Reactive personnel protection system and method
AssigneeSouthwest Research Institute
InventorsDavid J. Stevens, Kirk A. Marchand, Thomas J. Warnagiris
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A counter-terrorism, reactive personnel protection system which detects the presence of a destructive object as it approaches a designated personnel target along an intersecting path. Before impact, an air bag is rapidly inflated and interposed between the destructive object and the target so as to provide a protective barrier. The air bag is constructed from polyethylene material or other anti-ballistic materials, and serves to halt or redirect the detected destructive force of the object and thereby protect the designated target from attack.
Claims13
A reactive personnel protective system for directly shielding the body of a person, in which at least one air bag is inflated responsive to detection of a ballistic-type projectile prior to contact between said object and a person, said system comprising:
- a radar detection system, operable to detect the motion of the destruction object when the destructive object is airborne in space and to generate a sensor output signal, and having a fixed location;
- at least one rapidly deployable anti-ballistic air bag designed to slow and deflect the ballistic-type projectile;
- a gas-generating system for rapid deployment of said airbag;
- wherein the detection system is further operable to process the sensor output signal and to generate a control signal for deploying the air bag, during a processing time;
- and
- wherein the processing time is less than the flight time of the destructive object between detection of the object and reaching the air bag.
A method of shielding a person from a ballistic-type projectile prior to contact between said object and the person, comprising the steps of:
- positioning at least one rapidly deployable anti-ballistic air bag in an expected flight path of the object toward the person, the air bag being designed to slow and deflect the ballistic-type projectile;
- positioning a radar detection system such that the flight path is within range of the detection system, the detection system being operable to detect the motion of the destructive object when the destructive object is airborne in space, to generate a sensor output signal, to process the sensor output signal, and to generate a control signal for deploying the air bag, during a processing time;
- wherein the radar detection system has a fixed location;
- detecting the motion of the object;
- processing the sensor output signal generated by the object;
- generating the control signal;
- and
- deploying the air bag.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.