Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PIVOTAL EYE PROTECTION SHIELD FOR HEADGEAR
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an eye
protection transparent shield which is provided with
s a pivotal locking mechanism to hold the eye shield
at a position of use in front of the wearer's eyes,
and a position of non-use away from the wearer's
eyes.
BACKGROUND ART
It is known to pivotally secure an eye
shield or eyeglasses to a headband as, for example,
described in U.S. 4,885,808 and 5,105,475. Some of
the disadvantages of these eye protection devices,
securable to headband or other form of headgear, is
that these are not secured in a very rigid manner
and when subjected to impact they break or
disconnect and can sometimes injure the user. These
eyeglasses or eye shields are not rigidly retained
whilst in a position of use or in a position of non-
use. Furthermore, these eye shields are notadjustable with respect to their forward spacing in
front of the wearer's eyes whereby to accommodate
users having different facial characteristics. Still
further, when such devices are damaged it is
difficult, if not impossible, to repair.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a feature of the present
invention to provide an eye protection transparent
shield for use in combination with a headgear and
which substantially overcomes the above
disadvantages of the prior art.
Another feature of the present invention
is to provide an eye protection transparent shield
for use in combination with a headgear and wherein
the shield may be adjusted in a forward direction in
front of the wearer's eyes.
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Another feature of the present invention
is to provide an eye protection transparent shield
for use in combination with a headgear and which is
easily assembled and disassembled from the headgear.
Another feature of the present invention
is to provide an eye protection transparent shield
for use in combination with a headgear and
comprising a novel pivotal locking mechanism to
retain the eye shield in a position of use, in front
of the wearer's eyes, and a position of non-use away
from the wearer's eyes.
According to the above features, from
broad aspect, the present invention provides an eye
protection transparent shield in combination with a
headgear. The shield comprises a visor of
transparent material and having opposed side
connecting portions for pivotal securement to the
headgear. The visor has an eye viewing portion and a
nose support piece. The pivotal locking mechanism
attaches each of the opposed side connecting
portions to the headgear. The pivotal locking
mechanism has a pivot connection and guide means for
displacing the visor from a position of use, in
front of the wearer's eyes to a position of non-use,
above the wearer's eyes. Arresting means maintains
the visor at the position of use and non-use while
providing a continous retention force.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present
invention will now be described with reference to
the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side view showing a wearer
person adapted with the eye protection transparent
shield/headgear combination of the present
invention;
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Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but
showing the eye protection shield in an exploded
unassembled state;
Figure 3 is a side view showing the shield
at its position of use and non-use and the pivotal
locking mechanism;
Figure 4 is an enlarged view showing the
arcuate slot and the travel of the visor with
respect to the resiliently biased slot engaging
post; and
Figure 5 is a fragmented side view showing
the construction of the resiliently biased slot
engaging member and its relation with respect to the
headband, the visor attaching member and the visor
side connecting portion.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings there is
shown generally at 10 the eye protection transparent
shield of the present invention in combination with
a headgear, herein in the form of a sweatband 11.
The shield comprises a visor 12 herein formed of
transparent plastic material and defining opposed
side connecting portions 13 having a hole 19 for
pivotal connection to the headgear by receiving on
the pivot post 14 provided on each side of the
sweatband llthrethrough. A flanged end nut (not
shown) connects to the top of the post 14 to retain
the visor. The visor 12 also defines an eye viewing
portion 15 and has a nose support piece 16.
The visor 12 is pivotally connected to the
sweatband by a pivotal locking mechanism 17 as
illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 whereby to attach
each of the opposed side connecting portions 13 of
the visor to the headband. It is pointed out that
the headgear could also be in the form of a cap,
visor or helmet or other suitable form of headgear
fitted on the weareris head 18.
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As better seen in Figures 3 and 4, the
pivotal locking mechanism has a pivot connection
formed by the pivot post 14 which is secured to the
headband or a headgear (not shown) and as shown in
this preferred embodiment, it is secured to a visor
attaching member 20, as will be described in detail
later on. The pivot connection 17 also has a guide
means in the form of a curved slot, herein an
arcuate slot 21 disposed at a predetermined distance
with respect to the pivot post 14 and extends on an
arc from the center 14' of the pivot post. The slot
21 has opposed terminal ends 22 which have a curved
shape whereby to accommodate resiliently biased slot
engaging member or post 23. The curved slot need
lS not be disposed on an arc and could have a different
curved shape.
As shown in Figure 5 the resiliently
biased slot engaging post 23 has a base 24 having
shoulder portions 25 held captive within a guide
channel 26 formed by opposed channel members 27
secured to the underside of the visor attaching
member 20. A slot 28 is formed in the visor
attaching member 20 to permit axial displacement of
the slot engaging post 23 along a straight axis
towards the pivot post 14. This slot 28 may be a
- very short slot to permit this movement. An elastic
loop or band 30 is disposed about the slot engaging
post 23 and the pivot post 14 and applies a pulling
force on the post 23 in the direction of arrow 31,
as shown in Figure 4 so that a continuous retention
or pulling force applied against the inner edge 21'
of the slot 21. As herein shown, the elastic loop 30
is disposed under the visor 12 but it is conceivable
that it could also be disposed above the visor. As
also shown in Figure 5, the base 24 of the slot
engaging post 23 has an upper flange wall 29 and a
recess threaded bolt 32 dimensioned such that the
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visor 12 is displaceable along its slot 21 between
its terminal ends 22. The bolt 32 has a threaded
shaft 33 threadably secured within the threaded bore
34 of the base 24.
S Referring more specifically to Figures 2
and 3, there will be described the construction of
the visor attaching member 20 which is removably
secured to the headband or sweatband 11. This visor
attaching member 20 is formed of plastic material
and has a guide slot 40 disposed at an angle, and
spaced from the opposed ends of the band forwardly
of the slot 28. An attaching post 41 is secured to
the headgear 11 and projects into the guide slot 40
when the visor is assembled on the headband whereby
to provide limited displacement of the visor 12 with
respect to the wearer's eyes 42. The visor attaching
member 20 is also provided with fastening means in
the form of Velcro tabs 43 at the terminal ends
thereof for matting attachment to a larger Velcro
tab 44 secured to the headgear. Accordingly, to
adjust the position of the visor with respect to the
wearer's eyes, it is necessary to disconnect the
Velcro tabs 43 and move the visor towards or away
from the wearer's eyes, as shown by arrow 45 in
Figure 3 and then to reconnect the tabs 43 and 44
together at the proper position of the visor. This
provides an efficient and simple adjusting
mechanism.
As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the pivot
post as well as the slot engaging post 23 are of
circular cross-section. The visor 12 is also molded
from clear plastic material and has a certain
flexible tolerance whereby to adapt to heads of
different widths. The visor attaching member 20 is
also formed of flexible plastic material whereby to
fit to heads of different sizes and shapes. As shown
in Figures 3 and 4, when the visor is in its
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position of use as shown at 47, the slot engaging
means which is the post 23 is engaged with the top
terminal end 22' of the arcuate slot 21. When in its
position of non-use, as shown at 48 the engaging
post 23 is at the bottom terminal end 22" of the
slot, as illustrated in phantom in Figure 4. The
post is stationary and the visor is displaced. The
elastic band 30 has a predetermined tensil force
whereby to exert a predetermined pulling force in
the direction of arrow 31 when the biasing slot
engaging post 23 is at the terminal ends of the
slot. The maximum pulling force is, of course,
applied at the center of the slot as the visor is
being lifted or lowered from its position of use or
position of non-use. It can, therefore, be seen that
as the visor is lifted or lowered and the post 23
passes the middle portion of the slot, it applies a
maximum pulling force on the arcuate inner edge 21'
of the slot causing the visor to automatically move
to its position of use 47 or position of non-use 48
as it passes this middle portion.
As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the headband
11 has a frontal sweatband portion 50 secured to an
angulated rear adjustable band 51 and an adjustable
rear top band 52.
It is also contemplated that the slot
engaging post be biased by other means than an
elastic band 30. For example, the post could be
molded with the visor attaching member 20 and be
connected by an arcuate bridge piece formed with the
member 20 and disposed within a slot opening. The
bridge piece would apply the retention pulling force
on the post back in the direction of arrow 31.
Accordingly, this slot engaging post could be formed
integral with the attaching member 20 or simply
secure to an arcuate bridge piece standing in a
slot.
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It is within the habit of the present
invention to cover any obvious modifications of the
preferred embodiment described herein, provided such
modifications follow within the scope of the
appended claims.
