Conformal linear helmet

Abstract

A helmet for an aircraft pilot is provided including an inner shell and a liner attached to the inner shell configured to closely contact the pilot's head. The helmet also comprises adjustable tensioning means disposed at the rear of the helmet configured to tension the inner helmet and liner onto the pilot's head, to secure and locate the helmet in place on the pilot's head.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]The present application claims the benefit of and priority to Great Britain (GB) Application Serial No. 0900234.6, filed on Jan. 8, 2009, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Technical Field[0003]The present invention relates to a helmet for use by a combat aircraft pilot and, more particularly, to such a helmet suitable for use in aircraft capable of high G-force acceleration having a pilot-specific personalised liner.[0004]2. Background of Related Art[0005]Modern combat aircraft pilots are provided with advanced flying helmets which generally comprise an inner helmet and an outer helmet. The inner helmet fits on the pilot's head and includes attachment points to which the pilot attaches his breathing mask. The outer helmet fits over and is secured to the inner helmet, and includes instruments and equipment, for example, a helmet mounted display (HMD) for weapons targeting or night vision gogg...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pilot's helmet, and a liner for such a helmet, that substantially alleviates or overcomes the problems mentioned above.

Problems solved by technology

During such manoeuvres, the mass of the inner and outer helmet, together with the avionic equipment mounted to the outer helmet, cause high forces to be generated and these high forces can cause the inner helmet to move relative to the pilot's head.

This is especially problematic when avionic equipment is mounted over the front of the helmet and therefore the forward-positioned mass of such equipment acted upon by the significant downwards and sideways acceleration forces causes the helmet to rotate forwards and sideways relative to the pilot's head.

Furthermore, the significant mass of such equipment mounted to the helmet means that if a pilot goes top quickly rotate his head, as he would need to do in a combat situation when tracking an enemy aircraft, the inertia of the mass of the helmet can cause the helmet to be displaced out of position on the pilot's head, thereby misaligning the avionic equipment relative to the pilot's eyes.

However, in practice, even these perfectly-fitting custom-made liners cannot reliably prevent helmet movement in all conditions because, despite the exact fit, such known liners and helmets do not apply any tension or tightening onto the pilot's head and so are unable to effectively secure and locate the helmet in a stable position on the pilot's head.

Images