TOY SPACE HELMET

CASQUE DE JEU POUR ASTRONAUTE EN HERBE

English Abstract

ABSTRACT

A toy spaceman's helmet formed from two shells and
releasably joined together to form a cavity which receives
the head of the wearer. Preferably the shells are mounted
from transparent clear or tinted PVC and one of the shells
includes a face aperture. Provision is also made for the
incorporation of a radio receiver. The shells are
releasably joined to permit easy energy absorbing
deformation of the helmet in the event that the wearer falls.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A toy space helmet comprising a first and a
second shell portion, and joining means to releasably
secure said first and second shell portions together, so
that when said first and second shell portions are joined
a cavity is defined therebetween to enable said helmet to
envelope the head of a wearer; whereby on application of
a force said joining means will release said first and
second shell portions.
2. A helmet as claimed in claim 1 wherein said
joining means comprises a pair of like protrusions
located one on each shell and adjacent the other one of
said pair when said shell portions are joined, and a
filamentary member wound around said protrusions.
3. A helmet as claimed in claim 2 wherein said
filamentary member comprises an elastic band.
4. A helmet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3
including a face aperture.
5. A helmet as claimed in claim 1 including a
hollow frontal comb portion and hollow ear portions, a
radio receiver being located in said comb portion and a
loudspeaker in one or each of said ear portions.
6. A helmet as claimed in claim 5 including antenna
means for said radio receiver.
7. A helmet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3
moulded from transparent clear or tinted plastics



material.
8. A helmet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3
wherein one of said shell portions is reversible to nest
within the other one of said shell portions.
9. A helmet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3
including a chest flap depending from the lower front
edge of said helmet.

Description

%~t~
The present application relates to toy space helmets.
Hitherto toy space helmets have suffered from the
disadvantage that, once the helmet is installed in place over
the child's head, it sometimes becomes difficult to remove.
This may also be the case if a child wearing such a helmet
falls over. In such circumstances it is desirable to be able
to remove the helmet quickly and/or enable the helmet to
"give" with the fall thus preventing discomfort of the chiid
who is "locked" within the helmet and preventing possible
10 injury to the child.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
toy space helmet which overcomes, or substantially
ameliorates the abovementioned disadvantages.
According to one aspect of the present invention
there is disclosed a toy space helmet comprising a first and
a second s;~ell portion, and joining means to releasably
secure said irst and second shell portions togethee, so ~hat
when said first and second shell portions are joined a cavity
is defined therebetween to enable said helmet to envelope the
20 head of a wearer; whereb~ on application o~ a force said
joining means will relea~e said first and second shell
portions. Preferably with one of said shell portions
reversed~ said shell portions are capable of nesting one
within the othe~ thereby lowering stoeage and transport costs.
One embodiment of the present invention will now be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
Fig. 1 is a peLspective view of the space helmet o~
the prefeL~ed embodiment;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the helmet of Fig. l;
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Fiq. 3 is a rear elevation of the helmet of Fig. l;
and
Fig. 4 is an inver~ed plan view of tha helmet of
Fig. 1.
As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, the space helmet 1
comprises a moulded front section 2 and a moulded rear
section 3. The mouldings 2 and 3, can be moulded PVC and can
have a thickness of between 30 to 40 thousands of an inch.
The PVC used to mould the front and rear sections 2 and 3,
can be clear Ol of varying transparent tinted colours. Also,
~he size and diameters of the helmet are variable according
to the age groups (and hence head sizes) of the intended
users.
The front section 2 incorporates an open face
aperture 4 to allow the user of the helmet an unobstructed
view in the forward facing direction, and to also allow
~ufficient air for brea~hing. Further, it allows air
circulation to prevent the helmet from fogging or misting due
to condensation of breath.
However, a view in directions other than through the
open faced aperture g, is available because of the clear or
transparent nature of the coloured or tinted PVC material.
The front por~ion 2 and a rear portion 3 are joined
together along line 5 by ~eans of projections 6, ear pieces 7
and antenna bases B. Around these parts 6~ 7 and 8, elastic
bands ~not illustrated) are placed in order to hold the two
shell portions 2 and 3 together. These elastic bands enable
the front and rear portions 2, 3 to absorb energy and move
apart if ~he child using the space helmet 1 happens to fall
^~ 30 over. Other mean6 of joining the helmet can be, for example,
LMHi600 - 3 ~ PF8517

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press studs ~not illustrated~ along the line 5.
In a front comb portion 9 there is preferably located
an ~M/FM radio receiver which receives radio signals via the
antennae 10 to enable the user of the helmet to listen to
music of his or her choice. The music is transmitted into
the helmet 1 by means of loud speakers (not illustrated)
which are located in the ear pieces 7.
Attached to the base of the space helmet 1 is a chest
flap 12 which is joined to the helmet 1 by means of press
studs 13. A belt strap 14 is attached to the flap 12 and has
VELCO (Reg. Trade Mark) fasteners 15 to releasably secure the
flap 12 to the chest of the wearer.
The manufacturer of the helmet can place a motif or
device 18 on the flap 12. Due to the releasable nature of
the press studs 13, this front flap 12 can be exchanged for
other front flaps which incorporate different motifs and
devices ~hareby enabling the children using these helmets to
play a variety of character games as we]l as to identify each
other~
An alternative to the flap 12 is a "space suit"
having the configuration of overalls and being made from low
cost plastics sheeting. The space ~uit can be used to
enhance the appeal of the toy.
The foregoing described only one embodiment of the
present invention, and modifications, obvious to those
skilled in the art can be made thereto without departing from
the scope of the present inven~ion.




LMH/600 - 4 - PF8517