Night vision goggle headgear

• US 4,753,378 A
• Filed: 08/18/1987
• Issued: 06/28/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/1985
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Varo, Inc. (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Varo, Inc. (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Inventors: Kastendieck, William A., Hart, Richard T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Recla, Henry J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Petrik, Robert
• Application Number:
  US07/086,591
• Time in Patent Office: 315 Days
• Field of Search: 224/181, 2/410, 2/6, 2/422, 2/DIG. 11, 128/207.11, 351/245, 350/139, 350/143
• US Class Current: 224/181
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/04 Parts, details or accessories of helmets
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/042 Optical devices night vision goggles G02B23/12
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/14 Suspension devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/027 Straps; Buckles; Attachment of headbands
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/048 adapted to forward-backward translation movement
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 13/00 Other supports for positioning apparatus or articles heads thereof F16M11/02 ; undercarriages thereof F16M11/20 ; adapted to be stuck in the ground A45F3/44 ; sockets or holders for poles or posts E04H12/22; Means for steadying hand-held apparatus or articles supports for measuring instruments G01D11/30; supports for casings of remote control switching devices H01H9/025
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 13/04 for supporting on, or holding steady relative to, a person, e.g. by chains , e.g. rifle butt or pistol grip supports, supports attached to the chest or head apparatus or arrangements for taking photographs or for projecting or viewing them G03B
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/125 head-mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 3/02 Arrangements for supporting by headgear
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 224/93 Attached to animate bearer

Abstract

A headgear (10) for supporting a night vision goggle (12) to the head of a wearer. A flexible temporal strip (18) is joined to a flexible crown strip (20) in the forehead region, at which juncture a pair of integral rails (74, 76) suspend the goggle (12) therefrom. The temporal strip (18) and crown strip (20) include free ends which are directed toward the posterior of the cranium (22) and are connected by straps (36, 46, 48) to a webbed pad (38) which engages the occipital protuberance to prevent forward rotation of the headgear (10) due to the weight of the goggle (12). Lower girth straps (68, 69) maintain attachment of the headgear (10) to the cranium (22) and further aid in antirotational movement.

Claims

1. A method of supporting vision equipment on headgear worn on a cranium of a wearer, comprising the steps of:

forming a temporal strip of the headgear to laterally encircle at least the front and sides of the crown of the wearer'"'"'s cranium above the wearer'"'"'s ears;

forming free ends of the temporal strip to angle downwardly behind the wearer'"'"'s ears near the cranial posterior;

suspending the equipment on the headgear outwardly from the forehead;

providing a crown strip passing over the top of the wearer'"'"'s crown and having opposed ends joined to the temporal strip, the crown strip providing a pivot resting point on the headgear on the crown of a cranium;

providing a generally downwardly directed pressure area of the temporal strip on the forehead; and

3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of providing a pressure area of the headgear on the cranial cheek bones.

4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of preventing the forward rotational movement by anchoring the posterior strap to the chin.

5. The method of claim 1, further including forming the headgear with a frame of thin flexible material strips, and fixing the vision equipment to said frame.

6. The method of claim 1, further including attaching said vision equipment to the headgear so as to be adjustable with respect to the wearer'"'"'s eyes.

7. The method of claim 1, further including attaching said vision equipment to the headgear by means including a pull tab so as to be quickly releasable therefrom by pulling on the pull tab.

2. providing a posterior strap for attachment to the free ends of the temporal strip and engaging the cranial occipital protuberance to provide a generally upwardly directed pressure area on the cranial occipital protuberance to thereby prevent forward rotational movement of said headgear.

8. A method of fabricating a lightweight headgear device attachable to a wearer'"'"'s head so as to leave the face of the wearer substantially unobstructed and accommodate the concurrent use of a gas mask, or the like, and adapted for suspending vision equipment proximate the wearer'"'"'s eyes, comprising:

forming a cranial frame having a first strip of flexible material at least partially laterally encircling the crown of the wearer'"'"'s head above the wearer'"'"'s ears and a second strip passing over the crown and having opposed ends joined to the first strip, said first strip having a pair of free ends which are angled downwardly so as to be disposed behind the wearer'"'"'s ears near the cranial posterior;

fixing a vision equipment support member to a frontal part of the first strip; and

connecting a head engaging means engageable with the cranial occipital protuberance of the wearer'"'"'s head between the free ends of the first strip so as to be disposed adjacent the cranial occipital protuberance and such that movement of the headgear occasioned by the weight of the vision equipment is counteracted by the engagement of the head engaging means with the cranial occipital protuberance.