Abstract:
A light weight body armor is constructed from offset layers of mosaic like panels. The panels are formed from woven material made from volcanic black rock. The panels are light weight and strong, and the woven material is less expensive than know materials used to construct body armor.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to body armor and in particular to body armor constructed from material made from black volcanic rock. 
         [0002]    Military and law enforcement personnel often must place themselves in locations where hostile gun fire may be experienced. Their missions often require that they cannot maintain cover providing individual protection. Body armor is commonly warn is such situations. Three levels of body armor are commonly known. Level I body armor is suitable to protect the wearer against low velocity pistol bullets, for example, 38 special at up to 850 Feet Per Second (FPS) and 22 at up to 1.050 FPS. Level II body armor is suitable to protect the wearer against 9 mm Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) at up to about 1.090 FPS and 357 Magnum Jacketed Soft Point (JSP) bullets at up to 1,250 FPS. Level III—A body armor is suitable to protect the wearer against 9 mm FMJ at up to 1,400 FPS (this may be from 9 mm sub machine gun or +P ammunition having much higher chamber pressure than common 9 mm ammunition) and 44 Magnum Semi Wadcutter (SWC) bullets at up to 1,400 FPS. Level III body armor is suitable to protect the wearer against standard military rifle ammunition such as the NATO 7.62 by 51 mm ammunition. While known body armor has been certified up to Level III, such body armor is expensive, heavy, and bulky. Therefore, a needs remains for better and less expensive body armor. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a light weight body armor which is constructed from offset layers of mosaic like panels. The panels are formed from woven material made from volcanic black rock. The panels are light weight and strong, and the woven material is less expensive than know materials used to construct body armor. 
         [0004]    In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided body armor comprising protective layers formed from a mosaic of small panels. The body armor includes top and second protective layers, a second protective layer under the top protective layer, a top layer of impact foam under the top protective layer, a layer of woven material under the impact foam, a second layer of impact foam under the layer of woven material and a bottom protective layer including a flexible material and a mosaic of close fitting octagonal panels set to the flexible material. The top and second protective layers includes a flexible material and a mosaic of close fitting octagonal panels set to the flexible material, the panels comprising a top and a bottom plate and a lay-up of layers of inorganic material and resin, the inorganic material made from volcanic black rock. The second protective layer under the top protective layer and including two protective layers offset from each other to overlap the panels of the layers to cover voids between adjacent panels. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0005]    The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein: 
           [0006]      FIG. 1A  is a front view of a ballistic vest made from ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1B  is a side view of the ballistic vest made from the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2A  shows a front view of a single layer of a mosaic pattern of panels according to the present invention for forming the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2B  shows a side view of the single layer of the mosaic pattern of panels according to the present invention for forming the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3A  shows a front view of one of the panels according to the present invention used for forming the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3B  shows a side view of one of the panels according to the present invention used for forming the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4A  shows a front view a protective layer of overlapped mosaic patterns of panels according to the present invention for forming the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4B  shows an edge view the protective later formed of the overlapped mosaic patterns of panels according to the present invention for forming the ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  Shown a cross-sectional view of a level I ballistic material according to the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  Shown a cross-sectional view of a level III ballistic material according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0016]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims. 
         [0018]    A front view of a ballistic vest  10  made from ballistic material  12  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1A  and .a side view of the ballistic vest  10  is shown in  FIG. 1B . The ballistic vest  10  is designed to protect vital organs of a wearer without overly encumbering the wearer. The ballistic vest  10  includes shoulders  14  on each side of a neck opening  16 , and arm cutouts  18 . The ballistic vest  10  may be constructed using different embodiments of the ballistic material  12 , as described below, to provide different levels of protection to the wearer. The ballistic material  12  may be worn exposed to view, or may be worn inside a garment concealed from view. 
         [0019]    A front view of a single layer of mosaic pattern of panels  20  bonded to a mesh backing  24  for forming a protective layer  13  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 2A , a side view of the protective layer  13  is shown in  FIG. 2B , a front view of one of the panels  20  according to the present invention used for forming the protective layer  13  is shown in  FIG. 3A , and a side view of one of the panels  20  is shown in  FIG. 3B . The panels  20  are octagonal, but maybe other shapes, for example, hexagonal, square, triangular, and the like, and the protective layer  13  may be formed from panels having different shapes. In the case of octangular panels  20 , small voids  22  result between the panels  20 . The panels  20  are preferably arranged to limit vertical, horizontal, and/or diagonal gaps G between adjacent edges of the panels  20  to be less than 0.1 inches. 
         [0020]    The panels  20  are formed from a core  28  of layers of woven inorganic material, set with epoxy resin, and sandwiched between plates made from. An example of a suitable material for the plates is aluminum or the like. The preferred woven inorganic material is sold by Barotex Technology Corporation under the trademark BAROTEX. For example, the core  28  may comprise layers of 6 ounce 3 by 1 twill unsized woven BAROTEX® material set with epoxy resin. BAROTEX® material is made from volcanic black rock and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,223,708 for “Inorganic Fabric” issued to the inventor of the present invention and incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The core  28  preferably comprises between 30 and 40 layers of woven inorganic material, and more preferably between 35 and 40 layers of woven inorganic material, and the epoxy resin is preferably a high impact epoxy resin, for example, Parabond # 5130 or a similar resin made by Para-Chem Inc. in Simpsonville, S.C. 
         [0021]    The core  28  is manufactured by pressing the layers of woven inorganic material together under between 300 and 400 Pound per Square Inch (PSI) and preferably under approximately 350 PSI and the core  28  is preferably between 3/16 and 5/16 inches thick and is more preferably approximately ¼ inches thick. The core  28  is preferable post cured for approximately two hours at approximately 475 degrees Fahrenheit to obtain full strength. Plates  26   a  and  26   b  are attached to opposite faces of the core  28  by fasteners (e.g., bolts), by setting in an autoclave, or by pressing and curing in a pressurized oven. The panels  28  may be manufactured as large plates and then after setting and/or curing, cut to a final size, for example, hexagonal in shape and approximately two inches across, although other shapes such as squares or triangles may also be utilized. 
         [0022]    The panels  20  are bonded to a thin layer of mesh to allow the protective layer  13  to fit a wearer and to move with a wearer. The mesh  24  is preferably a mesh of inorganic material and more preferably a mesh of inorganic material made from volcanic black rock, and most preferably a mesh made from BAROTEX® material. The mesh  24  is preferably approximately 0.05 inches thick to separate consecutive layers of the plates  20  to allow the resulting ballistic material to flex. 
         [0023]    A front view of overlapped protective layers  30  formed by overlapped protective layer  13   a  and  13   b  is shown in  FIG. 4A  and an edge view of the overlapped protective layers  30  is shown in  FIG. 4B . The protective layers  13   a  and  13   b  are overlapped to leave no gap greater than the gaps G between adjacent edges of the panels  20  (see  FIG. 2A ). 
         [0024]    A cross-sectional view of a level I ballistic material  36  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 5  and a cross-sectional view of a level III ballistic material  38  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 6 . The level I ballistic material  36  is formed from two overlapping protective layer  13   a  and  13   b , followed by a first layer of impact foam  32   a , for example, Advantic™ syntactic foam made by Cornerstone Research Group in Dayton, Ohio or a similar product, followed by a shock and deflection layer, for example, a layer of woven material  34 , followed by a second layer of impact foam  32   b . The level III ballistic material  38  adds a third protective layer  13   c  following the second layer of impact foam  32   b . Layers of impact foam  32   a  and  32   b  are preferably approximately ¼ inches thick. The layer of woven material  34  is preferably a shock resistant layer of multiple layers of woven inorganic fibers, and more preferably a layer of multiple layers of woven BAROTEX® material. The thickness of the layer of woven material  34  is dependent upon the level of protection required. For example, in the level I ballistic material  36 , the layer of woven material  34  may comprise six or more layers of woven material  34 , and in the level III ballistic material  38 , the layer of woven material  34  is preferably a lay-up of six or more layers of six ounce woven inorganic fibers, and more preferably a lay-up of six or more layers of six ounce woven BAROTEX® material. The layers of impact foam  32   a  and  32   b  is preferably sown through to retain the layer of woven material  34  in position between the layers of impact foam  32   a  and  32   b.    
         [0025]    A layer of polymer is applied between each of the layers of the ballistic materials  36  and  38  to bond consecutive layers and to hold the fibers together while providing flexibility. The polymer layer is very flexible and thus allows the ballistic material to easily flex. An example of a suitable polymer is Tankskin® spray-on polymer made by Armor Systems International in Chatsworth, Calif. 
         [0026]    While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.