Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FIELD OF INVENTION:
The present invention relates to protective helmets and particularly to the issue of providing
a retroreflective cover to a helmet exterior for safety purposes. The term helmet, as used
herein, is intended to extend to various forms of protective headgear regardless of the nature
of the protection afforded.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
The market for safety helmets is growing due to the fact that various provinces are
passing legislation which is making the use of safety bicycling helmets a compulsory
requirement. Recently, the Province of Ontario passed a new bicycle helmet law which
would make it mandatory for Ontario cyclists under the age of 18 years old to wear helmets.
Ontario government statistics have shown that about 12 people under the age of 18 are
killed in cycling accidents in Ontario each year. It has been estimated that approximately 75
percent of cycling deaths are due to head injuries. Bicycle helmets must comply with at least
one of nine mandated safety standards, however, the safety standards do not require that
these helmets be encapsulated with reflective devices. Rel,orerlective materials are widely
used in a variety of applications involving vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Retrorerlective
materials promote safety by improving the visibility of objects which are illuminated by
vehicle headlights and other sources of light. Various protective helmets, in the known prior
art, do not provide adequate reflecting materials or reflective surfaces. Such helmets
provide reflective strips on the helmet. The effectiveness of these strips are limited since
they comprise only a small portion of the exterior spherical surface of the helmet. These
arrangements are not durable or long lasting since they are attached to the helmet only by
adhesive means.
Known prior art also consists of helmets which use a layer of retroreflective particles that
are integral to the exterior surface of the helmet. These helmets are quite costly to purchase
and a major disadvantage is that the rel,orerlective surfaces cannot be transferred to
another helmet which is not reflectorized. These retroflective systems arrangements lack
portability.
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It will be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a reflector system that will
address the problems of reflective system effectiveness and construction that will provide
an enhanced and superior visibility presence of the cyclist.
I do not believe that the known prior art has effectively addressed these problems. A
patent search was conducted on relevant U.S. classes/subclasses of the proposed invention,
however, no comparable invention was evidenced.
The class/subclasses searched are listed as follows: 2421, 2425, 2-417, 2-422, 2-
171.03, 2-181.4, 2-202, 2-200.1. The patent search was not limited to the noted
categories. I do not believe, to the best of my knowledge, that a similar invention exists.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
In accordance to the principles of this invention a s~,etcl1able garment device, or helmet
cap, is covered with a retroflective film. The preferred base material of the garment is a 2-
way stretch material such as cotton Lycra, Spandex or the like. A reflective transfer film is
bonded, by a heat lamination process, to the exterior area of the garment material. To the
resultant garment and reflective material arrangement, an elasticized material is secured to
the lower periphery of the garment. The elasticized material will allow the proposed
invention to be used on a wide variety of helmet sizes and configurations. A major objective
of the proposed invention is to provide a retroflective helmet cap arrangement that will
provide a 360 degree viewing angle as viewed from the known positions of vehicles on the
roadway. The general objective of the present invention is to provide an improved and
enhanced safety helmet visibility device which will encompass all of the advantages over the
known prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is an object of this invention to provide an interchangeable and improved reflective exterior
surface for a protective helmet .
It is an object of this invention to provide a safety helmet reflective system which will
encompass a substantial area of the helmet's exterior spherical surface.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a helmet reflective system which can be
constructed from garment-like materials thereby making an invention that can be
transferable from one helmet to another, the garment materials of the reflective system can
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can be hand washed or professionally dry cleaned, however, the reflectivity of the
invention will not be affected.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a helmet retroreflective system which
can be used on a wide range of di~erenl types and sizes of protective helmets
including, but not limited to, cycling helmets, construction hard-hats, racing helmets
and the like.
It is still yet another object of this invention to provide a relroreflective apparel device
which can be used as a strechable cap-like appliance for use directly over a person's
head.
It is still yet another object of this invention to provide a transferable and portable
r~l,or~flective device which can be readily manufactured in a cost-effective manner with
regards to material and labour and which can be economically available to the
purchasing public, the components of the invention are cost-effective to buy, and yet,
the proposed invention's effectiveness will not be diminished nor compromised.
In accordance with these and other objects which will be apparent hereinafter, the
invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF DRAWINGS:
The embodiment of the new invention will now be described with refere"ce to the
accompanying drawings of which:
FIG. 1 shows an overall side view of the invention.
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of the invention as it is
positioned over a safety helmet.
FIG. 3 shows a top view of the embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
As per FIG. 1 it is shown that the retroreflective material areas 3 and 4 are positioned
over and bonded to the expandable helmet cap 6 (as illustrated by the dotted lines in
this view) Material area 2 (as shown in FIG. 3) is also integral to the retroreflective area,
however, refer to FIG. 3 which shows the relationship of the r~lror~lective areas 2, 3
and 4 which are positioned relative to each other to form a continuous and circular
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l~l,o~lective surface.
The helmet cap 6 is a unique design to facilitate its placement over the exterior surface
of a safety helmet. The helmet cap 6 includes a convex forward edge 8 which is
positioned to the front of the safety helmet and a convex rearward edge 9 to fit across
the rear portion of the safety helmet. Namely, section 3 is the centre crown piece of the
relrorellective material whereas rel,Gre~lective sections 2 and 4 will be referred to as
adjacent rel,ore~lective side areas. In order to ensure that the resiliency of the helmet
cap over the safety helmet, is maintained, an elastic band 1 is sewn by stitching means
7, around the entire lower periphery of the helmet cap 6. The stitching of the elastic
band 1 to the helmet cap 6 will cooperate in such a manner as to provide a retention
means of the helmet cap to the safety helmet. The elastic band, in conjunction with the
flexible cap material, will alow the retroreflective helmet cap arrangement to be used on
a variety of shaped safety helmets.
FIG. 2 illusl,ates a cross-sectional side view of the new invention. This view shows the
placement of the retroreflective cap arrangement over the safety helmet 5. As is shown,
the retroreflective crown portion 3, including areas 2 and 4, as shown in FIG. 3, are
bonded to the helmet cap 6. As per FIG. 2, the resultant ret,or~llective material
assembly is then sewn by stitching 7 to the elastic band 1. The preferred reflective
material utilized in the crown section 3 and adjoining areas 2 and 4, as illustrated in
FIG. 3, is a retro reflective film product known as 8710 Scotchlite Reflective Transfer
Film available from the 3M Company. This recommended product is suitable for
moderate weight fabrics and has good stretch properties. When subjected to vehicle
headlights the film will appear as a brilliant silver white colour. As an option, a Reflective
Transfer Film such as 8786 or 8787 from 3M may be employed, this alternative material
will enhance the reflective spectrum by providing a variety of reflective hues from Red-
Orange to Lime-Yellow. The major objective of the selected films are to substantially
enhance the nighttime visibility to the wearer. The film will remain highly retroreflective
even when viewed by a wide entrance angle. As an option other retroreflective materials
may be used. In the heat laminating bonding process of the retroreflective material to
the subslrdle fabric, this will be achieved by using a Hot Can Lamination process. This
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particular process will ensure a satisfactory adhesion of the retroreflective material to
the substrate fabric whereas the transfer film will become an integral part of the
substrate fabric after bonding. This laminating process has been specifically
recommended by 3M to ensure a strong and competent bond. As an option other
reflective or retroreflective material may be sewn to the subsL.ate fabric. FIG. 3 shows
the top view of the new rel,orerlective helmet arrangement. Areas 2, 3 and 4 form a
continuous reflective surface. The combination of these sections are positioned and
laminated to the helmet cap fabric so that the outer exterior surface of the retroreflective
material assembly is positioned and sewn to the outer circular periphery of the elastic
band (as shown in FIG. 2).
1. As a result of this laminations and the sewing process 11, the retroreflective material
will be positionable in such manner as to provide a cicular view of 360 degress as
viewed from the known positions of vehicles on a roadway. The crown portion 3, and
the adjacent underside areas of the helmet cap 6 (as shown in FIG. 2) have a plurality
of apertures 10 to provide a high velocity of air flow at the forward edge of the helmet.
Various designs of cycling helmets incorporate a series of the helmet relrorerlective
apertures towards the forward positions of the helmet. he positioning of the helmet
retroreflective device over these apertures shall be constant with providing a high
velocity air flow between the retroreflective helmet cover arrangement and the head of
the cyclist.
My invention resides not in any particular feature but rater in the particular combination
of all of them herein disclosed and claimed.
The invention has been shown and described herein in what has been considered to be
the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized that changes and
modifications may by made to meet specific requirements and such changes may be
made without departing from the scope and sprite of the invention.
