Low breaking strength vehicle and structure shield net/frame arrangement

• US 8,245,620 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2011
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Foster-Miller Incorporated (Thermo Fisher Scientific Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: QinetiQ North America Incorporated (QinetiQ Group PLC)
• Inventors: Farinella, Michael, Lawson, William, Ebbs, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Carone, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): FREEMAN, JOSHUA E
• Application Number:
  US13/065,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20110179944A1
• Time in Patent Office: 510 Days
• Field of Search: 89 3601- 3617, 109/49.5, 114/241, 296/187.07
• US Class Current: 89/36.08
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 5/013 Mounting or securing armour plates
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 5/023 Armour plate, or auxiliary armour plate mounted at a distance of the main armour plate, having cavities at its outer impact surface, or holes, for deflecting the projectile
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 5/026 Slat armour; Nets
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 7/04 Armour construction in general F41H5/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A shield system for an ordnance having a fuse sensitivity includes a frame and a flexible net subsystem supported by the frame. Chords of net material intersect at nodes forming mesh openings and a hard point is attached to at least select nodes. The net material has a breaking strength such that a chord will break upon impact of an ordnance fuse with the chord for a predetermined percentage (e.g., 100%) of ordnance fuse impacts.

Claims

1. A shield system for a given an ordnance having a fuse sensitivity, the system comprising:

a frame;

a flexible net subsystem supported by the frame and including;

lines of net material intersecting at nodes forming mesh openings,

a hard point attached to at least select nodes, and

the net line material having a breaking strength such that a line will break upon impact of the ordnance fuse with the line for a predetermined percentage of the ordnance fuse impacts.

2. The system of claim 1 in which the predetermined percentage is 100%.

3. The system of claim 1 in which the predetermined percentage is between 80% and 100%.

4. The system of claim 1 in which the net line material has a breaking strength of between 100 lbs and 1,000 lbs.

5. The system of claim 1 in which the hard points each include a post portion and a base portion with a cavity receiving the post portion therein.

6. The system of claim 1 in which each hard point includes:

a front face;

sidewalls extending rearward from the front face including slots therethrough for lines of a net;

a cavity surrounded by the sidewalls; and

a plug sized to be frictionally received in the cavity locking the lines of the net in the cavity.

7. The system of claim 6 in which the plug includes an outer wall with a knurled surface.

8. The system of claim 6 in which the front face has six sides and there are six sidewalls.

9. The system of claim 6 in which two opposing sidewalls have slots therethrough in the middle of the opposing sidewalls.

10. The system of claim 9 in which there is a slot between adjacent sidewalls on each side of said two opposing sidewalls.

11. The system of claim 6 in which the front face has an area of between 0.1 and 0.8 in.².

12. The system of claim 6 in which the sidewalls each have an area of between 0.1 and 0.8 in.².

13. The system of claim 6 in which the cavity is round and the plug is cylindrical in shape.

14. The system of claim 6 in which each hard point weighs between 10 and 40 grams.

15. The system of claim 6 in which the slots each terminate in a rounded portion.

16. The system of claim 1 in which the hard points include steel.

17. The system of claim 1 in which the hard points weigh between 10 and 80 grams.

18. The system of claim 1 in which the lines have a diameter of between 1.7 and 1.9 mm.

19. The system of claim 1 in which the mesh openings are between 110 mm and 190 mm.

20. A method of fabricating a shield system, the method comprising:

determining, for an ordnance, which net material has a breaking strength such that a net line will break upon impact of an ordnance fuse with a line for a predetermined percentage of ordnance fuse impacts;

selecting net material having a breaking strength such that a net line will break upon impact of an ordnance fuse with the line for the predetermined percentage of ordnance fuse impacts;

attaching hard points to the net; and

attaching the net to a frame.

21. The method of claim 20 in which the predetermined percentage is 100%.

22. The method of claim 20 in which the predetermined percentage is between 80% and 100%.

23. The method of claim 20 in which selecting includes choosing a net material with a breaking strength of between 100 lbs and 1,000 lbs.

24. A shield system for an ordnance having a fuse sensitivity, the system comprising:

a frame;

a flexible net subsystem supported by the frame and including;

lines of net material intersecting at nodes forming mesh openings,

a hard point attached to at least select nodes, and

the net material having a breaking strength based on a predetermined ordnance fuse sensitivity such that a line will break upon impact of said ordnance fuse with the line for a predetermined percentage of ordnance fuse impacts.