Arrays of tiles are used for covering surfaces. These include arrays of paving stones, roof tiles, heat shield tiles, and armor tiles. Such arrays typically have plural tiles arranged edge-to-edge generally in a common plane. Each tile typically has two opposed broad faces that are generally flat or slightly curved or arcuate and has perimeter edge surfaces.
In some applications, it is best for such tiles to have edges that can overlap in such a way that no straight-through joints are present and such that the array is plate-like with the thickness of the entire array not exceeding the thickness of a single tile. A straight-through joint, as discussed to herein, is a joint having a gap between two abutting tiles with at least a portion of the gap extending from one face of the array to the other face of the array that is normal to a face of the array. In the case of a curved array, a straight-through joint is a gap with at least a portion of the gap extending radially in a straight line between two abutting tiles at about 90° to a tangent where the tangent touches a curved face of the array.
Some approaches to avoiding straight-through joints have disadvantages. These include systems having tiles that overlap in the manner of fish scales and systems wherein seam sealers are placed over joints where tiles abut. Arrays made from such tiles cannot have a generally continuous outwardly facing surface because the outwardly facing surfaces of all the tiles are not in alignment. When tiles overlap in the manner of fish scales or seam sealers are used, there typically is excess weight, bulk, and added material expense to cover a given area. Example overlapping tile arrays having lap joints are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,268,223 (Eimer) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,35,777 (Neal). The weight penalty of such fish scale overlap designs can be 25% to 30%.
Monolithic tiles can be used when the coverage area is sufficiently small. But is impractical to cover a large area with a single tile, particularly if the tile is to be composed of a hard, brittle material such as a ceramic material. Such tiles are fragile and develop sharp, linear cracks propagating from the point of origin of a projectile hit through the thickness to the outer edges, so that a projectile hit typically damages the entire tile.
Tiles having edges with undercuts and/or groves sometimes have been used to address the straight-through joint gap problem, but are impractical to produce economically in high volume from hard materials. An example of tiles having undercut edges is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,793 (Meyers). As used herein, the term “undercut” refers to any tile surface feature that makes it impossible to eject a part from a uniaxial die by simple linear displacement. An example of an undercut is a recess, groove, channel, or wall surface that extends radially inwardly from an edge of a part toward the axis of a punch of a die in which the part is formed and that blocks ejection of the part by simple linear displacement.
Described herein are tiles that have major and minor surface faces and edge surfaces that do not have undercuts relative to such an axis. In particular, such tiles do not have any recess, groove or channel that extends radially inwardly from an edge surface toward an axis that extends normal to at least one of the surface faces.
A chamfer is provided at each corner of the tile at the major surface face to permit a ledge of one tile to overlap a ledge of an abutting tile when placed in an array. Due to the presence of the chamfers, the perimeter of the major surface face generally is an irregular or regular octagon. The corners of the minor surface face need not be chamfered.
In particular, the major surface face is defined by an octagonal edge at the perimeter of the major surface face. The edge consists of eight edge portions extending between the corners of the octagonal edge. The edge portions at each corner extend at an internal angle of about 135° relative to each other. The minor surface face is square or otherwise rectangular and is defined by a rectangular edge that consists of four edge portions. Four edge surfaces extend between the four edge portions of the minor surface face and the perimeter of the major surface face. One or more of the edge surfaces and a portion of the major surface face define one or more laterally extending ledges.
Such tiles can be arranged in an array with the ledges of one tile overlapping ledges of abutting tiles to avoid straight-through joints. The edge surfaces are shaped such that the edge surface of the one tile generally conforms to the edge surface of the other tile when the pair of tiles is positioned edge-to-edge. The major and minor surface faces of the one tile generally align respectively with the minor and major surface faces of the other tile and with an edge surface of the one tile overlying an edge surface of the abutting tile, when viewed facing normal to surface faces of the tiles, with only a portion of the thickness of each tile overlapping so that the face-to-face thickness of the pair of tiles where they overlap is no greater than the distance between the major and minor surface faces of one of the tiles.
In some arrangements, all the tiles are identical in shape with abutting tiles inverted so their facing perimeter ledges mate when in an array. In other arrangements, arrays are built from two or more different styles of tiles that are not of identical shape but that have mating perimeter ledges.
Because the ledge of one tile overlaps the ledge of an abutting tile, no grout or filler is required between mating edge surfaces. Such filler systems add cost, have maintenance issues, and can cause catastrophic system failures such as failure of the space shuttle Columbia heat shield tiles where grouting material between tiles came out and allowed heat penetration.
Arrays formed from tiles described herein can be held in place by attachment to a substrate by adhesives. Or tiles can be contained in fabric wraps to hold arrays in place.
Tile systems described herein will find application in many different fields including, but not limited to armor tiles for body armor, armor systems for non-body armor such as vehicles, airplanes helicopters and wherever ballistic and blast protection is needed, heat shields, patio floor tiles, bath tiles, cabinet tiles, roof tiles, building tiles, and in other architectural applications. An array of tiles can provide a barrier for inhibiting penetration of ballistic projectiles such as an array of tiles in a body armor garment configured to be worn by a human.
For some applications, the entire major and/or minor surface face of a tile described herein can be slightly curved or arcuate, having a radius of curvature of 4 inches or more.
The major and/or minor surface faces can have texture, such as a series of curved or angular projections, to turn impinging projectiles to reduce or eliminate the effect of 90° projectile impacts, which have the greatest potential for penetration or cracking destruction of an armor tile.
The major and/or minor surface faces may be textured to provide a decorative effect.
In the drawings:
a is a front elevational view of a tile suitable for use in forming an array of tiles.
b is a side elevational view of the tile shown in
a is a side elevational view of an array of two identical tiles, with the tiles shown aligned edge-to-edge with their respective major and minor surface faces facing in opposite directions.
b is an enlarged partial side elevational view of facing edge portions of the tiles shown in
c is an oblique view of an array of four of the tiles of
a is a side elevational view of an array of two of the tiles of
a is an enlarged partial side elevational view of edge portions of the tiles shown in
c is an oblique view of an array of four of the tiles of
d is a side elevational view of the tile of
e is a front elevational view of the tile of
a is a side elevational view of an array of two non-identical tiles with the tiles shown aligned edge-to-edge with their respective major and minor surface faces facing in opposite directions.
b is an enlarged parital side elevational view of facing edge portions of the tiles shown in
c is an oblique view of an array of two of each of the tiles shown in
a is a side elevational view of an array of two non-identical tiles with the tiles shown aligned edge-to-edge with their respective major and minor surface faces facing in opposite directions.
b is an enlarged parital side elevational view of facing edge portions of the tiles shown in
c is an oblique view of an array of two of each of the tiles shown in
a is a side elevational view of an array of two non-identical tiles with the tiles shown aligned edge-to-edge with their respective major and minor surface faces facing in opposite directions.
b is an enlarged parital elevational view of facing edge portions of the tiles shown in
c is an oblique view of an array of two of each of the tiles shown in
Described herein are tiles that generally have the shape of a frustum of a pyramid. Each tile has major and minor bases or surface faces having perimeters that are generally rectangular, with the length of the sides of the rectangle being the same for both the major and minor surface faces, and four edge surfaces that are profiled to provide laterally extending perimeter ledges.
The ledges are configured such that an array of tiles can be formed by aligning tiles edge-to-edge with abutting tiles having their respective major and minor surface faces facing in opposite directions. The edge surfaces are shaped so that the major and minor surface faces of one tile generally aligns respectively with the minor and major surface faces of an abutting tile and with an edge surface of the one tile overlying an edge surface of the abutting tile, when viewed facing normal to surface faces of the tiles, with only a portion of the thickness of each tile overlapping so that the face-to-face thickness of a pair of tiles positioned edge-to-edge is no greater than the distance between the major and minor surface faces of one of the tiles. The edge surfaces are shaped such that the edge surface of one tile generally conforms to the edge surface of another tile when the pair of tiles is positioned edge-to-edge with abutting tiles in inverted orientation such that the major and minor surface faces of the one tile generally are aligned respectively with the minor and major surface faces of the abutting tile.
An array of such tiles can have close fitting seams between the tiles. Straight-through joints are avoided. And depending on how the tiles are secured in place, abutting tiles can tilt to some extent relative to each other so that an array can be somewhat flexible at joints between abutting tiles.
a-3e illustrate an advantageous tile having certain characteristics including:
All the tiles described herein have certain common characteristics, illustrated by the tile shown in
The minor surface face 10 has a smaller area than the major surface face 35.
Edge surfaces extend between the perimeter 28 of the minor surface face 10 and the perimeter 53 of the major surface face 35.
Edges of the minor surface perimeter 28 meet at each minor surface corner 30 at an internal angle about 90° as viewed facing normal to the minor surface face 10. The minor surface face perimeter 28 is rectangular or substantially rectangular and can be square or substantially square.
The major surface face perimeter 53 has four truncated corner or chamfer surfaces 55, one at each corner of the ledge 60. The chamfers permit the major surface perimeter 53 to fit alongside the corresponding minor surface face perimeter 25 of an abutting tile when the ledges of inverted abutting tiles overlie one another. Adjacent edges of the major surface perimeter 53 meet at an internal angle about at 135° as viewed facing normal to the major surface face 35. The major surface perimeter 53 thus is substantially octagonal, either an irregular octagon or a regular octagon. The octagon has eight edge portions with each pair of adjacent edge portions extending from a corner 59 at an internal angle of about 135° relative to each other.
As viewed facing normal to the minor surface face 10 as in
a-3e show a tile that is a body having a hexagonal base surface or major surface face 35 and a square apex surface or minor surface face 10 with the major and minor surface faces generally everywhere equidistant. Lateral faces or edge surfaces 58 extend from the minor surface face 10 to the major surface face 35, with the edge surfaces generally flaring progressively without any grooved or otherwise undercut portion.
A chamfer is provided at each corner of the tile at the major surface to permit a ledge of one tile to overlap a ledge of an abutting tile when placed in an array. Due to the presence of the chamfers, the perimeter of the major surface face is generally an irregular or regular octagon. The perimeter thus consists of eight edge portions. In particular, the tile of
The minor surface face 10 and the major surface face 35 are substantially planar and extend substantially in parallel to one another. The tile thus has a total thickness 75 that is generally uniform as measured anywhere between the minor surface face 10 and major surface face 35 along a line normal to the surfaces. The minor surface face 10 has a smaller area than the major surface face 35 and is positioned such that the perimeter 28 of the minor surface face does not extend outwardly of the perimeter 53 of the major surface face when the body is viewed facing normal to the minor surface face.
The edge surfaces are not completely planer from the perimeter 53 of the major surface face 35 to the perimeter 28 of the minor surface face 10. In particular, the edge surfaces 58 are stair-stepped between the major and minor surface faces 35, 10, comprising plural planar surfaces that intersect at an angle other than 180°. The overall shape of the tile is that of a “step pyramid.” In a step pyramid shape, the entirety of an edge surface does not lie in a single plane. Instead, at least one edge surface comprises a step that extends in parallel to a side edge portion 56 of a surface face.
The edge surfaces 58 have different portions or band surfaces 61, 62, 63, that have generally uniform widths 50, 25, 85 around the entire perimeter of the tile as shown in
For ease of reference, the tile can be considered to have a laterally extending ledge 60 that is defined by the band surface 63, the major corner band surface 61, and a portion of the major surface face 35. In general, the laterally extending portion(s) of an edge surface of a tile are sometimes referred to herein as a “ledge surface.” Accordingly, in the tile of
The major and minor surface faces are centered relative to each other such that the perimeter 28 of the minor surface face is generally everywhere equidistant from the perimeter 53 of the major surface face, as measured along lines perpendicular to corner band surfaces 61, 62, when the body is viewed facing the minor surface face, as in
The tile is substantially bilaterally symmetrical about three mirror lines including two mirror lines 77, 78 that extend generally in parallel to and midway between each pair of opposed perimeter edges of the major and minor surface faces and one mirror line 79 that extends generally normal to the major and minor surface faces at their centers.
The tile of
Mating edge surfaces 58 do not have interlocking edge surfaces in the sense that abutting tiles can be tilted to some degree relative to one another in the manner of a hinge, if the tiles are suspended in the array in a manner that allows some movement.
a-3c illustrate how several of such tiles can be assembled into an array with tiles positioned edge-to-edge with the surface faces of abutting tiles facing in opposite directions. In particular, the arrows appearing in
a-2c show a different tile and illustrate that the angles between adjacent edge surfaces can differ. (The element numbers of similar elements in
a-4c show tiles 411a, 411b that are not identical to one another but that have mating edge surfaces. (The element numbers of similar elements in
a-5c show tiles 511a, 511b that are not identical to one another but that have mating edge surfaces. (The element numbers of similar elements in
a-6c show tiles 611a, 611b that are not identical to one another but that have mating edge surfaces. (The element numbers of similar elements in
General Considerations
As discussed above, the major surface faces of the various tiles have perimeters that are octagons. This is because tiles having rectangular major surface face perimeters experience corner interference. Corner interference prevents tiles from fitting closely together with tight seams. The corners of the tile ledges thus are chamfered to avoid interference. Each tile shape has corner interference conditions which dictate the extent of truncation required. The corners of the minor surface face need not be chamfered in order to avoid corner interference.
In the illustrated tiles, for example the tile shown in
It should be appreciated that angles, distances, and geometric relationships mentioned herein can vary to some extent without significantly affecting the performance of a tile array. The amount of allowable variation will depend on the needs and requirements of the application and on the thickness and other dimensions of the tiles and may be determined empirically or by mathematical calculation. As an example, the corner angles of the tile shown in
In an array, tiles are positioned edge-to-edge and meet at joints. The tiles have mating edges of one of two types, “symmetric” and “asymmetric.” Tiles having symmetric edges are shown in
Asymmetric edge tiles do not conveniently invert and require at least two types of tiles used in pairs to fit together to form an edge-to-edge array of tiles. But asymmetric type tiles can have edge profiles that are advantageous for forming tile arrays to be used for certain applications. Tiles having asymmetric edges are shown in
In the symmetric-edged tile of
As shown in
As previously observed, the tiles of
The symmetric-edge tile shown in
Tile arrays having asymmetric joints can be seen as being formed from alternating “A” and “B” configuration tiles. The use of A and B tiles is best in certain applications, for example to allow different thicknesses and connecting ledges to be used for the minor surface depth and perimeter and the major service depth and perimeter. Asymmetric tiles employ the same type of corner chamfer as the symmetric configuration tiles allowing ledges to overlap with tiles aligned in a common plane. Any of several angles and/or radii can be used for the edge band surfaces of asymmetric tiles so long as the edge profiles are matched so that the facing edges of abutting A and B tiles mate.
Curved arrays can be formed from the tiles described herein and are particularly useful for better fit in situations where the surface to be covered is not flat.
Such curved arrays can be formed from flat tiles by setting abutting tiles at an angle to one another to form an arcuate array. With such arrays, there will be small gaps between the tiles at a convex surface of the array. But such arrangements are workable for certain applications because even with a small gap at the convex surface, the array will not have a 90° gap through to the opposite concave surface.
The gap at the convex surface of adjacent tiles can be substantially reduced and for certain large radii be effectively eliminated by the use of tiles having curved surface faces, with one of the surface faces being at least partially concave and the other of the surface faxes being at least partially convex.
The radii that can be used to form the desired curvature can easily be calculated by well understood geometric engineering principles. The size of the tile can be varied to meet desired curvature and acceptable surface gaps. The variations are many. By way of illustration, but without limiting the size of tile or radius:
a. A tangent circle radius of 10 inches using a curved tile 2 inches square will result in a convex surface gap of 0.0151 inches and the same curvature made with angled flat tiles of the same size will result in a convex surface gap of 0.0564 inches, or 3.75 times greater.
b. If the size of the tile is reduce to 1 inch, the convex surface gap for a 10 inch tangent circle radius will be approximately 50% smaller or 0.0075 inches.
c. If the size of the tile is made 4 inches, the convex surface gap is increased by about 2 times to about 0.0304 inches.
d. A tangent circle radius of 60 inches made with 2 inch curved tiles will result in a convex surface gap of 0.0025, as a practical matter very small.
e. In all cases, because of the overlap edges of adjacent tiles the convex surface gap is only on the surface, decreases as it moves to the center of the tile, and in no case is a 90° through gap to the minor surface created.
The tiles shown in
Any of the tiles described herein may have a textured surface face. For example, the tile shown in
Tiles of a unitary construction, where the entire tile is a formed as a single piece having a uniform composition throughout, is the most efficient for most applications. However, any of the tiles described herein can be made in more than one part, which can be advantageous in some applications. For example,
The tiles described herein are configured to allow construction from very hard materials such as the various ceramics currently used in the manufacture of tiles. Ceramic tiles, particularly those used for ballistics applications, will have a hardness of at least 1000 Vickers.
Tiles of hard materials are best are formed by processes using mechanical or hydraulic presses and using dies with outer configurations and/or top and or bottom punches and/or cavities that will produce a green body for an entire tile of a desired shape. The green body is cured by heat or some other method to complete formation of the tile.
The edge design may be applied without regard to the size, large or small, with the limitation being dependant on the capacity of the equipment used to make or form the tile.
Frusto-pyramidal tiles, as described herein, are particularly well suited for efficient, high rate production by such standard pressing processes because there are no undercuts in the edge surfaces. Such tiles most efficiently can be of unitary construction, which is to say not constructed from plural laminated parts.
To form such tiles efficiently, the edge surfaces must not grooved or otherwise undercut. This permits efficient production by the use of rapid-rate closed-die manufacturing methods.
For example, to form armor tiles having appropriate properties, a powder is pressed into a die to form a green compact. The green compact is ejected from the die and then heated to sinter the powder to complete the tile. Rapid and repeated reuse of dies is essential to success.
The use of dies can be made highly efficient by forming tiles in the presently claimed configurations, where the edges of the tiles are without undercuts. A tile having an undercut cannot be formed in a simple uniaxial die.
The issue of undercuts is discussed in Powder Metallurgy Science, second edition, Randall M. German, 1994, ISBN 1-878954-42-3, page 234. That publication states that to achieve compact integrity and dimensional control, the tooling should be kept as simple as possible along the axis of pressing. The shape must allow for easy powder flow into the die cavity and easy ejection. Thus, certain shapes are not possible for uniaxial pressing and require methods such as isostatic pressing or dies which can be disassembled on each pressing cycle.
A tile with an undercut portion is an example of such a shape that is not possible for uniaxial pressing.
A uniaxial die has a straight-sided wall and upper and lower punches that conform to the shape of the die wall. One or both punches travel along an axis to compact a loaded compactible material charge. This is the most efficient tool for mass production of hard parts such as armor tiles.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,986, titled Undercut Split Die, col. 1, lines 17-19, states: “In some cases, the compacted part has an undercut which prevents removal of the part or blank from the dies by linear or axial displacement.”
As noted in German, “certain shapes are not possible for uniaxial pressing and require methods such as cold isostatic pressing or dies which can be disassembled on each pressing cycle.” Such “not possible” shapes include parts with undercuts. And, although parts with undercuts can be formed using “isostatic pressing or dies which can be disassembled on each pressing cycle,” such elaborate processes are not efficient for making tiles in high volume.
The inefficiency of dies which must be disassembled is shown by publications such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,607; 5,503,795; 5,698,149; 5,772,748; and 6,318,986. These patents show and describe just how elaborate dies must be to deal with the problem of undercuts.
Isostatic pressing can be used to form green bodies to be used for making hard parts having undercut portions by powder metallurgy, but isostatic pressing is highly inefficient such that hard tiles having undercut portions still cannot be made economically.
Tiles of the shapes described herein, without undercuts, can be made without the need for such costly, wear-prone, and relatively slow-cycling dies or isostatic pressing. For example, a tile of the type shown in
Curved tiles of the type shown in
In some instances, in addition to the tiles described herein, an array could include some tiles having undercuts. Although it is not practical to make numerous hard tiles having undercuts, non-uniaxial dies or isostatic pressing could be used to make some such tiles in low volume for use in limited areas to make an overall array more effective. Such tile shapes also could be formed from a meltable material by die casting. Or a body of a ceramic material could be machined to form a tile having such a shape.
In the illustrated tiles, the major and minor surface faces generally are everywhere equidistant. Although the major and minor surface faces best are substantially continuous, one or both of the surface faces may define a cavity for the purpose of weight reduction or may have a surface texture shaped to deflect an incident projectile. And for some applications, it is not necessary for the face surfaces of abutting tiles in an array to be aligned precisely; but an array could instead have a surface with a cross-sectional profile in the nature of a square wave with the surface faces of abutting tiles at somewhat different elevations.
In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the disclosed invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the illustrated tiles are only examples and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.
This is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/US2010/046538, filed Aug. 24, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/186,508, filed Aug. 5, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,793,579, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/954,017, filed Aug. 5, 2007. This is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/US2010/046539, filed Aug. 24, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/186,508, filed Aug. 5, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,793,579, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/954,017, filed Aug. 5, 2007. Each of the above-referenced applications is incorporated herein in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20130160639 A1 | Jun 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60954017 | Aug 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/US2010/046538 | Aug 2010 | US |
Child | 13776664 | US | |
Parent | 12186508 | Aug 2008 | US |
Child | PCT/US2010/046538 | US | |
Parent | 13776664 | US | |
Child | PCT/US2010/046538 | US | |
Parent | PCT/US2010/046539 | Aug 2010 | US |
Child | 13776664 | US |