PROTECTIVE HELMET WITH A SHELL AND A MOVABLE VISOR

Abstract

A protective helmet with a movable visor. The protective helmet includes a shell with an open facial region as well as the visor. The visor is movable between a first position, in which the visor at least partially covers said open facial region and at least one second position, in which the visor lies on the shell substantially outside of the open facial region. The visor includes at least one first element of a detachable fastening element arranged on an edge of the visor. The shell includes at least two second elements of the detachable fastening element arranged on the shell such that each of the second elements of the detachable fastening element may hold the visor in the first and said at least one second position, respectively, by forming a releasable connection with the first element.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A protective helmet comprising a shell with an open facial region and a movable visor, said visor being movable between a first position, in which the visor at least partially covers said open facial region and at least one second position, in which said visor lies on said shell substantially outside of the open facial region, wherein the visor comprises at least one first element of a detachable fastening means arranged on an edge of the visor, and wherein the shell comprises at least two second elements of the detachable fastening means arranged on the shell such that each of said second elements of the detachable fastening means may hold the visor in said first and said at least one second position, respectively, by forming a releasable connection with the first element of the detachable fastening means arranged on said visor, and wherein the visor is further attached to the shell by at least two flexible elements which are arranged on two opposing lateral sides of the visor.

14. The protective helmet according to claim 13, wherein said at least two flexible elements are made of a non-elastic material.

15. The protective helmet according to claim 13, wherein said at least two flexible elements are strings, ropes, cables or straps.

16. The protective helmet according to claim 13, wherein said at least one first element and said at least two second elements of the detachable fastening means are magnets or a magnet and a ferromagnetic element.

17. The protective helmet according to claim 16, wherein the at least two second elements of the releasable fastening means are magnets or ferromagnetic elements which are embedded in the shell.

18. The protective helmet according to claim 13, wherein said visor comprises two first elements of the detachable fastening means, said two first elements being arranged on opposite lateral edges of the visor, wherein the shell comprises at least two pairs of second elements of the detachable fastening means, said at least two pairs of second elements being arranged on the shell such that a first pair of said at least two pairs of the second elements may form a releasable connection with the two first elements arranged on said visor when said visor is in the first position, and at least one second pair of said at least two pairs of second elements may form a releasable connection with the two first elements arranged on said visor when said visor is in the second position.

19. The protective helmet according to claim 17, wherein said visor comprises two additional first elements of the detachable fastening means arranged on an upper side of the visor, wherein the shell comprises two additional pairs of second elements of the detachable fastening means arranged on the shell, said at least two additional pairs of second elements being arranged on the shell such that a first additional pair of said at least two additional pairs of the second elements may form a releasable connection with the two additional first elements arranged on said visor when said visor is in the first position, and at least one second additional pair of said at least two additional pairs of second elements may form a releasable connection with the two additional first elements arranged on said visor when said visor is in the second position.

20. The protective helmet according to claim 13, wherein the visor comprises at least one first form-fit element and the shell comprises at least one second form-fit element, said at least one first form-fit element and said at least one second form-fit element being shaped and dimensioned such as to engage into a positive lock when the visor is in said first position.

21. The protective helmet according to claim 13, wherein said at least two flexible elements are removably connected to the shell and/or to the visor.

22. The protective helmet according to claim 20, wherein said at least two flexible elements each are connected at one end to an anchoring element, said anchoring element being removably connected to the shell or to the visor.

23. A shell for a protective helmet with an open facial region which may at least be partially covered by a visor, wherein said shell comprises: a) two connection areas which may each be removably connected with an anchoring element through a form-fit or force-fit connection; or b) at least two flexible elements, each having a first end and a second end, which are each permanently affixed on the shell at the first end and which each comprise an anchoring element at the second end.

24. A visor for a protective helmet, wherein said visor comprises: a) two flexible elements which are permanently affixed to the visor on two opposing lateral sides of the visor at a first end, said two flexible elements each comprising an anchoring element at a second end; or b) two connection areas arranged on two opposing lateral sides of the visor, said connection areas being able to be removably connected each with an anchoring element by a form-fit or force-fit connection.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] The drawings used to explain the embodiments show:

[0050] FIG. 1 an exploded view of an embodiment of a protective helmet according to the present invention;

[0051] FIG. 2 the protective helmet of FIG. 1 where the visor is in the first position;

[0052] FIG. 3 a transition of the visor from the first position to the second position;

[0053] FIG. 4 the protective helmet according to FIG. 1 where the visor is in the second position;

[0054] FIG. 5 a longitudinal cut of the protective helmet according to FIG. 1.

[0055] In the figures, the same components are given the same reference symbols.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0056] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of an embodiment of a protective helmet 1 according to the present invention. The protective helmet 1 comprises a shell 2 as well as a visor 3 which is movable from a first position (see FIG. 2) to at least one second position (see FIG. 4). The shell 2 comprises a rigid outer layer as well as a dampening layer made of foam material which protects the head of a user of the protective helmet 1 from strokes. The shell 2 is formed and dimensioned such as to provide an optimal protection for the head of the user. The protective helmet 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is designed as bicycle helmet. However a protective helmet 1 according to the present invention may also be designed to protect a user in different activities, such as climbing, skiing or motorcycling. In the first position, the visor 3 covers the face of the user at least partially and the eyes completely. The first position may therefore also be called riding position.

[0057] The shell 2 has an open facial region 8 which is at least partially covered by the visor 3 when said visor 3 is in the first position. The visor 2 comprises a frame 4 as well as a pane of transparent material 5 which is rigidly attached to the frame 4. The frame 4 comprises a first pair of first elements 10.1, 10.2 of a detachable fastening means. Each element of the first pair of first elements 10.1, 10.2 is arranged on opposing lateral sides 6.1, 6.2 of the frame. Further, the frame 4 includes an additional pair of first elements 10.3, 10.4 which are also embedded in the frame 4 on an upper side 7 thereof. In the first position, the visor 3 snuggly abuts the rim 7 of the shell 2.

[0058] The shell 2 comprises a first pair of second elements 11.1, 11.2 as well a first additional pair of second elements 11.3, 11.4 of the detachable fastening means, all embedded in a rim 9 of the shell 2 which borders the open facial region 8. The second elements 11.1-11.4 are arranged on the rim 9 such as to match the position of the first elements 10.1-10.4 in the frame 4 of the visor 3 when said visor 3 is in the first position. By interaction of the first elements 10.1-10.4 with the first pair and first additional pair of second elements 11.1-11.4 of the detachable fastening means, the visor 3 is removably held in the first position. The first elements 10.1-10.4 as well as the first pair and first additional pair of second elements 11.1-11.4 are magnets in the embodiment as shown. In order to provide a removable attachment of the visor 3 to the shell 2, the magnets are oriented such that the magnets used as first elements 10.1-10.4 are attracted to the magnets used as second elements 11.1-11.4, i.e. by orienting the poles of the magnets accordingly.

[0059] The shell comprises a second pair of second elements 12.1, 12.2 as well as a second additional pair of second elements 12.3, 12.4 which releasably secure the visor 3 in a second position. In the second position, the visor 3 does not protrude into the open facial region 8 of the shell 2. The second position is a storing position in which the visor 3 may be placed when no protection of the eyes or the face is needed or when the protective helmet is not in use. The second elements 12.1-12.4 of the second pairs are arranged in the shell 2 such as to match the position of the first elements 10.1-10.4 of the visor 3 when said visor 3 is in the second position.

[0060] In order to facilitate the movement of the visor 3 from the first position into the second position, the visor 3 is connected to the shell 2 by means of two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2. A first end of each of the flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 is connected to the frame 4 of the visor 3 at both lateral sides 6.1, 6.2 thereof. A second end of each of the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 is connected to the rim 9 of the shell 3. In the embodiment shown, the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 are strings with a length that is sufficient to allow the visor 3 to be moved in a slide like motion over the shell 2 from the first position to the second position and vice versa. The provision of these two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 provides guidance for the users of the protective helmet 2 when moving the visor 3 between both positions as the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 largely prohibit lateral movements of the visor 3. Further, the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 also prevent the accidental loss of the visor 3.

[0061] In the embodiment shown, the second end of the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 are each attached to an anchoring element 14.1, 14.2 which is releasably coupled to the shell 2. With such a configuration it is possible to detach the visor 3 from the shell 2, for example for cleaning purposes or to replace a broken visor 3 with a new one.

[0062] FIG. 2 shows the protective helmet 1 according to FIG. 1. The visor 3 is in the first position where it substantially completely covers the open facial region 8 of the shell 2. In this position, the first elements 10.1-10.4 of the detachable fastening means interact with the first pair and the first additional pair of second elements 11.1-11.4 in order to hold the visor 3 in the first position. The flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 are located beneath the visor 3 and lie under the rim 9 of the open facial region 8 of the shell 2. The visor 3 abuts on the rim 9.

[0063] FIG. 3 shows a transition of the visor 3 from the first position to the second position. The visor 3 is being moved in the direction of the arrow from the first position into the second position. The first elements 10.1-10.4 of the detachable fastening means are detached from the first and first additional pair of second elements 11.1-11.4. During the transition, the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 are strained and limit the movement of the visor 3 in any direction other than the transition direction given by the arrow on the figure. Hence, the two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 act as guides for the movement of the visor 3 between the two positions.

[0064] FIG. 4 shows the protective helmet 1 according to FIG. 1 where the visor 3 is in the second position. In this position, the first elements 10.1-10.4 of the detachable fastening means are coupled to the second pair and to the second additional pair of second elements 12.1-12.4. The two flexible elements 13.1, 13.2 are almost strained. Further, the visor 3 does not protrude into the open facial region 8 of the shell 2 but instead lies substantially completely on the shell 2.

[0065] FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal cut of the protective helmet 1 according to FIG. 1. The visor 3 is in the first position according to FIG. 2. In this figure, the interaction of the first elements 10.1-10.4 of the detachable fastening means with the first pair and with the first additional pair of second elements 11.1-11.4 is well visible. Note that the positions of the first elements 10.1-10.4 as well as the first pair and first additional pair of second elements 11.1-11.4 are indicated by dashed lines, as these elements would not be visible from the inside of the protective helmet 1.