INSURGENT
Full Face Downhill Helmet
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Meet 5 independent safety standards with various conditions, impact energies, and anvil geometries
Save 200g from previous generation design
Fulfill athlete and consumer feature needs while considering cost restraints
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Solidworks and Rhinoceros surface and solid modeling
Novel test design
Asia vendor management
Patent pending emergency cheek-pad removal system
Multi-stage mass production assembly considerations
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Breakaway Visor
The final bolt included a weak shear point, shown in red, to ensure visor separation during impact. The hollow core of the bolt was shaped to function with an allen key to remove the threaded section from the helmet in the case that the helmet could be re-used with a new visor
The visor material was chosen to allow flexibility during impact. Because riders often mount camera accessories to their visors, requiring stability, material flex was balanced with rigid geometric design to optimize impact and functional characteristics
Rigid visors add a lever arm that can cause whiplash and torque to the neck. Competitor visor impacts were studied to inform material selection and breakaway bolt design
Apologies for the graininess of the high speed camera… This competitor model exhibited excellent material flexibility, most clearly shown in image 2, and a unique breakaway design that can be seen functioning in image 3. The difference are clearly shown compared to the rotational angle of a second competitor with a more rigid visor and no breakaway design, shown below
Emergency Cheek Pad Removal
In an impact causing injury to the neck, helmet removal without adding additional strain and torque to the neck is critical for emergency first responders. I designed a patent pending cheek pad removal system for this need
The cheek pad snap system was designed for direct snap assembly, which is easier and more intuitive for the user, with the addition of a lead out ramp for emergency removal
For pro athletes and aggressive riders, the most stringent safety standards must be met for maximum protection
5 Safety Standards — 3 impact anvil geometries — 4 environmental conditions — 7 impact energies
Impact Management
The multitude of impact scenarios required a layered construction to address high and low speed energies with various loading conditions. I employed a fiberglass hardshell to resist sharp objects, then split the foam sections into a high speed resistant EPS outer layer and softer EPP inner layer for low speed compression
Product Release Videos
Product features and highlights