US 5,329,642 AGranted

Helmets

AssigneeHelmets Limited

InventorIan Dampney

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A helmet having a visor mounted on pivot posts fixed to the helmet shell includes a visor driving and latching mechanism which acts both to allow the wearer to move the visor between its lowered and raised positions and also to hold the visor in either position. The mechanism has an operating lever which is pivoted to the visor at a point spaced from the pivot post. The operating lever has a slightly elongated aperture which receives the pivot post, and a hollowed out portion which receives a cam fixed relative to the pivot post. The operating lever has a first tooth which engages a first recess in the cam to hold the visor in its lowered position, and a second tooth which engages in a second recess in the cam to hold the visor in its raised position. To move the visor from its lowered to its raised position, the wearer manually rotates the operating lever in the appropriate direction. Initial rotation of the operating lever about its pivotal connection to the visor withdraws the first tooth from the first recess to release the visor. Further rotation of the operating lever rotates the visor about the pivot post until the second tooth reaches the second recess, whereupon the operating lever rotates about its pivotal connection to the visor so as to move the second tooth into the second recess to latch the visor in the raised position.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A helmet having a visor rotatably mounted on pivot means secured to the helmet and a visor displacement and latching mechanism for rotatably moving said visor between a lowered operative and a raised retracted position thereof, said mechanism comprising an operating lever which is rotatably mounted in relation to the visor pivot means and is also rotatable on a further pivot means secured to the visor and offset from said visor pivot means;

first visor latching means for effecting latching engagement between the lever and the helmet to prevent rotation of the lever and the visor about the visor pivot means when the visor is in the operative position, said visor latching means being engageable and disengageable upon rotation of the lever, in opposite senses, about the further pivot means, when said visor is disposed in the operative position;
a second visor latching means for effecting latching engagement between the lever and the helmet to prevent rotation of the lever and the visor about the visor pivot means when the visor is in the retracted position, said visor latching means being engageable and disengageable upon rotation of the lever, in opposite senses, about the further pivot means, when said visor is disposed in the retracted position;
and visor driving means for effecting rotation of the visor from one to the other of the operative and retracted positions upon rotation of the lever about the visor pivot means, with said first and second visor latching means disengaged.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.