Patent Application
20120174275
This invention relates to protective garments, and more particularly to concealable body armor commonly know as a ballistic vest having improved fit and comfort for women.
Ballistic vests have saved the lives of many law enforcement officers in recent years. As a result, law enforcement agencies have made it mandatory for their officers to wear a ballistic vest while on duty. Ballistic vests have been available in recent years as a protective panel having overlying layers of a fabric made from woven high tensile strength fibers. Woven fabrics from an aramid fiber know as Kevlar, for example, have been used successfully in ballistic vests because of the high energy absorption properties of the fabric material. The material is also reasonably light in weight and flexible, which provides improved comfort when compared with previous vests which were made of metal and were therefore heavier and more rigid. The comfort of a ballistic vest is extremely important, especially to law enforcement officers, because of the heat build-up that occurs from wearing a heavy and inflexible vest for the long hours an officer is on duty. Resistance to projectile penetration is a principle factor in designing a ballistic vest; and added protective layers can offer greater protection against projectiles having the higher threat levels, but added protective layers also adds undesired weight and inflexibility of the vest.
In addition to woven Kevlar fabric layers, ballistic vests have been made from other high strength fibers and composites to reduce weight and improve flexibility of the vest. However, ballistic vests using the lighter, more flexible materials also must offer the required minimum levels of protection against penetration by different types of projectiles. Comfort and fit, although important considerations in the design of concealable ballistic vests, must not outweigh the need to provide complete ballistic protection.
Consequently, there is a need to provide a ballistic vest that is reasonably light in weight, is highly flexible and comfortable, and is also capable of meeting the high performance projectile specifications of, as an example, the National Institute of Justice standards. Providing such a vest at a reasonably low cost for the comparable high performance level is also a desirable objective.
Problems associated with currently available concealable soft body armor ballistic vests that attempt to meet these objectives include the vest not being designed to accommodate different body styles. Consequently, standard design of previously available vests either inadvertently exposed areas of the body or provided an uncomfortable fit for the wearer.
Another drawback from currently available ballistic vest designs is the inability to comfortably fit a female wearer. Pleats and darts which create seams are required to accommodate the bust. Added seams detract from comfort and fit. Variation in anatomy among women also prevent a single vest design from uniformly fitting all women wearers. Notches have been incorporated into the ballistic panel for female wearers to address the problem of accommodating female anatomy as disclosed in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,737. The vest of the '737 patent is marketed by Safari Land Ltd., Inc. under the trade name ZERO G, and is a concealable ballistic vest. Although notches can be varied in size to address the differences in female anatomy amongst wearers, a further need exists for an improved concealable vest design which specifically addresses the specific needs of the female wearer.
The present invention provides a ballistic vest of the soft body armor type which has been designed to improve the fit and comfort of the ballistic body armor for women. The present invention provides a soft body armor ballistic vest comprising a plurality of overlying first flexible layers arranged in a stack on strike side of the vest and a plurality of overlying second flexible layers arranged in a stack on a body side of the vest. Preferably, each first flexible layer comprises a thin, flexible, woven fabric layer made of high tensile strength polymeric fibers. The individual woven fabric layers are secured to each other as a unit to form a soft, flexible woven fabric first panel for the vest. Preferably, each second flexible layer comprises a thin, flexible imperforate fiber-reinforced plastic sheet comprising an array of plastic fibers imbedded in a thermal plastic resinous matrix that forms each film sheet. The second layers overlie each other substantially without attachment to one another and as a combination are referred to as a second panel of the vest. The first and second panels are both located in the front and rear of the vest. Although this is a preferred ballistics package, any type and number of ballistic packages which meet any threat level are contemplated for use in the present invention. The vest of the present invention preferably is designed to be concealable, however, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts are equally applicable to ballistic vests which are worn on the outside of the wearer's clothing or uniforms.
The ballistic vest of the present invention incorporates a new and improved carrier which is a stretch garment that is worn over the soft body armor ballistic packages. The garment holds and contours the front and back soft armor panels to the body of the wearer. The garment is attached to the soft armor components. The modular outer garment is designed to pull and shape the soft armor ballistic panels to the body. Better fit improves comfort. Stretchability of the outer garment holds the ballistic panels to the body. A commercially available material known as BreathOPrene can be used for the stretchable outer garment and is moldable and provides the characteristics of wicking, breathability and antimicrobial properties for the ballistic vest. The stretchable outer garment is fastened to the panels by elastic straps having hook and loop fasteners to engage a front and rear portion of the supportive outer garment itself or directly to the ballistic panels. Another commerically available material for the outer garment is a nylon lycra mesh commerically available under the trade name PowerMesh™.
The ballistic vest of the present invention also incorporates an improved shape of the ballistic panels and the carrier for the panels wherein the back ballistic package extends around the sides of the wearer as well as including a side bust portion to protect the side of a woman's bust. A smaller front panel is incorporated to protect the chest, top and front bust and abdomen of the wearer. The shapes of the ballistic panels uses a unique draping angel for the ballistic shapes that avoid forcing the panel into impossible compound curvatures. Using a composite draping angle allows the ballistic panels to conform to the contours of the wearer in a non-static configuration. This design utilizes protection for the side of the bust as a component of the back ballistic panel versus conventional designs which incorporated side protection of the bust with the front ballistic panel. The ballistic vest of the present invention also incorporates a chest trauma plate made of pressed polyethylene, steel or metal alloy that has three-dimensional compound curves designed to fit over female bust shapes.
The ballistic vest 10 of the present invention is shown in
The front section 18 includes a center portion 22 which would be positioned approximately along the center of the front panel. Side portions 24 and 26 extend laterally away from center section 22 which extend around the sides of the wearer. Shoulder straps 28 and 30 extend upwardly away from center section 22 towards the shoulders of the wearer. Back section 20 of supportive garment 16 also includes a center portion 32 which roughly would be positioned along the center section of the rear panel and side portions 34 and 36 extend laterally away from center portion 32. Side portions 34 and 36 extend around the sides of the wearer for mating with side portions 24 and 26 of front section 18. Shoulder strap portions 38 and 40 extend upwardly away from center portion 32 and extend over the shoulders of the wearer to mate with shoulder sections 28 and 30 of front section 22. Cooperating fasteners, such as hook and loop material, are placed at the ends of each side portions 24 and 26 and 34 and 36 and shoulder portions 28, 30, 38 and 40 for attaching the portions to one another. Although hook and loop fasteners have been identified to attach the front and rear sections of the supportive garment together, other known fasteners are also contemplated by the present invention. Alternatively, the front section and the rear section of the supportive outer garment can have cooperating hook and loop fasteners for engagement with hook and loop fasteners positioned on the front and rear panel of the ballistic packages and therefore be attached directly to the ballistic packages instead of to each other.
The supportive outer garment 16 preferably is made of a stretch nylon, neoprene or other stretchable synthetic material to hold and contour the front ballistic panel and the rear ballistic panel to the body of the wearer. The advantage of the modular outer supportive garment 16 is that it is designed to pull and shape the soft armor panels to the body. Another advantage is that the outer supportive garment can be removed from the ballistic panels prior to laundering thereby extending their useful life. The outer supportive garment creates an external harnessing system which creates a more modular and simple ballistic vest. The removable harness system can be utilized to hold custom fit ballistic packages close to the body creating a more contoured system for an individual wearer.
Referring to
This combination of front and rear ballistic package configuration provides a unique ballistic pattern shape giving optimal shape and coverage with flat, soft, multi-layer armor. The design of the front and rear ballistic packages uses a unique draping angle for the ballistic shapes that avoids forcing the panels into impossible compound curvatures.
When used in combination with the supportive outer garment 54, as shown in
Referring to
Although the present invention as been shown and illustrated with a preferred embodiment thereof, the invention is not to be so limited since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/854,318 filed Oct. 24, 2006.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60854318 | Oct 2006 | US |
