WO2008060039A1

WO2008060039A1 - Helmet having shield control means

Info

Publication number: WO2008060039A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/005051
Authority: WO
Inventors: Seoung-Woo Lee
Original assignee: Kido Sports Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-11-15
Filing date: 2007-10-16
Publication date: 2008-05-22
Also published as: KR100816033B1

Abstract

A helmet that can remove fog formed on an inner surface of a face shield when a user wears the helmet is provided. The helmet includes a main body defining a space receiving a head of a wearer; a face shield that is pivotally provided on a front opening of the main body to secure a vision field of the wearer; a base member that is fixed on an outer surface of the main body to open the shield and that is provided with a plurality of position control grooves in which a position control protrusion is formed on an inner surface of the face shield; and an opening unit that is provided on the base member to minutely open the face shield.

Description

HELMET HAVING SHIELD CONTROL MEANS

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a helmet having a shield control unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a helmet that is designed to minutely or completely open a face shield protecting a face of a user. Background Art

Generally, a helmet is provided to protect a head of a driver when the driver rides a motorcycle or the like. The driver of the motorcycle must wear the helmet while driving.

The helmet generally includes a helmet main body defining an outer appearance of the helmet and an inner space, a liner that is fixed on an inner surface of the helmet main body to function as a cushion by closely contacting a head of the helmet wearer, and a face shield that is hinge-fixed on the helmet main body to protect eyes or a face of the wearer.

The helmet main body is made of a material having strength that can sufficiently endure external impact and not be damaged, thereby protecting the head of the wearer. The liner functions to absorb and alleviate the external impact when the external impact is applied to the helmet main body, thereby contributing to a wearer's safety.

In addition, the face shield is installed at a front portion of the helmet main body to be capable of being opened and closed to protect a vision field of the user or prevent foreign objects from going into the eyes of the user.

Shield fixing units are provided on both inner-side ends of the face shield. The shield fixing units are hinge-fixed on both sides of the helmet main body. A rack is formed on the shield fixing unit and a stopper elastically contacting the rack is formed on the face shield. Therefore, the open state of the face shield is maintained while being opened step by step by a predetermined angle.

However, when the user intends to minutely open the face shield, the user encounters a problem.

That is, in order to ventilate the inside of the helmet or remove fog that is formed on an inner surface of the face shield due to a temperature difference between the inside and outside of the helmet, there is a need to open the face shield. At this point, the face shield must be opened more than necessary and thus it is troublesome to open the face shield.

When the face shield of the helmet is opened more than necessary, the shield receives resistance caused by wind and thus the driver may feel uneasiness while driving the motorcycle. When the face shield is completely opened while driving the motorcycle, the wind or other foreign objects may go into the eyes of the driver to obstruct the field of vision of the driver. This may cause an accident.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem Technical Object

The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above- described drawbacks of the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide a helmet having a shield control unit that can minutely or completely open the face shield according to a user's intension. Technical Solution

The helmet of an embodiment of the present invention includes: a main body defining a space receiving a head of a wearer; a face shield that is pivotally provided on a front opening of the main body to secure a vision field of the wearer; a base member that is fixed on an outer surface of the main body to open the shield and provided with a plurality of position control grooves in which a position control protrusion is formed on an inner surface of the face shield; and an opening unit that is provided on the base member to minutely open the face shield.

The helmet of another embodiment of the present invention includes: a main body defining a space receiving a head of a wearer; a face shield that is pivotally provided on a front opening of the main body to secure a vision field of the wearer; a base member that is fixed on an outer surface of the main body to open the shield and provided with a plurality of position control grooves in which a position control protrusion is formed on an inner surface of the face shield; a support step formed on the base member and having first and second inclined portions that are inclined in opposite directions to each other; a cam member located on an inner surface of the face shield and having a nose portion contactable with the first inclined portion, the cam member being pivotally installed on the base member; and a handle located on an outer portion of the face shield and installed on a shaft of the cam member to rotate the cam member. Advantageous Effects As described above, the helmet of the present invention can have a face shield minutely opened according to the user's intension and maintain the opening position of the face shield.

Particularly, since the shield can be minutely opened, when the face shield is fogged up by a temperature difference between the inside and outside of the helmet during, for example, the winter, the driver can remove the fog formed on the face shield in a moment by minutely opening the face shield for driving. In addition, since the face shield is not opened by wind in a locking state even when the motorcycle travels at a high speed, the driver can stably drive the motorcycle.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of major parts of a helmet having a face shield control unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of major parts of a helmet having a face shield control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a locking state of the face shield control unit.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of major parts of a helmet having a face shield control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating an unlocking state of the face shield control unit.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a helmet having a face shield control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating an open state of the face shield.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of major parts of a helmet having a face shield control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state where the face shield is ready to be opened.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a helmet having a face shield control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a state where the face shield is minutely opened.

BEST MODE

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 6 are views illustrating a shield control unit of a helmet according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which reference number 2 indicates a helmet main body.

The helmet main body 2 is made of a material having a strength that can sufficiently endure external impact and not be damaged, thereby protecting the head of the wearer. A liner 3 that functions to absorb and alleviate the external impact while enclosing the head of a wearer when the external impact is applied to the helmet main body is installed inside the helmet main body 2. Any currently- used structure may be used as the main body 2 and the liner 3.

An opening 4 is formed on a front portion of the main body 2 and a face shield 6 is detachably mounted on the opening 4 to be capable of pivoting in a vertical direction.

Any face shield that can protect a visual field of the wearer from wind as well as the eyes or face of the wearer from foreign objects may be used.

The face shield 6 may be transparent or may be provided with a function that blocks sunlight to alleviate fatigue of the eyes. In order to fix the face shield 6, holes 8 are formed in opposite ends of the face shield 6. The holes 8 are fitted around coupling protrusions 11 provided on a base member 10 fixed on the main body 2. By the above-described structure, the coupling protrusions 11 define a pivotal axis of the shield.

The base member 10 may be fixed on an outer surface of the main body 2 by screws or adhesive.

The coupling structure of the shield 6 and the main body 2 may be identical or similar to the currently-used structure. Therefore, a detailed description of the coupling structure will be omitted herein.

The base member 10 is provided at upper and lower portions with position control grooves 12 and 14. The grooves 12 and 14 are formed at locations at which position control protrusions 16 formed on an inner surface of the shield 6 can be caught, and are of sufficient size to maintain a completely opened position and a completely closed position.

Disposed between the position control grooves 12 and 14 are a plurality of position control grooves 18, 20, and 22. The position control grooves 18, 20, and 22 are sized to catch the position control protrusion 16 at a certain angle. The sizes of the position control grooves 12 and 14 are greater than those of the position control grooves 18, 20, and 22.

That is, when the position control protrusion 16 is caught by the position control grooves 12 and 14, the wearer must raise or lower the face shield in order to cause the position control protrusion 16 to be released from the grooves 12 and 14. However, the position control grooves 18, 20, and 22 are sized such that the position control protrusion 16 can be released with a force that is less than a force for raising and lowering the face shield 6. Although three position control grooves are illustrated in this exemplary embodiment, four or more position control grooves may be provided. Therefore, when the wearer raises or lowers the face shield 6, the user may feel a snapping operation as the position control protrusion 16 passes through the position control grooves 18, 20, and 22.

The position control groove 18 located at a lower portion in the drawing is located on a horizontal line that is identical to a pivotal axis of the face shield 6. By forming the position control groove 18 on the horizontal line that is identical to the pivotal axis of the face shield 6, the closing of the face shield by gravity can be effectively prevented.

If another position control groove is formed between the position control grooves 18 and 12, the face shield 6 may be easily closed by gravity even after a weak impact. Therefore, no position control groove is formed between the position control grooves 18 and 12.

Due to the above reason, it has been difficult to minutely open the face shield 6. Therefore, the present invention provides a unit that can minutely open the face shield.

The unit for minutely opening the face shield includes a support step 24 formed on the base member 10, and a cam member 26 supported on the support step 24 and installed at an inner surface of the face shield 6.

The support step 24 includes first and second inclined portions 28 and 30, and a stopper 32 is formed on the second inclined portion 30.

The first inclined portion 28 is inclined upward from the left side to the right side in the drawing, and the second inclined portion 30 is inclined upward from the right side to the left side in the drawing.

A groove 36 of the cam member 34 that is pivotally installed on the face shield 6 is caught by the stopper 32 to prevent the face shield 6 from being inadvertently opened.

The cam member 34 is provided on the inner surface of the face shield 6 and pivots on a shaft of a handle 38 installed on the outer surface of the face shield 6.

The handle 38 is provided at an inner surface thereof with a protrusion 40. When the handle 38 rotates, the protrusion 40 is located on one of the grooves 42 and 44 formed on the face shield 6.

The cam member 34 is provided with a nose portion 46, and a straight portion 48 extends from the nose portion 46.

In the helmet according to the present invention, in order to open the face shield from the closed position as shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 32 is released from the groove 36 by rotating the handle 38 to release the locking state.

In the locking state of the shield 6, the protrusion 40 formed on the handle 38 is released from the groove 42. In this state, when the handle 38 further rotates, the protrusion 40 is located on another groove 44.

Then, the cam member 34 rotates together with the handle 38. In this state, the straight portion 48 of the cam member 34 is in a contact state with the first inclined portion 28 of the support step 24. In this state, when the wearer pushes the face shield 6 upward, the face shield 6 pivots about a pivot center C to be opened.

At this point, the face shield 6 is opened until the position control protrusion 16 provided on the inner surface of the face shield 6 reaches the uppermost position control groove 14 after passing through the position control grooves 18, 20, and 22 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

Therefore, when the user releases the shield 6, the shield 6 maintains its opened position at a desired location. The maintaining of the opened position becomes possible when the position control protrusion 16 is located in one of the position control grooves 18, 20, and 22.

In addition, when the user intends to close the face shield 6, the user rotates the handle 38 in an opposite direction to a direction for opening the face shield to move the position control protrusion 16 to the position control groove 12.

When the face shield 6 is closed in a state where the user is wearing the helmet, fog is generated on the inner surface of the shield 6 in the winter or on raining days. This fog obstructs the vision field of the user. Therefore, the shield

6 is minutely opened to allow the outer air to be introduced toward the inner surface of the face shield 6.

In order to minutely open the shield 6, the user rotates the handle 38 as in the process for opening the shield 6, thereby releasing the locking state of the face shield 6.

In this state, as described above, the straight portion 48 of the cam member 34 is in the contacting state with the first inclined portion 28. In this state, when the user further rotates the handle 38, the position control protrusion 16 is released from the groove 44 to rotate together with the cam member 34.

As described above, when the cam member 34 rotates, the nose portion 46 of the cam member 34 contacts the first inclined portion 28 of the support step 24 and thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the nose 46 is displaced downward.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the handle 38 further rotates as the nose portion 46 starts contacting the first inclined portion 28, the nose portion 46 is located almost perpendicular to the first inclined portion 28 as shown in FIG. 6.

Then, since a distance from a center of the cam member 34 to the nose portion 46 is greater than a distance from the center of the cam member 34 to the first inclined portion 28, the shield 6 is slightly opened about the rotational center C in a state shown in FIG. 6. At this point, the opening distance of the face shield 6 can be adjusted in accordance with a design of the nose portion 46 of the cam member 34. For example, the opening distance P may be l-5mm.

As described above, when the face shield 6 is minutely opened, the fog formed on the inner surface of the face shield 6 can be easily removed.

After the fog formed on the inner surface of the face shield is removed, the user rotates the handle in the opposite direction and the face shield is returned to the state shown in FIG. 2. Industrial Applicability The present invention relates to a helmet for a driver of, for example, a motorcycle. The present invention can be applied to any type of helmet.

Claims

WHAT IS CALIMED IS

1. A helmet having a shield control unit, comprising: a main body defining a space receiving a head of a wearer; a face shield that is pivotally provided on a front opening of the main body to secure a vision field of the wearer; a base member that is fixed on an outer surface of the main body to open the shield and that is provided with a plurality of position control grooves in which a position control protrusion is formed on an inner surface of the face shield; and an opening unit that is provided on the base member to minutely open the face shield.

2. A helmet having a shield control unit, comprising: a main body defining a space receiving a head of a wearer; a face shield that is pivotally provided on a front opening of the main body to secure a vision field of the wearer; a base member that is fixed on an outer surface of the main body to open the shield and that is provided with a plurality of position control grooves in which a position control protrusion is formed on an inner surface of the face shield; a support step formed on the base member and having first and second inclined portions that are inclined in opposite directions to each other; a cam member located on an inner surface of the face shield and having a nose portion contactable with the first inclined portion, the cam member being pivotally installed on the base member; and a handle located on an outer portion of the face shield and installed on a shaft of the cam member to rotate the cam member.

3. The helmet of claim 2, wherein the base member is provided with a plurality of position location grooves.

4. The helmet of claim 2, wherein the support step is provided with a stopper for locking the face shield.

5. The helmet of claim 2, wherein the cam member is designed such that a distance from a center of the cam member to the nose portion is greater than a distance from the center of the cam member to the first inclined portion.

6. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the handle is provided with a protrusion located in two grooves formed on the face shield.

7. The helmet of claim 2, wherein the cam member is provided with a groove that can be fixed on the support step.

8. The helmet of claim 2, wherein base member is provided with a coupling protrusion defining a pivotal axis of the face shield.

9. The helmet of claim 8, wherein a hole formed on each of both side ends of the face shield receives the corresponding coupling protrusion.