Ceramic armour systems with a front spall layer and a shock absorbing layer

1. A ceramic armour system for personnel comprising:

an integral ceramic plate a plurality of interconnected ceramic components providing said integral plate, said ceramic plate having a deflecting front surface or a flat front surface, and a rear surface, said front surface having a plurality of nodes thereon;

a polycarbonate front spall layer bonded to said front surface of said ceramic plate, said polycarbonate front spall layer allowing deflection of a projectile at impact;

a shock-absorbing layer bonded to said rear surface of said ceramic plate; and

a backing which is bonded to the exposed face of said shock-absorbing layer

wherein partial nodes are provided on the edges of each said ceramic component, and wherein said partial nodes at the edges of two ceramic components become full nodes when said ceramic components are aligned and joined by an adhesive for protecting an object from a threat at the joint points of ceramic coponents.

2. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said system includes edges, said edges selected from the group consisting of: overlapping edges, bevelled edges, and parallel edges.

3. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein each said ceramic armour system further comprises a plurality of planar ceramic components, each planar ceramic component having a shape, said shape selected from the group consisting of: a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, and a square shape.

4. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said front spall is selected from the group consisting of: a synthetic plastic sheath, a thermal plastic sheath, and a polycarbonate sheath.

5. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said shock-absorbing layer comprises a fibre, said fibre being selected from the group consisting of: a plymer-fibre composite, an aramid fibre, a carbon fibre, a glass fibre, a ceramic fibre, and a combination of the foregoing.

6. The ceramic armour system of claim 4 , wherein said shock-absorbing fibre layer is bonded to said rear surface of said ceramic plate by means of an adhesive, said adhesive being selected from the group consisting of: a polyurethane film and a polyurethane adhesive.

7. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said backing comprises at least one fibre layer, said fibre layer being selected from the group consisting of: poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide fibres, polyethylene fibres, glass fibres, and combinations thereof.

8. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said backing is bonded to said exposed face of said shock-absorbing layer by an adhesive, said adhesive being selected from the group consisting of: a polyurethane film and a polyurethane adhesive.

9. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , comprising at least two further support layers, said support layers being selected from the group consisting of: ceramic components devoid of nodes, polymer-ceramic fibre composite components, plastic components, and combinations thereof.

10. The ceramic armour system of claim 9 , wherein said at least two further support layers are provided with an inter-layer of polymer-ceramic fibres therebetween, said interlayer being bonded to said support layers by a polyurethane adhesive.

11. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said front spall includes a camouflage surface for minimizing attack.

12. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said front spall is bonded to said ceramic plate by means of a polymer adhesive, said polymer adhesive selected from a group consisting of: a polyurethane film and a polyurethane adhesive.

13. The ceramic armour system of claim 1 , wherein said backing comprises a metal, wherein said metal is selected from the group consisting of: steel and aluminum.

14. The ceramic armour system of claim 9 , wherein said further support layers are bonded to each other by means of an adhesive, said adhesive being selected from the group consisting of: polyurethane and ceramic cement.

15. A ceramic armour system for personnel comprising:

an integral ceramic plate comprising a plurality of interconnected ceramic components providing said integral plate, said ceramic plate having a deflecting front surface or a flat front surface, and a rear surface, said front surface having a plurality of nodes thereon;

a polycarbonate front spall layer bonded to said front surface of said ceramic plate, said polycarbonate front spall layer allowing deflection of a projectile at impact;

a shock-absorbing layer bonded to said rear surface of said ceramic plate;

a backing which is bonded to the exposed face of said shock-absorbing layer; and

a plate structure, said plate structure being selected from the group consisting of: a plurality of individually-abutted ceramic components having a deflecting front surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon, a plurality of lapped planar components having a deflecting front surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon, a monolithic strike-plate having a deflective front surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon, a plurality of individual curved ceramic components having a deflective surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon, a plurality of abutted curved ceramic components having a deflecting front surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon, a plurality of lapped curved ceramic components having a deflecting front surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon, and a curved monolithic strike-plate having a deflecting front surface with a pattern of multiple nodes thereon,

wherein one or more of said plurality of nodes includes a longitudinal channel therethrough, thereby lowering the areal density of said armour.