GB1577012A - Plastics armour - Google Patents

Plastics armour Download PDF

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Publication number
GB1577012A
GB1577012A GB5839873A GB5839873A GB1577012A GB 1577012 A GB1577012 A GB 1577012A GB 5839873 A GB5839873 A GB 5839873A GB 5839873 A GB5839873 A GB 5839873A GB 1577012 A GB1577012 A GB 1577012A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
armour
plastics
particles
sheets
microspheres
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
GB5839873A
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Galt G S
Original Assignee
Galt G S
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Galt G S filed Critical Galt G S
Priority to GB5839873A priority Critical patent/GB1577012A/en
Publication of GB1577012A publication Critical patent/GB1577012A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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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
    • F41H5/00—Armour; Armour plates
    • F41H5/02—Plate construction
    • F41H5/04—Plate construction composed of more than one layer
    • F41H5/0414—Layered armour containing ceramic material
    • F41H5/0428—Ceramic layers in combination with additional layers made of fibres, fabrics or plastics
    • 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
    • F41H5/00—Armour; Armour plates
    • F41H5/02—Plate construction
    • F41H5/04—Plate construction composed of more than one layer
    • F41H5/0442—Layered armour containing metal
    • F41H5/0457—Metal layers in combination with additional layers made of fibres, fabrics or plastics
    • 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
    • F41H5/00—Armour; Armour plates
    • F41H5/02—Plate construction
    • F41H5/04—Plate construction composed of more than one layer
    • F41H5/0471—Layered armour containing fibre- or fabric-reinforced layers
    • F41H5/0478—Fibre- or fabric-reinforced layers in combination with plastics layers

Description

(54) PLASTICS ARMOUR (71) 1, GRANVILLE STEWART GALT, a British subject, of Prospect Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to armour made of plastics, and to armour which includes plastics.
It is known to make armour in sheet form from plastics material, and it is also known to make armour in the form of a laminated structure from plastics material reinforced with sheets of, for example, glass, nylon or other fibres having good tensile properties.
Known plastics materials for this purpose are, for example, phenolic, urea, epoxy and polyester resins.
This invention aims to improve plastics armour, for example by reducing penetration of a projectile, or by reducing the weight of the armour for a given penetration.
According to this invention armour comprises a laminated structure which includes a layer or layers of plastics with particles embedded in the or each layer which particles a) are substantially inert to the plastics; b) are of weight per unit volume less than that of the plastics; and c) constitute a substantially planar zone of reduced strength in relation to the remainder of the laminated structure, the planar zone being substantially parallel to the laminations of the structure.
The planar zone may be within and substantially parallel to the faces of the or each plastics layer. One or more than one plastics layer may be laminated with a fibrous sheet, for example a sheet of woven glass fibres. In another form one or more than one plastics layer may be laminated with a sheet of metal or of ceramic material. The particles are preferably hollow bodies for example microspheres of particle size of from 10 to 100 microns. The preferre microspheres are of vinylidene chloride acrylonitrile copolymer, and their density is substantially 0.03 g/cm3.
The particles may however be of other materials, as will be discussed.
The invention also includes a method of making plastics armour comprising:- forming a mix of a polymerisable resin and particles which are substantially inert to the resin and whose weight per unit volume is less than that of the resin, the mix containing up to 5% by weight of the particles; applying the mix to reinforcing sheets of woven fibres and forming a laminated arrangement thereof; squeezing the arrangement to form a laminated structure in which the particles are disposed mainly in substantially planar zones in the resin between the reinforcing sheets; and curing the structure.
In one embodiment, the armour comprises a laminated structure of layers of a general purpose polyester or fire-retardant polyester and reinforcing sheets of closely woven glass fibres. Hollow microspheres, of particle size of from 10 to 100 microns, of vinylidene chloride acrylonitrile copolymer of density 0.03 g/cm3, are disposed mainly in the polyester layers between the glass fibre sheets and form planar zones of reduced strength between the sheets. The reinforcing sheets of closely woven glass fibres may be from 4 to 40 ozs. per square yard and are preferably from 10 to 25 ozs. per square yard. The number of reinforcing sheets used may be from 2 or 3 up to 100 sheets. Thus a plastics armour half an inch thick may have 20 reinforcing sheets.The content of microspheres in the polyester layers between the reinforcing sheets can vary, so that for example the planar zones of reduced strength could be less weak towards one face of the laminated structure and weaker towards the other face. Thus the planar zones could be of successively reduced strength from one face to the other, so as to give controlled delamination where penetrated by a projectile. The greater the microsphere content in a plastics layer, the more reduced is the strength of the planar zone concerned. This embodiment of armour would be made by building up a laminated arrangement of the reinforcing sheets and polyester layers with the microspheres incorporated in the layers. Then the arrangement would be squeezed to form the laminated structure.Since the reinforcing sheets are closely woven, the microspheres cannot enter them, or virtually cannot enter them, so that although the sheets take up the liquid resin, the microspheres remain mainly in the layers of polyester left between the sheets and so constitute the substantially planar zones of reduced strength. Then the squeezed, laminated structure is cured.
Several different polyester/microsphere mixes, each with a different proportion of microspheres to polyester, may be used in building up the laminated arrangement, so that planar zones of different degrees of reduced strength arise in the cured structure.
In the finished armour, the reinforcing sheets of closely woven glass fibres constitute up to 70 to 80% by weight of the whole.
The armour of the invention may take different forms and have different constituents.
For instance, random glass fibre mat could be used instead of woven glass fibre sheet.
Woven glass fibre sheets of various weights, thicknesses, and roving or bundle sizes can be used. Any of the usual methods of making such sheets may be used. Various materials could constitute the inert particles, for example one or more of the following:polyethylene; nylon; hard wax insoluble in the plastics; polyvinyl chloride; polytetrafluoroethylene; polypropylene; hollow glass spheres; and crushed plate-like minerals, for example crushed mica. The particles may be present in the plastics in a proportion of up to 5% by weight. The particles may be granular.
Various other plastics may be used. for example one or more of the following:epoxy resin; phenolic resin; urea resin; silicone resin; synthetic rubber.
A projectile striking laminated armour is arrested, or its penetration is reduced, by delamination of the reinforcing sheets. If the reinforcing sheets can be permitted to delaminate more readily than previously known, they can stretch more without breaking. and so can accommodate without breaking a greater amount of projectile penetration. By providing planar zones of relative weakness between closely woven fibrous sheets, the latter can delaminate more easily than heretofore.
Whilst the effectiveness of plastics armour may be increased, its weight for a given surface area may be reduced by the incorporation of light-weight particles.
The armour of the invention may include metallic or ceramic armour sheets. A ceramic sheet may be for example of sintered corundum or of boron carbide. Or an armour sheet of known glass fibre reinforced plastics can be used.
The plastics layer with the embedded particles may be used as a bonding layer between sheets of material dissimilar to that of the bonding layer. This can give improved bonding and also reduce the weight required for the bonding layer. The bonding may be improved because the bonding layer, with for example microspheres as the embedded particles, shrinks less than a similar plastics layer without the particles. For this reason a larger amount of plastics can be used in one bonding operation.
WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. Armour comprising a laminated structure which includes a layer or layers of plastics with particles embedded in the or each layer which particles a) are substantially inert to the plastics; b) are of weight per unit volume less than that of the plastics; and constitute a substantially planar zone of reduced strength in relation to the remainder of the laminated structure, the planar zone being substantially parallel to the laminations of the structure.
2. Armour according to claim 1 wherein the planar zone is within and substantially parallel to the faces of the or each layer.
3. Armour according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a said layer of plastics is laminated with a fibrous sheet.
4. Armour according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a said layer of plastics is laminated with a sheet of metal or of ceramic material.
5. Armour according to any preceding claim wherein the particles are hollow bodies.
6. Armour according to claim 5 wherein the hollow bodies are microspheres of particle size of from 10 to 100 microns.
7. Armour according to claim 6 wherein the microspheres are of vinylidene chloride acrylonitrile copolymer.
8. Armour according to claim 7 wherein the microspheres have a density of substantially 0.03 g/cm3.
9. Armour according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the particles are of one or more of the following:- polyethylene; nylon; hard wax insoluble in the plastics layer; polyvinyl chloride; polytetrafluoroethylene; polypropylene; hollow glass spheres; and crushed plate-like minerals, for example crushed mica.
10. Armour according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the particles are granular.
11. Armour according to claim 3 wherein the fibrous sheet is woven.
12. Armour according to claim 11 wherein the fibrous sheet is of woven glass fibres.
**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (22)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. greater the microsphere content in a plastics layer, the more reduced is the strength of the planar zone concerned. This embodiment of armour would be made by building up a laminated arrangement of the reinforcing sheets and polyester layers with the microspheres incorporated in the layers. Then the arrangement would be squeezed to form the laminated structure. Since the reinforcing sheets are closely woven, the microspheres cannot enter them, or virtually cannot enter them, so that although the sheets take up the liquid resin, the microspheres remain mainly in the layers of polyester left between the sheets and so constitute the substantially planar zones of reduced strength. Then the squeezed, laminated structure is cured. Several different polyester/microsphere mixes, each with a different proportion of microspheres to polyester, may be used in building up the laminated arrangement, so that planar zones of different degrees of reduced strength arise in the cured structure. In the finished armour, the reinforcing sheets of closely woven glass fibres constitute up to 70 to 80% by weight of the whole. The armour of the invention may take different forms and have different constituents. For instance, random glass fibre mat could be used instead of woven glass fibre sheet. Woven glass fibre sheets of various weights, thicknesses, and roving or bundle sizes can be used. Any of the usual methods of making such sheets may be used. Various materials could constitute the inert particles, for example one or more of the following:polyethylene; nylon; hard wax insoluble in the plastics; polyvinyl chloride; polytetrafluoroethylene; polypropylene; hollow glass spheres; and crushed plate-like minerals, for example crushed mica. The particles may be present in the plastics in a proportion of up to 5% by weight. The particles may be granular. Various other plastics may be used. for example one or more of the following:epoxy resin; phenolic resin; urea resin; silicone resin; synthetic rubber. A projectile striking laminated armour is arrested, or its penetration is reduced, by delamination of the reinforcing sheets. If the reinforcing sheets can be permitted to delaminate more readily than previously known, they can stretch more without breaking. and so can accommodate without breaking a greater amount of projectile penetration. By providing planar zones of relative weakness between closely woven fibrous sheets, the latter can delaminate more easily than heretofore. Whilst the effectiveness of plastics armour may be increased, its weight for a given surface area may be reduced by the incorporation of light-weight particles. The armour of the invention may include metallic or ceramic armour sheets. A ceramic sheet may be for example of sintered corundum or of boron carbide. Or an armour sheet of known glass fibre reinforced plastics can be used. The plastics layer with the embedded particles may be used as a bonding layer between sheets of material dissimilar to that of the bonding layer. This can give improved bonding and also reduce the weight required for the bonding layer. The bonding may be improved because the bonding layer, with for example microspheres as the embedded particles, shrinks less than a similar plastics layer without the particles. For this reason a larger amount of plastics can be used in one bonding operation. WHAT I CLAIM IS:
1. Armour comprising a laminated structure which includes a layer or layers of plastics with particles embedded in the or each layer which particles a) are substantially inert to the plastics; b) are of weight per unit volume less than that of the plastics; and constitute a substantially planar zone of reduced strength in relation to the remainder of the laminated structure, the planar zone being substantially parallel to the laminations of the structure.
2. Armour according to claim 1 wherein the planar zone is within and substantially parallel to the faces of the or each layer.
3. Armour according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a said layer of plastics is laminated with a fibrous sheet.
4. Armour according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a said layer of plastics is laminated with a sheet of metal or of ceramic material.
5. Armour according to any preceding claim wherein the particles are hollow bodies.
6. Armour according to claim 5 wherein the hollow bodies are microspheres of particle size of from 10 to 100 microns.
7. Armour according to claim 6 wherein the microspheres are of vinylidene chloride acrylonitrile copolymer.
8. Armour according to claim 7 wherein the microspheres have a density of substantially 0.03 g/cm3.
9. Armour according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the particles are of one or more of the following:- polyethylene; nylon; hard wax insoluble in the plastics layer; polyvinyl chloride; polytetrafluoroethylene; polypropylene; hollow glass spheres; and crushed plate-like minerals, for example crushed mica.
10. Armour according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the particles are granular.
11. Armour according to claim 3 wherein the fibrous sheet is woven.
12. Armour according to claim 11 wherein the fibrous sheet is of woven glass fibres.
13. Armour according to claim 3
wherein the fibrous sheet is of random glass fibres.
14. Armour according to claim 3 having a plurality of reinforcing sheets of fibrous material, with different quantities of particles in the zones between the sheets.
15. Armour according to claim 14 wherein the planar zones are of further reduced strength towards one face of the armour.
16. Armour according to any preceding claim wherein the plastics is a general purpose polyester.
17. Armour according to claim 16 wherein the polyester is fire-retardant.
18. Armour according to any of claims 1 to 15 wherein the plastics is:- epoxy resin; phenolic resin; urea resin; silicone resin; or synthetic rubber.
19. A method of making plastics armour comprising:- forming a mix of polymerisable resin and particles which are substantially inert to the resin and whose weight per unit volume is less than that of the resin, the mix containing up to 5% by weight of the particles; applying the mix to reinforcing sheets of woven fibres and forming a laminated arrangement thereof; squeezing the arrangement to form a laminated structure in which the particles are disposed mainly in substantially planar zones in the resin between the reinforcing sheets; and curing the structure.
20. A method according to claim 19 wherein the particles are microspheres.
21. A method according to claim 20 wherein the microspheres are of vinylidene chloride acrylonitrile copolymer.
22. Plastics armour substantially as herein described.
GB5839873A 1973-12-17 1973-12-17 Plastics armour Expired GB1577012A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB5839873A GB1577012A (en) 1973-12-17 1973-12-17 Plastics armour

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB5839873A GB1577012A (en) 1973-12-17 1973-12-17 Plastics armour

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB1577012A true GB1577012A (en) 1980-10-15

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Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0027128A4 (en) * 1979-04-16 1981-03-27 Int Harvester Co Impact resistant composite structure.
EP0208499A1 (en) * 1985-07-02 1987-01-14 Trevor K. Groves Armour component
GB2221976A (en) * 1987-09-04 1990-02-21 Hunting Eng Ltd Protective coatings; armour
GB2281052A (en) * 1993-08-19 1995-02-22 Martial Armour Pty Ltd Bullet resistant material
US5402703A (en) * 1992-09-17 1995-04-04 Fmc Corporation Liner system to reduce spall
WO2007047508A1 (en) * 2005-10-17 2007-04-26 Milliken & Company Puncture resistant composite
EP1847796A1 (en) * 2006-04-20 2007-10-24 Fernando Héctor Andujar A stratum to be used in ballistic elements and a ballistic element containing it
US20160281272A1 (en) * 2015-03-26 2016-09-29 Honeywell International Inc. Ballistic resistant composite material
US10513806B2 (en) 2017-08-08 2019-12-24 Milliken & Company Spike resistant package and article
US10513805B2 (en) 2017-08-08 2019-12-24 Milliken & Company Spike resistant package and article
US11707100B2 (en) 2019-01-16 2023-07-25 Milliken & Company Multi-threat protection composite
US11718068B2 (en) 2019-01-16 2023-08-08 Milliken & Company Multi-threat protection composite

Cited By (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0027128A1 (en) * 1979-04-16 1981-04-22 International Harvester Company Impact resistant composite structure
EP0027128A4 (en) * 1979-04-16 1981-03-27 Int Harvester Co Impact resistant composite structure.
EP0208499A1 (en) * 1985-07-02 1987-01-14 Trevor K. Groves Armour component
US5087516A (en) * 1985-07-02 1992-02-11 Dorothy Groves Body armor
US5110661A (en) * 1985-07-02 1992-05-05 Dorothy Groves Armor component
GB2221976A (en) * 1987-09-04 1990-02-21 Hunting Eng Ltd Protective coatings; armour
US5402703A (en) * 1992-09-17 1995-04-04 Fmc Corporation Liner system to reduce spall
GB2281052B (en) * 1993-08-19 1997-02-26 Martial Armour Pty Ltd Bullet resistant material
GB2281052A (en) * 1993-08-19 1995-02-22 Martial Armour Pty Ltd Bullet resistant material
DE4495948C2 (en) * 1993-08-19 1997-08-21 Martial Armour Pty Ltd Easily-handled bullet-resistant material
CN1056688C (en) * 1993-08-19 2000-09-20 军事装甲有限公司 Bullet resistant material
WO2007047508A1 (en) * 2005-10-17 2007-04-26 Milliken & Company Puncture resistant composite
US7825048B2 (en) 2005-10-17 2010-11-02 Milliken & Company Puncture resistant composite
EP1847796A1 (en) * 2006-04-20 2007-10-24 Fernando Héctor Andujar A stratum to be used in ballistic elements and a ballistic element containing it
US20160281272A1 (en) * 2015-03-26 2016-09-29 Honeywell International Inc. Ballistic resistant composite material
US10513806B2 (en) 2017-08-08 2019-12-24 Milliken & Company Spike resistant package and article
US10513805B2 (en) 2017-08-08 2019-12-24 Milliken & Company Spike resistant package and article
US11707100B2 (en) 2019-01-16 2023-07-25 Milliken & Company Multi-threat protection composite
US11718068B2 (en) 2019-01-16 2023-08-08 Milliken & Company Multi-threat protection composite

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PS Patent sealed
732 Registration of transactions, instruments or events in the register (sect. 32/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee