Patent Application - SHAPED BODY ARMOR AND METHOD OF MAKING > Claims

1. An article for use in body armor, comprising a plurality of discrete sheet subassemblies contoured to the shape of a female breast arranged in a stack, without bonding, such that the breast contours are positioned on top of each other, each of the subassemblies being a sheet comprising: (i) at least two nonwoven layers, each of the layers comprising a plurality of nonwoven continuous multifilament polymeric yarns having a linear density of from 50 to 4500 dtex, a tenacity of from 10 to 65 g/dtex, a modulus of from 150 to 2700 g/dtex, and an elongation to break of from 1 to 8 percent, the yarns in the layers being arranged substantially parallel to each other with the proviso that the yarns in any one layer are offset in orientation with respect to the orientation of yarns of any other layer contacting the any one layer,(ii) binder of thermoset or thermoplastic film or powder, and(iii) coating resin such that the weight percent of the binder and coating resin is in the range of from 0.5% to 30% when expressed as a percentage of the total weight of resin, binder plus yarn in one of the subassemblies, wherein the subassemblies are free of darts, seams or pleats.
- 2. The article of claim 1, wherein the yarn polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyamide, polyolefin, polyarenazole or combinations thereof.
  - 3. The article of claim 2, wherein the polyamide polymer is para-aramid.
- 4. The article of claim 1, wherein the coating resin is selected from the group consisting of thermoset, thermoplastic resin or mixtures thereof.
- 5. The article of claim 1, comprising from 4 to 60 discrete subassemblies.
6. A method of forming a contoured body armor article, comprising, in order, the steps of: (a) cutting to length a flat nonwoven subassembly sheet, the sheet further comprising: (i) at least two nonwoven layers of continuous multifilament polymeric yarns having a linear density of from 50 to 4500 dtex, a tenacity of from 10 to 65 g/dtex, a modulus of from 150 to 2700 g/dtex, and an elongation to break of from 1 to 8 percent, the yarns in each layer being arranged substantially parallel to each other with the proviso that the yarns in any one layer are offset in orientation with respect to the orientation of yarns of any other layer contacting the any one layer,(ii) binder, and(iii) coating resin such that the weight percent of binder and coating resin is in the range of from 0.5% to 30% when expressed as a percentage of the total weight of resin, binder plus yarn in the subassembly,(b) preheating the cut sheet to a temperature of from 100 degrees C. to 160 degrees C.,(c) placing the preheated sheet, without darting or pleating, into a mold having at least one contoured surface,(d) molding the sheet at a temperature of from 100 to 175 degrees C. and a pressure of from 0.3 to 100 bar for between 0.5 to 15 minutes to form a contoured subassembly,(e) cooling the subassembly to a temperature of 60 degrees C. or lower,(f) removing the subassembly from the mold,(g) repeating steps (a) to (f) as required to give the desired number of subassemblies, and(h) assembling a plurality of subassemblies into a body armor article such that the contours are positioned on top of each other.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein step (b) comprises an optional step of partially preforming the preheated sheet at a pressure of from 0.3 to 100 bar without darting or molding into a preliminary contoured shape.
- 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the yarn polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyamide, polyolefin, polyarenazole or combinations thereof.
  - 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the polyamide polymer is para-aramid.
- 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the coating resin is selected from the group consisting of thermoset, thermoplastic resin or mixtures thereof
- 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the number of discrete subassemblies in step (h) is from 4 to 60.
12. A method of forming a contoured body armor article, comprising, in order, the steps of: (a) cutting to length a plurality of flat nonwoven subassembly sheets, the sheets further comprising (i) at least two nonwoven layers of continuous multifilament polymeric yarns having a linear density of from 50 to 4500 dtex, a tenacity of from 10 to 65 g/dtex, a modulus of from 150 to 2700 g/dtex, and an elongation to break of from 1 to 8 percent, the yarns in each layer being arranged substantially parallel to each other with the proviso that the yarns in any one layer are offset in orientation with respect to the orientation of yarns of any other layer contacting the any one layer,(ii) binder, and(iii) coating resin such that the weight percent of binder and coating resin is in the range of from 0.5 to 30% when expressed as a percentage of the total weight of resin, binder plus yarn in the subassembly,(b) preheating the cut sheets to a temperature of from 100 degrees C. to 160 degrees C.,(c) placing the preheated sheet, without darting or pleating, into a mold having at least one contoured surface,(d) placing a release layer on the upper surface of the sheet,(e) placing a further preheated fabric sheet, without darting or pleating, on top of the release layer,(f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until the desired number of sheets are in the mold,(g) molding the sheets at a temperature of from 100 to 175 degrees C. and a pressure of from 0.3 to 100 bar for between 0.5 to 15 minutes to form a plurality of discrete contoured subassemblies,(h) cooling the subassemblies to a temperature of 60 degrees C. or lower,(i) removing the subassemblies from the mold,(j) separating each subassembly from the release layer, and(k) assembling a plurality of subassemblies into a body armor article such that the contours are positioned on top of each other.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein step (b) comprises an optional step of partially preforming the preheated sheet without darting or molding into a preliminary contoured shape.
- 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the yarn polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyamide, polyolefin, polyarenazole or combinations thereof.
  - 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the polyamide polymer is para-aramid.
- 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the coating resin is selected from the group consisting of thermoset, thermoplastic or mixtures thereof.
- 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the number of discrete subassemblies in step (k) is from 4 to 60.