strap configured as either an X-Back retention system or an H-Back retention system.

2. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the portion of the helmet shell having the faceted region is the crown section and excludes the lower section.

3. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the portion of the helmet shell having the faceted region is the lower section and excludes the crown section.

4. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the portion of the helmet shell having the faceted region is the both the crown section and the lower section.

5. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the outer shell has a constant thickness.

6. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the ballistic material is from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene material.

7. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the ballistic material is from advanced aramid fiber material.

8. The helmet as in claim 1 wherein the ballistic material is from either ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene material or advanced aramid fiber material.

9. The helmet as in claim 1 further comprising an attachment mount located on the first overall outer surface of the helmet shell.

10. A helmet configured to be worn on a human head, the helmet comprising: a helmet body that has an outer shell having a first overall outer surface and a first overall inner surface and has a crown and a lower section, such that at least a portion of the first overall outer surface is formed as a series of adjoining polygon-shaped facets and such that the adjoining polygon-shaped facets extend through the helmet body to the first overall inner surface and such that each facet has a second outer surface that is a subset of the first overall outer surface and that has a convex contour and each facet has a second inner surface that is a subset of the first overall inner surface and that has a concave contour that corresponds to the convex contour of the second outer surface and wherein the helmet shell is formed from a ballistic rated material; and a chin strap attached to the helmet shell, the chin strap configured as either an X-Back retention system or an H-Back retention system.

11. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the portion of the helmet shell having the faceted region is the crown section and excludes the lower section.

12. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the portion of the helmet shell having the faceted region is the lower section and excludes the crown section.

13. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the portion of the helmet shell having the faceted region is the both the crown section and the lower section.

14. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the outer shell has a constant thickness.

15. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the ballistic material is from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene material.

16. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the ballistic material is from advanced aramid fiber material.

17. The helmet as in claim 10 wherein the ballistic material is from either ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene material or advanced aramid fiber material.

18. The helmet as in claim 10 further comprising an attachment mount located on the first overall outer surface of the helmet shell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially cutaway, of the combat helmet having force impact distribution of the present invention wherein the faceted region is located only on the crown section of the helmet.

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partially cutaway, of the combat helmet having force impact distribution employing wherein the faceted regions cover both the lower section and the crown section of the outer shell of the helmet.

(3) FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partially cutaway, of the combat helmet having force impact distribution employing wherein the faceted region is located only the lower section of the outer shell of the helmet.

(4) Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(5) Referring now to the drawings, it is seen that the combat helmet having force impact distribution of the present invention, generally denoted by reference numeral 10, is comprised of a helmet body that has a helmet shell 12 that has an overall outer surface 14 and an overall inner surface 16. An appropriate suspension system 18 is located within the interior area of the helmet shell 12 attached as appropriate to the inner surface 16 of the helmet shell 12. As seen, the combat helmet having force impact distribution 10 has an appropriate chin strap 20 which may be an X-Back retention system or an H-Back retention system or other appropriate retention system.

(6) The helmet shell 12 is formed from a ballistic rated material so that it is highly resistant to penetration from small arms and rifle projectiles commonly found on the battlefield (the helmet shell 12 must be able to pass a v50 test for such projectiles) as well as from much of the fragmentation which can impact the combat helmet having force impact distribution 10 during combat. While the helmet shell 12 of the combat helmet having force impact distribution 10 may be made from ballistic nylon or original aramid fabrics, advantageously, the helmet shell 12 is made from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, the material used to produce the Enhanced Combat Helmet, or advanced aramid fibers used to produce the FAST/High Cut/Maritime cut/ATE® each used by the United States military. The combat helmet having force impact distribution 10 may be full cut, tactical cut, as shown, or above the ear cut as noted. As seen, appropriate front mounts 22 and side mounts 24 may be located on the outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12 in order to allow mounting of various items, such as night vision gear, telecommunications equipment, etc. Camouflage covers can also be deployed onto the combat helmet having force impact distribution 10.

(7) As seen, instead of having a relative smooth rounded outer surface of a typical combat helmet such as the Enhanced Combat helmet or the FAST/High Cut/Maritime cut/ATE®, at least a portion of its outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12 is formed as a series of connected faceted regions of various geometry such as the illustrated triangular shaped facets 26. The size of each type of facet 26 may but need not be of the same. Additionally, other shapes of facets can be used and more than one shape of facets can be employed on a given helmet shell 12.

(8) The outer surface of each of the individual facet 26 is slightly convex. The helmet shell 12 may have a relative constant thickness wherever the facets 26 are located so that the inner surface 16 of the helmet shell 12 also has the faceted regions corresponding to the faceted regions on the outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12, with the facets on the inner surface 16 of the helmet shell 12 being slightly concave in order to match the convex contouring of the outer surface of the particular faceted region. By utilizing a constant thickness of the faceted regions of the helmet shell 12, impacts on the helmet shell 12 allow relatively smooth deflection of forces impacted onto the outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12 with the slight convexity of the outer surface of each faceted region assisting in such force deflection. However, the faceted regions may be located only on the outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12 and that faceted shaping need not necessarily transfer into the inner surface 16 of the helmet shell.

(9) The faceted regions can be confined to the crown section 28 of the helmet shell 12—roughly the upper half of the helmet shell 12—or the lower the lower section 30 of the helmet shell 12, or, as seen in FIG. 2, substantially the entire helmet shell 12 can be covered with the facets 26.

(10) The faceted regions are an integral part of the helmet shell 12, that is, they are not attached or otherwise secured to the outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12, rather, the faceted regions are manufactured as part of the helmet shell formation.

(11) When a force is imparted onto one or more faceted regions on the outer surface 14 of the helmet shell 12, the force is spread or transferred to many of the adjoining facets 26 and possibly to a portion of the non-faceted portion(s) of the helmet shell 12 (if the helmet shell 12 is so designed) so as to spread the force over a relatively larger surface area so that the force that is transferred through the helmet shell 12 into the interior of the helmet shell 12 is spread over a relatively large surface area thereby reducing the localization of the helmet shell penetrating force and reducing the risk and severity of injury to the wearer.

(12) In essence, the present invention reduces the force imparted to the helmet wearer by increasing impact deflection while reducing the reflection.

(13) While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to an embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.