WO2025040044A1

WO2025040044A1 - Protective Helmet and Adapter Therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2025040044A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/113013
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pengpeng HU
Original assignee: Tecmen Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tecmen Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-08-18
Filing date: 2024-08-19
Publication date: 2025-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-18

Abstract

The present application relates to a protective helmet and an adapter therefor. The adapter comprises a cantilever non-rotatably installed relative to a headgear for the protective helmet and an adjustment member at least partially installed in a receiving seat of the cantilever and non-rotatable relative to the helmet housing, and a position limiting member installed in the receiving seat of the cantilever, wherein a guide limit feature is provided between the position limiting member and the adjustment member to prevent the helmet housing, when at the flipping-down position, from being further rotated relative to the headgear along a direction of departing from the flipping-up direction. The position limiting member is configured to be selectively switchable between a locked state, in which the position limiting member is non-rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat, and an unlocked state in which the position limiting member is rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat.

Description

Protective Helmet and Adapter Therefor

Field

The present application generally relates to a protective helmet, especially a welding helmet and an adapter equipped for the protective helmet.

Background

In welding scenarios, an operator is obligated to wear a welding helmet on his or her head, such that strong light emitting at the moment of welding arcing can be prevented from hurting a person’s eyes and/or splashes occurring during the welding can be prevented from contacting and thus damaging a person’s face. Usually, a welding helmet is provided with a viewing window at a position at which eyes of a person who is wearing the welding helmet on his or her head can be sheltered from. The viewing window can be embodied as a sheet of dark glass, a dark arc light protective sheet, or an auto-darkening filter configured to be automatically darkened at the moment of welding arcing. The welding helmet can be installed relative to a welding operator’s head via a headgear. The headgear can be worn and secured directly on the welding operator’s head. An adapter is provided at either of left and right sides of the headgear to couple the welding helmet to the headgear. The adapters are configured such that when the headgear has been already worn on a user, the welding helmet can be rotated about a rotational axis to be switchable between a flipping-down position, at which the user’s face can be sheltered from by the welding helmet, and a flipping-up position at which the user’s face can be exposed. At the flipping-down position, the user can look out through the viewing window of the welding helmet only.

One welding helmet might be provided for users with different head sizes or profiles to be worn by them. For different users with different head sizes or profiles, in case that a headgear is secured on their heads respectively, a field of view from which the different users look out might be varied when the welding helmet is switched to the flipping-down position. This is because at the flipping-down position of the welding helmet, for the different users with different head sizes or profiles, their eyes are probably misaligned with the viewing window of the welding helmet. If this happened, inconvenient observation through the welding helmet would be resulted in and even a welding operation might be negatively affected. Moreover, the same user, who is wearing the welding helmet to carry out a welding operation, might take different viewing positions, such as a looking-horizontally position, a looking-upwards position, a looking-downwards position or the like, which will result in that the field of view of the user might not be suitably through the viewing window of the welding helmet at the flipping-down position such that the user cannot look out through the viewing window.

Besides in the field of welding, a similar problem may exist in a protective helmet used in other fields if the protective helmet is installed or secured through a headgear relative to a user’s head (for example, such a protective helmet is also provided with a viewing window through which the user can look out) .

Summary

The present application is mainly aimed at proposed an improved protective helmet such that when the protective helmet is worn by a user through a headgear, the protective helmet at its flipping-down position can be readily adjusted to vary its rotational angle relative to the headgear.

According to one aspect, the present application proposes a protective helmet, comprising:

a headgear;

a helmet housing; and

an adapter connected between the headgear and the helmet housing such that the helmet housing is selectively rotatable about a rotational axis relative to the headgear to be switchable between a flipping-down position and a flipping-up position, the adapter comprising an adapter configured to define the flipping-down position of the helmet housing, the adapter configured to define the flipping-down position of the helmet housing comprises:

a cantilever non-rotatably installed relative to the headgear;

an adjustment member releasably connected to the helmet housing and non-rotatable relative to the helmet housing, the adjustment member being at least partially installed in a receiving seat of the cantilever; and

a position limiting member installed in the receiving seat of the cantilever, wherein a guide limit feature is provided between the position limiting member and the adjustment member to prevent the helmet housing, when at the flipping-down position, from being further rotated relative to the headgear along a direction of departing from the flipping-up direction, the position limiting member is configured to be selectively switchable in the receiving seat between a locked state, in which the position limiting member is non-rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat, and an unlocked state in which the position limiting member is rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat.

In an embodiment, the position limiting member is configured to be switched between the locked and unlocked states by an axial movement of the position limiting member within the receiving seat.

In an embodiment, the adjustment member comprises a disc-shaped body and a guidepost extending from the disc-shaped body substantially parallel to the rotational axis, the position limiting member comprises a circumferential guide slot configured to receive and guide the guidepost therein, and the guide limit feature comprises the guidepost and a limit stop located at an end point of the circumferential guide slot.

In an embodiment, the adjustment member also comprises a hollow cylinder extending from the disc-shaped body opposing the guidepost and coaxially with the rotational axis, the hollow cylinder passes through a housing wall of the helmet housing in such a way that it is non-rotatable relative to the helmet housing and is releasably connected to a rotary knob, and the receiving seat and the housing wall of the helmet housing are axially held between the disc-shaped body and the rotary knob.

In an embodiment, the adjustment member also comprises a sleeve extending from the disc-shaped body at the same side as the guidepost, the sleeve is coaxial with the hollow cylinder and is radially spaced from the guidepost, the position limiting member comprises an inner barrel and an outer barrel coaxial with each other, the circumferential guide slot is defined between the inner barrel and the outer barrel, and the sleeve is inserted into the inner barrel within the receiving seat.

In an embodiment, one or more teeth are formed in a cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat and circumferentially distributed, a ring of outer teeth are formed in the outer barrel of the position limiting member, only in the locked state of the position limiting member, the one or more teeth are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the outer teeth to prevent the position limiting member from being rotated relative to the receiving seat.

In an embodiment, a ring of teeth are formed in a cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat, one or more outer teeth are formed in the outer barrel of the position limiting member and circumferentially distributed, only in the locked state of the position limiting member, the outer tooth or outer teeth are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the teeth to prevent the position limiting member from being rotated relative to the receiving seat.

In an embodiment, a ring of teeth are formed in the disc-shaped body around the sleeve, a ring of teeth are formed on a free end of the inner barrel, only in the unlocked state, the ring of teeth of the position limiting member are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the teeth of the adjustment member to allow the position limiting member to be driven by the adjustment member in the receiving seat to rotate about the rotational axis.

In an embodiment, a resilient element is arranged in the sleeve to exert a restoring force for prompting the position limiting member to return to the locked state from the unlocked state.

In an embodiment, a bolt is configured to pass through the disc-shaped body and to be screwed into a fixation cylinder of the position limiting member to define an axial distance of the position limiting member from the disc-shaped body in the locked state of the position limiting member.

In an embodiment, a fixation member is provided at the housing wall of the helmet housing in such a way that it is non-rotatable about the rotational axis, and the hollow cylinder is configured to pass through a central hole of the fixation member in such a way that it is non-rotatable about the rotational axis.

In an embodiment, a washer member is sleeved onto the hollow cylinder to be axially clamped between the housing wall of the helmet housing and the rotary knob.

In an embodiment, internal threads are formed in an inner wall of the hollow cylinder to be engaged with a threaded stud of the rotary knob.

In an embodiment, the guidepost comprises two guideposts which are disposed radially symmetrical to each other about the rotational axis, and the guide slot comprises two guide slots which are disposed radially symmetrical to each other about the rotational axis.

In an embodiment, the limit stop comprises a connection integrally and radially extending between the inner barrel and the outer barrel.

In an embodiment, the protective helmet is a welding helmet.

According to another aspect, the present application proposes an adapter for connecting a protective helmet to a headgear, the helmet being configured to be selectively rotatable about a rotational axis relative to the headgear to be switchable between a flipping-down position and a flipping-up position, the adapter being configured to define the flipping-down position of the helmet housing, the adapter comprising a cantilever non-rotatably installed relative to the headgear and an adjustment member at least partially installed in a receiving seat of the cantilever to be non-rotatably connected to the helmet housing,

the adapter also comprises a position limiting member installed in the receiving seat of the cantilever, wherein a guide limit feature is provided between the position limiting member and the adjustment member to prevent the adjustment member, when at the flipping-down position of the helmet housing, from being further rotated along a direction of departing from the flipping-up direction,

the position limiting member is configured to be selectively switchable in the receiving seat between a locked state, in which the position limiting member is non-rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat, and an unlocked state in which the position limiting member is rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat.

In an embodiment, the adjustment member also comprises a hollow cylinder extending from the disc-shaped body opposing the guidepost and coaxially with the rotational axis, the hollow cylinder is provided with an end configured to pass through a housing wall of the helmet housing and to be releasably connected to a rotary knob.

Using the inventive technical measures, the angle of the protective helmet, when in the flipping-down position, relative to the headgear can be readily adjusted to ensure that a user can adjust the protective helmet depending on various viewing positions which he or she takes, and the field of view of the user can always suitably pass through the viewing window of the protective helmet to enable him or her to look out.

Brief description of drawings

Various aspects and the principles of the present application can be well understood by the following detailed description in combination with the attached drawings. It should be noted that the drawings might be given here in different ratios for illustrative purposes only, which cannot be deemed to affect understanding to the present application. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a protective helmet according to an embodiment of the present application, which protective helmet is, as an example, embodied as a welding helmet wherein the major portion of a headgear assembly configured to cooperate with the welding helmet is hidden by the welding helmet and only a rotary knob of an adapter of the headgear assembly is exposed.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a headgear assembly according to an embodiment of the application and configured to cooperate with the protective helmet.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a pair of adapters of the headgear assembly according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein only parts of a gearhead of the headgear assembly connected to the adapters are shown.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a part of the protective helmet, which part is connected to one adapter of the headgear assembly and the adapter is configured to adjust an angle of the protective helmet, at its flipping-down position, relative to the headgear of the headgear assembly.

Fig. 5. is an exploded and perspective view schematically how the adapter of Fig. 4 is assembled and is connected to the protective helmet.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a position limiting member of the adapter of Fig. 5, but the position limiting member is shown in an observation view different than Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an adjustment member of the adapter of Fig. 5, but the adjustment member is shown in an observation view different than Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a lateral view schematically illustrating a cantilever of the adapter of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a fixation member of the adapter of Fig. 5, but the fixation member is shown in an observation view different than Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is a partially cross-sectional and perspective view schematically illustrating the cantilever.

Fig. 11A is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a part of the adapter of Fig. 4 when the position limiting member is in its released position.

Fig. 11B is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the part of the adapter of Fig. 4 when the position limiting member is in its pressed position.

Fig. 12A is a partial cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the adapter of Fig. 4 when a housing of the protective helmet is in its flipping-down position and before a locking state of the position limiting member is modified.

Fig. 12B is a partial cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the adapter of Fig. 4 when the housing of the protective helmet is in its flipping-down position and after the locking state of the position limiting member is modified.

Embodiments

In the drawings, those features having the same configuration or a similar function are represented by the same reference numerals respectively.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a protective helmet 100. As a non-limiting example, a welding helmet is shown to be embodied as the protective helmet 100. The protective helmet 100 generally comprises a helmet housing 110 and a viewing window 120 provided in the helmet housing 110. The helmet housing 110 can be called as a housing 110 for simplify below. When the protective helmet 100 is in an operating position (or called as a flipping-down position below) , a user is able to look out only through the viewing window. For instance, if the welding helmet is embodied as an auto-darkening welding helmet, the viewing window can be defined by an auto-darkening filter which is automatically switched from a transparent state to a dark state at the moment of welding arcing. In an alternative embodiment, the viewing window 120 of the welding helmet can be defined by a sheet of dark glass. Although the protective helmet 100 is shown as the welding helmet, it is understood by a person skilled in the art that the protective helmet 100 explained in the present disclosure can be any other suitable protective helmet which can be worn by a user to protect his or her face in special places (such as in medical protection places) .

The protective helmet 100 is configured to be releasably connected to a headgear assembly 200 as shown by Fig. 2. In Fig. 1, the headgear assembly 200 is sheltered from by the protective helmet 100 of Fig. 1 except that one rotary knob of the headgear assembly 200 is visible. This rotary knob is configured such that it enables the housing 110 of the protective helmet 100 to be secured relative to a part of the headgear assembly 200.

As shown by Fig. 2, the headgear assembly 200 generally comprises a headgear 210 and a pair of adapters 220, 230 which are installed on a left side and a right side of the headgear 210 respectively. For example, the headgear 210 can comprise several bands, some of which are adjustable in length. The headgear 210 is configured such that it is removably secured on a user’s head. In the context of the present application, a lateral direction of the headgear refers to a direction which is substantially parallel to a left-right direction (or a coronal direction) of a user’s head when the headgear is removably secured on the user’s head in a suitable manner. Two linear guide rails 211 (only one of which is visible in Fig. 2) are formed on band parts at both lateral sides of the headgear 210 respectively such that when the headgear 210 is suitably secured on the user’s head in place, the two linear guide rails 211 can extend substantially along an anterior-posterior direction (or a sagittal direction) of the user’s head.

At the both lateral sides of the headgear 210 respectively, the adapters 220, 230 are installed to the respective guide rails 211 such that they are linearly slidable along the guide rails 211 respectively. Moreover, the adapters 220, 230 are configured to be selectively lockable relative to the guide rails 211 respectively. No matter whether being locked, the adapters 220, 230 are non-rotatable relative to the respective guide rails 211 or relative to the headgear 210.

As shown by Fig. 3, each of the adapters 220, 230 is provided with a cantilever 340. The cantilever 340 is formed with a sliding receptacle 341 at one end. As shown by Fig. 5, the sliding receptacle 341 is formed with two grooves 341a which are configured to face each other. The two grooves 341a of each sliding receptacle 341 are configured to receive two opposing side flanges 221a of a corresponding linear guide rail 211 such that the cantilever 340 is slidable back and forth along the guide rail 211. In each sliding receptacle 341, a press key 342 is installed. The press key is preloaded with a loading element (not shown) . In an embodiment of the present application, the loading element can be embodied as a spring providing thrust or as a pair of magnets providing thrust. The press key 342 is configured to be rotatable about a rotational axis in the sliding receptacle 341 such that a moving trajectory of the press key or of a part thereof is substantially perpendicular to the respective guide rail 211. The press key 243 is formed with a lock tab 342a, as shown by Fig. 4. In the case that the press key is preloaded by the spring, when the press key 342 is not pressed by an external force, the lock tab 342a can extend through one through-hole 341b of the sliding receptacle 341. A plurality of through-holes are formed in each linear guide rail 211 such that the through-holes are longitudinally distributed in a line and spaced from each other. The through-holes of the linear guide rail 211 define sliding lock stops of the respective adapter 220 or 230 relative to the respective linear guide rail 211.

When it is required to slide the cantilevers 340 along the linear guide rails 211 respectively, the respective press keys 342 are pressed such that the lock tabs 342a can be withdrawn from the respective through-holes 341b of the sliding receptacles 341 and thus the cantilevers 340 are allowed to be freely slid along the linear guide rails 211 respectively. When one of the through-holes of a linear guide rail 211 aligns with the through-hole 341b of a sliding receptacle 341 cooperating with the linear guide rail, the press key 342 can be released such that lock tab 342 can pass through both of the aligned through-holes to prevent the cantilever 340 from being further slid along the linear guide rail 211 again. The cantilever 340 is configured such that it is non-rotatable relative to the linear guide rail 211 or the headgear 210.

Each adapter 220, 230 is also provided with a rotary knob 310. The rotary knobs 310 are configured to prevent the helmet housing 110 of the protective helmet 100, which is installed non-rotatably relative to the cantilevers 340, from be separated inadvertently from the adapters 220, 230. After the protective helmet 100 has been installed to the headgear 210 via the adapters 220, 230, the two adapters 220, 230 define a common rotational axis about which the protective helmet 100 is rotatable relative to the headgear 210. For example, when the headgear 210 connected with the protective helmet 100 has been secured on a user’s head in place, the rotational axis is located substantially adjacent to the user’s ears.

Therefore, after the headgear 210 has been worn by a user and secured on his or her head in place, the protective helmet 100 is selectively switchable between a flipping-down position, in which his or her face can be sheltered from by the protective helmet, and a flipping-up position in which his or her face can be exposed. For instance, in the flipping-up position, the protective helmet 100 can be near the head top of the user. One of the two adapters 220, 230 is configured to lock the protective helmet 100 at the flipping-down position and the other of the two adapters is configured to lock the protective helmet 100 at the flipping-up position. This is because the relatively heavy protective helmet 100 will probably contact directly the user’s face under gravity and thus discomfort him or her if the protective helmet 100 cannot be locked at the flipping-down position. Moreover, if the protective helmet were not locked at the flipping-up position, the already-exposed face of the user might be probably hurt by the protective helmet inadvertently rotating and falling from the flipping-up position and hitting the face of the user.

In the following description of the present application, the right adapter 230 is used as an example of an adapter to explain how this adapter can lock the protective helmet 100 at the flipping-down position, and the left adapter 220 is used as an example of an adapter to lock the protective helmet 100 at the flipping-up position. It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that in case that the technical solutions of the present application can be achieved, the two adapters 220, 230 can be swapped with each other.

As shown by Figs. 4 and 5, in addition to the cantilever 340 and the rotary knob 310, the adapter 230 also comprises a washer member 320, a fixation member 330, an adjustment member 350, and a position limiting member 380. Further as shown by Figs. 5 and 8, a receiving seat 345 is formed at the other end of the cantilever 340 opposing the sliding receptacle 341. For example, the receiving seat 345 is substantially hollow-cylinder-shaped. Especially, an inner wall of the hollow-cylinder-shaped receiving seat 345 is cylindrical. An end side of the receiving seat 345, which is adjacent to the housing 110 of the protective helmet 100 when being assembled, is formed with a central circular hole 343. At an end side of the receiving seat 345 which is opposite to the end side where the central circular hole 343 is formed, an opening is formed whose diameter is substantially equal to a diameter of the cylinder.

A tooth 344, for example one set or more sets of teeth 344 can be formed in the cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat 345 such that the tooth or the teeth can protrude from the cylindrical inner wall. In an embodiment as illustrated, two sets of teeth 344 are shown which are radially symmetrical to each other. In Fig. 3, only one of the two sets of teeth 344 are visible and in Fig. 8, both of the two sets of teeth 344 are visible. Each set of teeth 344 comprise several teeth 344 which are spaced from and adjacent to each other circumferentially.

Two apertures 111 are formed in a left housing wall part and a right housing wall part of the housing 110 of the protective helmet 100 respectively. In Fig. 5, only the right one of the two apertures is shown. The apertures 111 are non-circle shaped. For example, in Fig. 5, the aperture 111 is shown as being substantially square. One fixation member 330, such as the above-mentioned fixation member 330 can be partially inserted in the aperture 111 of the housing 110. For example, the fixation member 330 is substantially annular. Several ribs (for example a first rib 331, two second ribs 332 and a third rib 333) are formed at one side of the fixation member 330 such that the ribs protrude axially from the side of the fixation member 330. The ribs are formed to surround a central circular hole 334 formed in the fixation member 330. The ribs 331, 332 and 333 together define a part of the fixation member 330 to be inserted into the aperture 111 and thus their outer outlines or profiles are formed to be substantially complementary to the shape of the aperture 111. In this way, when the ribs are disposed in the aperture 111, the fixation member 330 is non-rotatable relative to the housing 110. In order to ensure that the fixation member 330 as being assembled cannot be rotated relative to the housing 110 and thus has a unique orientation after being assembled, a notch 112 is formed in an edge of the aperture 111 (for example, two notches 112 are shown to be formed in respective edges of the aperture) . Moreover, a radially extending protrusion 335 is formed in one rib (for example the third rib 333) of the fixation member 330. In this case, when the ribs 331, 332, 333 of the fixation member 330 are placed in the aperture 111, the protrusion 335 can be engaged just into one notch 112 to further prevent the fixation member 330 from being rotated relative to the housing 110. In a preferred embodiment of the present application, in order to ensure that the fixation member 330 when being assembled can be temporarily secured relative to the housing 110, radially extending ridges are formed on opposing sides of the two second ribs 332 respectively and can be snapped onto the respective edges of the aperture 111.

At a side of the fixation member 330 opposing the side where the ribs 331, 332, 333 are formed, the fixation member 330 is formed with a circular periphery, for example a circular step 336. This circular step 336 is configured to be received by a circumferential inner edge of the central circular hole 343 of the cantilever 340 such that the central circular hole 343 of the cantilever 340 is coaxial with the central circular hole 334 of the fixation member 330. Therefore, when being assembled together, the cantilever 340 is in contact with the fixation member 330 at the circular step 336 only, and the cantilever 340 can be rotated relative to the fixation member 330 as required. Therefore, the fixation member 330 can be regarded to constitute a bearing through which the adjustment member 350 and the helmet housing 110 can be rotated about the rotational axis relative to the cantilever 340. In an alternative embodiment, a circular step whose shape is complementary to the above explained circular step can be formed in the inner circumferential edge of the central circular hole 343 of the cantilever 340 to receive a (non-stepped) circular periphery of the fixation member 330 and thus enable the central circular hole 343 of the cantilever 340 to be coaxial with the central hole 334 of the fixation member 330.

The adjustment member 350 is installed in the receiving seat 340. As shown by Figs. 5 and 7, the adjustment member 350 comprises a disc-shaped body 351. A hollow cylinder 352 extends axially from a side of the disc-shaped body 351. Internal threads 352a are formed in an inner wall of the hollow cylinder 352. An axially extending groove 352b is formed in an outer wall of the hollow cylinder 352. In the embodiment as shown here, the groove 352b comprises two axially extending grooves 352b which are provided radially symmetrical to each other in the outer wall of the hollow cylinder. When the disc-shaped body 351 is suitably installed in the receiving seat 340, the hollow cylinder 352 can pass through the central circular hole 343 and out of the receiving seat 345, and thus is inserted through the central hole 334 of the fixation member 330. An emboss 334a is formed in an inner wall of the central hole 334 of the fixation member 330 such that it protrudes radially from the inner wall. In the embodiment as shown, for example, the emboss 334a comprises two embosses 334a disposed radially symmetrical to each other. Although an external diameter of the hollow cylinder 352 at its maximum is equal to or slightly less than an internal diameter of the central hole 334 of the fixation member 330, the embosses 334a of the fixation member 330 can be received by the grooves 352b respectively such that the adjustment member 350 can be coaxial with the fixation member 330 but both of them cannot be rotated relative to each other. In an alternative embodiment, the fixation member 330 or the structure represented by the same can be integrally formed in the helmet housing 110.

On a side of the disc-shaped body 351 axially opposing the side where the hollow cylinder is formed, a sleeve 353 is formed to be coaxial with the hollow cylinder 352 and also a ring of teeth 355 are formed to surround the sleeve 353. Additionally, on the side of the disc-shaped body 351, an axially extending guidepost 354 is formed. For example, the guidepost 354 comprises two axially extending guideposts 354 which are arranged radially symmetrical relative to each other. Each guidepost 354 is separated from the sleeve 353 by the ring of teeth 355. At the center of the disc-shaped body 351, a through-hole 356 is formed. The through-hole 356 has a center which is just located in the aligned central axes of the sleeve 353 and the hollow cylinder 352. The adjustment member 350 and the cantilever 340 are configured such that when the adjustment member 350 is suitably installed in the receiving seat 345, the guideposts 354 will not contact the teeth 344 such that a relative rotational movement between the adjustment member 350 and the receiving seat 345 is hindered.

Besides the adjustment member 350, the position limiting member 380 is also installed in the receiving seat 345 of the cantilever 340. For example, the position limiting member 380 is substantially shaped in the form of a circular lid. An outer barrel (or ring) 381 is formed in one side of the position limiting member 380, which outer barrel 318 can be inserted into the receiving seat 345. Moreover, an inner barrel (or ring) 382 coaxial with the outer barrel 381 is also formed in the same side of the position limiting member 380. A guide slot 383 is defined between the outer barrel 381 and the inner barrel 382. For example, the guide slot 383 comprises two circumferential guide slots 383. The two circumferential guide slots 383 are separated from each other by two limit stops 384 respectively. For example, the limit stops 384 are connection walls or connections integrally formed and/or radially extending between the inner barrel 382 and the outer barrel 381. A fixation cylinder 385 is formed in the position limiting member 380 within the inner barrel 382. The fixation cylinder 385 is coaxial with the inner barrel 382.

An opposing side of the position limiting member 380 is circular-disc-shaped. The circular disc has a diameter which is slightly less than a diameter of a circular opening of the receiving seat 345 through which the position limiting member 380 can be received. A plurality of outer teeth 381a are formed on the outer barrel 381 of the position limiting member 380 such that the outer teeth 381a are distributed circumferentially and are axially spaced from the circular-disc-shaped side by a given axial distance. The axial distance of the outer teeth 381a from the circular-disc-shaped side is substantially equal to an axial distance of the teeth 344 of the receiving seat 345 from the circular opening thereof for receiving the position limiting member 380. In the meanwhile, the teeth 344 of the receiving seat 345 are axially sized that their axial lengths are less than the axial distance of the outer teeth 381a from the circular-disc-shaped side.

The sleeve 353 is configured such that it can be inserted into the inner barrel 382. The inner barrel 382 is formed with a ring of teeth 382a at a free end side thereof. The ring of teeth 382a are circumferentially sized such that they can match with the ring of teeth 355. When being assembled, a spiral spring 370 can be housed in the sleeve 353. In the meanwhile, a rod part of a bolt 390 can pass through the central through-hole 356 of the disc-shaped body 351 to be partially screwed into the fixation cylinder 385. A head of the bolt 390 has a size greater than the diameter of the through-hole 356 such that as the bolt 390 is tightly screwed to a given extent, the spiral spring 370 is compressed between the position limiting member 380 and the adjustment member 350 to axially exert a spring force therebetween, which spring force tends to separate the two members from each other. Using the bolt 390, the position limiting member 380, the adjustment member 350 and the spiral spring 370 can be coupled to each other as a sub-assembly to be installed in the receiving seat 345 of the cantilever 340. In this way, the disc-shaped body 351 of the adjustment member 350 can be at least partially in contact with the end side of the receiving seat 345 in which the central circular hole 343 is formed, while the hollow cylinder 352 of the adjustment member 350 passes through the central circular hole 343 and protrudes out of the end side.

Further as shown by Figs. 5 and 10, after the hollow cylinder 352 of the adjustment member 350 has protruded outwards from the receiving seat 345, the hollow cylinder can be inserted through the fixation member 330 already secured relative to the housing 110. Then, the hollow cylinder 352 can protrude outwards from the housing 110 at an opposing side thereof, and the washer member 320 is sleeved onto the hollow cylinder 352 at the opposing side. For example, the washer member 320 is formed with a central hole 321 similar to the central hole 334 of the fixation member 330, such that when the hollow cylinder 352 passes through the central hole 321, the adjustment member 350 is non-rotatable relative to the washer member 320. A threaded stud 311 is formed on an end side of the rotary knob 310 such that external threads of the threaded stud 311 can be engaged with the internal threads 352a of the hollow cylinder 352. As the rotary knob 310 is tightly screwed, the housing 110 of the protective helmet 100 and the receiving seat 345 of the cantilever 340 can be axially clamped between the disc-shaped body 351 of the adjustment member 350 and the washer member 320 or the rotary knob 310.

As shown by Figs. 10 and 11A, when being assembled in place and the position limiting member 380 being not pressed, the circular-disc-shaped side of the position limiting member 380 is just flush with an edge of the opening of the receiving seat 345, and the ring of teeth 382a of the inner barrel 382 are not engaged with the ring of the teeth 355 of the adjustment member 350 because of the spring force. That is to say, in this case, disengagement between the rings of teeth 382a and 355 will not hinder a relative rotational movement between the adjustment member 350 and the position limiting member 380. An axial distance of the teeth 344 from the edge of the opening of the receiving seat 345 is provided such that in this case the teeth 344 can be just engaged with the respective outer teeth 381a and thus the position limiting member 380 is non-rotatable relative to the receiving seat 345 or relative to the cantilever 340. In the meanwhile, the guideposts 354 can partially extend into the respective guide slots 383 in an axial direction. Therefore, as the housing 110 is rotated relative to the cantilevers 340 by an external force, for example as the housing 110 is rotated from the flipping-up position to the flipping-down position (along a dotted arrow “A” of Figs. 12A and 12B) , the guideposts 354 are circumferentially guided and moved in the respective guide slots 383. The guideposts 354 and the respective guide slots 383 are sized such that an axial movement of the position limiting member 380 relative to the adjustment member 350 is not hindered. When the guideposts 354 are stopped by the respective the limit stops 384 (as shown by Figs. 12A and 12B) , the housing 110 (as represented by a dotted line in Figs. 12A and 12B) can be stopped at the flipping-down position under gravity. Therefore, the limit stops 384 can be used to define an angle of the protective helmet 100, at the flipping-down position, relative to the cantilevers 340 or the headgear 210. Therefore, the limit stops 384 and the guideposts 354 together are regarded as a guide limit feature defined between the position limiting member 380 and the adjustment 350, by which guide limit feature the helmet housing 110 at the flipping-down position is prevented from being further rotated about the rotational axis relative to the headgear 210 along a direction of departing away the flipping-up position.

As shown by Fig. 11B, when it is required to modify a circumferential position or angle of the limit stops 384 relative to the cantilever 340, a user can manually press the position limiting member 380 such that the position limiting member 380 can be moved within the receiving seat 345 axially towards the housing 110 until the teeth 344 of the receiving seat 345 are axially located between the outer teeth 381a and the circular-disc-shaped side of the position limiting member 380 and the ring of teeth 382a of the position limiting member 380 are in contact with and are engaged with the ring of the teeth 355 of the adjustment member 350. In this case, as the user rotates the housing 110 of the protective helmet 100 with keeping the position limiting member 380 being pressed, the adjustment member 350 will be driven by the housing 110 such that the position limiting member 380 can be further driven to be rotated relative to the receiving seat 345. This is because the ring of teeth 355 are engaged with the ring of teeth 382 and the outer teeth 381a are disengaged from the teeth 344 of the receiving seat 345. In this way, the circumferential position or angle of the limit stops 384 relative to the cantilever 340 or the receiving seat 345 can be modified.

After the position limiting member 380 has been rotated about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat 345 by a suitable angle, the position limiting member 380 can be released such that it is not manually pressed and thus it can return to a state as shown by Figs. 10 and 11A. In this state, the circular-disc-shaped side of the position limiting member 380 is just flush with the edge of the opening of the receiving seat 345, and the teeth 344 are engaged with the respective outer teeth 381a and the ring of teeth 382a of the position limiting member 380 are in not contact with the ring of teeth 355 of the adjustment member 350 such that the position limiting member 380 is non-rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat 345 or relative to the cantilever 340.

That is to say, in Fig. 11A, the position limiting member 380 of the adapter is in a locked state in which it is non-rotatable (or rotationally locked) relative to the cantilever 340 or relative to the receiving seat 345 thereof; in Fig. 11B, the position limiting member 380 of the adapter is in an unlocked state in which it is rotatable relative to the cantilever 340 or relative to the receiving seat 345 thereof. The spiral spring 370 is always in a compressed state no matter whether the position limiting member 380 is in the locked or unlocked state. Moreover, the spring force of the spiral spring 370 results in a restoring force to prompt the position limiting member 380 to automatically return to the locked state from the unlocked state when necessary. In an embodiment of the present application, the spiral spring 370 is explained as a non-limiting example of a resilient element by which the restoring force is generated to prompt the position limiting member 380 to automatically return to the locked state from the unlocked state when necessary. Of course, it is appreciated by a person skilled in the art that any other suitable element having a similar function such as a spring sheet or an elastic bellow or the like can be alternatively used as an example of the resilient element.

In an alternative embodiment, the teeth 355, 382a can be dispensed with and features similar to the teeth 355, 382a can be provided on opposite surfaces of the inner barrel 328 and the guidepost 354 such that in the unlocked state of the position limiting member 380, the position limiting member 380 due to engagement between the features similar to the teeth 355, 382a can be rotated relative to the receiving seat 345 by the adjustment 350; and in the locked state of the position limiting member 380, the position limiting member 380 are non-rotatable relative to both of the receiving seat 34 and the adjustment member 380.

In an alternative embodiment, the teeth 344 can be provided in the inner wall of the receiving seat 345 over its entire periphery, and the teeth 381a is provided circumferentially at one or more locations of the outer barrel 381. In an alternative embodiment, the washer member 320 can be dispensed with and the threaded stud 311 of the rotary knob 310 can be engaged directly with the internal threads 352a of the hollow cylinder 352 such that the housing 110 can be axially clamped between the rotary knob 310 and the cantilever 340.

Figs. 12A and 12B shows the adapter 230 when the position limiting member 380 is in the locked state and the housing 110 (which is partially presented by a dotted line in Figs. 12A and 12B) is in the flipping-down position. The two figures are different than each other in that the circumferential positions or angles of the limit stops 384 relative to receiving seat 345 or the cantilever 340 in the two figures are different than each other. Therefore, the viewing window of the housing 110 can be rotated abut the rotational axis to modify an angle of the viewing window relative to the headgear worn by a user when the housing 110 is in the flipping-down position. In this way, the viewing window is enabled to accommodate to the field of view of the user.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown) , the limit stop (s) constituting one part of the guide limit feature can be formed in the adjustment member 350 and the guidepost (s) constituting another part of the guide limit feature can be formed in the position limiting member 380. In this case, the inner and outer barrels can be formed in the adjustment member in such a way that they will not affect rotation of the adjustment member within the receiving seat 345 about the rotational axis, and the guidepost (s) can be formed in an end side of the position limiting member facing the adjustment member and can be guided in a guide slot or guide slots defined between the inner and outer barrels such that the guidepost (s) can be blocked at terminals of the guide slot (s) respectively.

Although some specific embodiments of the present application have been explained in details here, they are given for illustrative purposes only and shall not be deemed to constrain the scope of the present application in any way. Furthermore, it should be understood by a person skilled in the art that various embodiments of the present application can be arbitrarily combined with each other. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application, various modifications, alternations, and replacements can be thought out.

Claims

A protective helmet (100) , comprising:

a headgear (210) ;

a helmet housing (110) ; and

an adapter connected between the headgear (210) and the helmet housing (110) such that the helmet housing (110) is selectively rotatable about a rotational axis relative to the headgear (210) to be switchable between a flipping-down position and a flipping-up position, the adapter comprising an adapter (230) configured to define the flipping-down position of the helmet housing (110) , characterized in that the adapter (230) configured to define the flipping-down position of the helmet housing (110) comprises:

a cantilever (340) non-rotatably installed relative to the headgear (210) ;

an adjustment member (350) releasably connected to the helmet housing (110) and non-rotatable relative to the helmet housing, the adjustment member (350) being at least partially installed in a receiving seat (345) of the cantilever (340) ; and

a position limiting member (380) installed in the receiving seat (345) of the cantilever (340) , wherein a guide limit feature is provided between the position limiting member (380) and the adjustment member (350) to prevent the helmet housing (110) , when at the flipping-down position, from being further rotated relative to the headgear (210) along a direction of departing from the flipping-up direction, the position limiting member (380) is configured to be selectively switchable in the receiving seat (345) between a locked state, in which the position limiting member (380) is non-rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat (345) , and an unlocked state in which the position limiting member (380) is rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat (345) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 1, wherein the position limiting member (380) is configured to be switched between the locked and unlocked states by an axial movement of the position limiting member within the receiving seat (345) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 2, wherein the adjustment member (350) comprises a disc-shaped body (351) and a guidepost (354) extending from the disc-shaped body (351) substantially parallel to the rotational axis, the position limiting member (380) comprises a circumferential guide slot (383) configured to receive and guide the guidepost (354) therein, and the guide limit feature comprises the guidepost (354) and a limit stop (384) located at an end point of the circumferential guide slot (383) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 3, wherein the adjustment member (350) also comprises a hollow cylinder (352) extending from the disc-shaped body (351) opposing the guidepost (354) and coaxially with the rotational axis, the hollow cylinder (352) passes through a housing wall of the helmet housing (110) in such a way that it is non-rotatable relative to the helmet housing (110) and is releasably connected to a rotary knob (310) , and the receiving seat (345) and the housing wall of the helmet housing (110) are axially held between the disc-shaped body (351) and the rotary knob (310) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 4, wherein the adjustment member (350) also comprises a sleeve (353) extending from the disc-shaped body (351) at the same side as the guidepost (354) , the sleeve (353) is coaxial with the hollow cylinder (352) and is radially spaced from the guidepost (354) , the position limiting member (380) comprises an inner barrel (382) and an outer barrel (381) coaxial with each other, the circumferential guide slot (383) is defined between the inner barrel (382) and the outer barrel (381) , and the sleeve (353) is inserted into the inner barrel (382) within the receiving seat (345) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 5, wherein one or more teeth (344) are formed in a cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat (345) and circumferentially distributed therein, a ring of outer teeth (381a) are formed in the outer barrel (381) of the position limiting member (380) , only in the locked state of the position limiting member (380) , the one or more teeth (344) are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the outer teeth (381a) to prevent the position limiting member (380) from being rotated relative to the receiving seat (345) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 5, wherein a ring of teeth (344) are formed in a cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat (345) , one or more outer teeth (381a) are formed in the outer barrel (381) of the position limiting member (380) and circumferentially distributed therein, only in the locked state of the position limiting member (380) , the outer tooth or outer teeth (381a) are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the teeth (344) to prevent the position limiting member (380) from being rotated relative to the receiving seat (345) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 6, wherein a ring of teeth (355) are formed in the disc-shaped body (351) around the sleeve (353) , a ring of teeth (382a) are formed on a free end of the inner barrel (382) , only in the unlocked state, the ring of teeth (382a) of the position limiting member (380) are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the teeth (355) of the adjustment member (350) to allow the position limiting member (380) to be driven by the adjustment member (350) in the receiving seat (345) to rotate about the rotational axis.
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 8, wherein a resilient element is arranged in the sleeve (353) to exert a restoring force for prompting the position limiting member (380) to return to the locked state from the unlocked state.
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 9, wherein a bolt (390) is configured to pass through the disc-shaped body (351) and to be screwed into a fixation cylinder (385) of the position limiting member (380) to define an axial distance of the position limiting member (380) from the disc-shaped body (351) in the locked state of the position limiting member (380) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 10, wherein a fixation member (330) is provided at the housing wall of the helmet housing (110) in such a way that it is non-rotatable about the rotational axis, and the hollow cylinder (352) is configured to pass through a central hole (334) of the fixation member (330) in such a way that it is non-rotatable about the rotational axis.
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 11, wherein a washer member (320) is sleeved onto the hollow cylinder (352) to be axially clamped between the housing wall of the helmet housing (110) and the rotary knob (310) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 12, wherein internal threads (352a) are formed in an inner wall of the hollow cylinder (352) to be engaged with a threaded stud (311) of the rotary knob (310) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 13, wherein the guidepost (354) comprises two guideposts (354) which are disposed radially symmetrical to each other about the rotational axis, and the guide slot (383) comprises two guide slots (383) which are disposed radially symmetrical to each other about the rotational axis.
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 14, wherein the limit stop (384) comprises a connection integrally and radially extending between the inner barrel (382) and the outer barrel (381) .
The protective helmet (100) as recited in claim 15, wherein it is a welding helmet.
An adapter (230) for connecting a protective helmet (100) to a headgear (210) , the helmet (110) being configured to be selectively rotatable about a rotational axis relative to the headgear (210) to be switchable between a flipping-down position and a flipping-up position, the adapter (230) being configured to define the flipping-down position of the helmet housing (110) , the adapter (230) comprising a cantilever (340) non-rotatably installed relative to the headgear (210) and an adjustment member (350) at least partially installed in a receiving seat (345) of the cantilever (340) to be non-rotatably connected to the helmet housing (110) , characterized in that

the adapter (230) also comprises a position limiting member (380) installed in the receiving seat (345) of the cantilever (340) , wherein a guide limit feature is provided between the position limiting member (380) and the adjustment member (350) to prevent the adjustment member (350) , when at the flipping-down position of the helmet housing (110) , from being further rotated along a direction of departing from the flipping-up direction,

the position limiting member (380) is configured to be selectively switchable in the receiving seat (345) between a locked state, in which the position limiting member (380) is non-rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat (345) , and an unlocked state in which the position limiting member (380) is rotatable about the rotational axis relative to the receiving seat (345) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 17, wherein the position limiting member (380) is configured to be switched between the locked and unlocked states by an axial movement of the position limiting member within the receiving seat (345) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 18, wherein the adjustment member (350) comprises a disc-shaped body (351) and a guidepost (354) extending from the disc-shaped body (351) substantially parallel to the rotational axis, the position limiting member (380) comprises a circumferential guide slot (383) configured to receive and guide the guidepost (354) therein, and the guide limit feature comprises the guidepost (354) and a limit stop (384) located at an end point of the circumferential guide slot (383) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 18, wherein the adjustment member (350) also comprises a hollow cylinder (352) extending from the disc-shaped body (351) opposing the guidepost (354) and coaxially with the rotational axis, the hollow cylinder (352) is provided with an end configured to pass through a housing wall of the helmet housing (110) and to be releasably connected to a rotary knob (310) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 20, wherein the adjustment member (350) also comprises a sleeve (353) extending from the disc-shaped body (351) at the same side as the guidepost (354) , the sleeve (353) is coaxial with the hollow cylinder (352) and is radially spaced from the guidepost (354) , the position limiting member (380) comprises an inner barrel (382) and an outer barrel (381) coaxial with each other, the circumferential guide slot (383) is defined between the inner barrel (382) and the outer barrel (381) , and the sleeve (353) is inserted into the inner barrel (382) within the receiving seat (345) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 21, wherein one or more teeth (344) are formed in a cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat (345) and circumferentially distributed, a ring of outer teeth (381a) are formed in the outer barrel (381) of the position limiting member (380) , only in the locked state of the position limiting member (380) , the one or more teeth (344) are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the outer teeth (381a) to prevent the position limiting member (380) from being rotated relative to the receiving seat (345) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 21, wherein a ring of teeth (344) are formed in a cylindrical inner wall of the receiving seat (345) , one or more outer teeth (381a) are formed in the outer barrel (381) of the position limiting member (380) and circumferentially distributed, only in the locked state of the position limiting member (380) , the outer tooth or outer teeth (381a) are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the teeth (344) to prevent the position limiting member (380) from being rotated relative to the receiving seat (345) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 22, wherein a ring of teeth (355) are formed in the disc-shaped body (351) around the sleeve (353) , a ring of teeth (382a) are formed on a free end of the inner barrel (382) , only in the unlocked state, the ring of teeth (382a) of the position limiting member (380) are allowed to be engaged with respective one (s) of the ring of the teeth (355) of the adjustment member (350) to allow the position limiting member (380) to be driven by the adjustment member (350) in the receiving seat (345) to rotate about the rotational axis.
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 24, wherein a resilient element is arranged in the sleeve (353) to exert a restoring force for prompting the position limiting member (380) to return to the locked state from the unlocked state.
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 25, wherein a bolt (390) is configured to pass through the disc-shaped body (351) and to be screwed into a fixation cylinder (385) of the position limiting member (380) to define an axial distance of the position limiting member (380) from the disc-shaped body (351) in the locked state of the position limiting member (380) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 26, wherein internal threads (352a) are formed in an inner wall of the hollow cylinder (352) to be engaged with a threaded stud (311) of the rotary knob (310) .
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 27, wherein the guidepost (354) comprises two guideposts (354) which are disposed radially symmetrical to each other about the rotational axis, and the guide slot (383) comprises two guide slots (383) which are disposed radially symmetrical to each other about the rotational axis.
The adapter (230) as recited in claim 28, wherein the limit stop (384) comprises a connection integrally and radially extending between the inner barrel (382) and the outer barrel (381) .