WO2020237360A1

WO2020237360A1 - A flexible body armor pad and a process for making a flexible body armor pad

Info

Publication number: WO2020237360A1
Application number: PCT/CA2020/050705
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jack J. MASSARELLO; Robert A. SOTELO; Zachary B. Spencer; Brian E. Spencer; Andrew H. Weisberg
Original assignee: Global Metallix Canada Inc.
Priority date: 2019-05-28
Filing date: 2020-05-25
Publication date: 2020-12-03

Abstract

A flexible body armor pad and a method of making a flexible body armor pad are disclosed. Fabric sheets Are coated with tough or toughened polymer, stacked together, and then placed into an armor-pad carrying pouch of a bulletproof garment. The fabric sheets are coated with a resin by spraying, soaking, or painting of the tough polymer and cured separately. Advantageously, the coated sheets have superior ballistic resistance properties at reduced cost compared to cost of conventional comparable aramid fiber body armor pads. The described flexible body armor pad conforms to the contours of the wearer's body, and the coated fabric sheets maintain their form so they do not need to be adhered or stitched together.

Description

A Flexible Body Armor Pad and A Process for Making A

Flexible Body Armor Pad

Related Applications

[0001] This application claims priority from United States Provisional Patent Application No. 62/853,508 filed on May 28, 2019.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to body armor such as the one used in bulletproof vests, and more specifically to a flexible body armor pad and a process for making a flexible body armor pad. Background

[0003] Body armor has been used throughout history to prevent injury to the wearer. Bulletproof vests have become an important component of law enforcement and combatants’ gear. They are designed to protect the wearer’s vital organs from injury caused by firearm projectiles. A bulletproof vest is also known as a body armor carrier garment, and is comprised of a vest, which conforms to the body of a wearer. A typical body armor carrier garment includes at least one front pouch and one rear pouch. Each of the front and rear pouches is adapted to carry ballistic armor and/or trauma plates. Most trauma plates are made of a combination of materials such as ceramic, metal, fabric, plastic or polymer.

[0004] Fabric trauma plates or body armor are often known as soft trauma plates. They are typically composed of layers of aramid fabrics such as Polyaramid Polyparaphenylene Terephthalamide known commercially as KEVLAR™ 129 aramid fiber woven cloth, and is manufactured by E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company. Other aramid fiber cloth may be used as well. Conventionally, a plurality of aramid fiber cloth sheets are overlaid with or stacked onto one another and disposed in the pouch within the carrier garment such as a jacket or a vest. Soft trauma plates made of fabric typically do little to reduce trauma, so they are sometimes reinforced with sheets of metal, ceramic, or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) such as the fabric known commercially as Spectra^® to add stiffness and some trauma protection. KEVLAR™ 129 aramid fiber is expensive and having many layers thereof to achieve trauma protection significantly adds to the cost of the garment. Summary of the Disclosure

[0005] In one aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a flexible body armor pad for use in a bulletproof carrier garment having at least one armor pad-carrying pouch. The flexible body armor pad comprises one or more fabric sheets each coated with a tough or toughened polymer. The plurality of fabric sheets are configured for fitting into the at least one armor pad carrying pouch for providing protection to a wearer of the bulletproof carrier garment

[0006] In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a bulletproof garment having at least one flexible body armor pad carrying pouch, and a body armor pad disposed in the at least one body armor pad carrying pouch. The flexible body armor pad comprises a plurality of fabric sheets each coated with a tough polymer.

[0007] In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a process for making a flexible body armor pad for use in a bulletproof carrier garment having at least one armor pad-carrying pouch. The process includes applying a resin of a tough polymer to a fabric sheet and curing the fabric sheet. The fabric sheets can be stacked together to form the flexible body armor pad. The process may include cutting one or more of the fabric sheets to fit into the armor pad-carrying pouch. The applying, curing and cutting may be repeated.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be presented with reference to the attached drawings in which:

[0009] FIG. 1 is schematic diagram of a bulletproof vest featuring a body armor-pad carrying pouch;

[0010] FIG. 2 is perspective view of a flexible body armor pad comprised of a stack of fabric sheets coated with a tough polymer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0011] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the bulletproof vest of FIG. 1 showing the flexible body armor pad of FIG. 2 disposed therein;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a process diagram depicting the steps of making the flexible body armor pad of FIG. 2; [0013] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a body armor pad featuring the flexible body armor pad of FIG. 2 on the strike face thereof and a rigid plate arranged on the opposite face thereof, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a body armor pad featuring a rigid plate on the strike face thereof and the flexible body armor pad of FIG. 2 arranged on the opposite face thereof, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 7 is a diagram of a body armor pad featuring a rigid plate sandwiched between two of the flexible body armor pad of FIG. 2, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0016] FIG. 8 is a diagram of a body armor pad featuring the flexible body armor pad of FIG. 2 sandwiched between two rigid plates, in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description of the Embodiment

[0017] In the present disclosure, embodiments of a flexible body armor pad and a method of making a flexible body armor pad are disclosed. These embodiments are presented below by way of example only and not limitation. Exemplary flexible body armor pads and a method of making a flexible body armor pad are described. Suitably sized pieces of fabric sheets are coated with a tough polymer, stacked together and placed into an armor-pad carrying pouch of a bulletproof garment. At least some of the exemplary embodiments described herein provide superior ballistic resistance properties compared to conventional known alternatives.

[0018] In the present disclosure, directional terms such as“top”,“bottom”,“upwards”, “downwards”,“vertically” and“laterally” are used in the following description for the purpose of providing relative reference only, and are not intended to suggest any limitations on how any article is to be positioned during use, or to be mounted in an assembly or relative to an environment. The use of the word“a” or“an” when used herein in conjunction with the term“comprising” may mean“one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of“one or more,”“at least one” and“one or more than one.” Any element expressed in the singular form also encompasses its plural form. Any element expressed in the plural form also encompasses its singular form. The term“plurality” as used herein means more than one, for example, two or more, three or more, four or more, and the like. [0019] In this disclosure, the terms “comprising”, “having”, “including”, and “containing”, and grammatical variations thereof, are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements and/or method steps. The term“consisting essentially of’ when used herein in connection with a composition, use or method, denotes that additional elements, method steps or both additional elements and method steps may be present, but that these additions do not materially affect the manner in which the recited composition, method, or use functions. The term “consisting of’ when used herein in connection with a composition, use, or method, excludes the presence of additional elements and/or method steps.

[0020] In this disclosure, the term“toughened polymer” refers to a polymer resin loaded with a toughening agent.

[0021] In this disclosure, the term“tough polymer” refers generally to both a polymer that is intrinsically tough (such as Polydicyclopentadiene) without requiring a toughening agent; as well as to a“toughened polymer” as defined above.

[0022] In this disclosure, the terms “urethane” and “polyurethane” are used interchangeably.

[0023] FIG. 1, is a simplified diagram of a bulletproof carrier garment for a body armor, exemplary of the embodiment of the present disclosure. The carrier garment may be in the form of a bulletproof vest 100 as shown, or in the form of other types of suitable garment such as coveralls, sweaters, coats, and the like. The bulletproof carrier garment, such as bulletproof vest 100 features a garment body 110 and a body armor pad-carrying pouch 120. A body armor pad, such as that depicted in FIG. 2, may be inserted into the pouch 120 to provide protection to a wearer of the garment.

[0024] FIG. 2, is a simplified block diagram a flexible armor pad 200, for use in a bulletproof carrier garment. The flexible armor pad 200 may be disposed in pouch 120 of the bulletproof vest 100 of FIG. 1. [0025] Flexible armor pad 200 includes one or more fabric sheets 210a, 210b, 210c, 210d, 210e (individually and collectively“fabric sheets 210”) each coated with a tough polymer 220. Tough polymer 220 may be inherently tough polymer or toughened polymer as defined above.

[0026] In one exemplary embodiment, each of the plurality of fabric sheets 210 is coated with a tough or toughened polymer and cured separately to avoid sticking with other fabric sheets. In other embodiments, sprayers, rollers or other means of applying tough polymer resin to fabric sheets may be used.

[0027] Fabric sheets 210 are stacked together, sized (cut) and shaped for fitting into armor pad-carrying pouch 120 of bulletproof vest 100, for providing protection to the wearer of bulletproof vest 100.

[0028] In some embodiments, the plurality of fabric sheets 210 are all made of the same fabric whereas in other embodiments, some of the fabric sheets 210 may be comprised of a different fabric than the rest of the plurality of fabric sheets 210. In one embodiment, the plurality of fabric sheets 210 are all coated with the same tough polymer 220. In another embodiment, some of the plurality of fabric sheets 210 are coated with a different tough polymer 220 than the rest of the plurality of fabric sheets.

[0029] In one embodiment, the tough polymer 220 used to coat the fabric sheets 210 is Polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD). In another embodiment, the tough polymer 220 used to coat the plurality of fabric sheets 210 is a thermoplastic such as nylon or polyethylene. In yet another embodiment, the tough or toughened polymer used to coat fabric sheets 210 is a toughened thermoset, such as urethane, epoxy, or acrylic.

[0030] FIG. 3 depicts flexible body armor pad 200 placed within the armor pad-carrying pouch 120 of the bulletproof vest 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In another embodiment, the bulletproof vest may have both a front pouch and a rear pouch, each suitable for holding a flexible body armor pad, such as pad 200. In yet another embodiment, a bulletproof vest may have additional pouches on the sides thereof, for holding other flexible body armor pads of different sizes. [0031] The coating of the fabric sheets 210 with the tough polymer, such as PDCPD causes the individual fabric sheets to be loosely adhered to one another. Accordingly, when the sheets are stacked together to form a body armor pad, they are both flexible and slidable in relation to one another thus allowing the body armor pad to be flexible.

[0032] Body armor pad 200 can therefore bend in order to conform to the wearer’ s body. Coating of the fabric sheets 210 with tough polymer also gives the fabric sheets 210 a form, and the sheets tend to retain their flat structure when placed in the armor pad-carrying pouch 120. Advantageously, this alleviates the need to attach the individual fabric sheets together to prevent them from crumbling into a pile at the bottom of the armor pad-carrying pouch 120, as would typically be the case with dry fabric sheets.

[0033] In some embodiments, such as when the bulletproof garment is expected to face strong projectiles, further reinforcement of the bulletproof armor pad may be needed. In such embodiments, at least one rigid plate is arranged with respect to the plurality of fabric sheets to provide a higher-grade ballistic pad. Several examples are illustrated in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8

[0034] FIG. 5 depicts a body armor pad 500 having a strike side 510 comprised of the flexible body armor 200 described above. In the depicted embodiment, a rigid plate 250 is adhered to the fabric sheet farthest from the strike face.

[0035] FIG. 6 depicts a body armor pad 600 having a strike side 610 comprised of a rigid plate 250 having adhered thereto one of a plurality of fabric sheets 200.

[0036] FIG. 7 depicts a body armor pad comprised of two flexible body armor pads 200 having a rigid plate 250 sandwiched therebetween.

[0037] FIG. 8 depicts a body armor pad 800 comprised of two rigid plates having a flexible body armor pad sandwiched therebetween. The rigid plates may be made of ceramic, steel, or any other suitable material of desired stiffness. The thickness of the rigid plates may also be reduced to allow the rigid plates some degree of flexibility or malleability. [0038] In one embodiment, the plurality of fabric sheets contain carbon fiber. Carbon fibers, which are also called graphite fibers, are fibers composed mostly of carbon atoms that exhibit several advantageous properties such as high stiffness, high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. In this embodiment the fabric sheets are comprised of carbon fiber and the tough polymer used to coat the carbon fiber, fabric sheets is PDCPD.

[0039] Ballistic testing has shown that such an embodiment having sheets that are made of carbon fiber and coated with PDCPD exhibits improved performance. In one such ballistic test, a first armor pad comprised a dry stack of fabric sheets of carbon fiber consisting of eighteen (18) plies and a second armor pad comprised a stack of fabric sheets of carbon fiber having six (6) plies coated with PDCPD were provided.

[0040] The ballistic test showed that the first dry armor pad of eighteen plies could not stop a proj ectile that the coated stack of six plies could. Advantageously, the use of a polymer- based resin coating greatly improves the ballistic resistance of the body armor. The six-ply flexible body armor pad tested is also advantageously a fraction of the cost of a comparable body armor pad made from KEVLAR™.

[0041] As a further advantage, the flexible body armor made make from carbon fiber sheets coated with PDCPD has a smaller thickness than that of a comparable pad made from KEVLAR™ making it more comfortable to wear and lighter in weight.

[0042] For example, a typical conventional soft vest made of Kevlar™ or Spectra^® is over 0.5 inches thick often closer to 0.625 to 0.75 inches, whereas in this embodiment the thickness is between 0.2 to 0.3 inches thick, on average 0.25 inches thick.

[0043] This embodiment complies with NIJ 0101.06 Level IIIA standard. NIJ Standard- 0101.06, entitled“Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor,” is a minimum performance standard developed in collaboration with the Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) produced as part of the Standards and Testing Program of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. [0044] Further, most conventional soft armor, particularly thinner versions, require insertion of a plate called a“trauma plate” to reduce trauma to the sternum. This trauma is empirically captured in backface deformation data applicable to soft armor.

[0045] The aforementioned NIJ standard requires backface deformation below 44 mm, which commonly exerts significant trauma to the wearer in the absence of a trauma plate. These trauma plates or inserts are sold separately to supplement soft armor performance. Embodiments exemplary of the present invention perform as standalone solutions that eliminate the need for a trauma plate due to their very low backface deformation which is typically between 16mm - 25mm.

[0046] Embodiments exemplary of the present invention are not as thick as conventional armors. However, the embodiments do not conform to the wearer’s physical features as much as conventional soft armors. One benefit to this level of flexibility is that the embodiments offer stab resistance as well, whereas the conventional soft armor solutions do not offer comparable stab resistance due to being made of fabric based rather than structural based materials.

[0047] Flexibility of embodiments of the present invention may be further characterized by comparison with a thin layer of plastic, such as PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate) used in many common water and soft drink bottles. Some embodiments of the present invention have a the equivalent flexibility exhibited by a flat PETE material of about 12 inch square area.

[0048] Many other types of material may be used to form the fabric sheets. In some embodiments, the fabric sheets may comprise fiberglass while in another embodiment, the fabric sheets comprise Polyaramid Polyparaphenylene Terephthalamide (KEVLAR™). In yet another embodiment, the fabric sheets may comprise of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, such as Spectra^®.

[0049] In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a process 400 for making a flexible body armor pad for use in a bulletproof garment including at least one armor pad-carrying pouch, summarized using a flowchart depicted in FIG. 4. [0050] The process 400 starts at step 410. At step, 420, a fabric sheet is cut into piece of fabric sheet sized to fit into the armor pad-carrying pouch of the desired garment.

[0051] At step, 430 a resin of a tough polymer is applied to the fabric sheet. At step 440, the appropriately sized piece of fabric sheet is cured and the resin forms a coat of tough polymer on the fabric sheet.

[0052] At step 450, the number of sheets made is checked. If it is enough to make a single flexible armor pad, then the coated pieces of fabric sheets are stacked at step 460 to form the flexible body armor pad, and the process ends at step 470. If, however, more fabric sheets need to be made to make a single flexible armor pad, then the process returns to step 420. [0053] In alternate embodiments, the resin may be applied to fabric sheets and cured first, and thereafter cut into suitable sizes to fit into the pad carrying pouch.

[0054] Applying resin of the tough polymer to the fabric sheet may be done in a variety of ways, that will be familiar to persons skilled in the art. In one embodiment, the resin may be applied using a paint roller while in another embodiment, the resin may be sprayed onto the fabric sheets. In yet another embodiment, the fabric sheet is soaked in the resin until the fabric is saturated therewith.

[0055] The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples of the present disclosure. Alterations and modifications may be effected thereto, by those of skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible body armor pad for use in a bulletproof carrier garment having at least one armor pad carrying pouch, the flexible body armor pad comprising:

one or more fabric sheets each coated with a tough polymer, configured for fitting into the at least one armor pad carrying pouch for providing protection to a wearer of the bulletproof carrier garment.

2. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein said one or more fabric sheets, comprises a plurality of fabric sheets.

3. The flexible body armor pad of claim 2, wherein one or more of the plurality of fabric sheets comprises a different fabric than the rest of the plurality of fabric sheets.

4. The flexible body armor pad or claim 2, wherein one or more of the plurality of fabric sheets are coated with a different tough polymer than the rest of the plurality of fabric sheets.

5. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the tough polymer is Polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD).

6. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein said one or more fabric sheets of comprises fabric sheets of carbon fiber having six (6) plies coated with PDCPD.

7. The flexible body armor pad of claim 6, having a ballistic performance such that a projectile that pierces a dry stack of fabric sheets of carbon fiber consisting of upto eighteen (18) plies is stopped by said fabric sheets of carbon fiber having six (6) plies coated with PDCPD.

8. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the tough polymer is a thermoplastic.

9. The flexible body armor pad of claim 8, wherein the thermoplastic is nylon.

10. The flexible body armor pad of claim 8, wherein the thermoplastic is polyethylene.

11. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the tough polymer is a toughened thermoset.

12. The flexible body armor pad of claim 11, wherein the toughened thermoset is urethane.

13. The flexible body armor pad of claim 11, wherein the toughened thermoset is epoxy.

14. The flexible body armor pad of claim 11, wherein the toughened thermoset is acrylic.

15. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the one or more fabric sheets are comprised of carbon fiber.

16. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the one or more fabric sheets are comprised of fiberglass.

17. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the one or more fabric sheets are comprised of Polyaramid Polyparaphenylene Ter ephthal amide.

18. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the one or more fabric sheets are comprised of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.

19. The flexible body armor pad of claim 2, wherein the plurality of fabric sheets are arranged to be slidable in relation to one another thereby allowing the body armor pad to conform to the wearer’s body.

20. The flexible body armor pad of claim 2, further comprising a strike plate arranged with respect to the plurality of fabric sheets to provide a higher-grade ballistic pad.

21. The flexible body armor pad of claim 20, wherein the strike plate is comprised of metal or ceramic.

22. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the tough polymer is a toughened polymer.

23. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, having a thickness between 0.2 inches to

0.3 inches.

24. The flexible body armor pad of claim 1, wherein the armor pad is compliant with NIJ Standard-0101.06, entitled“Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor”.

25. The flexible body armor pad of claim 24, wherein backface deformation is less than 25mm.

26. The flexible body armor pad of claim 25, wherein the backface deformation is 16mm - 25mm.

27. A bulletproof garment, comprising: at least one body armor pad carrying pouch; and

a body armor pad disposed into the at least one body armor pad carrying pouch for providing protection to a wearer of the bulletproof carrier garment; wherein the body armor pad comprises one or more fabric sheets each coated with a tough polymer.

28. A process for making a flexible body armor pad for use in a bulletproof carrier garment including at least one armor pad carrying pouch, the process comprising: applying a resin of tough polymer to a fabric sheet; and

curing the fabric sheet.

29. The process of claim 26, further comprising: cutting the fabric sheet into a piece sized to fit into the armor pad-carrying pouch.

30. The process of claim 27, further comprising:

repeating one or more of said applying, said curing and said cutting, to obtain a plurality of pieces of fabric sheets having resin applied thereon; and

stacking the plurality of pieces of fabric sheets having resin applied thereon to form the flexible body armor pad.

31. The process of claim 27, wherein said applying the resin of the tough polymer comprises coating the fabric sheet with the resin using a paint roller.

32. The process of claim 27, wherein said applying the resin of the tough polymer comprises spraying the resin on the fabric sheet.

33. The process of claim 27, wherein said applying the resin of the tough polymer comprises soaking the fabric sheet in the resin until the fabric is saturated therewith.