Abstract:
A movable antiballistic bench, the bench comprising: a base, the base comprising a bullet resistant material; a plurality of support legs extending away from a first surface of the base, the support legs comprising a bullet resistant material and having distal ends which are adapted to contact a support surface; a seatback, the setback attached to the base at an angle other than 90°, the seatback comprising a bullet resistant material.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to antiballistic benches, and, more particularly, to movable antiballistic benches specially adapted for use in non-fortified locations. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,181 discloses a vehicle seat ballistic shield for mounting the backrest of a seat of vehicle to protect user sitting on the seat from rearward originating projectiles. The vehicle seat ballistic shield includes a body shield with front and back faces. The body shield is designed for positioning adjacently behind a backrest and headrest of a seat of a vehicle. A plurality of elongate flexible vertical straps are coupled to the front face of the body shield towards the top edge of the body shield. Each of the vertical straps is designed for looping vertically around the headrest of the seat to attach the body shield to the headrest of the seat. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,988,237 discloses a protective chair having a base with a support platform having supporting legs extending therefrom to hold the platform and an engaged seat cushion elevated from a support surface. A seatback, and seat cushion and secondary cushions extending away from the seat cushion are engaged to the base. Each of the seatback, seat cushion and extending cushions have one or a plurality of bullet resistant layers which provide a ballistic shield for a user who picks up the chair and holds it in an as-used position, in-between the user and an assailant. A viewing slit positioned between the extending cushions and the seat cushion allows the user to view a potential assailant on the other side. Elongated members extending away from the seat cushion, on the side of the chair opposite the user, may be employed to attack the assailant. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 8,087,341 discloses a personal protection apparatus for use in vehicles comprising: a behind-the-seat ballistic shield provided with support means extending to the floor of the vehicle for distributing a weight component of the shield, and a deployable protective ballistic shield and visor articulately linked to the behind-the-seat ballistic shield for protecting the upper chest, neck and head areas of a driver and displaceable between an active deployed position in front of the driver and a storage position. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,573,704 and 8,579,367 discloses stacking chairs with padded seat cushion and back rest, having a tubular framework with arm rests, having the addition of a skirt section below the seat extending to the floor level. The core of the chair will consist of layers of flexible anti-ballistic fabric, also known as soft armor, wrapped in two directions around the tubular members of the back rest, seat and skirt section. Alternatively, the stacking chair will be constructed of pre-manufactured hard anti-ballistic armor components, also known as hard armor. Two additional embodiments will be folding chairs with tubular frameworks, the first having hard armor anti-ballistic surfaces and the second being able to have hard armor or soft armor anti-ballistic surfaces. 
         [0008]    The known prior art, however, fails to disclose a movable antiballistic barrier for use in places of business such as military recruitment centers, VA hospitals and other defense related locations that lack heavy security equipment or personnel. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    In one exemplary embodiment, the movable antiballistic bench, of the present invention comprises a base, having a bullet resistant material; a plurality of support legs extending away from a first surface of said base, said support legs comprising a bullet resistant material and having distal ends which are adapted to contact a support surface; a seatback, said setback attached to said base at an angle other than 90°, said seatback comprising a bullet resistant material. The antiballistic bench of the present invention may further comprise a seatback having at least one non-flat surface and a non-right angle between the seatback and the support/seating surface. 
         [0010]    In another exemplary embodiment, the movable antiballistic bench, comprises an at least partially hollow body, said body comprising a bullet resistant material, said body having a generally horizontal platform, a seatback attached to one side of said platform, said seatback extending to a support surface, said seatback disposed at an angle other than 90° relative to said platform, and a plurality of support legs attached to one side of said platform and extending to said support surface; at least one selectively closable aperture disposed through said body; and a predetermined fill material disposed within body. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given hereinafter and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention, but are for explanation and understanding only. 
           [0012]    In the drawings: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a front view of an exemplary antiballistic bench according to the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows a side view of the bench of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a top view of an exemplary embodiment of an antiballistic bench according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  shows an alternative embodiment of the bench in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of an alternative exemplary antiballistic bench according to the present invention, where the bench has a hollow interior. 
       
    
    
       [0018]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplary embodiments set forth herein are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    The present invention will be discussed hereinafter in detail in terms of various exemplary embodiments according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be obvious, however, to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures are not shown in detail in order to avoid unnecessary obscuring of the present invention. 
         [0020]    Thus, all of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Moreover, in the present description, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0021]    Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise. 
         [0022]    Referring first to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a front view of exemplary movable, antiballistic bench  1000  according to the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , bench  1000  generally comprises a horizontally disposed seating surface or base  100  connected to a vertically disposed seatback  200  and leg supports  300 . Movable ballistic bench  1000  further comprises a bullet-resistant or antiballistic material. 
         [0023]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, base  100 , seatback  200 , and support legs  300  all comprise bullet-resistant or antiballistic material. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that it is within the scope of the present invention for only seatback  200  and/or seating surface  100  to comprise antiballistic material as described above. 
         [0024]    Referring still to  FIG. 1 , seatback  200  may be attached to one side of seating surface  100  by known, conventional means such as fasteners or welding. Alternatively, seatback  200  and seating surface  100  may be formed of one cast piece of antiballistic material. 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a side view of exemplary antiballistic bench  1000  according to the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , seatback  200  is attached to seating surface  100  at a non-right angle, i.e. an angle other than 90 degrees. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the front of seatback  200  forms an obtuse angle within a range of from about 95° to 120° with the top of base  100 . The purpose of the angle is to provide additional ballistic resistance by deflecting the angle of incidence of any bullet, ordinance, or other projectile that impacts antiballistic bench  1000 . Those of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that similar deflection can be achieved by connecting seatback  200  to base  100  such that an acute angle within a range of from about 75° to about 85° exists between the front of seatback  100  and the top of base  100 . 
         [0026]    As further illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , movable antiballistic bench  1000  of the present invention further comprises a plurality of support legs  300  attached to the bottom of seating surface  100 . Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that support legs  300  may exist in any suitable number or shape in order to hold bench  1000  in a stationary position on top of a support surface such as a floor. 
         [0027]    Turning again to  FIG. 2 , it is shown that seatback  200  preferably extends beneath base  100  sufficiently to provide protection nearly to any support surface on which bench  1000  is disposed.  FIG. 3  shows a top view of bench  1000  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         [0028]    Turning now to  FIG. 4  there is shown a top view of an alternative exemplary embodiment of antiballistic bench  1010  according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , seatback  210  of movable antiballistic bench  1010  may comprise an arcuated or convex shape to further deflect any projectile fired at the rear of antiballistic bench  1010 . Those of skill in the art will appreciate that any desired radius for seatback  210  will provide some deflection of a projectile. However, preferably the radius is selected to maximize the use of bench  1010  as both a seating device and an antiballistic device. 
         [0029]    Turning now to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a perspective view of another alternative exemplary embodiment of antiballistic bench  1020  according to the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , ballistic bench  1020  may comprise a lighter material such as aluminum, composite material, lower density steel, or plastic. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 5 , antiballistic bench  1020  further comprises at least one port  420  disposed through at least one portion of antiballistic bench  1020 . In the preferred embodiment, seatback  220  and/or base  120  are at least partially hollow. In other embodiments, the entirety of antiballistic bench  1020  is hollow. In either event, a flowable antiballistic material such as, water, sand, metal beads, polymer beads, or other granulated high-density material may be poured through access port  420  disposed through antiballistic bench  1020  to cause bench  1020  to have comparable antiballistic characteristics to a solid bench comprising a steel or other antiballistic material. Antiballistic bench  1020  may further comprise a second port for removing any flowable material that has been placed in antiballistic bench  1020 . 
         [0030]    While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.