Patent Grant
8627756
1. Technical Field
This document relates to the field of armor to protect vehicles and other objects against damage from ballistic devices such as small arms ammunition, fragmentation from explosive devices, and the like. More particularly, this document relates to “non-metallic” armor, that is, armor that is not composed primarily of metal.
2. Background Art
Armed confrontations may occur with alarming frequency in today's world. Such confrontations may range from organized warfare to urban police encounters, and may include such activities as guerrilla warfare, exchanges between security forces and irregulars, encounters with gangs or individual criminals, and/or terrorist attacks. Targets of such attacks and encounters may be military personnel, police, and other security forces, or civilians, either as individuals or in small or large groups.
When people who anticipate that they might be the targets of such attacks are in open areas, many commonly wear body armor to prevent injuries from bullets or fragmented metal from explosive devices. Police officers, military personnel and security officers commonly wear such body armor. However, when such people are riding in vehicles, due to issues of practicality and comfort, many do not wear the body armor. Further, civilians who are riding in vehicles do not normally have body armor even if it would be valuable to wear it, since most do not anticipate that they will be attack targets. For those riding in a vehicle, the best protection is to armor the vehicle. Armoring of vehicles has been done for a long time. Normally such armoring has involved attachment of heavy metal plates (usually steel plates) to the exterior of the vehicles or, where vehicle appearance remains important, placed within the body walls and doors of the vehicle. Such metal plates are usually extremely heavy, very difficult to install, adversely affect the performance of the vehicle, and are costly. All of these adverse factors affect not only the use of armoring for civilian vehicles such as cars and trucks but also armoring of military vehicles, since the military has limited funds and personnel available for extensive armor-related projects.
It is desirable to have available vehicle armor which is lightweight, effective, readily installed and replaced if damaged, and which is available at reasonable cost, to insure that the maximum number of vehicles can be armored and the armor can be readily maintained by immediately available personnel without major diversion of such personnel from other necessary duties. It is further desirable for such armor to also be useful for protection of structures other than vehicles, such as buildings of many types, including hard-wall and soft-wall buildings. In addition, it is desirable to have a method for the manufacture of such armor based on a refined, well-developed, technically advanced process, which provides high production rates and high quality product, and which is also cost-effective.
Aspects of this document relate to non-metallic armor articles. In one aspect, this disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing bulk ballistic laminate articles comprising aligning a plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in a planar array and feeding a resin compound into the planar array to create at least one cross-sectional wet-out path of resin compound in a selected geometry, wherein portions of the plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in the planar array around the at least one cross-sectional wet-out path are substantially dry.
Particular implementations may include one or more of the following: The method may further comprise pultruding a housing around the planar array of ballistic broad goods sheets and the at least one cross-sectional wet-out path of resin compound, the housing and cross-sectional wet-out path defining a continuous cavity within the housing, and the cavity encompassing at least a portion of the substantially dry planar array. In more particular implementations, the cross-sectional wet-out path may be continuous, and the method may further comprise cutting the portion of the substantially dry planar array from a remainder of the planar array by cutting along the continuous cross-sectional wet-out path of resin compound. The selected geometry may have a curvilinear shape, and the plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in the planar array within the curvilinear shape forms a curvilinear array of ballistic broad goods sheets.
Particular implementations may further comprise forming a housing around the planar array of ballistic broad goods sheets by at least one of resin infusion, pressure molding, compression molding, press forming, vacuum forming, and injection molding. The resin compound may be fed into the planar array in-line with a pultrusion process that adds a housing around the planar array. The resin compound may be fed into the planar array directly to each sheet of the plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in the planar array. The resin compound may be fed into the planar array to at least one of the sheets of the plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in the planar array by feeding the resin compound through another of the sheets in the planar array.
The selected geometry may comprise a plurality of resin pads positioned at various locations throughout the plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in the planar array so that each layer of the planar array comprises at least one resin pad joining it to an adjacent layer of the planar array. The selected geometry may further comprise at least two resin pads on adjacent layers of the planar array being aligned with each other. The resin pads may be formed by feeding the resin compound through adjacent sheets to a majority of the sheets in the planar array.
In particular implementations, the resin compound-fed planar array comprises a ballistic laminate, and the method may further comprise: forming a housing inner portion around a mandrel, placing at least one ballistic laminate around the housing inner portion, and forming a housing outer portion over the housing inner portion and the at least one ballistic laminate to form a ballistic laminate article.
In particular implementations, forming the housing inner portion may comprise forming the housing inner portion around the mandrel with a wet forming process. Forming the housing outer portion may also comprise forming the housing outer portion around the mandrel with a wet forming process. Forming the housing outer portion may also comprise forming the housing outer portion around the mandrel by at least one of resin infusion, pressure molding, compression molding, press forming, vacuum forming, and injection molding.
In particular implementations, feeding the resin compound into the planar array may comprise injecting the resin compound into the planar array through a plurality of resin injection needles near simultaneous with forming a housing around the planar array through pultrusion of the planar array and the housing through a fabrication mechanism. Aligning a plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in a planar array may comprise aligning the plurality of ballistic broad goods sheets in the planar array with predetermined spacings between the sheets.
According to another aspect, a method of forming a non-metallic armor article may comprise: aligning a plurality of ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in a planar array of ballistic impact resistant broad goods, and pultruding a housing around the planar array of ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets, the housing defining a cavity within the housing, the cavity encompassing at least a portion of the planar array such that the encompassed portions of the ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets within the cavity are substantially dry.
Particular implementations may include one or more of the following: The method may further comprise suffusing only a portion of the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in the planar array with a resin compound prior to pultruding the housing around the planar array such that the spatial relationship between the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets is maintained and the encompassed portions remain substantially dry. Suffusing only a portion of the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in the planar array may comprise suffusing a continuous resin saturated area surrounding a portion of the planar array within the cavity of the housing and spaced from a boundary of the housing, the portion of the planar array surrounded by the continuous resin saturated area comprising substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets. Suffusing only a portion of the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in the planar array may comprise suffusing a plurality of resin saturated areas at pre-defined locations within a planar boundary of the housing. Suffusing only a portion of the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in the planar array may comprise forming a continuous resin compound portion extending between a top housing layer and a bottom housing layer.
In particular implementations, the method may further comprise cutting through the housing on the continuous resin saturated area surrounding the portion of the planar array and removing the portion of the planar array surrounded by the continuous resin saturated area, a portion of the housing and a portion of the continuous resin saturated area, at least one of the removed and remaining portions comprising the non-metallic armor article. Particular implementations may further comprise simultaneously suffusing only a portion of the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in the planar array with a resin compound while pultruding the housing around the planar array such that the spatial relationship between the at least two ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets is maintained and the encompassed portions remain substantially dry. Pultruding the housing may comprise spacing the pultruded housing from the planar array of ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets.
In another aspect, a non-metallic armor laminate article may comprise: a pultruded laminate housing defining at least one cavity, and a plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets in a planar array within the cavity and held in spatial relationship by side-walls to the cavity.
Particular implementations may comprise one or more of the following: The at least one cavity of the armor article may comprise two or more cavities, each cavity comprising a portion of the plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets. The two or more cavities may be separated from one another by a substantially parallel and/or substantially horizontal cavity division, or at some other angle. The spatial relationship separating the at least two substantially dry ballistic layers may measure from about 1 nm (10-9 m) to about 25,000 nm or greater.
Particular implementations of an armor article may further comprise a supplemental layer interposed between the pultruded housing and at least one of the plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets. Particular implementations may further comprise a resin saturated area located between one or more boundaries of the pultruded housing. The resin saturated area may be delineated by one or more template patterns located on an outer surface of the pultruded housing. The resin saturated area may comprise a continuous resin saturated area extending through the planar array between a top housing layer and a bottom housing layer, the continuous resin saturated area forming the side-walls of the cavity.
The foregoing and other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art from the DESCRIPTION and DRAWINGS, and from the CLAIMS.
The present document relates generally to “non-metallic” armor. As defined herein, a “non metallic” armor is an armor that is not primarily composed of metal. Traditional metal armor, such as armor plating, is formed from masses of metal, commonly iron or steel. While such metallic armor is commonplace today, and in fact many “armored” vehicles are either directly made of such metallic armor (e.g., the bodies of tanks) or are otherwise covered with sheets of such metallic armor, such is not relevant to the present document. The present armor is a non-metallic armor that is formed with little or no metal. It finds primary use for application to “unarmored” vehicles, such as automobiles, utility vehicles and many kinds of trucks, of both light and heavy duty varieties, to provide for ballistic impact protection to such vehicles which (although of course being made in large part of metal) are not themselves capable of effectively withstanding such ballistic threats while protecting their contents and occupants.
Various particular implementations of non-metallic armor, along with their methods of manufacture using pultrusion (and other related methods) are described herein. The scope of the present disclosure therefore may be, in some particular implementations, based on an intersection of the product and its method of manufacture. While the product and process of manufacture both incorporate some elements from the prior art, the claimed products and processes of manufacture represent combinations and enhanced performance which are significantly different from the structures and methods in which such prior art elements were found in the past.
The various implementations of non-metallic armor articles disclosed are designed to provide an improved and cost effective hard armor for use on vehicles, structures and other similar applications. The fabrication processes disclosed provide for securing and retaining engineered protective broad goods in exact orientation as a substantially dry laminate during manufacturing and within the finished armor product. In particular implementations, as the broad goods are pulled into position or after they are pulled into position, an outer hard-shell (pultruded housing, described below) is formed around the dry laminate. This hard shell forms a pultruded housing which secures the broad goods not only in exact orientation but also in prescribed tension. Since the broad goods thus remain substantially dry within the final pultruded product, they are able to provide increased ballistic performance over non-dry broad goods. Furthermore, because of the hard encasement to the dry broad goods, the broad goods layers are not subject to repeated bending or distortion that can cause abrading as occurs with conventional soft armor. Conversely, unlike existing hard armor, the cross section of the various particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles disclosed herein do not include a resin matrix that can compromise the individual ability of the fibers to the broad goods from performing their work in discharging kinetic energy from the ballistic threat; thereby providing increased protection and damage tolerance.
As described further below, the various implementations of non-metallic armor articles disclosed may be formed by pultruding (i.e., drawing or pulling) one or a plurality of sheets or layers of engineered dry ballistic resistant broad goods into a cavity of a fiber reinforced polymeric composite material body during its simultaneous formation by pultrusion and curing as a pultruded housing for the broad goods layers. This outer pultruded housing, which at least partially encloses a portion of the dry broad goods, may comprise a resin-impregnated roving and may also include additional broad goods that, together, are formed and cured by the pultrusion process to wrap the dry ballistic engineered broad goods in a protective and structural covering. Upon curing of the pultruded housing material (curing may involve the application of heat, in some particular implementations), the broad goods layers become at least partially engaged with and secured within the pultruded housing, as will be described in more detail below.
Engineered ballistic-resistant broad goods are well known, and many different types of commercially available materials may be used in the various implementations of non-metallic armor articled described and made possible from an understanding of the principles taught herein. The concept of using ballistic-resistant broad goods for protection against ballistic impact is well known. Broad goods (such as one or more of the plurality substantially dry broad goods sheets described further herein) are typically made as dry mats or weaves consisting of a multitude of fibers which, upon being struck by a projectile such as a bullet, deform, compact, and/or elongate in order to absorb and dissipate the kinetic energy of the projectile.
The layering of multiple broad goods substantially increases the effectiveness of armor, as each successive layer further reduces the kinetic energy of a projectile. When the layers are in a multiple array, the tension of each layer and the spacing between them may be arranged such as to allow each layer to deform and elongate appropriately to provide the optimum absorption of energy at each layer. Those skilled in the art can readily determine proper tension and spacing based on the ballistic impacts that the particular non-metallic armor article is anticipated to encounter. It is contemplated that the various layers in an array may be tensioned at substantially the same tension levels, at different tension levels, or slacked depending upon the particular needs of an implementation based on its intended use and the broad goods used. It is also contemplated that development of such broad goods will continue and that new such broad goods not currently known or used will come into the marketplace. It is anticipated that such newly developed broad goods may be equally applicable in the particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles disclosed herein. Suitable ballistic-resistant broad goods are commonly made of fibers that include, but are not limited to glass fibers, aramid fibers (e.g., Kevlar), or similar fibers, and/or any combination thereof. The architecture of the basic broad goods may also vary from application to application. Specifications including the general fiber filament size, count, and type as well as the general fiber orientation to the woven, mat, or other “fabric” may vary, particularly as required for adaptation to specific ballistic threats.
A typical example of a ballistic fiber broad good is shown in
The general configuration of the pultruded housing 32 (with the encased substantially dry broad goods sheets) to form the armor product 30 is illustrated in
The specifications of the outer impregnated and cured pultruded housing 32 that locks the highly engineered broad goods in alignment within the finished products is also application specific. The proper wall dimension of the pultruded housing 32 provides structure to the specific application while also not impeding the ballistic component of the dry and precisely contained ballistic fibers. Therefore, it may be desirable in many applications for the wall thickness of the outer shell to vary. This further feature can provide a highly rigid structure to the inner face while presenting a less rigid, but fully environmentally resistant outer skin that will not adversely affect the physics involved in providing efficiency to the disposition and management of kinetic energy imposed during a ballistic threat. Those skilled in the art can readily determine the appropriate makeup and thicknesses of pultruded housing wall for various vehicles and for ease of handling and intended performance. Typically, the thickness (dimension “T” in
The materials from which the pultruded housing 32 is made can be any of a variety of polymeric matrix materials (housing substrate), normally thermosetting materials, reinforced with any one or more of a variety of different fibrous materials. Suitable thermosetting matrix polymers include, but are not limited to, cross-linked polyethylene or polypropylene, phenolics, epoxides, polyesters, silicones, and vinylesters. Reinforcing fiber yarns and strands may be of glass, ceramic, graphite, various synthetics, silica and the like.
An example of an application of for armor products 30 is illustrated in
While armor products 30 may be in the configuration of simple flat sheets, the products can likewise be pultruded in various configurations including flat and curved panels of specifically engineered dimensions (As described further below with respect to
As noted, pultrusion processes in general are well known and thoroughly developed. They are best described in my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,156,787 (1992); 5,462,620 (1995) and 5,495,922 (1996), with more recent aspects also described in my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,690,770 (1997) and 6,479,413 (2002). Commercial pultrusion manufacturing plants are in current operation in the United States based on the principles described in these patents. With respect to a first process implementation of the present disclosure, the first pultrusion process differs from the prior art pultrusion processes (which are commonly used for production of solid-section products) in that a forming die 60 (
Crosshatching is shown for the purpose of differentiating the different components and not for the purpose of defining materials. In the particular implementation shown with respect to
The pultrusion process disclosed with reference to
Yet another benefit of the non-metallic armor article products disclosed herein is their favorable thermal properties. Polymeric materials are well known to absorb less heat, maintain lower surface temperature and have substantially less thermal expansion and contraction than metal plates. Thus, for a vehicle in use in a desert or other hot climate, the interior temperature of a vehicle in the sun may be significantly less than it would if the vehicle had been armored with metal plates, thus affording more comfort for the vehicle's occupants and less likelihood of heat damage to vehicle contents, while also potentially reducing the vehicle heat signature that can be used for targeting by the unfriendly force.
Turning now to
In any event, the at least one cavity 72 comprises at least one upper wall 74 and at least one lower wall 76. It will be appreciated that virtually any material or combination of materials can be used to form a pultruded housing 32. By way of non-limiting example, and as described further below with respect to
With respect to any of the particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles disclosed with respect to
The type of material and/or dimensions of one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 used in any particular implementation may vary according to the particular implementation of non-metallic armor article being formed. For example, one or more substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may be identical to one another, or one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may be different from one another. In addition to the possibility that two or more of the plurality substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may comprise different materials and/or dimensions than one another, the number of the plurality substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 used in a particular implementation of a non-metallic armor article may vary according to the particular implementation being used. By way of non-limiting example, a comparison of
By way of further non-limiting example, in those particular implementations having more than one layer of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10, the layers of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may all comprise the same type of ballistic fabric, or various different types of ballistic fabric may be used. The ballistic fabric may utilize any type of fiber. For instance, the ballistic fiber may comprise fibers of aramid (such as Kevlar), carbon, boron, glass, or any other type of natural, synthetic or hybrid fiber.
In addition, as described more fully below with respect to
The one or more substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may utilize any fabric architecture and, in some particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles, the fabric architecture may vary from layer to layer as may be desirable for a particular application of the technology. For instance, one or more of the plurality substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may be oriented differently from another or offset a certain number of degrees. If the fibers in the one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 are oriented uni-directionally, as an example, the one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 may be oriented so that the fibers are offset from layer to layer a certain amount of degrees, or the direction of fibers from layer to layer may be random, or the direction of fibers from layer to layer may be substantially the same direction, or any combination of the foregoing. As described further with respect to
Turning now to the non-limiting example provided in
In any event, the pultruded housing 32 engages at least one of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10. In some particular implementations, a peripheral edge 70 of the pultruded housing 32 may engage one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 only adjacent to their side edges 82. Nevertheless, in other particular implementations, a portion of the pultruded housing 32 other than a peripheral edge may engage one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 at a location other than one or more of their side edges.
With respect to any of the particular implementations illustrated in
Turning now to
Still referring to
Referring now to
Still referring to
Turning now to
Turning now to
The pultruded housing 32 is at least partially joined with and may engage the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 in a state of tension, in a neutral state, or in slack or in any series or combination of such states depending on the desirable operational characteristics of the particular implementation of non-metallic armor article being used. A pultruded housing skin 100 may comprise two or more separate skin sheets 102 and 104 before the pultrusion process, as shown in
In any event, housing skin sheets 102 and 104 may comprise a variety of different fabrics, fibers, resins, shapes, configurations, constructions, and so forth, consistent with this disclosure. A fabrication process embodied by the assembly 98 may be configured to allow a resin (or other compound, solution, and/or the like) to at least partially suffuse the pultruded housing skin and/or one or more layers of the substantially dry ballistic fabric 10 during pultrusion.
Still referring to
In some particular implementations, a pultruded housing 32 may alternatively comprise a non-pultruded skin. For instance, some process other than fabrication process embodied by the assembly 98 may be used to at least partially join or engage a skin with the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10. As an example, various other processes that can be used to produce the non-metallic armor article include, but are not limited to: resin infusion; pressure molding; compression and/or press forming; vacuum forming; injection molding; and/or numerous variations and/or adaptations of processes utilizing substantially the same principles. An example of a pultrusion process relevant to the present process is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,270, issued Feb. 19, 868, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
In those particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles (and/or processes of forming such particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles) where a resin is used to form a composite, any resin system known in the art could be used. By way of non-limiting example, the resin could comprise any acrylic resin, any alkyd resin, any amino resin, any bismaleimide resin, any epoxy resin, any furane resin, any phenolic resin, any polyimide resin, any unsaturated polyester resin, any polyurethane resin, any vinylester resin, any cyanate ester resin, any silicone resin, any arylzene resin, any hybrid resin, any protein resin and/or any other natural and/or synthetic resin system.
Like the example shown and described with reference to
Referring still to
As illustrated in
As depicted in
Significantly, in some particular implementations of non-metallic armor article, a reinforced resin area 106a, 106b and one or more cavity divisions (such as horizontal cavity division 88 and vertical cavity division 92) may be one in the same. For instance, as illustrated in
Still referring to
In some particular implementations of a fabrication process, a waterjet or other cutting mechanism may cut along one or more resin saturated areas 106 to yield a final product (e.g. a non-metallic armor article). By cutting along the centerline path of one or more resin saturated areas 106a, 106b (as shown by the dotted lines 72) on resin saturated areas 106a, 106b, one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 remain anchored to the remaining portion of the resin saturated area 106a, 106b to produce items of predetermined geometry (such as a square shape), while assuring that all of the substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 comprising array 116 remain captured in their specific position and/or array. All of the substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 comprising array 116 may also be sealed “weather tight” within a pultruded housing 32 produced by the skin 100.
As noted above, substantially dry broad goods sheets array 116 depicts a plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 (layers 10a-10g, in this particular implementation). In the assembly 98, the broad goods sheets 10 (and/or array 116) are pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow 111 during the fabrication process. As the one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 (and/or array 116) are pulled in this direction, the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 are introduced into one or more cavities 72 located within the pultruded housing 32 (which may be formed by outer skin 100 and 102). As the fabrication process continues, the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 are at least partially enclosed by the pultruded housing 32. Resin saturated areas 106a and 106b may be formed, as described above, by injection elements 110. As the process continues, the individually saturated outer skin sheets 102 and 104 are pulled into the die mouth 114 and/or resin injection block (and around the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 forming array 116), as the entire mass is pulled through a final forming and curing die. Fabrication machinery 114 is also a possible location for one or more resin injection mechanisms for wetting the outer skin sheets 102 and 104 (and/or a single skin in those particular implementations employing only a single skin).
Once an entire mass exits the fabrication machinery 114, the pultruded housing 32 is engaged with plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10 such that the pultruded housing 32 is at least partially secured to one or more of the plurality of substantially dry broad goods sheets 10. In addition to the foregoing, once an entire mass exits the fabrication machinery 114, the mass is a fully cured non-metallic armor article portion and can be machined on-the-fly, including by engaging waterjets and/or other equipment. Alternatively in some particular implementations of a fabrication process, one or more finished non-metallic armor article portions can be cut to predetermined lengths then sent to secondary process stations where specialized shapes (including one or more “windows” or other through apertures can be cut).
In some particular implementations of a fabrication process, an ink or pigment (not shown) can used to mark one or more outer skins 100 and 102 (and/or a formed pultruded housing 32) so that the full-cross-section resin paths (in other words, the resin saturated areas106a and 106b) are visually apparent. In other particular implementations, various materials can be mixed into a resin and/or applied to a surface (of one or more of the plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets 10 and/or a array 116, and/or an outer skin 100, and/or an outer skin 102, and/or a formed pultruded housing 32) concurrent to the formation of the full-cross-section resin path (of one or more resin saturated areas 106) so that automated equipment with sensing capability can easily detect the location of the full-cross-section resin paths (of one or more resin saturated areas 106). Ink or pigment, or metallic tracing could also be used to indicate a cut line (such as dotted line 108) along one or more resin saturated areas 106. This arrangement may be particularly useful, for instance, if the cutting is to be done in a separate process or at another facility.
While the foregoing fabrication process embodied by the assembly 98 may be used to manufacture a non-metallic armor article, many other processes could alternatively be used. Some of these have already been explained. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other processes such as, but not limited to, resin infusion, pressure molding, compression and press forming, and numerous variations and adaptations of processes utilizing substantially the same principles, may be used to manufacture a non-metallic armor article consistent with these disclosures. After manufacture (such as via fabrication process embodied by the assembly 98), one or more non-metallic armor article portions may be used in conjunction with various “pin-carriage” vehicle frame adaptations (mounting posts) so that one or more layers of armor articles may be stacked (together or spaced) to allow variable protection to a vehicle or structure.
Turning now to
Some of the processing variations described above are generally used to produce products of substantially uniform cross sectional properties, meaning all or most of the reinforcing fibers 126 are retained within a matrix 132 having generally homogenous cross-sectional properties. In some particular implementations, however, a non-metallic armor article may comprise a matrix 132 wherein the reinforcing fibers, configured as one or more broad goods sheets, remain substantially dry or un-bound, or generally non-homogeneous in the cross section so that the reinforcing fibers 126 can act effectively in defeating ballistic, fragment, and blast shock threats.
By non-limiting example,
The term “substantially dry” is also specifically intended to encompass various situations where one or more reinforcing fibers 126 comprising the one or more of the plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets 10 are individually or as a group suffused, treated and/or coated with at least semi-wet chemicals, including lubricants, before the non-metallic armor article is processed (such as via fabrication process embodied by the assembly 98), and then after processing of the non-metallic armor article some residuals of the chemicals and/or lubricants remain. The term “substantially dry” is also intended to encompass various situations where one or more reinforcing fibers 126 are coated in a “pre-preg” resin which is substantially pre-cured (and/or pre-dried) before processing of the non-metallic armor article, but where the pre-preg resin does not “lock” or bind a majority of the individual fibers during processing of the non-metallic armor article due at least to one or more particular processing parameters being optimized to ensure that the pre-preg resin does not bind a majority of the individual fibers during processing.
By way of non-limiting example, some reinforcing fibers 126 may be coated with pre-preg resin after individual fibers 126 are twisted into a roving or bundle (not shown) of individual fibers, or during the process of producing woven materials. To ensure “substantially dry” fibers, one or more reinforcing fibers 126 could be chosen that do not have significant amounts of pre-preg resin, or the temperature and/or pressure during processing could be configures to ensure that substantial bonding of fibers to one another via the pre-preg resin does not substantially occur. Some insubstantial amount of bonding between fibers would be acceptable and the fibers 126 in such a scenario would still be considered “substantially dry” as that term is meant to be used in this application.
The novel purpose of maintaining one or more reinforcing fibers 126 in a substantially dry state within an outer skin (and/or a pultruded housing 32) is to allow the reinforcing fibers 126 to substantially remain unbound and unrestricted in their movement as they react to ballistic impacts from bullets, ordnance, fragments, and so forth. As such, even if one or more pre-preg fibers were used, and even if a substantial amount of the reinforcing fibers 126 were bonded to one another during processing, but the bonds were substantially weak such that in an impact the fibers would easily break away from one another and would be almost instantly free to move with respect to one another, this would also be a situation where the reinforcing fibers 126 would be considered substantially dry. In summary, the touchstone of “substantially dry” or is how easily the fibers may move with respect to one another during an impact. If they are substantially unrestricted in their movement with respect to one another during an impact, even if they are weakly bonded before the impact, they are “substantially dry” as that term is meant to be understood in this application.
In addition to the foregoing, it will be understood that a non-metallic armor article may be manufactured such that one or more reinforcing fibers 126 of one or more of the plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets 10 remain substantially dry regardless of which manufacturing process is used. In other words, the “substantially dry” state of the one or more fibers 126 is not limited only to particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles manufactured using pultrusion. Rather, particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles using any manufacturing technique or fabrication process can be manufactured such that the reinforcing fibers 126 of one or more of the plurality of substantially dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods sheets 10 are substantially dry. For instance, manufacturing techniques such as resin infusion, pressure molding, compression and press forming, vacuum forming, injection molding, and numerous variations and adaptations of similar processes enumerated above may be configured so as to ensure that the reinforcing fibers 126 within the non-metallic armor article are substantially dry. In some cases, including without limitation the above referenced alternatives to pultrusion processing, the dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods may be die cut to representative forms of the armor article to be produced so that when the outer skin is formed a near final armor article is produced. The dry ballistic impact resistant broad goods would remain spatially secured and substantially unbound within the cross section of the armor article and incased in a hard shell.
For example and without limitation,
While
As schematically illustrated in
In the case of wet forming the inner portion 158 and/or outer portion 160 by the process schematically illustrated in
For example, the inner portion or portions 158 may be resin saturated by any suitable process or mechanism, including but not limited to wet-out submersion or resin injection, then positioned approximate the mandrel 162, including without limitation by winding or otherwise selectively positioning before the ballistic laminates 160 are circumferentially positioned approximate the inner portion 158. Thereafter, the outer portion 168 of the housing may be formed in similar fashion and variation to the inner portion 158. More specifically and without limitation, housing materials may include, glass, carbon, hybrid or synthetic fibers in roving, woven, stitched, or other suitable configuration matched to an appropriate resin or binding system. The process may include or incorporate filament, mandrel winding and/or other suitable processes including compression molding, pressure forming, vacuum forming and the like.
In the case of dry forming the inner portion 158, preformed or flexible sheets including without limitation those consisting of certain alloys, formable polymers such as SMC, ceramic, glass, carbon, hybrid or synthetic fibers in roving, woven, stitched, prepreg or other suitable constitution, may be positioned approximate the mandrel 162 before ballistic laminates are brought into position, as detailed above relative wet forming. This would also occur before employing suitable consolidation processes such as final curing of prepreg and/or other portions under specific heat and pressure conditions, for example and without limitation, as possible by utilizing an autoclave or other suitable heat and/or pressure mechanisms.
As illustrated in
By the process schematically illustrated in
While this
For example, the needles' 176 movement downward and out of position respective the body of the preform-like section 184 releases the resin through needle ports 190, into the cross section of the laminate along the desired pathway, thereafter cycling to the normal or closed position, ending the resin flow until the next indicated cycle. The tip of the resin injection needles 192 may have a progressive geometry other than as illustrated by
It will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that all of the armor products disclosed herein may be used not only as protective armor for vehicles, but also for many other protective purposes. The products may be formed in such sizes and shapes as to be usable as personal armor, siding and roofing for structures, structural panels for construction of ballistic resistant structures, and panels and sheets of the products may in an emergency simply be propped up for persons under attack to shelter behind. Those skilled in the art will recognize numerous other uses and applications for which the products of the various particular implementations of non-metallic armor articles disclosed herein may be employed.
The various implementations listed here, and many others, will become readily apparent from this disclosure. From this, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand the versatility with which this disclosure may be applied.
Implementations of a non-metallic armor article may be constructed of a wide variety of materials as has been described above. Those of ordinary skill in the art will readily be able to select appropriate materials and manufacture these products from the disclosures provided herein.
Some components defining a non-metallic armor article may be manufactured simultaneously and integrally joined with one another, while other components may be purchased pre-manufactured or manufactured separately and then assembled with the integral components. Various implementations may be manufactured using conventional procedures as added to and improved upon through the principles described here.
Accordingly, manufacture of these components separately or simultaneously may involve pultrusion, vacuum forming, injection molding, blow molding, milling, drilling, reaming, stamping, pressing, cutting and/or the like. Components manufactured separately may then be coupled or removably coupled with the other integral components in any manner, such as with adhesive, a weld joint, a fastener any combination thereof, and/or the like for example, depending on, among other considerations, the particular material forming the components.
It will be understood that implementations are not limited to the specific components disclosed herein, as virtually any components consistent with the intended operation of a method and/or system implementation for a non-metallic armor article may be utilized. Accordingly, for example, although particular component examples may be disclosed, such components may comprise any shape, size, style, type, model, version, class, grade, measurement, concentration, material, weight, quantity, and/or the like consistent with the intended operation of a method and/or system implementation for a non-metallic armor article may be used.
In places where the description above refers to particular implementations of a non-metallic armor article, it should be readily apparent that a number of modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof and that these implementations may be applied to other non-metallic armor articles. The presently disclosed implementations are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
This application is a continuation of the earlier U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/511,860 entitled “Non-Metallic Armor Article and Method of Manufacture,” filed on Jul. 29, 2009, now pending, which application claims priority to United States Provisional Patent Application entitled “Non-metallic armor article and Method of Manufacture,” Ser. No. 61/084,369, filed Jul. 29, 2008, and to the United States Provisional Patent Application entitled “Non-metallic armor article and Method of Manufacture,” Ser. No. 61/092,176, filed Aug. 27, 2008, and is a continuation-in-part of the earlier United States Patent Application entitled “Pultruded Non-Metallic Damage-Tolerant Hard Non-metallic armor article and Method of Manufacture Thereof,” Ser. No. 11/774,818, filed on Jul. 9, 2007, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,249, which application is a Divisional of the earlier United States Patent Application entitled “Pultruded Non-Metallic Damage-Tolerant Hard Non-metallic armor article and Method of Manufacture Thereof,” Ser. No. 11/051,309, filed on Feb. 4, 2005, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,270, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61084369 | Jul 2008 | US | |
| 61092176 | Aug 2008 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11051309 | Feb 2005 | US |
| Child | 11774818 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12511860 | Jul 2009 | US |
| Child | 13693941 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11774818 | Jul 2007 | US |
| Child | 12511860 | US |
