WO2005064264A1

WO2005064264A1 - A method of manufacturing an armor plate, and an armor plate

Info

Publication number: WO2005064264A1
Application number: PCT/BR2004/000036
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ricardo CARDOSO MENDONÇA DE BARROS
Original assignee: Cardoso Mendonca De Barros Ric
Priority date: 2003-03-21
Filing date: 2004-03-19
Publication date: 2005-07-14

Abstract

The present invention relates, to a method of manufacturing an armor plate comprising the steps of stacking a plurality of plates of highdensity polymer, particularly plates of polyester bathed with silver nitrate, inserting a binding means between plates, thus forming a layer of plates, and compressing said layer of plates. In addition, the present invention further relates to an armor plate . (35) comprising a plurality of stacked plates (30) of high-density polymer bathed in silver nitrate, including a binding means between plates (30). The plate (35) of the present invention has a high ballistic resistance and has different applications (vehicles, security devices, constructions, etc.). Additionally the plates (35) may be manufactured in such a way, that their weight, when applied in the vehicle armor, will not affect its structure and performance substantially. Therefore, besides providing a low-cost plate (35), the present invention also provides a relatively light-weight armor plate (35) in comparison with the plates found on the market at present, consequently increasing its variety of applications.

Description

Title: "A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ARMOR PLATE, AND AN ARMOR PLATE"

The present invention relates ^"to ah armor plate and to the method of manufacturing it, the armor plate being particularly used in armor- plating vehicles. The method of manufacturing the armor plate is simple and may be easily carried out by any employee of the company that renders this kind of service. In addition, it is a fast and inexpensive method. The armor plate proposed by the present invention is made of a high-density polymer bathed in silver nitrate, which offers high resistance to low-caliber and high-caliber bullets, providing secure protection to the user. Description of the Prior Art With growing violence, the population has been trying to increase its security. Consequently, the use of armor-plating on vehicles, safety de- vices in general (bullet-proof corsets, shields) or constructions, has been on the rise in the last few years. However, the armors used at present have various drawbacks, as for example, its limited lifetime. At present, the armor plates and covering are made from the so-called "perishable materials", such as Kevlar®. The protection provided by this type of armoring lasts approximately 4 years. After this period of time has passed, the owners of armor-plated cars have to replace the armor plates. The periodic replacement of the armor brings several troubles for the owner of the car, who loses time taking the car to the armoring company, cannot use the vehicle for a few days and also loses time fetching the car after the replacement has been completed. Moreover, this periodic replacement entails more costs for the owner of the vehicle. It should be understood, however, that the replacement of the armor is not limited to cars and, therefore, the armor of the great majority of armored objects should be replaced at regular and predetermined intervals. Another problem encountered in armor plates of the prior art refers to the large weight that it automatically incorporates into the object to be armored. For instance, in the armoring of automobiles the mass and the final weight of the vehicle increase substantially, because of the large amount of armor plates used to protect the whole vehicle. Thus, only cars provided with more powerful engines can bear the final weight of the vehicle without the perrormance of the automobile being affected in a considerable way. So, the companies that render armoring services are prevented from satisfying a part of the market, namely owners of popular vehicles equipped with low-power engines. In addition to the above problem, the high cost of these plates causes the market to be restricted to companies and individuals having a high economic power. So, the companies that render this kind of service fail to meet a large portion of the market (middle class). US Pat. 4,883,700 describes a multilayer composite article, made from a multilayer composition. Each of these layers is made of polymer fibers such as Kevlar® and polyethylene, impregnated with a polymeric, elas- tomeric matrix. However, in order for the article described ion this document can be used for armoring with security, the fibers of layers have to be ordered so as to be arranged at predetermined oblique angles. The ordering or the angle and direction of the fibers, and the elasticity and tenacity modules of the polymers employed in the reinforced fiber layers are responsible for the absorption of kinetic energy from the bullets. In addition, the arrangement of the layers that form the article disclosed in the above-cited North-American patent should be in a manner that the reinforced fiber layers will be arranged in such a way that the borders remain offset from each other, in order to prevent formation of a weak point at the joined places of the layer overlapping and permit formation of an opening for a bullet. US Pat. 5,723,201 describes an armor construction that may be employed for both making bullet-proof corsets and vehicle armor. This con- struction comprises a plurality of structure layers intermixed by layers with folds, all of them made of Kevlar® or any other resistant material. The layers with folds are intermediate and arranged orthogonally offset from each other, so that the bullet will encounter a non-uniform course throughout the protection material, resulting in penetration difficulty and loss of speed of the bullet. The purpose of these overlapped and offset layers is to reduce the kinetic energy from the bullet and not to prevent weak points at the layer overlap- ping. US Pat. 4,633,756 discloses a bullet-proof protection comprising overlapped layers. Inside each layer there are aligned and intercalated plates. The main layers are also positioned intercalated with each other, in order to increase the protection of the connection between these layers. As can be seen, the manufacture of all the articles for armoring described above is expensive, since the materials used have a high cost. In addition, their method or manufacturing is complex, since they require particularities that increase the manufacturing time and, consequently, affect the production of the industries. In addition, none of the articles found in the prior art at present has malleability to be easily manufactured during the application of the armor plates to vehicles, ships, tanks or any other object that may be armored. Another aspect to be taken into consideration is the fact that the armor plates described above have limited applications. In other words, not all of these plates are suitable for application to both vehicles and security devices in general, such as shields, corsets and helmets. Moreover, all the above-described articles and armor plates have short durability (about 4 years). Objectives of the Invention An objective of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing armor plates that are simple and inexpensive, which may be easily carried out by any worker of the branch. A second objective of the present invention is to provide a resistant armor plate, which has different applications. By way of example, the armor plates of the present invention may be used on military vehicles or on automobiles, aircrafts, ships, security devices in general such as helmets, shields and corsets, constructions and bags, among others. A further objective of the present invention is to provide an armor plate that is malleable so as to enable the worker who applies the armor to handle it easily during the process of installing the armor onto any of the ob- ^' jects listed above. A fourth objective of the present invention is to provide an armor plate that has undetermined lifetime, so as to render unnecessary the replacement of the armor at predetermined intervals. A fifth objective of the present invention consists in providing a lighter armor plate, so that the final mass of the armored object will not in- crease too much. The present invention has a sixth objective that is to provide a low-cost armor plate, so tnat more people will have access to this type of service.

Brief Description of the Invention The objectives of the present invention are achieved by means of a method of manufacturing arjL.armor plate comprising the steps of stacking a plurality of high-density polymer plates bathed in silver nitrate, inserting between the plates a binding means, forming a layer of plates; and compressing said layer of plates. In addition, the invention further provides an armor plate comprising a plurality of stacked plates of high-density polymer bathed silver nitrate, inserting a binding means between the plates. The binding means may be any adhesive or gluing means such as a PVA glue. Brief Description of the Drawings The present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to an embodiment represented in the drawings. The figures show. - Figure 1 illustrates a first preferred embodiment of the armor plate of the present invention; - Figure 2 illustrates the armor plate of Figure 1 applied to a vehicle armor; - Figure 3 illustrates a second preferred embodiment of the armor plate of the present invention, including metallic webs inserted between the plates of high-density polymer; - Figure 4 illustrates a preferred arrangement of the plate lines in the stacking step of the method of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Figures According to a preferred embodiment and as can be seen from Figure 1 , the armor plate 35 is composed of a plurality of stacked plates bound by a binding means. The plates 30 are made of any high-density polymer, bathed in silver nitrate. Preferably, the plates 30 are made of a polyes- ter-based polymer, bathed in silver nitrate at 6%, that is to say, X-ray plates.

The plates 30 are bound to each other by a binding means 32, which may be any type of adhesive or gluing means. Preferably, the joining of the plates 30 is effected by means of VΑ- aseU^"g ϋe;^""which enables shearing movement of one plate with respect to the other. Optionally, the plates 30 may be joined by water-based gluing. The PVA-based gluing imparts malleability to the armor plate, since the gluing does not parch and the water base added to the nitrate existing in the polyester renders the gluing of the armor plate rigid after it has been glued. With regard to the X-ray plates, they may have different dimensions and may be any one of those found at present on the market at companies of the branch or at hospitals and radiological centers, such as X-ray plates manufactured by KODAK®. The plates 30 preferably have a thickness of 0.2 mm. Figure 2 illustrates the application of the armor plate 35 to an original plate 10 of a vehicle during the armoring process..As shown in this figure, the armor plate 35 is composed of a plurality of plates of high-density polyester, bathed in silver nitrate. The plate 35 is fixed to the original plate 10 by means of a fixing means 20, which is preferably an epoxy glue. The epoxy glue is based on urethane with reference U438 RF of rapid drying, standing high temperatures (100°C). In order to ensure a secure and steady fixation of the armor plate 35 to the vehicle plate 10, one should preferably apply between them a layer of epoxy glue having a 0.90 mm thickness. However, it should be understood that the layer may be a little thicker or thinner according to the need. The preferred range of thickness of the epoxy glue applied between the vehicle plate 10 and the armor plate 35 is from about 0.70 mm to about 1.10 mm. The plate 25 may be applied to any type of vehicle plate, as for example, plates with a thickness of from 1 mm to 1.2 mm, made of 420 N/mm2 steel, which exhibit resistance values and EDWT carbon. In addition, the armor plate 35 of the first preferred embodiment of the present application further comprises an external finish 40 fixed to one of its external plates. This finish may be made of a fabric having a thickness of about 1 mm. However, one should understand that the external finish may have different thicknesses, not being limited to 1 mm. Preferably, the external finish is molten-polyester-based TNT. Figure 3 shows a second preferred embodiment of the armor plate 35 of the present invention, which includes a plurality o metallic ^"'^"Webs' 50 inserted between the plates 30. The insertion of metallic webs 50 between the plates 30 increases the capability of preventing the .passage of a bullet through the plate 35 and, therefore, increases the protection provided; by the armor. It should be noted that the number of webs inserted between the plates 30 is at the criterion of the worker who makes the armor, depending upon the need of each client. So, one or more inserts may be placed between two plates. Preferably, these metallic webs are made of galvanized steel or stainless steel. The method of manufacturing the armor plate of the present invention comprises the steps of stacking a plurality of plates of high-density polymer bathed in silver nitrate, inserting a binding means between plates, thus forming a layer of plates; and compressing said layer of plates. The plates of high-density polymer are preferably polyester plates bathed 6% silver nitrate, that is to say, X-ray plates. The binding means applied in the process may be any adhesive or gluing means. Pref- erably, the binding means is PVA-based glue, which permits a shearing movement of one plate relative to the other. Optionally, the plates 30 may be joined by a water-based gluing. The PVA-based gluing imparts malleability to the armor plate, since said gluing does not parch and the water base added to the nitrate existing in the polyester renders the gluing of the armor plate rigid after drying. It should be pointed out that, due to the use of PVA glue, a layer slides relative to the other, so that the plate may be bent for application onto curved surfaces, as for instance onto the inner part of a vehicle door. As shown in Figure 4, a preferred embodiment of the process of manufacturing an armor plate according to the present invention comprises,^' in the stacking step, a number of lines 60 formed by plates 30 placed side, by side overlapping each other, forming a row of plates. The overlapping of the rows 60 is made in such a way that the border regions of one plate 30 will not coincide with the border regions of the other plate which the latter overlaps. In other words, the overlapping and stacking of rows of plates is made in such a way that the border regions of the plates 30 of one row of plates^" 60 will not coincide with the border regions of the plates 30 of the other rows of plates 60 and, principally, will not coincide with the border regions of, the , plates 30 of the rows of plates 60 located immediately above and/or belo said row of plates. For this purpose, the plates are mounted and arranged in an asymmetric way. In addition, the plates 30 should preferably be arranged side by side without their borders overlapping. This arrangement and overlapping of the rows of plates 60 described in the preceding paragraph prevent the formation of weak points that may allow bullets to pass through the armor plate 35. The compressing step is important for providing a closer binding between the stacked plates 30. Moreover, the compressing step manages to expel the excess glue that may exist between the stacked plates. The compressing step may be carried out by using any mechanism or equipment of pressure application or by applying a weight. The pressure exerted onto the layer formed by the plurality of stacked plates (or rows of plates) should preferably be of 50 kgf/m². However, if desired or necessary, other pressures may be applied, and the pressure should not be limited to any specific value. In order to accelerate the draying/cure of the PVA glue, the plate may be heated up to a temperature of about 80° for about 72 hours. This heating may be made by placing the armor plate 35 in an oven heated with high-power incandescent lamps. After the manufacturing step, the plate may be cut at the measures adequate for application onto the object which one desires to armor. For instance, the plates may be cut in dimensions of doors, hoods and roofs of a vehicle. As mentioned before, the armor plates may further comprise an external coating applied onto one of outer plates (or rows of plates). For the purposes of the present invention, one should understand that the X-ray plates may have different shapes and sizes found in the prior art at present. Usually, the plates are produced in 6 different sizes and . any of these plates may satisfactorily compose the armor plate 35 of the pre- sent invention and be used in its manufacturing process. The armor plate preferably has standard dimensions of 2 m x 1 m. However, after the armor plate 35 has been completed, it preferably comprises at least 40 plates 30 or rows of stacked plates 60. Still more preferably, the plate 35 comprises at least 55 stacked plates (or rows of plates). The use of plates of high-density polymer bathed in silver nitrate allows the plate of the present invention to provide greater ballistic security with respect to the other types of armors existing at present. The ballistic function in the silver nitrate is very efficient, since it has the capability to reduce the energy from the bullet. So, the more nitrate is applied in the poly- mer, and preferably in the polyester, the greater the capability of the armor plate to retain the bullet. Another important aspect of the present invention is that the use of this type of material causes the armor plates to have indefinite durability, much longer than the average durability of armor plates of the prior art. In addition, due to the fact that the present invention uses ballis- tically more resistant material, it is possible that the armor plate may be formed by a smaller number of stacked plates (or rows of plates), thus reduc- ing the weight of the plate and allowing the later to be used in armoring cars with low-power engines, without substantially affecting the performance and the structure of the vehicle. It should be further pointed out that the material used in the plates that compose the armor plate of the present invention are more economical than the materials conventionally used in armors of the prior art. Thus, its final price to the consumers is greatly reduced, and this enables more people to afford the costs involved in the armoring process and, consequently, have access to this kind of service. Examples of a preferred embodiment having been described, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention embraces other possible variations, being limited only by the contents of the accompanying claims, which include the possible equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing an armor plate, characterized by comprising the steps of: (a) stacking a plurality of plates of high-density polymer bathed in silver nitrate, inserting a binding means between plates, forming a layer of plates; and (b) compressing said layer of plates.

2. A method according to claim 1 , characterized in that, in the stacking step, it comprises a number of rows formed by plates arranged side by side overlapping each other, forming a row of plates.

3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the overlapping of the rows is effected in such a way that the border regions of one plateiwill not coincide with the border regions of the other plate which it overlaps and which overlaps it.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it further comprises the step of heating said layer of plates, preferably up to the temperature of 80° for 72 hours, after the compressing step.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, in the stacking step, at least one metallic web is inserted between two plates.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the compression applied is of 50 kgf/m².

7. An armor plate (35) characterized by comprising a plurality of stacked plates (30) of high-density polymer bathed in silver nitrate, including a binding means between plates.

8. An armor plate (35) according to claim 7, characterized by comprising a number of rows of plates (60) overlapping and formed of plates (30) placed side by side, the overlapping of the rows (60) being made in such a way that the border regions of one plate (3) will not coincide with the border regions of the other plate (30) which it overlaps and which overlaps it.

9. An armor plate (35) according to claim 8, characterized by comprising at least 55 rows of plates (60).

10. An armor plate (35) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the plates (30) are arranged over each other, so that their borders will not overlap.

11. An armor plate (35) according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the binding means (32) is a PVA-type adhesive.

12. An armor plate (35) according to any one of claims 7 to 11 , characterized by further comprising at least one metallic web (50) inserted between said piates (35), the web (50) being preferably made of galvanized steel or stainless steel.

13. An armor plate (35) according to claim 12, characterized in that the metallic webs (50) are fixed between the plates (30) by means of an epoxy glue.