EP3117176B1

EP3117176B1 - A body armour system

Info

Publication number: EP3117176B1
Application number: EP15710548.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Colin SKELTON
Original assignee: UK Secretary of State for Defence
Current assignee: UK Secretary of State for Defence
Priority date: 2014-03-13
Filing date: 2015-03-12
Publication date: 2018-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 2035-03-12
Also published as: WO2015136236A1; GB2539579A; WO2015136236A8; GB201404465D0; EP3117176A1; GB201615235D0

Description

Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a body armour system, in particular a body armour system comprising a jacket and a belt.

Background to the Invention

The wearing of body armour can add significantly to the weight to be carried by soldiers, and so there is a desire to improve its comfort and ease of wear. A known technique for helping to support the weight of a body armour jacket is to provide a belt to take some of the weight of the body armour jacket off the shoulders and onto the hips. Since the weight is supported on the hips rather than the shoulders, the person's stability is improved and the wearing of the body armour is more comfortable and less fatiguing.
In particular, US 2013/0081189 discloses a frame for supporting a body armour jacket on a belt. The frame comprises four metal strips which are spaced around the waist of the person, and which fit into straps of the body armour jacket and the belt.
However, the metal strips need to be added to the straps after the body armour jacket and the belt have been fitted to the person that is wearing them, which may be fiddly and time consuming. It may also be fiddly and time consuming to remove the strips from the body armour jacket and the belt prior to taking off the body armour jacket and the belt. Additionally, the locations where the strips are placed may lead to uneven weight distribution and/or pressure points against the person via the belt.
A further body armour system is disclosed in US2012/0192335 A1 .
It is therefore an aim of the invention to provide an improved system for supporting a body armour jacket upon a belt.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention, there is provided a body armour system according to appended claim 1, comprising a jacket, a belt for supporting the jacket, and an interface for connecting the jacket to the belt, wherein the interface comprises a channel and a rim for fitting into the channel, the channel being integrally formed with one of the jacket and the belt, and the rim being integrally formed with an other one of the jacket and the belt, such that when the body armour system is worn the interface extends at least part way around the waist of a person, the interface being disposed atop an upper edge of the belt and beneath a lower edge of the jacket. The channel may for example have a U shaped cross-section, and the rim may for example have an "I" shaped cross-section for fitting into the "U".
The provision of an interface comprising channel and a rim for fitting into the channel enables the interface to be easily formed as integral parts of the jacket and the belt. Then, the jacket automatically interfaces with the belt as soon as the jacket and belt are put on by a person, without any need to add any strips or attachments. Specifically, the rim locates into the channel to transfer weight from the rim to the channel, or to transfer weight from the channel to the rim, depending on whether the jacket is provided with the rim or the channel.
The channel may be curved along a length of the channel so that the length of the channel extends at least part way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system. Furthermore, the rim may be curved along a length of the rim so that the length of the rim extends at least part way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system. The curvature helps to provide stability to the interface since it is less easy for the jacket to pivot relative to the belt when the interface is curved, then if the interface were entirely straight.
The interface may extend at least 25% of the way around the waist of a person when wearing the body armour system, to help distribute the weight of the jacket over the belt and prevent only small section(s) of the belt from taking all of the weight that is transferred to the belt.
The interface may extend less than 66%, or less than 50%, of the way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system, to prevent the interface from overly restricting the movement of the person. In particular, the interface may not extend around the front of the person when wearing the body armour system, to aid the person in bending forwards at their waist when they desire. A front portion of the jacket may be sized to slide forwardly over a front portion of the belt when the person bends forwards at their waist, to further aid the person in bending forwards at their waist when they desire.
The interface preferably extends around a back of the person when wearing the body armour system, for example symmetrically about a spine of the person to help balance the weight of the jacket that is imposed on the left and right sides of the person by the belt.
The interface may consist of a single continuous portion, and the single continuous portion may extend at least part way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system. Forming the interface as a single continuous portion helps to evenly distribute the weight of the jacket over the belt, rather than multiple separate portions which would load the belt more heavily at the locations of the separate portions.
The channel may be integrally formed with the jacket and the rim may be integrally formed with the belt. Then mud or dust is less likely to collect in the channel since the channel opens downwardly towards the rim of the belt, such that any debris falls downwardly out of the channel under gravity, rather than being held within the channel as could occur if the channel were within the belt and directed upwardly towards the jacket. To aid in easily locating the rim into the channel, the rim may form an uppermost portion of the belt, and the channel may form a lowermost portion of the jacket.
Advantageously, at least one of the rim and channel of the interface may comprise a compressible material, to help prevent the interface from causing discomfort to the person wearing the body armour system. The compressible material may be a foam, preferably a high density foam to help provide rigidity to the interface.
So that the interface does not interfere with camouflaging of the body armour system, a fabric covering of the jacket may form surfaces of the channel and a fabric covering of the belt may form surfaces of the rim. Accordingly, from a distance the interface may appear just the same as the remainder of the body armour system. The fabric is typically formed of multiple fibres to provide flexibility, either woven or non-woven fibres.
The front portion of the jacket may comprise an armour panel for protecting a chest of the person, and the armour panel may be configured to pivot outwardly from the front portion when attachment(s) between the armour panel and the remainder of the jacket are released. When the armour panel is pivoted outwardly from the front portion, heat from the person can more easily escape the jacket to aid cooling of the person. This can be done at times when the likelihood of the person being struck by any projectiles is reduced, without the person needing to take off the whole jacket.
A rear portion of the jacket may comprise pad blocks that are configured to rest against the person's back and that define air channels between the pad blocks. Accordingly, the air channels help heat to escape from inside of the jacket, aiding cooling of the person wearing the jacket.
Advantageously, the belt may comprise two depressions for receiving the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person when wearing the body armour system. The two depressions mean that the belt can comfortably be drawn tight around the waist of the person with the person's anterior superior spine of ilium supporting the belt and therefore also the jacket. The depressions are on opposing sides of the belt, to correspond to human anatomy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1a and 1b show front and back schematic diagrams of a body armour system according to an embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the body armour system of Fig. 1a and 1b, with a front portion of a jacket of the body armour system cut away to show further details of the body armour system;
Fig. 3 shows an enlarged schematic diagram of an interface between the jacket and a belt of the body armour system taken at XSR marked on Fig. 1b;
Fig. 4 shows another enlarged schematic diagram of an interface between the jacket and a belt of the body armour system taken at XSF marked on Fig. 1a;
Fig, 5 shows a schematic diagram of the body armour system of Fig. 1a and 1b, when the jacket is pivoted forwardly compared to the belt.

The drawings are purely illustrative and are not to scale. Same or similar reference signs denote same or similar features.

Detailed Description

The schematic diagram of Fig. 1a shows a front view of a body armour system 1 comprising a jacket 10 and a belt 20. The jacket 10 rests upon the belt 20 so that the belt 20 relieves a person's shoulders from the weight of the jacket 10. The person wearing the body armour system is not shown within the figures for clarity, although in the orientation shown in Fig.1a the person would be facing towards the left side of the reader.
The jacket 10 comprises a fabric covering 12 which helps form an outer layer of the jacket 10, and which supports a front protector 14, and, as shown in the rear view of Fig. 1b, a rear protector 16. The fabric covering 12 is preferably woven from Aramid fibres, and each one of the front and rear protectors 12 and 14 comprises a fabric pocket holding an armour plate, for example a ceramic plate. The fabric pocket of the front protector 14 is permanently attached to the fabric covering 12 at a right side of the jacket 10, and is releasable connected to the fabric covering 12 at a left side of the jacket 10 by lower and upper clips 17 and 18 respectively. Therefore, the front protector 14 can be pivoted outwardly about the right side of the jacket in a direction P1, in order to improve cooling to a person wearing the jacket when in safe areas where the protection offered by the front protective plate 14 is not needed.
The belt 20 comprises a fabric covering 22, similar to the fabric covering 12, and further comprises belt protectors 24, 26 which are arranged around the belt to improve armour protection. The belt protectors each comprises a fabric pocket and an armour plate within the pocket, similar to the front and rear protectors 14 and 16.
The schematic diagram of Fig. 2 shows the body armour system 1 with a front portion of the jacket 10 cut away and the belt 20 lowered with respect to the jacket 10, to enable further details of the jacket 10 and the belt 20 to be seen. The rear (remaining) portion of the jacket 10 in Fig. 2 comprises four pads 40 which protrude from the rear of the jacket towards the back of a person wearing the jacket. These pads 40 are separated apart from one another and so air channels are created between them, through which air 50 can flow to improve ventilation to the person.
The belt 20 comprises a clasp 28 for attaching opposite ends of the belt together around the waist of a person wearing the belt. The clasp 28 is coverable by a flap of fabric which includes the belt protector 26. Specifically, a first half of a hoop and loop fastener is provided on an opposite face of the fabric flap from the belt protector 26, and a second half 27 of the hook and loop fastener is provided on the fabric covering 22 of the belt for coupling with the first half of the hook and loop fastener, to secure the flap of fabric over the clasp.
The belt 20 also comprises left and right depressions 35a and 35b within an inside surface of the belt that faces towards the waist of a person wearing the belt. The left depression 35a is sized and positioned within the inside surface of the belt to receive the left side of the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person, and the right depression 35b is sized and positioned within the inside surface of the belt to receive the right side of the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person. The depressions allow the belt to be comfortably tightened around the waist of the person, with the weight of the belt balanced over and bearing down upon the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person.
The rear portion of the jacket 10 comprises a U shaped channel 32 which runs continuously around the lowermost edge of the rear portion of the jacket, and curves along its length to extend part way around the waist of the person when the jacket is worn, from above the left side of the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person to above the right side of the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person. The U shaped channel faces downwardly towards the belt 20, i.e. is open towards the belt 20. The U shaped channel is formed from a high density foam material and is covered by the fabric covering 12 of the jacket so as to blend in with the other parts of the jacket 10.
Furthermore, the belt 20 comprises a rim 30 at the uppermost part of the belt 20, and the rim is curved to extend continuously around the waist of the person when the belt 20 is worn. The rim 30 is sized to fit inside of the channel 32 so that the rim 30 and the channel 32 collectively constitute an interface between the jacket 10 and the belt 30. The rim 30 is covered by the fabric covering 22 of the belt so as to blend in with the other parts of the belt.
When the body armour system is worn, the rim 30 of the belt fits inside of the channel 32 of the jacket, so that the weight of the jacket is supported by the rim 30 of the belt which rests on the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person, rather than the shoulders of the person. This is best seen in the schematic cross sectional diagram of Fig. 3, which is taken along the line XSR marked on Fig. 1b. The U shaped channel 32 stabilises the position of the jacket over the belt, so the weight of the jacket rests on the belt. Clearly, the channel 32 could be V shaped or rectangular shaped in alternative embodiments of the invention.
Since the channel 32 does not extend all of the way around the waist of the person, but, in this particular embodiment, only extends between the left and right sides of the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person, the absence of the channel 32 at the front of the person allows the person to bend forwardly with the front portion of the jacket sliding over the top of the belt 20, as will now be described.
As shown in Fig. 1a, the lowermost edge of the front portion of the jacket comprises a skirt 15. The schematic diagram of Fig. 4 shows a cross section taken along the line XSF marked on Fig. 1a, where it can be seen that the skirt 15 is formed by simply omitting from the front portion of the jacket the half of the U shaped channel that is closest to the person wearing the jacket. Therefore, the skirt 15 overlaps the rim 30 of the belt at an opposite side of the rim 30 from the waist of the person wearing the belt.
Referring to the schematic diagram of Fig. 5, since the skirt 15 overlaps the rim 30 of the belt, the skirt 15 guides the jacket down over the belt as the person bends forwardly in a direction P2 relative to the belt around the waist of the person: In particular, it can be seen in Fig. 5 that the skirt 15 has moved downwardly over the belt protectors 24 and 26 compared to in Fig. 1a. The jacket 10 pivots forwardly about the ends of the channel 32, the ends of the channel 32 being located near the left and right sides of the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person. Clearly, the further the channel 32 extends toward the front of the person, the more difficult it will be for the person to bend forwardly, but the more support the belt will offer to the jacket.
Various other embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims will also be apparent to the skilled person. For example, the rim 30 could be provided on the lower edge of the jacket 10 rather than the upper edge of the belt 20, and the channel 32 could be provided on the upper edge of the belt 20 rather than the lower edge of the jacket 10.
In similar fashion, the interface could include one or more sections where the rim is on the belt and the channel on the jacket along with one or more other sections where the rim is on the jacket and the channel is on the belt. However preferably the belt includes at the interface only one of a rim and a channel, and the jacket at the interface includes only the other of the rim and the channel.
Furthermore the interface may include one or more intermediary elements, such as an O shaped elongate member forming a rim that interfaces with both a channel on a belt and a channel on a jacket, or conversely an H shaped elongate member forming a rim that interface with both a rim on a belt and a rim on a jacket, and this is intended to be encompassed within the scope of the term 'wherein the channel is integrally formed with one of the jacket and the belt, and wherein the rim is integrally formed with an other one of the jacket and the belt'. Preferably the jacket and belt interface directly, not requiring an intermediary element.
Additionally, the term "integrally formed" in relation to the interface edge (rim or channel), means being substantially an integral part of an item of clothing, such that compressive forces from the interface edge are transferred to the respective item of clothing (belt or jacket) without causing physical displacement or shearing of the interface edge with respect to its respective item of clothing in use. The term thus does not require the interface edge and respective item of clothing being jointly formed of one element of material (e.g. one piece of cloth, or foam, or one piece of armour). However preferably one of the interface edges, particularly the belt, and optionally the jacket, or optionally both of the interface edges, is/are at least partially formed as a joint element of material (e.g. a common moulding of foam, or a common element of armour etc) with its respective item of clothing.
The term "integrally formed" does not preclude an interface edge being replaceably detachable provided that any respective replaceable/detachable mechanism included must, when fastened, provide for sufficient resilience as between the interface edge and its respective item of clothing that the two parts transfer compressive forces as a unitary body substantially without displacement of one with respect to the other in use. An example might be an attachment mechanism involving a heavy-duty zip along the inside surface and a second heavy-duty zip along the outside surface. However, in most contemplated embodiments the interface edge is not detachable from its respective item of clothing, and this is also preferably the case, as this provides for simpler designs which may be less prone to damage from impacts and rough handling, potentially lighter, and which may transfer impacts and forces. Optionally the integrally formed interface edge is provided by an integral moulding with at least part of the respective item of clothing.

Claims

A body armour system comprising a jacket (10), a belt (20) for supporting the jacket (10), and an interface for connecting the jacket to the belt (20), wherein the interface comprises a channel (32) and a rim (30) for fitting into the channel (32), the channel (32) being integrally formed with one of the jacket (10) and the belt (20), and the rim (30) being integrally formed with an other one of the jacket (10) and the belt (20), such that when the body armour system is worn the interface extends at least part way around the waist of a person, the interface being disposed atop an upper edge of the belt and beneath a lower edge of the jacket.
The body armour system of claim 1, wherein the channel is curved along a length of the channel so that the length of the channel extends at least part way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the rim is curved along a length of the rim so that the length of the rim extends at least part way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface extends at least 25% of the way around the waist of a person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface extends less than 66% of the way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface extends less than 50% of the way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface extends around a back of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface does not extend around a front of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface extends symmetrically about a spine of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the interface consists of a single continuous portion, and wherein the single continuous portion extends at least part way around the waist of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the channel is integrally formed with the jacket and the rim is integrally formed with the belt.
The body armour system of claim 11, wherein the rim forms an uppermost portion of the belt and the channel forms a lowermost portion of the jacket.
The body armour system of claim 11 or 12, wherein a fabric covering of the jacket forms surfaces of the channel and wherein a fabric covering of the belt forms surfaces of the rim.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein the belt comprises two depressions for receiving the anterior superior spine of ilium of the pelvis of the person when wearing the body armour system.
The body armour system of any preceding claim, wherein a front portion of the jacket is sized to slide forwardly over a front portion of the belt when the person bends forwards at their waist.