Outer shell for a safety helmet

Abstract

The invention relates to an outer shell for a safety helmet (1), in particular for a motorcycle safety helmet, for distributing impact forces, said outer shell having an outer shell material (2). The outer shell is characterized in that, on a side (3) having the outer shell material (2) of the outer shell, the outer shell has a cover (4) having the outer shell material (2) in order to hold an antenna (5) between the cover (4) and the side (3). The invention further relates to a safety helmet (1) having such an outer shell and to a method for producing such an outer shell.

Claims

1. An outer shell for a safety helmet comprising an outer shell material and defining an inner surface of the outer shell comprising the outer shell material, an outer surface of the outer shell, and a cover adjacent said inner surface, the cover comprising the outer shell material, wherein the cover and the outer surface are located on opposite sides of the inner surface; wherein the outer shell is configured to hold an antenna between the cover and the inner surface, wherein an inner layer is held by the outer shell and configured to dampen impact forces, wherein, at at least a portion of the inner layer, there is no outer shell material between at least a portion of the inner surface and said at least a portion of the inner layer, and wherein an antenna feed line is at least in part located between the inner surface and the inner layer and is coupleable with the antenna when the antenna is located between the cover and the inner surface.

2. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the outer shell material comprises a matrix material for a fibre composite material.

3. The outer shell according to claim 2, wherein the outer shell material comprises a fibre-reinforced plastic comprising the plastic as the matrix material and a fibrous material.

4. The outer shell according to claim 3, wherein the fibrous material comprises a glass fibre material.

5. The outer shell according to claim 2, wherein the matrix material comprises a thermoset.

6. The outer shell according to claim 5, wherein the matrix material consists essentially of a thermoset.

7. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the outer shell material comprises a thermoset.

8. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the outer shell material comprises a thermoplastic.

9. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the cover is configured to extend correspondingly to an extent of the antenna.

10. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the cover defines a pocket, which is open in an opening direction configured to receive the antenna therethrough and is closed in a direction opposite the opening direction.

11. The outer shell according to claim 10, wherein the pocket is located between the cover and the inner surface.

12. The outer shell according to claim 10, wherein a longitudinal extension of the pocket is less than a longitudinal extension of the inner layer.

13. The outer shell according claim 1, wherein the cover essentially extends along the inner surface of the outer shell.

14. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the safety helmet defines a motorcycle safety helmet for distributing impact forces.

15. The outer shell according to claim 1, wherein the inner layer defines a recess configured to receive at least a portion of the cover.

16. A safety helmet comprising: an outer shell comprising an outer shell material and defining an inner surface of the outer shell comprising the outer shell material and an outer surface of the outer shell; a cover adjacent said inner surface, the cover comprising the outer shell material, wherein the cover and the outer surface are located on opposite sides of the inner surface; an antenna between the cover and the inner surface; an inner layer held by the outer shell and configured to dampen impact forces; and an antenna feed line coupled with the antenna, wherein at least part of the antenna feed line is located between the inner surface of the outer shell and the inner layer; wherein, at at least a portion of the inner layer, there is no outer shell material between at least a portion of the inner surface and said at least a portion of the inner layer.

17. The safety helmet according to claim 16, configured so that the antenna is removable from the safety helmet.

18. The safety helmet according to claim 16, wherein the safety helmet has a contact assembly configured to electrically connect to a communication device, and the antenna feed line is received by or on the contact assembly to operatively connect the antenna thereto.

19. The safety helmet according to claim 16, wherein no outer shell material is located between said at least part of the antenna feed line and the inner layer.

20. A method comprising: producing an outer shell for a safety helmet, wherein the outer shell comprises an outer shell material and defines an inner surface of the outer shell comprising the outer shell material, an outer surface of the outer shell, and a cover adjacent said inner surface, the cover comprising the outer shell material, the cover and the outer surface are located on opposite sides of the inner surface; the outer shell is configured to hold an antenna between the cover and the inner surface; an inner layer is held by the outer shell and configured to dampen impact forces, wherein at at least a portion of the inner layer, there is no outer shell material between at least a portion of the inner surface and said at least a portion of the inner layer; and the outer shell includes an antenna feed line at least in part located between the inner surface and the inner layer and wherein the antenna feed line is coupleable with said antenna when said antenna is located between the cover and the inner surface, the method further including: on a side of a preform comprising a fibrous material, locating a cover layer comprising the fibrous material, locating a mold core between the side of the preform and the cover layer, and curing a matrix material surrounding the fibrous material of the cover layer and thereby forming the outer shell and the cover, wherein the cover defines a pocket, which is open in said opening direction configured to receive an antenna therethrough and is closed in a direction opposite the opening direction.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein one or more of the preform defines a prepreg preform comprising the matrix material and/or the cover layer defines a prepreg cover layer comprising the matrix material.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising, after the step of locating the cover layer on the side of the preform, introducing the matrix material as a liquid matrix material into the preform and into the cover layer and thereby establishing a substance-to-substance connection between the cover layer and the preform.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other details, features, objectives and advantages are explained in the following description with reference to the Figures, which are understood not to be limiting.

(2) FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a safety helmet with an outer shell; and

(3) FIG. 2 is another perspective partial sectional view of the safety helmet in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) The outer shell in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an integral part of the safety helmet 1, which may form a motorcycle safety helmet. The outer shell is made of an outer shell material 2, for example, a glass-fiber-reinforced plastic. A side 3 of the outer shell for example, as shown here, an inner side of the outer shellhas a cover 4, which is made of the outer shell material 2 and which forms a pocket. In this pocket, in turn, an antenna 5 is arranged in such a way that it is fully covered by the cover 4, thereby being completely held by the pocket. In the case of this antenna 5, it may define an antenna 5 for digital communication, for example, an antenna 5 for Bluetooth communication.

(5) The pocket is only open in one direction, namely the opening direction 6 shown in FIG. 2. In both transverse directions 7a, b and in a direction opposite the opening direction 6i.e., in three directionsthe pocket is closed. The elongated embodiment of the cover 4 and thereby, also the pocket, can be recognized by the fact that the longitudinal extension 8 of the cover 4 exceeds its transverse extension 9. The cover 4 extends along the surface of the side 3 and also follows the surface curvature of the surface of the side 3 caused by the rounding of the outer shell. The corresponding deformation of the antenna 5 by bending strengthens the friction between the antenna 5 and the cover 4, which, in turn, strengthens the corresponding frictional connection for holding the antenna 5 under the cover 4.

(6) Furthermore, the safety helmet 1 has an inner layer 10, which, in at least some embodiments, is used to dampen impact forces due to its material characteristics. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner layer 10 defines a recess 19 configured to receive at least a portion of the cover 4, e.g., cover layer 14. Also, in the illustrated embodiment, at at least a portion of the inner layer, there is no outer shell material between at least a portion of the inner surface and a portion of the inner layer. An antenna feed line 11 of the safety helmet 1 in FIGS. 1 and 2, which extends between the outer shell and the inner layer 10 in the exemplary embodiment shown, is electrically connected to the antenna 5. The antenna feed line 11 is, as is shown in FIG. 1, received by a contact assembly 12. The contact assembly 12 establishes an electrical connection to a communication device 13. The communication device 13, in at least some embodiments, comprises a Bluetooth module for Bluetooth communication.

(7) The outer shell of the safety helmet shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was produced by a cover layer 14which is shown in FIG. 1made of glass fibers arranged on the side 3 of a preformalso made of glass fibers, wherein the preform corresponds to the outer shell without the above cover layer 14. The side 3 of the preform, which, in turn, corresponds to the inner side of the preform, also forms the corresponding side 3 of the then finished outer shell apart from the cover 4.

(8) A mold core (not shown), the dimensions of which essentially correspond to those of the antenna 5, has been arranged between the preform and the cover layer 14. A resin material has been inserted as a liquid matrix material into a mold, into which the preform, the cover layer 14 and the mold core have been arranged, so that this matrix material surrounded the glass fibers of the preform and of the cover layer 14. Curing the matrix material caused a substance-to-substance connection between the glass fibers of the cover layer 14 and the glass fibers of the preform, wherein these glass fibers with the matrix material then form the outer shell material 2 of the outer shell. Then, the mold core is removed and the antenna 5 is placed between the resulting cover 4 and the side 3.

(9) While the above describes certain embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the foregoing description is not intended to limit the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. It should also be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make any variations and modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. All such variations and modifications, including those discussed above, are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.