CN101010015A - Support device - Google Patents

Abstract

A support device for supporting a variety of objects on or near a person's head, comprising a band of a moderately elastic material which is bendable into a substantially human head shape, fitted with means (B1, B2) which engage the person's head and the object to be supported (B3) and perform its function by maintaining a static bent shape, without the need for clamps or spring clips to be worn or held on the person's head.

Description

Support device

The provided support invention relates to methods of supporting various items near or near the human head.

The support means comprises a band of moderately elastic material which is bendable to approximately the shape of a human head, provided with means to interface with the human scalp and the supported object.

The support means employs elastic bands that are positioned across the person's head without requiring any form of force. It does not require crimp tension, spring clamp pressure, or binding or fastening to be applied to a person's head to perform its function.

Currently, many objects are held close to or close to a person's head in a position of use. It may be, for example, a surgeon's headlamp, assistive equipment for the disabled, a cyclist's mirror, a watchmaker's magnifying glass, opera binoculars, audio headphones, sound protection earmuffs, a windshield or sound barrier or a communication A headset such as a telephone or walkie-talkie.

The equipment used to support various objects close to or close to a person's head is usually quite specialized. For example, bands made of elastic cloth or plastic around the head along the plane to support a headlight or magnifying glass are not strong enough to accommodate a telephone handset or press-fit protective earmuffs, and spring steel telephone handsets Not strong enough to support a walkie talkie or small binoculars etc.

Elastic bands around the human head are known to support heavy or unbalanced objects, however the size of the contact area required for the bands is compact and tensioning the elastic force is uncomfortable.

It is also known that a comparable sized area of a "tightened" plastic or leather strap provides support for some items, although it eliminates the ventilation of the area when it contacts the skin, and it is also compact. It is also known to have spring-loaded telephone headset head-gripping straps for supporting the earpiece and microphone assembly to a person's ear and lip. Wearing a strap with a spring-loaded, head-clamping headset that is strong enough to support a heavier object can also cause headaches for the user because it requires more force than is available at the time to support a heavier object. Unbalance of heavy objects. Due to insufficient spring clamping pressure, these items may drop from the desired position or fall from the head.

Cyclists' helmets with attached items are also known to provide engagement between said item and a person's head, although inconvenient due to being very compact, and may still require accompanying fasteners such as a strap under the chin to prevent sliding forward, backward or either side.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a support device that acts as an interface between various objects to be supported and a person's head without the need for spring clamps, fasteners or tension to hold the device in place. The invention is fixed to the head.

The elastic straps of the support device maintain a static shape during use. It may be made of any material that is strong enough to retain and not deviate from its intended, albeit malleable, shape under the potential weight or imbalance of items attached to it. Attached objects are generally limited by the weight a person is willing to support on their head.

By bending into roughly the shape of a human head before attaching various items, the elastic band does not bend and loosen due to the weight of the attached items, and does not become less or tighter due to spring clamping force, so it can be maintained. comfortable.

The elastic band is basically like a hook in the shape of the head, which will not straighten itself due to the possible weight of the object, which is mainly close to the head for use. The closer the elastic band bends to the curvature of the human head, the more comfortable it will be over the long term of its use.

The size of the elastic band is thick enough to be rigid enough to support the attached items, and thin enough to allow manual bending to adjust the size, shape, and repositioning of the attached items.

The support means is provided with elastic bands having an appropriate combination of hardness, flexibility, ductility, light weight and colorability to perform its intended function.

Elastic bands may be attached to the components to allow addition or further engagement of specific items of one's choice.

The elastic straps are manufactured with specific bends to accommodate a variety of applications and can be worn in any orientation. Other uses can be provided by unbending and rebending to adjust to suit an individual's preferred application. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, during manufacture, a number of locating dimples are provided along the surface of the elastic band, which engage the parts which engage the head of the person and the object to be supported.

Elastic bands can be painted or treated in any color.

A usable material for forming the elastic band is aluminum in its preferred embodiment, such as any malleable alternative material of suitable hardness.

The support means includes an interfacing component having protrusions incorporated therein during manufacture that are deflected to fit and return to engagement with and remain within the locating recesses of the elastic band.

A moderate amount of interference fit is also sufficient to maintain the position of the head and object engaging parts along the elastic band.

By threading the elastic band into the through hole, which is preferred in the provided embodiment of the invention, or by clamping the joining part to the elastic band by means of side securing closure grooves formed in the joining part during manufacture. Implement assembly.

In the most preferred embodiment of the support means, temporary attachment of the article to the article engaging member is conveniently permitted by hook and loop fastening material, with permanent attachment provided if desired by adhesive, plastic or malleable fasteners.

The engagement member may be made of any material that retains shape and elasticity to perform its function, such as injection molded rubber or plastic.

The components may be of any size, shape or number, although for example in the following the size and shape of the three components referred to in this specification, as preferred embodiments of the invention, are suitable for most applications.

Said three parts, which are mainly designed to fit on the elastic band, are formed in such a way that they are stiff at the thicker parts and flexible at the thinner parts.

Where the part is attached to the elastic band is a thick section to maintain positioning, orientation and curvature.

The thinner portions of the components provide flexibility to bend to the contours of the various items being attached or provide some adaptation to the shape of the user's head.

The flexibility of the thin portion may also allow a peeling or twisting motion to separate the abutment of hook and loop fastening material that may be applied to any article and article engaging member.

The article engaging member may offer the advantage of having a shape other than circular for repeatable attachment positioning accuracy. The particular shape indicates a similarity of alignment prior to pressing together hook and loop fastening abutments, for example cut to the same shape.

Two of the three engaging parts, where they engage and contact a person's head, have proximate raised formations made during the manufacturing process. The raised structures shown in the preferred embodiment of the invention may be of any shape, although domed at the highest point to allow smooth or non-scratching contact to one's scalp or hands during adjustment or assembly.

The smooth raised structures formed in the part contact the human head on or behind the human ear, performing two functions in an atraumatic manner. First, if the user is partly bald or has no hair, the smooth protrusions can contact the scalp, which allows air to flow between the person's scalp and the surface of the component adjacent to the scalp. Second, if the user has a lot of hair, the raised structures will be embedded in the hair to increase the contact area between the hair and the head engaging member. This results in clamping to limit the support means of the attached article from sliding down from where it rests on the person's head.

The support device in a preferred embodiment comprises separate parts to allow for ease of adjustment in use by a person, to provide the possibility of variation in appearance between all constituent parts, and to reduce the bulk of the constituent parts when packaged for storage, transport or display.

The head and the engaging part of the elastic band of the support means can be injection molded directly on the elastic band of the support means by a conventional over-moulding process.

The raised or lowered lettering or design can be made on the surface of the elastic band mounted part during manufacture or printed thereon after manufacture.

The shape of the engagement member may vary to be more specifically adapted to support a particular element. Each engagement member may be permanently or releasably fastened to the elastic band of the support device. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the provision of hook and loop fasteners on the article engaging member enables quick attachment and detachment of various articles to the engaging member or the elastic band of the support device.

Any joint component can be made with variable plasticity by double polymer molding to provide further appearance variation and support flexibility, orientation or surface adaptation to the attached item and the person's head.

It should be clear from the foregoing description that the present invention provides an improved support device for the raising and positioning of various items on or near the human head, and that it achieves its intended purpose by maintaining a static shape, which is different from mechanical Tensioned or tightened active springs are differently tensioned or clamped. In order that the invention may be better understood, specific embodiments will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a supporting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1A is a view of the elastic band of the support device.

FIG. 1B is a view of the engagement part of the support device.

Figure 2 shows the support device with assembly instructions.

Figure 3 shows a layered structure of component B3, hook and loop fastening material.

Figure 4 shows examples of head and object engaging parts having different thicknesses, eg 4Z, 4Y and 4X.

Figure 5 shows the pattern of protrusions for the inward facing face of the head engaging member.

Figure 6 shows the dimples of the elastic band that engage the "bumps" of the assembled components to provide reposition adjustability.

Figure 7 shows examples of support means and various connection items.

Figure 8 is a view of the elastic band of the support device and its adjustable bend.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a supporting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The elastic band "A" of the support means, being substantially curved 25, is provided with dimples A1, A2 and A3 formed during manufacture, and has two additional bends 11 to position the smaller length of the band from the main bend Perimeter further out. One bend is outwardly and away from, and the second bend is bent back from the direction of the first bend to position the smaller length of the strap substantially parallel to the protruding perimeter of the main bend. The smaller length of the elastic band may be camber-adjustable 26 to position it to support objects closer to or further from the person's head.

There are two dimples at the "A1" and "A3" locations to assist in maintaining the positioning of the insert-fit engagement parts B1 and B3.

Several dimples in the "A2" position provide adjustable positioning retention for part B2. The three engaging parts B1, B2 and B3 have in each through-hole or bore 13 two protrusions formed during manufacture which, as indicated by dashed lines 14, engage with recesses 15 which 15 is formed along the elastic band at locations A1, A2 and A3. The support shown is assembled by inserting the elastic strap "A" into the engaging parts B1 , B2 and B3 , and these parts are then slid on and along the strap 16 to their predetermined adjustable positions, such as 17 .

B1 and B2 are components shaped to conform to the curved shape of the user's head 18 and 19 and provide access to the user's head 18 and 19 .

Part B3 engages with the connectable object, see FIG. 7 .

Part B3 is fitted with a half-hook portion 20 of hook and loop fastening material which may be formed during the manufacturing process.

A part of the ring material 21 is provided with the part B3. This loop material can be cut at the same time as the hook material is applied to part B3, thus having the same shape.

Parts of the same shape of the loop material 21 are attached to the object to be supported to provide shape conforming orientation for periodic connection of the objects as in FIG. 7 .

Functionally related, the average and increased thickness 4Z provides shape retention and structure that deflects or returns to shape during assembly or use.

Ribs 4Y may be added to either part during manufacture to avoid weakening and to maintain shape after possible bending during each use.

Due to the flexible nature of the thin portion of part B3 formed during manufacture, the 4X can be curved 22 or flat 23 to fit the shape of a variety of connected items.

The head engaging parts B1 and B2 have raised formations 24 to provide air flow between the parts and the scalp, or to be embedded in the user's hair to provide an atraumatic grip.

The indentations of the elastic band formed during the manufacturing process interlock with the protrusions contained inside the engaging part, providing retention of the part 15 during assembly. A row of several dimples provides repositionable size adjustability.

Claims (12)

1. bracing or strutting arrangement, its support multiple object or near the head part, include the band of appropriate flexible material, described appropriate flexible material arranged be roughly head part's shape with flexible one-tenth, be equipped with parts, described parts engage with the object that will support with the head part, and by keeping the static buckling shape, carry out its function, and need wear or retaining clip gripping member or spring clamping element at people's head.

2. that bracing or strutting arrangement according to claim 1, the wherein said band that appropriate flexible material arranged bend to is that the location connects, crooked approaching, the attachment in end are in the enough distances that are enough to make on its head that places described people.

3. bracing or strutting arrangement according to claim 1 and 2, the wherein said band that appropriate flexible material arranged have after bend with location object attachment near or near people's head.

4. bracing or strutting arrangement according to claim 1, the inside surface of an attachment that is wherein connected bend in fact and meet head part's profile.

5. bracing or strutting arrangement according to claim 1, the inside surface of wherein said attachment has the projection or the rib of the protrusion of any style that is connected mutually with people's scalp or hair.

6. according to each described bracing or strutting arrangement in the claim 1,2,4,5, wherein attachable head and object attachment can have any shape.

7. according to each described bracing or strutting arrangement in the claim 1,2,4,5,6, wherein an object that is connected and an attachment are removable and detachably to be used for size adjusting.

8. according to claim 1 or 3 described bracing or strutting arrangements, wherein said flexible band is carried out its function by being made by any material of the crooked nose shape of being grown up of energy, and therefore constant straight under the weight of connection object.

9. according to each described bracing or strutting arrangement in the aforementioned claim, wherein said head and object attachment can for good and all be fixed in manufacture process on described flexible being with.

10. according to each described bracing or strutting arrangement in the aforementioned claim, wherein said flexible band and described attachment can form an integral body.

11. according to each described bracing or strutting arrangement in the aforementioned claim, can be on described bracing or strutting arrangement by the fixing multiple object of permanent or temporary transient securing member.

12. a bracing or strutting arrangement, its in fact as specification with reference to the accompanying drawings as described in.

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