Abstract:
The invention is a novel body armor that comprises a metallic layer having a surface contoured for close fitting to the wearer, the layer bounded by an outer perimeter, a second layer of organic material located adjacent the metallic layer, the layer of organic material having the same surface contour as the metallic layer, an inter-layer of releasably engageable fasteners inserted between the metallic layer and the organic material layer to form a multi-layer laminate, and a layer of semi-flexible plastic surrounding and in contact with the outer surfaces of the metallic layer, to form an armor unit cover.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention pertains to the field of armor. More particularly, it pertains to the field of body armor for protecting the human body from knife and bullet impacts and is so relatively light-weight that it may be worn without difficulty by the person seeking protection.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Whether we were originally pugnacious, or have evolved to that state over time, we now live in a combative society. We shoot and stab each other to settle disputes, to right alleged wrongs, and, often, for no real reason at all. It is not safe to travel in various parts of our cities. Even tourists to our country are in peril in many areas. In some activities, such as illegal drug dealing and bank robbery, the likelihood of being stabbed or shot is extremely high, even to innocent bystanders.  
           [0005]    Historically, citizens have attempted to secure their personal safety by fashioning garments and other things that ward off penetration by knives and bullets. While the examples are numerous, the most practical means achieved thus far comprise panels made of strong fibers and other hard materials that resist penetration from knives and missiles. With modern guns and high speed bullets becoming more commonplace, the most popular armor has been a mixture of strong plastics and, in severe cases, plates of hard metal. However, strong plastic panels and hard metal plates are bulky and heavy and have not received wide acceptance. In addition, plastic panels and most metal panels cannot stop certain caliber of bullets fired at close range, such as the 7.62 mm, 124 gram FMJ lead-core ball round (7.62×39), popularly known as the AK-47 bullet, which has recently become the caliber of choice for illegal elements of our society.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    This invention is a body armor that is novel in its construction and in its ability to stop penetration by high speed bullets, such as that fired from the AK-47, and by knives. It is rather simple in construction and yet is solid and long-lasting in design and use. In addition, the invention includes a novel method of manufacturing the body armor that is unique in the industry.  
           [0007]    These and other objects of the invention will become more clear when one reads the following specification, taken together with the drawings attached hereto. The scope of protection sought by the inventor may be gleaned from a fair reading of the Claims that conclude this specification. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a top plan and partially sectional view of the preferred embodiment of this invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a top plan and partially sectional view of another embodiment of this invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3; and, FIG. 5 is a top plan and partially sectional view of still another embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0012]    Turning now to the drawings wherein elements are identified by numbers and different numbers are used throughout the five figures, the first preferred embodiment 1 of the invention is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 as a piece of novel body armor comprising a laminate of various materials. Beginning with the heaviest material, a first layer  3  is provided of a uniform thickness of metal, the metal preferably a nickel-chromium-molybdenum steel having a carbon content below 0.3%. This metal exhibits, at +20° C., a yield strength of about 1100 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength of about 1480 MPa, a percent elongation ( 5   d ) of about 9, a lengthwise KCV of 30 Joule/cm 2 , a transverse KCV of 20 Joules/cm 2  and a Brinell hardness of about 470. At −40° C. it exhibits a lengthwise and a transverse KCV of 20 Joule/cm 2 . This type of metal may be obtained at Creusot Loure Industrie, Cresusot Marrel Division, France, under the name, 240 MARS™ and will hereinafter be referred to as MARS™ metal. Layer  3  is characterized by having an outer-facing surface  3 A and an inner-facing surface  3 B and is contoured for close fitting to the body of the user.  
         [0013]    Layer  3  is preferred to be made with uniform thickness throughout, such as 4 mm thick, and has bent edge portions  5 , shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 made along fold lines  7 , at an angle “α” where the angle is set at between 10° C. to 20° C. and more preferably at 11° 20 minutes. Bent edge portions  5  provide closer and more comfortable fitting of layer  3  to the wearer and acts to deflect bullets striking layer  3  in a harmless direction from the wearer.  
         [0014]    First layer  3  is covered with a second thin (e.g. ⅛ inch thick) layer  9  of a cured semi-flexible plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride, to form an easily handleable product. The material is a plastisol PVC/VINYL liquid dip coating and can be obtained, for instance, from Diversified Compounders, Inc., 5701 E. Union Pacific Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90022. The specific material desired is a black dip, having a density of 10.36 at 100% solids, having a cure cycle of 350° -400° F., a cured tensile strength of 1800-2000 psi and a tear strength of 198 pli.  
         [0015]    The front surface of layer  9  faces outward from the user. The rear surface of layer  9  is striped with strips of upstanding hook elements  13  adhered to said surface by glue or other such adhesive and about which more will be said later in this specification. A third layer or mat  15  of organic fiber material is provided having the same surface contour as first layer  3 . It is preferred that the organic material making up third layer  15  comprises a laminate containing at least about 30 layers of a fire retardant, high strength, micro-filament, hi-tenacity fiber fabric, such as Twaron®1000, sewn in one-inch quilt pattern. This material can be obtained, for instance, from Barrday, Inc., 75 Moorefield Street., P.O. Box 790, Cambridge, ON NIR 56 Canada under description FN 2167/160 and has a weight of about 8.5 ounces per yard 2 , a width of about 62 inches, and a thread count of about 22 yarns per inch in warp and 22 yarns per inch in weft. The thread from which it is made contains about 500 filaments, and has a strength at break of about 144,444, a tenacity at break of 1719 mN/tex, an elongation at break of about 2.90% and a chord modulus of about 72 Gpa.  
         [0016]    A cloth cover  17 , such as nylon woven polyamide thread cloth, is placed about all surfaces of mat  15  and sewn together to tightly encapsulate the Twaron 1000. On one broad surface of cloth cover  17 , covering a broad surface of mat  15 , is placed a plurality of strips of releasably engageable polymeric inter-engageable loop-type fastening elements  19 , arranged in the same format as strips of hook elements  13  and adhered tightly to said cloth by glue or other adhesive. Hook elements  13  and loop elements  19  are resilient and deformable and, when pressed together, become intimately entangled, securing strips  13  and  19  together in tight engagement. Strips  13  and  19  can be released from entangled engagement by positively pulling hook elements  13  away from loop elements  19  or vice versa. The loop and hook fabric elements  13  and  19  are available under the trademark “Velcro®”, more specific details of which may be had from U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,437 titled VELVET TYPE FABRIC AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME issued Sep. 13, 1955 to George de Mestral and U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,951 titled DEVICE FOR JOINING TWO FLEXIBLE ELEMENTS issued Dec. 24, 1963 to George de Mestral. The material is hereinafter referred to as “Velcro®” loop material and “Velcro®” hook material, a product of American Velcro, Inc.  
         [0017]    This embodiment of the invention is generally made in varying sizes to fit people of varying stature. For instance, the invention may be purchased in sizes of 10 inches by 12 inches where the device weighs 6.9 pounds. Other sizes are available: 8″×10″ (4.6 lbs.), 6″×8″ (2.5 lbs), and 5″×8″ (2.3 lbs). The suggested method of application is to wear the device with the steel plate (layer  3 ) on the outside. It is a strong armor package that efficiently deflects penetration of missiles and knives.  
         [0018]    As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a second embodiment  21  of the invention is shown, said embodiment being thicker and having different bends, and is sold under the trademark “LifeSaver Max”. This embodiment comprises a thicker plate of metal, such as two 4 mm-thick layers  25  and  27 , of metal such as 240 MARS™ to make an 8-mm thick layer fastened together such as by a bead of welding  29  about the perimeters thereof. Also in this embodiment, layers  25  and  27  are covered with a thin layer  31  of plastisol resin as aforesaid. The plastisol resin coating is thought to aid in deflecting bullets and knife strikes by slowing down the incoming projectile as well as softening the shock of incoming projectiles to the body.  
         [0019]    A plurality of strips of releasably engageable polymeric inter-engageable hook-type fastening elements  33  is provided and arranged on the rearward-facing surface of the thick metal layer. A mat  37  containing at least about 30 layers of a fire retardant, high strength, micro-filament, hi-tenacity fiber fabric, such as Twaron®1000, is provided and sewn in a one-inch quilt pattern. A cloth cover  39 , such as nylon woven polyamide thread cloth, is placed about all surfaces of mat  37  and sewn together to tightly encapsulate the Twaron 1000. On one broad surface of cloth cover  39 , covering a broad surface of mat  37 , is placed a plurality  41  of strips of releasably engageable polymeric inter-engageable loop-type fastening elements, arranged in the same format as strips of hook elements  33  and adhered tightly to said cloth by glue or other adhesive. Hook elements  33  and loop elements  41  are resilient and deformable and, when pressed together, become intimately entangled, securing them together in tight engagement.  
         [0020]    The bends in this second embodiment are the same as in first embodiment 1, except fold lines  43  are parallel to each other and form side panel narrow portions  45  of a thicker plate of metal layer  3  and are bent to angles of 11° 20 minutes. Bent panels  21  also aid in deflecting incoming projectiles to the body.  
         [0021]    This embodiment of the invention is also generally made in varying sizes to fit men and women of varying stature. For instance, the invention may be purchased in sizes of 10 inches by 12 inches where the device weighs 6.9 pounds. Other sizes are available, such as 6″×9″. The suggested method of application is to wear the device with the steel plate (layers  25  and  27 ) on the outside of one&#39;s body.  
         [0022]    As shown in FIG. 5, a third embodiment  49  of the invention is shown, said embodiment being of different construction than the other two embodiments. This embodiment comprises a first or outside layer  51  of organic material containing at least about  7  layers of a fire retardant, high strength, micro-filament, hi-tenacity fiber fabric, such as Twaron®1000, sewn in one-inch quilt pattern. Next is a thin, such as 4 mm thick, layer  53  of MARS™ metal surrounded with a layer  55  of plastisol PVC plastic as afore described. To the inside surface of plastisol layer  55  is placed a plurality of strips of polymeric hook elements  57  such as “Velcro™” as afore described. Next is provided a pad  61  of at least about 30 layers of a fire retardant, high strength, micro-filament, hi-tenacity fiber fabric, such as Twaron®1000, sewn in one-inch quilt pattern. On one broad surface of pad  61  is placed a plurality of strips  63  of polymeric loop elements, arranged in the same format as strips of hook elements  57 . These strips,  57  and  63 , serve to hold pad  61  tightly against plastisol layer  55 . A cloth cover  65 , such as a nylon woven polyamide thread cloth, is placed about all surfaces of mat  51  and sewn together to encapsulate all of the layers therein.  
         [0023]    This embodiment of the invention is also generally made in varying sizes to fit men and women of varying stature. For instance, the invention may be purchased in sizes of 10 inches by 12 inches where the device weighs 6.9 pounds. Other sizes are available such as 6″×9″. The suggested method of application is to wear the device with the steel plate (layers  25  and  27 ) on the outside of one&#39;s body.  
         [0024]    While the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications to the described embodiment of the invention without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that all combinations of elements and steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result are within the scope of this invention.