Helmet faceguard retaining device

Abstract

A faceguard retaining device has a base with underlying portion extending along a surface of a helmet shell. A latch, pivotally mounted to the base, has a hooked part, a pair of nubs and a pair of trunnions, the nibs and trunnions being in grooves of the base when the latch is in a closed and locked condition to prevent the latch from opening. A clip engaged to the latch and base biases the latch closed. A stabilizer is in a stabilizer groove of the base and a plate extends over the underlying portion. A fastener fastens the plate and base to the shell to resists bending of the underlying portion. The latch is lifted from the underlying portion to lift the nubs from the grooves and allow the latch to pivot upwardly into an open condition.

Claims

1. A quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device, comprising: a base defining a shock stabilizer receiving groove for receiving a wire of a faceguard, a pair of spaced apart grooves, and an underlying portion for extending along a surface of a shell of a helmet to which a faceguard is to be attached; a latch pivotally mounted to the base, the latch comprising a front hooked part, a pair of nubs extending outwardly from the latch near a rear end of the latch, a pair of trunnions extending outwardly from the latch near the rear end of the latch and below the nubs, the trunnions being mounted for pivoting in the apart grooves, near lower ends of the apart grooves, and the nubs extending in the apart grooves near upper ends of the apart grooves when the latch is in a closed and locked condition to prevent the latch from pivoting; a clip made of resilient material and engaged to the latch and to the base for biasing the latch to pivot to the closed and locked condition, the clip being adapted to exert closing forces on the latch and the base, so that the retaining device is biased toward the closed condition; a shock stabilizer located in the shock stabilizer receiving groove of the base, the base, the shock stabilizer and the latch being adapted to cooperatively define a receiving aperture in a closed condition for securing a faceguard wire in the device; a plate extending over at least part of the underlying portion; and a fastener for fastening the plate and the base to the helmet shell so that the plate resists permanent bending of the underlying portion away from the helmet shell; the latch being lifted away from the underlying portion against the bias of the clip to lift the nubs from the grooves and allow the latch to pivot upwardly into an open condition for receiving and for releasing the faceguard wire.

2. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the shock stabilizer is of a softer material than the base.

3. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the shock stabilizer comprises rubber.

4. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base comprises a thermoplastic polymer.

5. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base is made of a hard polycarbonate.

6. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener.

7. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener, the grommet being a shock-absorbing disc.

8. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener, the grommet comprising SURLYN.

9. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener, the grommet comprising the shock absorbing disc with a platform and a raised surface, the plate having a opening for receiving the raised surface.

10. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener, the grommet comprising the shock absorbing disc with a platform and a raised surface, the plate having a opening for receiving the raised surface, the raised surface comprising two opposed crescents arranged to accommodate a curvature of the grommet opening, the plate including an opening for each crescent.

11. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener, the fastener comprising a screw and T-nut.

12. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening, and a spacer located in the grommet opening for receiving the fastener.

13. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the base has a concave curvature along an underside of the underlying portion for following a contour of the helmet shell.

14. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein the latch includes a rearwardly extending wing for facilitating lifting of the latch vertically.

15. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 1, wherein each groove includes a larger diameter bottom end and narrower upper portion for releasably retaining the trunnions in the bottom ends of the grooves.

16. A quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device, comprising: a base defining a shock stabilizer receiving groove for receiving a wire of a faceguard, a pair of spaced apart grooves, and an underlying portion for extending along a surface of a shell of a helmet to which the faceguard is to be attached; a latch pivotally mounted to the base, the latch comprising a hooked part near a forward end of the latch, a pair of trunnions extending outwardly from the latch near the rear end of the latch, the trunnions being mounted for pivoting in the apart grooves, near lower ends of the apart grooves, into a closed condition; a clip engaged to the latch and to the base for biasing the latch to pivot to the closed condition, the clip being adapted to exert closing forces on the latch and the base, so that the retaining device is biased to the closed condition; a shock stabilizer located in the shock stabilizer receiving groove of the base, the base, the shock stabilizer and the latch being adapted to cooperatively define a receiving aperture in a closed condition for securing the faceguard wire in the device; a plate extending over at least part of the underlying portion; and a fastener for fastening the plate and the base to the helmet shell so that the plate resists permanent bending of the underlying portion away from the helmet shell.

17. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 16, wherein the latch includes a pair of nubs extending outwardly from the latch near a rear end of the latch, the nubs extending in the apart grooves near upper ends of the apart grooves when the latch is in the closed condition to prevent the latch from pivoting into an open condition.

18. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 16, wherein the base has a grommet receiving opening, the device including a grommet located in the opening of the base, the grommet defining a grommet opening for receiving the fastener, the grommet comprising the shock absorbing disc with a platform and a raised surface, the plate having a opening for receiving the raised surface.

19. A quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device, comprising: a base defining a shock stabilizer receiving groove for receiving a wire of a faceguard, a pair of spaced apart grooves, and an underlying portion for extending along a surface of a shell of a helmet to which the faceguard is to be attached; a latch pivotally mounted to the base, the latch comprising a hooked part near a forward end of the latch, a pair of nubs extending outwardly from the latch near a rear end of the latch, a pair of trunnions extending outwardly from the latch near the rear end of the latch, the trunnions being mounted for pivoting in the apart grooves, near lower ends of the apart grooves, and the nubs extending in the apart grooves near upper ends of the apart grooves when the latch is in a closed and locked condition to prevent the latch from pivoting; a clip made of resilient material and engaged to the latch and to the base for biasing the latch to pivot to the closed and locked condition, the clip being adapted to exert closing forces on the latch and the base, so that the retaining device is biased to the closed condition; a shock stabilizer located in the shock stabilizer receiving groove of the base, the base, the shock stabilizer and the latch being adapted to cooperatively define a receiving aperture in a closed condition for securing the faceguard wire in the device; and a fastener for fastening the base to the helmet shell; the latch being liftable away from the underlying portion against the bias of the clip to lift the nubs from the grooves and allow the latch to pivot upwardly into an open condition for receiving and releasing the faceguard wire.

20. The quick-release helmet faceguard retaining device of claim 19, including a plate extending over at least part of the underlying portion, the fastener fastening the plate and the base to the helmet shell so that the plate resists permanent bending of the underlying portion away from the helmet shell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a top rear side perspective view of the quick-release retaining device of the invention in a closed and locked condition;

(2) FIG. 2 is a sectional view through the approximate middle of the device in the closed condition with a faceguard wire locked in the device and the device attached to a helmet shell for use;

(3) FIG. 3 is a sectional view through one side wall of the base of the device in the closed condition to show the locking mechanism of the device;

(4) FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, of the device in an open and unlocked condition; and

(5) FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the base and latch of the device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(6) Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a quick-release faceguard retaining device 10 of the invention, for holding a faceguard wire 100 to the shell 110 of a helmet, using a screw 112 threaded to a T-nut 114, extending through a base of the device.

(7) With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, base 12 has an underlying portion 14 that is continuous with a curved portion 16 and an overlying portion 18. The overlying portion 18 consists of two parallel arms which partially extend over the length of the underlying portion 14. The underside of the base 12 has a concave curvature to accommodate the curvature of a typical sports helmet shell 110.

(8) The curved portion 16 defines a faceguard wire receiving groove 16a which contains a shock stabilizer 22 of rubber or other firm but resilient material. As seen in FIG. 2, the shock stabilizer 22 has a main portion 24 and a backward-projecting legs 26. The shock stabilizer 22 is secured to the base 12 by sliding the backward-projecting legs 26 into a receiving groove 20 of the base 12, shown best in FIG. 5. The main portion 24 of the shock stabilizer 22 is forwardly concave so as to receive and secure the faceguard wire 100 which is pressed against this concave surface to compress the stabilizer 22 slightly when the device is in its closed and locked condition illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

(9) In a typical embodiment, the shock stabilizer 22 is made of a softer material than the material from which the base 12 is made. The relative softness of the shock stabilizer 22 allows for some give, in the event of impact against the faceguard from an axially-opposed force, such as from another helmet or the ground. Preferably, the shock stabilizer 22 is made of rubber as noted, and the base 12 is made of a hard polycarbonate. These are non-limiting examples, as the base 12 and shock stabilizer 22 may each be made of any convenient material such that there is a differential in hardness between them.

(10) As seen in FIG. 1, the retaining device 10 also has a T-shaped top latch 28 secured in a hinged manner to the base 12. Specifically, lateral projections or trunnions 72 on the latch 28 that are visible in FIGS. 3 and 4, sit in the lower end or bottom of vertically elongated grooves 74, in opposite inside surfaces of the overlying portions 18 of the base 12.

(11) The latch 28 has a front hooked part 30. In the locked condition, the hooked part 30 presses the faceguard wire 100 down against the underlying portion 14 of the base 12 and back against the shock stabilizer 22. Thus, when the hooked part 30 is in its down, closed and locked position, the latch 28, the base 12, and the shock stabilizer 22 define a receiving aperture for enclosing the wire 100 of a faceguard as shown in FIG. 2.

(12) In a preferred embodiment, this receiving aperture that includes the faceguard wire receiving groove 16a, has an arcuate cross-section. However, it is within the scope of the invention for the receiving aperture to have a cross section of any convenient shape, in accordance with the profile of the particular faceguard wire to be accommodated.

(13) The base 12 and the latch 28 are further secured by a substantiality C-shaped clip 46. As shown in FIG. 2, the clip 46 has curved parts 40 at either end, so that it may be secured within a clip-receiving groove 42 at the rear center of the base 12 between the two parts of the curved portion 16, at one end and within a clip-receiving groove of the latch 28 at the other end. The clip 46 exerts constant closing forces on the latch 28 and the base 12, so that the retaining device 10 is biased to the closed condition.

(14) In order to lock the latch 28 in its closed condition, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, latch 28 has a pair of laterally extending nubs or ears 48, which, in the closed position of the latch shown in FIG. 3, sit inside the grooves 74, near the tops of these grooves. In this position, the ears or nubs 48 prevent the latch 28 from pivoting upwardly toward its open position because any such upward force is resisted by the nubs 48 pressing back against rear walls 74a of the grooves 74. In this way, the device 10 will not open when, for example, a pulling force is exerted on the faceguard, e.g. during a play.

(15) In order to unlock the latch 28, so that it can pivot on its trunnions 72 to its open condition shown in FIG. 4, one may use a thumb to engage under a rearwardly extending wing 50 of the latch, and a forefinger to engage under the hooked part 30 of the latch, to lift the latch 28 vertically upwardly against the bias of clip 46, until the nubs 48 clear the tops of rear walls 74a so that the latch can then be pivoted upwardly. As the latch pivots upwardly the nubs 48 move rearwardly and, when the latch is release, come to rest behind the walls 74a as shown in FIG. 4.

(16) To help retain the trunnions 72 in the bottom of their respective grooves 74, and as best seen in FIG. 5, each groove 74 has a slight circular enlargement at its bottom, starting at location 74b. Above this location 74b, each groove 74 is slightly narrower than the diameter of its trunnion 72. In this way, when the latch is pulled upwardly to unlock it, each trunnion 72 is pulled up into the narrower part of its groove 74. Due to the resilience of the plastic materials used for the base and latch, this small miss-match of dimensions can be accommodated. Once the latch is pivoted open, it is then pushed or release down into the position of FIG. 4. This results in the trunnions being pushed down past the locations 74b and causing a snapping effect as the trunnions are seated at the bottom of each groove, to give the user a clear signal that the latch is open and properly in place. As similar snapping effect occurs when the latch is moved to its closed and locked condition.

(17) A faceguard wire can then be removed from or insert into the receiving groove 16a. To then close the latch 28, it is again lifted with the aide of wing 50 and hooked part 30, and pivoted downwardly to return to the closed and locked condition of FIG. 3.

(18) As noted, the clip 46 exerts constant closing forces on the latch 28 and the base 12, which biases the retaining device 10 in the closed condition.

(19) Typical embodiments of the invention also include a grommet 58 located in an opening 78 in the base 12. The retaining device 10 may be secured to a sports helmet by the screw 112 passed through an opening 56 in the grommet 58. The screw 112 is passed further into the T-nut 114 inside the sports helmet shell 110. The screw 112 and T-nut 114 fix the base 12 to the helmet shell. In certain embodiments, there is a spacer 60 located in the opening 56 of the grommet 58.

(20) In typical embodiments, the grommet 58 is shock-absorbing disc having a two-tiered structure, including a platform base 62 and a raised surface 64, as best understood with reference to FIG. 2. The raised surface 64 is composed of two opposed crescents arranged to accommodate curvature of the spacer 60. The raised surface 64 is disposed in surrounding relation to the opening 56.

(21) As best observed in FIG. 2, the raised surfaces 64 protrudes slightly above the surface of the base 12 and extend into corresponding openings 70a of a retaining plate 70 made of spring steel or other strong material and also visible in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. When the screw 112 is moved into the opening 56 of base 12, it also passes through an opening 70b in plate 70. When securely threaded to T-nut 114, the screw 112 also pressed the plate 70 onto the raised surfaces 64, keeping the plate centered on the base and pressing the plate toward the helmet shell 110. In this way the underlying portion 14 of the base 12 is kept from being permanently bent outwardly away from the helmet shell 110, e.g. due to a strong pull on the faceguard, by virtue of the spring steel plate 70 which will resist such force and, in any case, return the base 12 to its correct location, firmly against the helmet shell, after a pull.

(22) In preferred embodiments, the grommet 58 is composed of SURLYN, but other materials may be used such as any synthetic or natural material that may be shaped when soft and then hardened, including many types of resins, resinoids, and polymers (Nylon, Polyester, Acetal, Polypropylene). These may be used, alone or in combination.

(23) In preferred embodiments, the base 12 has a width of about 0.800 inches to 1.000 inches, and most preferably has a width of about 0.890 inches in the region which houses the grommet 58 and about 0.830 inches in the region where the hinged connection is formed with the latch 28. The base 12 has a preferred height in the range of about 0.850 inches to about 1.050 inches, and most preferably has a height of about 0.934 inches. The base 12 has a preferred length of about 1.300 inches to 3.300 inches, and most preferably a length of about 2.270 inches. The distance from the edge of the overlying portion 18 of the base 12 downward to the underlying portion 14 is preferably in the range of about 0.200 inches to about 0.400 inches, and most preferably about 0.320 inches. The distance between the parallel arms 34 of the overlying portion 18 is preferably in the range of about 0.300 inches to about 0.500 inches, and most preferably about 0.390 inches.

(24) The latch 28 has a preferred height in the range of about 0.450 inches to 0.650 inches, and most preferably 0.560 inches. The latch 28 has a preferred length in the range of about 1.250 inches to about 1.450 inches and most preferably a length of about 1.360 inches. The width of the latch 28 from one end of the hooked part 30 to the other is preferably in the range of about 0.700 inches to 0.900 inches and most preferably about 0.790 inches. The width of the latch 28 from the ends of lateral projections 72 is preferably about 0.500 inches to 0.700 inches, and most preferably 0.580 inches. The width of the latch in the area between the hooked part 30 and the lateral projections 72 is preferably about 0.300 inches to 0.500 inches and most preferably about 0.380 inches.

(25) The C-shaped clip 46 has a thickness preferably in the range of about 0.050 inches to 0.250 inches and most preferably about 0.140 inches. The C-shaped clip 46 has a width preferably of about 0.275 inches to 0.475 inches and most preferably about 0.375 inches. The C-shaped clip 46 preferably has a height of about 0.550 inches to about 0.750 inches and most preferably about 0.670 inches.

(26) The shock stabilizer 22 preferably has a length, measured from the edge of the backward-projecting legs 26 to the edge of the main portion 24 of about 0.200 inches to about 0.400 inches and most preferably about 0.310 inches.

(27) The grommet 58 has a diameter of about 0.300 inches to about 0.500 inches, and preferably about 0.380 inches. The grommet opening 56 preferably has a diameter in the range of about 0.200 inches to 0.400 inches, and most preferably about 0.316 inches. The height of the platform base 62 is preferably about 0.050 inches to about 0.150 inches, and most preferably about 0.100 inches. The length of the platform base 62 is preferably about 0.600 inches to 0.800 inches and most preferably 0.710 inches. The height from the top of the raised surface to the bottom of the platform base 62 is preferably about 0.100 inches to 0.300 inches, and most preferably about 0.188 inches.

(28) The spacer 60 preferably has a diameter of about 0.330 inches to about 0.300 inches and most preferably about 0.313 inches. The diameter of the opening of the spacer is preferably about 0.170 inches to 0.160 inches and most preferably 0.166 inches.

(29) While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. It will also be understood that the present invention includes any combination of the features and elements disclosed herein and any combination of equivalent features. The exemplary embodiments shown herein are presented for the purposes of illustration only and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Thus, all the features of all the embodiments disclosed herein are interchangeable so that any element of any embodiment may be applied to any of the embodiments taught herein.