Head protector

Dec. 27, 1960

2,965,902

Filed May 1, 1958

D. G. LOU CH

HEAD PROTECTOR

Sheets-Sheet 1

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Dec. 27, 1960

2,965,902

D. G. LOUCH

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INVENTOR

DELBERT G LOUGH

BY— *JUuMCmJLtuxaX/fsz f ATTORNEYS

United States Patent Office

2,965,902

Patented Dec. 27, I960

2,965,902

HEAD PROTECTOR

Delbert G. Louch, Widder St., St. Mary’s, Ontario, Canada

Filed May 1, 1958, Ser. No. 732,222

Claims priority, application Canada Mar. 7, 1958

Claims. (Cl. 2—9)

This invention relates to protective headgear and in particular to adjustable headgear including a transparent shield, intended to protect the face and head in any place or sport where such protection is desirable.

Various forms of face shields and masks are well known in the art. However, one of the main disadvantages of these prior headgear was their limited adjustability with resulting poor fit and discomfort. Heretofore, to provide headgears to accommodate all sizes and shapes of heads involved considerable expense on the part of the manufacturer with the result that only a few standard sizes are generally available. An improperly fitting headgear constitutes a possible safety hazard when relied on for protection. Another disadvantage in most of the prior headgear was that the face shield was not secured rigidly enough to the head so as to provide adequate protection to the satisfaction of the wearer against possible objects striking the face or head. Most of the prior face shields were supported at one end or at the sides only, thus leaving a portion of the shield relatively loose. Conequently when an object struck the shield there would be friction against the face and resulting discomfort. It is of great psychological advantage to a worker or athlete who requires some sort of protection for the face and head to realize that he is wearing a headgear which will give him substantially complete protection with a minimum of discomfort against objects which would normally strike his face or head, and this will greatly increase his output or performance. A further disadvantage in prior protective transparent headgear was that visibility was considerably cut down, the face shield often became steamed up, and in many cases the shield was insufficiently ventilated.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a protective headgear which is fully adjustable so as to comfortably fit any size or shape of head and which includes a transparent face shield which may be fixed in any desired spaced relationship with the face.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a protective headgear which includes a transparent shield which is designed to wear well out from the face and is firmly secured to the harness assembly at both ends and at both sides so as to provide maximum protection to the face and head against objects which would normally strike the face or head.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a protective headgear which is light and comfortable to wear having a transparent shield which provides excellent visibility with no blind spots and excellent ventilation so that it does not become steamed up.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a protective headgear which when struck by an object which would normally strike the face or head, will effectively cushion the blow so that the individual wearing the headgear will feel relatively little discomfort.

The protective headgear of this invention will find particularly good application in sports such as Hockey,

Lacrosse, Baseball, Rugby and Football to mention only a few.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying ® drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the application of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

⁷³ Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the supporting means, taken through line 3—3 as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a further fragmentary cross-sectional view of the supporting means taken through line 4—4 as shown 15 in Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates generally the adjustable harness assembly which supports a transparent protective shield B. Harness assembly A is comprised of top headband 10, foreheadband 12 and rear headband 14 ²³ and corresponding adjusting buckles, 11, 13, and 15 for each headband respectively. The positions of the headbands relative to one another are indicated in Figure 1. The headbands may be made of any suitable material such as leather or elastic and the adjusting means of each ²⁵ headband may be any suitable means such as the common buckle which is eminently suitable because of the simplicity of adjustment. In the buckle type adjusting means shown in the drawings, a headband such as 12 is severed, one end being secured through buckle 13 and ³³ fastened on itself at 16 by a rivet or other fastening means and the other severed end of headband 12 is shaped with appropriate holes punched therein to cooperate with said buckle 13.

Headbands 12 and 14 may consist of one continuous ³⁵ piece of material if desired, interrupted only by adjusting means 13 and 15.

Further protection to the head may be achieved by securing a layer of soft resilient material such as sponge rubber to the inner sides of said headbands especially the ⁴³ top headband. If still further head protection is desired, then additional top headbands (not shown) with or without a layer of underlying sponge rubber, may be secured to the original headbands in various positions about the . _ head.

⁴³ The headbands are secured to transparent shield B and to each other at the supporting means generally indicated by C.

The method of securing the headbands to supporting means C is shown in Figures 3 and 4. Headbands 12 ⁵⁰ and 14 are secured to block 22 by means of bolt 26 and location rivet 33. A nut 30 is provided for tightening bolt 26. Headband 10 is secured to headbands 12 and 14 with rivets or similar fastening means 24. It is essential that headband 10 cover bolt head 28 and loca⁰ tion rivet or pin 33 so that headband 10 will be next to the head and afford protection against hair-pulling by bolt head 28 or location pin 33. Block 22 should be of soft resilient material such as rubber so as to soften or buffer any blows or impact to the head.

The harness assembly A may be further secured to transparent shield B by a front supporting means 18 which may be made of any suitable material such as leather or a more rigid material.

One end of supporting means 18 is secured to front headband 12 such as by loop 19 as shown, and the other end of supporting means 18 is securely fastened to the transparent shield B by any suitable means such as rivet 20.

_ An opening 32 is provided in the transparent shield in ‘ the region of the mouth and lower portion of the nose.

The opening may be of any shape, preferably that shown

2,865,802 in Figure 1 with base portion substantially parallel to the base of the shield and the sides of said opening arching to a peak above the central portion of said base portion. The opening shsould, of course, be smaller in size than any possible object which might strike the shield. For example, if the protective headgear is used in the game of Hockey, then the opening 32 at its widest measurement should be smaller than a Hockey puck.

Breath deflectors 34 are secured to each side of opening 32 and extend towards the wearer’s face as shown in the diagrams. The breath deflectors 34 may be made of any suitable soft and yieldable material such as rubber, aluminum foil or the like. The breath deflectors may be individually fastened to opposite sides of aperture 32 or may form a unit of the same shape as aperture 32 with the circumference fastened or clipped onto the outer perimeter of said aperture as shown at 36 and flanges 34 being positioned inwardly towards the head. The function of this aperture and breath deflector is to provide a direct supply of fresh air to the nose and mouth of wearer and provide increased ventilation. A further purpose is to deflect the breath of a wearer and prevent any steaming up of the shield, thus maintaining clear visibility at all times. The breath deflector may be permanently secured to the transparent shield or may be of a detachable variety so that it may be easily removed and replaced if necessary.

Chin bumper pad 36 is secured to the transparent shield B below opening 32 so that it will comfortably and snugly fit against the chin when the protective headgear is being worn.

The chin pad is made of any soft resilient material such as sponge rubber, which will effectively cushion any impact when in position. The chin pad may also be adjustable so as to fit any shaped face of a wearer.

Suitable means are used to fasten the chin pad 36 to transparent shield B such as the rivet 40 or encircling band 38 illustrated.

In the drawings a soft band of leather 38 completely encircles the chin pad 36 and extends through aperture 32, then down the front of shield B to fasten upon itself with snap fastener 42.

Chin pad holding band 38 has the further advantage that neck strap 46 may easily be secured thereto. As shown in Figure 2 a loop of leather or similar material 44 is secured to holding means 38 and fastens on itself with snap fastener 42. Neck strap 46 which may be a narrow strip of leather, elastic or similar material is inserted through loop 44 and extends around the neck of the wearer being adjustably secured to itself with buckle 48 or similar means. Therefore, in this embodiment adjustable neck strap 46 may easily be removed and chin pad holding means may also be simply removed so as to replace or adjust chin pad 36.

Transparent shield B should be made of a strong, light unbreakable material such as plexiglass and may contain additional openings for ventilation. In a preferred embodiment of this invention the transparent shield is a continuous curved wall formed to extend around the front and sides of the face of an individual and from a position well above the normal region of the forehead down to a position below the chin of an individual thus providing complete head and face protection against possible objects striking from the front of an individual.

In a further embodiment of this invention, the transparent shield is substantially as described above except that it is smaller and extends down only to a position at or below the nose. This embodiment is primarily for protection for those who must wear eye-glasses.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific preferred embodiments thereof, the invention is not to be considered limited thereto, but includes within its scope such modification and variations as come within the spirit of the appended claims. For example, one may omit the support 18 and rely on the pins 33 in combination with the chin pad to steady the face shield or in cases where there is no chin pad on the pins 33 only. It will also be appreciated that the 5 vertical extent of the shield at the top and at the bottom is capable of variation.. Further the snap fasteners 42 could be replaced by a lace or like securing means and the neck strap 46 could be made of an elastic material. All of these modifications which are given by way of ex10 ample only are within the scope of this invention.