Hard hat sun shade

Abstract

A sun shade for a hard hat includes a piece of flexible material removably and adjustably attached to a hard hat that is stretched to a substantially consistent shape by a piece of springing material. The flexible material may be attached to the hard hat using an elastic band, drawstring, or similar means for attaching. When not in use, the springing material may be removed from the flexible material and stored as a straight piece of material or rolled and stored as a coil. Additionally, the flexible material, such as fabric or soft plastic, may be folded and stored. The flexible material may also include a flap that drapes over the sides and back of the user's neck to provide enhanced protection from direct radiant energy.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention is related in general to the field of personal protective equipment. In particular, the invention consists of a sun shade that can be removably adjustably attached to a construction helmet (“hard hat”). [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] Construction helmets, known as hard hats, are used extensively in construction, mining, and engineering projects to protect the head of a user. The primary purpose of these hard hats is to prevent falling objects from physically striking the user's head. It is expected that an object striking the hard hat will bounce off or become redirected in a glancing blow that reduces the force of the impact to the user. Additionally, by positioning the outer surface of the hard hat so that is has physically separation from the head of the user, the hard hat may act as a shock absorber, converting some of the kinetic energy of a falling object to potential energy that ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The invention disclosed herein is a hard hat sun shade that utilizes a piece of flexible material to act as a shield from direct radiant energy, a means for removably and adjustably attaching the flexible material to a hard hat, and a means for supporting an outer edge of the flexible material so that it maintains a substantially consistent shape that provides enhanced protection for the front and side of a user's face. In one embodiment of the invention, an elastic band is secured to an inner edge of the sun shade and placed around the outer circumference of the hard hat, securing the sun shade to the hard hat. In another embodiment of the invention, a draw-string is attached to the inner edge of the sun shade. By removing any slack or play from the draw string, the sun shade is drawn against the hard hat. To prevent the drawstring from releasing the hard hat, the drawstring may be tied in a knot or clasped with a sliding clamp.

[0013] The flexible material may be a piece of soft plastic or fabric, so long as it is shaped so as to conform to the desired shape and size of the sun shade's brim, once pulled by the springing material indicated above. The primary purpose of the flexible material is to block direct radiant energy from striking the front, back, and sides of the user's face neck and face. To this end, the flexible material is stretched between the means for attaching the sun shade to the hard hat and the springing material along the outer edge. A primary advantage of using a flexible material in conjunction with the springing material (such as a deformable energy storing rod) is that the springing device may be easily removed from the sun shade, allowing the flexible material to be folding and easily stored away. Additionally, the springing device may either be stored as a long piece of straight material (with little or no potential energy resulting from deformation) or may be rolled up and stored as a coil.

[0014] In yet another embodiment of the invention, a second piece of material is attached to the back portion of the sun shade. In this manner, the second piece of material may drape from the brim of the sun shade to provide enhanced protection of the back of the user's neck.

Problems solved by technology

Because wearing a hard hat inherently blocks some or all air flow around a user's head, heat attempting to exit a user's body through the head is trapped in the hard hat.

However, no component is utilized to give the brim a consistent shape.

In this configuration, the brim itself would provide little and inconsistent protection against radiant energy, especially around the front and sides of the user's face.

This problem would only increase if the brim becomes more limp resulting from the application of moisture or through the process of aging.

However, being constructed of a thick and rigid material, the Hild sun shade can only assume the shape in which it is constructed.

Alternatively, if used with a hard hat larger than intended, the sun shade will not fit fully over the top and sides of the hard hat and will not rest firmly on the crown of the hard hat.

This will result in a reduction of its ability to protect against both radiant energy and falling objects.

Additionally, the Hild device is bulky and stiff and is difficult to transport and store.

The vinyl disk used by Black appears to be a rigid piece of material which would suffer many of the same disadvantages of the Hild device (difficult to transport and store, among others).

If, however, the vinyl disk is taken to be a flexible material, no provision has been made by Black to support the vinyl disk, thus producing the same problems inherent in the Morrissey device (namely minimal and inconsistent protection from radiant energy around the front and sides of the user's face).

However, the Poole device still suffers from either a lack of support for the exterior circumference of the sun shade's brim (if the disk is not rigid), or is difficult to transport and store (if the disk is rigid).

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