Lightweight armor with slide region for slidably redirecting projectiles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9459079-B1
Application number	US-201514871495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 30, 2015
Priority date	Sep 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

A lightweight armor for resisting penetration by both fragments and high velocity sharply pointed projectiles. The lightweight armor includes a slide region and a receiving region, with the slide region having a backing material coated with polyurea to slidably redirect projectiles towards the receiving region, which may include high strength thickened projectile stopping materials.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A lightweight armor assembly for resisting penetration by both fragments and high velocity sharply pointed projectiles, the lightweight armor assembly comprising:
a structure having a substantially sinusoidal profile in an X-Y coordinate reference system, comprising:
a plurality of slide regions for slidably redirecting high velocity projectiles, each slide region comprising a substantially V-shaped protrusion elongated in the Y-direction, having an apex and a base, wherein each substantially V-shaped protrusion comprises,
a backing material having a thickness t; and
a polyurea coating over the backing material, the polyurea coating having a thickness t c , said polyurea coating being converted to a lubricated slide surface when contacted by said high velocity projectiles, and

a plurality of receiving regions for receiving and stopping high velocity projectiles, either redirected from the sliding region or emanating from another source, each receiving region comprising:
a substantially flat lateral section wherein the substantially flat lateral section does not form a continuous curved parabolic shape with the substantially V-shaped protrusion elongated in the Y-direction, the substantially flat lateral section having a thickness T, thicker than the backing material thickness t, extending in the X-direction between the substantially V-shaped protrusions and contacting each substantially V-shaped protrusion at a respective base of said plurality of slide regions, and wherein the substantially flat lateral section does not include a polyurea coating.

2. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 1 , wherein in the substantially sinusoidal profile, the thickness t of the backing material is ⅛ inches to ⅜ inches, the thickness t c of the polyurea coating is 1/16 inches to ⅕ inches, and the thickness T of the substantially flat lateral section is ⅝ inches to 1 inch.

3. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 2 , wherein in the substantially sinusoidal profile, each of the substantially V-shaped protrusions has an apex angle α that is 45 degrees.

4. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 3 , wherein the structure having a substantially sinusoidal profile is a corrugated plate in an X-Y-Z coordinate reference system, the corrugated plate having a first end and a second end, wherein each substantially V-shaped protrusion extends from the first end to the second end in the Z-direction, the plurality of substantially V-shaped protrusions extending parallel to each other in said Z-direction, and wherein each substantially flat lateral section extends from the first end to the second end in said Z-direction, the plurality of substantially flat lateral sections extending parallel to each other in said Z-direction.

5. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 4 , wherein the substantially V-shaped protrusions have holes which form ridges for stopping and/or redirecting projectiles towards the receiving region.

6. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the substantially flat lateral sections of the respective receiving regions comprise steel.

7. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the substantially flat lateral sections comprise steel having a concave upper surface.

8. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 4 , wherein each of the substantially flat lateral sections comprises a steel portion having a ceramic plug inserted therein.

9. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 3 , wherein the structure having a substantially sinusoidal profile is a 3 dimensional plate in an X-Y-Z coordinate reference system, in which the substantially V-shaped protrusions are right circular cones elongated in the Y-direction and spaced apart in the X-Z plane, and in which the plurality of receiving regions extend between the cones in said X-Z plane.

10. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 9 , wherein the cones have holes which form ridges therein for stopping and/or redirecting projectiles towards the receiving region.

11. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 9 , wherein each of the substantially flat lateral sections of the respective receiving regions comprises steel.

12. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 9 , wherein each of the substantially flat lateral sections of the respective receiving regions comprises steel having a concave upper surface.

13. The lightweight armor assembly of claim 9 , wherein each of the substantially flat lateral sections of the respective receiving regions comprises steel having a ceramic plug inserted therein.

Assignees

• Dudt Philip
• Littlestone Alyssa
• Us Navy

Inventors

• Dudt Philip
• Littlestone Alyssa

Classifications

• F41H5/023 Primary

  Armour plate, or auxiliary armour plate mounted at a distance of the main armour plate, having cavities at its outer impact surface, or holes, for deflecting the projectile · CPC title

• F41H5/0457 Primary

  Metal layers in combination with additional layers made of fibres, fabrics or plastics · CPC title

• F41H5/0442 Primary

  Layered armour containing metal (in combination with ceramic layers F41H5/0421; heat treatment of armour plate C21D9/42) · CPC title

• F41H5/0492

  Layered armour containing hard elements, e.g. plates, spheres, rods, separated from each other, the elements being connected to a further flexible layer or being embedded in a plastics or an elastomer matrix · CPC title