Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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15 l BACKGROUND OF THE~ INVENTION
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This invention relates to new and useful improve-
ments in lamp assemblies particularly adapted for use with
protective hats such as helmets, hard hats and the like.
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Users of protective hats such as f.iremen, rescue
workers and the like, often require illumination without
interfering with the use of both hands and many attempts
have been made to provide head held lamp assemblies for
this purpose.
Examples known to the applicant include u.s.
patentsl,016,730; 1,914,429; 2,059,977; 2,131,617; 2,234,995;
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2,739,311 and 2,893,379.
Some of these are attached to head bands and are
adjustable whereas others are attached to safety hats. Some
of them are adjustable and others are not and an example of ;~
the latter is 1,914,429 which is specifically designed for
use with a fireman's helmet or the like.
The disadvantages inherent in the devices mentioned
above are firstly, some are built in as part of the helmet
which is expensive and secondly, the method of attachment is :
inconvenient and not always well suited to the use to which
the lamp is being placed.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is believed to overcome the :
disadvantages and in accordance with the inventionJ there is
provided a lamp assembly for the front of a protective hat such
as a helmet hard-hat and the like, comprising in combination
a battery case for detachably receiving dry batteries and a ~:
lens assembly secured to said battery case and being operative-
ly connected to the batteries within the battery case, and
means to detachably secure said assembly to the front of the
associated protective hat, said means to detachably secure said
assembly to the front of the associated protective hat includ-
ing means to adjust, within limits, the angle of the lamp as-
sembly in a fore and aft position relative to said protective
25 hat, said means to adjust the angle of the lamp assembly includ- :
ing a longitudinal pivot attachment of the lower side of said
battery case to sa.id protective hat, at least one resilient
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leg extending rearwardly of said battery case adjacent the
upper side thereof and means on said front of said protective
hat selectively engageable by the distal end of said leg to de-
tachably hold said lamp assembly in the desired angle relative
to said protective hat.
Another advantage of the present device is that it
is simple in construction, economical in manufacture and other-
wise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as
will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this
invention relates as this specification proceeds, my invention
consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of
parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference
being had to the accompanying drawings in which:
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DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is an isometric view of a helmet showing one
embodiment of the device secured thereto.
Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of
the front part of the helmet showing the preferred embodiment
secured thereto, said preferred embodiment also being partially
sectioned to show the interior thereof.
Figure 3 is a top view of the lamp assembly of Figure
2 with the lid removed to show the interior thereof.
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Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the circuit in
which a partially rotatable lens assembly acts as a switch
for the lamp.
In the drawings li~e characters of reference indicate
corresponding parts in the different figures.
DETAILED~DESCRIPTION : Proceeding therefore to describe the invention in
detail, reference character lO illustrates a safety helmet
with one embodi.ment of the invention.collectively designated ~:
ll, being detachably secured to the :Eront of the helmet.
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In this embodiment, the invention comprises a battery
case 12 with a hinged lid 13 so that access can be had to the
interior of the battery case for replacement of conventional
battery cells illustrated by reference character 14 in Figure ~.
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A lens assembly 15 is secured to the front
panel 16 of the battery case and preferably is partially
rotatable to act as a switch 17 (see Figure 4) to open
and close the circuit between the lamp 18 and the battery
14.
Means are provided to detachably secure the '
assembly to the front of the helmet 10 and take the form
of a pair of plates 19 secured by means of screws or ri~
vets 20 to the front of the helmet in spaced apart rela-
tionship. Open sided vertically situated jaws 21 are
formed on the inner sides of the plates 19 and substan-
tially cylindrical rod portions 22 are formed on each
side of the battery case 12 adjacent the rear side thereof.
These rods are adapted to slide vertically within the jaws
21 so that the assembly may be engaged and disengaged from
the helmet readily and easily as clearly shown.
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Preferred embodiment is shown in Figures 2 and
3 and once again is secured to the front portion 23 of the
helmet just above the front peak portion 24.
It also includes the battery case 12 with the
hinged lid 13 so that access may be obtained to the battery
cells 14 within. A lens and lamp assembly lS is secured ~;
to the front panel 16 in a manner similar to that herein- ;
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before described and switch 17 may also be incorporated
to operatively connect and disconnect the lamp 1~ from
the battery cells 14
In this embodiment, a pair of members 25 are
secured to the front 23 of the helmet in spaced apart
relationship by means oE rivets 26 or any other suitable
means. A horizontal rod 27 is provided spanning the rear
lower side of the battery case and this rod snap engages
within jaws 28 formed on the lower ends of each of the
members 25 thus mounting the lamp assembly 11 to the hel-
met for fore and aft pivotal movement around the axis of
the horizontal rod 27.
Means are provided at the upper end of members
25 to detachably hold the lamp assembly in the desired
position relative to the front of the helmet and in this
embodiment, a pair of resilient legs 29 extend rearwardly
from the battery case adjacent the upper rear side there-
of, each leg having a down-turned clip portion 30 formed
thereon. These portions are preferably made from synthe-
tic plastic, but of course metal clips can be used if de-
sired.
Tooth members or portions 31 extend forwardly
from the upper end of each of the members 25 wit~ the in~
dividual teeth 32 extendin~ ~pwardly therefrom and the
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claw or clip 30 of the legs snap engages between these
teeth as the lamp assembly is moved forwardly or rear-
wardly, pivoting around the axis of the transverse rod s
27 thus making an easlly adjusted and easily detached
assembly for a safety hat or the like.
Since various modifications can be made in my
invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently
widely different embodiments of same made within the
spirit and scope of the claims without departing from .
such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter
contained in the accompanying specification shall be
interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting
sense.
