MANDIBLE GUARD ADJUSTMENT SYSTEM

• US 20150135417A1
• Filed: 11/18/2013
• Published: 05/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Galvion Ltd. (Galvion Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Revision Military Incorporated (Revision Military)
• Inventors: Lebel, Stphane, Giroux Bernier, Dominic, Coomber, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 9,788,593 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 2/424
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/222 in an articulated manner, e.g. hinge devices
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/326 Helmets with movable or separable chin or jaw guard

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.

Claims

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; and

wherein in the first and second positions, the mandible guard is below the front brim of the helmet.

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 the second pitch angle is greater than the first pitch angle.

4. 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.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, 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.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, 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.

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

8. The apparatus of claim 3, 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.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, 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 removable from 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 3, wherein the second pitch angle is at least five degrees greater than the first pitch angle.

12. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the second pitch angle is at least eight degrees greater than the first pitch angle.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the third pitch angle is at least 25 degrees greater than the first pitch angle.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, 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.

15. 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.

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

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the mandible guard can be attached to and removed from the helmet without the use of a tool.

18. 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 moveable between a home position which is a first distance from the position member and a release position which is a second 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 third distance between the first opening of the first channel and the second opening of the second channel is greater than the first 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.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the third distance between the first opening of the first channel and the second opening of the second channel is less than the second distance from the movable member to the position member in the release position.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the movable member is a slide member.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the movable member is linearly movable.

22. The helmet accessory attachment system of claim 18, wherein the mounting portion is selectively attachable to a rail on the helmet.

23. The helmet accessory attachment system of claim 18, wherein the biasing element comprises a resilient ring.

24. The apparatus of claim 3, 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.

25. The apparatus of claim 3, 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.

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 5, 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 actuation direction.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position control comprises a pawl and a pawl release mechanism, wherein the mandible guard is movable from the first position to the second position when the pawl release mechanism is actuated.

30. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an attachment arm that attaches the mandible guard to the helmet.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the mandible guard is pivotable relative to the attachment arm.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the attachment arm includes one or more teeth.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the position control comprises a pawl and the pawl interacts with the one or more teeth of the attachment arm.

34. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the entire mandible guard is movable from the first position to the second position.

35. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position control is configured to hold the mandible guard in one of only three different discrete positions relative to the helmet, the three different discrete positions being spaced from one another.

36. The apparatus of claim 8, 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.

37. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the position control holds the mandible guard in the second position secures 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.

38. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position control comprises first and second position control mechanisms with the first position control mechanism positioned on a left side of the mandible guard, and the second position control mechanism positioned on a right side of the mandible guard.

39. An apparatus comprising:

a mandible guard;

an attachment arm configured to attach the mandible guard to a helmet;

a position control that holds the mandible guard in a first position relative to the attachment arm and a second position relative to the attachment arm, the mandible guard being movable relative to the attachment arm,

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,

and wherein in the first and second positions, the mandible guard is below the front brim of the helmet.

40. An apparatus comprising:

a mandible guard for a helmet; and

a position control that holds the mandible guard in a first position having a first pitch angle relative to the helmet and a second position having a second pitch angle relative to the helmet, the second pitch angle being different from the first pitch angle;

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; and

wherein in the first and second positions, the mandible guard is below the front brim of the helmet.

41. A method comprising:

donning a helmet including a mandible guard; and

pivoting the mandible guard from a first position to a second position while the helmet is worn by a user, the second position being different from the first position;

wherein in the first and second positions, the mandible guard is below a front brim of the helmet.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein in the first position, the mandible guard protects the user'"'"'s jaw.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the second position is lower than the first position.

44. 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 in the first and second positions, the mandible guard is below the front brim of the helmet; and

wherein the position control permits adjustment of the mandible guard from the first position to the second position without the use of a tool.