The status quo of fire protection helmets at home and abroad and the problems in our protective helmets

First, the status quo at home and abroad

Fireman's Protective Helmet is a protective device used to protect firefighters' head, neck and face. The fire helmets produced and used in China have undergone four stages of development: the original type, the improved type, the 84-1 type, and the new type of fire helmet. The fire helmet is mainly used for firefighters to wear the fire at the scene, to protect the firemen head and neck, in addition to heat radiation, flame, electric shock, side extrusion, the most important thing is to prevent the impact of falling objects and penetrate. Its technical performance shall comply with the requirements GA44 "fire helmet" standard, including no helmet brim (Figure 1) and has a helmet visor (2) two types, without the helmet brim The head is wrapped in the helmet and has a stable center of gravity. The helmet is tightly integrated with the head. However, wrapping the head in the helmet completely increases the weight of the helmet, which is not conducive to heat dissipation of the head. The scope of protection of the back neck is reduced, and if no accessories such as internal communication devices are worn, the firefighters' communication will be caused. difficult. A helmet with a brim covering the head and ears above the human body has the characteristics of large buffer space, light weight, and good air permeability. Therefore, helmet-style helmets are more widely used.

From our situation with a public fire brigade, in addition to fire helmet, the helmet also rescue (FIG. 3), and optional fire headgear (shown in FIG. 4) and fire goggles (shown in Figure 5 ) Head and face protection equipment. Rescue helmets are suitable for firefighters to wear when performing rescue operations. Rescue helmets generally do not consider high-temperature performance, but the performance of the helmet's impact absorption, penetration resistance, electrical insulation, lateral rigidity, chin strap tensile strength and fire helmets are the same requirements. Its technical performance should meet the requirements of GA 633 "Firefighters' Rescue Protective Clothing" standard. Fire fighting headgear is a protective device used by firefighters to protect the head, face and neck from flame burns or steam burns at the fire extinguishing site. With flame retardant, heat insulation, warmth and corrosion resistance. Anti-protective eyepieces are protective equipment used by firefighters to protect the eyes during various firefighting operations to prevent splashes from entering the eye or from impacting the face. With dust, heat, UV radiation, high-strength impact and high-speed particle impact function.

The Shanghai Fire Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security has carried out research work on fire helmets. The developed products are made of high-quality, high-temperature resistant materials and have good flame retardancy, impact resistance, penetration resistance, heat resistance, electrical insulation and other properties. High wearing stability, safety and comfort, eye-catching appearance. The main indicators include: maximum impact force of 3515.6N , electrical insulation performance of leakage current of 0.42mA , and mass of 991g . Unique sink design, double-buffered banded suspension design, unique squatting with quick insertion design, and fire helmet with infrared imaging and image transmission capabilities. There have been 4G video communications helmets in China, helmets with infrared cameras, etc. (As shown in Figure 6 )

At present, the basic performance indicators of China's fire helmets and masks have reached the level of similar foreign products, but the high-temperature mask materials also rely on imports. At the same time, fire brigades in some parts of the country are equipped with a certain number of advanced fire helmets and rescue helmets to meet the differentiated needs of the fire brigade.

In terms of helmet integration, the British SOLOtic full-protection fire helmet ( shown in Figure 7 ) integrates a helmet-type thermal imaging camera, breathing and communication system, providing head protection and communication functions, and is a unique integrated head and face protection in the world. , breathing protection, hands-free communication and hands-free visual thermal imaging helmets. Its greatest feature is the built-in thermal imaging camera, which can project the scene onto the screen inside the helmet. Even if the smoke is filled around, firefighters can still sense the surrounding environment. At the same time, it also has real-time wireless transmission of fire conditions, which facilitates external commanders to clearly identify front-field information and deploy rescue forces in a timely manner. However, the overall weight of the helmet is heavy (3.5kg) , which severely restricts and affects the mobility of the wearers and is only suitable for special occasions. use.

Second, there are major problems

In recent years, the quality level of firefighters' protective helmets and head and face protection equipment has made great progress in China. Its protective function and performance are close to the level of similar foreign products. The major problems currently exist include:

First, fire helmet mask materials rely on foreign imports, domestic materials have not yet achieved breakthroughs;

Second, domestic manufacturers lack the capacity for independent innovation and design. The production of fire helmets is mainly based on imitation of foreign products, and their R&D capabilities are not strong;

Third, the control capacity of the production process is not enough, resulting in product quality is not stable enough;

Fourth, vicious competition among enterprises is more serious, and there are often cases where standards are lowered to produce;

The fifth is that the Helmet has problems such as heavy emphasis on the helmet, unsuitable head shape, and instability in wearing, and helmets in domestic and imported helmets are generally in a position where helmets are not reserved for lamps, or positions for headlights are reserved. Inconvenient reinforcement, problems such as easy-to-sweeping helmet during running, and design are still not perfect.

Third, technology development trend

Firemen's protective helmets are evolving to improve the overall protection function. A comprehensive functional protective helmet has been successfully developed abroad. This new type of helmet and respirator mask are integrated into one body. It is equipped with a thermal imager, a combined communication system, a lighting system, and a toxic and harmful gas detection device. It not only has a head protection function but also has Comprehensive protection functions such as respiratory protection, visual and communication contact in smoke environment, and automatic detection of toxic and harmful gases, but at present, the product is to be improved, the overall weight is heavy, wearing comfort is not high, and fire helmets with lighting, communication and other functions are in actual combat The demand is becoming more and more common; the establishment of a database of the basic size of the heads of firefighters in China provides a theoretical basis for the design of fire helmets, which in turn improves the wearing stability and comfort of helmets.