IL139564A - Detachable armor tile mountable on a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A bullet-proof tile (10) mountable on an inner surface of a body (11) of a passenger vehicle to armor the body whereby occupants of the vehicle are shielded from bullets striking and penetrating the body, each tile comprising: a composite panel impervious to bullets having an inner face (10Y) which faces the inner surface (11Y) of the body; and a detechable fastener having complementary opposite components (VM), one of said components being attached to the inner face of the tile, the other of said components being attached to the inner surface of the body, whereby when the tile is pressed against the inner body surface it then becomes securely fastened thereto and wherein: incorporated in the tile adjacent an edge of the panel is a detacher unit (12) which when actuated separates the edge of the tile from the inner surface of the body so that the fastener component in the tile can be stripped off the component of the inner body surface. 2341 י" ד באלול התשס" ד - August 31, 2004

Description

139564/3 iwnb mi oN w nan y ropmn wn n»ix Detachable armor tile mountable on a vehicle Rafael Armament Development Authority >>*ttN nwo niv "N3l Ltd.

C.104210 ARMOR TILE MOUNTABLE ON A VEHICLE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to armor for shielding a vehicle, and more particularly to a bullet-proof tile mountable on the inner surface of the vehicle body, whereby the armor is concealed yet is effective against ballistic attack. In particular the invention is concerned with detachable such tiles.

The temi vehicle as used herein the specification and claims denotes any land vehicle, e.g. busses, jeeps, command-cars, passenger cars etc., or airborne vehicles e.g. helicopters, light plains, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In this age of terrorism, a not uncommon experience is for a vehicle carrying passengers to be assaulted by bullets fired from a road ambush. Should the vehicle be a military vehicle having steel armor plates welded onto its body, bullets impinging on the plates would be deflected thereby and therefore would not pierce the body of the vehicle and strike passengers within the vehicle.

However, as more often is the case, when the vehicle under attack is a civilian passenger conveyance such as a school bus, this vehicle offers no defense against bullets, shrapnel of various charges and other projectiles, collectively referred to hereinafter as bullets. The body of a typical bus and any other unarmed vehicle (at times referred to as "sofi vehicles'") is formed by a metal skin easily penetrated by bullets, shrapnel, etc.

While one could weld steel armor plates onto the body of a passenger vehicle, as a practical matter it would not be feasible to do so. The objections to - 2 - 139564/2 this conversion go beyond the excessive weight added to the vehicle by steel armor plates and the costs entailed by the conversion, for one must also take into account psychological factors.

A passenger confronted by an externally-armored bus is then made aware of the possibility that should he board this bus, he could be subjected to gun fire. While this may only be a remote possibility, it would nevertheless discourage passengers from taking a visibly-armored bus.

Moreover, it is only on special occasions that it becomes advisable to armor a passenger vehicle. Thus a typical bus which normally transports passengers at non-risky areas has no need to be armored. But if the same bus is engaged to take passengers to areas which may be considered risky, then it would be desirable to armor the bus for this occasion.

The ideal bullet-proof armor for a bus or other passenger vehicle is an armor that is not external to its body, yet fully shields the passengers on the vehicle. Though the prior art does not disclose armor adapted to be detachably mounted on the inner surface of the body of a passenger vehicle, since the invention makes use of a bullet-proof panel for this purpose, the following references are of prior art interest: A. U.S. Patent 5,763,813. This discloses a composite armor panel providing ballistic protection for vehicles. This panel consists of a layer of high-density ceramic pellets bound and retained in a panel formed of elastomeric material.

B. U.S. Patent 5,361,678. This discloses a ballistic armor plate in which ceramic bodies are embedded in a metal matrix.

C. EPO Patent Publication 0499812 (1992). This shows a bullet-proof vest in which ceramic ballistic plates are combined with soft plastic panels made of KELVAR or similar materials.

The present invention does not reside in a particular bullet-proof panel structure, for a tile in accordance with the invention may employ any known form are collectively referred to hereinafter as bullet proof tiles, though they may be of different types impervious to a wide variety of projectiles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide a bullet-proof tile adapted to be mounted on the inner surface of the body of a passenger vehicle, which tile though concealed, and not directly exposed to fire, nevertheless serves to armor the vehicle.

More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a tile of the above type joined to the inner surface of the vehicle body by a Velcro™ fastener (known as hook and pile fastener or hook and loop fastener) which securely anchors the tile, yet makes it possible to easily detach the tile from the body surface.

Among the significant advantages of a tile in accordance with the invention are the following: A. Because the tiles armoring the vehicle are concealed, the external appearance of the vehicle is unchanged, and passengers are therefore not discouraged from boarding the vehicle.

B. The tiles are formed of bullet-proof composite panels that are light in weight as compared to steel armor plates. Hence the tiles when installed in a vehicle do not substantially increase its weight and thereby decrease its load capacity.

C. Because the tiles are readily attachable to the body of the vehicle simply by pressing them on, and are easily detachable therefrom by a stripping action, the conversion of the vehicle from an unshielded mode to a shielded mode and vice versa can be effected quickly and without difficulty.

Also an object of this invention is to provide a bullet-proof tile of the, above type that can be mass-produced at relatively low cost.

Briefly stated, these objects are attained in a bullet-proof tile mounted on at least portions of the inner surface of the body of a vehicle. When this inner surface is masked by an array of tiles, occupants of the vehicle are then shielded from bullets striking its body. The tile is constituted by a composite panel impervious to bullets. Attached to the inner face of the tile is one tape component of a hook and pile fastener having complementary hook and loop tape components, the other tape component being attached to the body surface.

Hence when the tile is pressed against the body surface it is securely fastened thereto and can only be removed by peeling the Velcro component attached to the tile off the component attached to the body surface. To facilitate this stripping action, incorporated in the tile adjacent an edge thereof is a detacher unit having a lever which when manually actuated, then separates the tile edge from the body surface whereby the hook and pile component on the tile can then be peeled off the component on the body surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, an embodiment will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows an armor tile according to the invention mounted on the inner surface of the body of a passenger vehicle; Fig. 2 illustrates an inner face of the tile to which is adhered one tape component of a hook and pile fastener; Fig. 3 is a section taken through the body of the vehicle and through the tile to be mounted thereon; Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the detacher unit incorporated in the tile, the unit being shown in its retracted state; Fig. 5 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the detacher unit in its extended state; and Fig. 6 is a partially sectioned view illustrating the detacher unit ' in its operative, detaching state. - 5 - 139564/2 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show an armor tile 10 in accordance with the invention having a planar outer face 10X and a planar inner face 10Y. Tile 10 is mounted on the inner surface 11Y of the body 11 of a passenger vehicle whose outer surface is identified by 11X. The vehicle may be a Jeep, a bus, a limousine or any other multi-passenger vehicle, including airborne vessels such as helicopters.

Body 11 which is conventional, is formed by a thin-gauge metal skin that is easily pierced by bullets or projectiles impinging thereon at high velocity, such as bullet B shown in Fig. 3. Inasmuch as armor tile 10 is secured to inner surface 11Y of the vehicle body, it cannot prevent bullet B from penetrating this body. But tile 10 which masks the inner surface of the body and is fastened thereto by a Velcro ™ fastener (known as hook and pile fastener), acts as a barrier which bullet B cannot penetrate, or penetrates while significantly loosing its kinetic energy. Nor can bullet B, when it pierces vehicle body 11 and strikes the inner face 10 Y of the tile then dislodge the tile and separate it from the body, even though the tile is not welded or otherwise permanently attached to the body.

The figures illustrate a single tile 10 having a square shape, the tile masking a corresponding square area on the inner surface 11Y of the body. To mask the entire area of the body, an array of interfitting tiles must be mounted in the body to cover this large area. The tiles for this purpose need not be square but can have a different geometry such as a rectangular or a hexagonal from as long as the tiles can be interfitted in the fashion of a mosaic without spaces between adjacent tiles.

Tile 10 is constituted by a light weight composite panel impervious to bullets. The composite panel is of any known prior art type provided that its inner face 10Y is planar so that the tile can be joined by a hook and pile fastener to a planar inner surface 11 Y on a vehicle body.

A standard hook and pile fastener is composed of complementary male and female tape components. The male tape component VM is formed by a tape on whose outer surface is dispersed myriad tiny nylon hoops. The female tape component VF is formed by a tape on whose outer surface are dispersed myriad - 6 - 139564/2 tiny nylon loops. When the complementary components of the Velcro™ fastener are pressed together so that the male hoops then enter and engage the female loops, these components becomes interlinked.

A unique characteristic of a hook and pile fastener is that once it is closed with its components interlocked, the components cannot then be separated from each other to open the fastener even if a very strong pulling force be applied thereto, with the exception of a pulling force whose direction effects a stripping action.

Thus when a bullet of high velocity pierces through the thin metal body of the vehicle and strikes the armor tile 10 secured by a hook and pile fastener to the metal body, the concentrated force then exerted by the bullet on the tile, however powerful it may be, will not cause the components of the fastener to separate and dislodge the tile.

In order to dislodge the tile, a stripping action is necessary and for this purpose one must grasp a component of the hook and pile fastener at either end thereof and then yank this component to peel it off the other component. It is only by this stripping action which takes relatively little force that one can open the fastener.

It is this unique characteristic of a hook and pile fastener that is exploited in the present invention to securely anchor a bullet-proof tile on the body of a vehicle, yet make it possible without difficulty to manually remove the tile from the body when necessary to do so.

As shown in Fig. 2, adhered to the inner face 10Y of square tile 10 are three parallel strips of female tape component VF of a hook and pile fastener so that the strips are permanently bonded to the tile. Use for this purpose may be made of an epoxy bonding agent. Two of these strips are adhered adjacent opposite ends of the tile, the third bonded to the midpoint.

Adhered to inner surface 11Y of the vehicle body, as shown in Fig. 3, are strips VM of the male component of the Velcro™ fastener. These strips are in a pattern that encompasses the entire area of the body to be masked by an array of 7 139564/2 bullet-proof tiles 10. It is not necessary, however, that the placement of the male strips VM on the surface of the vehicle body match the placement of the three female strips VF on the tile, for all that is required is that when a tile is pressed against the body surface, all three male strips intersect female strips adhered to this surface so that the tile is then securely fastened to that surface.

As pointed out previously, a hook and pile fastener can only be opened by a stripping action, hence tile 10 fastened to the vehicle body surface can only be detached therefrom by this action.

The reason one must be able to detach the bullet-proof tiles 10 from the vehicle body is that for the most part, the passenger vehicle on which the tiles are to be installed, need not be armored full time. It is only on occasion when the bus is to then be driven in a region in which there exists a possibility of a gun fire assault, that it then becomes desirable to armor the body of the vehicle. Also, one may wish on occasion, after the tiles 10 have been in use for a prolonged period on a heavily-used passenger yehicle to be able to remove the tiles for cleaning or replacement.

To facilitate detachment of square tile 10, incorporated therein at an upper corner, as shown in Fig. 1, is a small rectangular detacher unit 12. Housed in this unit is a lever 13 on whose upper end is a knob 14 serving as a handle, the lever having at its lower end a nose 15. Lever 13 is pivoted on a fixed pivot pin 16 which projects through a longitudinal slot 17 in the lever, the lever being swingable and slidable about this pin. Spring Biasing the lever 13 is a spring 18 connected at its upper end 19 to nose 15. Spring 18 normally maintains the lever 13 in a retracted state, as shown in Fig. 4, in which state pivot pin 16 is then at the upper limit of slot 17.

When one wishes to operate the unit 12 to detach the tile 10 from the vehicle body, the operator then pulls up the lever by its knob 14, thereby extending lever 13 about its housing. Pivot pin 16, as shown in Fig. 5, is now at the lower limit of slot 17 and spring 18 is then stretched.

The operator can now, as shown in Fig. 6, actuate the unit by swinging the lever outwardly from the panel so that nose 15 of the lever then passes against the inner surface 11Y of the vehicle body 11- and pushes it away from the tile 10 to separate the tile at its upper corner from the body. This action disengages the hook and pile female component VF of the strips at the upper end of the tile from the hook and pile male component VM strips on the vehicle body.

It is now a simple matter by yanking the tile 10 at its upper end to strip the female component VF strips on the tile off the male VM component strip on the vehicle body to fully detach the tile. And it is an even simpler matter to reattach the tile, for to do so, one has only to press the tile against the inner surface of the vehicle body.

While there has been disclosed a preferred embodiment of a bullet-proof tile in accordance with the invention, it is to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (12)

9 139564/3 CLAIMS:

1. A bullet-proof tile mountable on an inner surface of a body of a passenger vehicle to armor the body whereby occupants of the vehicle are shielded from bullets striking and penetrating the body, each tile comprising: - a composite panel impervious to bullets having an inner face which faces the inner surface of the body; and a detachable fastener having complementary opposite components, one of said components being attached to the inner face of the tile, the other of said components being attached to the inner surface of the body, whereby when the tile is pressed against the inner body surface it then becomes securely fastened thereto and wherein: incorporated in the tile adjacent an edge of the panel is a detacher unit which when actuated separates the edge of the tile from the inner surface of the body so that the fastener component in the tile can be stripped off the component of the inner body surface.

2. The title according to claim 1, wherein the fastener is a hook and pile fastener having complementary hook and loop tape components.

3. The tile as set forth in Claim 1 in which the inner face of the tile is planar.

4. The tile as set forth in Claim 1 in which the tile has a square shape.

5. The tile as set forth in Claim 2 in which the fastener component attached to the inner face is the loop tape component.

6. The tile as set forth in Claim 5 in which the loop tape component adhered to the inner face of the tile is constituted by parallel strips thereof.

7. The tile as set forth in Claim 2 in which the component applied to the inner surface of the body is the hook tape component.

8. The tile as set forth in Claim 1 in which the composite panel is formed by a layer of ceramic pellets embedded in a plastic matrix. 10 139564/3

9. The tile as set forth in Claim 1 in which the composite panel is formed by ceramic bodies embedded in a metal matrix.

10. The tile as set forth in Claim 1 in which the detacher unit includes a lever swingable on a pivot pin, the lever, when swung, acting to push a corner of the tile away from the body surface.

11. The tile as set forth in Claim 10 in which the pivot pin is projected through a longitudinal slot in the lever, the lever being biased so that when in a retracted state, the pin is then at an upper limit in the slot and when in an extended state in which it can be swung, the pin is at a lower limit in the slot.

12. The tile as set forth in Claim 10 in which the lever is provided at one end thereof with a nose which when the lever is swung, presses against the inner surface of the tile. For the Applicants,