TRANSPARENT BALLISTIC-RESISTANT SHIELD AND MOUNTING THEREFOR

Abstract

A shield (3) is mounted in the driver's side window frame (7) of a vehicle by a lower support (5) containing a flat spring (49) which releasably pushes the shield against the upper window frame. A stand-off (17, 18) at the upper end of the shield spaces other portions the upper edge of the shield from the window frame. A shield handgrip (9) is angled 45° with respect to a lower edge of the shield, to permit the shield to be carried with one apex of the shield up.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 63/163,444, filed Mar. 19, 2021, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to protective shields, and in particular to a transparent shield which may be removably mounted to a window frame of a vehicle, such as a police cruiser or a military vehicle, and used for personal protection both when mounted in the window frame and when removed. The invention will be described as attached to the driver's window, but it will be understood that it may be attached to other windows of a vehicle or even to a stationary object.

Numerous proposals have been made to mount a transparent ballistic-resistant insert to a window frame of a vehicle, usually the driver's side window. Examples are Cameron, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,570,542 and 7,114,760, Madden, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,719, Riggs, U.S. Pat. No. 9,170,072, Tunis III, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,651,340, Klingman, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 10,203,184, Martin et al., U.S. Published Application 2018/0202772, Trott, U.S. Pat. No. 10,718,594, and Clifford, U.S. Pat. No. 10,960,827. A commercial embodiment of the Martin et al. insert is described in bulletin 10701_c, “Angel Armor ENLIGHT Transparent Window Armor-Installation Guide.”

In the Klingman design, a removable shield is mounted in the driver's side window inside the usual window. The shield is held to upper and lower brackets by magnets. To remove the shield for personal use, the driver rolls down the side window, opens the door, exits the vehicle with a removable handle in hand, attaches the handle to the exterior of the shield, and pulls the shield outward to release it.

In the Trott design, a transparent outer insert includes a lower flange which is inserted into the window track opening of the window frame. An upper flange of the insert is held by screws (or alternatively by double-face tape or hook-and-loop tape) to the inboard face of the upper part of the window frame. A secondary, inner insert is attached to the outer insert. The inner insert includes an inwardly extending hand grip. The inner insert may be slid away from the outer insert when the door of the vehicle is open for use as a personal defense shield. In these embodiments, removing the secondary insert for use as a shield requires opening the vehicle door and painstakingly removing the inner insert while being exposed to assault. In other embodiments, the entire assembly of inner and outer inserts is removable. In these embodiments, the door again must be opened to allow the top flange of the insert to be freed from its securement and swung inward 20° to 40° (while trying not to break the retractable stock window with the lower flange of the insert). In a final embodiment, the inner insert is eliminated, the outer insert is shortened, and the top flange of the outer insert is held by a transparent support member, an alignment guide, and two quick-release fasteners. The outer insert includes an inwardly-facing hand grip. The transparent support member is held by brackets and screws to the door frame. In this embodiment, the window opening is substantially modified, and removal of the insert requires care not only to preserve the stock retractable window but to open the quick release latches while preventing the insert from falling inward, and then extracting the insert.

It will be seen that these shields are cumbersome to install, interfere with the driver's vision, and are unwieldy to remove and use as personal protection. Further, in most or the designs, the driver is vulnerable to attack while removing the shield.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In embodiments, the present invention provides a ballistic-resistant transparent shield which is releasably supported at its top and is supported at its bottom by a depressible lower support. In embodiments, the shield is mounted in a side window opening of a vehicle. Pushing the shield down to depress the lower support frees the top of the shield and allows the shield to swing inwardly to a position at which it can be lifted off the lower support. In embodiments, the lower support rests on a windowsill. In embodiments, the lower support comprises at least one spring. In embodiments, the spring is a flat spring on which the shield rests. The spring has sufficient stiffness to prevent the shield from coming loose when jostled by movement of the vehicle but permits the driver to remove the shield while seated, by applying downward force to a handgrip portion of the shield, swinging the upper portion of the shield inward, and lifting the shield free of the window opening. In embodiments, the shield is positioned spaced from the top, front, and rear portions of the window frame.

In embodiments, a stand-off at the top of the shield engages an upper window frame and spaces the rest of the top face of the shield from the upper window frame. In embodiments, the stand-off comprises at least one upwardly extending ear on the shield. In embodiments, the stand-off comprises two spaced-apart ears which straddle an in-turned standing seam where inner and outer sheet metal panels of the window frame are joined. The standing seam is covered by a rubber trim seal (weatherstrip) which also acts as a seal for the retractable window. The two ears of the stand-off engage the rubber seal and press it against the sheet metal window frame.

In embodiments, the stand-off has a length less than two-thirds the length of the upper face of the shield; in embodiments the stand-off has a length less than half the length of the upper face of the shield.

In embodiments, the shield comprises a handgrip which is mounted to the shield at an angle of from 30° to 60° with respect to the lower window frame portion or sill. This orientation allows a generally trapezoidal shield to be held with a vertical forearm with one apex of the trapezoid covering the driver's face and the opposite apex covering the lower abdomen, with an angled edge of the shield positioned to permit the driver's free hand to reach around the shield and wield a weapon. In embodiments, the handgrip is angled 45°+/−5°. In embodiments, the handgrip is opaque. In other embodiments, it is transparent. In embodiments, the handgrip includes two spaced-apart abutments spacing a graspable handle part from the shield body. In embodiments, the abutments are held to the shield body by bolts extending through, out of, or into the shield body. In embodiments, at least one of the bolts is threaded into the abutment(s). In embodiments, the abutments are adhered to the shield body.

In embodiments, when the shield is in normal use in the vehicle window, the handgrip is rotated to a generally vertical position, behind the driver's ear and out of the driver's normal line of sight so as not to obscure the driver's vision in any direction. When it is desired to remove the shield, the driver rotates the handgrip to an operative position and uses the handgrip to free the shield. In embodiments, a spring-loaded thrust pin in the free end of the handgrip engages a socket in the shield when the handgrip is rotated to its intended operative position. The pin may be manually withdrawn to allow the handgrip to be rotated back to the generally vertical position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings which form part of the specification:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation viewed from inside a vehicle, showing a vehicle security insert shield mounted in a lower support track assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of a body portion of the shield of FIG. 1, showing an outward face thereof.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the shield body of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of the shield body of FIGS. 2-3, showing an outward face thereof.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the shield body of FIGS. 2-4, taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of a handgrip portion of the shield of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a view in front elevation of the handgrip of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the handgrip of FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a view in end elevation of the handgrip of FIGS. 6-8.

FIG. 10 is a view in front elevation of the lower support track assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a top pan view of the lower support track assembly of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a view in perspective of a track portion of the lower track support assembly of FIGS. 10 and 11.

FIG. 13 is a bottom plan view of the track of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a view in forward end elevation of the track of FIGS. 12 and 13.

FIG. 15 is a view in perspective of a spring portion of the lower support track assembly of FIGS. 10 and 11.

FIG. 16 is a view in end elevation of the spring of FIG. 15.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example and not by way of limitation. The description clearly enables one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives, and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention.

The embodiments described apply the shield and mounting of the present invention to a Ford Interceptor Utility vehicle, a common law enforcement vehicle. The invention is, of course, applicable to the driver's and passenger's side windows of almost any vehicle. In broader aspects, it is applicable to almost any window frame extending beyond the glazing of the window at top and bottom of the window.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative embodiment of an assembly 1 of a shield 3 and a lower mounting assembly 5, mounted in the driver's side window frame 7 of a 2019 Ford Interceptor SUV. The illustrative shield 3 includes a shield body 10 and an elongate handgrip 9, mounted at a 45° angle to a lower edge 15 of the shield body 10. The mounting assembly 5 rests on, and is adhered to, a windowsill 8 of the window frame 7.

FIGS. 2-5 show the illustrative shield body 10. The shield body 10 includes an inner face 11, an outer face 12, a forward face 13, a rear face 14, a lower face 15, and an upper face 16. The upper face 16 includes an inner ear 17 and an outer ear 18 integrally with the shield body 10.

The body 10 of the shield 3 is formed of a transparent ballistic-resistant material. Many useable acrylic and polycarbonate materials are well known and commercially available. A preferred material is a polyurethane/polyurea material which absorbs a bullet and heals around it, rather than deflecting or deforming it. Such a material creates a small bulge on the inner face (the face opposite the entry point of the bullet) without crazing or cracking on either face, thereby retaining transparency even after being struck by many bullets. Suitable materials are described, for example, in Rukavina, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 10,590,230. A preferred material is available from No Access Armor LLC, Sullivan, Missouri, USA. This material is about ten percent lighter than acrylic. The illustrative shield body 10 formed of it weighs about 9.9 lbs.

The peripheral edges 13, 14, 15, and 16 are all generally flat and perpendicular to the inner and outer faces 11 and 12. The edges of the forward face 13, of outboard portions of the upper face 16, and of the rear face 14 are all rounded for ease of handling.

The body 10 is illustratively 1.0″ thick, 18.81″ long, and 15.13″ tall from its lower face 15 to its upper face 16. It has an upper face that is 15.46″ long as viewed from above (in top plan). The forward face 13 is almost parallel with the rear face 14. The ears 17 and 18 are 6.75″ long and 0.53″ tall and are spaced apart 0.715″. The inner ear 17 is 0.125″ wide and engages a curved inner part of the window frame 7. The outer ear 18 is 0.160″ wide and engages a face of the track for a retractable window in the window frame 7. In this embodiment, the ears 17 and 18 straddle a standing seam where inner and outer panels of the vehicle door are welded to each other.

The ears 17 and 18 act as stand-offs for the remainder of the upper face 16 of the shield 3. As described hereinafter, they space the outboard portions of the upper face 16 away from the upper window frame, enabling easy removal of the shield 3 from the window frame 7. The lengths of the ears constitute less than half the length of the upper face 16 of the shield 3 as viewed in top plan (FIG. 3).

The handgrip 9 is mounted on the inner face 11 of shield body 10 by bolts 19. As shown in FIGS. 6-9, the handgrip 9 includes a graspable handle portion 21 set off from the shield body 10 by abutments 23 and 25. The handgrip 9 has an overall length of 6.71″, a width of 1.23″, and a height of 2.0″. The abutments 23 and 25 are spaced apart about 4.8″ at their lower ends and leave a formed grip about 4″ long at their upper ends. The outer face of the handle portion 21 is textured to provide a firm grip when the handgrip is grasped. Stepped bores 26 in the abutments 23 and 25 are tapped to accommodate 5/16″-18 Grade 8 button head cap screws 19 which extend through the shield body 10 into the tapped bores 26 in the handgrip 9. The handgrip 9 is available commercially from McMaster-Carr Supply Company, Elmhurst, Illinois, as its part number 1950A67.

The illustrative embodiment of the lower support assembly 5 for the shield 3 is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The lower support assembly 5 includes a sheet metal track body 31 formed of 0.062″ sheet aluminum and a flat spring 49 mounted to the track body 31 by a flat head rivet 51 which may be countersunk into the track body 31.

As shown in FIGS. 12-14, the track body 31 is bent from a single sheet to form a lower wall 33, an outside wall 35 including an upper portion 37 and depending legs 39, an inner wall 41 including a lip 43, and a forward wall 45. The inner wall 41 and lower wall 33 are cut out to form an opening 47 to accommodate a lock plunger of a vehicle door. The walls 37, 41, and 45 are one inch tall, with the upper one-eighth inch of the inner wall 41 bent toward the vehicle interior to form the lip 43. The legs 39 extend downward three-eighths inch. A hole 50 at the center of the lower wall 33 is provided for the rivet 51.

The track body 31 is 1.00″ tall from the lower face of the lower wall 33 to the top of wall 35. The upper portion 37 of the outside wall 35 is spaced 1.187″ from the inner wall 41. The track body 31 is 16.25″ long, the same length as the bottom face 15 of the shield 3. Contact adhesive applied to the bottom, exterior, face of the lower wall 33 is covered with a protective strip.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the flat spring 49 is formed as a single wave having upswept free ends. The spring 49 includes a hole 52 at its center for the rivet 51. The last 0.3″ of each free end is rounded down as shown at 53 to provide a smooth bearing surface at all degrees of flexure of the spring 49. The spring 49 is made of spring steel. It has a width of 1.0″, a free length of 5.22″ and a free height of 1.0″. When flattened, the spring 49 exerts a force of fifty-two pounds.

Installing the assembly 1 of this illustrative embodiment is simple. The lower support assembly 5 is attached to the windowsill 8 of a Ford Interceptor SUV police vehicle by removing the protective strip from the underside of the lower wall 33 to expose the contact adhesive on it. The lower support is then placed on the part of the windowsill inboard of the vehicle's retractable window, with the rear of the support 5 against the weatherstripping at the rear of the window frame and the legs 39 extending between the window weatherstripping and the inner windowsill 8. Pressing down on the support 5 secures it to the windowsill 8.

The shield 3 is grasped by its handgrip 9 and inserted in the support 5. This operation is conveniently, but not necessarily, carried out with the door open and the window retracted. The lower face 15 of the shield 3 is placed in the track 5 with the forward face 13 of the shield 3 against the forward wall 45 of the track 5 and the body 10 of the shield leaning slightly inward. Using the handgrip 9, the user pushes the shield 3 down against the bias of the flat spring 49 until the outer ear 18 clears the rubber-covered standing seam where the outer door panel and inner door panel are joined. This step requires pushing down with a force of about forty-two pounds (in addition to the weight of the shield 3) to fully depress the spring 49. The user then releases the downward pressure on the shield 3, allowing the spring 49 to force the outer ear 18 against the rubber-covered outer door panel and the inner ear 17 against the rubber-covered inner door panel with a force of about twenty-two pounds. In this loaded position, the spring ends 53 are deflected about 0.625″, thereby raising the bottom edge 15 of the shield body about 0.375 from the rivet 51 and producing a spring force of about thirty-two pounds.

When the shield 3 is installed, the flat rear face 14 of the shield is spaced a fraction of an inch from the rear of the window opening, and the flat upper face 16 of the shield 3 is spaced a fraction of an inch from the top of the window opening. Both of these distances are small enough to prevent the occupant of the vehicle from being ambushed from the blind side of the window, behind the field of vision of the occupant.

The shield 3, when installed in the vehicle window, prevents an ambush attack up to at least a level of NIJ II. When a bullet strikes the shield, it enters the shield and its energy is absorbed before it can fully penetrate the shield, without causing cracking or crazing. The shield therefore substantially retains its optical transparency even after it is struck by multiple bullets.

The vehicle occupant (the driver) can remove the shield 3 while still seated in the vehicle, by grasping the handgrip 9, pressing down on it to release the ears 17 and 18 from contact with the upper window frame and allow the outer ear 18 to move inward past the standing seam of the window frame. The shield 31 is then lifted out of the track 31 and rotated to place the upper rear corner over the user's face while the driver holds the shield with a vertical forearm. It will be seen that these operations can be carried out either before or after the door is opened, thereby providing flexible protection for the user under various circumstances.

If the shield is not damaged, or even if it has absorbed bullets, it can easily be replaced in the lower support 5 (track 31) for continued protection.

Numerous variations, within the scope of the appended claims will occur to those skilled in the art.

Merely by way of example, the shield may be made of other materials and may be formed to fit the windows of other vehicles.

The thickness of the shield may be changed to provide greater or lesser protection and to account for improved materials; such changes may necessitate changes in the size and shape of the stand-off(s) and of the lower support. For example, the shield may be made 1.5″ thick. In such an embodiment, the ears would be 0.53″ tall, the outer ear would be 0.160″ wide, the inner ear would be 0.53″ wide, and the spacing between ears would be 0.81″. The shield would weigh just under fifteen pounds and would provide NIJ IIIA protection. The track 31 in such an embodiment would be wider, with a clearance between walls 37 and 41 of 1.5″. The resilience of the inner wall 41 would permit the shield to be inserted and removed from the window of a vehicle. The same spring 49 could be utilized in such a design.

Other flat springs, such as multiple wave springs or non-symmetrical flat springs, could be utilized. More than one spring may be utilized. The force exerted by the spring may be varied to suit the vehicle, the shield, and the user. It is preferred that the spring exert a force of between twenty and sixty pounds, more preferably thirty to fifty pounds, in order to hold the shield against accidental dislodgment, as by driving over rough roads, yet make the shield removable quickly when needed.

With other vehicles, the stand-off portion of the upper face of the shield may engage other parts of the vehicle window. The number, size, and shape(s) of the stand-off(s) may be varied.

A strap may be attached or attachable to the shield, to hold the shield in front of the user hands-free when it is removed from the vehicle window.

The handgrip 9 may be held rotatably to the shield body 10 by a screw threaded through one abutment 23 into a blind hole in the shield body 10. The other abutment 25 would be provided with a spring-loaded pin. In this construction, when the shield body 10 is mounted in a vehicle window, the abutment 25 hangs vertically down, out of the line of sight of the occupant, even when the occupant's head is turned toward the side window. When such a shield is to be used, the handgrip is rotated until the spring-loaded pin engages a blind hole in the shield body 10, placing the handgrip 9 at a forty-five degree angle to the lower edge 15 of the shield body 10. The shield of such an embodiment may then be utilized in the same manner as the shield of the first embodiment.

These variations are merely illustrative.

All patents, patent applications, and publications mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

Claims

1. In combination,

a ballistic-resistant transparent shield sized to be mounted in a side window opening of a vehicle, the shield comprising a shield body and a handgrip on an inner face of the shield body, and

a lower support mounted in the window opening, the lower support comprising at least one spring sized and proportioned to urge the shield upwardly into locked engagement with the window opening, the shield being releasable from the window opening by exerting a downward force on the handgrip and swinging an upper portion of the shield inward to a position in which the shield can be lifted off the lower support.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the shield body further comprises a stand-off formed in a portion of an upper face of the shield body, the stand-off being sized to hold the remainder of the upper face of the shield body away from an upper margin of the window opening, the stand-off being urged into engagement with the upper margin of the window frame by the at least one spring.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the stand-off has a length less than half the length of the upper face of the shield body.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein the upper margin of the window frame comprises a standing seam, the stand-off comprising a first ear engaging a portion of the upper margin outside the standing seam and a second ear engaging a portion of the upper margin inside the standing seam.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein the lower support rests on a windowsill.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein the at least one spring comprises at least one flat spring on which the shield rests, the at least one flat spring having sufficient stiffness to prevent the shield from coming loose when jostled by movement of the vehicle, but permitting an occupant of the vehicle to remove the shield while seated, by applying downward force to the handgrip portion of the shield, swinging the upper portion of the shield inward, and lifting the shield free of the window opening.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein the shield is spaced from the top, front, and rear portions of the window frame.

8. The combination of claim 1 wherein the shield has a thickness of between 0.5″ and 1.5″.

9. The combination of claim 1 wherein the shield body is made entirely of a polyurethane or polyurea material.

10. The combination of claim 1 wherein the handgrip is mounted to the shield at an angle of from 30° to 60° with respect to a lower margin of the shield.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein the handgrip is angled 45°+/−5° with respect to the lower margin of the shield.

12. (canceled)

13. (canceled)

14. (canceled)

15. In combination,

a ballistic-resistant transparent shield sized to be mounted in a side window opening of a vehicle, the shield comprising a shield body and a handgrip on an inner face of the shield body, the shield comprising an upper face comprising a stand-off sized to engage an upper portion of a window frame defining the window opening and to space at least half the length of the upper face of the shield body away from the window frame, and

a lower support formed to be mounted in the window opening, the lower support comprising a flat spring urging the shield upwardly into locked engagement with the window opening,

the shield being releasable from the window opening by exerting a downward force on the handgrip and swinging an upper portion of the shield inward to a position in which the shield can be lifted off the lower support.

16. The combination of claim 15 wherein the stand-off comprises a first ear sized and shaped to engage a portion of the upper margin outside a standing seam in the upper margin and a second ear sized and shaped to engage a portion of the upper margin inside the standing seam.

17. The combination of claim 16 wherein the handgrip is mounted to the shield at an angle of from 30° to 60° with respect to a lower margin of the shield.

18. The combination of claim 15 wherein the handgrip is mounted to the shield at an angle of from 30° to 60° with respect to a lower margin of the shield.

19. The combination of claim 15 wherein the flat spring has a flattened spring force of forty to sixty pounds.

20. The combination of claim 19 wherein the flat spring is deflected at least fifty percent when the shield is in locked engagement with the window opening.