GB2319164A

GB2319164A - Article of clothing comprising an electroluminescent strip of material

Info

Publication number: GB2319164A
Application number: GB9623408A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Matthew Watson
Original assignee: MINIFLAME Ltd
Current assignee: MINIFLAME Ltd
Priority date: 1996-11-08
Filing date: 1996-11-08
Publication date: 1998-05-20
Anticipated expiration: 2016-11-08
Also published as: GB2319164B; GB9623408D0

Abstract

An article of clothing (12) comprising at least one flexible light emitting strip (2) of electroluminescent material (6). The strip may be applied to a life jacket, to outdoor clothing for visibility at night or to indoor clothing to give a flashing effect.

Description

AN ARTICLE OF CLOThING This invention relates to an article of clothing.

There are often situations where it would be an advantage if articles of clothing had a light on them.

Thus, for example, if a person wearing an article of clothing in the form of a life jacket or general work wear for hazardous conditions should fall into water at night, then it may be extremely difficult to see that person. However, if the article of clothing were provided with a light then the person may be more easily seen and may even be saved simply as a result of the light.

It is known to provide a light in the form of a directional beam like a torch on a life jacket. Such a light is powered from a water-activated battery.

The light and its battery tend to be bulky and may inconvenience a wearer. The light has not been put on other articles of clothing, for example work wear for hazardous conditions. This may be due to the light being too bulky or it may even be due to the fact that it has not been realised that it would be an advantage to place a light on articles of clothing other than life jackets.

The present invention is based upon the realisation that there are often situations where it would be an advantage to provide an article of clothing with a light that forms a permanent part of the clothing and which light is of such a construction that it does not tend to hamper a person wearing the article of clothing.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided an article of clothing comprising at least one strip of light which is formed as a permanent part of the clothing, which is flexible, and which is made of an electroluminescent material.

Preferably, the article of clothing is one in which the strip of light comprises a bead portion which emits light and a flange portion by which the strip of light is attached to the remainder of the article of clothing.

The flange portion is preferably fastened to a seam of the article of clothing. Preferably the flange portion is fastened to the seam by sewing.

Other fastening means may be employed so that, for example, the flange portion may be fastened to the seam by means of an adhesive.

The article of clothing may be one in which the strip of light includes an electronic circuit for causing the strip of light to emit a continuous light.

Alternatively, the article of clothing may be one in which the strip of light includes an electronic circuit for causing the strip of light to emit pulsating light. Where the electronic circuit causes the strip of light to emit pulsating light, then the electronic circuit may include timer means for causing the pulsating light. An electronic circuit giving the pulsating light will normally use less current than an electronic circuit giving the continuous light. For example, the light may be pulsed so that it is on for one second and off for two seconds. Advantageously, a pro rata saving in electricity may occur.

The article of clothing may be in the form of outdoor clothing. The outdoor clothing may be in the form of a life jacket, or work wear for hazardous conditions. Alternatively, the outdoor clothing can be in the form of a coat or jacket which is simply worn to show the presence of the wearer at night.

Where the outdoor clothing is in the form of the life jacket, then the life jacket may be one which inflates automatically, and in which the flange portion of the strip of light is attached to the seam of a zip of the life jacket, for example by sewing or sticking.

If desired, the article of clothing may also be in the form of indoor clothing. Thus, for example, the indoor clothing may be used for giving a flashing effect, for example use at disco parties.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a strip of light which is flexible and which is made of an electroluminescent material; Figure 2 illustrates how the strip of light shown in Figure 1 can be attached to a piece of fabric of an article of clothing; Figure 3 shows how the strip of light shown in Figure 1 can be attached to two pieces of fabric of an article of clothing; Figure 4 shows an article of clothing in the form of a life jacket provided with the strip of light as shown in Figure 1, the life jacket being shown in a non-inflated condition; Figure 5 shows the life jacket of Figure 4 but in an inflated condition; Figure 6 is a front view of an article of clothing in the form of a waist-coat for hazardous conditions; Figure 7 is a back view of the waist-coat shown in Figure 6; Figure 8 shows a battery and an invertor in a pouch for powering the strip of light; and Figure 9 shows a circuit for use with the battery and invertor shown in Figure 8.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a strip of light 2 which is flexible and which is made of an electroluminescent material. The strip of light 2 comprises a bead portion 4 which contains an electroluminescent strip 6. The electroluminescent strip 6 has two wires 8 for attaching to a battery (not shown). The strip of light 2 also comprises a flange portion 10 by which the strip of light 2 is fastened to the article of clothing. The bead portion 4 and the flange portion 10 are made of a clear plastics material and they encapsulate the electroluminescent strip 6.

The battery which powers the electroluminescent strip 6 may do so via an invertor (not shown).

Figure 2 shows the strip of light 2 of Figure 1 sandwiched between a piece of fabric 12 and a piece of trim 14. The strip of light 2, the fabric 12 and the trim 14 are secured together by two lines of stitching 16 as shown which passes through the flange portion 10, the fabric 12 and the trim 14.

Figure 3 illustrates how the strip of light 2 shown in Figure 1 can be positioned between two pieces of fabric 18, 20, and held together by a line of stitching 22.

The fabric 12 of Figure 2 and the fabric 18, 20 of Figure 3 can form part of any suitable and appropriate article of clothing.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, there is shown the strip of light 2 of Figure 1 attached to an article of clothing in the form of an automatically inflatable life jacket 24. Figure 4 shows the life jacket 24 in a non-inflated condition, and Figure 5 shows the life jacket 24 in an inflated condition.

The flexibility of the strip of light 2 can be appreciated by comparing the non-inflated and the inflated conditions of the life jacket 24.

The life jacket 24 comprises a waterproof pouch 26 containing an invertor, the battery and a switch.

The life jacket 24 also comprises fastening webbing 28 and buckles 30. The life jacket 24 also comprises retro-reflective tape 32 and a manual inflator tube 34 for manually blowing up the life jacket 24 if the automatic inflation mechanism (not shown) should not work, or if the life jacket 24 should need topping up with air after inflation.

Figures 6 and 7 show the front and back respectively of an article of clothing in the form of a waist-coat 36 for use by workmen in hazardous working conditions. The waist-coat 36 comprises three strips of light 2 as shown. The waist-coat 36 also comprises a pouch 26 for a battery and an invertor.

Still further, the waist-coat 36 comprises strips 38 of retro-reflective tape.

The strip of light 2 shown in Figure 1 may be such that it emits a continuous light. Apparatus and a circuit for showing the continuous light will now be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9.

In Figure 8, a pouch 26 is shown provided with a battery 40 and an inverter 42. The battery is caused to operate by a water-activated switch 44. The battery 40 has contacts 46, 48 as shown. Power from the battery 40 passes via the inverter 42 to the strip of light 2 which contains the electroluminescent strip 6 and the wires 8. The inverter 42 converts direct current from the battery 24 into alternating current for the electroluminescent strip 6. The pouch 26 is waterproof so that the battery 40 is not susceptible to damage from damp during storage, and water during use in a marine emergency.

In Figure 9, there is shown an electrical circuit 50 which is a low power electric circuit 50 and which is employed for the inverter 42. The circuit 50 comprises resistors R1, R2, R4, R5 and R6, capacitors C1, C2, C3 and C4, transistors T1 and T2, and a transformer TF1. The water-activated switch 44 is formed by a pair of gold-plated contacts 52. The capacitors C1 and C2 and the resistor R4 form an oscillator circuit which is completed by the primary of the transformer TFl. The primary of the transformer TF1 is driven by transistor T2. Power for the circuit 50 comes from the battery 40.

The circuit 50 operates such that the inverter 22 is kept in the off position by the resistor R6 which ensures that the transistor T1 is normally in the off condition. When the two gold plated contacts 52 are immersed in water1 then the transistor T1 is switched on. The transistor T1 then fires, through the resistor RI, the oscillator circuit formed by the capacitors C1, C2 and the resistor R4. The primary of the transformer TF1 completes the oscillator circuit.

The primary of the transformer TF1 is driven by the transistor TF2 as shown. The completed oscillator circuit is tuned to capacitor C2. The capacitor C4 removes ripple in the direct current. The capacitor C3 matches the capacitance required for electroluminescent strip 6 and stops the circuit from generating high off load voltages. The resistor R5 adjusts the current required. By using the centre tap to feed back, it is able to create effectively 9v-0-9v with a 9 volt battery.

The electroluminscent strip 6 may consist of a dielectric layer with a light-emitting phosphor layer sandwiched between two conducted surfaces. The primary purpose of the dielectric layer is to allow the electroluminscent strip 6 to withstand higher voltage without shorting between the conductive surfaces. The electroluminescent strip illuminates when powered with the alternating current from the invertor 42.

The circuit shown in Figure 5 gives a continuous strip light along the electroluminscent strip 6. If it is desired to cause the electroluminescent strip 6 to provide a pulsating strip of light, then a timer device is appropriately connected in the circuit.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected.

Thus, for example, the article of clothing may be other than shown. The article of clothing may be outdoor clothing or indoor clothing. Irrespective of the type of article of clothing, the strip of light 2 will not cause undue problems to a wearer of the article of clothing because the strip of light 2 will be flexible and will form a permanent part of the article of clothing. Still further, the strip of light 2 will be much more robust than would be the case if a strip of light were attempted to be produced by a plurality of bulbs or light emitting diodes. The electroluminescent strip 6 is able to withstand shock, and, if cut, power up to the cut point will still cause illumination of the electroluminscent strip up to the cut point. Also, the electroluminescent strip 6 provides much more light for visibility purposes than would be obtained with a single directional light beam emitted from a torch.

Claims

1. An article of clothing comprising at least one strip of light which is formed as a permanent part of the clothing, which is flexible, and which is made of an electroluminscent material.

2. An article of clothing according to claim 1 in which the strip of light comprises a bead portion which emits light and a flange portion by which the strip of light is attached to the remainder of the article of clothing.

3. An article of clothing according to claim 2 in which the flange portion is fastened to a seam of the article of clothing.

4. An article of clothing according to claim 3 in which the flange portion is fastened to the seam by sewing.

5. An article of clothing according to any one of the preceding claims and including an electronic circuit for causing the strip of light to emit a continuous light.

6. An article of clothing according to any one of claims 1 - 4 and including an electronic circuit for causing the strip of light to emit a pulsating light.

7. An article of clothing according to claim 6 in which the electronic circuit includes timer means for causing the pulsating light.

8. An article of clothing according to any one of the preceding claims and which is in the form of outdoor clothing.

9. An article of clothing according to claims 2 and 8 in which the outdoor clothing is in the form of a life jacket, in which the life jacket is one which inflates automatically, and in which the flange portion of the strip of light is attached to a seam of a zip of the life jacket.

10. An article of clothing according to any one of claims 1 - 7 and which is in the form of indoor clothing.

11. An article of clothing substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.