Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F41—WEAPONS
  • F41H—ARMOUR; ARMOURED TURRETS; ARMOURED OR ARMED VEHICLES; MEANS OF ATTACK OR DEFENCE, e.g. CAMOUFLAGE, IN GENERAL
  • F41H1/00—Personal protection gear
  • F41H1/02—Armoured or projectile- or missile-resistant garments; Composite protection fabrics

Definitions

• aspects of the present disclosure relate to body armor systems and more particularly to body armor systems with improved ballistic performance based on user’s anatomy.
• the performance of ballistic protective equipment can be affected or decreased based on the anatomy of a wearer.
• the breast tissue of a female use may create an angled strike face for ballistic panels or armor.
• the angle strike face can create performance issues.
• the present disclosure is directed a ballistic system comprising, a ballistic vest, a soft body armor package, a ballistic support, and a ballistic cover.
• the ballistic vest may have a front pocket and a back pocket.
• the soft body armor package may comprise a top portion and a bottom portion.
• the soft body armor package may be installable in the front pocket of the vest.
• the ballistic support may be installable with the soft armor package.
• the ballistic cover may comprise one or more layers of felt. Each layer of the one or more layers of felt having a first end and a second end. Each first end may be formed into a first plurality of tabs. Each second end may also be formed into a second plurality of tabs.
• the ballistic cover may also comprise one or mor layers of ballistic fabric.
• Each layer of the one or mor layers of ballistic fabric forms fabric a third end and a fourth end.
• Each third end may be formed into a third plurality of tabs.
• Each fourth end may be formed into a fourth plurality of tabs.
• the ballistic cover may be installed over a piece of the soft body armor package.
• Figure 1A illustrates an example ballistic system with interior components shown in a distributed arrangement, including a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figure IB illustrates an example ballistic system with interior components shown in a stacked arrangement, including a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figure 2 illustrates a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figure 3A illustrates a ballistic assembly and a ballistic cover with a ballistic vest, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figure 3B illustrates a ballistic structure with a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figure 3C illustrates a ballistic package (e.g., a ballistic structure, a soft armor package and a hard armor package) with a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments;
• a ballistic package e.g., a ballistic structure, a soft armor package and a hard armor package
• Figure 4A illustrates a ballistic vest for use with a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figure 4B illustrates a ballistic vest internal volume including an integral ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figures 5A illustrates a ballistic structure with a ballistic trauma pad in a first configuration, in accordance with various embodiments
• Figures 5B illustrates a ballistic structure with a ballistic trauma pad in a second configuration, in accordance with various embodiments.
• Figures 5C illustrates a ballistic structure with a ballistic trauma pad and a ballistic cover, in accordance with various embodiments.
• aspects of the present disclosure involve ballistic covers that improve the overall ballistic performance of ballistic systems.
• the ballistic cover disclosed herein improve the overall ballistic performance of ballistic systems.
• a ballistic system 100 for a user incorporating aspects of the presently disclosed technology as shown.
• Ballistic system 100 is provided as an example of ballistic protective equipment that may incorporate aspects of the presently disclosed technology and is not intended to be limiting.
• ballistic protective equipment for a wearer e.g., humans or animals
• ballistic protective equipment include, without limitation, carriers, belts, cummerbunds, ballistic accessories (e.g., shoulder protection, pouches, abdomen protection, groin protection, leg protection, bicep/deltoid upper arm protection, etc.) and the like.
• ballistic accessories e.g., shoulder protection, pouches, abdomen protection, groin protection, leg protection, bicep/deltoid upper arm protection, etc.
• the presently disclosed technology applies to other types of ballistic protective equipment as well.
• a ballistic system 100 can include a ballistic vest 110.
• Ballistic system 110 may also include a ballistic structure 120.
• Ballistic system 100 can include an armor package 130, including for example, a soft armor package and/or a hard armor package.
• Ballistic system 100 may also include a ballistic cover 140.
• Ballistic cover 140 may be a stand-alone fixture.
• Ballistic cover 140 can be installable over a potion of armor package 130.
• Ballistic cover 140 may be installable of ballistic structure 120.
• ballistic cover 140 may be a foldable fixture that covers a top potion, surface, or profile of at least one of a ballistic structure 120, an armor package 130, and/or both a ballistic structure and an armor package 130.
• ballistic cover 240 may comprise a one or more layers of a felt 241.
• Felt 241 may be a ballistic felt.
• Ballistic cover 240 may also comprise one or more layer of a fabric 243.
• Fabric 243 may be a ballistic fabric.
• the one or more layers of fabric 243 may be layers of ballistic fabric, such as for example, Kevlar fabric or another suitable balli stically resistant fabric.
• any of the one or more layers of felt and or fabric may be cut into gusseted portions or tabs.
• ballistic cover 240 may have a plurality of tabs, such as, tab 242, tab 244, tab 246 and the like.
• the felt and/or fabric may be cut or stress relieved to conform to a particular profile.
• the profile may match a profile portion of a ballistic structure, such as for example, ballistic structure 120.
• the cuts or stress reliefs of ballistic cover 240 may be cut, relieved, or shaped to conform to a profile that is straight, curved, or irregular.
• the width of the cuts and/or corresponding gussets may be uniform or irregular.
• Ballistic cover 240 may also include a fold seam, a centerline, or a pivot line 248. In this regard, ballistic cover 240 may be folded in half about centerline 248. Ballistic cover 240 may form a pocket. Ballistic cover 240 may also be folded in a taco arrangement, such that ballistic cover 240 defines a channel or receivable slot. The gusseted portions of ballistic cover 240 may be adjacent each other, when ballistic cover 240 is folded about centerline 248.
• ballistic cover 340 may define a channel or receivable slot 349.
• Slot 349 may be sized and/or configured to receive one or more pieces of ballistic system 300, including for example, ballistic structure 320, an armor package and/or the like.
• the armor package may include a soft armor component 330, a hard armor component 350, or both.
• Ballistic cover 340 may be sewn or attached to ballistic structure 320. Ballistic cover 340 may be sewn or attached to the armor package (e.g., to soft armor 330). Ballistic cover 340 may also be a separate component that is installed over the armor package, ballistic structure 320, or any other suitable items in ballistic system 300.
• ballistic system 400 comprises a suitable ballistic vest or plate carrier 410.
• Ballistic vest 410 may define an internal pocket 412.
• Internal pocket 412 may be defined by one or more pieces of fabric.
• Internal pocket 412 may be sized to receive ballistic cover 440.
• Ballistic cover 440 may be sewn or otherwise attached to ballistic vet 410 in internal pocket 412.
• Ballistic cover 440 may be positioned in internal pocket 412 to cover or shroud top portions of one or more components of any of the ballistic systems described herein.
• ballistic structure 520 may be configured with a trauma pad 560.
• Trauma pad 560 may be sewn or otherwise attached to ballistic structure 520 along a seam 562. Trauma pad 560 may comprise a fabric pouch or pocket. The pouch can receive an armor component. When worn by a user as part of a ballistic system, trauma pad 560 may be positioned over a user’s chest or trunk. More specifically, trauma pad 560 may cover vital portions of the cardiac and respiratory systems or a wearer’s anatomy, providing additional protection to a wearer in the event of a penetration of the primary armor system. Ballistic structure 520 and trauma pad 560 may also be used in connection with ballistic cover 540.
• soft body armor assemblies described herein provide numerous advantages over monolithic and other designs.
• soft body armor assemblies are comfortable, durable, flexible, lightweight, and provides increased performance, including resistance to ballistic penetration, back face deformation performance, resistance to mechanical fatigue, and resistance to fragmentation threat, and the like.
• the flexible ballistic ply structures may be, for example, a resin impregnated woven fabrics, unidirectional laminates, multi-axial fabrics, and/or the like.
• the flexible ballistic ply structures can be generated using high strength yams including, without limitation, aromatic polyamides such as poly(p-phenylene teraphthalamide), poly(metaphenylene isophthalam ide), p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole, polyb enzoxazole, polybenzothiazole, aromatic unsaturated polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, aromatic polyimides, aromatic polyamideimides, aromatic polyesteramideimides, aromatic polyetheramideimides and aromatic polyesterimides or copolymers of any of the above mentioned classes of materials, and UHMWPE, or any combination of these yams.
• aromatic polyamides such as poly(p-phenylene teraphthalamide), poly(metaphenylene isophthalam ide), p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole,
• the flexible ballistic ply structures are woven fabrics generated from high strength fiber are woven structures produced using yams containing aromatic polyamides including poly(p-phenylene teraphthalamide), poly(metaphenylene isophthalamide), p- phenylenebenzobisoxazole, polyb enzoxazole, polybenzothiazole, aromatic unsaturated polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, aromatic polyimides, aromatic polyamideimides, aromatic polyesteramideimides, aromatic polyetheramideimides and aromatic polyesterimides or copolymers of any of the above mentioned classes of materials or any combinations of these yams.
• aromatic polyamides including poly(p-phenylene teraphthalamide), poly(metaphenylene isophthalamide), p- phenylenebenzobisoxazole, polyb enzoxazole, polybenzothiazole, aromatic unsaturated polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, aromatic polyimides, aromatic polyamideimides, aromatic polyesteramideimides,
• any one of the stitch consolidated assemblies of plies for soft body armor assembly described herein is achieved using any stitching thread and any type of stitching method to achieve through-thickness connectivity of the plies, including chain stitching or lock stitching to secure all plies in the assembly together.
• a stitching pattern that is uniform across the surface of the entire assembly is used.
• Such a uniform stitching pattern may be, for example, a grid pattern (e.g., quilt pattern), co-linear rows of stitching, concentric circles, a spiral, and/or the like.
• the stitching pattern of any one of the stitch- consolidated assembly of plies is not uniform across the surface of the entire assembly.
• soft body armor assemblies described herein are configured to inhibit the complete penetration of a particular ballistic threat by overcoming the energy associated with the ballistic event.
• Two examples of commercially available high strength fibers routinely used to generate anti-ballistic ply structures used in soft body armor assembly include para-aramid fiber, such as Kevlar® fiber from Dupont and Twaron® fiber from Teijin, and UHMWPE, including Spectra® fiber from Honeywell and Dyneema® fiber from DSM.
• the performance of ballistic protective equipment utilizing ply structures generated from high strength fiber is generally measured based on penetration resistance, as well as the resistance to back face deformation that can lead to blunt trauma injuries.
• Penetration resistance is routinely reported as the VS0, which is defined as the velocity at which a specific ballistic threat will penetrate an armor construction 50% of the time.
• a methodology routinely used for determining the VS0 of a particular armor system against a specific threat is outlined in Mil - STD 662F VS0 Ballistic test for Armor and Purchase Description FQ/PD 07-0SG, Body Armor, Multiple Threat/Interceptor Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) Generation Ill.
• soft body armor assembly 110 meets these standards and provides numerous advantages over monolithic and other hybrid designs.
• soft body armor assembly 110 is comfortable, durable, flexible, lightweight, and provides increased performance, including resistance to ballistic penetration, back face deformation performance, resistance to mechanical fatigue, and resistance to fragmentation threat, and the like.
• Woven fabrics generated using para-aramid fiber have long demonstrated robust ballistic performance as anti-ballistic ply structures used in flexible armor systems.
• Woven anti-ballistic fabrics rely on mechanical interlacing of yarns using commercial weaving equipment and are a desired when designing systems that provide flexibility, comfort, conformability, and improved breathability. Additionally, the mechanically interlocked woven fabrics are very durable, requiring no adhesives or matrix resins to create the ballistic ply structure. Woven anti-ballistic fabrics and can undergo significant flexural fatigue without losing ballistic performance.
• Several investigations of flexible body armor fabricated using woven para-aramid fabrics reclaimed after more than a decade of continuous use in the field have demonstrated no ballistic performance loss when compared to the performance of the same designs when first issued.
• UHMWPE fibers While mechanical properties of UHMWPE fibers can significantly exceed those of para-aramid fibers such as Kevlar®, woven fabrics generated from UHMWPE fiber have routinely been observed to underperform para-aramid fabrics.
• para-aramid fibers such as Kevlar®
• woven fabrics generated from UHMWPE fiber have routinely been observed to underperform para-aramid fabrics.
• the low friction coefficient of UHMWPE fibers greatly facilitates slip and translation of the warp and fill yarns at the point of impact in woven constructions made therefrom during the ballistic event. This significantly reduces yarn engagement of the ballistic threat, allowing it to pass through the woven structures with limited loading of the UHMWPE yarns.
• Unidirectional laminates represent a second type of anti-ballistic ply structure used in the manufacture of flexible body armor systems.
• Unidirectional laminates are constructed from two or more layers of unidirectionally oriented high strength yams adhesively bound together using matrix resins and optionally polymer films.
• the unidirectional fiber layers in the unidirectional laminate are cross-plied; having fiber direction of individual layers rotated 90 degrees relative to the neighboring layers they are laminated to.
• Unidirectional laminates have demonstrated improved ballistic VSO performance and improved back face deformation performance against high energy deformable projectiles such as bullet threats when compared to woven fabric systems for the same areal density. Disadvantages associated with the unidirectional laminate structure include reduced fragmentation threat resistance, increased stiffness and potentially reduced mechanical fatigue resistance when compared to woven structures generated with the same fiber.
• the unidirectional laminate was conventionally the preferred anti -ballistic structure for UHMWPE fiber.
• UHMWPE has found significant commercial success in soft armor systems when used in unidirectional laminate structures. These materials are commercially available under the trade names Spectra Shield® from Honeywell, or Dyneema® Unidirectional from DSM. These unidirectional laminate materials are generated using tacky adhesive matrix resins capable of overcoming the low surface friction and low surface energy of the UHMWPE fiber, resulting in mechanically stable anti-ballistic structures.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Aiming, Guidance, Guns With A Light Source, Armor, Camouflage, And Targets (AREA)
• Professional, Industrial, Or Sporting Protective Garments (AREA)
• External Artificial Organs (AREA)
• Non-Portable Lighting Devices Or Systems Thereof (AREA)
• Dental Preparations (AREA)

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• 2022
  • 2022-09-21 CA CA3213091A patent/CA3213091A1/en active Pending
  • 2022-09-21 EP EP22877155.6A patent/EP4305373A2/de active Pending
  • 2022-09-21 AU AU2022354782A patent/AU2022354782A1/en active Pending
  • 2022-09-21 WO PCT/US2022/044301 patent/WO2023055633A2/en active Application Filing

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