High visibility fabric and safety vest
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorsBritton G. Billingsley, Vera L. Lightle, David P. Swanson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A high visibility fabric includes a web of fibrous material and a fluorescent layer. The web has first and second major surfaces, and the fluorescent layer includes fluorescent pigment in a crosslinked resin. The resin penetrates into the web to surround the fibers and is bonded thereto, but the fluorescent pigment is concentrated at the first major surface at a level greater than at the second major surface. Because the pigment concentrates at the one surface, considerably less pigment is used in producing a fluorescent colored fabric. The fabric can be used to form a safety vest, and retroreflective sheeting can be placed on the vest to further enhance visibility.
Claims11
A high visibility fabric that comprises:
- a) a web of fibrous material having first and second major surfaces;
- and
- b) a fluorescent layer comprising fluorescent pigment in a cross-linked resin,
- the fabric being characterized in that the resin penetrates into the web to surround the fibers and is bonded thereto, but the fluorescent pigment is concentrated at the first major surface of the web at a level greater than at the second major surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.