Bicycle Helmet Strap Routing Through Shell
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bicycle helmet strap systems often become tangled and require manual untangling, making it difficult to quickly put on the helmet, especially with one hand.
Innovation Solution
The rear helmet strap portions pass through a lower rearward portion of the helmet body, extending across its outer surface, and are supported by a rigid shell or internal reinforcement structure, allowing for easier positioning and adjustment without being secured to the retention mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the rearward strap portions are secured to the helmet at a single location or connected to the retention assembly, then the strap system is structurally simple, but the straps become tangled and require manual untangling before use
Solution Approach 1:
The strap mounting system is segmented into multiple attachment points distributed around the helmet shell rather than a single centralized location. This segmentation allows the straps to be distributed across different spatial locations, preventing them from hanging together and tangling, while maintaining structural simplicity through standardized mounting holes in the shell.
Solution Approach 2:
The strap attachment points are arranged in a three-dimensional distribution pattern around the helmet shell, utilizing spatial dimensionality to separate the straps physically. This dimensional arrangement ensures that straps extend from different locations and angles, preventing overlap and tangling during the donning process.
2Reliability
If the straps are secured to the retention assembly, then the retention mechanism provides head support, but the straps and retention mechanism become interconnected requiring coordinated adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system separates the strap attachment function from the retention assembly attachment function. Straps are mounted independently to the helmet shell at specific locations, while the retention assembly is mounted separately. This segmentation allows independent adjustment of straps and retention mechanism without interfering with each other, while both continue to provide their respective support functions.
3Ease of operation
If the rearward strap portions pass through the helmet body, then the straps are properly positioned without tangling, but the helmet body structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The helmet shell incorporates localized mounting holes or channels at specific rearward locations where straps need to pass through. Rather than making the entire helmet body complex, only local areas are modified with these opening features. This local quality approach provides the necessary strap routing functionality while minimizing overall structural complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A bicycle helmet having a body (22), which preferably includes both a base (24) and a reinforcement structure (100). In one arrangement, the reinforcement structure is an external shell and, in another arrangement, the reinforcement structure is an internal skeletal frame. In some arrangements, the helmet body may include both an external shell and an internal frame. The helmet also includes a retention mechanism (30) defining a contact surface configured to contact a rearward surface of the head of the user. A strap arrangement (40) includes a first strap portion (44) and second strap portion (46) selectively connectable to one another to extend from opposing sides of the body and underneath a chin of the user. Desirably, no portion of the strap arrangement (48) is secured to the retention mechanism (30). The strap arrangement includes a strap section extending through a pair of spaced openings in a lower, rearward portion of the body such that a portion of the strap section extends across an outer surface of the body between the openings. Preferably, each of the openings is sized and shaped to generally correspond with a cross-sectional size and shape of the strap section.