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US 2015/0020678 A1Published application
Ultra Light Bar Armor
OwnerThomas Frederick Haferinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerThomas Frederick Haferinventor
Estimating the term…
Bar armor currently provides a means of providing partial protection of vehicles and structures against certain types of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs). However, the individual bars must provide enough strength to cut through or deform the outer ogive of an RPG and cause electrical contact with the inner ogive. This in turn imposes constraints on the overall effectiveness of the system and how light it can be made. These constraints can be eased by providing cross-attachments for the bars, provided that the cross-attachments themselves are of low enough density and sufficient frangibility to avoid detonating the RPG when they are struck by the RPG nosepiece, which contains a piezoelectric element that causes the fuse of the RPG to function. Through this means, bar armor can be made lighter, more effective, and easier to see through.
An armor system for protecting against an incoming RPG or similarly fused threat, comprising a plurality of parallel bar members and a plurality of cross-attachment members, wherein said bar members are separated from each other by a spacing, wherein said cross-attachment members are connected to the bars to permit penetration of a portion of the RPG through said bar members without setting off the explosive charge if the RPG strikes the cross-attachment member, and wherein said cross-attachment member is connected to said bars to restrict expansion of said spacing by the ogive of the incoming RPG if the RPG nosepiece does not strike the bar, such that contact of the RPG ogive with the bars causes shorting of the RPG fuse circuit.
An armor system per 1 above with bars of various materials including but not limited to metals, ceramics, composites, or combinations of these.
An armor system per 1 above with bars of various cross sections and shapes including but not limited to rectangles, trapezoids, triangles, ovals, and Vs.
An armor system per 1 above with low areal density, frangible cross-attaching members including but not limited to cords, wires, braids, ribbons, cloths, and tapes.
An armor system per 1 above with various means of attaching cross-members including but not limited to tying, wrapping, braiding, gluing, welding, adhesion, fasteners, screws, nubs, clips, and bands.
An armor system per 1 above with various cross-attachment configurations including but not limited to attachments that pass around the bars, attachments that pass through holes in the bars, perpendicular bar-to-bar attachments, X-shaped attachments, attachments between every other bar, and combinations of these.
An armor system per 1 above with or without structural bar supports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.