US3144663A - Ear muff - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 18, 1964 W. S. M KINSTRY EAR MUFF Filed Nov.

INVENTOR. WiLLinM S. McKinsTRY Teen/ United States Patent 3,144,663 EAR MUFF William S. McKinstry, 1520 Waterbury Road, Lakewood 7, Ohio Filed Nov. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 152,795 4 Claims. (Cl. 2-209) This invention relates in general to ear muffs or car guards, and more particularly to an ear guard which may be effectively used without association with a head covering, such as for instance a hat or cap.

Various types of ear muffs are known in the art for use in conjunction with a head covering, or for use without association with a head covering. However, these prior art arrangements have generally been awkward to handle, and have been unduly bulky in nature, and have not been entirely satisfactory. Moreover in the prior art arrangements of the ear muffs, the total exterior ear is generally covered with a pad or muff abutting against the car, which arrangement definitely impairs the hearing of the person wearing the same, and yet still does not always positively protect the pinna portion of the external ear from the elements.

The present invention provides a compact ear muff or ear guard which is self-retaining on the human ear, and which will not impair the hearing ability of the ear.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved ear guard or ear muff.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved ear guard which will only cover the pinna portion of the ear, leaving the ear canal completely open, and thereby not impairing the hearing ability of the ear.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ear guard of the above type which is extremely compact in nature, and is self-retaining on the car.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an ear guard of the above type which is uncomplicated in construction, convenient to handle and carry, and which may be economically produced.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the ear guard of the invention as mounted on the human ear;

FIG. 2 is a generally perspective, enlarged view of the ear guard of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a generally end elevational view of the ear guard taken from the right of FIG. 2.

Referring now again to the drawings, the ear guard of the invention provides a generally crescent-shaped body formed preferably of soft, molded rubber, or the like, defining a cavity 12 therein for receiving primarily the pinna portion of the ear. Preferably embedded in the body 10 adjacent the external periphery thereof is a C-shaped, resilient wire or strip spring member 14, for causing clasping of the pinna portion of the ear by the ear guard. The free ends 15 of the spring 14 may be blunted or rounded to prevent such ends from cutting or working their way through the material of the body 10. Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the ear guard encompasses primarily the helix and lobe of the pinna portion of the human ear, with the spring member positively maintaining the guard in place, but that the ear opening or canal 16 is left completely open. Therefore, the hearing of the wearer is not impaired.

The internal surfaces of the cavity 12 in the guard are preferably covered with a soft fabric 18 which will give added comfort to the ear around which the guard extends, and will add to the warmth of the ear guard. Such a fabric layer may be conveniently attached to the inner surfaces of cavity 12 by any suitable adhesive, many of which are known in the adhesive art.

3,144,663 Patented Aug. 18, 1964 The ear guard by being highly compact in nature may be conveniently carried by an individual in his pocket, and may be readily applied to the car by grasping the end portions 20 of the body and moving them outwardly with respect to one another and against the resistance to distortion of the spring 14. The pinna of the car may then be readily received in the cavity 12 of the guard, after which end portions 20 of the guard upon release thereof, move inwardly toward one another due to the resiliency of the spring 14, and the ear is grasped by the guard to retain the latter on the ear.

The guard may be readily made in any desired color or color combination, to thus increase the attractiveness thereof, and for matching purposes with other articles of the wearers clothes.

While the ear guard has been disclosed as being made from a soft moldable rubber, and while this is the preferable material and provides an arrangement conducive to economical mass production procedures, the guard could be made from other materials, such as for instance a soft poly-blend of plastic, or of rubber or plastic coated fabric, suitably formed or manufactured in the crescentlike shape illustrated.

From the foregoing discussion and the accompanying drawings, it will be understood that the invention provides an improved arrangement of ear guard or car protector which is self-retaining on the ear without the necessity of some other extraneous means for holding it in place on the head of the wearer, and which is effective to protect the ear against the elements, and which will not affect the hearing of the wearer.

The terms and expressions which have been used are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of the features shown or described, or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. An ear guard for the human ear comprising, a yieldable body portion, said body portion having a cavity therein adapted to receive the ear therein, said body portion comprising side walls transversely spaced at their forward ends and connected at their rearward and upper and lower ends to define said cavity, said side walls being recessed rearwardly intermediate their upper and lower ends so that substantially only the pinna portion of the human ear will be encompassed thereby, and substantially C-shaped, resilient spring means secured in said body portion generally adjacent the outer periphery of said upper, lower and rearward ends urging said upper and lower ends of said side walls vertically inwardly toward one another, for clasping the ear and thus maintaining the ear guard in position on the ear.

2. An ear guard for the human ear comprising, a body portion formed of soft molded rubber, defining a generally crescent-shaped article having upper and lower generally pointed ends, a cavity in said body portion, said cavity being of such size as to conveniently receive the human ear therein, the crescent-shaped configuration being such that substantially only the pinna portion of the ear will be encompassed by the body portion, generally 0- shaped resilient wire spring means embedded in said body portion adjacent the exterior periphery thereof and urging the generally pointed ends of said body portion vertically inwardly toward one another, for clasping the ear and maintaining the ear guard in self-retaining position thereon, said spring means extending substantially to the free extremities of said pointed ends of said body portion.

3. An ear guard in accordance with claim 2, wherein the free ends of said wire spring means are blunted.

4. An ear guard for the human ear comprising, a body portion of soft molded rubber, said body portion having a cavity therein adapted to receive the ear therein, said body portion comprising side walls transversely spaced at their forward ends and connected at their rearward and upper and lower ends to define said cavity, the intermediate portions of said side walls being of a greater width as compared to the upper and lower portions thereof to give a generally crescent shape to said guard, whereby said body portion encompasses only the pinna portion of the ear, and generally C-shaped spring means embedded in said body portion in encompassing relation to the rearward and the upper and lower ends of said cavity, for urging said upper and lower portions at their forward ends vertically inwardly toward one another for maintaining the guard in position on the ear, the terminal ends of said C-shaped spring means being blunted and terminating at substantially the extremity of the respective pointed end of said crescent shaped body portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 227,364 Klienert May 11, 1880 316,029 Gillespie Apr. 21, 1885 993,620 Quinn May 30, 1911 1,697,102 Barrington Jan. 1, 1929 2,281,357 Johnson Apr. 28, 1942 2,378,398 Fiedler June 19, 1945 2,570,675 Morris Oct. 9, 1951 2,763,869 Bogart et al. Sept. 25, 1956 2,812,517 Bogart et al. Nov. 12, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 642,593 France May 6, 1928 172,252 Germany June 15, 1906

Claims (1)

1. AN EAR GUARD FOR THE HUMAN EAR COMPRISING, A YIELDABLE BODY PORTION, SAID BODY PORTION HAVING A CAVITY THEREIN ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE EAR THEREIN, SAID BODY PORTION COMPRISING SIDE WALLS TRANSVERSELY SPACED AT THEIR FORWARD ENDS AND CONNECTED AT THEIR REARWARD AND UPPER AND LOWER ENDS TO DEFINE SAID CAVITY, SAID SIDE WALLS BEING RECESSED REARWARDLY INTERMEDIATE THEIR UPPER AND LOWER ENDS SO THAT SUBSTANTIALLY ONLY THE PINNA PORTION OF THE HUMAN EAR WILL BE ENCOMPASSED THEREBY, AND SUBSTANTIALLY C-SHAPED, RESILIENT SPRING MEANS SECURED IN SAID BODY PORTION GENERALLY ADJACENT THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID UPPER, LOWER AND REARWARD ENDS URGING SAID UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF SAID SIDE WALLS VERTICALLY INWARDLY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER, FOR CLASPING THE EAR AND THUS MAINTAINING THE EAR GUARD IN POSITION ON THE EAR.

Images