ARMOUR

Abstract: Body armour (1, 60, 80) for a torso, leg or hand protector comprises a number of small plates (3) of armour arranged in rows (2). Each plate (3) in a row is connected to the next plate in that row by overlapping the side regions of the plates and passing a connector (4) through holes (10) in the corners of the plates. Adjacent rows (2) of plates (3) are joined together by securing them to backing plates (14 and 15) which lie behind the junction between two rows. The rows (2) are secured together using the same connectors (4) which join adjacent plates (3) within a row (2). The connectors (4) are flexible extensible plastics rivets, which gives the body armour great flexibility.

Description: ARMOUR This invention relates to body armour predominantly for the torso, but the invention may also be applicable to armour for the arms, legs, hands, or other body parts. Items of armour to be worn on the body have been known for centuries and, for example, in the fourteenth century, the feet were enclosed within collerets of articulated plates. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the body and the limbs were completely encased within an articulated casing of iron plates. In modern times, the so-called ballistic vest can protect its wearer against bullets (other than those fired by high-velocity guns) by means of its many constituent layers of an aromatic polyamide fibre such, for example, as that which is marketed under the name KEVLAR (Registered Trade Mark) , typically twenty-four layers. However, KEVLAR or similar material can paradoxically be penetrated by a weapon such as, for example, a knife or screwdriver blade. An item of body armour is known which is manufactured in the United States of America and which comprises front and back panels; each panel consists of a small number (for example, four) of fabric-covered titanium plates, each plate having a thickness of, say, 0.25mm. The panels are quite short and the front one in particular only comes to about the level of the navel of the wearer, thereby leaving the lower and very vulnerable part of the torso completely unprotected. If the front and back panels were to be lengthened to any significant degree, the wearer would not be able to bend forwards or sit down or drop into a firing position on one knee. For the safe convenience we shall refer to "body throughout the remainder of the specification, but it will be appreciated that this term includes limb armour etc. , and is not limited to armour for the torso. According to the invention we provide body armour adapted to be worn by a human being comprising a plurality of protective plates, each plate having a connection region which is connected to the connection region of an adjacent plate by a flexible connection member. This allows plates to move relative to each other. Preferably the connection member is extensible, and may be made of plastics material (such as thermoplastics) . The connection member is preferably resilient. The connection member is preferably a rivet or the like having a shank portion passing through holes in the plates. Preferably the protective plates can flex relative to each other by virtue of the flexible connection members, so that the body armour can bend. The connection regions of the plates preferably have holes through which the connection members extend. The holes are preferably elongate slots which enable the plates to move relative to each other in the direction of elongation of the holes. The body armour may be able to expand or contract in a said direction of elongation of the holes, and may also be able to flex in a different direction, which may be substantially at right angles to the direction of elongation. Adjacent protective plates preferably overlap each other at their side edge regions. The plates are preferably rectangles and preferably have a hole or slot at each corner. The plates are preferably arranged in adjacent rows which are joined together by a backing strip superimposed upon the junction between two adjacent rows. The backing strip may itself be made of plates joined together. The plates of the backing strip may have elongate holes. The same connection members which connect protective plates within a row may also pass through backing plates to connect two rows together. The connection members may extend through two protective plates and two backing plates. The connection members preferably do not clamp adjacent protective plates together, but instead allow a degree of relative movement between adjacent (overlapping) plates in a direction normal to the overlapping surfaces of the plates. This also assists in proving the flexibility of the body armour. This increased flexibility allows us to provide a chest protector with a lap region which extends over the lower abdomen or pelvic region of the user and which can be bent away from the body of the user, for example as the user sits down or kneels down on one knee. The plates are preferably made of metal, such as commercially pure titanium. Other metals can be used, for example titanium alloys or metal matrix composites. The plates may bend or fold when struck by a knife. The body armour may be a leg protector. The leg protector may have a tubular substantially rigid, shin protector carrying flexible bands made of plates in accordance with the invention at its top and/or lower end. The flexible bands of protective plates may- protect the ankle and calf. The leg protector can preferably be put on without removing the user's shoes cr boots, and preferably fastens at the front. The body armour may comprise a hand and/or wrist protector. The protector may have a U-shaped hand plate extending above and below the users hand. Flexible wrist and forearm protectors may be attached to the opposing limbs of the U-shaped hand protector. Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference ro the accompanying drawings of which:- Figure 1 shows an armoured vest front piece in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 shows a front view of a portion of the vest front piece, with rivets and washers omitted for clarity; Figure 3 shows a back view of the portion of Figure 2, with rivets and washers omitted for clarity; Figure 4 illustrates how slots in plates of the vest front piece line up and are joined by rivets; Figure 5 shows detail of a few plates of the vest front piece; Figure 6A shows a cross-section on line VI-VI of Figure 5; Figure 6B shows a schematic cross-section similar to that of Figure 6A, but when the plates are twisted relative to each other and illustrates the flexibility of the rivets; Figure 6C shows schematically a plate bending under a knife attack; Figure 7A shows further detail of the vest frontpiece in use and illustrates the relative movement between plates; Figure 7B shows a detail of a modified vest front piece; Figure 8 shows a modified vest front piece covered with padded material; Figure 9 shows a vest back piece; Figure 10 shows a unitary vest incorporating both a front and back piece attached together; Figure 11 shows a leg protector; Figures 12 and 13 show a hand and wrist protector from above and below; and Figure 13 shows a cross-section through part of the protector of Figure 12. Figures 1 to 7 illustrate an armoured vest front piece 1 which is designed to protect against knife stabs. The front piece 1 comprises horizontal rows 2 of small metal protective plates 3 riveted together by plastics rivets 4. The protective plates 3 are arranged in generally vertical columns 5 of rear plates 5 and front plates 7 which overlap the side edges 8 of the rear plates 6. Back strips 9 (best seen in Figures 2 and 3) pass behind the protective plates 6 and 7 and overlie the area of the horizontal junction between two adjacent rows 2 of plates 3. Figure 1 shows the position of the front piece 1 when worn in use. The protective plates 3 comprise generally rectangular small plates of titanium having a unitary structure and being about 1mm thick. The front plates 6 and 7 are about 4cm x 6cm and have a slight curvature about a vertical axis (as seen in Figure 4) and in use have their concave side against the user's body. Each plate 3 has a horizontally elongate slot 10 provided at each of its corner regions. Adjacent front and rear plates 7 and 6 of a row 2 have their side edge regions 8 overlapped so that pairs of their holes 10 are registered with each other. Plastic "rivets" pass through each pair of the in-line slots 10 to join the plates 6 and 7 of each row together. A washer 12, such as a brass, or lubricated nylon, washer is interposed between heads 13 of the rivets and the front plates 7 (see Figures 6A and 6B) . Adjacent rows 2 of plates 3 are joined together by the backing strip 9 (which also serves to cover the join) . The backing strip 9 is itself made of forward and rear plates 14 and 15 which are about l cm x 5cm. The plates of the backing strips also have horizontally elongated slots, slots 16, at their corners and are made of the same material as the plates 3. The rivets 4 which hold the plates 6 and 7 of a row together also extend through appropriate slots in the backing plates 14 and 15 and thereby hold adjacent rows 2 together. The rivets 4 have a rear head 17 which bears against a washer 18, similar to washer 12, interposed between the head 17 and the rear backing plate 15. The washers 12 and 18 prevent the plastics material heads of the rivets from pulling through the holes 10 and 16. Figure 4 illustrates the alignment of the upper holes 10 of one row of protective plates 6 and 7 with the lower holes 16 of the backing plates 14 and 15. The upper holes 16 of the backing plates register with the lower holes 10 of the next row up of protective plates. The plates 6 and 7, and 14 and 15, are coated, or have a surface treatment, to improve their noise properties and/or reduce the friction between them. A suitable coating is PTFE. This coating also improves their acceptability to customers and can make the vest more comfortable. The rivets 4 are made of a thermoplastic, such as polyurethane, and are resilient, flexible and extensible. Figure 6B illustrates the flexing of rivets 4 through a large angle. The rivets may bend through 90°, or even 180° (if that were permitted by the plate configurations) . We use polyurethane rivets of a shore hardness of about 80-85 A. It will also be noted that the rivets do not clamp the plates 6, 7, 14 and 15 together - the rivets are significantly longer than the combined thicknesses of the plates through which they pass. This allows for relative sliding between plates in the same row, and facilitates bending of the rivets to allow plates of different rows to occupy different "planes" (the plates are slightly curved) . The vest front piece 1 has no significant apertures through which a knife can pass, is relatively light, and most importantly is very flexible indeed. The plates 6 and 7 can move horizontally relative to each other by virtue of the slots 10. The elongate slots 10, and also the apertures 16, impart to the body armour material a remarkable degree of ability to accommodate or follow the movements of the body of the person wearing the body armour. For example, the provision of elongated apertures permits the horizontal dimension across the chest of the vest front piece 1 to increase, or decrease, by about 10% or more. In a modification of the body armour the slots 16 in the backing plates 14 and 15 could be round holes. Other suitable rigid materials which could be used for the protective plates include alloys, composite materials, and sandwich materials (for examples an Aluminium - Lithium - Aluminium sandwich) . The plates 3 are of such a size and thickness that when struck very hard by a knife they bend, or fold upon or around the knife point (see Figure 6C) , and may even be pierced slightly. The bending of the plates absorbs energy of the knife attack. The flexible rivets 4 allow a plate to bend whilst still connecting it to its adjacent plates. Commercially pure titanium has been found to be the best metal for the plates since it is not too brittle (other, more brittle, metals may crack or break where they bend under a knife attack) . In an alternative embodiment of body armour each plate may include at least two thinner leaves laid one on top of the other and in register with one another. The overall thickness of the plate may be approximately 1mm. Such a multi-layer plate may have a slightly better performance than an equivalent single layer plate. One particular form of multi-layer plate which we are contemplating using is a plate consisting of two leaves of titanium (each 0.5mm thick) and a layer of so-called ballistic nylon between the leaves, the leaves and said nylon layer being connected to one another by an adhesive. It seems on the basis of trials to date that such a plate construction would give the desirable result (in the case of a knife or other blade going through the plate) that the knife or other blade becomes retarded by the adhesive and the nylon layer which together may exert a grip on the knife or other blade. This may not only prevent the knife from piercing the wearer of the armour to any great depth, but may also prevent or hinder the attacker from withdrawing his knife from the armour for a second blow. The radius of curvature of protective, and backing, plates would depend upon the area of the body they are to cover. For example, plates required to clothe, for example, a thigh would have a smaller radius of curvature than those used in the vest front piece, but would have a greater radius of curvature than that of plates which are intended to clothe a wrist. In a further modification, the back or front plates 6 or 7 could carry additional reinforcement panels or plates secured to them. An example of such an additional plate is illustrated (in chain dotted outline) in Figure 1 and is referenced as No. 20. The additional plates could be glued or bonded to the plates 3. The additional plates 20 may be attached to the protective plates 3 at such a position to cover, or substantially cover, the regions of the plates where there would otherwise be only a single plate thickness to the front piece. Although PTFE has been said to be a suitable coating for the plates, other suitable coatings include MOLLYKOTE, nylon, polyester, paint, silicone or epoxy materials. The plate surfaces could also be provided with desired surface coatings by nitriding or anodising. It is preferred to coat the plates in order to reduce the amount of. noise which would be made by a person wearing body armour, because of the need to obtain customer acceptance, and to reduce the friction between adjacent plates. A further advantage of coating the plates is that it allows us to control their colour. There are times when a light coloured vest is required (for example a white or light grey vest can be worn covertly, under normal clothing, and does not show through too much) . There are times when a dark or brightly coloured vest is desirable, for example when the psychcological effect of overtly wearing the vest is desired (for example for riot control) . Another probably suitable coating is known as EFCOTE 1000 TOP COAT which will provide the plates with a PTFE covering with excellent chemical resistance and cleanability. The TEFCOTE product mentioned above is a water-based single-pack coating incorporating a PTFE compound in a micro-dispersed resin binder system. It will be appreciated that the vest front piece 1 extends to the lower abdomen, lower pelvic, region of the wearer and is sufficiently flexible in its, lower, lap region as bend through about 90 when the user sits down. The lap region of the vest may fan out as the user sits down. The ability for the user to sit down comfortably whilst wearing the vest can be important, for example if the user is in a reserve force waiting at an incident. The fact that the rivets can bend, and stretch, allows the vest front piece to be so flexible, as does the small size of the protective plates. The plate armour construction shown in Figures 2 and 3 is so flexible that it can be bent around a wrist and used in the construction of an arm protector. The body armour 1 may be covered by a light padding which will also tend to reduce audible noise. Figure 8 illustrates a padded front vest piece 30 having two shoulder straps 31 provided with VELCRO pads 32, a lap protector 33 which may be permanently or removably secured to the main body of the vest piece, and side patches 34 of VELCRO. The main body of the vest piece 30 and the lap protector 33 contain armour similar to that of Figure 1. Any item of body armour made out of the body armour construction shown on Figures 2 and 3 may be worn, for example, under one's shirt or jacket or over a uniform (police, armed services and so on) or under a so-called ballistic vest in order to act as a trauma plate or on top of a ballistic vest. Ballistic vests are usually made from as many as twenty four layers of KEVLAR or similar material and tests have shown that a bullet becomes so distorted upon impact with the plates of the body armour, when that is worn over the ballistic vest, that the number of layers of KEVLAR or similar material can safely be at least halved. The efficacy of the body armour as protection against bullets when worn over a ballistic vest is considered to be due to the strength of the titanium, to the extensibility of the rivets and to the known high energy absorption characteristic of the KEVLAR or similar material. As protection against knife attacks, the body armour is excellent because of the strength of the titanium and because there are virtually no chinks through which a knife blade can reach the body beneath. Furthermore, the bending of a plate when struck by a knife blow absorbs energy. However, when the plates are used which are constituted by a number of separate leaves laid one on top an another, it has been found that a knife blade, which penetrates the first plate before being halted by the second plate, actually becomes gripped by said leaves, at least momentarily. This is important in that it may give the wearer of the body armour valuable extra moments within which to try to overpower or disable his or her attacker. Body armour material of the construction of the present invention may easily be made up into garments which will not only protect the torso, but if provided with sleeves having the armour may also protect the arms. Trousers incorporating the armour are also envisaged. Figure 9 shows a vest back piece 40 which may or may not incorporate similar body armour to that of Figure 1. It is usually possible to use larger plates for the back piece 40 than the vest front piece. This may be especially true if the back piece 40 extends down only so far as the waist. The back piece 40 may comprise a single plate, or just a few plates. The back piece 40 has complementary VELCRO patches to those of the shoulder straps 31 of the vest front piece 30 and the two vest pieces are adapted to be worn together. Figure 10 shows an armoured vest 50 having a front member 51 incorporating body armour similar to that of Figure 1, a back member 52 held to the front member 51 by a side hinge region 53, and a closure panel 54 which is hinged to the rear panel and connectable to the front panel. The apertures 10 and 16 in the plates need not be elongated. Indeed, when the body armour is simply to be covered by light padding, it may be preferable for the apertures 10 to be other than elongate. From the point of view of assembly of plates in order to form sheet material, it will be found to be of great assistance if the shank of the rivet (which, at this stage, has only one head) is an interference fit in the aperture 10. An interference fit of the shank in the holes will prevent a loose assembly falling apart as the assembler tries to place the assembly in a machine. The rivets 4 may be injection moulded. The second head of the rivet may be formed by means of, for example, superheated air and a suitable tool. The plates may be manufactured flat and manufactured sheet material (comprising a plurality of interconnected plates) could be given the desired curvature (e.g. to cover the torso) in a press. Instead of polyurethane, it is considered that it would be satisfactory to use a thermoplastic polyester elastomer for the rivet material; one of these is marketed by DuPont under the trade mark HYTREL. Polyurethane is used for the rivets because of its strength and excellent elastic memory and it is believed that the above-mentioned elastomer should function as efficiently as polyurethane. In a further modification the vest front piece may include spring means adapted to return the plates to a normal configuration after they have been squashed together laterally by the movement of the wearer. Figure 7B shows a view of the back of a section of armour in which the rear plates 7 are provided with a rubber or other resilient material return strip 6a having a spring portion 6b which, when stressed, urges the plates 6 of a row away from each other so that there is a tendency for the rivets 4 to be at one end of the elongate slots in the plates. There are times when the user compresses the plates in a row together (for example when holding both arms extended in front of his chest to fire a pistol) . The bow of the spring portion 6b is squashed together to accommodate such movement. Once the user returns to a different position the strip 6a urges the plates back to a "normal" spacing. Of course, the normal, unstressed, position of the plates in a row need not be at one end of the elongate slots if the arrangement of the spring return feature is appropriately chosen. Figure 11 shows a leg protector 60 which incorporates the protective plate construction shown in Figures 2 and 3 at its upper and lower ends. The central region of the leg protector 60 comprises a hard rigid open-fronted lower shin-protector 61 of metal (for example commercially pure titanium) . The shin protector 61 has an aperture 62 at its front and may have vertical hinge means if they are necessary to enable the aperture 62 to be closed substantially shut after the user has pushed the leg protector 60 onto his lower leg (below the knee) from behind his leg. It is not normally necessary to provide hinge means, the metal sheet 61 usually being sufficiently flexible. The lower shin protector 61 has closure straps 63 and 64 at its upper and lower ends. Complementary attachment elements 63' and 64' are also provided adjacent the aperture 62. The upper end of the shin protector 61 is connected to a band of linked plates 65 which comprise a calf and upper shin protector 66. The plates 65 of the calf protector 66 are arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns and are connected tc the adjacent plate 65 in the row by rear plates 67 (some of which are shown in dotted outline) . Adjacent rows of plates are connected by backing plates 68 and 69. Again only some of the backing plates are shown for clarity. Each plate 65, 67, 68,and 69 has an elongated slot at each corner. The connection between adjacent plates of a row, and between adjacent rows, is made by flexible and extensible polyurethane rivets 70. It will be appreciated that each rivet 70 passes through a protective plate 65, a rear plate 67, and two backing plates 68 and 69, and that the linked plate arrangement is the same as that shown in Figures 2 and 3, except that the rear plates 67 are smaller than their equivalent in Figures 2 and 3. The upper row of plates 65 is also provided with lace holes through which a lace 71 extends. An ankle protector band 72 is attached to the bottom of the protector 62 and is similar to the calf protector band 66. The metal plates of the leg protector, and the shin protector 61, are coated with nylon. After the user has pushed his leg through the aperture 62 and positioned the leg so that his ankle is in the region of the band 72 and his calf in the region of the band 66, he fastens the belts 63 and 64, closing the aperture 62, and draws the lace 71 and ties it. The join is at the front of the user's shin and is easy to effect. Furthermore, the user need not take off his shoes or boots, and can even apply the protector 60 over his trousers (or he can roll his trouser legs up before putting on the leg protector) . The flexible rivet and slot construction of the two bands 66 and 72 allow the protector to fit the wearer's calf better, and allow for flexibility at the calf and ankle. Figures 12 and 13 show a titanium hand, wrist, and lower forearm protector 80 comprising a wrap-around, U-section hand plate 81 riveted at its upper forward end to a flange plate 82, and at its upper and lower rear ends to respective wrist and forearm protector structures 83 and 84. A strap 85 is riveted to the hand plate 81. Each wrist and forearm protector 83 or 84 comprises a number of articulating plates or bands 86, the forward edge of which overlies, and is riveted to, the rearward edge of the plate in front of it. A large forearm protector, or cuff, plate 87 overlies the last articulation plate. The articulation plates, and the forearm plate, are C-shaped in cross section. The plates 81, 86, and 87 are held together by plastics rivets 88 which are flexible and extensible. Metal washers 89 are interposed between the rivet heads and the plates (best seen in Figure 14) . It will be noted that there is a degree of "play" in the fixing of adjacent plates: the shanks of the rivets 88 are about 1mm longer than the thicknesses of the plates they hold together. This, combined with the flexibility and extensibility of the rivet connectors makes the protector 80 very flexible in use. In use the strap 85 passes between the forefinger and thumb of the user, whose knuckles are received in knuckle formations 90 provided in the hand plate 81. The formations 90 make the protector 80 more comfortable to wear and strengthen the hand plate 81. The finger plate 82 extends in use to about the forward edge of a closed fist of the user, and protects a closed fist, whilst allowing substantially unrestricted use of the fingers and thumb. The holes in the plates through which the rivets 88 extend are not elongate. However, in a modified version they are elongate, preferably in a direction generally parallel to the user's forearm. A glove or gauntlet will normally be worn under the protector 80 to protect the user's arm from scratches, and to avoid plucking hairs off a hand or wrist. The body armour may be worn by animals, such as horses.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Body armour ( 1, 60, 80) comprising a plurality of protective plates ( 3, 7, 8; 65, 67; 81, 86, 87) , characterised in that each plate has a connection region ( 10) which is connected to the connection region ( 19) of an adjacent plate via a flexible connection member ( 4; 70; 80) . 2, Body armour according to claim 1, characterised in that the connection member is extensible. 3. Body armour according to claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that the connection member is made of plastics material. 4. Body armour according to any preceding claim characterised in that the connection member is a rivet or the like. Ξ . Body armour according to any preceding claim characterised in that the plates can flex relative to each other so that the body armour can bend. 6. Body armour according to any preceding claim characterised in that the connection regions have holes ( 10) through which the connection members extend. 7. Body armour according to claim 6, characterised in that the holes ( 10) are elongate slots, and in that the plates can move relative to each other in the direction of elongation of the holes. 8. Body armour according to claim 6, characterised in that the armour can expand or contract in said direction of elongation, and can also flex in a different direction. 9. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in the adjacent plates overlap at their side edge regions ( 8) . 10. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the plates are rectangles and have a hole or slot at each corner. 11. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the plates are arranged in adjacent rows ( 2) which are joined together via a backing strip ( 9) which is superimposed upon the junction between two adjacent rows. 12. Body armour according to claim 10, characterised in that the backing strip ( 9) is itself made of plates ( 14, 15) joined together. 13. Body armour according to claim 11, characterised in that the plates ( 14, 15) of the backing strip ( 9) have elongate holes ( 16) . 14. Body armour according to any one of claims 11 to 13 characterised in that the same connection members ( 4, 70) connect protective plates within a row and the protective plates to the backing plates to connect two rows together. 15. Body armour according to claim 14, characterised in that the connection members extend through two protective plates and two backing plates. 16. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the connection members do not clamp adjacent protective plates together, but instead allow a degree of relative movement between adj cent,overlapping, plates in a direction normal to the overlapping surfaces of the plates. 17. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in that at least some of the plates ( 3) bend when struck hard by a knife point so as to absorb at least some of the energy of the blow. 18. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the armour is a chest protector or vest. 19. Body armour according to claim 18, characterised in that the chest protector has a lap region which extends over the lower abdomen or pelvic region of the user and which can be bent away from the body of the user as the user sits or kneels down. 20. Body armour according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the armour is a leg protector ( 60) . 21. Body armour according tc any preceding claim, characterised in that the body armour is a hand and/or wrist protector ( 80) . 22. Body armour substantially as described and illustrated herein with reference to Figures 1 to 7; or Figure 8; or Figure 9; or Figure 10; or Figure 11; or Figures 12 to 14 of the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: BUCHANAN DOUGLAS BOYD, BUCHANAN, DOUGLAS, BOYD
Applicants: BUCHANAN DOUGLAS BOYD, MUNYARD PATRICIA, BUCHANAN, DOUGLAS, BOYD, MUNYARD, PATRICIA
Application year: 1992
Main classification: F41H1
IPC codes: F41H1