A visor provided with a uv-sensitive material

© Patent holder (s):

HD Inspiration Holding BV in Emmeloord.

© Date:

24.06.2008 © Inventor (s):

Derek Leslie Arnold in Emmeloord.

© Published:

01.09.2008 IE 2008/09 © Authorized representative:

Ir. CWAM Klavers in 1300 BP Almere.

© Visor provided with UV sensitive material.

Described is a visor comprising at least one transparent plate, in or on which a light-sensitive material is applied, which has the property that the material transmits less light as more light falls on it. In particular, UV light intensity activated, UV light blocking, photochromatic pigments are used in the photosensitive material. The photosensitive material, which can be fixed or detachably attached to the transparent plate, is transparent when deactivated.

NL C 1033103

The contents of this patent correspond to the original filed description with claim (s) and any drawing (s).

The Netherlands Patent Center is an agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

VISOR EQUIPPED WITH UV SENSITIVE MATERIAL

The present invention relates to a visor comprising at least one transparent plate.

The present invention also relates to a helmet provided with such a visor.

Such a visor for, for example, a helmet, window, goggles or other surface is generally known. Also known are visors for windows of cars, ships, etc., and helmets of, among others, motorcyclists, pilots, and for personnel involved in emergency services, such as, for example, the police or army, which visors are provided with a slightly tinted material, in order to provide protection against, in particular, glare and abundant sunlight, in particular the ultraviolet or UV radiation component contained therein.

A drawback of the known visors is that they block an amount of radiation under all circumstances, also in those circumstances, such as twilight, in which relatively little light is naturally present. In such cases, the known visor hinders distinguishing objects and limits visibility, which has a negative effect on road safety.

The object of the present invention is to provide a preferential security betex. dicucnu cxat has optimal optical properties for the user in all lighting conditions.

To this end, the visor according to the invention is characterized in that a photosensitive material is arranged in or on the transparent plate, which property has the property that the material transmits less light as more light falls on it.

The advantage of the visor according to the invention is that, in contrast to the known visor, it does not block a fixed amount of radiation, but the ability to transmit light automatically varies in such a way that it transmits less light to the eyes of the user as the photosensitive material part of the transparent plate is more light. In practice, irrespective of the actual amount of light incident on the outside of the eye, the aim is to provide an amount of light which is optimally adapted to the average, or if desired individual, light sensitivity properties of the human eye.

In addition, it is advantageous that the purchase and application of a separate dark visor, which replaces the translucent visor, has become superfluous by applying the present invention.

The photosensitive material can advantageously be permanently arranged, for example integrated in or on the transparent plate. However, a non-permanent, that is to say detachable or detachable, application of the photosensitive material to the transparent plate is also possible.

An embodiment of the visor according to the invention is characterized in that the material has the property that it transmits less visible and / or UV light as more light and / or UV light falls on it.

The generally single color materials have the properties that they are photosensitive, and can control the amount of transmitted light and / or special UV light, or that they are in particular UV light sensitive and thus the amount of transmitted light and / or can control special UV light.

Preferably, in a further embodiment, on or in a suitable side or otherwise, the light-sensitive material, for cost-price reasons, is applied only on or in a visible or see-through portion of the at least one transparent plate.

A preferred embodiment of the visor according to the invention is characterized in that the transparent plate and / or the photosensitive material contains plastic, in particular a bendable, often pre-bent, plastic, such as polycarbonate.

Price-wise, this polycarbonate plastic is interesting, but it is also easy to bend manually, making several types, in particular non-permanent fasteners and fastening methods, practically feasible. This is important for the possible adjustments desired by consumers of previously sold helmets, in order to be able to provide them with photosensitive characteristics, that is to say for the so-called After Sales markets and for DIY kits. For the so-called OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) market, the permanent and factory pre-bent variant is of particular advantage.

Further advantageous embodiments of the visor and helmet according to the present invention are set out in the other claims.

The visor and helmet according to the present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the figures below, in which corresponding parts are provided with the same reference numbers.

Show:

Figures 1A and 1B show top views of embodiments of visors according to the invention which can be manufactured in various ways and which are permanently provided with a photosensitive material layer;

Figures 2A, 2B and 2C show examples of visors to which the photosensitive layer has been detachably applied; and

Figures 3A and 3B are top views of further embodiments of the detachable visor, wherein the photosensitive layer in the assembled condition of the visor is placed a short distance from the transparent plate.

Figures 1A and 1B each show a top view of a mostly face-protecting screen, or visor 1, which can be mounted, whether or not detachably, on a helmet, hood or generally headgear, not shown. The visor 1 comprises a transparent, curved in Figures 1A and 1B, generally two or three dimensionally curved, plate 2 which, when used on a helmet, will usually be made of a flexible transparent plastic, such as polycarbonate, by means of thermoforming or injection molding. The plate 2 has an inside 3 facing the helmet or user and an outside 4.

In the embodiment of figure 1A, a recess 5 is provided in the outside 4, the thickness of a photosensitive material layer 6 yet to be explained further, so that the surface at the front of the visor 1 runs flat, which prevents the occurrence of local turbulences, which accompanied by annoying whistles or noise, while driving limited. If desired, the layer 6 can extend outwards in the form of a sun visor. During a injection molding process of the polycarbonate, the preformed material layer 6 can be melt-sealed in the recess 5. This has the advantage that no water or moisture can penetrate between the various layers so tightly fitting, but that there will also be no trapped air bubbles, which promotes optically undisturbed transmission of light to the eye.

Preferably, the recess is limited to an effective view or see-through part of the plate 2. If desired, a motorcyclist can look past that part, if, for example, temporarily too little light is available when entering a tunnel.

Also in the embodiment of figure 1B, the photosensitive material layer 6 is permanently applied on the outside 4 on the transparent plate 2. Here, during or after the injection molding, in the latter case using a suitable vacuum technique, the preferably at least only 0.5 mm thick material layer 6 is applied to the plate 2. Because of the cost price of the photosensitive material to be explained below, the dimensions of the material layer 6 will be limited to the visible or see-through part of the plate 2.

Suitable ways to permanently combine plate 2 and layer 6 with each other are: injection molding or injection, thermoforming, gluing or laminating.

With regard to laminating, the photosensitive material can also be laminated between two transparent plastic layers of preferably polycarbonate. This usually takes place through a combination of a heat and pressure treatment, followed by an oven treatment to achieve the desired two or three dimensional shape. This sandwich is then approximately 0.5 mm thick, and has two polycarbonate layers, each with a thickness of 0.2 mm, between which 0.1 mm photosensitive laminate or glue is applied. In this way, very little of the expensive photosensitive material is advantageously used in the intermediate layer.

Figures 2A, 2B and the detail of figure 2C show embodiments in which the photosensitive material layer 6, optionally designed as laminate or foil, is releasably applied on the outside 4 on the transparent plate 2. The visor 1 then contains fastening means 7, for instance designed in the form of a clamping, clamping, click, clip, pin, magnetic or one or more sided adhesive system. An example of this is shown in Figure 2A, in which Velcro tape 7 is applied to the plate 2 and to the photosensitive material. In the embodiment of figure 2B, this manner of fixing is combined with a snap connection 7-1, 7-2 shown in detail in figure 2C, which is connected to or cast on the layer 6, and with which the layer 6 of the plate 2 is detachable. has become.

In an embodiment not shown in the figures, the embodiment of figure 2A 'is provided with Velcro at several places and, if desired, holes can be provided in both the plate 2 and the layer 6 for receiving pins, thereby providing a releasability of the layer 6 of the plate 2. The plate 2 in turn can be detachable and / or pivotable with respect to the helmet, as the embodiment of figure 3A to be explained yet shows. It is important that if the layer containing the photosensitive material is made detachable, that the layer 6 is fixed to the plate 2 with sufficient mechanical tension. To this end, clamping means can be provided, which are, for example, eccentric and rotatable, and on which the layer 6 is applied, to be subsequently tightened onto the plate 2 while rotating, for example, a pin.

Figures 3A and 3B show top views of two embodiments of the visor 1, a short distance from the transparent plate 2 showing the photosensitive material layer 6 by means of pins 7-3 and 7-4 (fig.

3A) is fitted. Between the plate 2 and the layer 6 there is in particular around the pins 7-3 and 7-4 an elastic member 8, for example in the form of a ring, which in the compressed state exerts a compressive force on the plate 2 and on the layer 6, thus ensuring watertightness around the pins. The member 8, which functions as a spacer between the transparent plate 2 and the photosensitive layer 6, is preferably designed as a dry, non-adhesive, flexible silicone seal that can extend over at least a part, including the whole, of the circumferential edges of the photosensitive layer 6. In this way, watertightness around the visor 1 is achieved and the flexible seal prevents mechanical point loads, since it distributes the stresses.

In the embodiment of figure 3A, a detachability between plate 2 and layer 6 is achieved by realizing detachable or detachable pins, for instance constructed with male and corresponding female connecting members. In that case, the flexible, dry, clear member 8 also prevents the penetration of air, water, moisture and dirt and prevents the plate 2 and the layer 6 from moving undesirably from each other as a result of the wind.

In the embodiment of figure 3B, the layer 6 is detachably mounted on an extension 9 of the transparent plate 2. The member 8, which in that case forms a virtually hardened silicone seal, on the one hand maintains a certain distance between plate 2 and layer 6, even if any driving wind exerts a pressure on the layer 6, while on the other hand flapping and striking of each other plate 2 and layer 6 are prevented, so that no damage and wear occurs. As a result of the use of the silicone seal, so-called Newton rings also do not occur.

In general, with the non-permanent, ie detachable or detachable variants, it is not necessary to purchase a new helmet or a new visor to still be able to take advantage of the light sensitivity. After all, a new visor with the photosensitive feature can be mounted on the existing helmet, or the old visor may or may not be temporarily replaced by the new one. This is not only cost effective, but also leads to less wear, because the new visor can only be used if it is deemed necessary by the rider in view of the weather conditions. Optionally, in the field of view of an already existing visor 1, a permanent photosensitive material layer can be applied to the visor 1 by means of foam or acrylic tape. The light, in particular UV light, sensitive material layer 6 is provided with (photochromatic) pigments which have the property that they are photosensitive, and which regulate the amount of transmitted light and / or special UV light, depending on the amount visible light and / or UV light. In the unexposed, deactivated state, the layer 6 is then transparent. In particular, UV light intensity activated UV light blocking pigments are commercially available. For example, to produce the material layer 6, a pigment mixed with a suitable liquid is applied to a transparent substrate or integrally formed with the substrate itself, or a pigment-containing film is glued to a substrate, or the pigment or pigment mixture laminated with the adhesive itself in a laminating process. The properties of the photosensitive material layer 6 ultimately to be obtained must meet the strict European Public Road Safety Regulations in that area.

A pigment suitable for use in visor 1 is a so-called base gray pigment, which consists of three base color light-sensitive pigments mixed together. In a non-UV activated state, its light transmission is at least 90%, and it meets all safety requirements for safe use, at night or when suddenly entering a poorly or unlit tunnel. The pigment layer that controls light transmission above 380 nm is preferably at least 0.1 mm thick and it can for instance lie between two polycarbonate layers, each preferably at least 0.1 mm thick. Polycarbonate is easy to extrude and to process in a injection molding process. The photosensitive material layer 6 thus built up of three layers can easily be accurately sized and shaped. This can be formed mechanically, but also by means of the aforementioned thermo, by means of heat and pressure. Combination with possibly other plastics in a laminating bonding process is self-evident, with the pigment powder mixed in an amount corresponding to the desired light blocking specifications, and for cost-saving reasons it will be applied only in the visual field or viewing area of ​​the visor 1.

The visor 1 can be provided on its outside with a, preferably water-repellent, anti-scratch layer applied to the outside of the photosensitive material layer 6. Furthermore, means already known per se can be applied to the visor 1, for example to limit fog or moisture deposits on parts of the visor.

Helmet and visor 1 each are provided with length-adjustable coupling means known per se for coupling together or detachably.

Apart from the sandwich variant explained above and the variant in which the pigment or pigments are incorporated in the plastic or the polycarbonate, the UV or light-sensitive material 6 must be applied on the outside of the visor 1, otherwise it will take too long could take longer before the material can adjust its light transparency when the amount of light incident on it changes, which could lead to unsafe situations. For this reason, the material is deliberately not placed on the inside of the visor 1.