Ballistic construction panel

Abstract

A ballistic resistant construction panel having a series of elongated channels formed by coupling a corrugated member to adjacent planar wall members. These channels are filled with sand to provide the ballistic resistance of the panel. These panels are constructed of a fiber-reinforced plastic material and may be assembled together to form a temporary shelter.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 374,542 entitled “BALLISTIC CONSTRUCTION PANEL”, filed on Mar. 11, 2006.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to structural panels used in construction and more particularly to ballistic resistant structural panels that can be assembled together to erect a shelter.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Temporary shelters differ from traditional permanent buildings or structures in that a temporary shelter must be portable and relatively easy to construct. This is particularly true when the shelters must be constructed to provide housing for a large number of people in a short amount of time. For example, during a military deployment or an emergency situation where an area's housing may be destroyed or made uninhabitable.[0004]Additionally, conventional temporary shelters deployed in combat zones or other areas where violence may break out are often not resist...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]It is a first advantage of the present invention to provide a construction panel which is resistant to substantially any conventional small-arms munitions.

[0012]It is a second advantage of the present invention to provide a ballistic resistant construction panel which is light-weight and readily transportable.

[0013]It is a third advantage of the present invention to provide a ballistic resistant construction panel that may be modified to address the potential threat level by adding additional layers of protection.

[0014]It is a fourth advantage of the present invention to provide a ballistic resistant construction panel that contains a earthen filler material, such as sand, that does not have to be shipped to a location as part of its ballistic protection.

[0015]It is a fifth advantage of the present invention to form a construction panel by coupling relatively thin and rigid sheets of fiber-reinforced plastic material together. These sheets include a generally waveform shaped corrugated member that is sandwiched between two planar sheets. The corrugated member's shape creates a plurality of elongated channels along the panel and these channels are reinforced against ballistic attack by filling them with a solid filler material, such as sand.

[0016]It is a sixth advantage of the invention to provide a ballistic construction panel including a plurality of generally planar and rigid structural sheets. The sheets include an inner-most sheet and an outer-most sheet and wherein each of the sheets is disposed parallel to each other. At least one rigid corrugated member is disposed between each adjacent sheet and is coupled to these adjacent sheets. The corrugated member and adjacent sheets cooperate to define a plurality of elongated cells. A reinforcing filler material is disposed within and fills the plurality of cells.

Problems solved by technology

For example, during a military deployment or an emergency situation where an area's housing may be destroyed or made uninhabitable.

Additionally, conventional temporary shelters deployed in combat zones or other areas where violence may break out are often not resistant to high-velocity projectiles, gunfire and / or fragmentation shrapnel.

Currently, the Middle East is one such dangerous area.

The desert environment of the area poses additional dangers to personnel stationed there as the extreme temperatures must also be taken into account when erecting shelters.

Currently, temporary shelters are limited to traditional tents, which only offer limited protection against weather and to some pre-fabricated housing units which are no better than sheet-metal structures or cargo containers.

These shelters offer little to no ballistic protection to their occupants.

Additionally, with current shelters, deployment in certain environments, such as a desert, also highlights the fact that these shelters do not offer adequate thermal insulation.

Even if these shelters are ballistic resistant they usually achieve this resistance by using relatively expensive and exotic materials such as aramid fiber-based ballistic materials (e.g., Kevlar® or Nomex®) that are layered together to form panels.

This protection also suffers from the drawback that every component of the panel must be manufactured at first location, stored at another, and then brought to the site, thereby increasing the logistical difficulties and expenses.

Applying armor plating to existing conventional structures suffers from the drawback of lack of portability and high cost.

While age-old earthen defenses offer a cheap means for increasing survivability and are readily available at the deployment location, the very high manual labor requirements of building earthworks around temporary structures is not desirable.

Therefore, fortifying conventional structures using earthworks (e.g., sandbags) is not practical on a large scale.

Furthermore, the threat of terrorist activity, such as suicide-bombers, where an attack may occur from the inside of a structure may negate any armor or ballistic protection provided by the outer walls of a structure.

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