Female Vest Armor Panel Offset Stitching Stress Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing female body armor vests face performance limitations due to multiple stitching lines converging at the breast cups, which can compromise the vest's ballistic protection and wearer comfort.
Innovation Solution
The chest armor panel features offset stitching lines covered by intermediary layers of ballistic fabric, forming triangular-shaped darts in multiple packs to distribute stress and enhance protection while maintaining comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If multiple stitching lines are stacked to form breast cups, then the armor panel can provide structural support and shaping, but the ballistic protection performance deteriorates due to concentrated stitching weaknesses
Solution Approach 1:
The armor panel is divided into multiple separate packs (typically 3-5 packs) that are stacked together. Each pack contains stitching lines that form darts for breast cup shaping. By segmenting the armor panel into multiple independent packs, the stitching lines are distributed across different layers rather than concentrated in a single layer, preventing any single stitching line from becoming a ballistic weakness.
Solution Approach 2:
The stitching lines are arranged in multiple dimensional layers through the stacking of packs. Instead of having all stitching lines in one plane, the invention distributes them across multiple thickness dimensions (z-axis), creating a multi-layered structure where stitching lines from different packs are offset from each other, thereby eliminating concentrated weakness points.
2Shape
If multiple stitching lines converge at the apex of breast cups, then proper anatomical shaping is achieved, but stress concentration occurs compromising both comfort and protection
Solution Approach 1:
The convergence point stress is segmented by distributing it across multiple packs. Each pack's stitching lines converge at slightly different positions and angles, so the stress from wearers' body movement and ballistic impact is distributed across multiple stitching lines and fabric layers rather than concentrated at a single apex point.
Solution Approach 2:
The packs are pre-positioned and stitched with offset dart patterns before assembly. This preliminary arrangement ensures that when the armor panel is worn, the stress distribution is already optimized with no single point bearing excessive load, enhancing both comfort and protective capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A chest armor panel (1) for female body armor vests wherein the breast cups (10A, 10B) of the armor panel are specially layered so that stitching lines (8) are offset from each other and covered by intermediary layers of non-stitched ballistic fabric or apex covers (26) to enhance the performance of the vest.