Ballistic body armor employing combination of desiccant and ballistic material

Abstract

A ballistic body armor and dehumidification system includes a flexible carrier containing a watertight sealed pouch which itself contains a desiccant and a stack of substantially vertical layers of ballistic material whose performance degrades under certain conditions in the presence of moisture. The watertight sealed pouch is mounted into the carrier so as to cover a portion of a user's body. The desiccant is mounted or laminated into the pouch so that either it is, or its effect is, distributed across the ballistic material to uniformly reduce the humidity level within the pouch.

1 . Ballistic body armor comprising a flexible carrier for wearing by a user, 
 a watertight sealed pouch mounted into said carrier so as to cover a portion of the user's body, a compacted stack of substantially vertical layers of flexible ballistic material mounted into said pouch, a desiccant mounted into said pouch wherein said desiccant reduces a humidity level within said pouch and said compacted stack.    
   
   
       2 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 1  wherein said desiccant is at least one desiccant impregnated sheet.  
   
   
       3 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 1  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       4 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 1  wherein said ballistic material is unidirectional ballistic material.  
   
   
       5 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 2  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       6 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 3  wherein said desiccant is at least one desiccant impregnated sheet.  
   
   
       7 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 2  wherein said sheet is interleaved between layers of said stack.  
   
   
       8 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 6  wherein said sheet is interleaved between layers of said stack.  
   
   
       9 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 2  wherein said sheet is sandwiched between said stack and a wall of said pouch.  
   
   
       10 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 1  wherein said desiccant is a plurality of sheets impregnated with a desiccant means, and wherein said plurality of sheets are interleaved with or snugly adjacent to said stack.  
   
   
       11 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 1  wherein said plurality of sheets are co-extensive with said layers in said stack.  
   
   
       12 . Ballistic body armor system for reducing humidity in sealed flexible body armor comprising a flexible carrier for wearing by a user, 
 a watertight sealed pouch mountable into said carrier so as to cover a portion of the user's body, a stack of substantially vertical layers of flexible ballistic material mountable into said pouch, a desiccant mountable into said pouch so as to be distributed within said stack, wherein said desiccant reduces a humidity level within said pouch and said stack.    
   
   
       13 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 12  wherein said desiccant is at least one desiccant impregnated sheet.  
   
   
       14 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 12  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       15 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 12  wherein said ballistic material is unidirectional ballistic material.  
   
   
       16 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 13  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       17 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 14  wherein said desiccant is at least one desiccant impregnated sheet.  
   
   
       18 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 13  wherein said sheet when mounted in said stack is interleaved between layers of said stack so as to be co-extensive with said layers in said pouch.  
   
   
       19 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 17  wherein said sheet is interleaved between layers of said stack so as to be co-extensive with said layers in said pouch.  
   
   
       20 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 13  wherein said sheet when mounted in said pouch is sandwiched between said stack and a wall of said pouch and is co-extensive with an outermost layer of said stack.  
   
   
       21 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 12  wherein said desiccant is a plurality of sheets impregnated with a desiccant means, and wherein said plurality of sheets when mounted in said pouch are interleaved with or snugly adjacent to said stack.  
   
   
       22 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 12  wherein said plurality of sheets when mounted in said pouch are co-extensive with said layers in said stack.  
   
   
       23 . Ballistic body armor comprising a flexible carrier for wearing by a user, 
 a watertight sealed pouch mounted into said carrier so as to cover a portion of the user's body, a compacted stack of substantially vertical layers of flexible ballistic material mounted into said pouch, a desiccant laminated into said pouch wherein said desiccant reduces a humidity level within said pouch and said compacted stack.    
   
   
       24 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said desiccant is at least one desiccant impregnated sheet.  
   
   
       25 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       26 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said ballistic material is unidirectional ballistic material.  
   
   
       27 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 24  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       28 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 25  wherein said desiccant is at least one desiccant impregnated sheet.  
   
   
       29 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 24  wherein said sheet is interleaved between layers of said stack.  
   
   
       30 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 28  wherein said sheet is interleaved between layers of said stack.  
   
   
       31 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 24  wherein said sheet is sandwiched between said stack and a wall of said pouch.  
   
   
       32 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said desiccant is a plurality of sheets impregnated with a desiccant means, and wherein said plurality of sheets are interleaved with or snugly adjacent to said stack.  
   
   
       33 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said plurality of sheets are co-extensive with said layers in said stack.  
   
   
       34 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said desiccant laminates unidirectional layers of ballistic fibres to form said ballistic material.  
   
   
       35 . Ballistic body armor system for reducing humidity in sealed flexible body armor comprising a flexible carrier for wearing by a user, 
 a watertight sealed pouch mountable into said carrier so as to cover a portion of the user's body, a stack of substantially vertical layers of flexible ballistic material mountable into said pouch, a sheet containing desiccant mountable into said pouch so as to be distributed within said stack, wherein said desiccant reduces a humidity level within said pouch and said stack.    
   
   
       36 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 35  wherein said ballistic material is PBO.  
   
   
       37 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 35  wherein said ballistic material is unidirectional ballistic material.  
   
   
       38 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 35  wherein said sheet when mounted in said stack is interleaved between layers of said stack so as to be co-extensive with said layers in said pouch.  
   
   
       39 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 36  wherein said sheet is interleaved between layers of said stack so as to be co-extensive with said layers in said pouch.  
   
   
       40 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 36  wherein said sheet when mounted in said pouch is sandwiched between said stack and a wall of said pouch and is co-extensive with an outermost layer of said stack.  
   
   
       41 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 35  wherein said desiccant is a plurality of sheets impregnated with a desiccant means, and wherein said plurality of sheets when mounted in said pouch are interleaved with or snugly adjacent to said stack.  
   
   
       42 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 35  wherein said plurality of sheets when mounted in said pouch are co-extensive with said layers in said stack.  
   
   
       43 . The ballistic body armor of  claim 23  wherein said desiccant laminates unidirectional layers of ballistic fibres to form said ballistic material.