Body Armor Protection System

Abstract

The present invention relates to a body armor system designed to maximize protection, optimize mobility and reduce fatigue. More particularly, the system consists of a set of external, highly ergonomic hard armor plates in both ballistic and non-ballistic (riot) configurations, some of which utilize articulating, and / or interleaving segments, in combination with ballistic fabrics and or highly contoured pressed foam padding and harness systems that is flexible and lighter but still provides maximum protection. According to a preferred embodiment, an articulating plate assembly is formed by using plate segments that have at least two (2) step variation in the thickness of each plate along the adjoining seam line between each plate segment so as to facilitate an interleaving, articulating plate system that aids in defeating projectiles that may strike along the seam of adjoining plate segments.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a body armor system designed to maximize protection, optimize mobility and reduce fatigue. More particularly, the system consists of a set of external, highly ergonomic hard armor plates in both ballistic and non-ballistic (riot) configurations, some of which utilize articulating, and / or interleaving segments, in combination with ballistic fabrics and or highly contoured pressed foam padding and harness systems.BACKGROUND OF INVENTIONThere are numerous body armor systems available on the market today. However, such systems tend to be heavy and bulky.U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,489 discloses a flexible body armor that is relatively lightweight and capable of biaxial flexure is disclosed. The flexible body armor employs a novel penetration-resistant hinge for joining adjacent armor plates along one axis and uses sliding overlaps between the same adjacent armor plates along the perpendicular axis in order to achieve biaxial flexibility. Also d...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

It is an object of the present invention to provide a body armor system that maximizes protection, optimizes mobility and reduces fatigue.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system of highly ergonomic hard armor ballistic plates, preferably twelve (12), designed to match the contours of the human body, which utilizes soft armor ballistic border panels and are held in place with a unique pressed urethane foam pad harness system that is designed to match the contours of each plate and provide a strong, lightweight, buoyant support system that aids in the reduction of the overall system weight.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system wherein the knee cap is protected through the use of specific contours that remove all weight and pressure from the knee when kneeling, and places the force of the wearer's body against the upper portion of the shin, thus alleviating any potential wear stress on the knee.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a body armor system that can easily integrate additional components to improve wearability, functionality or some other aspect of the armor such as wires for communication, tubing for cooling systems or substances for chemical and / or radiological protection.

The present invention is designed and manufactured in such a way as to maximize protection while at the same time reducing weight and providing unprecedented mobility as compared to current military systems such as the Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) as developed for the Army and the Modular Tactical Vest (MTV) as developed for the Marine Corps. The present invention allows for an increased hard armor plate coverage area without an increase in overall weight by reducing soft armor panel size compared to prior systems. The design of the present invention in combination with a lightweight pressed foam pad and harness system results in a reduction of over 4 lbs as compared to comparable systems while providing increased hard plate coverage and a better weight distribution as a result of highly contoured geometry.

Problems solved by technology

However, such systems tend to be heavy and bulky.

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