Soft Ballistic Shield with Collapsible Frame
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current soft shield designs provide inadequate protection against projectiles, often collapsing under impact and offering a false sense of security for law enforcement professionals, as they fail to resist buckling at the edges, leading to potential injury and limited mobility due to their weight and rigidity.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, flexible soft shield design featuring a fabric shell supported by a frame with two vertical and two horizontal semi-rigid supports, secured through pockets and elastic bands, allowing for adjustable length and easy storage, with optional ballistic panels and a collapsible structure to enhance protection and maneuverability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If soft shields are constructed from ballistic resistant fabric shell with support bars, then the shield becomes lighter and more flexible, but the shield collapses under projectile impact and provides inadequate protection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible fabric shell made of ballistic resistant material (e.g., Kevlar, Spectra) as the primary protective structure. The shell is designed to be flexible and conformable while maintaining ballistic protection capabilities, eliminating the need for rigid support bars that would compromise flexibility and increase weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction by layering multiple sheets of ballistic resistant fabric with intermediate bonding layers. This creates a laminated composite structure that maintains flexibility while providing superior ballistic protection compared to single-layer fabrics.
2Reliability
If hard shields are used to provide adequate ballistic protection, then the shield stops bullets effectively, but the shield becomes heavy and awkward, impairing user mobility and speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional hard rigid shield structures with a flexible fabric shell construction. This flexible shell maintains adequate ballistic protection while being significantly lighter and more maneuverable, allowing officers to move with balance and speed without manipulating a heavy awkward structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the shield material from hard rigid materials to flexible ballistic resistant fabrics. This parameter change enables the shield to provide protection while reducing weight and improving flexibility, allowing the shield to drape naturally and conform to the officer's body.
3Ease of manufacture
If hard shields are manufactured in standard sizes, then the shield structure remains simple and economical, but the shield cannot accommodate officers of different heights effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the shield dynamically adaptable by incorporating adjustable features such as removable support elements, adjustable straps, and modular components. This allows the same basic shield structure to be customized for officers of different heights and body types without requiring multiple standard size variants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the shield with universal adaptability features that allow a single shield model to serve multiple officers of different sizes. The shield incorporates adjustable elements and modular components that can be configured to fit various body types, making one design universally applicable rather than requiring multiple size-specific models.
4Reliability
If hard shields are used to provide robust protection, then the shield structure remains stable, but the shield cannot be stored compactly in vehicle trunks or compartments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates collapsible support elements that can transition between an extended stable configuration during use and a compressed compact configuration for storage. The flexible fabric shell maintains its protective integrity in both states, allowing the shield to be stored in vehicle trunks or compartments when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a nested configuration where the collapsible support elements can be folded or retracted into the fabric shell structure itself. When not in use, the support elements nest within the shield's own structure, minimizing the volume required for storage while maintaining full protective capability when deployed.
5Weight of moving object
If soft shields use limited support bars, then the shield remains lightweight and flexible, but the shield buckles at edges and allows projectiles to slide past
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the flexible fabric shell itself as the primary protective barrier rather than relying on sparse support bars. The shell is constructed with sufficient thickness and layering to resist projectile penetration and prevent buckling at edges, eliminating the need for additional rigid support elements that would increase weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction with multiple layers of ballistic resistant fabric bonded together with intermediate layers. This composite structure provides distributed strength across the entire shield surface, including edges, preventing buckling and projectile penetration without requiring heavy rigid support bars.
Data Source
AI summary
A soft ballistic shield comprises a shell adapted to support at least one soft ballistic panel made from a soft ballistic material suitable for protecting a user from bodily injury from projectiles. At least one generally horizontal support is adapted to be coupled to the shell in a deployed configuration. First and second generally vertical supports are adapted to be coupled to the shell in a deployed configuration. The first and second generally vertical pockets cover a majority of the first and second generally vertical supports when housing the first and second generally vertical supports in a deployed configuration to provide a support structure for the soft ballistic shield to absorb energy from an impact of a projectile. A retainer cap is coupled to the shield and configured to be positioned over an end of the at least one elongate generally horizontal support.