Fabric material having fluorescent fibers

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a fabric material, and more particularly to a woven or non-woven fabric material having one or more illuminative or fluorescent fibers or yarns entangled or intermingled therein, for illuminating or fluorescence purposes.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Various kinds of typical fabric materials, such as woven or non-woven fabric materials have been developed and provided for making bags, braces, belts, clothes, knapsacks, rucksacks, schoolbags, suspenders, etc.

[0005] For safety purposes, or for illuminating or fluorescence purposes, one or more reflective or illuminative or fluorescent straps, stickers, belts, or the like will be applied or attached onto, or even printed onto the woven or non-woven fabric material, or onto the bags, the braces, the belts, the clothes, the knapsacks, the rucksacks, the schoolbags, the suspenders, etc.

[0006] For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,026 to Purvis et al. discloses an attachment of one or more reflective safety stripes onto the clothes or users, for illuminating or fluorescence purposes, or for light reflective purposes, for allowing the user to be seen by the lights of motor vehicles or to be seen in the dark environment, to prevent accidents.

[0007] However, the reflective or illuminative or fluorescent straps, stickers, belts, or the like may not be solidly applied or attached or printed onto the woven or non-woven fabric material, and may be easily removed or disengaged from the bags, the braces, the belts, the clothes, the knapsacks, the rucksacks, the schoolbags, the suspenders, or the like.

[0008] The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional fabric materials or bags, braces, belts, clothes, knapsacks, rucksacks, schoolbags, or suspenders.

[0009] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fabric material, such as a woven or non-woven fabric material having one or more illuminative or fluorescent fibers or yarns entangled or intermingled therein, for illuminating or fluorescence purposes.

[0010] In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a fabric material comprising one or more non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fibers, and one or more fluorescent or illuminative fibers intermingled with the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fibers, to solidly engage the fluorescent or illuminative fibers in the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fibers, and to prevent the fluorescent or illuminative fibers from being disengaged from the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fibers. The illuminative or fluorescent fibers may be used to reflect the lights, of such as motor vehicles, for allowing the users to be seen in the dark environment, or, the illuminative or fluorescent fibers may be used to absorb the lights in the day time, and to generate fluorescence or illuminative lights in the night or in the dark environment, and thus for allowing the users to be seen in the dark environment, to prevent accidents.

[0011] The fluorescent or illuminative fiber includes one or more segments engaged into the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fiber, and/or includes one or more further segments engaged onto the upper portion of the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fiber, and/or includes one or more further segments engaged onto the lower portion of the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fiber, in order to solidly engage the fluorescent or illuminative fibers and the non-fluorescent or non-illuminative fibers with each other.

[0012] Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein below, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a fabric material in accordance with the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the fabric material, taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

[0015] FIG. 3 is a partial plan view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating another arrangement of the fabric material; and

[0016] FIG. 4 is a partial plan view similar to FIGS. 1 and 3, illustrating a further arrangement of the fabric material.

[0017] Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a fabric material in accordance with the present invention may either be a woven fabric material or a non-woven fabric material, and preferably comprises a fabric member 1, such as an elongate or longitudinal fabric member 1 in the form of such as a belt, a strap, a band, or the like, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 or 4.

[0018] The elongate or longitudinal fabric member 1 of the fabric material includes one or more non-illuminative or non-fluorescent yarns or fibers 11, and one or more illuminative or fluorescent yarns or fibers 12 entangled or intermingled with each other, for allowing the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11 and the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 to be solidly entangled or intermingled with each other, and for preventing the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11 and the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 from being disengaged from each other.

[0019] For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may include one or more portions or segments 16 engaged or provided or entangled or intermingled or attached onto the upper portion of the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11, and one or more portions or segments 17 engaged or provided or entangled or intermingled or attached into the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11, and the other portions or segments 18 engaged or provided or entangled or intermingled or attached onto the bottom portion of the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11, in order to solidly entangle or intermingle the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11 and the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 with each other or together.

[0020] In preparing or providing the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12, one or more non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers are provided and engaged into illuminative or fluorescent agents, for allowing the illuminative or fluorescent agents to be engaged or attached or permeated into the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers, in order to form the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12, after the illuminative or fluorescent agents have been dried.

[0021] In operation, the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11 and the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may be woven or entangled or intermingled with each other to form the elongate or longitudinal fabric member 1, which may then be used to form the bags, the braces, the belts, the clothes, the knapsacks, the nameplates, the ropes, the rucksacks, the schoolbags, the shoestrings, the suspenders, the tents, the threads, etc., that may include the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 woven or entangled or intermingled therein.

[0022] The illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may be used to reflect the lights, of such as motor vehicles, for allowing the users to be seen in the dark environment, to prevent accidents; or, the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may be used to absorb the lights in the day time, and to generate fluorescence or illuminative lights in the night or in the dark environment, and thus also for allowing the users to be seen in the dark environment, to prevent accidents.

[0023] It is to be noted that the illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may be solidly engaged or woven or entangled or intermingled with or in the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11, and thus will not be removed or disengaged from the non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers 11. The illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may be made or formed into various shapes, such as the longitudinal stripes as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, or the dot shape as shown in FIG. 3, or the marks, or the other logos or the like, for illuminating or fluorescence purposes.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 4, one or more typical reflective or illuminative or fluorescent straps 14, stickers, belts, or the like may further be applied or attached onto, or printed onto the woven or non-woven fabric member 1, or onto the bags, the braces, the belts, the clothes, the knapsacks, the rucksacks, the schoolbags, the suspenders, etc. The illuminative or fluorescent fibers 12 may provide the additional fluorescence or illuminative lights in the night or in the dark environment in addition to that provided by the typical reflective or illuminative or fluorescent straps 14, stickers, belts, or the like.

[0025] Accordingly, the fabric material in accordance with the present invention includes one or more illuminative or fluorescent fibers or yarns and one or more non-illuminative or non-fluorescent fibers engaged or woven or entangled or intermingled with each other, for allowing the illuminative or fluorescent fibers or yarns to provide illuminative or fluorescent purposes or effects.

[0026] Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.