Abstract:
The invention relates to a camouflage pattern based on two designs, the first design being a camouflage print formed by two to 15 colors, two or more tones or two or more shades of the same color, and having different levels of reflectance, and the second design comprising a series of diagonal wave-like lines superimposed over the first design print, preferably forming a rhombus mesh, which designs, when combined, increase the capacity to blend in with the surroundings in different environments, including jungles, forests, the savannah, deserts and urban environments, both by day and by night, even when using night-vision equipment.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present application relates to a camouflage pattern based on two designs, the first of these being a camouflage print composed of two or more colors, two or more tones or two or more shades of the same color, which has different levels of reflectance, and a second design comprising a series of diagonal wave-like lines superimposed on the print of the first design, which, in combination, produce a level of reflectance of the light spectrum in different wavelengths, which generates an optical effect that enhances the capacity to blend in with surroundings and to pass unnoticed in various environments, including jungle, woodland, savannah, desert, and an urban environment, both by day and by night, even when using night-vision equipment. 
         [0002]    The pattern of the invention may be applied to different surfaces, including textiles, footwear, helmets, vehicles, aircraft, boats, structures, buildings, firearms, and any other military supplies. 
       PRIOR ART 
       [0003]    The development of camouflage patterns arose as a response to human attempts at not being seen, and began in 1942 with the pattern known as “duck hunter”, which was associated with the model having large, irregular spots in various colors on a solid background. Variations on the original pattern were reproduced by the Americans and foreign companies from the 1960s to the 1990s, and were marketed as sports hunting apparel. This style of camouflage is also often called duck hunter “spot” or “patch”. Despite being in widespread use, this camouflage pattern does not have the effect of providing depth and does not result in a camouflage effect in surroundings other than in Nature, such as blacktop, snow, desert, etc. 
         [0004]    The search to improve on this first attempt led to the “brushstroke” camouflage used by Major Denison, of the British Army, who took a khaki-color cloth and applied color to it with a large brush to generate a brushstroke effect and thus to create a camouflage pattern for paratroopers, who were likely to be targets for enemy snipers. The term “brushstroke” relates to the brush strokes painted with such large brushes, which resulted in broad swathes of color. The brushstroke pattern was used on British uniforms during the 1960s and was copied by a number of countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This pattern influenced the development of other, derived patterns, such as the French “lizard” and the Vietnamese “tigerstripe”. Despite the advance that this design represented at the time, it has the disadvantage of being a hand-made design and therefore there is no defined pattern enabling it to adapt natural forms and thus to produce an optical effect of deception or invisibility. 
         [0005]    In parallel with the brushstroke pattern, the United States devised the ERDL pattern, known as the “leaf pattern”, used during the Vietnam War, this being a design comprising organic green shapes with brown spots and grass shapes, with black branches and a lime-green background. Despite the fact that various designs have been derived from the leaf pattern, they all tend to have larger, superimposed shapes and large areas of solid color. Green was predominant in the original pattern, characterized by narrow, irregular branch shapes in two or more colors, on a solid background. 
         [0006]    As already mentioned, the French opted for the “leopard” camouflage pattern, known locally by French paratroopers during the Algerian War as the “lizard” pattern. This pattern is a direct descendent of the British “brushstroke” design. There are two versions of the lizard pattern, namely one pattern in which the stripes are vertically oriented and another in which they are horizontally oriented; French patterns created in the 1950s were horizontal, but those produced by Portugal shortly afterwards were vertical. 
         [0007]    The era of the emergence of the “leopard” camouflage pattern saw the development of the “splinter pattern”, which is a reference to camouflage designs originating with the German Wehrmacht, incorporating geometric shapes with an overprint of rain straits, and for derived patterns. Although the superimposition of “rain” was a feature of the original German designs, the term “splinter” covers all designs having geometric shapes resembling splintered shards of glass or other brittle materials. The original German term for this pattern was “Splittertarn” (splinter camouflage) or “Splittermuster” (splinter pattern). 
         [0008]    The prior art also includes the jigsaw puzzles pattern, which, unlike the majority of the camouflage patterns already mentioned, did not derive from one particular pattern. The most prominent of the jigsaw puzzles patterns was that developed by Belgium in the decade up to 1956. Although the initial Belgian camouflage patterns were influenced by the brushstroke design, this design broke the mold and formed a category of camouflage designs characterized by shapes resembling the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. 
         [0009]    In 1960, there arose the Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM), one of the models most widely copied worldwide. Many countries have their own variants on this pattern, adapting it to normal woodland or to desert. The “standard DPM model” was developed for temperate climates and incorporates the colors black, brown and bright green, on a khaki or tan background. Dozens of variations were designed for tropical climates, together with some for desert climates. The DPM pattern continues to be used in the British Army, but it is gradually being replaced by the new Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP). The problem with this design is that as the material wears out the colors fade, which gives rise to an easily detectable visual effect. This camouflage pattern involves a mixture of spots of different colors resembling those in the surroundings, but the distribution of the colors is over very wide ranges, which has a negative impact on the camouflage visual effect. 
         [0010]    In the era during which the DPM design and the “leopard” pattern were developed, the “rain” pattern also came to the fore, this latter being a camouflage design incorporating a high percentage of vertically aligned “streaks” or “flecks” simulating an image of falling rain. During the Second World War, the German Wehrmacht used this feature in various camouflage patterns, and principally in the “Splittermuster” (splinter) and “Sumpfmuster” (marsh) designs. These patterns were subsequently modified, but the concept of “falling rain” (in which the actual raindrops are isolated as the principal feature against a background of solid color) emerged in the Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe. The South African government even reproduced the pattern for its special forces units, where the pattern earned the nickname “rice fleck”. Poland appears to have been the first Warsaw Pact country to produce a simplified “rain pattern” design, consisting of thin brown rain straits on a field grey background. 
         [0011]    Another widely recognized camouflage pattern is that which was given the name “tigerstripe” pattern, which is a reference to a family of camouflage designs developed in Southeast Asia (particularly the Republic of Vietnam) during the 1960s. The term “tigerstripe” (or “tiger model”) refers to the rudimentary similarity between the narrow brush strokes of the camouflage design and the naturally occurring design of the pelt of the genus  Panthera tigris.  The first “tigerstripe” pattern model was a locally made copy of the French lizard pattern produced for the Vietnamese Marine Corps (S         c R{hacek over (a)}n Thũy Quân L         c-Chi{circumflex over (é)}n). Variants of this pattern include designs having stripes in different colors or tones drawn on a background comprising green and browns. Other variants are associated with the number of stripes and are known as the “sparse” and “dense” versions. 
         [0012]    Another camouflage design widely used on military uniforms was developed in 1971 by the United States, and it is known as the “chocolate chip” design. This camouflage pattern originally included six colors and arose as a response to the conditions encountered in the rocky deserts of California. The original design consisted of blotches in two shades of mid-brown over large areas of sand and tan, dotted with smaller rock shapes printed in black and off-white. This design was most in use between 1981 and 1991. It was worn initially by United States military personnel serving in the Sinai, but its most prevalent use was during Operation Desert Shield/Storm (the Persian Gulf War) and later in deployments to Somalia. Over time, it was established that the design had limited effectiveness in many of the arid sandy deserts of the Persian Gulf and North Africa, and from 1991 it was replaced by the three-color desert pattern. Nevertheless, the design of six original colors has been used by many nations and has given rise to a large assortment of derivatives using different color combinations. 
         [0013]    The year 1981 saw the introduction of the term “woodland”, generally applied to the USA m/81 “woodland” pattern (which itself was derived from the m1948 ERDL pattern) and all its derivatives. The “woodland” camouflage is based on the m/81 “tree” pattern and has been one of the most duplicated and modified camouflage patterns. This design has been the one most used by military forces worldwide, and even now many military uniforms use it. 
         [0014]    Nowadays, the most popular camouflage design is that known as “digital”, designed using computer algorithms programmed to create micropatterns for effective disruption (organic, conventional and/or analog camouflage designs used for macropatterns). The theory behind micropatterns is that the large blotches of color with sharp outlines are easier to see, while blurring or dithering the edges of the colored patches makes the outlines more difficult to discern. 
         [0015]    In common usage, however, the term “digital” has been used to refer to any camouflage design incorporating pixels rather than organic shapes to create the design. Although the term “pixelated” camouflage is more precise. 
         [0016]    The first country to adopt a true digital model was Canada, which introduced its CADPAT (Canadian Pattern) in 1997. The patents relating to this design include patent CA2442558, which relates to a camouflage material having a granitic aspect made of intermixed colored grains in which around 21% of said colored grains are in a light green color; approximately 6% of said colored grains are in a brown color; approximately 48% of said colored grains are in a mid-green color, and over 25% of said colored grains are in a black color. The identified benefits of this design include a reduction in the probability of detection by night-vision devices. 
         [0017]    The camouflage effect achieved by this pattern relies on the interplay of colors of different wavelengths, which makes it possible to conceal oneself in spaces with similar tones. Thus, the model today has three variants: temperate woodland (TW), arid regions (AR), and winter/arctic (WA). 
         [0018]    The temperate woodland pattern (CADPAT TW) has four specific colors—light green, green, brown and black—and was first introduced in 1996, on a cover for a new helmet for use in darkness. At the same time, the pattern was also introduced in a new range of individual camouflage apparel. The CADPAT pattern for arid regions (AR), used on uniforms for operations in desert, near-desert and savannah environmental conditions, includes three different colors of brown, while the winter/arctic pattern was introduced as an update on monochromatic winter whites, with a view to further enhancing a serviceman&#39;s day and night camouflage capacity, including camouflage capacity under observation with infrared (NIR) technology. Finally, there is the urban CADPAT pattern designed for use in built-up areas. 
         [0019]    The MARPAT (Marine Pattern) is a digital-design camouflage very similar to the CADPAT (Canadian Pattern). It is formed by square and rectangular blocks of brown, green and black, which, when well-combined, result in a very effective disruptive pattern. This uniform comes in two official versions—woodland and desert—and an urban pattern is currently under development, although, also, a non-official model, in grays, whites and blacks, is being perfected. 
         [0020]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,957, which protects this pattern, establishes that the disruptive camouflage pattern system consists of a macropattern and a micropattern, in which the micropattern is formed by pixels with sharp edges proportional to the size of a camouflaged object, the pixels are at least in four colors with a variety of dark and light colors in which the pattern is repeated at established intervals and, within the design repeat, the lightest color is a base color that includes approximately 5% of the repeat, the next darker color is included in approximately 47% of the repeat, the next darker color is present in approximately 30% of the repeat, and the darkest color which includes approximately in 18% of the repeat, the pixels of the micropattern create the shapes of the macropattern, the specific combinations of the pixels of the micropattern which generate the shapes of the macropattern may be in the same color or in different colors, the shapes of the macropattern disrupt the shape of the camouflaged subject, the proportion of light pixels to dark pixels in the micropattern, combined with the effect of the micro- and macropattern, produces a disruptive camouflage not only for the human eye but also for infrared-light devices, and the camouflaged subject has a lightness coordinate (L*) which is comparable to the negative space surrounding the camouflaged subject. 
         [0021]    On the basis of the two abovementioned developments, many countries have adopted pixelated or “digital” designs, some of which are very effective and others of which have a closer link to the current fashion for pragmatic camouflage design. 
         [0022]    Further information on camouflage can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,307,748B2, Multi-Range Camouflage Design and Method, wherein the pattern is a grid composed of cells (pixels), in which there is a minimum color variation between neighboring cells, which makes it possible to conceal the object at great distances. The disadvantage of this patent lies in that the method of minimum variation of colors does not allow one and the same pattern to be adapted to different surrounding environments. 
         [0023]    The prior art also included patent DE202009018499U1, which discloses a camouflage pattern with a polygonal design, in which in an adjacent manner the shapes that make up the camouflage pattern are connected uniformly. This provides flexible camouflage for different objects. The disadvantage of this patent lies in that it does not establish the proportion of the colors used in the shapes or the distance between the elements of the polygonal surface, which prevents a determination of the way in which the pattern might be applied to any type of surface. 
         [0024]    Lastly, patent CA2257688C was found, which is entitled “Deception method and product”, which makes use of an “optical illusion” to generate a camouflage pattern with three (03) mutually completely different regions. Although there is a type of grid within one of the regions of the camouflage pattern, this is linked to technical drawing specifications where said grid denotes a particular color, plus the grid is not superimposed on a pixelated pattern. The invention of this application provides camouflage material that deceives animals (using the infrared pattern), but not humans. The disadvantage of this patent lies in that the deception concept does not use a pixelation that distributes colors in different proportions, which does not make it possible to adapt the pattern to different surrounding environments. Furthermore, this design was produced to deceive the animal eye, but not the human eye. 
         [0025]    If the above information is taken into consideration, it is obvious that patterns known in the prior art were based on the combination of colors for simulating the tones and shapes found in surroundings. This means that, despite the progress achieved, there is a need to reproduce the pattern in different colors and tones in order that the camouflage can be adapted to the terrain where it is designed to pass unnoticed. 
         [0026]    That being the case, there is obviously a need to acquire a multi-terrain camouflage pattern that makes it possible to reduce perception of the object covered with said pattern, independently of the place where said object is located. 
         [0027]    The pattern of the present invention successfully potentiates the camouflage effect by combining two designs that are a combination of a pattern of diagonal wave-like lines, which, when superimposed on a camouflage print, divert the attention of the observer who, when confronted with multiple wavelengths of light reflected on the pattern, does not perceive the object owing to the optical illusion that said wavelengths generate in the brain. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0028]      FIG. 1 . Camouflage pattern with diagonal wave-like lines of the present invention. 
           [0029]      FIG. 2 . Photograph of personnel in military uniform made using a fabric printed with the camouflage pattern with diagonal wave-like lines of the present invention (A) and personnel wearing military uniform made using a fabric without wave-like lines (B). 
           [0030]      FIG. 3 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the invention pattern, taken at a distance of 10 meters, where it is observed that the uniform blends in with the color of the background structure. 
           [0031]      FIG. 4 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention, taken at a distance of 150 meters, which shows the effect of loss of definition of the outline, allowing improvement of the capacity for camouflage with the surroundings. 
           [0032]      FIG. 5 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention, taken at a distance of 2 meters, showing the camouflage effect in jungle surroundings. 
           [0033]      FIG. 6 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention, taken at a distance of 5 meters from the person in the foreground, showing the effect of camouflage in jungle surroundings. 
           [0034]      FIG. 7 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention, taken at a distance of 1 meter, showing the effect of camouflage in dry woodland surroundings. 
           [0035]      FIG. 8 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention, taken at a distance of 3 meters, showing the effect of camouflage in dry woodland surroundings. 
           [0036]      FIG. 9 . Photograph of a person wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention, taken at a distance of 3 meters, showing the effect of camouflage in flat terrain in a savannah climate. 
           [0037]      FIG. 10 . Photograph of a person A wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention and a person B wearing a uniform with a pattern other than that of the present invention, taken in daylight at a distance of 5 meters. 
           [0038]      FIG. 11 . Photograph of a person A wearing a uniform with the pattern of the present invention and a person B wearing a uniform with a pattern other than that of the present invention, taken using a night-vision device at a distance of 2 meters. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0039]    The present application relates to a camouflage pattern, characterized in that it comprises two superimposed designs, wherein the first design is a camouflage print comprising between 2 and 15 colors, of different tone or shade, in which there is a combination of alternating light and dark colors, and the second design placed over the first, which comprises a series of diagonal wave-like lines ( 2 ), which may be oriented in the same direction or may lie in opposite directions, intersecting in order to form a mesh, forming rhombi ( 3 ). 
         [0040]    Said diagonal wave-like lines are sinusoidal lines that, when the print of the first design is intersected, generate a series of small, irregular sections, the frequency of which in nature is high, and therefore the human eye perceives them as normal and overlooks them because it considers them to be part of the surroundings. 
         [0041]    In an alternative of the invention, the camouflage print comprises between 3 and 6 colors or tones, which are combined to create a micropattern ( 4 ) repeated along the pattern of the present invention. 
         [0042]    In a preferred embodiment, the predominant color in the pattern of the first print is the lightest color or the second lightest color. It is preferable for said predominant color to be present in a proportion of from 30% to 60% of the total of the pattern. 
         [0043]    Said first design comprises a print selected from the group comprising pixelated, blotch, band, brushstroke or strait camouflage. Preferably, the first design comprises a pixelated print in which the wave-like lines intersect each pixel at least once. 
         [0044]    The second design, which consists of diagonal wave-like lines distributed along the pattern, where the distance between said diagonal wave-like lines may be the same along the pattern. In an alternative of the invention, the distance between the diagonal wave-like lines may vary along the pattern, said distance being smaller in certain areas of the pattern and greater in others. 
         [0045]    Preferably, the ratio between the distance between the wave-like lines of the second design and the dimension of the side of the pixels forming part of the first design are in a proportion of between 0.1 and 2. The best option being those designs in which said proportion is equal to 1, i.e. the distance between the wave-like lines is equal to the dimension of the side of the pixels. 
         [0046]    Complementing the aforesaid, given that the wave-like lines of the second design are sinusoidal, they form crests. Preferably, the distance between the crests of the waves of the wave-like lines of the second design is the same. However, also part of the present invention is the design in which the distance between crests of the wave-like line varies along the pattern. 
         [0047]    Another important aspect of the present invention is the color of the wave-like lines forming the second pattern. The diagonal wave-like lines have to be in the same color as one of the colors of the first design in order to reduce the contrast of the pattern relative to its surroundings. 
         [0048]    Preferably, the lines are in the same color as one of the colors of the first design, and better still said lines are in the most predominant color in the first design, this being in order to generate a greater reflectance of the light spectrum and to create a three-dimensional effect in the design since upon placing the mesh design on the fragments of the same color in the first design the lines of the mesh are lost, which causes the segments in the same color as the mesh to stand out. This information is processed by the human brain, giving an impression of depth. 
         [0049]    In addition to that which is set forth in the preceding paragraph, the wave-like lines conceal the edges of the shapes to which the pattern is applied, which compromises visual acuity, preventing outlines and shapes from being defined and thereby reducing the probability that the object covered with the pattern will be detected and identified, which ultimately leads to an increase in the survival rate of military personnel in countries in conflict. 
       EXAMPLES 
       [0050]    With a view to demonstrating the effects achieved with the camouflage pattern of the present invention, a series of field studies were performed in which a group of persons were clothed in uniforms of which the fabric incorporates the camouflage pattern of the present invention and a second group of persons wore uniforms using clothing that did not have the superimposed mesh design. 
         [0051]    To establish perception as to the level of detection and identification of the persons making up the above-defined groups, a group of 50 observers underwent the test of determining the location of the uniformed personnel, in photographs and in the field, in order to ascertain which uniform afforded greater camouflage. 
         [0052]    Within this context,  FIG. 2  shows a group (A) composed of four persons wearing the uniform with the pattern of the invention and a group (B) of four persons wearing a pixelated uniform lacking wave-like lines and having a different pixelated pattern. Of the observers questioned, 90% took the view that the pattern of the invention was less detectable, attracted less attention, and better resembled the surroundings. 
         [0053]    When the group of observers was shown the photograph of  FIG. 3 , it was found that 80% of them perceived the color of the uniform in the same way as that of the structure alongside which the person using the pattern of the invention was located. Upon approaching said person, it was possible to establish that that assertion was incorrect since the uniform is gray and the greenish tones are the result of reflectance of the light spectrum on the pattern claimed herein. 
         [0054]      FIG. 4  shows how reflectance of the light effect on the surface of the aircraft is in turn reflected by the camouflage pattern, causing a resemblance that prevents the wearer of the pattern being detected at a distance of 150 meters. 
         [0055]    When the tests were carried out in different terrains and environments, it was found that despite using a color that was infrequent in nature, such as different tones of gray, good camouflage was successfully achieved independently of whether the space where the user wearing the uniform with the pattern was located was jungle ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ), dry woodland ( FIGS. 7 and 8 ) and savannah ( FIG. 9 ), and in all cases the observers involved in the experiment had difficulty in terms of detecting and especially in terms of identifying the person wearing the uniform with the pattern of the present invention irrespective of the terrain in which the photograph was taken or the test was carried out. 
         [0056]    By contrasting the level of camouflage between two patterns evaluated in the daylight test, it was found that 90% of those questioned saw the user (B) of the pattern without lines more easily than the user (A) of the pattern of the present invention. 
         [0057]    Lastly, the two groups of users underwent detection using night-vision devices.  FIG. 10  shows a user (B) of the camouflage without wave-like lines resting on the body of the user (A) of the camouflage pattern of the invention, 95% of observers taking the view that the body of the user (A) was a rock on which the user (B), who was easily detectable, was resting. 
         [0058]    Given the results of the tests carried out, it is obvious that there is a reduction in the level of perception, detection and identification of the user of the pattern of the present application. This demonstrates the existence of an unexpected effect, since the inclusion of the diagonal lines of the second design forming the camouflage pattern of the invention enhances the level of camouflage of the user independently of the terrain and the environment in which said user is located.