Gentex Corporation

Jackson A Aileo

Richard J Long

Leonard P Frieder, Jr

Joseph J Zaccone

James J Petruzella

John P Scalzo

A resilient annular earseal for sealing the region between an earcup shell and a wearer's head is formed with an aperture for receiving the wearer's ear and has an outer peripheral portion projecting a predetermined first distance toward the wearer's head and an inner peripheral portion projecting a predetermined second distance toward the wearer's head that is appreciably greater than the first distance. Since the inner peripheral portion contacts the wearer's head along a strip that is closer to the ear, and hence more predictable in its three-dimensional contour, it forms an effective seal around the entire periphery of the ear.

Earseal for sound-attenuating earcup assembly

An energy-absorbing sound-attenuating earcup comprises a rigid shell of an ABS terpolymer that is about 0.090 inch thick so as to crush upon impact at an applied force less than that required to crush the skull of the wearer. The shell has an inner coating of a sound-deadening rubber material to compensate for the reduced sound-attenuating capability of the thinner-than-normal shell. Spaced flanges defining a peripheral channel for receiving a cord of a helmet suspension are formed as staggered series of tabs rather than as circumferentially continuous members to facilitate crushing of the shell upon impact. Resilient earseals disposed between the shells and the wearer's ears comprise first thicknesses of standard polyurethane foam and second thicknesses of slow-recovery polyurethane foam to provide additional impact absorption while permitting the earseals to conform to the wearer's head in cold weather when the helmet is first put on. The earcup may alternatively be releasably secured to the helmet by means of mating hook and loop fastener strips rather than being secured through the staggered tabs.

Energy-absorbing earcup assembly

A one-piece chinstrap-napestrip assembly for a helmet in which a pair of napestraps secured to the nap portion of the helmet interior at laterally spaced locations extend around the lower periphery of the helmet, crossing each other, and pass outwardly through slots formed in the front of the helmet to receive the ends of an adjustable chinstrap. Adjustment of the chinstrap at the front of the assembly produces a simultaneous adjustment of the crossing napestrap portions at the rear of the assembly without the necessity for independent adjustment of the latter strap portions. A padded napestrap retainer secured by straps to the same locations on the nape portion of the helmet is formed with intersecting passages for receiving the crossing strap portions. The retainer reduces chafing and urges the crossing napestrap portions toward the rear of the helmet when the chinstrap is released to facilitate donning and doffing.

Combination chinstrap-napestrap assembly for helmet

A dual-visor assembly for use with a helmet such as that of an aircraft crew member in which an inner visor is releasably secured to the helmet by snap fasteners that release toward the rear of the helmet, while an outer visor is releasably secured to the helmet over the inner visor by snap fasteners that release toward the front of the helmet to prevent the inadvertent release of both visors simultaneously. The snap fasteners are carried by straps that are secured to the inner surface of the inner visor and to the outer surface of the outer visor to prevent entanglement. Elements carried by the visors space the inner visor from the outer visor as well as from the surface of the helmet. A soft cover is releasably secured over the outer visor in its raised position to prevent scratching of the outer visor or other structures.

Dual-visor assembly for helmet

An improved binaural earcup assembly for use with a protective helmet in which the earphone of each of the left and right sound attenuating subassemblies is supported by a relatively rigid member in the hard outer shell of the subassembly at a location adjacent to the wearer's ear and in which the subassemblies are urged firmly into sealing engagement with the wearer's head in the region surrounding his ears by a resilient wire form having a pair of loops detachably connected to the earcup assemblies and biasing portion extending between the loops around the nape portion of the helmet.

Spring device for earcup assemblies of protective helmet

A sound-attenuating earcup assembly for isolating the ear of a wearer from ambient sound while affording the wearer external communication capability without doffing the earcup assembly in which a sound-attenuating earcup of relatively rigid material forms a sound-attenuating cavity having an opening for receiving the ear of the wearer. An earphone assembly is resiliently mounted in the opening and biased outwardly of the cavity whereby the earphone assembly presses against the wearer's ear when the earcup assembly is in position on the wearer's head.

Earphone system for use in large-cavity earcups

An individualized helmet assembly and method of and apparatus for making the same in which a helmet liner having a plurality of apertures is removably secured inside a fixture in the form of a rigid template simulating a helmet shell and having apertures registering with the apertures in the liner. Resilient, snugly fitting spacer plugs are inserted in the apertures from the inner side of the liner, and the entire assembly is placed over the wearer's head. Selected plugs are pushed inwardly against the head of the wearer properly to position and stabilize the helmet-simulating fixture and liner on the wearer's head. The remaining spacers are then pushed inwardly until they abut the wearer's head. Finally, with the assembly removed from the wearer's head, the portions of the spacers protruding outwardly from the template are cut off, and the liner is separated from the template and assembled with an outer helmet shell to complete the construction.

Method of making an individually fitted helmet

Individually fitted helmet and method of and apparatus for making the

A helmet assembly which accurately positions a portable visual display unit carried by the helmet shell thereof in a predetermined position relative to the eye of the wearer. The outer shell and an inner helmet assembly adapted to fit relatively closely over the wearer's head each have portions overlying the wearer's forehead which are maintained in predetermined spaced relationship with each other by readily releasable adjustable fasteners.

Helmet assembly for accurately positioning visual display system

A readily releasable powered visor-and-lock assembly for a helmet in which the visor is spring-biased for movement from a raised position behind a cover plate spaced from the helmet shell to a lowered position in front of the upper portion of the wearer's face. The cover plate is formed with a vertical slot having locking indentations at its upper and lower ends. A locking element secured to the upper portion of the visor extends outwardly through the slot and is biased in the direction of the locking indentations.

Readily releasable powered visor-and-lock assembly for helmet

A head gear assembly including first and second sound attenuating earcups and means for supporting the earcups over the ears of a wearer and in which each of said earcups has an earphone therein, one of said earcups has a contact microphone therein and switch means is provided for enabling said contact microphone while disabling the earphone in the cup in which the contact microphone is located.

Sound attenuating earcup assembly provided with receivers and contact

A protective helmet assembly includes a flexible inner helmet designed to fit relatively closely over a wearer's head and fitted with one or more impact-absorbing pads, and a hard rigid ballistic outer shell comprising a frontal portion releasably secured over the forehead area of the inner helmet and a rear portion releasably secured over the crown-to-nape area of the inner helmet, and in which assembly the inner helmet is provided with a pad of relatively flexible ballistic material in the forehead region thereof below the frontal portion of the outer shell.

Protective helmet assembly with segmental outer shell

A simplified protective helmet of the type in which a molded relatively rigid frame for supporting the helmet headband, chin strap and crown assemblies is formed with an upwardly opening outer peripheral channel for receiving the edge of an outer ballistic shell and with a continuous flange extending generally upwardly and somewhat inwardly from the inner wall of the peripheral channel. The inner surface of the flange is formed with a plurality of spaced strap loop accommodating recesses and is provided with fastener elements at locations between the recesses. Respective adjustable loops at the ends of each of a number of crown straps are received by portions of a frame-carried cord extending across the strap loop accommodating recesses. Headband framing bodies carrying fastener elements are manually releasably secured to the flange carried fastener elements. Spacer elements may be provided between the flange and the headband bodies for smaller head sizes.

Simplified protective helmet assembly

A protective helmet having a rigid shell with a headband and crown suspension system and provided with readily adjustable sound-attenuating earcup assemblies, in which right and left hand flexible fabric earcup assembly supports are secured at locations adjacent to the upper ends thereof to the rigid shell for movement of the earcup assemblies carried thereby toward and away from the wearer's head, and in which an adjustable chin strap assembly, the ends of which are anchored to the rigid shell at locations below the points of attachment of the earcup supports to the shell, carries respective fastener elements adapted releasably to be engaged with fastener elements adjacent to the lower ends of the cup supports so that, when the chin strap is pulled to draw the helmet down firmly to engage the suspension with the wearer's head, the earcup assemblies are moved toward the wearer's head to cause the seals thereof firmly to engage the portions of the wearer's head around his ears. One or more pads of energy absorbing material are readily detachably and reattachably secured to the outer surface of the earcup supports and to the portion of the headband at the back of the wearer's head.

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Carbondale, PA, United States of America

Jackson A Aileo