Headgear structure

Claim 2

An assembly for protecting the head of a wearer and for permitting communication with an external electrical circuit including in combination, a flexible helmet adapted to fit relatively closely to the wearer''s head, a relatively rigid earcup supported on said helmet adjacent to the wearer''s ear, sealing means around the periphery of said earcup adapted to engage the region of the wearer''s head surrounding the ear and to form an acoustical seal therewith, an earphone, means mounting said earphone within said earcup, means accessible from outside said earcup for connecting said earphone to said external circuit, a plurality of discrete bodies of energy-absorbing material extending over the area of said helmet covering the portion of the wearer''s head outside said earcup and mans for individually supporting said bodies on said helmet to permit relative movement therebetween to cause said helmet closely to conform to the wearer''s head to bring said sealing means into engagement with the portion of the wearer''s head around the wearer''s ear.

Claim 3

An assembly as in claim 1 including a second relatively rigid earcup carried by said helmet adjacent to the wearer''s other ear and sealing means around the periphery of the second earcup adapted to engage the region of the wearer''s head around the other ear to form an acoustic seal therewith.

Claim 4

An assembly as in claim 2 in which said bodies comprise first and second bodies extending from the front to the rear of the helmet over the crown of the wearer''s head and being arranged symmetrically with reference to the fore-and-aft centerline of the helmet.

Claim 5

An assembly as in claim 3 in which said bodies comprise respective third and fourth bodies located at the sides of said helmet alongside said first and second bodies.

Claim 6

An assembly as in claim 4 in which each of first and second bodies extends downwardly over the back of the wearer''s head.

Claim 7

An assembly as in claim 5 in which said third and fourth bodies extend downwardly behind said earcups and over the mastoid processes of the wearer''s head.

Claim 8

An assembly as in claim 1 in which said connecting means comprises a switch located within said earcup, said assembly including an externally accessible manually operable element for actuating said switch.

Claim 9

An assembly as in claim 7 including means forming a watertight enclosure in said earcup for receiving said switch.

Claim 10

An assembly as in claim 1 in which said earphone mounting means comprises sound attenuating material.

Claim 11

An assembly as in claim 1 in which said supporting means comprises pockets in said helmet for readily removably receiving said bodies.

Claim 12

A protective headgear structure comprising: a. a flexible close-fitting helmet; and b. means carried by said helmet for protecting the head of a wearer against impacts; wherein the improvement comprises: c. said protecting means comprising at least two separate pads of energy-absorbing material disposed side by side in position to protect the crown portion of the wearer''s head, and individually supported by said helmet in a sufficiently spaced relation so as to be movable relative to each other to conform to the size and shape of the wearer''s head, said helmet comprising a pair of outer panels of flexible yieldable netting extending side by side from a front edge adjacent the wearer''s forehead ove the head to a rear edge at the base of the wearer''s skull, the netting of each of said outer panels being biased with respect to the netting of the other outer panel with warplike threads of the two nettings parallel at the point of the common boundary of the outer panels adjacent the crown of the wearer''s head and intersecting elsewhere along that common boundary at acute angles which increase from the crown toward both extremities of the outer panels; side panels of relatively inelastic but flexible material attached to the sides of said outer panels adjacent the front and rear ends thereof; and a pair of segments of flexible, yieldable netting respectively disposed between the central portions of said side panels and said outer panels, the netting of each said segment being biased with respect to the netting of the adjacent outer panel with warplike threads of the outer panel and segment nettings parallel adjacent the middle of their common boundary and intersecting elsewhere along their common boundary at acute angles which increase toward the extremities thereof; wherein said two pads respectively underlie said outer panels, extending from the front to the rear of the helmet in generally parallel relation over the crown of the wearer''s head on opposite sides of the center line of said helmet; further including a second pair of pads respectively underlying said side panels and the adjacent segments on opposite sides of said two first-mentioned pads and curved to extend over and behind the ear areas of the wearer''s head, for protecting the opposite sides of the head, said second pair of pads being indivdiaully supported by said helmet in sufficiently spaced relation to said two first-mentioned pads so as to be movable relative to said two first-mentioned pads, said helmet further including an inner layer of flexible, yieldable netting extending over the interior of siad helmet and stitched to said outer panels and segments to cooperatively define therewith individual pockets for holding said pads, said inner layer having plural slits respectively positioned at central portions of said pockets for insertion and removal of said pads, a pair of earcups respectively mounted in said side panels in position to enclose the wearer''s ears, each of said earcups comprising a rigid ellipsoidal cup having an opening toward the wearer''s ear, each of said earcups further having an elliptically annular pad surrounding said opening for contact with the wearer''s head in surrounding relation to the ear; and wherein said helmet further includes a nape strap, said nape strap comprising a pair of overlapping strips secured to the rear outer surface of said helmet and bearing on their facing surfaces a pair of cooperating complementary pressure-actuatable surface contact fastening elements interengageable to hold said overlapping strips together, at least one earphone disposed in one of said earcups; a mircophone secured to said helmet; and a switch for operating said microphone, said switch including contacts mounted within one of said earcups, a cover cooperating with said last-mentioned earcup to define a moistureproof enclosure for said switch contacts; and a manually operable member disposed in the outer surface of said last-mentioned earcup and connected to said switch contacts for operating said switch.

Claim 13

A protective headgear structure comprising: a. a flexible close-fitting helmet; and b. means carried by said helmet for protecting the head of a wearer against impacts; wherein the improvement comprises: c. said protecting means comprising at least two separate pads of energy-absorbing material disposed side by side in position to protect the crown portion of the wearer''s head, and individually supported by said helmet in a sufficiently spaced relation so as to be movable relative to each other to conform to the size and shape of the wearer''s head, said helmet comprising a pair of outer panels of flexible yieldable netting extending side by side from a front edge adjacent the wearer''s forehead ove the head to a rear edge at the base of the wearer''s skull, the netting of each of said outer panels being biased with respect to the netting of the other outer panel with warplike threads of the two nettings parallel at the point of the common boundary of the outer panels adjacent the crown of the wearer''s head and intersecting elsewhere along that common boundary at acute angles which increase from the crown toward both extremities of the outer panels; side panels of relatively inelastic but flexible material attached to the sides of said outer panels adjacent the front and rear ends thereof; and a pair of segments of flexible, yieldable netting respectively disposed between the central portions of said side panels and said outer panels, the netting of each said segment being biased with respect to the netting of the adjacent outer panel with warplike threads of the outer panel and segment nettings parallel adjacent the middle of their common boundary and intersecting elsewhere along their common boundary at acute angles which increase toward the extremities thereof; wherein said two pads respectively underlie said outer panels, extending from the front to the rear of the helmet in generally parallel relation over the crown of the wearer''s head on opposite sides of the center line of said helmet; further including a second pair of pads respectively underlying said side panels and the adjacent segments on opposite sides of said two first-mentioned pads and curved to extend over and behind the ear areas of the wearer''s head, for protecting the opposite sides of the head, said second pair of pads being indivdiaully supported by said helmet in sufficiently spaced relation to said two first-mentioned pads so as to be movable relative to said two first-mentioned pads, said helmet further including an inner layer of flexible, yieldable netting extending over the interior of siad helmet and stitched to said outer panels and segments to cooperatively define therewith individual pockets for holding said pads, said inner layer having plural slits respectively positioned at central portions of said pockets for insertion and removal of said pads, a pair of earcups respectively mounted in said side panels in position to enclose the wearer''s ears, each of said earcups comprising a rigid ellipsoidal cup having an opening toward the wearer''s ear, each of said earcups further having an elliptically annular pad surrounding said opening for contact with the wearer''s head in surrounding relation to the ear; and wherein said helmet further includes a nape strap, said nape strap comprising a pair of overlapping strips secured to the rear outer surface of said helmet and bearing on their facing surfaces a pair of cooperating complementary pressure-actuatable surface contact fastening elements interengageable to hold said overlapping strips together, at least one earphone disposed in one of said earcups; a mircophone secured to said helmet; and a switch for operating said microphone, said switch including contacts mounted within one of said earcups, a cover cooperating with said last-mentioned earcup to define a moistureproof enclosure for said switch contacts; and a manually operable member disposed in the outer surface of said last-mentioned earcup and connected to said switch contacts for operating said switch.