US Patent 11953293 Compact folding ballistic body armor system

A foldable ballistic body armor system having a linear arrangement of body panels. The linear arrangement of body panels includes a central body panel from which a front subset of body panels depends from a front edge of the central body panel while a rear subset of body panels depends from a front edge of the central body panel so that when a user crowns the central body panel, the front and rear body panels protect the front and rear flanks of the user under the urging of gravity in a deployment condition defining a rectangular prism. Each body panel is pivotably connected to its adjacent so that the overall system is foldable between a storage condition and the deployment condition.