Protective helmet with dual adjustment illumination means

Claim 2

In a protective helmet having two sidewalls and an adjustable visor connected to the front thereof for shielding the wearer's face, illuminating apparatus for directing independent beams of light at selective targets at either the front or the rear of the helmet that includes a base member projected outwardly from each sidewall of the helmet, each base member having a guideway formed therein, a removable carriage having rail means slidably received in the guideway of each base member for detachably securing the carriage in said base, a lamp support pivotally mounted in each carriage for rotating a lamp mounted therein within a vertical plane adjacent the base, and an indexing means acting between each carriage and the associated lamp support for releasably positioning the support within said plane whereby each lamp can be independently directed toward separate targets to either the front or the rear of the helmet without interfering with the adjustable visor.

Claim 3

The protective helmet of claim 1 wherein the indexing means includes a circular rachet means and a pawl means resiliently contained in the said rachet means.

Claim 4

The protective helmet of claim 1 that further includes a utility band extending around the back of the helmet between the base members and means to detachably secure an end of the band in each base.

Claim 5

The protective helmet of claim 1 that further includes a light pipe associated with each lamp support for transmitting a portion of the light emitted by the lamp to the rear of the support.

Claim 6

Apparatus for use in a protective helmet having opposing sidewalls that includes an illuminating unit mounted on each of the sidewalls of said helmet; each unit having a base member secured to an adjacent sidewall of said helmet, a removable carriage slidably received in each base member, a lamp support means pivotally contained in each carriage for rotating a lamp mounted therein within a vertical plane adjacent to the sidewall of the helmet, and an indexing means acting between each carriage and the connected support means for releasably holding the support means at a desired location within said plane whereby the lamp supported in each unit can be independently directed at a different target, each base member having two side walls and a front and rear wall and further having a slotted opening formed in each of said side walls for insertably receiving therein a utility band having top and bottom edges, said front and rear wall each having a gripper bar attached thereto having teeth for engaging the top and bottom edges of the band, and said band having serrations formed in the top and bottom edges thereof for coacting with the teeth of the gripper bars to secure the ends of the band within the base members.

Claim 7

Apparatus for use in a protective helmet having opposing sidewalls that includes an illuminating unit mounted on each of the sidewalls of said helmet; each unit having a base member secured to an adjacent sidewall of said helmet, a removable carriage slidably received in each base member, a lamp support means pivotally contained in each carriage for rotating a lamp mounted therein within a vertical plane adjacent to the sidewall of the helmet, and an indexing means acting between each carriage and the connected support means for releasably holding the support means at a desired location within said plane whereby the lamp supported in each unit can be independently directed at a different target, each base member having two side walls and a front and rear wall and further having a slotted opening formed in each of said side walls for insertably receiving therein a utility band having top and bottom edges, said front and rear wall each having a gripper bar attached thereto having teeth for engaging the top and bottom edges of the band, and said band having serrations formed in the top and bottom edges thereof for coacting with the teeth of the gripper bars to secure the ends of the band within the base members.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said band means includes a series of spring biased clips for detachably supporting wedging blocks upon the said band.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 5 that further includes light reflectors secured to the band.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 5 that further includes a light pipe associated with each lamp support means for transmitting a portion of the light emitted by the lamp to the face of the support means whereby light is visable to both the front and rear of said support means.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 5 that further includes adhesive means contained in each of the said base members for securing the base member to the helmet.