Improvements in and relating to textile products

Ordnance – Shields – Shape or composition

Patent

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Details

89 3604, 89 3608, F41H 508

Patent

active

057569223

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to textile products and in particular to textile products useful in ballistic applications.


BACKGROUND

The construction of ballistic blankets is well known to those engaged in providing protection against ballistic threats. Typically such blankets comprise multiple layers of woven or non-woven para-aramid (KevlarTM, TwaronTM) or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (DyneemaTM, SpectraTM) fabric or combinations thereof, within a protection cover. Such ballistic blankets may be augmented by ceramic tiles--again well known in the field. Alternatively, ceramics, in the form of mosaic tiles or a loose fill of granular material, may form the bulk of the blanket. Metal components may also be used.
Protective clothing (body armour) is widely available. However, clothing made from ballistic blanket material is of limited utility in some circumstances. Flak jackets only cover the upper torso, leaving the head, arms and legs unprotected. Furthermore, police and other security personnel facing armed assailants in, for example, siege situations often have only fences, hedges or their vehicle(s). The only parts of a normal vehicle substantial enough to afford signification protection are the engine block and rear axle.
As rear axles are virtually obsolete and fences and hedges afford little or no ballistic protection, the only position offering reasonable protection in the absence of a substantial wall is behind the engine block--far from ideal for maintaining observation; even less so for returning fire. The problem is exacerbated if the assailant(s) is (are) at a higher level than the security personnel, e.g., in first or second storey windows. It will be appreciated that personnel even if wearing protective clothing will often be readily visible to an assailant hiding in a building.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, in its simplest form there is provided a portable ballistic shield constituted by a roll of ballistic blanket material having at one end thereof means for attaching it at least temporarily to a structure so that the blanket may be unrolled to form a free hanging screen. The means for attaching the blanket to a structure may be for example a magnet, suction cups, hooks, tapes or a weight, magnets being particularly preferred, although if a suitable base is provided, gravity may also be used.
Advantageously, the roll is provided with an integral case, the latter preferably including the means for attaching the shield to a structure. The case itself is not necessarily of a ballistic material, although according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, it includes an upstand of a ballistic material, thereby providing additional protection as well as an improved degree of concealment.
It will be appreciated that references to a roll of ballistic blanket in the present context are to the shield in its pre-deployment state, because a particularly advantageous aspect of the invention is the ability to transport it easily and to deploy it extremely rapidly. To facilitate this, the case may include easy release fastenings, for example peel-apart, re-closable fabric tapes of the kind sold as VELCRO (TM), with at least one drop-down panel to facilitate unrolling the blanket. Conveniently, the base of the case includes the means for attaching the latter to a structure. The case preferably also includes a carrying handle.
Particularly preferred is an assembly in which the case for the shield contains a number of magnets for attaching the whole unit to a vehicle roof or other ferrous structure and includes an upright, (in use) ballistic panel, or screen, behind which personnel can operate in relatively safety. Such a screen may be constituted as a wall of the case and in its simplest form may comprise a semi-rigid, ballistic laminate, typically 0.15 to 0.3 m high. Possible enhancements might include hinged side panels, pockets for ceramic inserts or equipment storage, bullet-proof transparent screen with a firing slot and attach

REFERENCES:
patent: 1418995 (1922-06-01), Wallace
patent: 2666840 (1954-01-01), Poirier
patent: 3491847 (1970-01-01), Abbott
patent: 3774958 (1973-11-01), Thorpe
patent: 4879154 (1989-11-01), Bennett
patent: 5097885 (1992-03-01), Kitagawa
patent: 5333532 (1994-08-01), Smirlock et al.
patent: 5340189 (1994-08-01), Goodman
patent: 5377577 (1995-01-01), Bounkong et al.
patent: 5488982 (1996-02-01), Rejc

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