Bullet-resistant hand-held defensive object

Abstract

A bullet-resistant defensive device is disclosed made up of layers of bullet resistant material layered together and connected along their peripheral edge on a frame to form a planar shield. The shield so formed works such that a bullet striking the shield causes the layered bullet resistant material to flex thereby dissipating the force of the bullet, the material when it stretches transfers the force of the bullet from a shear mode to a tensile mode. One preferred embodiment incorporates the invention into a clipboard box for use by police officers for protecting against head, neck and hand wounds from handguns fired at close range from vehicles. The hand-held, bullet resistant clipboard box holds documents and writing implements, and the bullet-resistant material is located within the clipboard box interior cavity and configured for catching a fired bullet before it can pass through the entire clipboard.

1 . A bullet-resistant protective device comprising:
 a. a substantially hollow box having an exterior surface and a hollow interior cavity the box and cavity being defined by front and back panels and side walls;   b. a plurality of layers of a bullet resistant material being sized to fit closely in said interior cavity in a substantially planar configuration generally parallel to an inner surface of said back panel, said plurality of layers of bullet-resistant material being stitched together;   c. said plurality of layers being secured to inner side surfaces of said cavity only along side edges of said layers;   d. said box cavity having a depth to provide a sufficient distance between the uppermost layer of said plurality of layers and an interior surface of the front panel to allow said bullet resistant material of said layers to stretch from a shear mode to a tensile mode in response to the layers being impacted by a bullet to thereby dissipate kinetic energy of the bullet and prevent the bullet from penetrating through the device.   
     
     
         2 . A bullet proof shield comprising:
 a) a frame defining a planar interior space;   b) a plurality of layers of bullet proof material connected to said frame at peripheral edges of each layer of said bullet proof material to thereby form a planar array of a plurality of bullet proof layers across the interior space, said peripheral edges being connected to said frame to withstand substantial tensile force and; and   c) wherein space is provided on at least one side of the plurality of layers to allow each of said layers to stretch from a shear mode to a tensile mode in response to the layers being impacted by a bullet to thereby dissipate kinetic energy of the bullet and preventing the bullet from penetrating through the plurality of layers; and   d) wherein each of said layers, other than at the peripheral edge of each layer, is free floating from each adjacent layer.   
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2  wherein said layers are stitched together in a predetermined pattern. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 3  wherein said predetermined pattern in which the layers are stitched together is a square pattern. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 4  wherein said square pattern is formed by a periodic array of continuous stitched threads first group of parallel stitched threads and a second group of parallel stitched threads the first group of parallel stitched threads being positioned in an orthogonal relations to the second group. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 4  wherein said square pattern is an inch square pattern. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 3  wherein said thread is made from a bullet resistant material. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 2  wherein said frame is enclosed within case with hand grips on a first side of said case and a clip board on a second side of said case such that said shield having had grips so said shield can be held in a protective posture to block bullets and said plurality of layers of bullet proof material are positioned between said first and second side. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8  wherein said grips are recessed to thereby provide protection for the hands. 
     
     
         10 . A bullet-resistant protection device comprising:
 a. a plurality of fiber fabric sheets stacked within a hollow cavity, and   b. means for securing said sheets within said cavity so that said sheets can be displaced into vacant space of said cavity to allow the kinetic energy of a bullet to be sufficiently dissipated by elongation of said sheets within said cavity to prevent said bullet from leaving said cavity.   
     
     
         11 . A bullet-resistant protective device comprising a plurality of fiber fabric sheets stacked within a hollow cavity and secured within said cavity to allow said sheets to be displaced into vacant space of said cavity so that the kinetic energy of a bullet is sufficiently dissipated by elongation of said sheets within said cavity to prevent said bullet from leaving said cavity.