Patent ID: 8826795

Claim:
A structure for protecting vehicle occupants from a blast beneath a vehicle, the structure mitigating vehicle hop caused by the blast wherever the blast occurs under the vehicle, the structure comprising: a vehicle hull; a V shaped hull section of the vehicle hull, the V shaped hull section located on an underside of the vehicle, the V shaped hull section having an oblique body panel facing outboard and downward relative to the vehicle; a wall panel of the vehicle disposed adjacently above and along the oblique body panel; a border defined by a juncture of the oblique body panel and the wall panel; means for creating a downward force on the vehicle in response to the blast, the creating means being a blast redirection structure consisting of a flat, blade-like blast deflector vane located along the border and located entirely outboard of the oblique body panel and the wall panel, the blast deflector vane disposed at an acute angle βwith the oblique body panel; and the blast deflector vane attached to the V shaped hull section.