Patent ID: 8424443

Claim:
An armor structure for a vehicle underbody, the armor structure comprising: an inner plate that is mounted proximate to the vehicle underbody, the inner plate having a plurality of first openings; and an outer plate that is mounted distal to the vehicle underbody, the outer plate having a plurality of second openings, wherein the inner plate and the outer plate are substantially parallel and separated by a spacing; the inner plate and the outer plate each have substantially equal V bends at an obtuse angle, and the V bends in the inner plate and the outer plate are aligned; the first openings and the second openings are (i) aligned across the spacing from each other, and (ii) substantially equal in area; wherein, the first openings and the second openings provide fluid communication through the armor structure; and a plurality of ducts equal to the number of first openings and made of a flexible material, each duct connecting one of the first openings with one of the second openings, across the spacing, such that each duct is aligned with one of the first openings and one of the second openings, wherein the ducts are longer than the spacing such that there is overlap into the first openings and the second openings and the ducts are sized to fit into the first openings and the second openings; wherein, when an underbody blast event is encountered by the vehicle underbody, the outer plate is forced towards, and substantially against the inner plate such that the first and second openings are no longer aligned, and the walls of the ducts will collapse when the underbody blast event is encountered such that fluid communication via the each of the first openings is reduced or prevented.