High visibility safety apparel and graphic transfer therefor

A high visibility safety garment for wearing by an individual exposed to hazardous vehicular traffic, said garment constructed to comply with retroreflection standards of an acknowledged and recognized safety garment standard specifying a minimum coefficient of retroreflection for a horizontal stripe on a safety garment intended for encircling the torso of an individual wearing the safety garment, comprising:

• a torso covering safety garment base formed of a fluorescent colored background material;
• a horizontal high visibility retroreflective safety stripe attached to and encircling the garment base so as to encircle the torso of a wearer;
• said safety stripe having top and bottom borders and a length so as to define a stripe area;
• said safety stripe having a plurality of disconnected but closely spaced stripe segments to approximate a continuous stripe in appearance;
• said stripe segments formed of a retroreflective material having a coefficient of retroreflection higher than the minimum coefficient of retroreflection specified by the standard being addressed;
• said stripe segments occupying a portion of the total area of the stripe sufficient that when the ratio of the surface area occupied by the stripe segments to the total stripe area is multiplied by the retroreflection coefficient of the segment material, the result is at least equal to the minimum coefficient of retroreflection specified by the standard being addressed.

A high visibility safety garment for wearing by an individual exposed to hazardous vehicular traffic, said garment constructed to comply with retroreflection standards of an acknowledged and recognized safety garment standard specifying a minimum coefficient of retroreflection for a horizontal stripe on a safety garment intended for encircling the torso of an individual wearing the safety garment, comprising:

• a torso covering safety garment base formed of a fluorescent colored background material;
• a horizontal high visibility retroreflective safety stripe attached to and encircling the garment base so as to encircle the torso of a wearer;
• said safety stripe having top and bottom boarders and a length so as to define a stripe area;
• said stripe including a plurality of disconnected but closely spaced stripe segments formed of a retroreflective material and that together occupy a sufficient amount of the total stripe area such that the stripe has a composite coefficient of retroreflection that equals or exceeds the coefficient of retroreflection specified by the standard being addressed.

A graphic transfer device for use in fabrication of the high visibility safety stripe for a high visibility safety garment for wearing by an individual exposed to hazardous vehicular traffic, said garment constructed to comply with retroreflection standards of an acknowledged and recognized safety garment standard specifying a minimum coefficient of retroreflection for a horizontal stripe on a safety garment intended for encircling the torso of an individual wearing the safety garment, having a torso covering safety garment base formed of a fluorescent colored background material, a horizontal high visibility retroreflective safety stripe attached to and encircling the garment base so as to encircle the torso of a wearer;

• said safety stripe including a plurality of disconnected but closely spaced stripe segments to approximate a continuous stripe in appearance, said stripe segments formed of a retroreflective material having a coefficient of retroreflection higher than the minimum coefficient of retroreflection specified by the standard being addressed, comprising:
• a flexible backing;
• a layer of retroreflective optical elements adhered to one surface of the backing and having a coefficient of retroreflection that is greater than the minimum coefficient of retroreflection specified by the standard being addressed;
• a plurality of disconnected but closely spaced adhesive strips located on said bead layer forming a stripe pattern corresponding to the intended safety stripe pattern of disconnected but closely spaced stripe segments of a retroreflective material occupying a sufficient portion of the total stripe area such that when the ratio of the surface area occupied by the stripe segments to the total stripe area is multiplied by the retroreflection coefficient of the segment material, the result is at least equal to the minimum coefficient of retroreflection specified by the standard being addressed;
• said adhesive strips having a heat activated adhesive whereby the pattern of adhesive strips can be adhered to a high visibility safety garment base with adhering retroreflective optical elements facing outward as part of the fabrication process of attaching a high visibility safety stripe to the garment base.