TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to full face helmets for motor sports and/or motorcycling with a liftable visor, and more particularly to a closing device for such helmets provided with means to close the visor to the chin guard by means of a releasable elastic locking.

BACKGROUND

Full face helmets known in the market have a liftable visor hinged to the shell of the helmet and provided with locking means to the chin guard of the helmet by means of interference with a protrusion on the chin guard. Typically, the locking means of the visor consist of a tab with an eyelet, which is snapped to a protrusion with an undercut installed on the chin guard. When the visor must be lowered, the tab with eyelet is pushed so as to mechanically interfere with the protrusion, which in turn flexes backwards until it clicks elastically forward, returning to the rest position by holding the tab and thereby preventing the accidental opening of the visor. Thanks to the interference between the locking means and the protrusion, the visor is firmly maintained in the closed position. When the visor must be lifted, the user pushes the tab upward to release it from engagement with the protrusion.

With this mechanism, the locking force of the visor depends on the interference that is created between the tab and the protrusion so that, to obtain a sufficiently firm closure, the interference must be significantly increased. This makes it difficult, if not even impossible, to open the visor when the helmet is on someone's head and he is using only one hand while engaged to drive.

Furthermore, the locking force of the visor also depends on the manner in which the visor is mounted. The fixing of the visors of the helmets is not strictly restricted but it is adjustable to compensate for the tolerances of construction and the slight differences existing between the various components. Therefore, the anchor points of the visor to the helmet (which anchoring occurs through screws at the fulcrum of rotation of the visor), are adjustable. Consequently, depending on the arrangement of these adjustments, the interference of the locking mechanism changes significantly. Normally, even users without a specific technical training replace the visor by themselves, so that in the described known helmet the locking force is not carefully controlled and the visor can be opened too easily or with difficulty. For this reason, the replacement of the visor of the described full face helmet should be entrusted to qualified personnel.

SUMMARY

A closing device for a full face helmet that addresses the above mentioned problems has been devised.

Unlike the closing devices of the known full face helmets described above, the closing device of this disclosure has locking means which pinch a pin when the visor is closed, and which must be pressed at the same time on two opposite sides so that they release the pinch on the pin and allow lifting of the visor. This is particularly convenient for the user, who can unlock the visor also with only one hand and even if he is hindered by the use of gloves.

According to an embodiment, the closing device according to the present disclosure has a pin which can be fixed on the chin guard or on the visor so as to protrude from it, and locking means comprising a spring fixable respectively on the visor or on the chin guard and ending with opposite arms that can be spread apart by overcoming an elastic return force of the spring, the opposed arms being configured so as to pinch the pin at least when the visor is in a closed position.

According to an embodiment, the locking means comprise a pivot, which fixable respectively on the visor or on the chin guard, around which the spring is wound.

According to an embodiment, the pin has a substantially cylindrical shape with at least one first transverse groove which defines a housing of the opposed arms when the visor is in the closed position.

Conveniently, the closing device according to the present disclosure has a substantially cylindrical pin with a second transverse groove which defines a housing of the opposed arms when the visor is in a half-open position.

A full face helmet comprising such a closing device is also disclosed.

Further embodiments are defined in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a full face helmet according to this disclosure with a closing device having a pin with a single groove.

Figure 2 is a detail view of the locking means and the pin of the closing device mounted on the helmet of Figure 1.

Figures 3a and 3b show detail views of the locking means of Figure 2 covered by an elastically deformable covering cap respectively with the closed visor and the unlocked visor.

Figures 4a and 4b are respectively longitudinal- and cross-section views of the locking means of Figure 3 a.

Figure 5 shows an embodiment of a full face helmet according to this disclosure with a closing device having a pin with two grooves.

Figure 6 is a detail view of the locking means and the pin of the closing device mounted on the helmet of Figure 5.

Figures 7a and 7b show detail views of the locking means of Figure 6 covered by an elastically deformable covering cap respectively with the closed visor and the unlocked visor.

Figures 8a and 8b are respectively longitudinal- and cross-section views of the locking means of Figure 7a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A full-face helmet comprising a closing device according to one embodiment of this disclosure is shown in Figure 1. The closing device is shown inside of the dotted perimeter and is shown in the detail view of Figure 2. According to this embodiment, the closing mechanism comprises a pin 3, which in the example of the figure is fixed to the chin guard of the helmet, for example in a central position, and locking means 4, 5a, 5b, 6 which are fixed to visor 2 and are locked in a releasable manner to pin 3.

According to an alternative embodiment not shown in the figures, the locking means are fixed to the chin guard while pin 3 is fixed to visor 2. This solution is less preferred and for this reason it will not be discussed in detail in the following discussion. However, what is described below can be repeated mutatis mutandis for the alternative embodiment.

The locking means comprise a spring 4, preferably consisting of a metal wire, fixed to the visor. Spring 4 is configured so as to have the two opposed arms 5a and 5b which can be moved away from each other only by overcoming the elastic return force.

According to the embodiment shown in the figure, a pivot 6 is fixed to the visor and spring 4 is wound around pivot 6. However, spring 4 may be fixed to the visor (or the chin guard) without the use of pivot 6, for example by mechanically constraining a portion of the spring with one or more hooks.

The opposed arms 5a and 5b can be obtained for example by winding a central portion of a steel wire for springs around pivot 6 and by suitably configuring the wire ends so that when visor 2 is closed, the opposed arms 5a and 5b pinch pin 3 due to the elastic return force of spring 4, while keeping visor 2 closed on the chin guard.

To protect spring 4 from the weather and to prevent dirt to pervade it, the locking means can be protected by a cap 7, for example of rubber, as shown in figure 3a. By pressing cap 7 on opposite sides in the direction indicated by the arrows, arms 5a and 5b are spread apart, so that they release the pinch on pin 3, thus allowing visor 2 to be lifted.

Conveniently, pin 3 is shaped so as to have a head having a cross-section (i.e. orthogonal to the axis of the pin) greater than the cross-section of a portion of the stem.

This can be achieved for example with a substantially cylindrical pin 3 provided with at least one groove 8a in which, when visor 2 is closed, the opposed arms 5a and 5b of the spring will be arranged and locked therein by the elastic return force.

The locking force can be easily set at the design stage by determining the diameter of the wire of the spring, the hardness of the spring, the shape and depth of the grooves.

Thus, the locking force is preset and not affected by how the visor is mounted on the helmet, so that the visor can be replaced without contraindications also by unqualified personnel. During the design stage the pressure to be exerted with the fingers on the spring to actuate the opening of the mechanism is also set, which pressure is optimized to facilitate the operation with one hand even with gloves on.

The known mechanism discussed in the introductory part of this disclosure is more subject to open accidentally when it receives an accidental hit just at the point of closure, such as a stone or an object that impacts against the helmet just at that point.

Otherwise, the system of this disclosure only opens if the pressure on the spring is exerted from both sides toward the inside, that is an event that is extremely unlikely to occur accidentally.

According to a particularly convenient embodiment, illustrated in the cross- and front- section views of Figures 4a and 4b, pin 3 is screwed on the chin guard so that it can be easily replaced for example in case of damage or wear. The section views show spring 4 wound around pivot 6 screwed on the visor 2, the opposed arms 5a and 5b of spring 4 housed in groove 8a that tighten pin 3 by interfering with the head of the pin, having a cross-section greater than the cross section of the stem of pin 3 at groove 10a, and that prevent an accidental opening of visor 2.

Another embodiment of a closing device for full face helmets according to this disclosure is shown in Figures 5, 6, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, which are respectively similar to Figures 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b and show a pin 3 with two grooves 8a and 8b. When the opposed arms 5a and 5b are housed in the first groove 8a, visor 2 is closed; when the arms are housed in the second groove 8b (configuration not shown in the figures), visor 2 is not completely closed but it is spaced from the chin guard so as to leave a narrow opening to facilitate the aeration inside helmet 1. With pin 3 shown in Figures 5, 6, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, the user can decide whether to lock the visor of the helmet in a fully closed position (arms 5a and 5b housed in groove 8a), or lock it in a slightly open position (arms 5a and 5b housed in groove 8b). Whatever the chosen configuration is, visor 2 will not open accidentally because of the interference between the arms 5a and 5b and pin 3, but it will open only when the user overcomes the force of the spring by spreading arms 5a and 5b and at the same time raising visor 2.

The fact that pin 3 is simply screwed on the chin guard allows to easily replace the pin with one groove with a pin with two grooves, or vice versa, even after the purchase of the helmet, to meet changing needs of the user.

The claims as filed are an integral part of this description and are incorporated herein by express reference.