Explosive-Actuated Armor Vest With Threat-Triggered Protective Hood
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing body armor technologies face challenges in effectively protecting against high-velocity projectiles due to the potential danger of explosive charges to the wearer and the difficulty in deflecting or displacing the wearer safely.
Innovation Solution
A body armor vest system incorporating a multimodal sensor system and explosive charges that detect incoming projectiles, allowing the wearer to be displaced through controlled detonation of these charges, combined with an inflatable protective hood to minimize penetration risk and protect the head and neck.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If explosive charges are used to deflect incoming projectiles, then the ability to move the wearer out of the projectile's path is improved, but the danger to the wearer from the explosive charges worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The explosive system is divided into multiple independent charge units distributed across the armor vest. Each charge can be independently activated based on the detected projectile trajectory, allowing selective deployment that minimizes unnecessary explosive activation and reduces overall danger to the wearer while maintaining rapid response capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor system continuously monitors the environment before a projectile impact occurs, enabling the system to detect incoming threats in advance. This preliminary detection allows the processor to calculate optimal charge activation timing and sequence, activating explosives only when and where needed to deflect the projectile away from the wearer, thereby reducing unnecessary explosive danger.
2Reliability
If the wearer is displaced through explosive detonation, then the effectiveness of protecting against projectile penetration is improved, but the complexity of the system worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple functional components into a unified armor vest structure: sensor arrays are embedded in the vest fabric, explosive charges are distributed within compartments, and an inflatable hood is incorporated as part of the overall system. This merging reduces the number of separate systems the wearer must manage while maintaining high protection reliability through coordinated operation of all components.
Solution Approach 2:
The explosive charges serve multiple functions: they can deflect incoming projectiles, propel the inflatable hood to cover the head and neck, and potentially redirect shrapnel. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate protective mechanisms, simplifying the overall system while maintaining high reliability across multiple threat scenarios.
3Reliability
If an inflatable protective hood is deployed to protect the head and neck, then the protection against secondary damage is improved, but the time required for deployment worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The inflatable hood is pre-positioned in a compact state within the armor vest structure, with inflation mechanisms pre-charged and ready. Upon detection of an incoming projectile, the system immediately activates the inflation process simultaneously with or just before explosive charge activation, ensuring the hood is deployed in advance of the projectile impact to protect the head and neck, minimizing deployment time while maintaining high protection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The hood uses pneumatic inflation through rapid gas expansion from compressed reservoirs or chemical generation, enabling near-instantaneous deployment. This pneumatic mechanism allows the hood to expand from a compact state to full protective size in a fraction of a second, achieving both rapid deployment and reliable protection against secondary damage from explosive forces.
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 system effectively moves the wearer out of the path of incoming projectiles, reducing penetration risk and protecting the head and neck from secondary damage, while using controlled explosive forces to ensure safety and minimize injury.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of explosive charges positioned on the wearable vest and each sufficient to move the wearer when detonated
Implementation Method 2
The sensor system is an integrated multi-modal sensor system
Data Source
AI summary
A body armor vest system including a wearable vest, a power source, a processor, at least one explosive charge, a multimodal sensor system and an inflatable protective hood, the power source, the processor and the explosive charge positioned on the wearable vest, the inflatable protective hood positioned on an upper portion of the wearable vest, the multimodal sensor system detecting the incoming projectile, the processor determining if the incoming projectile is a credible threat and deploying the inflatable protective hood and detonating the explosive charge if the detected incoming projectile is determined to be a credible threat.