US20090255025A1

US20090255025A1 - Safety helmet having pivotably movable fan

Info

Publication number: US20090255025A1
Application number: US12/103,055
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Ochoa
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-04-15
Filing date: 2008-04-15
Publication date: 2009-10-15

Abstract

A safety helmet including a crown sized for receiving a head of a wearer, a lid projecting from the crown and a fan pivotably movable relative to the lid for movement in fore, aft, left and right directions relative to said lid. Clockwise movement in an aft direction can result in the fan directing air to an area at or near the face of the wearer. Counterclockwise movement in a fore direction can result in the fan directing air away from the body of the wearer to remove unwanted dust particles, smoke and/or debris opening a path enabling the wearer to see without aid of safety eyewear.

Description

BACKGROUND

Industrial safety helmets or hardhats having a ventilated design may include a helmet body including a motorized fan attached to the helmet body, and a power source such as a battery or one or more solar cells for providing power to the fan blades to enable them to rotate. The fan also includes a plurality of rotatable fan blades attached to a fan body and supported at upper or rear portions within an interior space of the helmet body.
The aforementioned hardhat design, however, has serious ergonomic drawbacks. For instance, locating the plurality of rotating fan blades in the interior of the hardhat near the head of a wearer may cause serious harm or injury to the wearer during operation.
Moreover, even in instances where a protective cover is interposed between the fan body and the head of the wearer, physical harm and/or injury may still result. For example, if the protective cover is composed of defective materials or materials that cannot withstand a dynamic impact load, the cover may break as a result of an impact load during operation of the fan, resulting in the fan collapsing and striking the head of the wearer. The same undesirable result may occur if the protective cover becomes dislodged from its attachment points during an impact load due to a defective structural design.
Even still, in instances where the helmet is worn in an area having dust and debris, there is no adequate protection to the face of the wearer unless industrial eyewear are worn by the wearer.
Yet and still, locating all the structural components of the fan system, i.e., the fan body, power source, protective cover, etc. at the top or rear of the hat causes undue loads at these areas. For instance, locating the structural components at the top portion of the helmet causes the helmet to sink downwardly towards the crown of the head of the wearer. On the other hand, locating such components at the rear portion of the helmet creates an unbalanced load at the rear, causing the helmet to tip backwards.
Accordingly, there is a need to mitigate or otherwise reduce the aforementioned limitations.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, embodiments are related to a safety helmet including a crown for receiving a head of a wearer and a lid portion connected to a front portion of the crown. Particularly, the lid can include a cooling device; an attachment mechanism or bracket for removeably attaching the cooling device to the lid; at least one motor for driving the cooling device; and a power source electrically connected to the motor.
Embodiments are related to an industrial safety helmet including a crown for receiving a head of a wearer; a lid portion connected to a front portion of the crown; a fan including a plurality of fan blades attached to a fan body; an attachment mechanism or bracket for pivotably attaching the cooling device to the lid; at least one motor for driving the cooling device; and a power source electrically connected to the motor.
Embodiments are related to an industrial safety helmet including a crown for receiving a head of a wearer; a lid portion connected to a front portion of the crown; a cooling device pivotably movable relative to the lid portion; a motor for driving the cooling device; and a power source electrically connected to the motor.
Embodiments are related to an industrial safety helmet including a crown for receiving a head of a wearer; a lid portion connected to a front portion of the crown; a fan pivotally mounted on the lid portion for clockwise and counterclockwise rotation; a motor for driving the cooling device; and a power source electrically connected to the motor.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the detailed drawings that show, for purposes of illustration only, the preferred embodiments of the invention.

DRAWINGS

Example FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a safety helmet having a pivotablymoveable fan mounted on the lid portion of the helmet, in accordance with embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

As illustrated in example FIGS. 1 to 5, in accordance with embodiments, helmet 10 is provided for providing cool air to the body of a wearer, and also for dispersing dust, debris and other undesirable airborne matter away from the body of the wearer. Helmet 10 includes crown 11 and lid 12 connected to crown 11 and projecting therefrom, and in an interior thereof a plurality of adjustable straps 13. Helmet 10, including crown 11 and lid 12 may be composed of a lightweight, robust, impact resistant material or a composite material having such physical qualities.
Lid 12 can include a hole sized to receive a cooling device which provides cool, ambient air to a wearer. The cooling device include fan 20 sized for removable attachment or mounting to lid 12 by way of an attachment mechanism such as retaining ring or bracket 21. The removability feature of fan 20 makes helmet 10 wearable in instances when cooling air is not required since the wearer may simply remove fan 20 from ring 21 for temporary storage. In which case, a plug may be fitted in hole of lid 12 until such time as fan 20 is required. Alternatively, fan 20 can be pivotably and/or removably mounted directly to lid 12 without use of ring or bracket 21.
As illustrated in example FIG. 2, fan 20 can include fan body 22 and motor 23 for driving a plurality of rotatable fan blades 24. Activation of fan 20 can serve to provide cool, ambient air to a localized area on the body of a wearer.
Motor 23 can be an electric motor which can be directly electrically connected by wiring 25 to power source 26 interposed in an interior space between the inner surface of crown 11 and straps 13. Power source 26 can be one or more solar panels or a dry cell battery. Power source 26 can be removably storable in a compartment removeably attached by a conventional mechanical fastener such as Velcro and the like to the inner surface of crown 11. Power source 26 can be attached in a non-intrusive manner to any position within the interior of crown 11. Accordingly, helmet 10 may be worn with fan 20 by removing both fan 20 and battery 26 for temporary storage until needed. Power source 26 can be electrically connected to switch 27 to permit activation or deactivation of fan 20. The switch may be an on/off switch or a variable switch. Fan 20 can be wirelessly activated and deactivated by conventional methods.
In accordance with embodiments, helmet 10 may include a protective cover removeably secured on and/or over fan 20 for preventing moisture and/or debris from entering fan 20, and thus, prematurely shutting off fan 20. Use of a cover permits activation of fan 20 during instances of poor weather conditions such as rain, sleet, snow, etc. and/or in sandy or dusty environments to prevent the entry of sand and/or dust particles into fan 20.
As illustrated in example FIGS. 3-5, fan 20 maybe pivotablymounted to lid 12 and/or bracket 21 permitting fan 20 to direct localized, cool ambient air towards or away from the body of the wearer. Such mounting may occur by way of longitudinal stem 28 having a first end removably connected to fan body 22 and a second, distal end fixedly connected to base 29. Base 29 can be attached to mounting bracket 21. First end of stem 28 can terminate into a ball received by a socket provided on fan body 22 to provide a ball and socket joint connection permitting fan body 22 to be rotated fore and aft and left and right directions relative to lid 12. While a ball-and-socket connection is a preferred embodiment, any conventional connection permitting such movement can also be provided.
For instance, fan 20 may be pivoted between 0 to 90 degrees relative to the upper surface of lid 11 in fore, aft, left and right directions. Particularly, fan 20 can be moved from a normal position as illustrated in FIG. 3 to either clockwise or counterclockwise positions. For example, clockwise movement in an aft direction can result in fan 20 directing air to an area at or near the face of the wearer. On the other hand, counterclockwise movement in a fore direction can result in fan 20 directing air away from the body of the wearer to remove unwanted dust particles, smoke and/or debris opening a path for wearer to see. Pivoted movement of fan 20 can be effectuated manually or automatically. Any such automatic movement can be done by direct wire connection or by wireless means.
Although embodiments have been described herein, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A safety helmet having a crown sized for receiving a head of a wearer and a lid projecting from the crown, said safety helmet comprising:

a cooling device removeably attached to the lid, the cooling device having a plurality of rotatable blades for providing cool ambient air to the wearer and a motor for driving the plurality of rotatable blades.

2. The helmet of claim 1, wherein said cooling device is removably attached to the lid by way of a bracket sized for receipt in a hole provided in the lid.

3. The helmet of claim 2, wherein said cooling device is pivotably attached to the lid permitting said fan to be moved in fore, aft, left and right directions to direct localized, cool ambient air towards or away from the body of the wearer.

4. The helmet of claim 3, wherein said cooling device is mounted to the bracket via a ball-and-socket connection.

5. The helmet of claim 4, wherein said ball-and-socket connection includes a longitudinal stem having a first end removably connected to said fan body and a second, distal end fixedly connected to a base provided on said bracket.

6. The helmet of claim 5, wherein said first end of said stem terminates into a ball received by a socket provided on said fan body.

7. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the cooling device comprises a fan having a fan body and an electric motor for driving a plurality of rotatable fan blades.

8. The helmet of claim 7, wherein the electric motor is electrically connected to a power source.

9. The helmet of claim 8, wherein the power source comprises a dry cell battery.

10. The helmet of claim 9, wherein the dry cell battery is removably storable in a compartment.

11. The helmet of claim 10, wherein the compartment is removably attached to the inner surface of the crown.

12. A safety helmet comprising:

a crown sized for receiving a head of a wearer;

a lid projecting from said crown; and

a fan having a fan body and a motor for driving a plurality of rotatable fan blades, said fan being pivotably moveable relative to the said lid in fore, aft, left and right directions.

13. The helmet of claim 12, further comprising a power source electrically connected to said motor.

14. The helmet of claim 13, wherein said power source comprises at least one of a dry cell battery and at least one solar panel.

15. The helmet of claim 12, further comprising a protective cover for covering a top portion of said fan body and said fan blades for preventing at least one of debris and moisture from impeding the operation of said fan.

16. The helmet of claim 15, wherein the protective cover is removeably secured to the lid.

17. A safety helmet comprising:

a crown sized for receiving a head of a wearer;

a lid projecting from said crown; and

a fan having a fan body and a plurality of fan blades;

a fan support mechanism for pivotably supporting said fan on said lid for movement in fore, aft, left and right directions relative to said lid.

18. The helmet of claim 17, wherein said fan support mechanism comprises a bracket sized for receipt by said lid and a stem extending substantially perpendicular from said bracket and connected to said fan body.

19. The helmet of claim 18, wherein said stem includes a first end which pivotably supports said fan body and a second end fixedly connected to said bracket

20. The helmet of claim 19, wherein said first end of said stem terminates into a ball received by a socket provided on said fan body.