Mandible guard adjustment system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9788593-B2
Application number	US-201314083387-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2013
Priority date	Nov 18, 2013
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

Methods and devices for adjusting the position of a mandible guard relative to a helmet are disclosed. Adjustment of the mandible guard may be performed by a user while the user is wearing the helmet and/or without the use of tools. A mandible guard adjustment system may be combined with an attachment system for attaching and removing the mandible guard to a helmet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a mandible guard for a helmet; and
a position control that holds the mandible guard in a first position relative to the helmet and a second position relative to the helmet;
wherein the first position defines a first distance from a point on the helmet to a point on the mandible guard and the second position defines a second distance from the point on the helmet to the point on the mandible guard, the second distance being different from the first distance, the point on the helmet being a laterally centered point on a front brim of the helmet, and the point on the mandible guard being a laterally centered point on the mandible guard;
wherein the position control permits adjustment of the mandible guard from the first position to the second position by a user while the helmet is worn by the user;
wherein in the first and second positions, the mandible guard is below the front brim of the helmet;
wherein the position control includes a release mechanism, and the position control secures the mandible guard in the first position such that the mandible guard is able to move from the first position to the second position only by actuating the release mechanism; and
wherein the mandible guard is movable from the second position to the first position by applying a force to the mandible guard without actuating the release mechanism.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first position has a first pitch angle between the helmet and the mandible guard and the second position has a second pitch angle between the helmet and the mandible guard, the second pitch angle being different from the first pitch angle.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein each of the first and second pitch angles are discrete angles spaced from one another and set by the arrangement of the position control.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the second pitch angle is greater than the first pitch angle.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the position control holds the mandible guard at a third position relative to the helmet, the third position having a third pitch angle between the helmet and the mandible guard, the third pitch angle being greater than the second pitch angle.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the third pitch angle is at least 25 degrees greater than the first pitch angle.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the position control fully secures the mandible guard in the second position by preventing movement of the mandible guard from the second position to either of the first and third positions unless a release is actuated.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the position control holds the mandible guard in the second position by preventing movement of the mandible guard from the second position to the third position unless a release is actuated, and the position control permits movement of the mandible guard to the first position without actuation of the release.

9. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising:
the helmet; and
a visor attached to the helmet, the visor being movable from a use position to a non-use position,
wherein:
when the visor is in the non-use position and the mandible guard is positioned at the second position, the mandible guard is removable from the helmet without the visor interfering with the mandible guard.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the mandible guard is placed in a removable orientation relative to the helmet by pivoting the mandible guard upwardly relative to the helmet without the visor interfering with the mandible guard.

11. An apparatus as in claim 4 , wherein the second pitch angle is at least five degrees greater than the first pitch angle.

12. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the second pitch angle is at least eight degrees greater than the first pitch angle.

13. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising the helmet, and further comprising a visor attached to the helmet, wherein when the mandible guard is in the second position, a gap is formed between a bottom edge of the visor and a top surface of the mandible guard.

14. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising the helmet, and further comprising a helmet-mounted device attached to the helmet, wherein the mandible guard interferes with the helmet-mounted device at the first position but does not interfere with the helmet-mounted device at the second position.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mandible guard is movable from the first position to the second position without removing the mandible guard from the helmet.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the position control holds the mandible guard at a third position relative to the helmet, the third position having a third distance from the point on the front brim of the helmet to the point on the mandible guard, the third distance being greater than the second distance.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mandible guard is removably attachable to the helmet.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the mandible guard can be attached to and removed from the helmet by hand.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
an attachment portion comprising a biasing element, a position member, and a movable member, the movable member being selectively movable between a home position which is at a third distance from the position member and a release position which is at a fourth distance from the position member, wherein the biasing element biases the movable member toward the home position; and
a mounting portion attachable to a helmet, wherein the mounting portion comprises a first channel to receive the movable member at a first opening and a second channel to receive the position member at a second opening, wherein a fifth distance between the first opening of the first channel and the second opening of the second channel is greater than the third distance from the movable member to the position member in the home position,
wherein the attachment portion is configured to selectively attach to the mandible guard.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the fifth distance between the first opening of the first channel and the second opening of the second channel is less than the fourth distance from the movable member to the position member in the release position.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the movable member is a slide member.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the movable member is linearly movable.

24. The helmet accessory attachment system of claim 20 , wherein the mounting portion is selectively attachable to a rail on the helmet.

25. The helmet accessory attachment system of claim 20 , wherein the biasing element comprises a resilient ring.

26. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the position control is pivotable relative to the mandible guard.

27. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the position control comprises a pawl having a first sloped surface and a second sloped surface, the second sloped surface having a steeper slope than the first sloped surface.

28. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a biasing element,
wherein actuating the release mechanism comprises moving the release mechanism in an actuating direction, and
wherein the biasing element biases the release mechanism away from an actua

Assignees

• Revision Military Sarl

Inventors

• Lebel Stéphane
• Giroux Bernier Dominic
• Coomber Richard

Classifications

• A42B3/326 Primary

  Helmets with movable or separable chin or jaw guard · CPC title

• A42B3/222

  in an articulated manner, e.g. hinge devices · CPC title