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[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/408,631 filed Jan. 5, 2002.
[0002] The present invention relates to protective body armor that meets NIJ Standard-0101.04 for Type IIIA, II and IIA ballistic threats. More particularly, this invention relates to ballistic resistant panels used in such protective garments.
[0003] Protective garments like personal body armor are constructed with inserts of ballistic resistant panels, which protect the wearer from the impact forces of a fired projectile. Personal body armors are classified into several types by the level of protection they provide. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has defined minimum performance requirements for the ballistic resistance of personal body armor according to the type of ballistic threat. According to NIJ Standard-0101.04, which is herein incorporated by reference, ballistic resistant body armor suitable for full-time wear throughout an entire duty shift are classified as Types I, IIA, II, and IIIA. Of these, Type IIIA protects against the greatest ballistic threat followed by Type II, Type IIA, and Type I in decreasing order of ballistic protection. Body armor which provides protection against a greater ballistic threat would also meet the requirements for protection against the lesser ballistic threats under the NIJ classifications. For example, body armor which protects against a Type III ballistic threat also protects against Types II, IIA, and I threat levels. In addition to the level of ballistic protection, it is important that the body armor be comfortable to wear so that that the persons it is intended to protect are more inclined to wear it and may wear it without difficulty over extended periods of time.
[0004] Conventional ballistic resistant panels are constructed of multiple woven plies of high-tensile-strength fibers such as aramid fibers. Examples of ballistic resistant fibers which are commercially available include Kevlar® which is manufactured by E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Company of Wilmington, Del. and Twaron® T-2000 which is manufactured by AKZO NOBEL, Inc. Typically, the woven plies in the ballistic resistant panels are held together with tight stitches sewn through multiple plies. This results in compacted layers which form a more or less solid ballistic panel. In order to protect the wearer of the garment, substantial numbers of compacted layers are used which tends to make the protective garment bulky, heavy and uneconomical. It would be advantageous to have ballistic resistant panels which provide the same protection level as prior art panels but with a lesser number of plies.
[0005] It is an object of the invention to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art.
[0006] It is another object of the invention to provide a ballistic resistant panel for use in protective garments which is light-weight and economical to manufacture.
[0007] It is a further object of the invention to provide a ballistic resistant panel which meets NIJ Standard-0101.04 for Type IIIA, Type II and Type IIA ballistic threats.
[0008] In accordance with an object of the invention, there is provided a ballistic resistant panel comprising at least two layers, the layers having multiple plies of a woven fibrous material, the multiple plies of each layer being loosely stitched together within the respective layer, the layers being fastened together at the periphery of the panel.
[0009] In accordance with another object of the invention, the ballistic resistant panel has three layers, the plies of the first and third layers being loosely stitched together in a square pattern, the second layer being disposed between the first and third layers, and the plies of the second layer being loosely stitched together in a crossed-diagonal pattern.
[0010] In accordance with another object of the invention, the ballistic resistant panel has two layers, the plies of the first layer being loosely stitched together in a square pattern, and the plies of the second layer being loosely stitched together in a crossed-diagonal pattern.
[0011]
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[0021]
[0022] The ballistic resistant panel of this invention is constructed of at least two layers of multiple plies of high-tensile-strength fibrous materials. Preferably, the fibrous material is comprised of lyotropic liquid crystal polymer fibers. An example of which is ZYLON® manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd. of Osaka, Japan. ZYLON® is a high-tensile-strength fiber which consists of rigid-rod chain molecules of poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole)(PBO). The lyotropic liquid crystal polymer fibrous material within the embodiments described herein is preferably constructed of fibers that have a denier of 500 and a thickness of 0.037 in.
[0023] As described above, prior art panels typically are held together with tight stitches sewn through multiples plies of ballistic resistant material. The tight stitching tends to compact the layers of the panel, yielding a more or less a solid panel. Unlike the prior art, loose stitching is used to join the multiple plies within the layers of the panel of this invention. This allows for some movement within each layer of the panel. The layers are then fastened together at the periphery of the panel which further provides for a generally loose panel construction. Since the layers are held together only at the periphery of the panel, the layers are allowed to have independent movement as they come into contact with the projectile.
[0024] The discovery that loosely connected plies of material react much better in absorbing ballistic impact forces was unexpected and contrary to conventional thinking. While not wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that loosely stitched layers react similar to someone hitting a ball into a pillow. Each layer is independently deformed in the direction of the impact force and progressively diminishes the energy of the projectile. Since the ballistic resistant panels of present invention absorb the energy of a fired projectile much better than the tightly stitched prior art panels, fewer plies of ballistic resistant material can be used to achieve the same level of protection. This makes the panels much lighter in weight and less expensive to manufacture.
[0025]
[0026] Referring to
[0027] As shown in
[0028] Preferably, panel TABLE 1 TYPE IIIA Ballistic Panel 0-30 Bullet Ve- Pen- Sam- Sample Wet deg. Wt. (gr) locity etration ple Weight Dry Angle Caliber & type (Fps) BFS (mm) 1-1 4.25 Wet 0 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1431 36 1-2 4.25 Wet 30 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1429 38 1-3 4.25 Wet 0 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1438 36 1-4 4.25 Wet 30 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1432 37 1-5 4.25 Wet 0 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1445 37 1-6 4.25 Wet 30 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1420 39 1-7 4.25 Wet 0 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1445 29 1-8 4.25 Wet 30 44 Mag 240 SJHP 1428 29
[0029] A second embodiment of the present invention for NIJ Standard-0101.04 Type II ballistic threats is shown in cross-section in
[0030] As shown in
[0031] Preferably, panel TABLE 2 TYPE II Ballistic Panel 0-30 Bullet Ve- Pen- Sam- Sample Wet deg. Wt. (gr) locity etration ple Weight Dry Angle Caliber & type (Fps) BFS (mm) 2-1 3.67 Wet 0 357 Mag 158 JSP 1439 28 2-2 3.67 Wet 30 357 Mag 158 JSP 1439 28 2-3 3.67 Wet 0 357 Mag 158 JSP 1459 29 2-4 3.67 Wet 30 357 Mag 158 JSP 1451 30 2-5 3.67 Wet 0 357 Mag 158 JSP 1438 42 2-6 3.67 Wet 30 357 Mag 158 JSP 1438 29 2-7 3.67 Wet 0 357 Mag 158 JSP 1464 27 2-8 3.67 Wet 30 357 Mag 158 JSP 1462 30
[0032] A third embodiment of the present invention for NIJ Standard-0101.04 Type IIA ballistic threats is shown in cross-section in
[0033] As shown in
[0034] Preferably, panel TABLE 3 TYPE IIA Ballistic Panel Pen- 0-30 Bullet Ve- etration Sam- Sample Wet deg. Wt. (gr) locity BFS ple Weight Dry Angle Caliber & type (Fps) (mm) 3-1 3.00 Wet 0 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1054 27 3-2 3.00 Wet 30 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1050 26 3-3 3.00 Wet 0 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1051 27 3-4 3.00 Wet 30 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1057 25 3-5 3.00 Wet 0 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1048 27 3-6 3.00 Wet 30 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1047 27 3-7 3.00 Wet 0 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1052 25 3-8 3.00 Wet 30 40 S&W 180 FMJ 1046 28
[0035] While there have been provided several embodiments of the invention, there are many other variations of the invention which may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.