Headpiece assembly having removable ballistic shell and bump shell with suspension assembly

Abstract

A headpiece assembly for use with a night vision mounting arm includes a bump shell and an interior suspension assembly for seating on the head of a human. A mounting bracket is secured to the front of the bump shell for removably attaching the night vision mounting arm to the bump shell. A ballistic shell has a bottom forming an opening and a coupling mechanism for removably securing the ballistic shell to the bump shell when the ballistic shell is placed over the bump shell. The ballistic shell has a front and a notch extending upwardly from the opening into the front for receiving the mounting bracket when the ballistic shell is placed over the bump shell so as to permit the night vision mounting arm to be attached to the bump shell during use of the ballistic shell.

1 . A headpiece assembly for use with a mountable device, the headpiece assembly comprising:
 a bump shell having a front and a rear;   an interior suspension assembly seatable on a head to permit the bump shell to be worn;   a mounting bracket secured to the front of the bump shell to removably attach a device to the bump shell;   a ballistic shell having a bottom forming an opening; and   a coupler to removably secure the ballistic shell to the bump shell when the ballistic shell is placed over the bump shell, the ballistic shell having a front and a notch extending upwardly from the bump shell opening into the bump shell front to receive the mounting bracket when the ballistic shell is placed over the bump shell, thereby leaving the mounting bracket exposed.   
     
     
         2 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the suspension assembly is removably attached to the bump shell. 
     
     
         3 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the coupler includes a slot and deflectable clip connection, and a ratchet connection. 
     
     
         4 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the slot and deflectable clip connection is positioned on the rear of the bump shell, and the ratchet connection includes two bump shell ratchet strips, a first of the bump shell ratchet strips being located on the bump shell front adjacent to the mounting bracket on a first side of the mounting bracket, and a second of the bump shell ratchet strips being located on the bump shell front adjacent to the mounting bracket on a second side of the mounting bracket, opposite to the first side. 
     
     
         5 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the slot and the deflectable clip connection includes a slot penetrating the bump shell and a deflectable clip in a corresponding position on the ballistic shell configured to engage the slot, and further comprising two ballistic shell ratchet strips configured to engage the bump shell ratchet strips. 
     
     
         6 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the deflectable clip is configured for disengaging from the slot by pressing on and deflecting the clip. 
     
     
         7 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a rear attachment device configured to attach to one of the bump shell and the ballistic shell. 
     
     
         8 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the rear attachment device includes a securing surface configured to receive and attach equipment. 
     
     
         9 . The head piece assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the securing surface further includes slots for receiving straps. 
     
     
         10 . The headpiece assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the bump shell and the ballistic shell each include a rear edge and a rear parietal area, and the rear attachment device includes at least one hook configured to engage one of the rear edge of the bump shell and the rear edge of the ballistic shell, and a concave surface configured to adheredly engage with one of the bump shell rear parietal area and the ballistic shell rear parietal area. 
     
     
         11 . The headpiece of  claim 1 , wherein the suspension assembly includes a unitary impact protection element adapted to be seated on the head.