US3273164A

US3273164A - Face shield assembly for a hard hat

Info

Publication number: US3273164A
Application number: US395197A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert R Thomas
Original assignee: Parmelee Plastics Co
Current assignee: Parmelee Plastics Co
Priority date: 1964-09-09
Filing date: 1964-09-09
Publication date: 1966-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 1983-09-20

Description

Sept. 20, 1966 R. R. THOMAS 3,273,164

FACE SHIELD ASSEMBLY FOR A HARD HAT Filed Sept. 9, 1964 INVENTOR. Robe/"f R. Thomas United States Patent 3,273,164 FACE SHIELD ASSEMBLY FOR A HARD HAT Robert R. Thomas, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Parmelee Plastics Company, Kansas City, Mo., :1 corporation of Missouri Filed Sept. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 395,197 7 Claims. (Cl. 2-10) forming certain industrial operations has dictated that noise attenuators, as well as some sort of shielding device to protect the workmans face and eyes, be affixed to the conventional hard hats. These noise attenuators have taken the form of devices resembling earmulfs constructed of acoustical insulating material and mounted on either side of the hard hat.

Attempts have been made to incorporate into the headgear a face shield of transparent material and constructed similar to the familiar shields worn by welders during their Work. A shield of this construction has the advantage of being readily swingable through an arc from a working, substantially upright position in front of the workmans face to a raised, substantially horizontal position clearing the face to permit talking, smoking or the like.

Difliculty has been encountered, however, in affixing such a shield to the conventional hard hat due to the curvilinear shape of the hat. Inasmuch as it is necessary to have mounting means for the sound attenuators disposed generally over the workmans ears and on either 'side of the hat, these mounting means are-not properly located for use per se in pivotally fastening the shield to the hat. Assuming arms of suflicient length could be fastened to the shield to permit pivoting of the shield on the attenuator mounts, the shield would extend far above the hat when it was swung to the raised position. If mounting pivots for the shield are alfixed to the hat itself forwardly of the attenuator mounts, the curved surface of the hat disposes the pivots too close together to permit free swing of the shield through a substantially 90 arc.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a bracket for mounting a face shield to a hard hat with the shield being pivoted at locations to permit optimum swinging of the shield from its working position to a position not substantially higher than the hat.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a mounting bracket which utilizes the sound attenuator mounting means for fastening the shield to the hat, yet permitting optimum location of the face shield pivoting means.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a novel mounting bracket which presents a bearing surface to serve as a stop for holding the shield in its proper working position in spaced relationship with the workmans face.

A yet further object of this invention is to provide a face shield mounting bracket which is firmly secured in fixed relationship with the hard hat to provide a solid foundation for the shield in any predetermined position of the shield with respect to the wearer.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a mounting bracket which is easily and inexpensively manufactured and affixed to the hard hat and to the shield and which does not cause damage to the shield when it comes into contact therewith.

Another object of this invention is to provide a face 3,273,164 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 ice shield mounting bracket which can be readily used with hard hats of various sizes and configurations.

Still other important objects of the instant invention will become apparent or Will be further explained in the following specification.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view on a reduced scale of safety headgear embodying a mounting bracket of this invention showing the face mask in its working position, the raised, standby position thereof appearing in dashed lines;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the headgear;

F'IG. 3 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of the head-gear; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Safety headgear embodying the novel mounting bracket of this invention is broadly designated 10 and includes a safety helmet or hard hat 12, commonly worn by construction workers. A pair of sound attenuator devices 14 are mounted on each side of hat 12, and a face shield 16 is pivotally mounted on hat 12 by means of a mounting bracket 18.

The sound attenuators 14 are secured to each side of hat 12 by means of outwardly projecting mounting studs 20 to which .are affixed spring yoke assemblies 22 which carry the attenuator cups 24 in disposition to be engaged over the ears of the wearer of head-gear 10. Studs 20 projecting from either side of hat 12 may extend into engagement with the assemblies 22 for holding the latter in proper spaced relationship from the sides of hat 12 as shown best in FIG. 3.

Mounting bracket 18 comprises a band of resilient material which may be polyethylene or the like, and is bent into a generally U-shape to present a pair of legs 26 extending forwardly from mounting studs 20 and a bight section 28 integral with the legs 26. An elongated slot 30 in bight section 28 receives the forward portion of the visor 32 of hat 12. Slot 30 is shorter than the width of visor 32 so that only the forward-most extremity of the latter projects beyond bi-ght section 28 as shown in the drawings.

Each leg 26 is provided with an elongated slot 3 4 at shown in FIG. 1. The slots '34 are received over the respective mounting studs 20, and bracket 18 is securely clamped to hat 12 beneath the yoke assemblies 22 by means of removable fasteners 36 received over the respec- 'tive mounting studs 20. The bight section 28 is of increased width to present .a substantial front surface 38 for bracket 18, as shown in FIG. 3. The hat visor 32 and mounting studs 20 hold the mounting bracket 18 in position with the outer surface of the latter in generally upright disposition.

Face shield 16 includes a semicircular frame member 40 pivotally mounted on each leg 26 of bracket 18 by pivot means 42 spaced forwardly from the respective mounting studs 20. Pivots 42 are in axial alignment to provide means for swinging member 40 on a substantially horizontal axis. Friction members 43, which may be washers of rubber or like material, are disposed between frame member 40 and legs 26 at the pivots 42 for frictionally holding shield 16 in any predetermined position with respect to hat 12.

Member 40 is provided with fasteners 44 spaced at intervals. The fasteners 44 cooperate with corresponding fasteners on a transparent shield member 46 to releasably secure the same to member 40 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Face shield 16 may be utilized by the wearer of headgear 10 in face-shielding position as shown in full lines 3 in FIG. 1. If desired, however, the shield may be pivoted to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 1.

The location of the pivot means 42 well forward of the I mounting studs 20, permits free movement of the shield from the face-shielding position to the raised position Without the shield 46 or the frame member 40 extend ing above the uppermost extremity of hat 12. Further, the location of the pivots 42 on the forwardly extending legs 26 permit the pivots 42 to be spaced outwardly from the curved contour of the hat at such forward positions, whereby the frame member 40 can freely swing upwardly without contacting the dome portion of hat 12.

The front surface 38 of bracket 18 provides a substantial bearing surface which is engaged by the shield member 46 when the latter is in its face-shielding position as shown in FIG. 2. This limits the extent of swinging movement of shield 16 and holds the latter in proper spaced relationship from the face of the workman. The flexible construction of bracket 18 prevents damage to the transparent shield member 46 when shield 16 is in the face-shielding position. Any such damage is particularly avoided when relatively soft material, such as polyethylene plastic, is used for fabricating bracket 18. Inasmuch as the shield members 46 are conventionally formed of relatively soft plastic material, it is especially important to prevent contact between the shield members and hard surfaces which might scratch or scar the transparent shield member.

The configuration of bracket 18 is particularly suited to permit rapid and inexpensive fabrication thereof from flat sheet material with a simple stamping operation. The elongated slots 34 permit utilization of brackets 18 with hard hats of a variety of sizes and configurations.

Visor 32 projects through slot 30 to insure that bracket 18 remains firmly and fixedly positioned with respect to hat 12 at all times. However, the extent of projection of visor 32 through slot 30 is not suflicient to permit the visor to cause interference with or damage to face shield 16 as the latter is swung to and from the face-shielding position thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In asafety headgear comprising a hard hat having a visor, a pair of sound attenuators, means mounting an attenuator on each side of the hat, and a face shield, the combination with said headgear of:

bracket means secured to the attenuator mounting means and extending forwardly therefrom said bracket means including a U-shaped band comprising a pair of legs and a bight section integral with the legs and having an elongated slot therein, a leg extending on each side of the hat with the visor being received through said slot; and

vmeans pivotally mounting the shield on the bracket forwardly of the attenuator mounting means for swinging movement through an arc in front of said visor.

2. A headgear as set forth in claim 1, wherein the slot is shorter than the width of the visor whereby the band is held in fixed relationship with respect to the visor.

3. A headgear as set forth in claim 2, the bight section presenting a generally flat, upright surface in disposition to be engaged by the shield when the latter is swung to a predetermined position in one direction for holding the shield against further swinging in said direction.

4. A headgear as set forth in claim 3, wherein said bight section is of greater Width than the legs to present a substantial bearing surface adapted to be engaged by the shield.

5. A headgear :as set forth in claim 1, wherein said shield-mounting means includes a horizontally extendpivot on each leg respectively, said pivots being in axial alignment with the shield being pivotally secured to said pivots for swinging on a substantially horizontal axis.

6. In a safety headgear comprising a hard hat having a visor, a pair of sound attenuators, and means mounting an attenuator on each side of the hat, the combination with said headgear of:

bracket means presenting a U-shaped band having a pair of legs and a bight section integral with the legs, said attenuator mounting means securing the free end of each respective leg to a corresponding side of said hat with the legs extending forwardly therefrom whereby said bight is disposed adjacent said visor;

means carried by the bracket and engaging said hat adjacent the visor for preventing movement of the bracket with respect to the hat;

a face shield; and

means pivotally mounting said shield on the bracket for swinging movement through an arc in front of said visor.

7. A headgear as set forth in claim 6, wherein said bracket is resilient and flexible.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 894,258 7/ 1908 Cobb 179--15 2,016,775 10/1935 Gingg 28 2,248,331 7/1941 Blodjer 210 2,270,238 1/ 1942 Clarke et a1. 26 X 2,487,848 11/1949 Bowers 28 2,926,357 3/1960 Edwards et al. 28 3,108,282 10/1963 Rehman et a1. v2-6 3,187,342 6/1965 Aileo 23 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

I. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A SAFETY HEADGEAR COMPRISING A HARD HAT HAVING A VISOR, A PAIR OF SOUND ATTENUATORS, MEANS MOUNTING AN ATTENUATOR ON EACH SIDE OF THE HAT, AND A FACE SHIELD, THE COMBINATION WITH SAID HEADGEAR OF: BRACKET MEANS SECURED TO THE ATTENUATOR MOUNTING MEANS AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY THEREFROM SAID BRACKET MEANS INCLUDING A U-SHAPED BAND COMPRISING A PAIR OF LEGS AND A BIGHT SECTION INTEGRAL WITH THE LEGS AND HAVING AN ELONGATED SLOT THEREIN, A LEG EXTENDING ON EACH SIDE OF THE HAT WITH THE VISOR BEING RECEIVED THROUGH SAID SLOT; AND MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE SHIELD ON THE BRACKET FORWARDLY OF THE ATTENUATOR MOUNTING MEANS FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT THROUGH AN ARC IN FRONT OF SAID VISOR.