Integrated Body Armor Harness for Extraction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing extraction harnesses leave individuals vulnerable to mission-specific threats such as ballistic projectiles and shrapnel during air missions, as they do not provide adequate protection while allowing for quick retrieval.
Innovation Solution
An integrated body armor harness system that combines a tactical vest with an extraction harness, featuring a shackle harness, leg harness, and torso harness, which includes ballistic components and modular attachment points for equipment, allowing for conversion into a stand-alone extraction harness or specific systems for aircrew or pilots, providing protection without hindering movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If an extraction harness is used for quick retrieval during air missions, then extraction speed is improved, but protection against ballistic projectiles and shrapnel deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two separate systems (extraction harness and body armor) into a single integrated system. The body armor vest includes integrated harness components (shoulder straps, leg straps, shackle attachment) that allow the same garment to provide both ballistic protection and extraction functionality, eliminating the need to choose between protection and extraction capability
Solution Approach 2:
The body armor vest is designed with multi-functional components that serve dual purposes: the harness straps provide structural support for extraction while also forming part of the protective vest system. The shackle attachment point on the vest allows it to function as both armor and extraction device, making the system universally applicable for both protection and retrieval operations
2Object-affected harmful factors
If body armor is added to protect against mission-specific threats, then protection level is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adding a separate extraction harness to the body armor, the patent integrates the harness components directly into the vest structure. The shoulder straps, leg straps, and shackle attachment are built-in elements of the armor system, reducing the number of separate components and simplifying the overall system while maintaining both protection and extraction capabilities
3Object-affected harmful factors
If an integrated body armor harness system is used, then protection is improved, but weight of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the extraction harness and body armor into a single system, which eliminates the weight of a separate harness while adding armor. The integrated design allows the armor vest itself to serve as the harness structure, potentially reducing total system weight compared to carrying both separate systems
Data Source
AI summary
Implementations described and claimed herein provide an integrated body armor harness system. In one implementation, a front panel extends between a proximal end and a distal end. A shackle harness is integrated with the front panel, and the shackle harness has at least one shackle strap extending from the front panel and having a shackle loop adapted to receive a shackle for releasably engaging a sling. A leg harness extends from the distal end of the front panel. The leg harness includes a set of leg straps forming a first leg loop and a second leg loop. A back panel is disposed opposite the front panel, with the front panel and the back panel forming a tactical vest. A torso harness is integrated with the back panel, and the torso harness includes a set of shoulder straps.