Patent ID: 8726781

Claim:
A wearable air blast wave energy protection device, the device comprising: (a) a layer of a first material shaped and configured to reflect a substantial portion of incident air blast wave energy comprising a shock front originating from a high-order explosive, the first material having an acoustic impedance substantially mismatched to the acoustic impedance of air; and (b) a layer of a second material shaped and configured for wearing proximate to an exterior portion of a human body, the second material including at least two attenuating-regions, the at least two attenuating-regions including (i) a first attenuating-region having a first inelastic response to the incident air blast wave energy transmitted through the layer of the first material, the first attenuation-region comprising a first yield stress, and (ii) a second attenuating-region having a second inelastic response to the incident air blast wave energy transmitted through the layer of the first material, the second attenuating-region comprising a second yield stress, wherein the ratio of the first yield stress divided by the second yield stress is greater than 1, wherein the layer of the first material includes a front surface and a back surface, the layer of the second material includes a front surface and a back surface, and at least a portion of the back surface of the layer of the first material is proximate to at least a portion of the front surface of the layer of the second material.