VISENZI, Giuseppe (Via della Bornata, 117, Brescia, I-25123, IT)
CLAIMS
1. Helmet equipped with a cover (11) open at the front and with two side bands (15) that project at the front with front edges (16) and a visor (12) mobile between an open raised position and a closed lowered position, the visor extending downwards with a protective part (14) to also cover the chin area, the protective part having rear side edges (17) that are intended to face the front edges (16) of the two side bands (15) when the visor is in closed position, characterized in that the protective part (14) of the visor is made with lower rigidity than the cover (11) and between each rear side edge (17) of the protective part and the corresponding front edge (16) of the side band there are clasp means (21, 22) that when the visor is closed couple together to make a connection of the edges that opposes movements transversal to the opening-closing direction of the visor so that in the case of a frontal impact upon the visor the protective part (14) of the visor can deform to produce an impact absorption effect that discharges onto the side bands (15) of the helmet.
2. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that the visor is made from polycarbonate.
3. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover is made from technopolymers with inner coating made from impact-absorbing yielding material.
4. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that the clasp means comprise a tongue (21) projecting from the rear side edge of the protective part and that engages in a matching seat (22) in the front edge of the side band.
5. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective part has ribs (19) to stiffen it with respect to the rest of the visor. 6. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that on the inner face of the protective part there is a layer (20) of impact-absorbing yielding material
7. Helmet according to claim 6, characterized in that the layer (20) is made from polyurethane . 8. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that in an area of the visor near to one of the two edges there are means (23, 24) for locking the visor in closed position and that can be manually released to open the visor.
9. Helmet according to claim 8, characterized in that the locking means comprise a seat-and-pin snap coupling (23, 24) that can be released by manual deformation towards the outside of said visor area. |
HELMET WITH INTEGRATED PROTECTION IN THE VISOR
The present invention refers to a helmet, in particular for motor vehicles. In the field so-called "integral" helmets and so-called "Jet" helmets are known. It is widely considered that the former type offers greater safety, since they are also closed in the chin area and have greater rigidity in the front area. Moreover, they offer better protection from air and from adverse weather conditions. On the other hand, Jet helmets, being completely open at the front, are easier to wear and have an air circulation that makes them preferable in the summer and in city traffic. Jet helmets have been proposed equipped with a visor that extends as far as the chin, but the protection offered is substantially just against air and adverse weather conditions. Indeed, in the case of a frontal impact the visor bends, opening at the sides and offering substantially zero resistance to the impact. Sometimes such protection, when lowered, can make the Jet helmet look similar to an integral helmet. However, the safety upon impact is still that of a normal Jet helmet offering frontal protection around the chin that is hinged to the helmet to rotate upwards . Helmets have also been proposed that have a similar structure to Jet helmets, but that are equipped with a mobile chinguard element, which can be coupled with the Jet helmet or that can rotate, independently or as a unit with the visor, between a raised position and an operative position to offer protection of the chin similar to that offered by an integral helmet.
For this purpose, the technology of the field has attempted to make such a mobile element as strong as possible to bring its strength close to that of the rest of the helmet and make it as similar as possible to that of the corresponding part of an integral helmet. An example of such a helmet is described in EP 1 346 654. In such a patent a helmet is proposed equipped with a visor in two parts, the first transparent part is to protect the eyes whereas the second part is arranged at chin height and is made with impact resistance substantially identical to that of the cover of the helmet .
The owner of the present application has found that, contrary to what one might think, the common idea of having to make the part of the chinguard of comparable strength to the strength of the rest of the helmet is detrimental to safety, and that, instead, a structure purposefully made less strong but suitably reacting with the rest of the helmet allows the degree of safety of the Jet helmet to be raised to the point of exceeding the safety of a normal integral helmet. Indeed, the owner of the application has found that in the case of an integral helmet or a Jet helmet with a chinguard made to have a structure of comparable strength to that of an integral helmet, in the case of frontal impacts the helmet is pushed violently backwards onto the head of the user and the chin strap that holds the helmet on the head discharges the impact force onto the articulation part of the lower jaw, fracturing it. The concept followed by all experts that in order to increase the safety of a helmet it has to be provided with a part that protects the chin area with a
comparable strength to that of the rest of the helmet is thus incorrect. Jet helmets that follow this principle therefore take on the drawbacks of integral helmets rather than improving safety. However, known jet helmets supplied with the simple protection offered by the visor extending in the chin area do not achieve any additional safety compared to a conventional Jet helmet without a visor extending in the chin area and therefore are still unsatisfactory for safety. The general purpose of the present invention is to avoid the aforementioned drawbacks by providing an innovative Jet helmet, but with an integrated protection in the visor that increases the safety of the helmet compared to that offered by known helmets. In view of such a purpose it has been thought of to make, according to the invention, a helmet equipped with a cover open at the front and with two side bands that project at the front with front edges and a visor mobile between an open raised position and a closed lowered position, the visor extending downwards with a protective part to also cover the chin area, the protective part having rear side edges that are intended to face the front edges of the two side bands when the visor is in closed position, characterized in that the protective part of the visor is made with lower rigidity than the cover and between each rear side edge of the protective part and the corresponding front edge of the side band there are clasp means that when the visor is closed couple together to make a connection of the edges that opposes movements transversal to the opening-closing direction of the visor so that in the case of a frontal
impact upon the visor the protective part of the visor can deform to produce an impact absorption effect that discharges onto the side bands of the helmet.
In order to make the explanation of the innovative principles of the present invention and its advantages compared to the prior art clearer, hereafter, with the help of the attached drawings, we describe a possible example embodiment applying such principles. In the drawings:
- figure 1 represents a schematic perspective view of a helmet according to the invention;
- figure 2 represents a schematic section view of the helmet of figure 1 with the visor partially raised;
- figure 3 represents a schematic section view of the helmet of figure 1 with the visor lowered. With reference to the figures, figure 1 shows a helmet, generically indicated with 10, made according to the invention.
The helmet 10 is equipped with a cover 11 open at the front like a Jet helmet and with a visor 12 symmetrically hinged at 13 to move between an open raised position and a closed lowered position.
The visor 12 extends downwards with a protective part 14 that is intended to also cover the chin area when the visor is closed. At the two sides, the helmet has symmetrical side bands 15 that project at the front and define front edges 16 which corresponding rear side edges 17 of the part 14 of the visor are intended to face when the visor is in closed position. This is also clear from the comparison of figures 2 and 3.
The protective part 14 of the visor is made with lower rigidity than that of the cover 11. Advantageously, the part 14, in one piece with the rest of the visor, is made from polycarbonate. The cover is advantageously made from technopolymers with inner coating 18 made from impact- absorbing yielding material, for example polyurethane of suitable density (preferably, bi-density) . A further padding, not shown, can be foreseen, as is normally the case in helmets . As can be seen clearly in figure 2, the protective part 14 can advantageously be equipped with ribs 19 to stiffen it with respect to the rest of the visor. This can easily be obtained with the normal molding process of the visor. The protective part 14 can have a thickness substantially the same as that of the rest of the visor. The protective part can have different surface machining, for example so as not to be transparent, as it is on the other hand for the part in front of the eyes. Such a protective part can also be painted, advantageously on the inside. On the inner face of the protective part there can also be a layer of impact- absorbing yielding material 20, for example again made from polyurethane of suitable density (preferably bi-density) . Between each rear side edge 17 of the protective part and the corresponding front edge 16 of the side band there are clasp means 21, 22 that when the visor is closed couple together to make a connection of the edges such as to oppose the movements transversal to the opening-closing direction of the visor. Such a coupling ensures that in the case of a frontal impact upon the visor, the protective
part of the visor can deform inwards to produce an impact absorption effect that discharges onto the side bands of the helmet, without the edges 17 sliding sideways away from the area on which the edges 16 rest. It has been surprisingly found that such a deformation effect offers greater protection and safety in the case of impact than a totally rigid part. Indeed, the general protection is more effective than that offered by an integral helmet. The rigidity of the protective part, always keeping it below that of the rest of the helmet, can easily be designed to have a deformation that does not even reach the chin up to a certain predetermined impact force. For higher impact forces, there is still a reduction in impact damage, without excessively negative repercussions in other areas of the head, as does occur, on the other hand, for conventional integral helmets.
As can be seen in the figures, the clasp means that prevent the movement of the edges 17 of the visor outwards with respect to the support side bands 15, advantageously comprise a tongue 21 projecting from the rear side edge of the protective part and that engages in a matching seat 22 in the front edge of the side band. The tongue can be made in one piece with the visor. Again advantageously, in an area of the visor near to one of the two edges there can be means for locking the visor in closed position and that can be manually released to open the visor. Advantageously, the locking means comprise a seat-pin snap coupling 23, 24 that can be released by manual deformation outwards of the corner area of the visor
through a thumb-grip 25. The coupling is such that the pin 24 snaps into the seat 23 by simply pushing the visor into the closed position.
At this point it is clear how the predetermined purposes have been accomplished. With the simple provisions described above, the helmet provides more than satisfactory safety and protection, even more than a conventional integral helmet. The manufacturing cost is nevertheless comparable to that of a conventional Jet helmet. Of course, the description made above of an embodiment applying the innovative principles of the present invention is given only as an example of such innovative principles and therefore it should not be considered to limit the scope of protection claimed here. For example, shapes and proportions of the various parts can be modified with respect to what has been shown as an example. The closing means of the visor can also be different, as can easily be imagined by the man skilled in the art. The coupling between visor and side bands of the helmet can be different. For example, it can comprise more than one tongue and more than one seat .
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