US 4,055,860 AGranted

Safety cap with energy absorbing suspension

AssigneeNorton Company

InventorJohn H. King

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Abstract

A safety cap has an energy absorbing suspension including crown straps for supporting engagement with the crown of a wearer's head connected to elastically deformable, rupturable and controlled plastically deformable portions of connecting means attached to anchor means in the shell of the cap. The connecting means have end portions adapted to be attached to and wedgingly engage the anchor means. The shock or impact of a blow against the shell suspended on the resisting wearer's head is partially absorbed initially by a wedging action which continues until the end portions are fully seated relative to the anchor means. Further, loading causes the crown straps to pull against, deform and bend energy absorbing portions of the connecting means into adjoining apertures of predetermined size and shape. Finally, at a predetermined force, the bending moments at opposite ends of the energy absorbing portions exceed the tensile yield strength of the material and causes the portions to rupture. The failure and plastic deformation thereof is thereafter controlled and limited by allowing them to progressively or successively bottom against control means about the apertures. An adjustable and removable headband including a sweatband is attached to and supported by the connecting means.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A safety cap with energy absorbing suspension comprising:

a relatively rigid shell having
a generally convex exterior wall portion and adjoining concave internal cavity extending from a lower edge and adapted to extend around and receive an upper portion of a wearer's head,
anchor means angularly spaced around adjacent the lower edge of the convex wall portion for attaching the suspension to the shell;
an energy absorbing suspension attached to the anchor means and having
crown straps spaced from the shell and situated within the internal concave cavity between the anchor means for supporting engagement with the wearer's head,
connecting means attached to and connecting the crown straps to the shell and each of the connecting means having
an end portion attached to one of the anchor means,
an elastically and plastically deformable energy absorbing portion attached to an end portion of a crown strap, and
control means adjacent to and engageable by the energy absorbing portion for first allowing elastic deformation of, then controlling and limiting plastic deformation of the energy absorbing portion;
whereby energy of an impact against and displacing the shell is absorbed by first placing the crown straps engaging and resisted by the wearer's head in tension and pulled tightly against the energy absorbing portions to firmly seat the end portions of the connecting means against the anchor means after which the crown straps elastically and then plastically deform the energy absorbing portions into engagement with the adjacent control means.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.