Patent ID: 8438963

Claim:
An integrally formed high density ceramic pellet for use in a ballistic armor plate, said ceramic pellet having a longitudinally extending body portion and an impact receiving end face wherein at least a major portion of said body portion is either circular or hexagonal in cross-section and said impact receiving end face comprises: an impact receiving proximal segment; and a distal segment; wherein said proximal segment is convexly curved and said distal segment of said impact receiving end face merges with a nominally designated top surface of said body portion, wherein said distal segment of said end face comprises lateral surfaces characterized by: a region comprising at least a portion which is concave in configuration; or a region comprising a substantially smooth angled configuration, wherein a cross-sectional area of said distal segment at the area of merger is greater than a cross-sectional area taken across a nominally designated base of said proximal segment and wherein the length of the contour line of the outer surface of the distal segment in longitudinal cross-section is between 5 and 25% of that of the length of the contour line of the entire integrally formed impact receiving end face in longitudinal cross-section.