GB2303534A - Body armour - Google Patents

Abstract

Armour for providing protection against a stabbing threat comprises a first protective plate (10, Figs. 1 and 2) which has a substantially straight edge portion 10d, and a second protective plate (12) which also has a substantially straight edge portion 12a. The armour also comprises a joining member (16) which comprises a protective portion 16a which extends over said edge portions 10d and 12a and bridges the gap between them. The joining member (16) also defines oppositely-facing sockets 16d which receive said edge portions 10d and 12a and maintain said edge portions in alignment with one another while allowing the protective plates (10 and 12) to pivot relative to one another. The protective plates and said joining member are contained in a pocket formed from flexible sheet material 18 which acts to prevent said edge portions from leaving said sockets.

Description

ARMOUR This invention is concerned with armour, especially armour which is intended to provide protection against stabbing threats from knives or similar weapons. Such armour can be utilised in jackets which may, or may not, also comprise anti-ballistic protection to prevent injury from bullets.

Armour for protection against stabbing threats has to prevent substantial penetration by a knife, has to be sufficiently flexible that the wearer can manoeuvre, and has to be light so that the wearer is able to wear it for long periods. There have been many proposals for such armour some of which involve complex connections between metal plates to hold the plates in their relative positions while allowing them to pivot relative to one another. Some such designs involve multiple layers of metal plates to protect the spaces between plates in a layer. Such designs may be expensive and undesirably heavy.

It is an object of the present invention to provide armour which protects against stabbing threat and which has simple connections between its plates while avoiding thee necessity for more than one complete layer of plates.

The invention provides armour suitable to be worn to provide protection against a stabbing threat, the armour comprising a first protective plate which has at least one substantially straight edge portion, and a second protective plate which has at least one substantially straight edge portion, the second protective plate being positioned alongside said first protective plate with said substantially straight edge portions aligned with and adjacent to one another, wherein the armour also comprises a joining member which comprises a protective portion which extends over said edge portions of the first and second protective plates and bridges the gap between them, and wherein the joining member also defines oppositely-facing sockets which receive said edge portions and maintain said edge portions in alignment with one another while allowing the protective plates to pivot relative to one another about a line parallel to said edge portions, and wherein said protective plates and said joining member are contained in a pocket formed from flexible sheet material which acts to prevent said edge portions from leaving said sockets.

In armour according to the invention, the gaps between the plates are protected by simple connecting members which do not require any fasteners to be attached to the edge portions of the plates.

Preferably, in armour according to the invention, said first protective plate has a further substantially straight edge portion, and the armour also comprises a third protective plate which has at least one substantially straight edge portion, the third protective plate being positioned alongside said first protective plate with its edge portion aligned with and adjacent to said further edge portion of the first protective plate, and a further joining member acting in the same way as the firstmentioned joining member but in relation to said further edge portion of the first protective plate and said edge portion of the third protective plate, the third protective plate and the further joining member being contained within said pocket.This arrangement enables said first protective plate is shaped to protect the chest of a wearer and said second and third plates to be shaped to fit under a wearer's arms to protect the wearer's sides.

The joining member is, preferably, formed from a first plate which bridges said gap and overlies said edge portions thereby defining upper portions of said sockets, and a second plate which underlies said edge portions thereby defining lower portions of said sockets, said first and second plates being joined together through the gap between the edge portions of the protective plates.

The flexible sheet material is, preferably, made from ballistic protective fabric, such as aramid, polyethylene, nylon, etc, so that the protection given is increased.

The plate and the joining members may be made of metal, eg titanium or steel, or ceramic material or a composite material such as a reinforced plastics material.

There now follows a detailed description, to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, of armour which is illustrative of the invention.

In the drawings: Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a front and a side elevational view of the illustrative armour with layers of flexible material thereof omitted; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view, on a greater scale than Figures 1 and 2, of a connecting member of the illustrative armour; and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of an edge of the illustrative armour.

The illustrative armour is intended to be worn to provide protection against a stabbing threat and forms part of a protective jacket which may also comprise antiballistic protection, eg layers of woven aramid cloth. The illustrative armour comprises a first protective plate 10 made from titanium lmm in thickness. Figure 1 shows the plate 10 in front view from which it can be seen that the plate 10 is shaped to protect the chest of a wearer, having an upper edge portion lOa with an indent to receive the wearer's chin, upper side edge portions lOb to accommodate the wearer's arms, and a lower edge portion lOc in the wearer's waist region. Between the lower edge portion lOc and the upper side edge portions lOb, the plate 10 has two lower side edge portions lOd which are substantially straight and extend vertically.Figure 2 shows a side view of the illustrative armour from which it can be seen that the plate 10 curves around the front of the wearer's chest so that the lower side portions lOd are located under his arms.

The illustrative armour also comprises a second protective plate 12 and a third protective plate 14. The plates 12 and 14 are shaped to fit under a wearer's arms to protect the wearer's sides. Each of these plates 12 and 14 has a substantially straight edge portion 12a and 14a, respectively. The plate 12 is positioned alongside the plate 10 with its edge portion 12a aligned with and adjacent to one of the straight edge portions lOd of the plate 10. The plate 14 is positioned alongside the plate 10 with its edge portion 14a aligned with and adjacent to the other of the straight edge portions lOd of the plate 10. Thus, the plates 12 and 14 are positioned on opposite sides of the plate 10 and are shaped and curved to fit under a wearer's arms against his body to protect the his sides.

The illustrative armour also comprises two joining members 16, one being associated with the edge portion 12a and the adjacent edge portion lod and the other being associated with the edge portion 14a and the adjacent edge portion lOd. The two joining members 16 are of identical construction and each comprises a protective portion in the form of a first plate 16a which overlies said edge portions 10d and 12a or lod and 14a and bridges the gap between them. Said first plate 16a overlaps the plates 10 and 12 or 10 and 14 sufficiently that an incoming stabbing threat always encounters one of the plates 10, 12, 14 or 16a. The first plate 16a is elongated so that it extends completely along the gap with which it is associated and its ends are shaped to conform with the shapes of the plates 10 and 12 or 14 with which it is associated.

Each joining member also comprises a second plate 16b which underlies the edge portions lOd and 12a or lod and 14a. This second plate 16b directly underlies the plate 16a. The second plate 16b is bent in its central region to form an upstanding ridge 16c which extends through the gap between the edge portions lod and 12a or lOd and 14a so that a crest of this ridge 16c engages the underside of the plate 16a to which it is spot-welded. Thus, said first and second plates 16a and 16b are joined together through the gap between the edge portions lod and 12a or 14a of the protective plates. The plates 16a and 16b are made of titanium sheet lmm thick.

As can be seen from Figure 3, the joining members 16 define oppositely-facing sockets 16d, each socket being defined by a portion of the first plate 16a and a portion of the second plate 16b with a side of the ridge 16c forming a bottom of the socket 16d. The sockets 16d extend completely along the gap and receive said edge portions lOd and 12a or lOd and 14a. The sockets 16d act to maintain said edge portions in alignment with one another while allowing the protective plates to pivot relative to one another about a line parallel to said edge portions, ie the sockets 16d prevent the edge portions lOd and 12a or 14a from moving apart in a direction normal to the first plate 16a while allowing the plates 10, 12 and 14 to pivot about a line extending parallel to the edge portions along the gap.

The illustrative armour also comprises two layers 18 of flexible sheet material made from woven aramid fibres (the layers 18 are omitted from Figures 1 and 2). These layers 18 form a closed pocket in which the plates 10, 12, and 14 and the joining members 16 are contained. One of the layers 18 extends across a front side of the plates 10, 12, 14 and 16a while the other extends across a back side of the plates 10, 12, 14 and 16b. Beyond the edges of the plates, the layers 18 are secured together by stitching 20 to form the pocket. The stitching 20 extends completely around the armour. In addition to adding to the comfort and appearance of the illustrative armour, the layers 18 act to prevent said edge portions 10d, 12a and 14a from leaving said sockets 16d.

Claims (7)

1 Armour suitable to be worn to provide protection against a stabbing threat, the armour comprising a first protective plate which has at least one substantially straight edge portion, and a second protective plate which has at least one substantially straight edge portion, the second protective plate being positioned alongside said first protective plate with said substantially straight edge portions aligned with and adjacent to one another, wherein the armour also comprises a joining member which comprises a protective portion which extends over said edge portions of the first and second protective plates and bridges the gap between them, and wheres the joining member also defines oppositely-facing sockets which receive said edge portions and maintain said edge portions in alignment with one another while allowing the protective plates to pivot relative to one another about a line parallel to said edge portions, and wherein said protective plates and said joining member are contained in a pocket formed from flexible sheet material which acts to prevent said edge portions from leaving said sockets.

2 Armour according to claim 1, wherein said first protective plate has a further substantially straight edge portion, and the armour also comprises a third protective plate which has at least one substantially straight edge portion, the third protective plate being positioned alongside said first protective plate with its edge portion aligned with and adjacent to said further edge portion of the first protective plate, and a further joining member acting in the same way as the first-mentioned joining member but in relation to said further edge portion of the first protective plate and said edge portion of the third protective plate, the third protective plate and the further joining member being contained within said pocket.

3 Armour according to claim 2, wherein said first protective plate is shaped to protect the chest of a wearer and said second and third plates are shaped to fit under a wearer's arms to protect the wearer's sides.

4 Armour according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said joining member is formed from a first plate which bridges said gap and overlies said edge portions thereby defining upper portions of said sockets, and a second plate which underlies said edge portions thereby defining lower portions of said sockets, said first and second plates being joined together through the gap between the edge portions of the protective plates.

5 Armour according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said flexible material is made of aramid fibre.

6 Armour according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the protective plates and the joining member are made of sheet titanium.

7 Armour substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.