US 4,907,300 AGranted

Helmet and visor mechanism therefor

AssigneeHelmets Limited

InventorsIan T. Dampney, Michael Good

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A helmet with twin visors movable between raised and lowered positions has a locking mechanism for each visor which automatically locks the visor in the raised or lowered position. An operating lever for each visor can be operated with one hand by the wearer, a single movement of the lever first releasing the lockikng mechanism and then moving the visor from one to the other of its raised and lowered positions. Each locking mechanism may comprise a cam plate fixed to the helmet shell and two pawls carried by the visor arm and spring-biased to engage the cam to lock the visor in the raised or lowered position respectively. The operating lever engages the appropriate pawl to disengage it from the cam plate and rotate the visor arm, on movement of the lever in the appropriate direction. The lower position of each visor may be adjustable, for example to accommodate an oxygen mask fitted to the helmet. The mechanism may also be used on a helmet fitted with a single visor.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A helmet provided with a visor movable between a raised position and a lowered position, a releasable locking mechanism operable to lock the visor in the raised or the lowered position, and an operating lever positioned on the helmet for operation by the wearer using one hand and being movable between first and second positions, the lever being connected to the visor so that movement of the lever between its first and second positions moves the visor between its raised and lowered position, in which the locking mechanism comprises cooperating members connected to the helmet and the visor, respectively, the cooperating members being adapted to move into locking engagement with one another in response to movement of the visor to the raised or lowered position, thereby locking the visor in the raised or lowered position, and the operating lever is adapted to engage one of the cooperating members to move it out of locking engagement during an initial part of the movement of the lever from its first or its second position to allow the visor to be moved by the operating lever.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.