Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CAMOUFLAGE ~AT SIMULATING VEGETATION
BACKGROUND OF THE_INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to camouflage material and,
more particularly, to an improved incising arrangement ~or
said material to produce an improved three-dimensi.onal effect.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Camouflage material for civilian and military use
has generally been found to be most effective where the material
has openings and will assume a posture with respect to the
equipment or persons being disguised that best simulates the
surrounding grass, leaves, or the like. As is probably best
illustrated in the Ruter U.S. Patent 3,069,796, a sheet of material
is incised with U-shaped cuts in a symmetrical pattern such
that stretching the material will cause the U-shaped members
to project upward in a somewhat three-dimensional effect. It
has been found with incising o~ the type shown in U.S. Patent
3,069,796 produces a relatively high see-through factor and,
due to the tendency for the round ends of the U-shaped members
to flop over or curl, to produce a somewhat flattened three-
dimensional effect.
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The Ekman U.S. Patent 2,911,652 shows another camouflage
material wherein the cutouts of different sizes and shapes, when
strung together and drawn in, will produce an uneven three-
dimensional effect.
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~ oth of the above-mentioned prior art devices and
other prior art devices, although possessing e~cellent camouflag~
ing characteristics, such as from an airplane or the like, are not
quite as realistic as is desired at closer range or on radar.
The lack of realism is partially due to the tendency for the .
U-shaped cutouts of the Ruter patent or the spacings between the
cutouts of the Ekman patent to be rounded causing them to flop
or to curl. Thus, although the prior art does create a three-
dimensional effect, such three-dimensional effect is somewhat
flat, thereby resulting in a somewhat less than realistic
visual contrast and a somewhat greater defined radar signature.
SUMMARY OF TH~ INVENTION
; An improved sheet of camouflage material is provided
which closely duplicates natural herbaceous vegetation and
growth by controlling the see-through and enhancing the three-
dimensional effect. The impro~ed inci~ed material prevents
people and animals having the a~ility to detect differences in
.. color and who have geometric perception from readily spotting
equipment or people covered by said material. The improved
2~ material has an incising arrangement that is capable of pro-
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., ducing a deeper three-dimensional effect that moxe nearly
. simulates natural grass, tree leaves and the like. The improved
~ material has particular application for use in duck blinds, ~.
; ground-to-ground military targets, and the like, as well as ;
, exceeding existing specifications for military camouflage,
'. such as air-to-ground targets, and the li~e. .
` Thus, broadly, the invention contemplates a camouflage
'~ mat formed of a sheet of material having a vertical dimension ;.
- and a horizontal dimension, and a plurality of spaced apart :~
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rows of V-shaped cuts e~tending horizontally across the sheet
with the rows alternating between upright V~shaped cuts and
inverted V-shaped cuts, and with each uprigh-t V-shaped cut in
each row falling in a vertical column and each inverted V-shaped
cut in each row falling in a vertical column between the vertical
columns of the upright V-shaped cuts. Each V-shaped cut has one
leg cut longer than the other leg with the long leg of each V-
shaped cut being adjacent the short leg o~ the next adjacent V~
shaped cut in each row of cuts, whereby stretching the material
in a direction transverse -to the rows of V-shaped cuts extends
the points of the V-shaped cuts in one row upward out of,the
plane of the sheet with the points of the next adjacent row
of cuts extending downward out of the plane.
sy incising a blank sheet of material with straight
cuts that intersect to form V-shaped members, with the lengths
of the cuts being controlled and the ends of the cuts overlapping
in a particular manner, will produce a controlled accentuated
three-dimensional effect when the material is stretched with the
points of the V's sticking substantially straight up or straight
down. This provides an improved three-dimensional effect of
grass, leaves or surrounding terrain which creates a better visual
concealment and a more degraded radar signature.
The angle of the cuts and the ratio between the lengths
of the cuts and the ratio between the long cut and the distance
point-to-point between aligned adjacent V-shaped members are
within precisely defined ranges so as to create the accentuated
three-dimensional effect when the material is stretched. The
improved camouflage sheet reduces the percent of see-through
under controlled degrees of stretch while providing the accentuated
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three-dimensional e~fect, so as to closely d~ cate l~at:ural
herbaceous vegetation and growth,
BRIEF Dl.SCRIPTION OF TH~ DR~WINGS
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The details of construction and operation of the
invention are more fully described with reference to the
accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which
like reference numerals refer tv like parts throughout.
In the drawings:
- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a duck blind
10 in a natural environment and covered-by a sheet of the
improved camouflage material;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of a sheet of
camouflage material havi~g the improved incising pattern
cut therein; -.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the portion of the sheet
of matexial of Fig. 2 having a predetermlned degree of
. stretch applied thereto; and
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the
lines 4-4 of ~igO 3.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
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Referring to tlle drawin~s, and pa~ticularly to Fig. 1, :. :
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a low s~ructure 10 is illustrated in a natural herbaceous : .:
setting with vegetation, such as grass 12, bushes 14 having
leaves, and trees (not shown) also bearing leaves. The
structure 10 is covered over with a stretched sheet 20 of
camouflage material having incising cuts 25,27 formed therein.
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It is ~o be understood that the structure 10 could be a
military structure o~ could contain equipment or personnel, the
purpose of the camouflage being to not only prevent detection
, 30 ~rom the air~ but also to prevent detection ~rom the ground.
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Fig. 2 illustrates the sheet 20 of material having
an incising pattern cut therein, the pattern consisting of
a plurality of alternating rows 30,32,34 and 36 of upright
V-shaped cuts 25 with intermediate alternating rows 38,40,42
and 44 of inverted V-shaped cu~s 27 therebetweén. The upright
V-shaped cuts 25 are vertically aligned in alternating
columns 46,48,50 and 52 with intermediate alternating
columns 54,56 and 58 of inverted V-shaped cuts 27 therebetween.
It should be noted that each upright V-shaped cut 25 and
inverted V-shaped cut 27 has one long cut or long leg 60
and one short cut or short leg 62, with the long cut 60
intersecting the short cut 62 substantially at;a point or
apex 64 with a ~referred included angle "D" of between 60
and 70 degrees. The cuts 60,62 produce a triangularly- '
shaped member 66 which is hingedly attached to ,the sheet
, generally along an imaginary base line extending between the ~:
free ends of the cuts 60i62. ' It shoula be noted that
~every other ro~ of upright V-shaped cuts 25~ for instance
rows 30 and 34, have the long cut or le,g 60 on the left s,ide
as viewed in Fig. 2, with the ~hort cut or leg 62 on the
rigpt side thereof. The alternating rows 32,36 of upright
'~ V-shaped cuts 25 have the short leg 62 on the left-hand side
and the long leg 60 on the right-hand side. Likewise, the
' . inverted V-shaped cuts 27 in rows 38 and 42 have the short
; cuts 6.2 on the left~-hand side and the long cuts ~0 on the right-
hand side. The intermediate rows 40,44 have the long cuts
or legs 60 on the left-hand ~s~de and the short cuts or legs 62
.' . on the right-hand sidP~ ~
' : Each adjacent pair of upright'V-shaped cuts 25
have one short leg:62 of one cut adj~ining a long leg 60 of
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the adjacent V-sh~ped cut 25. The same is true for the
inverted V-shaped cuts 27. Also, each adjoining pair of
upright V-shaped cuts 25,25 have an inverted V shaped cut 27
overhanging the ends of the cuts 60,62 of said adjoining
V-shaped cuts. The same is true of each pair of adjacent
inverted V-shaped cuts 27 in that the ends of the ad~acent
legs or cuts 60,62 of the pair ha~e an upright V-shaped
cu 25 overlapping the ends thereo~. In Fig. 2, each cut
or leg 60,62 has a vertical component and a horizontal ~ :
component, the vertical component of the short leg 62
being designated by the letter "A" and the vertical component
of the long cut or leg 60 being designated by the letter
"B". From the tip or point .64 of one upright V-shaped
cut 25 to.the tip or point 64 of the next vertically
adjacent V-shaped cut 25 is designated ~y the letter "C".
- .It should be noted that the vertical component of each
short cut or leg 62 and long cut or leg 60 of each upright
V-shaped cut 25 or each inverted V-shaped cut 27 is sub-
stantially the same.as is.the vertical component of each
: 20 other short cut or leg 62 and long cut or leg 60 of eac~
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V-shaped cut. The point ~4 to point 64 distance "C" between
verticall~ adjacent cuts 25,25 or 27,27 is the same whether
the cuts are inverted or upright V-shaped cuts.
It has been found that for a vertical component
"B" of a long leg or cut 60 of a given~dimension and a point-
to-pGint distance o~ "C" of a greater dimension, that the dis-
tance "C" must not be less than seventeen percent ~17%) greater
than the vertical component l'Bn, nor more than thirty-three
percent (33~: greater than the vertical component "B".
. 30 Stated another way, the diistance~f~om point-to-point
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designated "C" must be between a minimum of seventeen
percent ~17%) greater than "B" and a maximum of thirty-three
percent (33~) greater than "B" to assure the results desired.
Likewise, the vertical component "B" must be not less than
twelve percent (12%~ greater nor more than twen~y-five percent
(25%) greater than the vertical component "A". The pre-
ferred component for "B" is approximately sixteen percent
~15%~ greater than the vertical component "A". Using these
values on a sheet of incised camoufla~e materialt according
to Fig. 2, vertical stretch, that is stretch in the direction
of the columns o~ upright and inverted V-shaped cuts, suf-
~icient to produce a ten percent (10%) stretch of the material
produces a camou~lage sheet having a see-through factor of
approximately twenty-eight pexce~t (28%). The same sheet
stretched in the same direction to apply a twenty percent
(20%) stretch to the material, such as is illllstrated in
Fig~ 3, will produce a see-thr~ugh factor o~ approximately
thirty-six percent (36%) and a radar transmission of twenty-six
percent (26~)~
The points 64 of the members 66 of the V~shaped cuts
25,27 will protrude almost perpendicular tQ the plane o~ the
sheet, such as is illustrated in Fig. 4, with one column 54 of
members 66 projecting upward with respect to the plane and
the adjacent column 48 of members 66 projecting downwardly
from he plane of the sheet. Due to the uneven lengths of
cuts of the legs 60,62 Qf the inverted and upright V-shaped
cuts 25,27 and the orientation of the ends of the cuts of
each inverted or upright~cut with respect to the ends of the
adjacent cuts, results in the hinged members 66 sticking ~
substantially straight up and straight down with respect to
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the plane o~ the sheet. The forces n~ed~d to str~tch the
material applies an uneven pull on the hinye o~ the hinyed ~-
members 66 causing each member 66 to cup slightly thereby r
adding a degree of stiffness to the member causing it to stand
substantially straight up with respect to the plane of the sheet.
The straight standing of the V-sl~ap~d cutout mem~ers
66, together with the pointed shape of said cutout mem~ers,
produces the visual illusion of natural herbaceous vege-tation,
such as grass, leaves, bushes, and the like, so that people or
animals that have the ability to preceive color and depth
: have dificulty in distinguishing the natural herbaceous
vegetation from the simulated vegetation created by the present
invention.
In at least one prior art structure, a sheet of
material is incised with overlapping U-shaped cuts of approxi-
mately the same size as described hereinabove, su~h that when r
the material is stretched so as to elongate the sheet by ten
percent (10%), the see-through factor is approximately thirty-
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four percent ~34%~ and when the sheet is stretched to twenty
percent (20%) of its oriyinal length, the see-through factor
is fourty-three percent (43%) and the radar transmission is
thirty-three percent (33%)D In addition, the curved points
of the U-shaped members have no stiffness or rigidity and,
accordingly, lay over or flop with respect to the plane of
the sheet thereby affording only a little three-dimensional
ef~ect to the sheet. For comparison purposes, a sheet of
camouflage using the prior art U-shaped incising of the same
dimension as my improved sheet of V-shaped incising with the
ends of the incising according to my invention, it has been
~0 ~ound that with a twenty percent (20%) s~retch applied to
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each ~heet, the sheet with the U~shaped incising produced a
dimension in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the
sheet equal to .75 inches while the impxoved V-shaped incised
sheet produced a dimension in the direction perpendicular to
the plane of the sheet equal to 2.75 inches. That i~ a sub-
stantially four times greater third-dimensional effect fox
the improved V-shaped incising sheet. Likewise, the see-
through factor for the ten percent ~10~) stretch of the V-
shaped cut sheet being twenty~eight percent (28%) and for the
U-shaped cut sheet being thirty-four percent (34%) constitutes
a seven percent (7%) less see-through factor for the improved
sheet, which see-through factor is controllable. At a twenty
percent (20~) stretch, the U-shaped cut sheet had a see-through
factor of forty-three percent (43~) and a radar transmission
of thirty-three percent (33~) compared to the see-through
factor of thirty-six percent ~36%) and a radar transmission
o~ twenty-six percent (26~) for the V-shaped cut sheet
making a seven percent (7%~ reduction in see-through and
xadar transmission. Since it is desirable to have less
radar tran~mission, the seven percent (7~3 reduction in
transmission results in a substantially improved camouflage
materiaI-.
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In the prior art structure, the cuts were not able
to effect a controlled pattern in the stretched condition
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since the curve U-shaped flaps flopped ~ver and obstructed
the see-through making it di~ficult to determine exactly
what was the see-through factor. With the improved V-shaped
incising, ~ince each V-shaped member assumés a de~inite ~ -
orientation with respect t~ the ~lane of the sheet, the see- ~-
~hrough ~actor is controllable and predictableO It has been
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found ~ha-t the V-shaped con~iguratlon for any given stretch can
be manu~actured using twenty-five percent ~25~) less blades in
the die, thereby making it less costly to build, repa.ir and
replace the dies for cutting the Lmproved V-shaped incised sheet.
In camouflage technology, the control of see-through
is commensurate with the radar return. See through is controlled
by one of two methods, the first method being by controlling
stretch and the second method being by increasing or decreasing
the point-to-point distance between vertically adjacent cut-
outs; in the present case the point-to-point distance is
dimension "C" in Fig. 2. The control of see-through is desirable,
first, for visua~ concealment and, second, for radar signature
degradation. The visual concealment and radar signature
degradation are improved, firstl when the see-thxough is con-
trolled to a minimum consistent w~th the necessary open space
to give visual contrast and, second, when the third dimension
is increased without sacrificing increased see-through. There-
,
: fore, where the improved V shaped cuts are used to incise a
camouflage sheet, the see-through is reduced seven percent
(7~ while the radar transmission is reduced seven percent (7~) ~
and *he third-dimensional effect is increased by four times! ;
thereby producing ~ camouflage sheet having improved visual
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.concealment and an improved radar signature degradation.
In the prior art constructions, in order to get
more stretch, it was necessa.ry to increase the siæ~ of the ~ :
cut. The increased sized cuts only increased the amount of
~lop over of the cut parts thereby not improving the result
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needed. In the present situation, since the points stick out,
it is.possible to get the stretch and the see-through without
increas~ng the size o~ the cut.
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The V-shaped incis,ed cu-t with t.he uneven length o~
legs having a controlled ratio of the leng-th of the le~s with
,,respect to each other and with respect to the poi.nt-to~point
vertically adjacent distances between adjoining cuts, produces
an improved camouflage material duplicating natural herbaceous
~egetation and growth. It being understood -tha-t the surface
of the sheet of camouflage material is to be colored in a
way to simulate natural colors, the opposite sides of the
sheet can be differently colored or can be commonly colored,
or different patterns of coloring can be placed on the sheets
so as to create the desired effect when the sheets are
: stretched in the field.
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