US2739311A - Safety cap - Google Patents

Description

March 2?, 1956 BULLARD Y 25139311 SAFETY CAP Filed July 5, 1952 //\/VE/\/7 O/ EDWARD WHEATLEV BULL/4RD his ATTORNEY SAFETY CAP Edward Wheatley Bollard, Mill Valley, Callf., assignor to E. D. Bullard Company, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California Application July 5, 1952, Serial No. 297,202

2 Claims. (Cl. 23)

My invention relates to rigid crown safety hats and caps; and particularly to a rigid crown miners safety cap.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision in a rigid crown hat or cap of an .integral structure constituting a rigid beam extending longitudinally of the crown for increasing its resistance to crushing as the result of blows received from above or from the side.

Another object is the provision of such a strengthening beam which also functions as a freeway or conduit for holding and protecting the electrical conductor by which a lamp carried on the cap may be supplied with current.

My invention possesses other objects, some of which with the foregoing will be brought out .in the following description of the invention; I do not limit myself to the showing made by the said description and drawings since I may adopt variant forms of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invented structure as applied to a miners cap.

Figure 2 is a plan view; and

Figure 3 is a fragmental view of the cap crown, a portion of which is broken away to show a vertical section.

In the mining industry, one of the most important pieces of safety equipment for preventing injury to the head, is the miner's safety'cap. Since the miner generally works below ground level, he is frequently exposed to injury by rock fragments falling from the ceiling, or impelled by blast.

It is therefore essential to the miners protection that his headgear shall be capable of withstanding severe stresses applied from above as well as from the side.

Another hazard quite distinct from that of falling or flying fragments, and one to which the miner is peculiarly subject because much of his work is in semi-darkness and in close quarters, are accidents to his lamp which is customarily mounted on the front portion of his cap. In recent years, these lamps have usually been electric; and are supplied by feed wires extending to a battery carried on the miners back. Entanglement of these feed wires with projecting or low hanging formations or mine structure may extinguish the light. or knock off the cap, or result in direct injury to the head or neck of the miner. It therefore becomes important to so arrange the feed wires as to escape accidental contact with structure or objects which may be in close proximity to the miner's head.

Both of these prime requisites for the miners safety are supplied in my cap construction; and this is accomplished by incorporating into the rigid cap structure a rigid curved beam integral with the upper portion of the crown, and extending from front to rear thereof; and also a horseshoe-shaped beam integral with the lower portion of the crown and with its ends merging into the visoror bill of the cap at each side. Both beams in cross section are U-shaped or of rounded channel formation;

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and both open upwardly. A very large increase in strength and resistance to deformation or crushing by blows coming from any direction is provided by these integrally formed curved and rigid beams; and each of them also has an additional or secondary function. The beam across the top of the crown provides a freeway or conduit inwhich the feed wires, from thelamp to the back of the crown, may lie secure. The horseshoe beam catches water and condensation collecting on the hat and conducts it as in a gutter onto the brim from which it falls free.

Broadly considered then, the safety hat of my invention as embodied in a miners cap comprises a rigid crown in which is integrally formed a groove extending in a median line longitudinally across the top of the crown.

This grooved structure constitutes a slightly curved beam integral with the crown, which greatly increases the resistance of the crown to crushing stresses applied from any direction but particularly applied by falling objects. This groove provides means for receiving and holding the feed wires of the miners lamp.

The cap is also provided adjacent the lower edge of a the crown with an outwardly and upwardly curved flange, also constituting a beam for resistingdeformation of the crown, especially from laterally directed blows. The

flange merges with the visor at one end of the cap and.

because of its shape also acts as a gutter for catching water and directing it from the back and sides of the cap to the visor from which it drains forwardly instead of upon the neck and'shoulders of the wearer.

Referring to the drawings, my safety cap is formed- I by molding a thermosetting resin heavily reinforced with a mass of interlaced glass fibers. It comprises a rigid crown body 2 having at its front or anterior end an uprightflat anterior wall portion 3, to which is secured the customary lamp bracket 4, for the mounting of an electric lamp 6.

The top wall 7 of the crown body is molded with a groove 8 which extends longitudinally in the median line of the crown, merging, into the anterior wall at the forward end, and into the posterior portion'9 of the crown at the other end. The rigid grooved structure, integral with and conforming to the curve of the crown body includes the side walls 12 and 13, and bottom wall 14.

It will be understood that the structurejust described acts as a slightly convex channel beam in resisting the force of blows on the crown directed downwardly. The

obtains from-the front end of the beam where it joins the anterior wall to its rear end where it merges into the posterior crown wall.

A secondary function of the beam is to provide a freeway or conduit in whichis secured the cable 16, holding the feed wires between the lamp and the battery pack 17, usually carried by the workman on a belt at his back.

As will be seen in Figure l, the groove provided in the crown is of such size and proportions as to cradle the cable for the entire length of the cap, thus substantially eliminating the possibility of the cable being snagged or accidentally displaced. To secure the cable to the crown body and within the groove, a strap 18 is fixed at one end to the posterior portion of the crown by a rivet 19. ,The strap is provided at its freeend with a snap fastener 21, adapted to engage a complementary fastener fixed on the crown.

To resist laterally directed blows, the lower edge of the crown body is also provided with a rigid channel beam 22. This second beam is also formed integrally with the crown body and comprises an outwardly and uphas front corner portions, see Fig. l, which are lower than the central portion thereof and permit water from the anterior ends 26 and 27 of the channel beam 22 to drain off of the visor.

In addition to serving as a strengthening beam about the crown, the channel beam 22 acts as a gutter for catching moisture which accumulates on the crown, directing it toward and otf of the visor in a direction away from the body.

In order to position the cap comfortably on the head, it is provided with the conventional or any desired suspension means, including a sweatband 31, a portion of which is shown in Figure l. 1

Iclaim:

l. A safety hat comprising an integrally formed rigid crown body having a flat upright anterior wall, a bracket on said anterior wall for mounting a lamp, said crown having a groove extending over its top in a median line from said anterior wall to the posterior portion of the 'crown', said grooved portion constituting a rigid channel beam and also forming a freeway for feed wires to the lamp on said lamp bracket, a lamp detachably mounted on the bracket, feed wires for the lamp disposed in said channel, and releasable means for securing to the crown body the feed wires in said channel.

2. A safety hat comprising a rigid crown body having a groove extending longitudinally across the top of the crown. the top of said crown along its axis from anterior to posterior extending in a gradual arcuate curve, said grooved top constituting a channel beam to resist crushing from downwardly directed blows, the lower edge of the crown being extended outwardly in substantially the same plane and upwardly therefrom to constitute a relatively narrow channel beam extending continuously around the side and posterior lower edges of the crown to resist crushing from laterally directed blows to catch and conduct moisture from the crown toward the anterior portion of the crown, and a downwardly directed visor on the anterior lower edge of the crown merging into the anterior ends of the last named beam, said visor having from corner portions lower than the central portion of the visor whereby moisture collected and conducted by the channel beam at the lower edge of the crown passes onto said downwardly directed visor where it drains off at said corner portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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