Abstract:
A marker for attachment to a helmet head covering or the like of a friendly force member, and more particularly to an on-the-go hand securable marker having at least one extension with a retaining head for inserting into a hole in the uniform with the retaining head sufficiently rigid to prevent withdrawal therefrom under field conditions with the marker having a limited wavelength reflective surface thereon to enable a person observing under nighttime conditions to determine if a person is a friendly force member by the presence of reflections of electromagnetic radiation from the marker on the friendly force member. If field conditions change one can quickly remove the marker and replace the marker with conventional camouflage materials.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to uniform attachments and, more specifically, to a marker for mechanical securement to a portion of a uniform such as a helmet to enable identification of a person wearing the marker by a person utilizing equipment that is sensitive to a marker material on the marker. 
     CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     None 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     None 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     One of the difficulties in modem warfare and particularly in covert nighttime operations is to prevent fratricide, One of the ways to prevent fratricide, i.e. the killing of friendly forces by other friendly forces, is through some means of positive identification of friendly forces by other friendly forces. One of the ways of currently identifying friendly forces is by securing an infrared reflecting material known as Glo Tape IR, which contains the insignia of the friendly forces, to the uniform sleeve of the military personnel. 
     The infrared reflecting material is characterized by being generally non-reflective to impingement of visible light and appears like black duct tape in both texture and finish. However, the infrared marker strongly reflects the infrared wavelengths so that when the marker is viewed through night vision goggles one sees a bright image. Thus, during nighttime or under nighttime conditions, the presence of a marker on a member of the friendly forces alerts a viewer using special equipment, which is sensitive to the infrared reflective material, to the presence of the member of the friendly forces. These type of infrared markers are secured to the body uniforms by Velcro® fasteners, adhesives or are sewn directly onto the body uniform. In contrast to the prior art markers, the present invention comprise a marker that can be mechanically secured to the uniform by the soldier in the field without the aid of any tools and thus can provide an on-the-go method for field securing the reflective marker to a portion of the uniform such as the helmet of the soldier. In the preferred embodiment the marker is secured around the periphery of the helmet to thereby make the person recognizable regardless of the direction the person is facing. In the event the combat conditions change the markers can be quickly removed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A marker for attachment to a helmet head covering or the like of a friendly force member, and more particularly to an on-the-go hand securable marker having at least one extension with a retaining head for inserting into a hole in the uniform with the retaining head sufficiently rigid to prevent withdrawal therefrom under field conditions with the marker having a limited wavelength reflective surface thereon to enable a person observing under nighttime conditions to determine if a person is a friendly force member by the presence of reflections of electromagnetic radiation from the marker on the friendly force member. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of the marker of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of a combatant wearing a helmet having a fabric covering with a plurality of holes therein for securing camouflage material thereto; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the marker of FIG. 1 mounted in the fabric covering of the helmet of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial view showing the insertion of a lobe of the retaining head into a hole in the fabric covering of the helmet of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 5 is a partial view illustrating the rotational insertion of a second lobe on the retaining head into the hole in the fabric covering of the helmet 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows a plane or front view of the marker  10  of the present invention that is suitable for on-the-go field attachment or detachment to a uniform of a combatant The marker  10  comprises a planer body member  11  having a reflective surface  12  thereon. In the present invention, the reflective surface  12  comprises a surface that is reflective to wavelengths in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum but is substantially non reflective to wavelengths in visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum thus making it difficult for the unaided eye to detect the marker under either daytime or nighttime conditions. 
     Infrared reflective material is known in the art and is commercially available under the name Glo Tape IR. The infrared reflective material is characterized by being substantially non-reflective to wave lengths in the visible light region Of the electromagnetic spectrum but highly reflective to wave lengths in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The selective high reflectivity to wavelengths in the infrared region makes it suitable for detection by persons observing through night goggles. Night goggles are known in the art and are used by military personnel to observe activities during nighttime or nighttime conditions. The use of a patch of highly reflective infrared material on a marker causes a person viewing the marker through night goggles to see a bright spot on the darker background of the person. As a result, a person observing through night goggles can under night time conditions quickly distinguish those forces that are friendly by the presence of the marker and those that are hostile by the lack of a marker. 
     The present invention provides for in field and on-the-go attachment of the marker  10  to a helmet covering through a mechanical engagement to the helmet covering with the shape of the marker  10  shown in plane view in FIG.  1 . Extending from one side of body member  17  of marker  10  is a first flat extension having a neck  17   a  with neck  17   a  connect to an elongated flat head  18 . Elongated head  18  has a first lateral lobe  18   d  and a second lateral lobe  18   e . The forward edge  18   c  of head  18  comprises a rounded portion with the rearward side of head  18  having a first securement lip  18   a  and a second securement lip  18   b  that extends substantially transverse but slightly canted to a central axis  19  extending longitudinally through the marker  10 . 
     Similarly, Extending from the opposite side of body member  17  of marker  10  is a second extension  13  having a neck  13   a  with neck  13   a  connect to an elongated head  15 . Elongated head  15  has a first lateral lobe  15   d  and a second lateral lobe  15   e . The forward edge  15   c  of head  15  comprises a rounded portion with the rearward side of head  15  having a first canted securement lip  15   a  and a second canted securement lip  15   b  that extends substantially transverse but slightly canted to the axis  19  extending longitudinally through the marker  10 . By having the first retaining lip and a second retaining lip on the retaining head  15  and  18  canted slightly toward the neck allows the lips to form a more positive or hook-like engagement with the covering. 
     In the embodiment shown marker  10  is formed from a flexible sheet of material such as polycarbonate or the like with the material having sufficient rigidity so as to hold the marker  10  in postion when the marker is secured to holes in a portion of a uniform. When the uniform covering comprises a fabric or flexible material the retaining head engages the material around the periphery of the hole to maintain the marker in postion on the uniform much in the manner of a button that is inserted into a button hole in a garment and retained therein by the garment fabric around the button hole. 
     A reference to FIG. 2 shows a solder wearing a helmet  20  with the helmet having a flexible covering, such as a fabric covering  25 . In the embodiment shown the fabric covering  25  contains a camouflage pattern, which is indicated by irregular dark patterns  21  dispersed throughout the fabric covering  25  on the helmet  20 . The fabric covering  25  contains a plurality of button like holes  21 , which are spaced about the peripheral region of the helmet The holes  21  are placed in the fabric covering to enable one to attach camouflage materials such as twigs or grasses thereto. Generally, the holes are spaced a distance from each other by a uniform distance denoted by “x”. Typically, the solider takes material from the surrounding terrain such as twigs or bushes with leaves thereon and inserts the stems into the holes in the fabric covering with the leaves on the outside of the helmet covering. The result is that the combination of the camouflage pattern together with the twigs or leaves that are secured to the fabric covering on the helmet function to camouflage the wearer. While the holes are intended to hold camouflage material, in the present invention, the holes for holding camouflage material are used to hold an identification marker that has a reflective material thereon. Thus, under nighttime conditions the reflective material permits identification of the person wearing the helmet through the use of equipment sensitive to the reflective material while at the same time not interfering with the visual daytime camouflage pattern. By placing the marker in different locations around the peripheral region of the helmet at least one marker will be visible from any side. 
     FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the present invention mounted in a set of spaced apart holes  22  which are located in helmet fabric covering  25 . In the embodiment shown the head  15 ′ and the head  18 ′ are shown in dotted lines to indicate that they are located beneath the fabric covering  25 . The neck  13   a  and  17   a  extend through the openings with the extensions  13  and  17  located external to the fabric covering  25  with the body member  11  carrying the reflective material  12  thereon. 
     FIG.  4  and FIG. 5 illustrate the method of inserting the head  18  into a hole  22  in the covering  25 . In the first step the user inserts a lobe  18   e  into the opening  22  and pushes the lobe into the opening  22 . In the next step the user extends the lobe until the neck  17   a  engages the side of the hole  22 . Once the lobe  18   e  is fully inserted the user can rotate lobe  18   d  as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5 to bring lobe  18   d  to the back side of the covering. Once inserted the rear edges  18   a  and  18   b  of head  18  engage the covering to hold the marker  10  in postion. Thus, even though the transverse length of the head is wider than the dimension of the opening one can insert the head through the opening and rotate the head from one side to another bring the head though the opening and into engagement with the material around the peripherally region of the opening  22 . Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention the retaining head has an elongated shape to permit insertion of a first lobe thereon to be inserted through the opening  22  prior to inserting a second lobe of the retaining head through the opening with a transvere dimension of the retaining head being grater than the maximum dimension of the opening to thereby prevent accidental withdrawal of the retaining head. 
     In the embodiment shown the covering  25  comprises a fabric or flexible covering which permits slight stretching of the covering when insertion of the retaining head therein. However, the present invention is also usable with covering which may not be flexible. In addition, the material for forming marker  10  generally comprises a resilient material to permit the insertion of the marker and the return of the marker to the original condition so as to have the reflective surface in the proper location. The use of a flexible material for the carrier allows the marker to conform to the shape of the helmet when secured to the openings in the helmet covering. 
     It will be appreciated that the present invention allows a soldier to quickly and on-the-go change from one combat condition to another combat condition. That is, during daytime conditions the helmet covering can hold visible camouflage materials, such as leaves and grasses and thereby to render a camouflaged profile. However, if the solider is going to be operating under nighttime conditions, where such camouflage materials are ineffective, the solider can quickly remove the camouflage materials and replace the camouflage materials with the markers  10  that will identify the solider to other members of his group.