Patent Publication Number: US-2005125874-A1

Title: Garment and garment accessories having luminescent accents and fabrication method therefor

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention broadly relates to clothing garments of a type to be worn as an outer covering for the body. More particularly, though, the present invention is directed to garments, which includes garment accessories, that have lighted accents, and method for fabricating such garments. Specifically, the present invention relates to such garments which have luminescent accents that are used as costumes along with a fabrication method for such garments.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Clothing has been employed by virtually every culture since the beginning of recorded time. Clothing has been used to protect against the elements as well as to exhibit modesty of the human form. The use of clothing has even extended to the dressing of animals both as a protection against the elements and as a decoration. Often, clothing is supplemented by various accessory items.  
      In addition to using clothing to protect against the elements and for modesty purposes, clothing has been employed as a costume for entertainment purposes. One such example, of course, is the use of costumes in the entertainment industry, especially in the performing arts. Costumes, however, are used by many people for festive occasions. Numerous holiday events are celebrated with parties where the participants are dressed up in costumes as an enhancement to the festive spirit.  
      Perhaps the most widespread use of costumes occurs around the holiday of Halloween. Halloween celebrations traditionally include the use of costumes and make-up to alter a person&#39;s appearance. Here, both adults and children dress in fanciful costumes to attend parties celebrating the event. Children also dress in fanciful costumes and travel house-to-house requesting treats in the form of handouts from the respective residents or, in the alternative, playing generally harmless pranks on the homeowner. Since the Halloween holiday has its roots on the celebration of the dead or in the celebration of saints, many costumes are designed with a pseudo-scary theme including costumes representing ghosts, goblins, witches or other phantasms. In addition, some costumes may be directed to cartoon or other fanciful creatures or beings, such as alien creatures, of a more humorous nature. There is, accordingly, a continued desire for novel appearing costumes and accessories for those costumes. There is a continued desire to create new visual appearances. The present invention is directed to meeting this need.  
      In addition, with respect to Halloween costumes such as those worn by children, the present invention is also directed to meeting the need for additional safety. In celebrating the Halloween holiday, when children go house-to-house requesting treats, this activity usually occurs at night. Such children are susceptible to greater risks, such as traffic, since they are generally excited and may be less prone to safety. For this reason, children carry flashlights or other light emitting objects so that they may be more visible to others. It is known, in this regard, to also use costumes that have reflective panels so as to increase the safety of the children. The present invention provides luminescent wires on a costume also to accommodate this safety concern.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide new and useful garments and garment accessories which may be worn or carried by humans or animals.  
      It is another object of the present invention to provide garments with portions that emit light so as to increase the decorative features and/or visibility of such garments and garment accessories.  
      A further object of the present invention is to provide garments and garment accessories with electro-luminescent wires as well as a method for incorporating such wires into the structure of these garments and garment accessories so as to provide accents for the garments and garment accessories.  
      Still a further object of the present invention is to provide fabrication methods for garments so as to have light emitting accents thereon.  
      According to the present invention, then, a garment is adapted to be worn and includes light emitting ascents that are visible to an observer. Broadly, the garment of the present invention includes a garment body that has a length of piping supported on the garment body. The piping is constructed as a sleeve of mesh material of a selected mesh size so as to have a sidewall formed by loosely woven strands and with the sleeve having an open interior. In any case, a length of flexible cable is then received in the interior of the sleeve. Here, the cable is of a type that can emit visible light therefrom. A power source is supported by the garment and is operative when in an active state to cause the length of cable to emit light such that light can pass through the piping thereby to visible to an observer.  
      In the embodiments shown, the strands of the piping form mesh openings with the mesh openings being about {fraction (1/16)}″×{fraction (1/16)}″ (1.6 mm×1.6 mm). The piping of the present invention can form a frame around a portion of the garment body. Further, the garment body may include a light reflecting portion, and the piping and the cable is then disposed adjacent to the light reflected portion.  
      In another embodiment, the piping itself can form a design feature on the garment. In still another embodiment, the garment body can have an independent decorative element formed thereon and the piping can be associated with the decorative element so as to cooperate with the decorative element thereby to form a decorative design. Here, the decorative element can also be formed by a piece of fabric material. Indeed, according to further embodiment of the present invention, the piping itself can be a portion of the garment body. For example, the garment body can include a frame portion formed of a stiff wire. Here, the piping can extend coextensively with the wire and be supported thereby.  
      The length of flexible cable that is received in the length of piping can, for example, be an electro-luminescent wire that produces light in response to an applied electric current. In any event, it is preferred that the cable, such as the electro-luminescent wire be formed of a substantially non-toxic material. Where the cable is an electro-luminescent wire, the power source is operative to produce an electric current and the power source is, of course, in electrical communication with the electro-luminescent wire. The power source may produce an alternating electric current and, here, the power source may be a battery operated inverter. The power source is shown to be supported by the garment body. For example, a pouch may be secured to the garment body with the pouch sized and adapted to receive and support the power source.  
      The present invention further contemplates a method of forming a garment utilizing any of the structural features noted above. Particularly, this method provides a garment that has light emitting accents. Broadly the method includes a step of affixing a piping to a portion of the garment as a sleeve having an interior wherein said piping has a sidewall formed by loosely woven strands. The broad method includes the steps of placing a length of flexible cable in the interior of the sleeve wherein the cable is of a type that can emit visible light therefrom and causing the cable to emit light.  
      In this method, the piping can be affixed to said garment by sewing said piping at a seam between two garment portions. If desired, the piping is affixed to said garment along with an associated independent decorative element adjacent thereto. In this method, too, the cable is an electro-luminescent wire and the step of causing said cable to emit light is accomplished by applying an electric current to said wire. The piping can be selected to have a mesh size with mesh openings of about {fraction (1/16)} th  inch by {fraction (1/16)} th  inch (1.6 mm by 1.6 mm), if desired.  
      These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a child wearing a garment in the form of a costume according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a front view in elevation of the hood portion of the costume shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken about lines  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ;  
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of the piping seam and electro-luminescent wire according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken about lines  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 ;  
       FIG. 6  is a side-view partially broken away of the hood shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ;  
       FIG. 7  is a front view in elevation of a second garment in the form of a costume according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 8  is a side-view in elevation of the costume shown in  FIG. 7 ;  
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of the power source used with the garment shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 ;  
       FIG. 10  is perspective view of a garment accessory according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 11  is a front view in elevation of a portion of yet another garment according to the present invention; and  
       FIG. 12  is a rear view in elevation showing a costume accessory that is again according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention broadly concerns clothing of the type that is adapted to be worn by humans or animals. This invention is particularly adapted for use in costume designs, although it should be understood that the scope of this invention is not restricted to costumes or accessories for costumes. Indeed, the present invention can relate to enhancing the appearance of any garment or garment accessory using electro-luminescent wires. Accordingly, as is used herein, the term “garment” includes both a traditional garment, such as clothing, as well as a garment accessory.  
      An important aspect of the present invention, as described below, is the use of a luminescent wire that is powered by a suitable power source. While the present invention is described with respect to an enabling embodiment of such a wire, it should be understood that other light emitting strands of any type currently known or hereinafter developed is intended to be encompassed by the scope of this disclosure and within the scope of this invention.  
      By way of introduction of the present invention, reference is first made to  FIG. 1  wherein it may be seen that a child is wearing a garment  10  in the form of costume that includes garment body portions such as a slip over robe  12  and a hood  14 . Hood  14  includes a shroud  16  and a face panel  18  and, together with robe  12 , loosely simulates the appearance of an alien. Hood  14  is shown in greater detail in  FIGS. 2, 3  and  6 . Here, it may be seen that shroud  16  includes a head covering  20  and a skirt  22  which are joined together around a seam line  24 . Head covering  20  and skirt  22  are formed of any suitable flexible cloth which, if desired, may be a stretchy, resilient material. Head covering  20  has a front margin that is surrounded by a stuffed pleat  26  which has opposite ends  28  and  30  that are proximate to seam  24  and extends in a close looped oval around face panel  18 . Face panel  18  has its perimeter joined in a seam  32  to pleat  26  and head covering  20 .  
      A length of piping  34  is also joined at seam  32  and extends around face panel  18 . Piping  34  carries an electro-luminescent wire  36  that, as described below, may be powered to emit visible light of a selected color. The structure of piping  34 , however, is best shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  where it may be seen that piping  34  is constructed as a sleeve  38  of loosely woven strands  40 . Sleeve  38  is constructed as a strip of material having margins  42  and  44  joined by stitching  46  to create an enclosed structure having an open interior  48  that is separated from the exterior by means of a surrounding sidewall  50 . Sidewall  50  is formed of the mesh material that creates sleeve  38 , and, in this embodiment, this material is a 100% polyester netting having mesh openings approximately {fraction (1/16)} inch by {fraction (1/16)} inch (1.6 mm by 1.6 mm). It should be understood, however, that other materials are suitable for this purpose, whether such sizes are larger or smaller. In any event, it is contemplated that the material be strong enough to support the electro-luminescent wire, be substantial enough to contour the wire in the desired configuration and yet be open enough in mesh size to allow the wire to be readily viewed. Smaller mesh size would be desirable if the user wanted a muted or diffused appearance to be obtained for the emitted light.  
      The electro-luminescent wire  36 , in this embodiment, is chosen to be a flexible linear light emitting wire such as that sold under the trademark LyTec™ by ELAM Electro-Luminescent Industries Ltd. Jerusalem 91450, Israel. This electro-luminescent wire is, in essence, a light emitting capacitor formed by a light emitting electro-luminescent semi conductor layer sandwiched between two conductive electrodes. Generally, a copper wire serves as a core electrode, and the copper wire is coated with several layers of dielectric and semi-conductor materials which together form a co-axial construction. A transparent conductive layer is added with two thin copper wires which serve as a second electrode. A more detailed description of this electro-luminescent wire is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,930 issued Feb. 9, 1999 to Baumberg et al., the technical disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.  
      With reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , it may be seen, then, that wire  36  is shown to have a conductive core  52  which is surrounded by an electro-luminescent layer  54  which may be an electroluminophor in a flexible binder, for example, one made with a cyanoethyl starch. This structure is embedded in an inner insulation layer  56  in which outer conductors  58  are also embedded. An outer insulation layer  60  is then provided to form a protective shield for electro-luminescent wire  6 .  
      This electro-luminescent wire  36  has the ability to emit light uniformly along the its length when an alternating electric current is applied thereto. Moreover, it is flexible, durable, and non-toxic. Importantly, it may be constructed to emit light in a wide range of colors. To this end, the electroluminophor may be doped with copper and/or manganese in various proportions to produce different colors. It should be understood, however, that other flexible cables, such as fiber optic cables, may be used to obtain the effects desired for the garment of the present invention. Thus, when used herein, reference to a cable that can emit light therefrom means any elongated wire-like structure now existing or hereinafter developed that can either generate light or conduct light in a manner that allows the light to exit through its sidewall in a relatively uniform manner thereby to give the wire-like structure a glowing appearance. On the other hand, “electo-luminescent wire” means a structure that produces light upon the application of an electrical current.  
      Sleeve  38  in the construction above, is chosen to have a very open weave so as to allow light emanating from electro-luminescent wire  38  to pass therethrough without significant attenuation. It should have a cross-sectional dimension slightly larger than the cross-sectional dimension of electro-luminescent wire  36  for ease of insertion of wire  36  therein during the manufacturing process.  
      A partially broken away side view of hood  14  is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . In this figure, it may be seen that electro-luminescent wire may be powered by an alternating current power supply  62 . To this end, conductive core  52  and outer conductors  58  are in electrical communication by means of wires  64  connected to power supply  62 . Power supply  62  is preferably a battery-operated inverter which converts a 3-volt DC battery supply to a suitable frequency alternating current and voltage. Where a light conducting cable is used, the ordinarily skilled person should appreciate that the power supply necessarily includes a light source directing visible light into the cable for transmission thereof. In any event, the power supply is operative in an active state to cause the length of cable to emit light therefrom.  
      As shown in the Figures, power supply  62  is supported by the garment body. In  FIG. 6 , power supply  62  is depicted as received in a pouch  66  that is preferably formed of a flexible material having an upper revers  68  that is sewn into seam  32  during construction of hood  14 . Pouch  66  has an open slit  70  to allow insertion and removal of power supply  62  so that its batteries may be easily replaced.  
      In the embodiment of the invention described above with respect to hood  14 , it may be appreciated that piping  34  and, thus, electro-luminescent wire  36 , serves to frame a garment portion, in this case face panel  18 , so that the piping is adjacent to the garment portion. Face panel  18  may be formed of a translucent and reflective material which possesses an iridescent reflectivity. Light emitting from the piping which frames face panel  18  and is adjacent to panel  18  may thereby be reflected from the face panel to give an eerie, glowing appearance to the costume and thus enhance the alien image. The material, however, should readily pass air so that a person may breathe through face panel  18  without impediment.  
      In addition to framing a garment portion, the piping and electro-luminescent wire of the present invention may be used as a complimentary decorative feature itself. For example, as is shown in  FIG. 7 , piping  134  is shown affixed diagonally on the front portion of a costume  110  which, in this embodiment, is in the form of an heraldic surcoat or tunic. With reference to  FIG. 8 , it may be seen that tunic  110  includes a front panel  112  a rear panel  114  and shoulder panel  116  which includes a neck opening  118  so that tunic  110  may be placed over a wearer&#39;s head with panels  112  and  114  draped on the front and back of the body, respectively.  
      Piping  134  simply forms a decorative diagonal band which, in this case, extends from the neck line diagonally and downwardly to the left edge of tunic  110 . Piping  134  is again formed of an open mesh sleeve  138  which carries an electro-luminescent wire  136 , as described above. Electro-luminescent wire  136  is again in electrical communication with an AC power supply  162  by means of wires  164  with AC power supply  162  having a convenient on/off button  163 . Power supply  162  is again received in a pouch  166  formed by mesh panels secured by stitching  180  along a top edge and by stitching  182  along a side margin. To this end, then, pouch  166  is affixed on two sides only to front panel  112  of tunic  110 . Pouch  166  includes a slit  170  to allow access to power supply  162 . Thus, piping  134  and electro-luminescent wire  136  define a decorative feature or accent on the garment body, which here is in the form of the tunic  110 .  
       FIG. 10  illustrates a garment  210  in the form of a conical hat  212 . Here, piping  234  extends circumferentially around hat  212  and is sewn at a seam with an independent decorative element defined by fabric lace work  235  so as to be associated with the independent decorative element and cooperate with the decorative element to form an integrated design. Piping  234  again carries the electro-luminescent wire  236  and, in this embodiment, is should be understood that piping  234  may extend completely around hat  212  or only partially around circumference of a circular cross-section thereof. In this embodiment, like the embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 , piping  234  forms a decorative feature both alone and in conjunction with lace  235 .  
      In  FIG. 11 , it may be seen that the piping and electro-luminescent wire used in the present invention may form a garment portion in a matter not dissimilar to that with respect to face plate  18  described with respect to the first exemplary embodiment. Here, however, piping  334  carries an electro-luminescent wire  336  and is sewn along the edge of collar  312  of a garment  310  which, in this instance, is in the form of a cloak. Thus, collar  312  has a perimeter that is bounded by piping  334  with electro-luminescent wire being connected to a power supply  362 , shown in phantom, and secured in a pouch (not shown) formed as part of collar  312 .  
      Finally, with respect to  FIG. 12 , it may be appreciated that the piping and electro-luminescent wire actually forms the major portion of the garment, itself. In this embodiment the garment body  410  is in the form of insect or fairy wings formed by a stiff-wire frame  412  that is configured into a pair of wings  414  and  416 . Piping  434  extends co-extensive with bent-wire frame  412  as part of the garment body to create the wing appearance with piping  434  carrying electro-luminescent wire  436  as described above. A power source  462  is received in a pouch  466  again provided with slit  470  with pouch  466  being suspended from a central portion  418  located at a junction between wings  414  and  416 . Shoulder straps  420  are provided to mount garment  410  to a human wearer and adjustable clips  422  are provided for ease in adjusting and releasing shoulder straps  420 .  
      The present invention further contemplates a method of forming a garment utilizing any of the structural features noted above. Particularly, this method provides a garment that has light emitting accents. Broadly the method includes a step of affixing a piping to a portion of the garment as a sleeve having an interior wherein said piping has a sidewall formed by loosely woven strands. The broad method includes the steps of placing a length of flexible cable in the interior of the sleeve wherein the cable is of a type that can emit visible light therefrom and causing the cable to emit light.  
      In this method, the piping can be affixed to said garment by sewing said piping at a seam between two garment portions. If desired, the piping is affixed to said garment along with an associated independent decorative element adjacent thereto. In this method, too, the cable is an electro-luminescent wire and the step of causing said cable to emit light is accomplished by applying an electric current to said wire. The piping can be selected to have a mesh size with mesh openings of about {fraction (1/16)} th  inch by {fraction (1/16)} th  inch (1.6 mm by 1.6 mm), if desired.  
      Accordingly, the present invention has been described with some degree of particularity directed to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. It should be appreciated, though, that the present invention is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so that modifications or changes may be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein.