Helmet and manufacturing method

Abstract

A helmet comprises a crown and a neckband having a body. Right attachment point and left attachment point attach the neckband to the lateral parts of the crown. The body is installed movable between a use position where the body is salient from the crown and a stowed position where the body is installed in the cavity. The inner face of the body is facing the rear inner face of the crown in the stowed position. The body is of curved shape and moves between the positions by turning elastically. The body is connected to the right attachment point and the left attachment point by a flexible attachment formed by a flexible textile element or a strip of elastomer material. The flexible attachment is elastically deformable in three-dimensional manner.

1 . Helmet designed for working at heights and for mountaineering comprising:
 a crown defining a cavity designed to receive a user's head;   a neckband having a body defining an inner wall designed to come into contact with an occipital region of the user's head;   a right attachment point attaching the neckband with a right lateral part of the crown and a left attachment point attaching the neckband with a left lateral part of the crown;   a rear attachment point attaching the neckband with a rear part of the crown;   wherein the body is installed movable between a stable first position where the body is salient from the crown to define a use position and a stable second position where the body is installed in the cavity to define a stowed position, the inner wall of the body being facing a rear inner face of the crown in the stowed position;   wherein the body defines a “hard point” when the body moves between the first position and the second position, the neckband having a restoring force for moving the body into the use position when the body is between the use position and the “hard point” and moving the body into the stowed position when the body is between the stowed position and the “hard point”,   wherein the body is of curved shape and moves between the first position and the second position deforming elastically and reversing the radius of curvature of the curved shape;   wherein the body is connected to the right attachment point and to the left attachment point by a flexible attachment formed by a flexible textile element or a strip of elastomer material, the flexible attachment being elastically deformable in three-dimensional manner between the body and each of the right attachment point and the left attachment point.   
     
     
         2 . Helmet according to  claim 1  wherein said flexible textile element or said strip of elastomer material has an elongation at break of less than 10% in the longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         3 . Helmet according to  claim 1  wherein said flexible textile element or said strip of elastomer material has an elongation at break of more than 50% in the longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         4 . Helmet according to  claim 3  wherein the flexible attachment is formed by said flexible textile element. 
     
     
         5 . Helmet according to  claim 3  wherein the body is made from plastic material and said flexible textile element has an elongation at break at least twice as great as an elongation at break of the plastic material forming the body. 
     
     
         6 . Helmet according to  claim 1  wherein the flexible attachment is formed by said flexible textile element chosen from a webbing, a rope, a fabric or a braid. 
     
     
         7 . Helmet according to  claim 1  wherein the body is connected to the rear attachment point by a flexible textile element or a strip of elastomer material to form a flexible attachment elastically deformable in three-dimensional manner. 
     
     
         8 . Method for manufacturing helmet comprising the following steps:
 providing a crown defining a cavity designed to receive a user's head and a neckband having a body defining an inner wall designed to come into contact with an occipital region of the user's head;   attaching the neckband with the crown by means of a right attachment point attaching the neckband with a right lateral part of the crown, a left attachment point attaching the neckband with a left lateral part of the crown and a rear attachment point attaching the neckband with a rear part of the crown, wherein the body is installed movable between a first position where the body is salient from the crown to define a use position and a second position where the body is installed in the cavity to define a stowed position, the inner wall of the body being facing a rear inner face of the crown in the stowed position, wherein the body is of curved shape and moves between the first position and the second position deforming elastically and reversing the radius of curvature of the curved shape;   wherein the body is connected to the right attachment point and to the left attachment point by a flexible textile element or a strip of elastomer material to form a flexible attachment elastically deformable in three-dimensional manner between the body and each of the right attachment point and the left attachment point; and   wherein the body defines a “hard point” when the body moves between the first position and the second position, the neckband having a restoring force for moving the body into the use position when the body is between the use position and the “hard point” and moving the body into the stowed position when the body is between the stowed position and the “hard point”.