US3387304A

US3387304A - Safety cap suspension

Info

Publication number: US3387304A
Application number: US438491A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jack N Simpson; William R Bohner
Original assignee: ESB Inc
Current assignee: C & D ACQUISITION CORP A CORP OF DE; ESB Inc
Priority date: 1965-03-10
Filing date: 1965-03-10
Publication date: 1968-06-11
Anticipated expiration: 1985-06-11

Description

June 11, 1968 J. N. SIMPSON ETAL 3,387,304

SAFETY CAP SUSPENSION Filed March 10, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 23 INVENTORS JACK N. SIMPSON WILLIAM R. BOHNER l'- ig4 BY 2:

their ATTORNEY June 11, 1968 J. N. SIMPSON ETAL 3,387,304

SAFETY CAP SUSPENS ION Filed March 10, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JACK N. SIMPSON WILLIAM R. BOHNER their ATTORNEY United States Patent Delaware Filed Mar. 10, 1965, Ser. No. 438,491 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-3) This invention relates generally to a safety cap construction and, more particularly, to a crown strap suspension therefor for enabling easy and quick adjustment in height and perimeter of the suspension.

In the past, adjustable crown strap suspensions for safety headgear have often involved ditliculty in making adjustments in circumference and have generally required removal of the entire suspension for making adjustments in height.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel safety cap construction and a novel suspension therefor which overcomes the above named disadvantages and which enables adjustment in girth and height without the necessity of removing the entire head band suspension, but by the mere detachment and attachment of collar buttons.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel crown strap suspension which is permanently fastened to the inside of a safety cap and in which the height of the suspension may be quickly varied merely by the detachment and re-attachment of the end portions of the cross straps which suspend permanently fastened, fingered suspending elements.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a crown strap suspension for safety headgear which enables easy and quick detachment and attachment to selective holes on the front portion of the headband and two slots at the rear portion thereof, for greatly facilitating adjustment in circumference or girth of the headband.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top, perspective view of a safety cap embodying the present invention and provided with a crown strap suspension detachably secured to a headband, and wherein the cap, crown strap suspension, and headband are shown separated or exploded to more clearly illustrate the adjustable features thereof;

FIG. 2 is a side, fragmentary view of the rear adjustable portion of the headband 16 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top, perspective, fragmentary view of the rear adjustable portion of headband 16 of FIG. 1 showing the ends of the headband separated to more clearly illustrate their construction;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, perspective view of a collar button 9 such as used throughout the suspension shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a top, perspective view of a modification of the headband and including chin and nape straps.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the nape strap shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the nape strap shown in FIG. 6;

'FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of element 38 of FIG. 5; and,

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary top view of the headband shown in FIG. 5.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 generally denotes a safety cap of plastic, metal or other suitable material (although it should be understood that a safety hat could be used instead), which cap has an integral front visor portion 2 and arcuate side portions 3. The opposite side of the cap has the same appearance. The arcuate portions 3 prevent contact with the ears of the wearer and attendant discomfort.

At circumferentially spaced points about the perimeter of the cap are attached four rivets 4 for permanently fastening the central finger portions, through holes 5 of plastic three-fingered suspending elements 6. In some instances, however, readily detachable fasteners may be used instead of rivets 4. Four of such suspending elements 6 are provided, each having side finger portions 12 having holes 13 for receiving neck portions 22 of collar buttons 9 of the construction more clearly shown in FIG. 4, provided with a neck 22, bead 23 and base 21. The collar button, in turn, is detachably secured to selective pairs of holes 14 formed at the front of plastic band 18 of the headband 16. At the rear portion of the headband 16, the collar buttons 9 mounted on the side finger portions 12 are projected into slots 15 formed in the plastic band 18 to provide adjustability in girth. Two such pairs of slots 15 are provided, one on each side of the rear portion, whereas two sets of holes 14 are provided, one on each side of the front portion of the headband so that the two pairs of front fingers or suspending elements 6 are held in selective holes at fixed points, whereas the two pairs of rear suspending elements 6 are automatically slidable in slots of the headband after the headband has been adjusted in circumference.

In order to provide for vertical adjustment of crown strap suspension 11 for different sizes of heads, two cross strips of plastic material are disposed in intersecting relationship with a collar button 9 extending through registering holes at the center of the strips. Each end portion of each strip is provided with two

slots

9 and 10 for selective use in attaching to the collar buttons 9 extending through a hole in the top of suspending element 6, whereby the height of the intersecting straps, that is, the height of the central portion of the crown strap suspension 11 may be varied.

The plastic strip '18 of headband 16 has sewed at 19 to the lower portion a leather sweat band 17 which is folded at the bottom 20 and provided with a plurality of diagonally extending perforations for ventilation. The end portions of the headband 16 are overlapped by variable amounts so as to provide an adjustment of the circumference or girth of the headband for different head sizes of the wearer. When the proper overlap or adjustment has been obtained, and as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a collar button 9 is extended through the selected registering holes 23 in plastic strip 18 and an encircling flexible strap portion 21 is looped over the tops of seat band 17 and strip 18 of the headband sothat the collar button 9 may also be inserted through a hole formed at the free end of strap portion 21 to compact the assembly.

The headband may be readily adjusted in the girth or circumference merely by attaching or detaching a collar button 9, also the height of the crown strap suspension may be varied without removal of the suspension elements 6 from their permanent attachment to the inner surface of cap 1. It is merely necessary to detach the collar button 9 from one hole 10 and insert it in another, vertically disposed therewith, to raise the height of the crown strap suspension.

FIG. 5 shows a modification of the headband and wherein like numerals indicate the same parts illustrated in FIG. 1.

A modification is made by integrally molding buttons or projections 14' on both sides of the front portion of the headband instead of providing holes through which separate collar buttons are projected.

In order to hold the headband and suspension firmly on the head, a chin strap 36 may be provided including a strap portion 42 for engaging the chin and an adjustable portion 43 which projects through a slot 41 in portion 40 of a clip 38, which clip is pivotally mounted by projecting a collar button 9 through hole 39. The entire chin strap assembly, denoted by numeral 37, is used alone under ordinary circumstances.

In some situations, and more often, instead of using a chin strap assembly 37, a nape strap 31 is used which comprises a central portion 31 which is serrated at 34 to provide frictional contact under the nape of the neck. Each end portion 32 of the nape strap is provided with holes 33 through which a collar button 9 may be selectively inserted to adjust the strap to fit diiferent head sizes of wearers. Thus it will be seen that we have provided a light and etfi-cient safety cap construction and suspension for enabling quick and easy adjustment of the girth and height of the crown strap suspension involving the mere detachment and attachment of collar buttons; furthermore, we have provided a novel suspension which is also useful for safety hats.

While we have illustrated several embodiments of our invention, it will be understood that these are by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made Within the contemplation of our invention and within the scope of the following claim.

We claim:

1. A crown strap suspension for safety headgear comprising a pair of cross straps of plastic strip material, the ends of said straps having longitudinally disposed holes, a plurality of plastic suspending elements each having a top central portion having a hole therein, a correspond ing plurality of collar buttons, each of said suspending elements being attached to the end of a different one of said straps by aligning the hole in the central portion of said suspending element with a selected one of the holes in said straps enabling adjustment of the height of the suspension, each of said suspending elements having a central finger for attachment to the inside surface of said headgear and having side fingers having holes therein with collar buttons and a headband having selectively overlapped end portions for adjusting the girth of the headband and having slots adjacent each of said end portions into which said collar buttons of the side fingers extend, whereby adjustment in height may be made without detaching said suspending elements from said headgear.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,207,137 12/1916 Clore 2181.8 2,769,176 11/1956 Grancsay et al. 23 2,814,043 11/1957 Alesi 2-3 3,008,145 11/1961 Austin et a1. 23 3,026,523 3/1962 'Bowers et al. 23 3,041,621 7/1962 Brockway 23 3,087,164 4/ 1963 Gilbert 23 3,089,144 5/1963 Cherup 23 3,187,342 6/1965 Aileo 23 3,192,536 7/1965 Benner 23 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

J. R. BOLER, Examiner.

Claims

1. A CROWN STRAP SUSPENSION FOR SAFETY HEADGEAR COMPRISING A PAIR OF CROSS STRAPS OF PLASTIC STRIP MATERIAL, THE ENDS OF SAID STRAPS HAVING LONGITUDINALLY DISPOSED HOLES, A PLURALITY OF PLASTIC SUSPENDING ELEMENTS EACH HAVING A TOP CENTRAL PORTION HAVING A HOLE THEREIN, A CORRESPONDING PLURALITY OF COLLAR BUTTONS, EACH OF SAID SUSPENDING ELEMENTS BEING ATTACHED TO THE END OF A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID STRAPS BY ALIGNING THE HOLE IN THE CENTRAL PORTION OF SAID SUSPENDING ELEMENT WITH A SELECTED ONE OF THE HOLES IN SAID STRAPS ENABLING ADJUSTMENT OF THE HEIGHT OF THE SUSPENSION, EACH OF SAID SUSPENDING ELEMENTS HAVING A CENTRAL FINGER FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE INSIDE SURFACE OF SAID HEADGEAR AND HAVING SIDE FINGERS HAVING HOLES THEREIN WITH COLLAR BUTTONS AND A HEADBAND HAVING SELECTIVELY OVERLAPPED END PORTIONS FOR ADJUSTING THE GIRTH OF THE HEADBAND AND HAVING SLOTS ADJACENT EACH OF SAID END PORTIONS INTO WHICH SAID COLLAR BUTTONS OF THE SIDE FINGERS EXTEND, WHEREBY ADJUSTMENT IN HEIGHT MAY BE MADE WITHOUT DETACHING SAID SUSPENDING ELEMENTS FROM SAID HEADGEAR.