Ocular Screen Attachment Mechanism for Protective Helmets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing protective helmets with ocular screens face difficulties in attaching and detaching the screen, requiring tools, time, and expertise, and often compromise the helmet's structural integrity and user safety due to complex assembly processes and the risk of accidental disengagement.
Innovation Solution
A helmet system using two legs inserted into housings with a locking mechanism that can be manually unlocked, where the locking arrangement is situated inside the shell, preventing accidental disengagement and allowing easy tool-free assembly and disassembly, ensuring the screen's secure fixation without compromising the shell's integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the ocular screen is mounted using existing systems with lateral plates and studs, then the screen can be attached and detached, but the shell's structural integrity is compromised and accidental disengagement risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is nested within the shell structure. The legs with locking means are received inside housings that are integral to the shell, with locking surfaces positioned inside the shell rather than requiring external studs. This nesting approach allows screen attachment/detachment while preserving shell integrity and preventing accidental disengagement from external objects.
2Reliability
If the ocular screen is mounted using existing systems with multiple components, then the screen can be secured, but the assembly process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into fewer components. The legs serve both as mounting elements and locking elements, with locking means integrated directly into the legs. The housings are integral to the shell structure, eliminating separate mounting brackets and fasteners. This reduction in component count simplifies assembly while maintaining secure fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism is designed to be self-locking through the interaction of locking surfaces and locking means without requiring external tools or complex procedures. The user can attach and detach the screen by simple manual operations, and the system automatically maintains secure fixation during use without additional controls or mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If the locking mechanism extends outside the shell, then the screen can be unlocked and removed, but accidental disengagement from external objects becomes possible
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is nested within the shell structure. The legs with locking means are received inside housings that are integral to the shell, with locking surfaces positioned inside the shell rather than requiring external studs. This nesting approach allows screen attachment/detachment while preserving shell integrity and preventing accidental disengagement from external objects.
Data Source
AI summary
A protective helmet, including: an outer shell (12) defining a facial opening (4); an ocular screen (3) removably attached to the outer shell and configured to move between a low position in which the screen extends opposite the facial opening and a high position in which the facial opening is substantially clear, wherein the screen comprises a central part (45) and two lateral wings (46); and a leg (26) rotatably mounted on each lateral wing of the screen to facilitate pivoting of the screen between the high position and the low position, wherein each leg is engageable in a corresponding housing (25) for attachment of the screen to the outer shell, and wherein at least one leg comprises a locking arrangement (52, 61, 70) configured to be deactivated by a manual action of the user.