Deployable Ballistic Shield with Gapped Aramid Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ballistic shields, such as metal doors, provide inadequate protection for law enforcement and military personnel when exiting vehicles, as they are too thin and do not cover the lower legs, leaving them susceptible to submachine gun and handgun munitions that can ricochet and become more lethal.
Innovation Solution
A deployable ballistic shield made of high-impact Aramid material with multiple layers, including a graphene coating, that can be quickly deployed from a stowed to a deployed position, providing full-body protection from the head to the ground, with adjustable hinges and a retraction assembly for easy use and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If metal doors are used to block incoming munitions, then the door provides some protection, but the door is too thin and causes bullets to fragment and tumble, increasing lethality
Solution Approach 1:
The shield uses a composite structure combining multiple layers of high-strength Aramid material with graphene coatings. This composite material provides superior ballistic protection while maintaining flexibility, preventing munition fragmentation unlike thin metal doors.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield material properties are optimized through parameter changes in the Aramid fabric weave density, layer thickness, and graphene coating application to achieve maximum ballistic resistance while maintaining flexibility and preventing bullet fragmentation.
2Strength
If officers wear bulletproof vests for torso protection, then the torso is protected, but the lower legs remain exposed to ricocheting munitions
Solution Approach 1:
The shield is designed as a universal protective device that can protect the entire body from head to toe, replacing the need for separate torso vests and leg protection. The full-length shield covers all vulnerable areas including lower legs exposed by crouching behind doors.
3Strength
If a full-length ballistic shield is deployed to protect from head to ground, then full body coverage is achieved, but the shield becomes difficult to store and deploy quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The full-length shield is designed to nest within a compact housing unit, allowing rapid deployment when needed. The shield can be stored in a vertical or horizontal configuration within the housing, enabling quick access and deployment without requiring large storage space.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield incorporates flexible materials and dynamic deployment mechanisms that allow it to be quickly unrolled or unfolded from the compact housing to full deployment position, and rapidly re-stowed when not in use, maintaining both full coverage and operational ease.
4Volume of moving object
If the shield layers are kept close together for compact storage, then the stowed size is minimized, but the ballistic protection effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The shield layers are designed to nest tightly within the housing when not in use, minimizing storage volume. The flexible Aramid material allows the layers to be compressed and stored in a compact configuration without permanent deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield transitions dynamically between a compressed nested state for storage and an expanded state for deployment. When deployed, the layers are spaced apart to provide effective ballistic protection, while maintaining the ability to return to the compact nested configuration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The shield effectively stops high-velocity 9 mm submachine gun and pistol munitions, offering full-length protection and deflecting kinetic energy, even when the door is not bulletproof, by flexing upon impact and providing a gapped layered armor effect.
Implementation Method 1
The shield effectively stops high-velocity 9 mm submachine gun and pistol munitions, offering full-length protection and deflecting kinetic energy, even when the door is not bulletproof, by flexing upon impact and providing a gapped layered armor effect.
Implementation Method 2
The shield effectively stops high-velocity 9 mm submachine gun and pistol munitions, offering full-length protection and deflecting kinetic energy, even when the door is not bulletproof, by flexing upon impact and providing a gapped layered armor effect.
Data Source
AI summary
A deployable ballistic shield is disclosed. The deployable ballistic shield includes a plurality of layers formed of a high impact anti-ballistic Aramid material. The shield is selectively configured between a stowed condition, in which the plurality of layers are in contact with an adjacent layer, and a deployed condition in which the plurality of layers are suspended in a spaced apart relation with a gap formed between the adjacent layer. A handhold is defined at a top end of the shield. Aa foothold may be defined at a bottom end of the shield. The deployable ballistic shield may be used by law enforcement, military, and other personnel as a protective ballistic barrier. Gaps between the plurality of layers serve to absorb the kinetic energy of a ballistic round.