Hard hat Redesign

Hello! My name is Adam I am a student at the University of Cincinnati in the Industrial Design program. This quarter, after many interviews and hearing many complaints, I am redesigning the hard hat. Currently I am at a point where I will soon be picking my final direction, and I have some concepts drawn up based on my interviews. I would love to receive any feedback and comments you have, whether it is liking one particular concept, or certain parts of different ones. I apologize in advance if some of the text is hard to read, I had to lower the quality a lot to get the file size down.



*Note* on the winter helmet, the fleece covering could easier be made so that it wraps around the front of the face as well.


Let me know if you have any questions, and thank you!

I was thinking about this the other day. You need to design one with rows of flashing amber LED's. Far too many DOT workers killed in my state.

Thanks for the input! Just to clarify, those would be LED's to make sure that the workers are visible to others, correct? Didn't even think about that, I imagine that would be pretty crucial in any night time work environment.

Visibility is crucial anytime of the day. Road construction workers get killed in broad daylight. Put the lights on a vest if that would be easier. A lot of workers get backed over by their co-workers. It's far fetched but put transmitters on the trucks and a proximity alarm on the hardhat.

I'm going to say summer since I work asphalt and those things bake your brain. Problem is, there isn't a really good reason for asphalt guys to wear them but osha doesn't seam care.

Very interesting designs I like #2 but the carbon fiber of #4. I would like a light weight hard hat. I don't wear mine but when I have to and on some jobs it has to be on all the time if your on site. That makes my operators and my neck sore for a few weeks until we get use to it.

RobVG said:

Visibility is crucial anytime of the day. Road construction workers get killed in broad daylight. Put the lights on a vest if that would be easier. A lot of workers get backed over by their co-workers. It's far fetched but put transmitters on the trucks and a proximity alarm on the hardhat.

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They make flashing LED vest harbor fright caries them.

Thanks a lot everyone, and definitely don't hold back any far-fetched ideas, everything is very helpful! I'm curious, what does everything think about a light on the front of the hard hat, and which one do you prefer (if any)? Also as a means of powering it, would you rather have a removable battery that you could charge in your car and at home, or have to remove the light itself and charge that?

I have had bad luck with carbon fiber they crack on the edges and must be taken out of service. Probably a design problem but i think to heavy. also built in speakers for I-pods, I mean two way radio. I'am just saying.

I remember that one requirement for hardhats is resistance to electricity ,wonder how the mesh will stand up to that?

First off good thread ...I personally prefer a full brim when i have to wear one ..Also theres not a lot of choices for hard hats that you can adapt a welding hood too..

I don't do much work requiring one. I also try to avoid it to the point I do not even own one at present.

My complaint was always the stapping system was always uncomfortable and not very stable ( may have just been a sheap product ). Also the weight was anoying. Some sort of vent system would seem nice if it would be possible and still fit the requirements ( seems like they got hot last time I wore one ).

I am rarely seen without a baseball cap so it's not the hat idea anoying me just the acual product.

The led idea is interesting. It wouldn't add enough weight to notice if designed properly I wouldn't think. Here's ya a catch to that I would aim for six blinking ( could even be tricolored for differant enviorments yellow, red, blue or more colors ) leds 2 sets of 3 spaced around the top 1/3 evenly. Would maybe even offer switchable power supply option one replaceable batteries ( watch type ) two place a solar cell in the top or canvasing the remainder to charge rechargable batteries and run the leds during the day. Blinking should draw very little power and the circuit is simple cheap components to flash fromone to the next around the hat, or just look into flashing leds themselves.

Even if you went solid lighting the same blinking design could be used just set the blink rate to faster than the eye can notice could possible extend battery life. I tinkered once and placed around 15 leds on a bread board and wired them to two aa batteries and left them on for a week. The batteries were still useable and showed no diming at the end of the week. If i'm not mistaken they are still useable today 5 years later.

i will never give up my msa full brim bridge hat.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...pD4Dw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

alot of times if your wearing a hard hat, you should be wearing safety glasses & or ear protection. An option for eye protection off the brim like your summer sunshade would be good. In the winter I wear a loggers helmet with the ear muffs on it, cause it keeps my ears warm, pop the wire screen off, and away I go, unless I'm runnin saw of course. Another consideration is guys put stickers on hats, lots of stickers, so the hats need to be sticker friendly. As for which hat I like, #2 is pretty good. Oh, and keep the brim wide so that when you get caught in a shower it will keep the rain off your glasses, cowboy hats work good for this.

Tiny said:

I remember that one requirement for hardhats is resistance to electricity ,wonder how the mesh will stand up to that?

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From the research that I found it looks like ANSI does allow what it calls a "Class C" hard hat that doesn't require any electrical insulation, but I can also do some research on different materials to see what the best option would be.

Another good thing about a mesh type, along with breathability, would be the ability to place attachments to the mesh wherever the wearer chose (such as LED's). Thanks a lot for all this feedback, during my interviews I received more information on hard hat use in cold weather, so it's really nice to get this point of view.

Jonovsaa, when you get this project completed, Jump over to the Underground mining sector and redesign one for us underground miners too.

I don't use one but the only thing i recall about hard hats is that my short hair got caught in the suspension band every time i took it off. Makes you afraid to remove it cuz it hurt.

Light's a good idea.

Definitely some sort of all weather integrated liner is a great idea, and a wide brim for rain, sun.

And i don't think enough has been done to create a truly universal functional integrated attachment system. Hard hats are wore in so many different fields where many different accessories are added. Ear muffs, ear plugs, face shields, face screens, sun shades, rain flaps, cold weather accessories, gas filters, smoke filters, welding shields, sand blast shields, and the list goes on and on. Your hard hat needs to be set up so other companies can easily adapt to it.

Milwuakee is marketing a 14 or 18 volt rechargeable electric coat (built in heaters).

Thanks for the thoughts! One of the concepts talks about a removable cloth liner that can absorb moisture and would also keep from hair getting snagged. And Each hard hat concept would feature the same side slot that MSA helmets have, so it would work with all of their attachments.

Don't forget to vote on the poll please everyone!

Keeping your head warm is easier than keeping it cool, at least in the southern states. What about a small fan integrated into the hard hat with a rechargeable battery pack. I saw where one design had a cool pack you could attach inside. How many hours of cooling can you get out of it?

What about a small fan integrated into the hard hat with a rechargeable battery pack. What about a solar panel?? A hot head is bad!! Need ventilation!!
What about reversing the liner?? I used to survey and needed to turn the hat around to look through an instrument, most hats have a liner that flips.

Some sort of venting would be good. How about a light weight, solar powered fan with the vents for the asphalt workers and all the others that have to work outside in the sun. Solar powered LED light?. If the light could be moved up and down a bit would be good.