Patent Application
20070218267
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to reflective compositions present on garments and the like and, in particular, this invention relates to reflective compositions resistant to wear.
2. Background
Garments and other devices having reflective materials are widely used. These reflective materials often function as safety devices to ensure that a person or object is readily noticed. One such use is garments to which a reflective material is affixed. Garments of this nature are often used in road construction or repair, traffic control, or in other situations in which it is desirable that a person is readily recognizable so that motorists will avoid injuring the person. Another use is affixing reflective materials to exterior surfaces of signs, vehicles, fuel tanks, and the like with the purpose that these objects will be readily recognizable and often avoided by motorists and equipment operators, thereby avoiding damage occurring when vehicles and other equipment impact these objects.
Garments, or other devices, to which fees reflective materials are affixed are often worn in situations in which the garments are subjected to abrasion, thereby eroding or deteriorating these reflective materials and, consequently, reducing the reflective properties thereof.
There is then a need for a reflective material or composition with enhanced resistance to wear.
This invention substantially meets the aforementioned needs of the industry by providing a reflective material or composition with enhanced resistance to abrasion and wear and a garment, or other object, to which the reflective material or composition is operably affixed.
There is provided a reflective garment for covering at least a portion of a user, the garment comprising a fabric and a reflective composition attached to an outer surface of the fabric. The reflective composition may include a reflective layer, optionally a first protective film, and an exterior second transparent film. The first protective film may be an integral part of the reflective layer, optionally embedded thereto during a manufacturing process. Alternatively, the first protective film may be absent, or essentially so. If the first protective film is absent from the instant reflective composition, the second protective film is attached to overlay the reflective composition. If the first protective film is present in the instant reflective composition, the second protective film is attached so as to overlay the first protective found. In neither case, the second protective film may be attached by connectors such as stitching.
A reflective composition for attaching to a garment is also provided. The reflective composition may include a reflective layer, a first transparent protective film, and an exterior second transparent protective film. The reflective layer may include a plurality of microspheres. The first protective film may be disposed above the reflective layer. The second protective film may be disposed above the first protective film.
A method of making a reflective garment is yet further provided. The method may include attaching a reflective composition to the garment, in which the reflective composition includes a reflective layer, an optional first transparent film disposed above the reflective layer, and a second transparent film disposed over the first film.
It is a feature of this invention to provide an additional transparent film over a reflective composition. It is an advantage of the foregoing feature that the enhanced transparent film will have additional resistance to wear and abrasion. It is another advantage of the foregoing feature that garments with the enhanced reflective composition will wear longer. It is yet another advantage of the foregoing feature that garments with the enhanced reflective composition will function for a longer period of time without the necessity of replacement. It is still yet another advantage of the foregoing feature that garments with the enhanced reflective composition of this invention will have a longer useful life, thereby reducing expenses of industries in which these garments are utilized.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the description which follows, when considered in view of the accompanying drawings.
This invention relates to, and can be further described with reference to, the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts in the several views.
It is understood that the above-described figures are only illustrative of the present invention and are not contemplated to limit the scope thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used to practice the invention, suitable methods and materials are described below. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting. All dimensions of the components in the attached figures may vary with a potential design and the intended use of an embodiment of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention.
Each of the additional features and methods disclosed herein may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and methods to provide improved embodiments of this invention and methods for making the same. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, combinations of features and methods disclosed in the following detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative embodiments of the invention.
Referring to
Without limitation, the microspheres may include such materials as glass beads, cubes, or corners, resin beads, and resin hemispheres. A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily comprehend other resins suitable, depending upon the intended use and an environment, from Handbook of Plastics, Elastomers, and Composites, Third Edition, Charles A. Harper Editor-In-Chief, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996. Suitable reflective materials may be deposited aluminum, silver, or dialectic materials, such as those taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,305. Materials suitable for the first and second protective films include methyl methacrylate, polyethylene terephthalate, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-acrylic acid co-polymer, the foregoing materials optionally including ultraviolet absorbers and other adjuvants. A person of ordinary skill in the art, however, will readily select other materials from the Handbook of Plastics, Elastomers, and Composites. Additionally, other materials suitable for specific embodiments are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,064,272 and 5,066,098.
In use, the instant composition is made, or obtained, in strips, then the second protective cover is attached when the strips are affixed to garments, fixing by means or stitching or by other equivalent fasteners known to the art. While garments are exemplified herein, the present composition may encompass any substance on which a reflective material is mounted wherein additional protection against loss of the reflective property is desirable. Non-limiting examples of such other devices include exterior surfaces of panels, fuel tanks, vehicles, farm implements, and traffic signs. Additionally this invention encompasses shapes of the instant reflective composition other than strips, non-limiting examples including circles, squares, rectangles, triangles.
Wherein the respective first, second, and third compositions are collectively indicated at 70, and referring to
Because numerous modifications of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, the scope of the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments illustrated and described. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
