"Thermoregulated article, namely a protective helmet"

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Field of the invention

The subject of the present invention is a wearable article, meaning an item of clothing such as a heavy jacket or the like, pants, footwear, headgear, as well as, more particularly, a protective helmet. Summary of the invention

The object of the invention is to provide such an article with a function of thermoregulation of the body part to which it is applied in use, through lowering or respectively increasing of the temperature with respect to that of the environment to which that part is normally exposed.

According to the invention, such object is achieved thanks to the fact that a wearable article of the type defined above has at least one receptacle containing a material with high thermal storage capacity and reusable, said receptacle being applied in a removable way within the article without a need to modify or alter its structural conformation.

The invention stands out in a new and original way with respect to prior known solutions (such as, for example, that described in the US Patent US-5,539,934 with specific reference to a protective helmet) using disposable substances suited to vary the environmental temperature through endothermic or exothermic chemical reactions and whose location entails a structural modification of the article (in the case of the already cited document US-5,539,934, the formation of a cavity or recess within the shell of the inner lining of the helmet, which is jeopardizing its structural integrity). The or each receptacle is composed of a bag containing a eutectic mass, typically a gel, with high storage of frigories or calories and conveniently designed to be manipulated for exposure to the action of a cooling (typically a refrigerator) or a heating source, and then applied to the article whenever necessary.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the article consists of a protective helmet (for example, a helmet for motorcycle or automobile use, a protective helmet for workers, or a helmet for military uses) including, in a conventional way, a rigid outer shell, an inner liner of expanded material and a

padding applied for example in a removable way to the inner liner. In this case, the packet or packets containing the material with high thermal storage capacity can be arranged between the inner liner and the padding, or applied to the surface of the padding opposite to the inner liner (that is, the one that, in use, is in contact with the head of the user), or, alternatively, incorporated in the padding itself. Brief description of the drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings, provided only as a non limiting example, in which:

- figure 1 is a schematic view in vertical section of a thermoregulated helmet according to one embodiment of the invention, and

- figure 2 is a view analogous to figure 1, showing a variant of the thermoregulated helmet. ,

Detailed description of the invention

Referring to the drawings a protective helmet, for example for motorcyclists, is genetically indicated as 1 and including in a known way a rigid outer shell 2, typically of polycarbonate or analogous plastic materials even reinforced, and an inner liner 3 normally made of an expanded plastic material. A padding schematically indicated as 4 is applied, normally in a removable way, to the inner surface of the liner 3. The padding 4 can have many various configurations, and can consist for example of a central zone covering the head of the user from forehead to the back of the neck, and two side parts covering the sides of the head and the user's cheeks.

According to the invention, a flexible bag 5 containing a eutectic substance with high storage of frigories or high storage of calories is interposed between the inner liner 3 and the padding 4.

The bag 5, which as will be seen can alternatively be substituted by a plurality of packets with smaller dimensions and separated from each other, is thus applied to the helmet 1 without any modification or structural alteration thereof, and it is easily and conveniently removable as a consequence of the detachability of padding 4 from the inner liner 3. This allows the user to expose the eutectic material, typically a gel substance, to a cooling source (for example, a normal domestic refrigerator) or a heating source (for example, a normal domestic oven), until the desired temperature

is reached. Then, the bag 5 can be repositioned into the helmet 1 which, in turn, shall be worn by the user. The slow release of the frigories or, respectively, of calories accumulated by the eutectic substance will expose the head of the user to a pleasant cooling or, respectively, heating effect when the ambient temperature requires it. The or each bag 5 containing the cooling or heating substance can be applied to the helmet 1 in a different way with respect to the one shown in figure 1, but in all cases without modifying or altering its structural integrity in any way. In this way, in the case of figure 2 in which parts identical or similar to the ones previously described are indicated with the same reference numerals, a plurality of packets 5 are applied to the surface of the padding 4, which, in use, is directly in contact with the head of the user. The packets 5 shall be fixed to the padding 4 in a reversible way, for example through microhook retaining systems (Velcro) 6, or snap fasteners or zippers, thus avoiding the need to remove the padding 4 when exposing the eutectic substance contained in the packets to cooling or, respectively, to heating. According to a further variant not illustrated, the bag or the packets 5 can be incorporated within the padding 4, that is be integrally formed therewith.

Even though the invention has been described referring expressly to a protective helmet, it is just as advantageously applicable to any wearable article such as headgear, footwear or also to a clothing item. Thus, in the case of a heavy jacket or similar, the bags or packets containing the cooling or heating substance could be inserted within specific pockets located in correspondence to the most sensitive zones of the user's body (for example, trunk, breast and shoulders).

Naturally, the details of construction of the embodiments could vary widely with respect to what is described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.