An Improved Protective Material or Armour for Military, Naval, and other Purposes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 14th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
'
An Improved Protective Material or Armour for Military, Naval,
and other Purposes.
I, FERDINAND FRITZ, Baron de Slavitien, commonly known as Ferdinand von
Fritz, of 21, Woburn Place, Russell Square in the County of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved protective material or armour which shall
be shot or bullet proof and capable of withstanding heavy blows, and therefore
especially suitable for military or naval purposes; nevertheless it can equally well
be employed for other purposes where resistance to impact is to be obtained.
According to my invention, I form the improved material from the fibre of the
Rhea or Ramie, commonly known as china-grass, which is a variety of Böhmeria,
and is very tenacious. These fibres are advantageously arranged all in the same
direction, and when a sheet thereof, of the required size and thickness, is pro-
duced, it is covered on both sides with canvas, or other suitable material, and the
whole is then sewn together; or if preferred, the fibres may be first sewn together
and then covered with the canvas or other material. The sheet thus produced may
then be subjected to pressure so as to flatten it and to render it less bulky.
I sometimes interpose oiled cloth or similar material between the canvas or other
covering and the fibres, so as to prevent moisture affecting the fibres.
The material when made as above stated is suitable for withstanding pistol-shots;
but when it is required to withstand rifle shots, I employ, in combination with the
fibres, strips or bars of tempered steel, or of aluminium, or of iron, arranged
preferably vertically and parallel the one to the other, and with their edges
standing at right angles to the plane of the sheet. By increasing the thickness of
the sheet, as well as that of the strips or bars, the material can be rendered
capable of withstanding shot from heavy guns. These plates, when deprived of
the metal strips or bars, are also suitable for covering or armour-plating ships,
vessels, forts & c. When used for naval purposes I coat the sheets with tar so as to
prevent the sea-water from injuriously affecting them.
This improved material can also be employed for purposes other than military
or naval, as, for instance, as a substitute for the woodwork, covering the framing of
railway carriages, so that should such carriages be in collision, they will offer great
resistance to compression and thus reduce the risk of injury to passengers.
As before stated, this material can be made of any required thickness or strength
to suit the purpose in view; and furthermore, by reason of its comparative lightness,
it is easily transportable, and can be worn in the form of cuirasses or breast-plates,
or the like, without causing fatigue to the wearer.
Dadhi 001 1. of M 1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Protective Material or Armour for Military, Naval,
and other Purposes.
I, FERDINAND FRITZ, Baron de Slavitien, commonly known as Ferdinand von
Fritz, formerly of 21 Woburn Place, Russell Square, but now of 4 Craven Street,
Charing Cross, in the County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
This invention relates to an improved protective material or armour which shall
be shot or bullet proof and capable of withstanding heavy blows, and therefore
especially suitable for military or naval purposes; nevertheless it can equally well
be employed for other purposes where resistance to impact is to be obtained.
According to my invention, I form the improved material from the fibre of the
Rhea or Ramie, commonly known as china-grass, which is a variety of Böhmeria,
and is very tenacious. These fibres are advantageously arranged all in the same
direction, and when a sheet thereof, of the required size and thickness is produced,
it is covered on both sides with canvas, or other suitable material, and the whole is
then sewn together; or, if preferred, the fibres may be first sewn together, and
then covered with the canvas or other material. The sheet thus produced may then
be subjected to pressure.
I sometimes interpose oiled cloth or similar material, between the canvas or
other covering and the fibres, so as to prevent moisture affecting the fibres.
The material when made, as above stated, is suitable for withstanding pistol
shots, but when it is required to withstand rifle shots I employ in combination with
the fibres, strips or bars, of tempered steel, or of aluminium, or of iron, arranged
preferably vertically and parallel the one to the other, and with their edges standing
at right angles to the plane of the sheet. By increasing the thickness of the sheet,
as well as that of the strips or bars, the material can be rendered capable of with-
standing shot from heavy guns. These plates, when deprived of the metal strips
or bars, are also suitable for covering or armour-plating ships, vessels, forts, etc.
When used for naval purposes I coat the sheets with tar so as to prevent the sea
water from injuriously affecting them.
And in order that my invention may be readily understood, I will describe the
same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Fig. is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a transverse section on the line 1, 1, showing
a portion of an armour plate made from Rhea or Ramie fibre in accordance with
my invention.
Fig. 3 is an elevation and Fig. 4 a transverse section on the line 2, 2, showing a
portion of a sheet, block, or plate composed of the Rhea or Ramie fibre combined
with metal strips or blades arranged edgewise within an internal metal casing.
Fig. 5 is a transverse section of a portion of a sheet block or plate composed of
Rhea or Ramie fibre and metal strips or blades, but without the before mentioned
casing.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing some of the metal strips or blades, and
the manner in which they are strung upon retaining wires or rods.
In carrying out my invention, I first take a sheet u, of linen, canvas, or other
suitable material, and upon this I lay a sheet & composed of oiled cloth, or other
waterproof material. Upon this latter I arrange the fibres c all parallelly and in
superposed layers until a sheet of the desired thickness for the purpose in view be
obtained. I then lay upon the fibrous layer, another sheet of oiled cloth, and
above this another sheet of linen, canvas, or other suitable material. The whole is
now sewn together by vertical and transverse rows of stitching d, d, shown by

page_text: dotted lines in the drawings, and the sheet, block, or plate thus formed is now
placed in a press and subjected to pressure so as to produce a sheet, block, or plate
of uniform density. Or, if preferred, the fibres may be first sewn together and
then covered with the waterproof material and the canvas. After, removal from
the press the edges are cut and trimmed, and the sheet, block, or plate is then ready
for use, either alone, or in combination with the metal strips. I may, in some
cases, dispense with the oiled cloth although it is preferable to employ it so as to
prevent moisture affecting the fibres.
I do not previously treat or prepare the Rhea fibre in any manner, as it can be
used in the same condition as that in which it is commercially procurable.
When employing the metal strips or blades in combination with the fibrous
plates, blocks, or sheets, I take two of such plates, blocks, or sheets produced as
above described and between these I interpose a metal casing e (Figs. 3 and 4)
containing any suitable number of metal strips or blades f. This casing is not
nade of the same size in area as the fibrous plates, blocks, or sheets, but rather
smaller, so that a space is left between the two plates blocks, or sheets, all
round the edge of the casing, and the interior width of the casing is just suffi-
cient to allow of the strips or blades being easily placed thereinto. This casing
may either be provided with a lid, or he formed with one of its sides prolonged
so that when the strips or blades are in place said prolonged portion may be
simply turned over the mouth of the casing and thus retain the strips therein.
The space between the two fibrous plates, blocks, or sheets, is filled with felt,
or other suitable material, g, which, while keeping the casing in position, acts as
a filling to keep the plates, blocks, or sheets level. These sheets and the filling are
then securely sewn together by rows of stitching h, h, extending along the edges of
the sheets as seen at Fig. 4.
The metal strips or blades may be made from tempered steel, aluminium, iron
nickel, and each blade is made taper, or is narrower at its front longitudinal edge
than at its back, as is seen at Figs. 4, 5, and 6, thus a comparatively sharp surface
or knife edge is presented towards the shot or projectile upon which a shearing
effect will be produced directly it strikes against the blades. The blades are also
formed with a hole near each end, to enable them to be strung upon wires or rods/',
the ends of such wires being bent or turned down so as to keep the blades one
against the other, and to enable them to be readily placed within the casing e.
The length of these blades may be increased, should it be desired to produce a
sheet, block, or plate of greater dimensions, by stringing them together in such
a way that the wire is caused to pass through the hole at the upper end of one
blade and through that at the lower end of another blade.
In some cases the casing can be dispensed with, and the strips or blades f be
placed directly between the two sheets of Rhea fibre, as shown at Fig. 5, and in
this case each sheet of fibre would be about 2% in thickness. Armour thus made
will resist marine mitrailleuse bullets of 4, 5 and 6 centimetres.
I may also here state that armour constructed as shown by Figs. 1 and 2, when
made of about 1 centimetres in thickness, is capable of resisting ordinary pistol
shots, while that shown by Figs. 3 and 4 is capable of resisting fire from all the
latest small arms at about 47 metres distance, the thickness of the Rhea fibre sheets
in this latter instance being each about 1 centimetres, the metal strips or blades
about 8 millimetres wide, 2 millimetres thick at the back portion, and one
millimetre thick at the front. For resisting heavier shot, such as that from forts,
or from ships cannon, etc., and when employing armour constructed as shown
at Fig. 5, each of the fibrous plates, blocks, or sheets should be about 24 centimetres
thick. Such armour could also be used to protect battle ships against fish
torpedoes.
This improved fibrous armour can also be employed for purposes other than
military or naval, as, for instance, as a substitute for the woodwork covering the
framing of railway carriages, so that, should such carriages be in collision, they will
offer great resistance to impact and thus reduce the risk of injury to passengers.

page_text: As before stated, this fibrous armour can be made of any required thickness or
strength to suit the purpose in view, and furthermore, by reason of its comparative
lightness, it is easily transportable, and can be worn in the form of cuirasses or
breast plates, or the like, without causing fatigue to the wearer.
When using this fibrous armour plating for ships, forts, or other naval purposes,
it may be coated with tar to prevent the sea water injuriously affecting it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved fibrous armour or armour plating for military, naval and other
purposes, composed of the fibre of the Rhea or Ramie arranged in superposed layers
and in parallel order between sheets of canvas, or other suitable material, and with or
without waterproof material interposed between the fibres and said sheets, the
whole being then sewn together so as to form blocks, plates, or sheets, and finally
subjected to pressure, or pressed first and then sewn, substantially as described and
as shown with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the annexed drawings.
2. The construction of fibrous armour or armour plating, from Rhea or Ramie
fibre formed into blocks, plates, or slabs, and between two of which blocks, plates,
or slabs, is interposed a casing containing tapered metal strips or blades arranged
edgewise, substantially as described and as shown with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of
the accompanying drawings.
3. The construction of fibrous armour or armour plating, from Rhea or Ramie
fibre formed into blocks, plates, or slabs, between two of which sheets, blocks, or
tapered metal strips or blades are interposed and arranged edgewise, substantially
as described and shown with reference to Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.
4. My improved armour or armour plating for military, naval and other purposes,
substantially as described and shown with reference to the annexed drawings.
1
1000
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ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 6, Victoria Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicant.