1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to protective elbow and knee guards for military, police and security personnel particularly adapted to prevent injuries and wounds to elbows and knees.
2. Background of the Invention
I conceived of the ballistic elbow and knee guards while serving in Iraq during 2004. Military personnel wore elbow and knee pads that used non-ballistic material such as Nylon, plastic and foam and suffered wounds and injuries to these areas that could have been prevented if ballistic material was incorporated into the pads.
Unlike previous art in this field, my invention will provide protection and increased survivability against both low and high velocity projectiles, fragments, blunt force trauma, blood loss and lacerations. These threats include projectiles fired from pistols, shotguns, and submachine guns and fragments from the detonation of high explosive weapons. These weapons include, but are not limited to, road side bombs, hand and rocket propelled grenades, mortar and artillery rounds, land mines and booby traps. This invention will also provide protection to the knees and elbows from sharp cutting objects such as glass and sheet metal.
The level of protection is up to the agency and/or wearer and is based on the US National Institute of Justice guidelines and Certification tests for different ballistic material. They range from Threat levels I through IIIA. Level I material will protect the wearer from bullets and fragments with a velocity and weight comparable to a .38 cal pistol round weighing 158 grains and moving at 850 feet per second. Level IIIA material will protect the wearer from bullets and fragments with a velocity and weight comparable to a .44 Magnum pistol round weighing 240 grains and moving at 1,400 feet per second.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,281 to Jerome and Rudiy discloses a strapless kneepad kit for installing releasable fasteners to the kneepad and to corresponding locations on the seams of work pants or jeans in the kneecap area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,682 to Shircliff discloses a knee pad assembly for protecting the knee of a worker working on hard floors and consists of and outer knee pad structure, a knee cap support spring, and a resilient foam inner knee and shin pad structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,160 to Chen discloses a joint protector that is designed to protect the elbows and knees from an oblique, non-direct, or proximal impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,376 to Ritter discloses a knee pad for cushioning the human knee that includes a fluid filled chamber and removable knee cups that that are comprised of different material to suit a particular activity.
U.S. Patent Application 20040019949 to Crockett discloses a method and apparatus for attaching knee or elbow pads to clothing with fasteners.
The patents and patent application mentioned above are designed to protect joints from non-ballistic injuries and do not provide any significant protection from fragments, bullets or projectiles.