Impact resistant inorganic composites

Claim 1

A STRONG LIGHT-WEIGHT COMPOSITE USEFUL AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES AND EXHIBITING APPARENT DUCTILITY COMPRISING: GENERALLY PARALLEL GLASS FIBERS HAVING A SILICA CONTENT OF AT LEAST APPROXIMATELY 50 PERCENT BY WEIGHT, A UNIFORM SHEATHING OF A THICKNESS BETWEEN 0.00005 AND 0.001 INCH OF A METAL FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ALUMINUM, COPPER, NICKEL, LEAD, ZINC, TIN, MAGNESIUM, INDIUM, CADMIUM, ANTIMONY, BISMUTH, TITANIUM, CHROMIUM, MOLYBDENUM, ZIRCONIUM, AND IRON AROUND THE INDIVIDUAL FIBERS, SAID SHEATHED FIBERS BEING BONDED TOGETHER IN A GLASS MATRIX BY A MATRIX GLASS OF A COMPOSITION DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF SAID FIBERS AND WHICH HAS A SOFTENING POINT BELOW THE MELTING POINT OF THE METAL SHEATHING, SAID MATRIX GLASS BEING FUSED TO THE METAL SHEATHING ON THE FIBERS, THE GLASS FIBERS AND METAL SHEATHING OCCUPYING FROM APPROXIMATELY 20 TO APPROXIMATELY 70 PERCENT BY VOLUME OF THE COMPOSITE, AND SAID SHEATHING EFFECTIVELY ISOLATING THE GLASS OF SAID FIBERS FROM SAID MATRIX GLASS TO PROVIDE A GLASS COMPOSITE THAT IS DEFORMABLE AND SHATTER RESISTANT.