EARMUFF UNIT FOR USE WITHIN A HEAD PROTECTIVE GEAR AND HEAD PROTECTIVE GEAR

Abstract

An earmuff unit for use within a head protective gear. The head protective gear is separate from the earmuff unit. The earmuff unit comprises an ear pad. The earmuff unit also comprises a flexible element arranged in at least a lower portion of a circumference of the ear pad to allow the ear pad to move, in at least a part of the lower portion of the circumference, towards and away from a shell of the head protective gear.

Claims

1. An earmuff unit for use within a head protective gear, wherein the head protective gear is separate from the earmuff unit, the earmuff unit comprising: an ear pad; and a flexible element arranged in at least a lower portion of a circumference of the ear pad to allow the car pad to move, in at least a part of the lower portion of the circumference, towards and away from a shell of the head protective gear.

2. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein the flexible element comprises is a compressible element integrated in the ear pad.

3. The earmuff unit of claim 2, wherein the compressible element is elastically compressible.

4. The earmuff unit of claim 2, wherein the compressible element is made from compressible foam material.

5. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein one longitudinal end of an elongate connection element is connected to a lower end of the ear pad, wherein a respective other longitudinal end of the elongate connection element is adapted to be connected to a chin strap of the head protective gear.

6. The earmuff unit of claim 5, wherein the elongate connection element is connected to a laterally inner side of the ear pad.

7. The earmuff unit of claim 5, wherein the elongate connection element is elastically stretchable.

8. The earmuff unit of claim 5, wherein the elongate connection element comprises is a strip element.

9. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein the earmuff unit comprises a housing.

10. The earmuff unit of claim 9, wherein the housing has comprises a wedge-shaped design tapering towards a lower part of the housing.

11. The earmuff unit of claim 9, wherein the housing comprises at least one loudspeaker.

12. The earmuff unit of claim 1, wherein the flexible element substantially extends over an entirety of the circumference of the ear pad.

13. The earmuff unit of claim 1, further comprising an inflation unit configured to inflate the flexible element of the ear pad.

14. The earmuff unit of claim 9, further comprising an acoustic mesh is arranged between the housing and the ear pad.

15. The earmuff unit of claim 11, further comprising including at least one microphone.

16. The earmuff unit of claim 15, wherein the at least one microphone is located in front of the at least one loudspeaker.

17. The earmuff unit of claim 16, wherein an additional microphone is located behind or below the at least one loudspeaker.

18. The earmuff unit of claim 9, wherein the flexible element is arranged between the ear pad and the housing to allow the ear pad, in at least the part of the lower portion of the circumference of the ear pad, to move towards and away from the housing.

19. The earmuff unit of claim 9, wherein, in an expanded state of the flexible element, the housing and the flexible element together form a bowl of substantially uniform height over an entirety of the circumference of the ear pad.

20. The earmuff unit of claim 19, wherein a stabilizing ring element is mounted between the ear pad and the flexible element.

21. The earmuff unit of claim 20, wherein one or more of the housing and the stabilizing ring element is made from a rigid material.

22. The earmuff unit of claim 20, wherein one or more of the housing and the stabilizing ring element has a circumferential groove intended to cooperate with a mating circumferential lip of the flexible element.

23. The earmuff unit of claim 20, wherein the stabilizing ring element is pivotably connected to the housing in a pivotable connection.

24. The earmuff unit of claim 23, wherein the pivotable connection is provided at an upper portion of the earmuff unit.

25. The earmuff unit of claim 23, wherein the pivotable connection is provided by a hinge unit having a hinge axis.

26. The earmuff unit of claim 18, further comprising a Bowden-like cable for one or more of moving the ear pad towards the shell or moving the ear pad away from the shell.

27. The earmuff unit of claim 26, wherein the Bowden-like cable is configured to be connected to a chin strap of the head protective gear.

28. The earmuff unit of claim 18, further comprising a latching mechanism for holding the ear pad in a position moved towards the shell.

29. The earmuff unit of claim 18, further comprising a spring element for one or more of biasing the ear pad away from the shell or biasing the ear pad towards the shell.

30. The earmuff unit of claim 28, further comprising a button for releasing the latching mechanism.

31. A head protective gear comprising: an outer shell an inner padding and at least one earmuff unit mounted in an allocated recess of the inner padding, the at least one earmuff unit comprising: an ear pad, and a flexible element arranged in at least a lower portion of a circumference of the ear pad to allow the ear pad to move, in at least a part of the lower portion of the circumference, towards and away from a shell of the head protective gear.

32. The head protective gear of claim 31, further comprising at least one microphone located outside the head protective gear.

33. A head protective gear comprising: an outer shell; an inner padding and at least one earmuff unit mounted in an allocated recess of the inner padding, the at least one earmuff unit comprising: an ear pad, a flexible element arranged in at least a lower portion of a circumference of the ear pad to allow the ear pad to move, in at least a part of the lower portion of the circumference, towards and away from a shell of the head protective gear, and one or more of: a spring element for biasing the at least one earmuff unit away from said outer shell, or a Bowden-like cable for retracting the at least one earmuff unit towards the outer shell.

Description

[0052] In FIG. 1 a helmet (as an example of a head protective gear) is generally denoted by reference numeral 10. The helmet 10 comprises an outer shell 12 and an inner padding 14, schematically indicated in FIG. 1. Generally, the helmet 10 may be of any design, as long as the outer shell 12 covers the user's ears. In other words, the helmet 10 may be a full helmet, a cross helmet, a flip-up helmet, a jet helmet and the like, but not a brain cap.

[0053] At the locations intended to protect the user's ears, the padding 14 has two recesses 16, which are intended to receive two earmuff units according to the present invention, in particular two foldable headphone units 20. FIG. 1 shows the left headphone unit 20 in its folded state and the right headphone unit 20 in its expanded state.

[0054] In the following the design of the headphone unit 20 will be described in more detail referring to FIGS. 2 to 6.

[0055] The headphone unit 20 comprises a housing 22 rigidly supporting a loudspeaker 24, a flexible element 26, a stabilizing ring element 28, and an ear pad 30.

[0056] The ear pad 30 is intended to surround the user's ear in a condition in which the ear pad 30 is abutting against the user's head. To this end, the ear pad 30 preferably is made from a soft resilient material, e.g. synthetic leather, a silicone gel, natural leather, foam with multiple densities and the like, or an inflatable bladder (not shown). Nevertheless, any contact between the user's ear and the ear pad 30 when putting the helmet 10 on or taking it off may be unpleasant or even painful to the user.

[0057] In order to solve this problem, the flexible element 26 may be folded at least in its lower part 26a, as may be seen best by comparing FIGS. 2 and 3, on the one side, and FIGS. 5 and 6, on the other side. As a consequence, at least the lower part of the ear pad 30 may be retracted towards the housing 22 (see FIG. 2), i.e. out of the way of the user's ear, when putting the helmet 10 on or taking it off, by transferring the flexible element 26 to its folded state. In order to provide the flexible element 26 with sufficient flexibility, it may be made, for example, from silicone, rubber or other types of flexible polymers.

[0058] As both, the flexible element 26 and the ear pad 30, due to their respective functions fail to provide sufficient dimensional stability in the radial direction, the stabilizing ring element 28 is arranged between the flexible element 26 and the ear pad 30. Accordingly, the stabilizing ring element 28 preferably is made from a rigid material, e.g. a thermoplastic material, for example, polycarbonate, ABS and the like, e.g. reinforced with fibers, preferably glass fibers.

[0059] As may be seen best from FIGS. 4 to 6, the stabilizing ring element 28 has two circumferential grooves 28a and 28b which are intended to receive a circumferential lip 30a of the ear pad 30 and a circumferential lip 26b of the flexible element 26, respectively. The circumferential grooves 28a and 28b preferably open in a radially outward direction, whereas the circumferential lips 30a and 26b preferably protrude in a radially inward direction from the ear pad 30 and the flexible element 26, respectively. Based on the cooperation of the two circumferential grooves 28a and 28b with the corresponding circumferential lips 26b and 30a, the stabilizing ring element 28 may be securely connected to the flexible element 26 and the ear pad 30. It goes without saying that other types of connection could be applied in addition or as an alternative, e.g. gluing.

[0060] As may be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 22 may include a plurality of components, which will be described later. Here it is sufficient to note that the housing includes a main housing element 32.

[0061] The main housing element 32 has a circumferential groove 32a, preferably opening in a radially outward direction, which is intended to receive a circumferential lip 26c of the flexible element 26. Due to the cooperation of the circumferential groove 32a with the circumferential lip 26c, the flexible element 26 may be securely connected to the main housing element 32, and thus to the housing 22. It goes without saying that other types of connection could be applied in addition or as an alternative, e.g. gluing.

[0062] In order to enhance the reproducibility of the movement of the ear pad 30 relative to the housing 22 a pin element 28c integrally formed with the stabilizing ring element 28 and a socket element 32b integrally formed with the main housing element 32 and cooperating with the pin element 28c together form a hinge unit 28c/32b mechanically connecting the stabilizing ring element 28 to the main housing element 32 (see FIG. 4). Preferably, the hinge unit 28c/32b is provided at the upper end of the stabilizing ring element 28 and the main housing element 32. Furthermore, the axis A of the hinge unit 28c/32b preferably extends substantially parallel to a forward-backward direction of the user's head.

[0063] In order to control the movement of the ear pad 30 towards the housing 22, in other words the transfer of the flexible element 26 from its expanded state to its folded state, a Bowden cable-type activation mechanism 34 may be provided (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

[0064] The Bowden cable-type activation mechanism 34 comprises a Bowden-like cable 36 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) having an outer protective sheath 36a and an inner operating cable 36b. A connection element 36a1 fixed to the end 36a2 of the outer protective sheath 36a form-fittingly engages into a corresponding recess 38a1 of an abutment element 38a integrally formed with a lower cover element 38 of the housing 22. Furthermore, a ball-shaped element 36b1 attached to the inner operating cable 36b close to the free end thereof engages into a corresponding recess 28d1 of an abutment element 28d integrally formed with the stabilizing ring element 28. Thus, when pulling the inner operating cable 36b, cooperation of ball-shaped element 36b1 and abutment element 28d pulls the stabilizing ring element 28 and thus the ear pad 30 towards the housing 22 transferring the flexible element 26 to its folded state.

[0065] The ear pad 30 may be maintained in the retracted position by means of a latching mechanism (schematically indicated and denoted by reference numeral 40 in FIG. 5).

[0066] In order to avoid the necessity of separately operating the Bowden-like cable 36b, said Bowden-like cable 36b may be adapted to be connected to a chin strap (not shown) of the helmet 10. Thus, whenever the user pulls the helmet's chin straps, e.g. when putting the helmet 10 on or when loosening the chin straps connection for taking the helmet 10 off, the Bowden-like cables 36b move the ear pads 30 towards the respective housing 22 of the headphone units 20.

[0067] In order to enable the ear pad 30 to substantially automatically return to a position remote from the housing 22, i.e. a position in which it abuts against the user's head, a spring element (schematically indicated and denoted by reference numeral 42 in FIG. 4) may be provided for biasing said ear pad 30 away from said housing 22. And, in order to trigger this return movement, a button (schematically indicated and denoted by reference numeral 44 in FIG. 1) for releasing the latching mechanism 40 may be provided. This button may be located at any suitable position of the helmet 10.

[0068] It should be added here that, as is already known from prior art headphone units, an acoustic mesh 46 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) may be arranged between said stabilizing ring element 28 and said ear pad 30.

[0069] In order to allow access to the backside of the loudspeaker 24, e.g. for connecting a signal supply cable (not shown) to the loudspeaker 24, the housing 22 may comprise an upper cover element 48 which may be secured to the backside of the main housing element 32.

[0070] As a further improvement, the headphone unit 20 according to the present invention may be provided with active noise cancellation properties. To this end, at least one microphone 50 may be mounted to the main housing element 32 substantially in front of the loudspeaker 24 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). Furthermore, an additional microphone 52 may be provided in a space 54 enclosed by the main housing element 32 and the lower cover element 38. Finally, a further microphone (not shown) may be provided outside the headphone unit 20.

[0071] Similar to the stabilizing ring element 28, at least one of the element constituting the housing 22, namely the main housing element 32, the upper cover element 48 and the lower cover element, may be made from a rigid material, e.g. a thermoplastic material, for example, polycarbonate, ABS and the like, e.g. reinforced with fibers, preferably glass fibers.

[0072] FIGS. 7a and 7b show a second embodiment of a headphone unit 120 according to the present invention. The headphone unit 120 of FIGS. 7a and 7b differs from the headphone unit 20 of FIGS. 1 to 6 insofar as only the lower part of the ear pad 130 may be moved towards and away from the housing 122, and as the flexible element 126 which may be transferred between an expanded state (shown in FIG. 7a) and a folded state (shown in FIG. 7b) is provided only in the lower part of the headphone unit 120.

[0073] FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment of a headphone unit 220 according to the present invention. The headphone unit 220 of FIGS. 8 and 9 differs from the headphone units 20 and 120 of the first and second embodiments insofar as the flexible element 226 may be integrated in the ear pad's main body 230b and as an elongate connection element 260 may be connected with its one longitudinal end 260a to a lower end 230c of the ear pad's main body 230b, while its respective other longitudinal end 260b may be connected to a chin strap 262 of the helmet 210.

[0074] When putting a helmet 210 on, the user of the helmet 210 usually grips the chin straps 262 of the helmet 210 and pulls both chin straps 262 sideways away from the head (see left side and arrow A in FIG. 8) or presses the chin straps sideways against the helmet, usually using the thumbs. As the ear pads 230 are connected to the chin straps 262 via the elongate connection elements 260, pulling the chin straps 262 sideways away from the head results in a compression of the flexible element 226 (to be seen in FIG. 9 in the partially broken away area of the surface of the ear pad's main body 230b) of the ear pad 230, thus allowing the helmet 210 to easily pass the user's ears. As soon as the user has put the helmet 210 on, he closes the chin straps 262 in order to secure the helmet 210 to her/his head.

[0075] To this end, the user pulls the chin straps towards each other (see right side and arrow B in FIG. 8), thus allowing or even causing a re-expansion of the compressed flexible elements 226 of the ear pads 230.

[0076] It goes without saying that analogous sideways movements of the chin straps 262 are also performed, when putting the helmet 210 off.

[0077] According to the invention, the flexible element 226 may be made from a compressible material, e.g. a compressible foam material. In order to allow the flexible element 226 to automatically return to its expanded state shown in FIG. 9, the flexible element 226 may be made from an elastically compressible material, e.g. an elastically compressible foam material. It is, however, also conceivable that the ear pad 230 is provided with means 264 (only schematically indicated in FIG. 9) for inflating the flexible element 226. In this context, it may be advantageous if the foam material is an open-pore foam material, preferably having a closed outer surface 226d.

[0078] In order to couple the elongate connection element 260 effectively to the lower part of the ear pad 230 so as to be able to compress the flexible element 226 over at least a predetermined length in circumferential direction of the ear pad 230, preferably over substantially the entire width of the ear pad 230, the elongate connection element 260 may be formed as a strip element. The width of the elongate connection element 260 may, for example, vary from the width of the ear pad 230 at its longitudinal end 260a to the width of the chin straps 262 at its other longitudinal end 260b.

[0079] According to FIGS. 8 and 9, the elongate connection element 260 is connected to the laterally inner side 230d of the ear pad's main body 230b, in order to provide an efficient compression of the flexible element 226. The elongate connection element 260 may, however, be connected to the ear pad's main body 230b as well at a certain distance from the laterally inner side 230d, namely for example at the position indicated in FIGS. 8 and 9 by a dashed line 230e.