EP1393643B1

EP1393643B1 - Communication system between helmets and helmet using said system

Info

Publication number: EP1393643B1
Application number: EP02425546A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Osvaldo Crivello
Original assignee: Osbe Srl
Current assignee: Osbe Srl
Priority date: 2002-09-02
Filing date: 2002-09-02
Publication date: 2006-11-08
Anticipated expiration: 2022-09-02
Also published as: DE60215935D1; EP1393643A1; ATE344625T1

Abstract

A protection helmet, in particular for motorcyclists, in which two coils (3,5; 4,6) are provided for the transmission and the reception of audio signals, in which said coils (3,5; 4,6) are arranged on a surface (2, 28) placed above the visual aperture (13) of the helmet (1), are arranged on planes substantially perpendicular and present two tangency points (27,31); the invention concerns a communication system between helmets as well. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention concerns a communication system between helmets and a helmet using said communication system.
More in particular, the present invention concerns a communication system between helmets and a helmet in which the sound transmission and reception occur by inductive coupling.
In many situations, the sound communication between persons wearing protective helmets presents relevant difficulties due both to the partial soundproofing that the helmet itself induces and to the generally very noisy environment in which the persons find themselves in most part of the cases.
It is well known that such uncomfortable conditions are experienced by people working close to industrial processes of high capacity and also people travelling in a motorcycle or a car, in this latter case in cars for rally competitions.
In all the above mentioned cases, the possibility of communicating not only responds to comfort needs but also to safety needs.
It is well known that such a problem can be overcome by providing helmets with communication systems.
For instance, in the past high frequency radio communication systems have been developed; however, said systems require an accurate calibration and the availability of free usable radio frequencies that are notoriously crowded and therefore disturbed: See for example JP-A-61 288525.
For overcoming said drawbacks, when one has to do with pairs of persons using the same transport means, motorcycle or competition car, it has been proposed to connect the transmission systems of two helmets by means of a wire. In this case, when the driver and his/her companion take their places in the common vehicle, both connect the helmets thereby assuring the electric communication. When they leave the places they occupied, they must necessarily perform the opposite movement.
Obviously, these two movements constitute a slavery for the two users, and it is not rare that some inadvertence could damage the transmissions systems.
The same can occur when the helmet is held and the free wire hangs from the helmet itself.
In order to overcome said drawbacks, it has been proposed to provide the helmet with suitable windings, each constituted by a certain number of loops that are coupled by magnetic induction with the loops of the other helmet for establishing in this way the communication between two or more users.
An example of said system is described in the document IT 125821. However, said document does not teach how to arrange the windings on the helmet in order to establish an optimal communication between two persons wearing similar helmets.
Therefore it is a main object of the present invention to provide a communication system between helmets and a helmet provided with inductive coupling means arranged in such a way to obtain optimal conditions both in transmission and in reception.
This and other objects of the invention are obtained by means of a communication system between helmets and a helmet provided with inductive coupling means as defined in the hereby attached claims.
Generally speaking, the communication system according to the invention is based on the concept of the mutual induction that is generated between a first winding crossed by a low frequency current, and a second wiring arranged at a small distance from the first one. In the case that the two windings, the first one transmitting and the second one receiving, are housed in the two helmets and that the users are constantly close each other, it is possible to assure an inductive coupling between the two windings with a satisfactory transmission coefficient (or coupling efficiency).
Advantageously, the helmet according to the invention proves to be economical, easy to manufacture and requires a common pocket battery for its working.
The invention will be now described in more detail with particular reference to the hereby attached drawings, provided as a non-limiting example, in which:

Figures 1a and 1b are respectively a perspective view of the left side and of the right side of a helmet according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the left side of a helmet according to a variant of the invention, without an external cap;
Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the helmet according to the invention;
Figure 4 is a schematic representation of two pairs of coils respectively arranged on two helmets (not shown) according to a second embodiment of the invention.

With reference to the Figures 1a and 1b, a helmet 1 of traditional type presents an external cap or shell 2 conveniently shaped so as to define a front chin rest 17 delimiting a lower edge 19 of the visual aperture 23 of the helmet 1.
A laterally hinged visor 13, that can be opened, is positioned in front of the aperture 23 in order to protect the user's eyes.
Inductive coupling means 3,5, constituted by two coils manufactured by means of copper wires, are arranged in an upper zone of the helmet 1, said zone being lowerly delimited by a circumference passing through the upper edge 25 of the aperture 23.
The coils 3,5 are housed in suitable seats 29, that are raised with respect to the external cap or shell 2 of the helmet 1. Thanks to said coils 3,5 the helmet gains an individualising aesthetic aspect.
Inside the right cheek pad 8d of the helmet 1, on the side of said cheek pad turned towards the internal surface of the shell 2, it is obtained a housing 7, that may be seen in Figure 1b, closed by a lid 9. An electric power supply 11 constituted by a battery, preferably a 9 Volt battery, is arranged inside the housing 7. The user may gain access to the housing 7 simply by moving aside the cheek pad 8d from the shell 2 and by opening the lid 9; in this way, the user can provide for the replacement of the battery 11, when necessary.
Said battery 11 provides the electric power to an electronic circuit 18, that may be seen in Figure 1a, feeding said coils 3,5.
The electronic circuit 18 is arranged in a housing 20 obtained inside the left cheek pad 8s of the helmet 1, on the side of said cheek pad turned towards the internal surface of the shell 2. Contrary to the housing 7, the housing 20 is preferably made inaccessible to the user so that he/she does not run the risk to unintentionally damage the electronic circuit 18.
Means (not shown) for turning on/off and for adjusting the volume of the communication system embodied in the helmet 1 are comprised in said housing 20. Said means are constituted, for instance, by a rotating wheel projecting from the housing 20 in correspondence with the lower side of the left cheek pad 8s so that said wheel can be easily operated by the user of the helmet 1.
It should be noted that said wheel is advantageously positioned on the left part of the helmet 1 so that a motorcyclist may act on it without being it necessary to leave his/her hand from the accelerator knob.
However, it is also possible to provide a helmet in which the battery is arranged in the left housing 20, and the electronic circuit 18 together with the means for turning on/off and for adjusting the volume are arranged in the right housing 7.
The helmet 1 is further provided with a microphone and with at least one earpiece (not represented) connected to the electronic circuit 18 for the opportune feeding and amplification. The microphone is positioned inside the shell 2 in correspondence with the chin rest 17, so that it is maintained aligned with the user's mouth. Instead, the earpiece is positioned inside a housing obtained in the helmet padding, so that it can be maintained aligned with a user's ear but without being in contact with it.
With reference to the Figure 2, it is shown with 28 an internal cap, generally manufactured in polystyrene, of the helmet 1.
In this variant of the invention, the coils 3,5 are geometrically arranged as in Figure 1; however, they are embedded in seats 39 obtained in the polystyrene of the internal cap 28.
As it can be observed in Figure 3, the coils 3,5 are arranged on substantially perpendicular planes and result to be electrically insulated and preferably tangent in two points 27,31, in which the coil 5 runs substantially above the coil 3.
In order to optimise the transmission and the reception of the signal relative to the mutual induction between the coils, the coil 5, that has the function of inductor or "transmitting antenna", and the coil 3, that has the function of armature or "receiving antenna", have different size and dimensions.
Always for optimising the signal transmission, the receiving coil 3 is arranged towards the front part of the helmet 1, while the transmitting coil 5 is arranged towards the rear part of said helmet 1.
As it may be seen in Figure 3, the coils 3,5 are connected to separate amplifiers, respectively A_R, A_T, arranged in the housing 20 and obtained in the cheek pad 8s of the helmet 1.
Figure 4 represents two pairs of coils 4, 6, 4', 6', of two helmets 1,1' according to a second embodiment of the invention.
According to this embodiment of the invention, if for instance the coil 6 of the helmet 1 acts as a transmitting inductor, an optimal communication will be obtained by arranging the corresponding coil 6' of the helmet 1', acting as well as a transmitting inductor, rotated by 90° with respect to the coil 6, so that the coil 4' of the helmet 1', acting as a receiving armature, is parallel to said coil 6 of the helmet 1. As a consequence, also the coil 4 of the helmet 1, acting as a receiving armature as well, will find itself oriented in parallel to the coil 6' of the helmet 1'.
It is evident that, according to said second embodiment, each helmet 1 according to the invention, for communicating with a second helmet 1' according to the invention, must be provided with suitable switching means, constituted for instance by a selector having two positions A, B allowing to select which of the coils 4,6 must work as a receiving armature and which must act as a transmitting inductor. For instance, when the selector is positioned in A, the coil 4 acts as an armature and the coil 6 acts as an inductor, while when the selector is positioned in B, the coil 4 acts as an inductor and the coil 6 acts as an armature. Before using the communication system, the two users of the helmets 1,1' will therefore take care of positioning the respective selectors, the one in position A and the other in position B, or vice versa.
It is equally evident that, since each coil 4,6 can act both as a transmitting inductor and as a receiving armature, for realising an optimal communication system, said coils 4,6 must have equal size and features, as it is shown in Figure 4.
It is clear that, according to the one or the other embodiment of the invention, it is possible to manufacture industrially a unique model of helmet that will be able to talk with whatever similar helmet, without the need of differentiating the production.
Moreover, it is evident that what has been described is given as a not limiting example and that variants and modifications are possible without departing from the field of protection of the invention.

Claims

Protective helmet, in particular for motorcyclists, comprising an internal cap (28) covered with an external shell (2) and inductive coupling means (3,5; 4,6) for the transmission and the reception of audio signals, said coupling means (3,5; 4,6) being arranged above the visual aperture (13) of the helmet (1), characterised by the fact that said coupling means (3,5; 4,6) comprise a pair of annular coils arranged on substantially perpendicular planes.
Protective helmet according to claim 1, wherein said coupling means are housed in the external shell (2) of the helmet (1).
Protective helmet according to claim 1, wherein said coupling means are housed in the cap (28) internal to the helmet (1).
Protective helmet according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said external shell (2) or said internal cap (28) comprise corresponding annular seats (29, 39) for housing said coupling means (3,5; 4,6).
Protective helmet according to claim 1, wherein said coupling means (3,5; 4,6) are constituted by a first coil (3,5; 4,6) made of copper wires for the reception of audio signals by magnetic induction and by a second coil (3,5; 4,6) made of copper wires for the transmission of audio signals by magnetic induction.
Protective helmet according to claim 5, characterised by the fact that said receiving coil (3) is arranged towards the front part of the helmet (1), while said transmitting coil (5) is arranged towards the rear part of said helmet (1).
Protective helmet according to claim 5, characterised by the fact that said coils (4, 6) have equal size and physical characteristics.
Protective helmet according to claim 5, wherein switching means are provided for selecting which of said two coils (4,6) acts as a transmitting inductor and which as a receiving armature.
Protective helmet according to claim 1, characterised by the fact that said helmet provides inside the two cheek pads (8s,8d), on the side turned towards the internal surface of the shell (2), respectively a first housing (20) for receiving an electronic circuit (18) and a second housing (7) for receiving an electric power supply (11), preferably a battery, feeding said coupling means (3,5; 4,6) and said electronic circuit (18).
Helmet according to claim 9, wherein a microphone and at least one earpiece, respectively maintained in alignment with the user's mouth and ears and connected to said electronic circuit (18) for the opportune feeding and amplification, are provided.
Helmet according to claim 9, wherein means for turning on/off and adjusting the volume of said amplification means, preferably under the form of a rotating element, are provided on the lower side of the cheek pad (8s, 8d) housing said circuit (18).
Communication system between helmets comprising:
- a first helmet (1) provided with a first pair of coils (4,6) acting respectively as a receiving armature and as a transmitting inductor of audio signals;

- a second helmet (1') provided with a second pair of coils (4',6') acting respectively as a receiving armature and as a transmitting inductor of audio signals, characterised by the fact that said transmitting coil (6) in said first pair and said receiving coil (4') in said second pair are arranged on planes forming between them an angle comprised between 0° and 90°, and likewise said receiving coil (4) in said first pair and said transmitting coil (6') in said second pair are arranged on planes forming between them an angle comprised between 0° and 90°.
Communication system between helmets according to claim 12, characterised by the fact that said transmitting coils (4, 4') of said first and second pair are different from said receiving coils (6, 6') of said first and second pairs and that the planes, on which the transmitting coil (4, 4') of each pair and the receiving coil (6, 6') of each pair are arranged, are perpendicular.
Communication system between helmets according to claim 12, characterised by the fact that said transmitting coils (6, 6') of said first and second pair are equal to said receiving coils (4, 4') of said first and second pairs and that the planes, on which the transmitting coil (6, 6') of each pair and the receiving coil (4', 4) of each pair are arranged, are perpendicular