Environmental system for motorsports helmets
View Patent ↗The environmental system for motorsports helmets includes a helmet and backpack containing various components of the system. The helmet includes an inlet and air passages for forced air ventilation, a tube conducting drinking water from a helmet inlet to the mouth of the helmet wearer, and a radio communications headset. The helmet is a full-face helmet having an openable transparent face shield and visor formed with the face shield as a unit. A backpack is provided with the helmet, the backpack containing a motor driven fan to supply air to the helmet. The air is filtered through an external filter on the pack, before entering the fan and ventilation system. A water tank is also included in the backpack, allowing the helmet wearer to draw water from the supply. A conventional communications transceiver is also provided with the backpack, the transceiver connecting to the headset within the helmet.
1. An environmental system for a motorsports helmet, consisting of:
a protective helmet, the helmet including a front portion, a rear portion, a top portion and a lower opening, the front portion of the helmet includes a front opening, the helmet having a selectively openable face shield at the front opening, the face shield substantially sealing the helmet when closed, the helmet further including a ventilation inlet located at the lower back of the rear portion of the helmet;
a flexible, resilient neck seal depending from the lower opening of the helmet, the neck seal has a terminal portion for sealing the helmet about the neck of a person wearing the helmet;
a pair of lower lateral ventilation ducts and an upper ventilation duct disposed within the helmet, the pair of lateral ventilation ducts and upper duct being in fluid communication with the ventilation inlet at one end thereof, the pair of lower lateral ventilation ducts extending about opposite sides of the helmet adjacent the lower opening of the helmet and terminating at the lower front portion of the helmet at the other end thereof, the upper duct extending about the top portion of the helmet and terminating at the front opening of the helmet at the other end thereof;
a water supply tube disposed within the helmet;
a communications radio headset and microphone disposed within the helmet;
a backpack having an air inlet;
an air filter disposed at the air inlet of the backpack;
a ventilation fan disposed within the backpack, the ventilation fan selectively drawing air through the air filter;
an air delivery line extending from the backpack, the air delivery line being removably connected directly to the ventilation inlet at the rear portion of the helmet, the air delivery line selectively delivering filtered air to all the ventilation ducts of the helmet when the ventilation fan is actuated;
a water container disposed within the backpack;
a water delivery line extending from the water container of the backpack to the water supply tube in the helmet, the water delivery line being removably connected directly to the helmet at the rear portion of the helmet, the water delivery line selectively delivering water to the water supply tube in the helmet;
a communications transceiver disposed with the backpack; and
a communications cable extending from the transceiver, the cable being removably connected to the helmet, the communications cable selectively connecting the transceiver of the backpack to the headset and microphone of the helmet.
2. The environmental system for a motorsports helmet according to claim 1 , wherein the ventilation fan is a centrifugal fan.