Patent Publication Number: US-8539874-B1

Title: Military vehicle window cover

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/452,431, filed Mar. 14, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is particularly useful to military vehicles and is a window cover to protect an occupant of the vehicle from being struck by bullets and allow excellent visibility of objects outside the vehicle. 
     Bullet proof or bullet resistant glass offers some improvement over ordinary glass in combat zones, but even bullet proof glass has its limitations. Typical bullet proof windows are multi-layered assemblies of plastic and glass held in place by a single welded frame that adds hundreds of excess pounds to a vehicle. This type of window also has a high cost of replacement when damaged. Frequently, a single bullet can strike a window and cause tempered glass to fracture into many hairline cracks, or spider cracks that render the window useless. 
     A particularly useful invention to solve some of the aforementioned problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,718. The device has mirrors that may receive projectiles and the driver views objects outside of the vehicle through the mirrors. The mirror that is exposed to the exterior of the vehicle may receive a bullet and have a small hole the size of the bullet upon being penetrated. This invention does not provide adjustment of the view from inside the vehicle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a window cover for a vehicle that has an aperture located in place of a window. The cover has an upper armored plate having a top side, an underside, a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end of the upper armored plate is farther from the window aperture relative to the rearward end. The underside, at least partially, extends beyond an upper edge of the viewing aperture. An upper reflector is beneath the underside of the upper armored plate and is pivotable with respect to the viewing aperture and the upper reflector is pivotable with respect to the upper armored plate. The upper reflector has a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end of the upper reflector is farther from the window aperture relative to the rearward end of the upper reflector. A lower armored plate is spaced below the upper armored plate and positioned in front of the viewing aperture. The lower armored plate is for stopping or deflecting a projectile that is directed toward the window cover. A lower reflector has a forward end and a rearward end. The forward end of the lower reflector is further from the window aperture relative to the rearward end of the lower reflector. The forward end of the lower reflector is higher than the rearward end of the lower reflector. The lower reflector is pivotable with respect to the viewing aperture and the armored plate. The lower reflector is positioned beneath the upper reflector. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a vehicle having the window cover installed on a front window of the vehicle; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the window cover of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the window cover shown in  FIG. 2  showing the opposite side as that shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the window cover shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken about the line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing the upper and lower reflectors in their mounting bracket; 
         FIG. 7  is another perspective view of the upper and lower reflectors in their mounting bracket, with the mounting bracket shown in phantom; 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the upper end lower reflectors and their mounting bracket; 
         FIG. 9  is an exploded perspective view of the end of the enclosure removed; and 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of another embodiment of the window cover. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     The present invention is a vehicle window  10  cover useful for military or other vehicles that are likely to be the target of bullets or projectiles. A vehicle with the cover  10  of this invention installed in the location where a front window would be located is shown in  FIG. 1 . Instead of a window, there is a window aperture  12  located where the window would be located. The window cover has an upper armored plate  14  having a top side  16 , an underside  18 , a forward end  20  and a rearward end  22 . The forward end  20  being farther from the window aperture  12  than the rearward end  22 . The upper armored plate  14  is angled upward so the forward end  20  is higher than the rearward end  22 . The upper armored plate  14  extends beyond an upper edge  28  of the window aperture  12 .  FIG. 3  shows the viewing aperture and that parts of the window cover  10  extend beyond the viewing aperture  28 . An economical installation of the window cover  10  does not require a window to be located behind or within the viewing aperture  12 , thus saving the weight and cost associated with a window. The upper armored plate  14  is typically made of a steel plate thick enough to withstand bullets striking it and it is the top of an enclosure  32  capped by ends  34 . The ends  34  are steel resistant to penetration by bullets. 
     An upper reflector  38  is just below the upper armored plate  14 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . The upper reflector has a forward end  39  farther from the window aperture  12  and a rearward end  41  nearer the viewing aperture  12 . The forward end  39  is higher than the rearward end. The upper reflector  38  can pivot relative to the fixed upper armored plate  14  and viewing aperture  12 .  FIG. 7  shows the mounting bracket  40  that is fixed within the enclosure  32  and holds the upper reflector  38 . The upper reflector  38  pivots about the axis of pivot rod  43 . Rod  43  is located near the middle of the upper reflector. A connector rod  44  is located between the rearward end  41  and pivot rod  40  on the upper reflector  38 . The upper reflector  38  is made of a material penetrable by a projectile, but only leaves a hole the size of the projectile upon being punctured. This material may include a metal honeycomb structure behind a reflective surface. 
     A lower armored plate  46  is below the upper armored plate  14  and in front of the viewing aperture  12 . As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , the lower armored plate  14  spans across the ends  34 . Like the upper armored plate  14 , the lower armored plate  46  is designed to stop or deflect bullets fired at the viewing aperture  12 . 
     Behind the lower armored plate  46  is a lower reflector  48 . The lower reflector has a forward end  50  farther from the viewing aperture  12  and a rearward end  52  nearer the viewing aperture  12 . The forward end  50  is higher than the rearward end  52 . The lower reflector  48  can pivot relative to the viewing aperture  12 . The lower reflector  48  is mounted on pivot rod  54  near its rearward end  52 . A connecting rod  56  is located near the forward end  50 . A control rod  60  passes through pivot rod  54  and moves with the lower reflector  48 . The control rod  60  is spring loaded so that it is urged toward the forward end  50  of the lower reflector  48 . The end of the control rod  60  has teeth  62  that are designed to mate with teeth  64  on a stop block  66 . The stop block  66  is mounted to the mounting bracket  40 . When the handle  68  of the control rod  60  is pulled toward the interior of the vehicle, the teeth  62 ,  64  are disengaged as the teeth  62  on the control rod  60  are pulled away from the teeth  64  on the stop block  66 . The control rod  60  is spring loaded where it passes through pivot rod  54  so that the teeth  62  on the control rod are biased against the teeth  64  on the stop block  66  when the control rod  60  is released. 
     A linkage  70  is pivotally connected near it ends at the connector rod  44  of the upper reflector  38  and connector rod  56  of the lower reflector. The linkage  70  is assembled as shown in  FIG. 7 . As can be seen in  FIG. 7 , the linkage  70  is pivotally connected to the upper reflector  38  rearward pivotal axis of the main pivotal axis of the upper reflector  38  with respect to the window cover  10 , the main pivotal axis of the upper reflector being the centerline of rod  43 . The linkage  70  is connected forward of the main pivotal axis of the lower reflector  48  with respect to the window cover, the main pivotal axis of the lower reflector  48  being the center line of rod  54 . As the lower reflector  48  moves, the linkage  70  will cause the upper reflector  38  to move a proportionate amount. When the handle  68  of the control rod  60  is released the teeth  62 ,  64  will be engaged and hold both reflectors  38 ,  48  in their respective positions. The control rod  60  may be used to pivot the reflectors  38 ,  48  between a shallowest angle of the reflectors  38 ,  48  with respect to horizontal and a steepest angle with respect to horizontal. The highest position of the control rod  60  corresponds to the shallowest angle with respect to horizontal, and the lowest position of the control rod  60  corresponds to the steepest angle with respect to horizontal. The highest and lowest position of the control rod  60  is limited by slot  74 . As the linkage  70  moves the connector rod  44  it will be stopped on the sides of slot  74 . 
     Armored slats  76  span the ends  34  of the enclosure  32 . Each armored slat has an upper surface  80  a lower surface  82  a forward edge  84  and a rearward edge  86 . The forward edge faces away from the upper reflector  38  and the rearward edge  86  is nearer the upper reflector. The thickness of the slats  76  is the distance between the upper and lower surfaces  80 ,  82 . The slats are separated by brackets  84  that maintain a predetermined distance between the slats  76 . The slats  76  are made of steel that is durable enough to deflect a projectile that may strike them. An outer window  88  is placed in front of all of the slats  76  to prevent debris from entering the enclosure  32 . The slats  76  are positioned so that a projectile entering the outer window  88  would have a trajectory that would require it to pass through at least two slats  76  to enter the viewing aperture  28 . The slats  76  are designed of a material that would typically prevent them from being penetrated by a projectile, but in the event that a projectile did pass through one of the slats  76 , the second slat  76  within the trajectory would stop the projectile. A wiper  90  is included to clean the outer window  88 . The window  88  is made from a material that, when punctured by a projectile, will leave a hole only the size of the projectile. 
     The angle of each slat  76 , with respect to horizontal, is slightly different to make them appear optically as thin as possible to an occupant of the vehicle. The slats  76  are aligned so the rearward edge  86  obscures the forward edge  84  of each slat  76  and all that is visible is the thickness of each slat  76  when viewed from inside the vehicle. The slats  76  are aligned so that this happens when the control rod  60  is in between its highest position and its lowest position. 
       FIG. 5  shows lines of light  77  entering the window cover  10  and how they are reflected from the upper reflector  38  to the lower reflector  48 . The configuration shown in  FIG. 5  produces a view that contains four thin lines, one for each slat  76 , across the field of view. 
       FIG. 10  shows a configuration similar to the one in  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  shows a configuration having only horizontal slats  76 . The configuration of  FIG. 10  has only two horizontal slats  76 . Vertical slats  78  are optically aligned with horizontal slats  76 . In other words, the vertical slats  78  are placed so that each of their lowermost edges  79  obscure not only the vertical slat  78 , but also obscures its corresponding horizontal slat  76 . The placement of each vertical slat  78  is along the line light blocked from the horizontal slat  76 . As such, only two lines appear across the field of view of an occupant of the vehicle using the configuration shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     An occupant of the vehicle, who is the user of the window cover  10 , is protected from projectiles and may alter his view of objects in front of the vehicle without leaving the vehicle. As projectiles are fired at the vehicle from above, they will strike a slat and be prevented from passing through the viewing aperture  12 . Projectiles fired at an angle, that would allow them to pass through the slats  76 , would be prevented from reaching the viewing aperture because such a trajectory would be above the viewing aperture. The occupant can change the view by pulling the control rod  60  toward himself to disengage the teeth  62 ,  64 , moving the upper and lower reflectors  38 ,  48  through use of the control rod  60  and then releasing the rod  60  so that the teeth  62 ,  64  maintain the desired position of the reflectors  38 ,  48 . The fact that both reflectors  38 ,  48  are linked means that smaller reflectors can be used to change the view and also means that less movement of the control rod  60  is needed than if just one of the reflectors moved. 
     The invention is not limited to the details given above, but may be modified within the scope of the following claims.