AU2010101163A4 - Hard hat with air duct - Google Patents

Description

1 BACKGROUND ART CONSTRUCTION SITE SAFETY HARD HAT WITH AIR DUCT In some work places, such as construction sites where welders work, each welder is required to not only wear a welding face shield to protect their face and eyes while welding, but to also wear a hard hat at the same time so that their head is protected from falling objects. During the welding process, toxic fumes are created and released from the weld area. These toxic fumes rise from the weld area and some are unavoidably inhaled by the person doing the welding. Air feed welding face shields have been developed and are available for use to eliminate the problem of inhaling toxic fumes, however they are not compatible with a welding face shield/hard hat combination. This invention has been devised in order to keep the breathing space of a welding face shield/hard hat combination or any other face shield/hard hat combination clear of toxic fumes or dust and provide the wearer with clean and or cool and or filtered air while conducting the task of welding or any other work. The invention is specifically to do with the hard hat which may be of any shape, size or design and manufactured from any material such as fibreglass, aluminium or thermoplastic such as high-density polyethylene [HDPE] and comprises of an external shell and a head harness. Said harness may be any shape or design. The invention may be compatible with any welding face shield designed to be fitted to a hard hat and will be manufactured to meet relevant site safety standards. The external shell has a channel over its top that runs from the back of the hard hat to the front. Said channel is enclosed to form an air duct that has an air inlet near the rear or base of the shell and an adequate number of air outlets at various positions, shape and size to allow air to escape from the air duct so that the air flows over the wearers head and or in front of the wearers face. The action of the air flowing in front of the wearers face causes sufficient draught or negative pressure in the breathing zone to stop the toxic fumes from entering. The air inlet may have a connecting nozzle of any shape or size for example may be round, square, oval or rectangular in shape that connects to the air inlet. Said nozzle will be compatible with various air feed systems available for the purpose of supplying air to welders e.g. The Adflo system by Speedglas or any other air purifying system on the market. The air duct will preferably be of a size to accommodate the quantity of air supplied by the particular air feed system being used. The channel may be formed into the shell at the time of fabrication and then have a panel fixed to the inside of the shell by means of glue or plastic welding or by means of a slot arrangement that the panel then slides or clips into that then forms the air duct. Page 1 of 2 2 The channel may also be fabricated separately to the shell and be detachably secured to the outside or inside of the shell by means of glue or plastic welding or by means of a slot that the channel slides into. The air duct may be attached temporarily or remain permanently attached to the shell. The channel may also act as a stiffener for the shell of the hard hat. In a cross sectional view, the air duct may be any suitable size and shape. For example, it may have a width of 150mm and a depth of 30mm. In particular preferred form the air duct has a width of 60mm expanding to 130mm at the front of the hard hat and a depth of 10mm decreasing to 5mm at the front of the hard hat. The air duct may include an air inlet connecting nozzle which is able to be detachably secured relative to the duct. Preferably, the duct includes slots or clips, and the nozzle includes projections, wherein the slots or clips and the projections are configured so that the projections are able to be inserted into the slots or clips such that the nozzle is detachably secured relative to the duct. The invention may be better understood with reference to the illustrations of embodiments of the invention which; Figure 1 is a cross sectional side view of the hard hat with the head harness removed showing the shell 1 with the air duct 3 over the shells top and the air flow 6 passing from the air inlet 7 to the air outlets 8. Figure 2 is a front view of the hard hat showing the shell 1 with the air duct 3 increasing in width to allow the air flow 6 to escape from the air duct and pass in front of the wearers face. Figure 3 is a perspective view of the back of the hard hat showing the air inlet 7 and the slots 5 that the air inlet connecting nozzle 4 connects to. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations and modifications to the invention described herein will be apparent without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Page 2 of 2

Claims (5)

1. A hard hat of any shape or size comprising an outer shell having a head harness and an enclosed air duct that may be formed into said hard hat at time of manufacture or added to the inside or outside of the hard hat after manufacture.

2. A hard hat as claimed in claim 1, wherein the air duct has an air inlet at the rear or base of the hard hat with slots or clips that allows the connection of an air inlet nozzle that has corresponding complimentary protrusions which allows for retaining the nozzle tightly on the air inlet.

3. A hard hat according to any claims 1 and 2 wherein the air duct has an adequate number of air outlets at various positions to allow air to escape and flow over the wearers face and or head.

4. A hard hat according to any of one of the claims 1 to 3 wherein the hard hat and air duct are made from any suitable material such as fibreglass, aluminium or thermoplastic, such as high density polyethylene [HDPE].

5. A hard hat substantially as herein before described with reference to figures 1-3 of the accompanying drawings. ALLAN INDER-SMITH 23 October 2010