EP0619955A1

EP0619955A1 - Crash-helmet for cyclists and for non-motor sports in general

Info

Publication number: EP0619955A1
Application number: EP93105996A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gabriele Casartelli
Original assignee: Edc Sarl; E D C Sarl
Current assignee: Edc Sarl; E D C Sarl
Priority date: 1993-04-13
Filing date: 1993-04-13
Publication date: 1994-10-19

Abstract

Crash-helmet for cyclists and for non motor sports in general, comprising a first cap (1) of foamed polystyrene provided with slots (3) and cavities (4) for the circulation of air and with raised zones (5) at least at the opposite sides of the cap (1), and a second cap (2) or rigid plastic material, substantially polycarbonate, provided also with slots (6) placed at least in part in correspondence of those of the first cap (1), and with large openings (7) at the opposite sides, permitting the coupling of said two caps (1,2) by snap-fitting of the raised zone (5) of the polystyrene cap (1) into said large openings (7) of the second cap (2) of rigid material.

In said cap (1) of foamed polystyrene, housings (19) are also provided suitable for holding the fasteners (11) of the chin-strap (17), which can be inserted in such a way as to permit to the second cap (2) to hold said fasteners (11) in stable position within said housings (19).

Description

Object of the invention is a crash-helmet especially fit for cyclists and sportspeople who practice sports requiring physical effort, whose structure offers a high resistance to accidental hittings.
As known, the main function of crash-helmets for cyclists and sportspeople who practice sports involving dangers of damages due to falls, accidental hittings and the like, is to develop an efficacious activity of protection of the head of the user, and in particular of the skull, ensuring at the same time an efficient aeration of the head.
Besides, as is also known, helmets for cyclists must be very light and are therefore usually made of materials such as foamed polystyrene or the like.
These helmets are usually shaped as a cap, which cap is provided with holes or slits to let the ventilation air enter, to the purpose of a correct distribution of the air within said cap.
To hold correctly in place these helmets, straps or chin-straps are utilized which are variously fixed to the two opposite side faces of the cap; in some cases, said chin-straps are directly fixed in the inside of the helmet by means of rivets or the like or by means of pins buried in the thickness of the cap; in other cases, two through-slits are made in the cap, parallel to one another, in one of which the strap is inserted from the inside towards the outside and then reintroduced in the cap through the other slit.
A particular and highly reliable system for fastening chin-straps is disclosed in a co-pending patent application on behalf of the same Applicant; said system provides for a small frame having the shape of an angle with eyelets for keeping a strap-holding bar inserted in said eyelets; said frame fits into a suitable housing provided on both sides of the protection cap.
It is also known that, to improve the aesthetical appearance of cyclist helmets and in some cases to try to increase the shock-resistance, some solutions have been proposed that provide, for instance, the covering of the cap with a second cap of light plastic material and the fastening of the latter to the underlying cap of foamed polystyrene by means of tape or gummed tape placed around the whole circumference of the peripheral edge of said lighter cap; in other cases, the polystyrene of the protective cap is directly expanded within the covering lighter cap, so as to obtain a one-piece helmet.
The crash-helmets of the type described hereinabove have however some severe drawbacks and disadvantages, as concerns their shock-resistance as well as the correct and efficient holding of the cap on the head of the user.
Actually, the thickness of helmets with a single cap of foamed polystyrene must be sufficient to stably hold means such as rivets or hooking keys of the chin-straps, which leads in practice to heavier helmets and fixation difficulties as concerns the means that hold chin-straps; just in the same way, the helmets with an external thinner cap have the drawback of not permitting the separation of the polystyrene cap from the thin covering cap, as well as hooking difficulties of the means that hold chin-straps similar to those of one-cap helmets.
Therefore, an object of this invention is the realization of a crash-helmet for cyclists and the like, of the cap-type in expanded plastic material, whose structure obviates the drawbacks and limitations of the helmets known and especially and, above all, so designed as to provide a high mechanical resistance against shocks, greater than the one which can be obtained by the known art, and a lightness comparable to that of the helmets known.
A further object of this invention is the realization of a helmet for cyclists equipped with fasteners for the chin-strap or straps, easily and quickly fixable to the cap and disappearing-housed in the latter.
A further object of this invention is the realization of a helmet of the hereinabove mentioned type, of easy and quick realization and high reliability.
These and still further objects, which shall be more clearly disclosed in the following description, are obtained with a crash-helmet for cyclists and sportspeople in general, having the shape of a rigid cap of expanded plastic material, which helmet, according to the present invention, comprises:

a first protection cap of foamed polystyrene or the like, provided with a plurality of grooves, cavities and slits or the like for letting in the air necessary to create an adequate ventilation within the cap, as well as with housings and slits provided on both opposite sides of said cap for holding the fasteners of the chin-straps, and with at least to large raised zones on the opposite external sides of said cap;
a second cap or reinforcement shell of rigid plastic material, so shaped and sized as to fit on to the protection cap by snap-fitting on the large slots provided in it on said raised zones emerging from said first protection cap, and
a plurality of slots and cavities, provided in said reinforcement cap in a position corresponding at least to the cavities and slots of said protection cap, to permit the passage and distribution of air from the outside to the inside of the helmet, said reinforcement cap being also a means for holding said chin-strap fasteners in their housings.

More particularly, said second reinforcement cap is made of rigid plastic material, such as polycarbonate, whose thickness is uniform and much smaller than that of the underlying cap of foamed polystyrene.
Besides, said second policarbonate cap, being transparent, is suitable to be decorated, both inside and outside, with various motifs, figures and colours, capable of lending the helmet special aesthetical effects.
Further characteristics and advantages of this invention will result more clearly from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to the attached drawings, to be construed as mere non limitative indications, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of the first protection cap of foamed polystyrene, realized according to this invention, suitable to constitute the protective part of the helmet;
Fig. 2 is a scheme of the second cap of rigid plastic material, suitable to fit stably on to the cap of fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a side view of the finished helmet according to this invention;
Fig. 4 is a section of a hooking zone between said two caps, illustrated in separate and in hooked position, respectively;
Fig 5 shows a frame for hooking and holding the chin-straps, which can be inserted between the two coupled caps, while
Fig. 6 is a magnified section of the housing of the cap of foamed polystyrene wherein the frame of Fig. 5 is housed.

With reference to figures 1 to 4, the crash-helmet subject of this invention is basically constituted by the direct stable coupling of the two caps 1 and 2 one inside the other.
Cap 1 constitutes the protection element of the head and to this aim it is made of foamed polystyrene, light and with a high mechanical resistance.
Said cap 1 is provided with various arched slits 3 for letting in the air for the ventilation of the cap cavities, as well as (Fig. 4) with recesses and grooves 4 (hollow zones) which, as will be more clearly explained in the following, are channels for the diffusion of air, placed in communication with said slits 3, in order to create an efficacious ventilation within the helmet.
Raised zones, indicated by the numeral 5 in Fig. 1 and 4, are provided on at least two opposite sides of cap 1, suitable to constitute snap-fasteners of said second cap 2.
Said cap 2 is made of high-resistance plastic material, in particular polycarbonate, whose thickness is much smaller than that of the cap of foamed polystyrene 1; as polycarbonate is a transparent material, motifs, figures and the like, as well as various colours may be applied or otherwise provided both on the internal and external surfaces of the cap, i. e. decorations visible from the outside, which can create special aestetic and ornamental effects.
Also the polycarbonate cap is provided with large slots or slits 6 (Fig. 2) and large openings 7 and 7a on the opposite sides of the cap; said cap 2 is so structurated and sized as to fit on to the protection cap 1 and to be stably fixed to the latter by snap-fitting on the large side openings 7 on the raised zones 5 of cap 1.
As shown on Fig. 4, once the two caps are coupled, slits 6 of the external cap 2 are virtually in correspondence of slots 3 of the underlying cap 1, while the various solid and continuous zones between the large openings 7a, indicated by the numeral 8 on Fig. 2, are placed on the various grooves 4 provided in cap 1, realizing in this way, through the matching of said solid zones 8 and the underlying grooves 4, variously orientated channels, which permit to the air that enters either from slits 6 of cap 1, with subsequent passage into the underlying slits 3, or from openings 7 of cap 2, with subsequent entering into the relevant channels 4, to distribute throughout the internal surface of the helmet.
The finished helmet has the external form as shown on Fig. 3, wherein the raised zones 5, being housed in the relevant side openings 7 of the protection cap 2, remain on sight, while the peripheral edge 9 of cap 2 is placed in touch with the peripheral edge 9a of the moulded base 10 of the protection cap 1.
Always according to this invention, the special structure of the helmet made of two coupled caps, permits in practice to utilize and make stable the fasteners for the chin-straps of the type placed on the outside, within suitable housings provided in the protection cap 1.
A type of structure for fastening chin-straps especially suitable for being stably fixed to the protection cap 1 is the one illustrated in Fig. 5 and 6; said fastening structure is made up by a small frame 11 constituted by an angle, with two flanges 12-12a which are basically placed at 90° to one another, forming an isosceles triangle, between which flanges two small holed cylinders or the like 13 and 13a having a coinciding axis are fixed.
More particularly, always according to this invention, to make the pin holding in the holes of the cylinders more stable, pin 15 is provided on one end with a slightly protruding head 15a, suitable to be housed in a special corresponding recess, non visible on the figure, provided in one of the cylinders, for instance in cylinder 13, and with a slit 15b on the opposite end, suitable to make elastically yielding said end, causing the latter to become introduceable and press-heldable in the hole provided in the other cylinder 13a.
Zone 14 of said flanges, comprised between said axial cavity cylinders, is hollow; a pin 15, which can be inserted in the holes of the cylinders, is utilized to house a loop or eyelet 16 (Fig. 6) of a chin-strap 17.
The strap is inserted into cavity 14 of the frame and can then be guided, at least in the first part, into a slit 18 provided in the cap of foamed polystyrene.
Two equal frames 11, with the relevant straps, are housed each in a suitable housing 19 (Fig. 6) provided on each of the external sides of cap 1, and then, through the coupling of cap 2 on the underlying cap 1, each strap-holding frame is stably held in its housing.
In the practice, said frame-shaped structure with strap-holding pin may be replaced by structures having different characteristics and form, as also in these cases the stability of the structure is always ensured by the polycarbonate external cap.
Lastly, structurally and functionally equivalent changes and variants can be introduced in the invention as disclosed according to one preferred embodiment of practical realization, always falling within the protection scope of said invention.

Claims

Crash-helmet for cyclists and sportspeople in general, of the type shaped as a rigid cap of plastic material, characterized in that it comprises:
- a first protection cap of foamed polystyrene provided with a plurality of grooves, cavities and slots, to let in the air necessary to create an adequate ventilation within the cap, as well as with housings and slits provided on two opposite sides of said cap for holding the fasteners of the chin-straps, and at least two large raised zones on the opposite external sides of said cap;

- a second cap or reinforcement shell of rigid plastic material, so shaped and sized as to fit on to the protection cap through snap-fitting on the large slots provided in it on said raised zones emerging from said first protection cap, and

- a plurality of slots and cavities, provided on said reinforcement cap in positions corresponding at least partly to the cavities and slots of said protection cap, to permit the passage and the distribution of air from the outside to the inside of the helmet, said reinforcement cap being also a means for holding said chin-strap fasteners in their housing.
Crash-helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that said second reinforcement cap is made of rigid plastic material such as polycarbonate.
Crash-helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that said second reinforcement cap is so sized as to stop against the peripheral edge of the base of the underlying cap, once the coupling is complete.
Crash-helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that on the opposite sides of said first cap of foamed polystyrene a housing is provided suitable to house the chin-strap fasteners, so as to permit to said second external cap to hold said fasteners in stable position in their housings.
Crash-helmet according to claim 4, characterized in that said chin-strap fasteners comprise a small frame constituted by an angle with two flanges placed at 90° to one another and forming an isosceles triangle, two coinciding axis holed cylinders being fixed between said two flanges, a pin suitable to house a loop or eyelet of a chin-strap being inserted in to said opposite holes.
Crash-helmet according to claim 5, characterized in that said pin is provided on one end with a slightly protruding head suitable to be housed in a corresponding recess provided in one of the cylinders and with a slit on the opposite end suitable to make elastically yielding said end causing the latter to be press-heldable in the hole provided in the other opposite cylinder.