1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shielding devices that are used on safety helmets. More particularly, the present invention provides an auxiliary shielding device for safety helmet shields that is tinted to block out the sun's harmful rays and adjustable to be easily positioned when not in use.
2. Description of Related Art
Safety helmets are worn during any potentially dangerous activity to protect the user's head from the force incurred by a possible strike with a foreign or external object. Apart from the construction field and the military, safety helmets are popularly worn when riding motorcycles, snowmobiles, and other like recreational vehicles. These safety helmets are either full faced or opened faced and generally have a shield which is either integral with or attachable to the helmet. The shield can be either fixed or rotatable with respect to the helmet.
When wearing a safety helmet, it is often desired to protect one's eyes from the sun's harmful rays. The helmet's shield, in and of itself, protects one's eyes from debris thrown up from the road surface or present in the air, such as dust, pebbles, flying insects, tree branches, etc., but does not offer protection from the sun.
To satisfy one's need for eye protection from the sun, sunglasses can be worn, but due to the anatomy of the human head, the close-fitting design of the safety helmet, and the structure of the sunglasses, this is usually not possible without damaging the sunglasses.
To overcome this nuisance, the shields themselves are tinted to offer protection from the sun. This provides the desired protection without the burden of sunglasses. And although this is a widely accepted method, the tinted shield has its own disadvantage: it is not safe for twilight and night conditions.
When riding a motorcycle, for example, as day approaches night, long shadows are cast on the driving surface by streetside buildings and roadside trees, impairing distinct vision through the shield. If the shield is rotatably mounted to the helmet, then the shield can be pivoted to allow clear vision. But by doing this, the unprotected eyes of the user are subjected to dust, and other air-borne particles, and mosquitoes, and other flying insects, as well as the sun's rays, either direct or reflected. The danger of a tinted shield is obvious for nighttime use, especially if the shield is a non-rotatable type.
Similar disadvantages apply to the use of the safety helmet with a tinted shield when operating a snowmobile. Eye protection is particularly desired during this activity since the reflection from the snow is as much as a hazard as direct rays from the sun. Goggles often substitute for sunglasses in this case and have the same drawbacks. If the goggles are placed around the helmet onto the shield itself, then there is the possibility of them being easily dislodged and lost. As to the condition previously described, the same hazards exist, with the exception of dust and insects, but with the addition of tree branches, as snowmobiles are often rode through wooded areas. And more of a hazard than this when the shield is pivoted, leaving unprotected eyes, is wind-chill factor. The speed of the snowmobile coupled with the temperature produces a extremely hazardous and unbearable windchill factor.
In addition to the above situations, the subdued light inherent during rainy, snowy, or overcast conditions also poses a visibility problem for the user with a safety helmet with a tinted shield.
It is clear that there has been a long and unfulfilled need in the related art for an auxiliary shielding device to provide a safety helmet user protection from the sun when desired, and safe, unhindered vision at all other times.