Night vision goggle mount
First Claim
1. A system for mounting night vision goggles, having a power source to any of a variety of differently sized helmets and for allowing the goggles to rotate between a stowed position and a line-of-sight position, comprising:
- a rear clamp for attaching to a back end of the helmet;
a front clamp for attaching to the front end of the helmet;
a flexible strap for coupling the rear and front clamps and for applying tension between them over a top portion of the helmet; and
a goggle mounting structure attached to the front clamp for receiving the goggles.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A helmet mount (10) for night vision goggles (12) is disclosed that is formed with a rear clamp (24), front clamp (16), a strap (20) disposed between the front and rear clamps (16, 24), and a goggle mounting structure (14). The goggle mounting structure (14) secures the night vision goggles (12) to the helmet mount (10) and allows the goggles (12) to be placed in a stowed position when not in use and a line-of-sight position when a used. Additionally, the goggle mounting structure (14) has power activator (58, 60, 62, 64) that automatically deactivates the power when the goggles are not in use and activates the power when the goggles are in use. The helmet mount (10) has adapters (80, 86) that allow the mount to be used with various types of night vision goggles.
-
Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A system for mounting night vision goggles, having a power source to any of a variety of differently sized helmets and for allowing the goggles to rotate between a stowed position and a line-of-sight position, comprising:
-
a rear clamp for attaching to a back end of the helmet; a front clamp for attaching to the front end of the helmet; a flexible strap for coupling the rear and front clamps and for applying tension between them over a top portion of the helmet; and a goggle mounting structure attached to the front clamp for receiving the goggles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. An apparatus for mounting night vision goggles to a helmet comprising:
-
a rear clamp for attaching to a back end of the helmet; a front clamp for attaching to the front end of the helmet; a strap connected to the rear clamp and the front clamp and for extending across a top portion of the helmet for maintaining a force on the front and rear clamps; and a goggle mount attached to the front clamp for securing the goggles to the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An apparatus for mounting night vision goggles to a helmet comprising:
-
a rear clamp for attaching to a back end of the helmet; a front clamp for attaching to the front end of the helmet; a strap connected to the rear clamp and the front clamp and running across a top portion of the helmet for maintaining a force on the front and rear clamps; a goggle mount attached to the front clamp for securing the goggles to the apparatus; wherein the front clamp comprises; a front swing clamp, and a mounting block; and wherein the swing clamp comprises a formed metal piece having; a first plane attached to the goggle mounting structure, a second plane perpendicular to the first plane for receiving a lip of the helmet, at least one intermediate section between the first and the second planes, and a third plane formed at an angle to the second plane for holding the helmet lip on the second plane of the formed metal piece. - View Dependent Claims (12)
-
-
13. An apparatus for mounting night vision goggles that use a reed switch to a helmet comprising:
-
a rear helmet clamp; a tension latch attached to the rear clamp; a first and second front swing clamp; a mounting block secured to the first and second front swing clamp; a goggle mount secured to the mounting block for receiving and removably securing the goggles; and a pliable strap with a first end secured to the tension latch and a second end secured to the mounting block to hold the apparatus to the helmet. - View Dependent Claims (14)
-
-
15. An apparatus for adjusting the power supplied to night vision goggles according to whether the goggles are in a line-of-sight position or in a stowed position, comprising:
-
a goggle mount for enabling rotation of the goggles between the line-of-sight position in which the goggles are activated and a stowed position in which the goggles are deactivated; a first magnet attached to the goggle mount having a vertical magnetic orientation with a north pole at the upper most vertical portion of the first magnet; and a second magnet attached to the goggle mount opposite the first magnet and having a vertical magnetic orientation with a north pole at the lowest vertical portion of the second magnet. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A helmet mount for attaching night vision goggles to a helmet so that a wearer may select between a stowed position for the goggles in which the power to the goggles is not supplied and a line-of-sight position in which the power to the goggles is supplied, comprising:
-
a rear helmet clamp for gripping the back end of the helmet; a mounting block; a goggle mount attached to the mounting block for receiving and securing the goggles and for allowing the goggles to rotate between the line-of-sight position and the stowed position; a first and second magnet attached to the goggle mount for activating a reed switch incorporated into the goggles so that the power is supplied in the line-of-sight position and not supplied in the stowed position; a first and second front swing clamp secured to the mounting block for gripping the front end of the helmet; a tension latch attached to the rear helmet clamp; a strap of pliable material having a first and a second end, the first end of the strap is secured to the tension latch and the second end is secured to the mounting block; and the tension latch for maintaining the desired tension in the strap of pliable material. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
-
-
22. A method for mounting night vision goggles having an internal power supply to a helmet and for allowing the goggles to flip up to a stowed position or flip down to a line-of-sight position and to have the power automatically on when in the line-of-sight position and automatically off in the stowed position, comprising the steps of:
-
attaching a rear clamp to a back end of the helmet; attaching a front clamp to the front end of the helmet; connecting a strap to the rear clamp and the front clamp; maintaining a force on the front and back clamps; attaching a goggle mounting structure to the front clamp for receiving and holding the night vision goggles; activating the internal power supply when in the line-of-sight position; and deactivating the internal power supply when in the stowed position.
-
-
23. A method for mounting night vision goggles to a helmet comprising the steps of:
-
attaching a rear clamp to a back end of the helmet; attaching a front clamp to the front end of the helmet; passing a flexible strap across a top portion of the helmet; connecting the flexible strap to the rear clamp and to the front clamp; creating tension in the strap to hold the rear and front clamps securely to the helmet; attaching a goggle mounting structure to the front clamp; and securing the night vision goggles to the goggle mounting structure.
-
-
24. A method of manufacturing a night vision goggle helmet mount for securing night vision goggles to a variety of differently sized helmets comprising the steps of:
-
providing a rear helmet clamp; securing a tension latch to the rear helmet clamp; providing a goggle mount; forming a mounting block with one side for attaching to the goggle mount and one side for resting against a front end of the helmet; securing rotatable swing clamps to the mounting block for gripping a front end of the helmet; attaching the goggle mount to the mounting block; and securing a strap to the mounting block and the tension latch. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
-
Specification