EP0985354A1

EP0985354A1 - Safety garment or personal accessories provided with intermittent directional or emergency signal lights

Info

Publication number: EP0985354A1
Application number: EP99116841A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Renato Guerra
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-09-08
Filing date: 1999-09-02
Publication date: 2000-03-15
Also published as: IT1304379B1; ITGE980074A1

Abstract

Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories provided with fixed and/or intermittent directional and/or emergency signal lights (2) properly secured on the garment (1), its batteries or cells (3) being stored, for example, in a compartment or double bottom of the stand-up collar of the garment (1) or in a pocket, its press switch (5,8) for opening and closing of the electric circuit feeding each warning light (2) or series or parallel connected warning lights mounted on the garment or on a glove (6), possibly also equipped with a device for intermittent power supply of the signal lights (2) and a timer (7) to fix the duration of the luminous signal in order to minimize any accidents that might be caused by insufficient or lack of sight or identification of any obstacles or of the movements that will next be made by sporting people or workers.

Description

It is often not possible easily to identify the intentions of people wearing sports jackets, track-suits or overalls during their daily activities.
For instance, ski-suits do not allow to guess what ski-track the skier will follow, although an indication of his intention might be very useful to prevent collisions or bad falls which sometimes may have serious consequences. The same remarks hold also true for cyclists and runners who sometimes prefer to train during evening or night hours.
Similarly, the suits or overalls or normal accessories like belts, suspenders, rucksacks of people working in open spaces, (such as policemen, street cleaners, road maintance and rail-road workers, first-aid and emergency personnel and those providing assistance in case of smoke of smog), even though they are usually equipped with garments featuring fluorescent or phorphorescent zones, might benefit from a more efficient identification system which can only be obtained by using fixed or blinking lights since these are better capturing the eye.
This invention has the aim to eliminate the above drawbacks by fitting the jackets, suits, overalls and any other garments as well as any personal accessories, with suitable intermittent directional or emergency warning lights.
Concisely, these garments feature one or more light sources, a battery or storage cell feeding these light sources, one or more ON-OFF switches for the electric or electronic remote controlled circuits, blinkers and timers by which the light emissions are kept fixed or flashing for a prefixed period.
Obviously, this equipment is installed on the garment for automatic operation.
The invention in question is illustrated, for exemplification purposes, in the enclosed drawings, in which:
Fig.1 shows a rear view of a wind-jacket for skiers provided with direction indicators.
Fig.2 shows an external view of a ski glove fitted with a control switch for each light source.
Fig. 3 shows a front view of an exemplifying jacket for road workers where the warning lights are mounted as shoulder pads.
With reference to these drawings, 1 refers to the exemplified wind jacket, which obviously may be any kind of garment, such as a track suit, overalls, vest, raincoat etc. On the back of this jacket 1, at shoulder blade or armpit level are mounted two direction indicators 2 powered by batteries or cells 3, which may be positioned, for example, in a compartment or double bottom of the stand-up collar or in a special pocket.
One polarity of the cell or battery 3 is directly connected to the light source 2, whereas the other polarity is connected by a cable-end connector or jack (4) to a press switch 5 located on the gloves 6 as illustrated in fig. 2.
Blinkers 7 placed near the light sources 2 will let the light flashing for a timer-set period.
The electric wires that may be properly sheathed are incorporated in the jacket.
Thus equipped, the jacket or suit may be used by skiers, cyclists, runners, skaters etc. and may also be used by other traffic operators and road workers if the two right and left direction indicators are activated together as an emergency sign.
In Fig. 3, the jacket 1 or suit or any other garment features shoulder pad shaped warning lights 2 that may either be separated or series or parallel connected; if they are of the fixed light type, they be connected by one polarity to the battery or cell while a switch 8 for opening and closing of the electric or electronic circuits that may be remote controlled or by a cable-end connector or a jack having the same function is connected to the other polarity.
Obviously, this jacket or suit 1 may also feature the device 7 for intermittent and/or timer adjusted operation of the light sources.
To ensure efficient operation of these garments or accessories according to need, the electric or electronic components controling the light sources are preferably concentrated on one single support so as to standardize the presentation of the system as far as possible.
Non need to say that the light sources may be positioned anywhere on the garment or accessories, to meet special needs.
This invention will thus make it possible to reduce the accidents on ski tracks, sporting on roads and work performed during evening or night hours, since it will easily identify the presence or such workers (fixed light) or the movements of sportsmen/women (blinking direction indicators).

Claims

Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories characterized in that it is provided with fixed and/or intermittent directional and/or emergency signal lights (2) including:

warning lights (2) properly mounted on the garment (1),

batteries or cells (3) located, for example, in a compartment or double bottom of the stand-up collar of the garment (1) or in an appropriate pocket,

a push-button switch (5, 8) for opening and closing of each circuit powering each warning light or the series or parallel connected warning lights mounted on the garment

a device (7) for intermittent energizing of the warning light(s) (2) causing flashing of the signal,

possibly a timer (7) to determine the duration of the light signal so as to minimize accidents caused by the lack of adequate sight or to identify the presence and the intended movements of sportsmen or road-workers.
Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories as described in claim 1, characterized in that the warning lights (2) are located on the back of the garment, for example at shoulder-blade level.
Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories as described in claim 1, characterized in that the warning lights (2) are fitted as shoulder pads.
Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories as described in claim 1, characterized in that the batteries or cells (3) and the flashing and timing devices (7) are mounted on one single support suitably located on the garment (1).
Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories as described in claim 1, characterized in that the push-button switch (5) is mounted for example on the glove (6) of a skier or cyclist and is connected by a cable-end connector or jack (4).
Sports jacket, track-suit or work overalls (1) or any other garments or personal accessories as described in claim 1, characterized in that the push-button switch (5) is of the pulse type and may be remote controlled, closing the circuit which will be reopened by the timer.