Plate Carrier
An armor carrier for retaining a plurality of armor plates. The armor carrier includes front and rear portions, a pair of shoulder straps, and a pair of side panels. The front portion comprises a pocket configured to hold an armor plate, and the rear portion comprises a pocket configured to hold an armor plate. Each shoulder strap is configured to connect the front portion to the rear portion. Each side panel includes a plurality of waist straps, each of which forms part of a connection between the front portion and the rear portion. The waist straps allow for adjustment of the side panels relative to the rear portion. The armor carrier may also include a pair of back straps, which in combination with the waist straps, allow a wearer to adjust the placement of the side panels relative to the rear portion to accommodate the build of the wearer.
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This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/306,033, filed Feb. 19, 2010, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT RIGHTSThis invention was made with Government support under Contract No. W91CRB-10-C-0175 awarded by the United States Department of the Army. The Government has certain rights in the invention.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to body armor systems and, more specifically, to plate carrier devices and systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMilitary and police use many different types and styles of body armor systems. One such system is a plate carrier. A plate carrier is worn by a person around the torso and over the shoulders and houses armor plates, ballistic packs, and other forms of soft armor protection. This armor within the plate carrier provides ballistic and fragmentation protection to the wearer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides plate carrier devices and systems that provide a wearer added comfort and allow for the quick and easy removal of armor. The carrier may include a front portion, a rear portion, and side panels, each of which can include pockets for holding armor plates. The side panels and shoulder straps may connect the front portion to the rear portion. The carrier may also include a carrier release mechanism for removal of the carrier.
For the purpose of illustration, there are shown in the drawings certain embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements, dimensions, and instruments shown. In the drawings:
While modern technology has developed new materials for armor plates, the armor plates remain the heaviest component of a plate carrier (also referred to herein as an “armor carrier”). Even with the advantages provided through use of aramid fiber, such as Kevlar®, ceramic, and other ballistic grade materials to manufacture armor plates, a wearer must still bear the physical weight of the armor plates while maintaining combat effectiveness.
In addition to issues with weight, modern armor carriers do not allow users to quickly and easily remove them. In modern armor carriers, ease of removal may be sacrificed to ensure that the carrier remains securely positioned on the wearer. Quick removal of an armor carrier, however, may be of particular importance to a wearer who has entered a body of water or needs to flee an area quickly.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous for an armor carrier to provide for added comfort while at the same time allowing for quick and easy removal by the wearer.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide devices and systems for providing a wearer the ability to carry and wear armor and quickly and easily remove such armor when needed. An exemplary embodiment of such devices and systems comprises an armor carrier which provides a wearer added comfort while still allowing for the quick and easy removal of armor through removal of the armor carrier. The armor carrier may include a front portion, a rear portion, and side panels, each of which may include pockets for holding armor plates and/or soft armor packs. The armor carrier may further include shoulder straps, which together with the side panels, connect the front portion to the rear portion of the armor carrier. The armor carrier may also include a carrier release mechanism for quick removal of the armor carrier by and from the wearer.
Referring now to
As illustrated in
In an exemplary embodiment of the armor carrier 100, the armor carrier 100 includes a release pull strap 504, as illustrated in
Referring now to
Referring now to
In an exemplary embodiment, the waist straps 402 span the side panels 150 and form respective portions of MOLLE webbing along the side panels 150. In such exemplary embodiment, the waist straps 402 span across an entire width of the side panels 150 in parallel, and an end of each waist straps 402 opposite its anchored end is coupled to one of the buckles 408. In the exemplary embodiment in which the buckles 408 are side release buckles, the male buckle member of each side release buckle is coupled to the end of each waist strap 402 opposite its anchored end for connection to a respective female buckle member connected to the front portion 102. In the exemplary embodiment of the armor carrier 100 illustrated in
Referring now to
When the buckles 408 are opened and the armor carrier 100 has been removed from the wearer 10, the armor carrier 100 has a generally flat or planar shape.
The front portion 102 and the rear portion 104 of the armor carrier 100 include a plurality of openings for receiving armor. The armor may be positioned between inner and outer layers of the material forming the armor carrier 100. Hence, the armor carrier 100 provides a plurality of pockets accessed via the plurality of openings for carrying armor. The armor used with the armor carrier 100 may comprise a range of soft armor packs and armor plates and, optionally, an armor plate used in conjunction with a soft armor pack.
The armor carrier 100 may accommodate a variety of different types of soft armor packs. In an exemplary embodiment, such soft armor packs may comply with NIJ Standard 0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor Systems; NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet Resistant Body Armor; or NIJ Standard 0101.06, Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor. The protection level of the soft armor packs may comply with NIJ Level II or IIIA standards, or with other promulgated standards. In other exemplary embodiments, the soft armor may comprise US Military specification soft armor to specifications such as, for example, US Army FO/PD 07-05.
The armor carrier 100 may accommodate a variety of different types of armor plates. The armor plate may offer protection from military caliber and high velocity rounds that, under some circumstances, would not be stopped by a soft armor pack alone. In one exemplary embodiment, the armor plate may be a standard issue armor plate. It may be a metal or ceramic based armor plate, and may be selected from a variety of standard sizes, such as 8 inches by 11 inches, 10 inches by 12 inches, or other dimensions, and may be planar or of varying degrees of curvature. An armor plate may offer ballistic protection certified to NIJ Level III or NIJ Level IV on its own. Alternatively, NIJ Level III or NIJ Level IV ballistic protection may be accomplished through using a soft armor pack with an armor plate.
As shown in the exemplary view illustrated in
Although it is illustrated and described above that the shoulder strap 300 is secured to the rear portion 104 by the slide 306 and the hook and loop 810 fasteners, it is to be understood that both of these attachment means are not necessary. Thus, in one exemplary embodiment, the armor carrier 100 includes the hook and loop 810 fasteners and not the slide 306. In another exemplary embodiment, the armor carrier 100 includes the slide 306 and not the hook and loop 810 fasteners.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In exemplary embodiment, each side panel 150 further includes an additional pocket 1230 disposed within the pocket 210. The pocket 1230 is accessed through the opening 212 for inserting armor through the opening 212 and into the pocket 1230 to dispose and seat the armor within the pocket 1230. The pocket 1230 may hold armor of any appropriate type, such as an armor plate. The armor plate may be curved to conform to a side of the torso of the wearer 10 because the pocket 1230 is disposed within the side panel 150.
Referring now to
In an exemplary embodiment, the armor carrier 100 includes a pair of back straps 414 further connecting the rear portion 104 to respective ones of the pair of side panels 150. The back straps 414 may include slides 416 for adjusting the distance between the side panels 150 and the rear portion 104. While both the back straps 414 and the waist straps 402 may adjust the horizontal distance between a respective one of the side panels 150 and the rear portion 104, the back straps 414 also provide for adjusting the vertical distance between the bottom of the side panel 150 and the bottom 108 of the rear portion 104. Working together, the back straps 414 and the waist straps 402 allow the wearer 10 to adjust the placement of the side panels 150 relative to the rear portion 104 to successfully accommodate the build of the wearer 10.
Referring now to
As seen in the figure, within the rear portion 104 is a plurality of strap slides 420. This figure shows that each waist strap 402 is connected to a rear waist strap slide 420, that each rear waist strap slide 420 is connected to a rear securement strap 422, and that each rear securement strap 422 is connected to the rear portion 104 of the carrier 100. These elements of the carrier 100 enable adjustment of the distance between the rear portion 104 and the side panels 150. It is to be understood that the portions of the waist straps 402 labeled as “402” in
Referring now to
Referring now to
Each buckle 408 is connected to a buckle strap 410, and each buckle strap 410 passes through a release loop 506 fixed at one end to the front portion 102 of the carrier 100. The release cord 502 passes through an opening 412 in the buckle strap 410 such that the presence of the release cord 502 within the buckle strap 410 prevents the buckle strap 410 from exiting the fixed release loop 506. Each release cord continues through the opening 412 and terminates at a release cord pocket 508 configured to receive an end of the release cord 502.
The wearer 10, if wishing to quickly remove the carrier 100, may simply pull on the pull strap 504, thereby pulling the release cords 502 out of the release cord pockets 508 and out of the openings 412 in the buckle straps 410. Once the release cords 502 are no longer present within the buckle straps 410, the buckle straps 410 may exit the fixed release loops 506, and the front portion 102 then separates from the side panels 150, even while the buckles 408 remain secured. At this point, the wearer 10 may easily remove the carrier 100 by lifting the carrier 100 over his head.
Referring now to
Also illustrated in
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Hook and loop fasteners are described herein and shown throughout the figures as a means to secure parts of the armor carrier 100 together. An example of hook and loop fasteners is Velcro®. Alternative forms of removable attachments may be used, including but not limited to, buttons, snaps, or other suitable forms of attachment.
The armor carrier 100 may be formed from one or more layers of fabric, for example, a 500 Denier Nylon Cordura or other durable fabric material. The buckles described herein may be formed from plastic or other suitable forms of material for attachment. Other suitable forms of connectors may be used, such as the side release buckles described herein. The loops, slides, rings, and strap connectors described herein may be formed from plastic, metal, or other suitable forms of material for creating static and dynamic connections.
The present invention may be used in connection with back packs and alternative types of plate carriers and armor carriers. The armor carrier 100 may have additional straps, such as the MOLLE straps illustrated in the figures, attached along various aspects of its surface for holding packs, grenades, carabiners, and other devices and materials used in the battlefield environment.
Modifications can be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. Having described exemplary embodiments of the invention, additional embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements will be apparent to those skilled in the art. These and other embodiments will be understood to be within the scope of the appended claims and apparent to those skilled in the art.
Claims
1. A carrier comprising:
- a front portion comprising a pocket configured to hold an armor plate;
- a rear portion comprising a pocket configured to hold an armor plate;
- a pair of shoulder straps, each shoulder strap being configured to connect the front portion to the rear portion; and
- a pair of side panels, each side panel comprising a plurality of waist straps, each waist strap forming part of a connection between the front portion and the rear portion.
2. The carrier of claim 1, wherein:
- the front portion is connected to a buckle strap that is connected to a buckle, the buckle strap passing through a release loop fixed at one end to the front portion of the carrier, and
- a release cord passes through an opening in the buckle strap such that the presence of the release cord within the buckle strap prevents the buckle strap from exiting the fixed release loop.
3. The carrier of claim 2, wherein the carrier further comprises a carrier release mechanism configured to enable removal of the carrier, the carrier release mechanism comprising the release cord, a pull strap connected to the release cord, the release loops, and at least one release cord pocket configured to receive an end of the release cord, wherein pulling the pull strap causes the front portion to separate from the side panels.
4. The carrier of claim 1, wherein:
- each waist strap is connected to a front waist strap slide,
- each front waist strap slide is connected to a front securement strap, and
- each front securement strap is connected to a buckle.
5. The carrier of claim 4, wherein the front securement strap connected to each front waist strap slide and each front waist strap slide together enable adjustment of a distance between the front portion and the side panels.
6. The carrier of claim 1, wherein:
- each waist strap is connected to a rear waist strap slide,
- each rear waist strap slide is connected to a rear securement strap, and
- each rear securement strap is connected to the rear portion of the carrier.
7. The carrier of claim 6, wherein each rear securement strap enables adjustment of a distance between the rear portion and the side panels.
8. The carrier of claim 7, wherein each rear securement strap is connected to the rear portion of the carrier by a loop fixed at one end to the rear portion of the carrier.
9. The carrier of claim 1, wherein each side panel further comprises one or more back straps configured to connect each side panel to the rear portion.
10. The carrier of claim 9, wherein the one or more back straps comprise slides for adjusting a distance between the side panels and the rear portion.
11. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the rear portion further comprises a handle configured to enable a person to pull a wearer of the carrier.
12. The carrier of claim 1, wherein each of the front portion, the rear portion and the side panels comprises a pocket configured to hold a soft armor pack.
13. The carrier of claim 12, wherein each of the armor plate pockets and the soft armor pack pockets comprise an opening adjacent to a bottom end of the carrier, wherein the openings are configured to receive respective ones of the armor plates or the soft armor packs.
14. The carrier of claim 1, wherein the shoulder straps connect the front portion to the rear portion by a front end of the shoulder strap being attached to the front portion of the carrier, and a rear end of the shoulder strap being attached to the rear portion of the carrier by an adjustable slide attached to the rear portion of the carrier.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 22, 2011
Publication Date: Sep 1, 2011
Applicant: KDH DEFENSE SYSTEMS, INC. (Eden, NC)
Inventors: David E. Herbener (Birchrunville, PA), Andrew G. Wall (Alto, GA)
Application Number: 13/032,610
International Classification: F41H 1/02 (20060101);