Patent Application
20050071907
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to clothing, particularly, protective clothing, and, more particularly, to high visibility vests, which are worn for safety, daytime or nighttime, over uniforms or other outer clothing, typically by personnel involved in police, fire, safety, hospital, and other public services.
High visibility articles of clothing typically incorporate combinations of luminescent and retro-reflective surfaces, which combine to provide brilliant contrast against relatively obscure daytime and nighttime backgrounds. As is well known, luminescent surfaces are coated or impregnated with chemical compositions (i.e. fluorescent or phosphorescent) that collect light, which may be of relatively low luminosity, e.g. ambient light, and respond by emitting light of relatively high luminosity. As is well known, retro-reflective surfaces (i.e. distributions of minute corner reflectors or high refractive index glass beads) return specular light in the direction of its source, e.g. vehicle headlights at night. Regular clothing often is appropriate in service situations. Service clothing often is designed with safety as a special consideration. In any case, it is necessary to minimize the likelihood that a wearer may become a victim when clothing, particularly an accessory vest, is caught accidentally by a vehicle hazard, grasped deliberately during an assault, or contaminated by chemical or biological agents during a rescue effort.
The object of the present invention is to provide a protective garment in the form of a light weight, high visibility vest, which is intended to be slipped on and worn over regular or service clothing, but which may removed instantly if required. The garment of the present invention comprises front and back luminescent panels that extend substantially from the shoulders to the waist or hips; mating fastener arrangements or other readily separable fastener arrangements, preferably at the shoulders and the waist or hips, connecting the front and back panels; and retro-reflective bands spanning the front and back panels and bordering regions for the presentation of alphanumeric or other graphic indicia. Preferably, the retro-reflective bands include upper and lower horizontal bands, and retro-reflective bands that extend between the upper horizontal reflective bands and the shoulders, typically in parallel and/or intersecting orientations. Preferably, narrow matching trim bounds free edges of the front and back panels, and opposed edges of the retro-reflective bands. The trim at the free edges is provided by selvedge fabric that overlaps the free edges.
The trim at the edges of the bands is provided by backing fabric that extends oppositely beyond the longitudinal edges of the bands. The garment structure is neat and authoritative in appearance, is effectively vivid and informative in operation, and may be easily and instantaneously ripped away from a wearer when required for safety.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference is made to the following specification, which is to be taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
The Vest of FIGS. 1 to 4.
The vest illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 comprises: front and back luminescent panels 20 and 22 that extend from the shoulders to the waist or hips.
The front and back panels are joined by mating fastener arrangements or other easily separable fastener arrangements 24, 26 at the shoulders, and mating or other easily separable fastener strips 28, 30 at the waist or hips. Upper and lower horizontal retro-reflective bands 32, 34 span the front panel, and upper and lower horizontal retro-reflective bands 36, 38 span the back panel. Bands 32, 34 define a region 40 there between for the presentation of alphanumeric or other graphic indicia. Bands 36, 38 define a region 42 there between for the presentation of alphanumeric or other graphic indicia.
As shown, retro-reflective bands 44, 46 on the front panel diverge from upper horizontal retro-reflective band 32 to the shoulders. As shown, retro-reflective bands 48, 50 on the back panel extend in parallel between the upper horizontal retro-reflective band and the shoulders. The upper ends of bands 44, 46 and the upper ends of bands 48, 50, respectively, meet to provide an appearance of continuity. In the preferred form shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, fastener arrangements 24, 26 and fastener arrangements 28, 30 are constructed from mating pairs of hook-and-loop micro meshing strips of the type sold by Velcro Industries BV under the trademark VELCRO. The construction of these hook-and-loop micro-meshing strips is suggested at 25, 27 in
Preferably, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, aesthetic trim is provided at the free edges 52, 54 of the front and back panels and at the longitudinal edges 56, 58 of the retro reflective bands. The structure of the trim at an edge 52 is shown in
The panels, when normally viewed, typically are of highly luminescent color, particularly yellow, green, orange or white. The bands, when normally viewed, generally are dull gray. The trim provides a distinctive and sharp border at the free edges of the front and back panels, and at the edges of the bands. From a visual standpoint, the widths of the trim provided by the selvedges as at 59 and the widths of the trim provided by underlying backing 57 as at 61, are substantially equal for aesthetic harmony.
Preferably, front and back panels 20, 22 are composed of tightly knit or woven strands of polyester or polypropylene, and are characterized by a denier ranging from 30 to 500 and a weight ranging from 2 to 6 ounces per square yard. This polymeric fabric is finished with a high chromaticity fluorescent dye, for example ANSI/ISEA 107-2004. The retro-reflective bands are sold by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Corporation under the trade designation, SCOTCHLITE. The composition of the panel fabric is sufficiently light and breathable to enable its being worn, with virtually no ergonomic effect on underlying clothing under varied weather conditions.
The Vest of
The vest illustrated in
As shown, upwardly converging retro-reflective bands 88, 90 on the back panel extend between the upper horizontal retro reflective band and the neck.
The Vest of
The vest illustrated in
The Vest of
The vest illustrated in
Across the front panel are intersecting retro reflective bands 162, 164, which extend from the shoulders to a medial horizontal retroreflective band 146. Across the back panel are intersecting retroreflective bands 148, 150, which extend from the shoulders to a medial horizontal retro-reflective band 172.
The remaining elements of the vest of
The duplicate slits 118, 120 and 130, 132 and their associated fastening means on the front and back panels, in the structure of
A light weight, high visibility vest, is worn loosely over regular or service clothing. The vest comprises: front and back luminescent panels that extend from the shoulders to the hips; easily separable fastener means, particularly mating fastener means, at the shoulders and hips connecting the front and back panels; and upper and lower horizontal retro-reflective bands spanning the front and back panels and defining regions there between for the presentation of alphanumeric or other graphic indicia.
Visually sharp trim separates the bands and the panels. Preferably, the distance between the upper and lower bands ranges between 5 and 9 inches in order to provide adequate space for an alphanumeric graphic there between. The vest structure is neat and authoritative in appearance, is effectively vivid and informative in operation, and may be easily and instantaneously ripped away from a wearer when required for safety.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/174,156, filed Jun. 18, 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,280, dated Nov. 23, 2004.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10174156 | Jun 2002 | US |
| Child | 10993314 | Nov 2004 | US |
