Helmet with base, inflator, and airbag

Abstract

The helmet (5) comprises a base body (10) extending in a first direction from a rear end to a front end and in a second direction from a lower end to an upper end forming a rim, the base body (10) having a forehead region (16) that is located in front of the forehead of a user when the helmet (5) is worn. The helmet (5) further comprises an inflator (50) attached to the base body (10) at its rear end, and an airbag (40) in fluid communication with the inflator (50) and comprising a protective portion (46) attached to the base body (10) at the forehead region (16). The inflator (50) is located away from the protective portion (46), and the airbag (40) further comprises a hose-shaped filling portion (42) extending between the inflator (50) and the protective portion (46).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a helmet according to claim 1 and to an airbag adapted to be used as part of such a helmet according to claim 22. [Background technology]

[0002] A common type of helmet is widespread and is mainly used by motorcyclists. Such helmets comprise a base body extending in a first direction from the rear end to the front end and in a second direction from the lower end to the upper end forming a rim. When used by a user, the base body of the helmet covers essentially all of the head, except for at least a part of the face, in particular the eyes, nose and mouth. The base body thus comprises a forehead area which is located in front of the forehead of the user when the helmet is worn. Below this forehead area, the base body has an opening which is located in front of at least a part of the face of the user when the helmet is worn. If the helmet is a so-called full helmet, the base body has a chin area below the opening mentioned here, which opening is a hole with a closed boundary.

[0003] The base typically comprises a body, a cushioning material inside the body, and a protective outer shell outside the body. The body is typically relatively thick (several centimeters) and made of an inherently stable, foamed, shock-absorbing material such as Styrofoam. The exterior of the body is covered by a rigid outer shell, typically made of a hard material such as polycarbonate or a fiber-reinforced plastic material. A visor may be attached to the base such that an opening in the base can be closed by the visor.

[0004] Such helmets, particularly in the form of a full helmet, offer good protection to the user's head in the event of an accident.

[0005] From general WO 2021 / 160817 A1 it is known to provide an inflator and an airbag in fluid communication with the inflator, both of which are attached to a base of the helmet. The airbag is attached to the base in the forehead region of the base and the inflator is attached to the base at its rear end. Furthermore, a rigid pipe is provided that connects the inflator and the airbag in such a way that gas from the inflator flows through the pipe into the gas space enclosed by the airbag, so that the airbag inflates to provide additional protection to the driver's forehead.

[0006] This follows from the following concept: It has been found that when a motorcycle (or other vehicle used by a person wearing a helmet) stops for a frontal collision, it often happens that the forehead area of ​​the helmet strikes an object (e.g. another vehicle) at high speed. The deceleration is therefore often so great in this case that even if the helmet itself remains intact, the user is likely to suffer serious, even fatal, injuries, since in particular the user's neck is subjected to such large forces. The risk to the user can therefore be reduced by providing cushioning (i.e. the protective part of the airbag) only in the forehead area, so that additional distance for deceleration is provided.

[0007] Providing the protective portion exclusively in the forehead region of the substrate has the advantage that only a small volume of the airbag needs to be filled with gas so that this protective portion can be inflated to its full volume very quickly, which is very important to give the user the desired additional protection since the time for deployment is usually very short, and furthermore only a small inflator is required. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] Starting from this prior art, the object of the present invention is to further improve helmets of the general type.

[0009] This problem is solved by a helmet having the features of claim 1. An airbag adapted to be used as part of such a helmet is defined in claim 22.

[0010] Like the helmet described in general WO 2021 / 160817(A1), the helmet according to the invention comprises an inflator attached to a base and an airbag mounted in fluid communication with the inflator and attached to the base such that at least a portion of the airbag deploys outside the base when filled with gas.

[0011] According to the invention, the airbag has not only a protective portion which, when filled with gas, covers only a relatively small surface of the base, i.e. at least a portion of the forehead area referred to above, but also a hose-shaped filling portion extending between the inflator and the protective portion 46.

[0012] Due to the very limited space available for the airbag assembly, the inflator must be away from the protective part, and it has been found that the optimal location for this inflator is at the rear end of the helmet base body (as known from the prior art), and thus away from the protective part of the airbag, but that a relatively long and thin filling tube limits the filling speed of the protective area. The filling part of the airbag therefore extends between the protective part and the inflator. As this filling part serves only for filling purposes and not for protection purposes, it is shaped so that its volume is small (compared to the protective part), which additionally leads to a quick filling of the protective part.

[0013] The main advantage of such a filled section over a rigid filled pipe as known from the prior art is its increased volume during deployment, which means that it requires only a small storage volume, while still providing a relatively large cross section for the gas flow.

[0014] Additional advantages are: the filling part is light, flexible and does not contain rigid elements; since no additional sealing is required between the protective part and the filling part, the number of seals required is reduced and thus the airtightness is increased; finally, the assembly is simplified.

[0015] In one embodiment, the undeployed airbag is located between the body and the outer shell so that it is protected by the outer shell during normal use of the helmet. For this purpose, the body is preferably provided with a groove on its outer surface (as is generally known from the general publications) so that the undeployed airbag is located in this groove between the body and the outer shell. To give the airbag the possibility of deployment, the outer shell preferably exhibits a pre-set break line at least in the forehead area so that the protective part of the airbag can be deployed from the body of the helmet. Since the groove preferably has a minimum depth, it is further preferred that the pre-set break line also extends along the filled part of the airbag, so that the filled part can also be deployed so that its diameter expands from the undeployed state to the deployed state.

[0016] In another embodiment, the airbag is located on the outside of the outer shell, which has the advantage that the outer shell does not need to have any split lines etc, so that its integrity is fully maintained.

[0017] Also in this case, it is preferred that the airbag is located inside a groove, here in a groove extending into the outer shell. To ensure intimate contact between the outer shell and the body, the groove portion of the outer shell preferably extends into the groove of the body such that at least substantially the entire inner surface of the outer shell is in contact with the body (as is the case with conventional helmets without an airbag).

[0018] Positioning the airbag on top of the outer shell has the further advantage that the mounting process of the airbag to the substrate is easy and the necessary mounting elements do not need to interact with the foam body, which minimizes the risk of the user being injured by the mounting elements in the event of an accident.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, the outer shell includes at least one mounting hole, the airbag includes at least one opening at least partially overlapping the mounting hole, and the mounting element extends through the mounting hole and the opening.

[0020] The mounting element may comprise a head, a shaft and a locking crosspiece extending essentially perpendicularly from the crosspiece, said crosspiece having a length exceeding its width and the mounting hole having an oblong shape with a width smaller than the length of the crosspiece. The fixing procedure is therefore very simple: the mounting element only has to be rotated from the unlocked position to the locked position. The openings may in particular be located in the mounting lugs of the airbag. Usually the body needs a hollow at the location of the mounting element.

[0021] To protect the airbag, it is often preferable for at least a portion of the undeployed airbag to be covered by an additional cover.

[0022] In one embodiment of the airbag, the airbag is substantially T-shaped (also called mushroom-shaped) and is symmetrically arranged on the base body, with the filling part extending in the longitudinal central plane of the base body. This has the advantage that the helmet is completely symmetrical and behaves completely symmetrically. In this case, the gas flow paths diverge at the transition point between the filling part and the protective part.

[0023] In another embodiment, the airbag is substantially C-shaped and defines a non-branched flow path, which may be preferred in view of rapid filling of the protective portion, in which case the filling portion is asymmetrically disposed on the substrate, i.e. extending along the side regions of the substrate.

[0024] As with conventional helmets, the base body of the helmet will typically be made of a foamed plastic material such as Styrofoam and the outer shell will typically be made of a rigid plastic material, e.g., a fibre reinforced plastic, although non-fibre reinforced plastics such as ABS may be used. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0025] The invention will now be explained in more detail by preferred embodiments in view of the figures. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a subassembly of a first embodiment of a helmet of the present invention, which is composed of a main body and a cushioning material. [Figure 1a] FIG. 1a is the subassembly of FIG. 1 in a top view (seen in direction R1 in FIG. 1). [Diagram 2] Figure 2 shows two cut pieces of the airbag. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 shows an airbag sewn together from the two sections shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows the airbag, inflator and control elements shown in FIG. 3 after they have been attached to the body of the substrate. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 shows the helmet shown in FIG. 4 after the outer shell has been attached to the body so as to complete the helmet fitting process. [Figure 5a] FIG. 5a is a cross-sectional view taken along plane AA in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is the same as shown in FIG. 5 after the inflator has been activated so that the airbag is in a deployed state. [Figure 6a] FIG. 6a is a cross-sectional view taken along plane BB in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the airbag in a representation according to FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the base body of the helmet of the invention in a representation according to FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along plane BB in FIG. [Figure 10]10 is a top view of the base of FIG. 8 from the direction R2 in FIG. [Figure 11a] FIG. 11a shows the mounting element. [Figure 11b] FIG. 11b shows the mounting element. [Figure 11c] FIG. 11c shows the mounting element. [Figure 11d] FIG. 11d shows the mounting element. [Figure 12a] FIG. 12a is a cross-section along plane CC in FIG. 10, the mounting element in a representation according to FIG. 11b. [Figure 12b] FIG. 12b shows the item shown in FIG. 12a after the locking crosspiece of the mounting element has been forced through the opening in the airbag and the mounting hole in the outer shell. [Figure 12c] FIG. 12c shows the attachment element shown in FIG. 12b after it has been rotated 90° so that it is in a locked position. [Figure 13] 13 shows the base of FIG. 10 and the airbag of FIG. 3 attached to the base via an attachment element. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 shows the helmet in the state of FIG. 13 in a representation according to FIG. 8. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 shows the helmet shown in FIG. 14 after the additional cover has been attached to the outer shell, thus fully assembled. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 shows the helmet of FIG. 15 in a representation according to FIG. 13. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 shows a prior art helmet from the side. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 shows the helmet of FIG. 17 in a cross-sectional view according to FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] With the view of figures 17 and 18, a prior art helmet is described. The helmet shown is a full helmet, which is the most important type of helmet for motorcyclists, quads, trikes, etc. This helmet has a base body 10 and can additionally be equipped with a visor (not shown in the drawings). The base body 10 extends in a first direction (X direction) from the rear end to the front end and in a second direction (Z direction) from the lower end (forming the rim) to the upper end. The terms "rear", "front", "lower" and "upper" refer to the state in which the helmet is normally worn by the motorcyclist. The base body 10 comprises a body 20, a cushioning material 22 located on the inner surface of the body 20, and an outer shell 24 on the outside of the body. The body 20 is usually made of a foamed and therefore shock-absorbing material such as Styrofoam, while the rigid outer shell 24 covering the outer surface of the inner layer 20 can be composed, for example, of a fiber-reinforced plastic material. In advanced helmets, the body 20 may again include two or more layers. As mentioned, the helmet 5 is a full helmet such that the base body 20 includes a chin region 15 forming a lower front region. An opening 17 is located between the chin region 15 and the forehead region 16. The opening 17 is located in front of the user's face when the helmet is worn.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a subassembly of the base body of the helmet of the invention in a representation according to FIG. 9 (i.e. all of the base body except the outer shell). The difference with the prior art is that the body 20 has a groove 30 on its outer surface, as known from general WO 2021 / 160817 A1. This groove 30 has an inflator portion 31 at the rear end of the body 20, a forehead portion 36 in the forehead region and a connection portion 32 connecting the inflator portion 31 and the forehead portion 36. The body 20 can be made from the same material as the body of the prior art helmet.

[0028] 1, the connecting portion 32 of the groove 30 has a relatively small width in the Y direction, and the groove 30 is wider at the forehead portion 36. Furthermore, the connecting portion 46 has a shallower depth than the inflator portion 31.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows two cuts 40a and 40b to which the airbag attached to the body 20 is sewn. It is easy to see that the two cuts 40a, 40b are congruent so that they both have a filling portion 42a, 42b and a protective portion 46a, 46b. Instead of using two cuts, it is of course also possible to use only one cut and fold it along a folding line, as is known for example from knee airbag cushions or side airbag cushions. Attachment lugs 47 are provided in the edge regions of the cuts, by means of which the airbag, in particular its protective portion, is attached to the body 20. These attachment lugs 47 are usually integral with the main region of the cuts. The complete airbag 40 can be sewn from these two cuts by a single seam 48, as can be seen from FIG. 3. In this first embodiment, the airbag is symmetrical and therefore T-shaped (or mushroom-shaped) so that the gas flow paths are diverged. In other embodiments, the airbag can also be made in one piece by known co-weaving techniques.

[0030] The airbag 40, the inflator 50 and a control element 54 for the inflator 50 are here mounted on the body 20 such that the inflator 50 is located in the inflator portion 31 of the groove, the filling portion 42 of the airbag 40 is located in the connecting portion 32 of the groove 30 and the protective portion 46 of the airbag 40 is located in the forehead portion 36 of the groove 30 and are connected to the body 20 by means of mounting lugs 47 each having an opening 50. The control element 54 typically comprises a sensor capable of triggering the inflator 50 in the event of acceleration or deceleration exceeding a determined threshold value.

[0031] In a final assembly step, the outer shell 24 is attached to the body 20 .

[0032] When the inflator 50 is activated, gas flows into the filling portion 42 of the airbag and from there into the protective portion 46, which extends from the base 10, as can be seen in Figure 6. Thus, cushioning is provided in front of the user's forehead to cushion the impact in this area, such that forces acting on the user's head and neck are reduced.

[0033] In the embodiment described here, the complete helmet including the airbag is symmetrical. As can be seen from Fig. 7, an asymmetrical geometry can also be used, such that the airbag is substantially C-shaped. In this case, the filling portion 42 (and therefore the connecting portion of the groove) extends to one side of the base body 10 offset from the mid-plane in the XZ plane. In this case, the gas flow paths are not branched.

[0034] Figures 8-16 show another embodiment of a helmet according to the present invention. One main difference is that the airbag is located on top of the outer shell 24, rather than between the body 20 and the outer shell 24. One advantage of this embodiment is that the outer shell 24 does not need to have split lines or the like and is as sturdy as the outer shell of a conventional helmet.

[0035] Also in this embodiment, a groove 30' for receiving the airbag 40 and the inflator is provided, but since the airbag is located outside the outer shell 24, this groove 30' extends into the outer shell 24. Since it is desired that the inner surface of the outer shell 24 contacts the outer surface of the body, the body also includes a groove into which the groove portion of the outer shell 24 extends (see Figures 8 and 9). The thickness of the outer shell 24 is preferably essentially constant. The shape of the groove 30' in the outer shell 24 is substantially the same as the shape of the groove 30 in the body 20 of the embodiment shown in Figure 1a.

[0036] For example, as can be seen in Figure 10, mounting holes 52 are provided in the outer shell 24 at the locations of the openings 50 in the mounting lugs 47. These mounting holes 52 have an elongated shape with a length greater than a width.

[0037] 11a-11d show mounting elements designed to mount the airbag 40 to the outer shell by using openings 50 in the airbag and mounting holes 52 in the outer shell 24. In this embodiment, there are four opening 50 / mounting hole 52 pairs, so of course four mounting elements 60 are also required.

[0038] Fig. 11b is a side view from direction R3 in Fig. 11a, Fig. 11c is a bottom view from direction R4 in Fig. 11a, and Fig. 11d is a top view from direction R5 in Fig. 11a. The mounting element 60 comprises a head 62 with a circular underside, a shaft 64 extending from the underside, and a locking crosspiece 66 at the end of the shaft 64. The length of the locking crosspiece 66 is slightly smaller than the length of the mounting hole 52, and the width of the locking crosspiece 66 is slightly smaller than the width of the mounting hole 52. Furthermore, the length of the locking crosspiece exceeds the width of the mounting hole 52. A slit 63 is arranged in the upper surface of the head 62 so that the mounting element can be rotated using a screwdriver.

[0039] 12a-c show how the mounting lugs 47 of the airbag 40 are mounted to the outer shell 24 by means of the mounting elements 60 described herein. The airbag 40 is placed in the grooves 30' of the outer shell 24 so that the openings 50 are essentially flush with the mounting holes 52. The openings 50 can have essentially the same shape as the mounting holes 52). The locking cross pieces of the mounting elements 60 are then pushed through the openings 50 and the mounting holes 52. It should be noted that the body 20 is provided with a hollow below each mounting hole 52 so that the locking cross pieces do not interfere with the body 20. Finally, the mounting elements 54 are rotated 90° to fix the mounting lugs 47 to the outer shell 24 (FIG. 12c). These steps are of course performed for each opening / mounting hole pair (see FIG. 13).

[0040] To protect the airbag from the environment and to improve the visual appearance, an additional cover 70 covering the airbag 40 and the inflator 50 can be attached to the outer shell 24 (FIGS. 14 and 15). This cover can be provided with split lines and / or hinges to allow at least a part of it to be moved by the deploying airbag so that the airbag can deploy from the base, as described in view of the first embodiment. Alternatively, the additional cover can be completely disengaged from the outer shell when the airbag deploys.

[0041] Of course, the principle of locating the airbag outside the outer shell can also be applied to the geometry described in view of FIG. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 5. Helmet 10 Base 15 Jaw Area 16 Frontal area 17 Opening 20 Main unit 21 Hollow part 22 Cushioning material 24 Outer Shell 30 Groove in the body 30' Groove in outer shell 31 Inflator part 32 Connection part 36 Forehead area 40 Airbag 40a, b Cutting material 42 Filling part 42a, b Filling part of cutting 46 Protected part 46a, b Protective parts of cut objects 47 Mounting lug 47a, b Cutting work attachment lugs 48 Stitches 50 Inflator 54 Control Elements 50 Opening in mounting lug 52 Mounting holes in outer shell 60 Wearing Elements 62 Head 63 Slit in head 64 Shaft 66 Rocking Cross Piece 70 additional covers

Claims

1. A helmet (5), a base body (10) extending in a first direction (X) from a rear end to a front end and in a second direction (Y) from a lower end to an upper end forming a rim, said base body (10) having a forehead region (16) that is located in front of a user's forehead when the helmet (5) is worn; an inflator (50) attached to the substrate (10) at the rear end of the substrate (10); an airbag (40) comprising a protective portion (46) in fluid communication with the inflator (50) and attached to the substrate (10) in the forehead region (16); Helmet (5), characterized in that the airbag further comprises a hose-shaped filling portion (42) extending between the inflator (50) and the protective portion (46).

2. 2. Helmet according to claim 1, characterized in that an opening (17) is located below the forehead area.

3. 3. The helmet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the base body (10) comprises a body (20) and an outer shell (24), the undeployed airbag (40) being located between the body (20) and the outer shell (24).

4. 4. The helmet of claim 3, wherein a groove (30) extends within said body (20) and at least a portion of said undeployed airbag (40) is located in said groove.

5. 5. The helmet according to claim 4, characterized in that the groove (30) comprises a forehead portion (36) for accommodating the protective portion (46) of the airbag (40) and a connecting portion (32) for accommodating the filling portion (42) of the airbag (40).

6. 6. The helmet according to claim 5, characterized in that both the protective portion (46) and the filling portion (42) extend at least partially outside the groove (30) when the airbag is deployed.

7. 3. The helmet according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the base body (10) comprises a body (20) and an outer shell (24), the airbag (40) being located outside the outer shell (24).

8. 8. The helmet of claim 7, wherein a groove (30') extends into the outer shell (24) such that the outer shell (24) includes a groove portion, and at least a portion of the undeployed airbag (40) is located in the groove (30').

9. 9. The helmet of claim 8, wherein the groove portion of the outer shell extends into a groove in the body (20).

10. Helmet according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that at least 90% of the inner surface of the outer shell (24) is in contact with the body (20).

11. Helmet according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that both the protective portion (46) and the filling portion (42) extend at least partially outside the groove (30') when the airbag is deployed.

12. 12. The helmet according to claim 7, wherein the outer shell (24) comprises at least one mounting hole (52), the airbag (40) comprises at least one opening (50) at least partially overlapping the mounting hole (52), and a mounting element (60) extends through the opening (50) and the mounting hole (52).

13. 13. The helmet according to claim 12, characterized in that the mounting element (60) comprises a head (62), a shaft (64) and a locking crosspiece (66) extending essentially perpendicularly from the shaft (64), the locking crosspiece (66) having a length that exceeds its width, and the mounting hole (52) has an oblong shape with a width that is smaller than the length of the crosspiece (66).

14. A helmet according to claim 13, characterized in that said wearing piece (60) is one piece.

15. Helmet according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the opening (50) is located in a mounting lug (47) of the airbag (40).

16. Helmet according to any one of claims 7 to 15, characterized in that said body (20) presents a hollow (21) at the location of said mounting element (60).

17. Helmet according to any one of claims 7 to 16, characterized in that at least a part of the undeployed airbag (40) is covered by an additional cover (70).

18. Helmet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the airbag (40) comprises two essentially congruent parts (40a, 40b) or portions of flat flexible material, each of which forms half of the protective portion (46) and half of the filling portion (42).

19. Helmet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is an integral woven piece.

20. Helmet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the airbag (40) is substantially T-shaped and is arranged symmetrically on the base body (10).

21. The helmet according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the airbag (40) defines a non-branched flow path and the filling portion (42) is asymmetrically arranged in the base body (10).

22. An airbag adapted for use in a helmet according to any one of the preceding claims.

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