Patent Publication Number: US-2018027906-A1

Title: Fashion product on which retroreflective design pattern has been drawn

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a fashion product such as clothes, headwear, shoes, and bags on which a hidden pattern is formed. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     A retroreflective display has been conventionally used for a traffic sign because such a display is superior in visibility relative to a headlight of a vehicle. Recently, clothes provided with a retroreflective design pattern on its visible region are proposed for a fashionable effect. For example, Patent Literature 1 mentioned below discloses that a soft and thin retroreflective film is freely provided on a desirable position of clothes. Patent Literature 2 mentioned below discloses that retroreflective ink is attached by printing on a mesh member for clothes. Comfortability in the clothes with retroreflectivity is improved by such Patent Literatures. Patent Literature 3 mentioned below discloses that color retroreflective ink composition having the similar color to cloth is fixed on a surface of the cloth. In Patent Literature 3, the color and decoration of clothes are kept night and day. 
     RELATED ART DOCUMENTS 
     Patent Literature 
     Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H09-216499 
     Patent Literature 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-309416 
     Patent Literature 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-028682 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     Shows and events sometimes require unusual dramatic impact by clothes of performers on a stage for surprising audience. When only the retroreflective design is provided for clothes as mentioned above, a light source is required to be directly irradiated on the design by devising lighting and dramatic impact is not greatly obtained. 
     The present invention, proposed in view of the above, has an object to provide a fashion product having a magic-like dramatic impact at first glance in which on the region of the fashion product a retroreflective design pattern, a hidden pattern, is overlapped with a usual design pattern is provided. 
     Solution to Problem 
     In a fashion product with a design pattern on a visible region according to the present invention, the hidden pattern different from the design pattern is further overlapped with the design pattern, and the hidden pattern is revealed in place of the design pattern by retroreflection of light toward a light source when light is directly irradiated by the light source. 
     Advantageous Effects of Invention 
     In the present invention, magic-like dramatic effect is obtained in such a manner that the design pattern and the hidden pattern are alternately displayed on the same region of the fashion product depending on lighting conditions. 
     Under the lighting condition in which the light source does not directly irradiate the design pattern, the hidden pattern hardly reflects light and the light is reflected by the design pattern, so that only the design pattern is revealed. On the other hand, under the lighting condition in which the light source directly irradiates light on the design pattern, the hidden pattern reflects more light than the design pattern by the retroreflective effect, so that the hidden pattern is revealed in place of the design pattern. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view illustrating a basic structure of a fashion product of one embodiment in the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a plan view illustrating how a design pattern is shown in the embodiment of the present invention under normal light, and  FIG. 2B  is a plan view illustrating how a hidden pattern is revealed under direct light in the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3A  is a plan view of one example of a base product,  FIG. 3B  is a plan view of a pattern sheet to be fixed on the base product, and  FIG. 3C  is a vertical sectional view of a part of the pattern sheet. 
         FIG. 4A  is a plan view of another example of a base product,  FIG. 4B  is a plan view of a pattern sheet to be fixed on the base product, and  FIG. 4C  is a vertical sectional view of a part of the pattern sheet. 
         FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  are sectional views explaining an action principle of minute particles having retroreflectivity,  FIG. 5C  is a sectional view showing one example of a pattern sheet on which the minute particles are fixed, and  FIG. 5D  is a sectional view showing another example of a pattern sheet on which minute particles are fixed. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Although a fashion product for which the present invention is provided includes any wearing items of a user such as clothes, headwear, shoes, and bags, clothes (a T-shirt) are exemplified in the explanation of the following embodiment. 
       FIG. 1  is a plan view illustrating the basic structure of the fashion product that is one example of the embodiment of the present invention. A region of the fashion product  1  that is visible from the others when a person wears the fashion product  1 , namely the same region of a front panel of clothes in this embodiment, is provided with a design pattern  10  and a hidden pattern  11  in a partially or entirely overlapped manner. The basic member of the region may be fiber, synthetic resin or a metal plate. 
     The design pattern  10  is a discernible character, an alphabetical letter, pattern, or picture. A combination of the marks “♂” and “♀” is illustrated as an example of the design pattern  10 . The design and size of the design pattern  10  are not particularly limited. The design pattern  10  is only required to be formed with dye, pigment, or the like that provides diffuse reflection on the base member of the region. The production method of the design pattern  10  is not limited. The design pattern  10  can be color or monotone. 
     The fashion product  1  is further provided with the hidden pattern  11  that is overlapped with the design pattern  10 . The hidden pattern  11  also is a discernible character, an alphabetical letter, pattern, or picture. The figure illustrates the characters “LOVE for YOU” as an example of the hidden pattern  11 . Although the design and size of the hidden pattern  11  are not particularly limited, the hidden pattern  11  is preferably monotone. 
     The hidden pattern  11  is formed by a transparent paint with retroreflectivity on the region where the design pattern  10  is provided. For example, the hidden pattern  11  is formed by fixing a plurality of minute particles with retroreflectivity on the region of the fashion product  1 . 
     When the hidden pattern  11  is formed as mentioned above, under a normal lighting wherein light is irradiated from a ceiling on the region, the minute particles having retroreflectivity hardly reflect light in the horizontal direction in the presence of people, and the design pattern  10  on which the minute particles do not exist reflects light diffusely in all directions including the horizontal direction. On the other hand, when light is directly and horizontally irradiated on the region, the minute particles having retroreflectivity intensively reflect light toward the light source in the horizontal direction, i.e., retroreflection, and the reflect light is stronger than the light diffusely reflected by the design pattern  10  without having minute particles. Therefore, when the fashion product  1  is seen under normal light, i.e., lighting or daylight, only the design pattern  10  is revealed on the region. When the fashion product  1  is seen from the vicinity of a light source emitting direct rays such as a strobe light, only the hidden pattern  11  is revealed in place of the design pattern  10 . Thus, magic-like effect is obtained in such a manner that the design pattern  10  and the hidden pattern  11  are alternately seen on the same region of the fashion product  1  depending on the lighting condition. In addition, the design pattern  10  is revealed when the fashion product  1  is seen by the naked eye, on the other hand, the hidden pattern  11  is revealed when the fashion product  1  is photographed with a digital camera having a strobe light. 
       FIG. 2A  is a plan view illustrating how the design pattern is revealed when the embodiment of the present invention is seen under normal light, and  FIG. 2B  is a plan view illustrating how the design pattern is revealed when the embodiment of the present invention is seen from the vicinity of the light source emitting direct rays. 
     When the fashion product  1  is seen under normal light, part of the diffusely reflected light from the design pattern  10  is directed to a person seeing the fashion product  1  because the light source is apart from the person seeing the fashion product  1 . However, retroreflective light from the hidden pattern  11  is not directed to the person seeing the fashion product  1 . As a result, the hidden pattern  11  is hidden as illustrated in  FIG. 2A  and only the design pattern  10  is normally revealed. 
     When the fashion product  1  is seen from the vicinity of the light source emitting direct rays, for example, the fashion product  1  is photographed using a strobe light, part of the diffusely reflected light from the design pattern  10  and retroreflective light from the hidden pattern are directed to a person seeing the fashion product  1  because the light source is close to the person seeing the fashion product  1  or a camera lens. The former light is weak and has low brightness in whole, and the latter light is strong and has high brightness. As a result, the design pattern  10  becomes a dark background and is rarely revealed, on the other hand, the hidden pattern  11  is clearly seen. 
     Next, some formation methods of the design pattern and the hidden pattern in the embodiment of the present invention are explained. 
     In the first method, a pattern sheet having the design pattern and the hidden pattern in advance is fixed on the region of the fashion product (solid color) being a base material, hereinafter referred to as a base product. 
       FIG. 3A  is a plan view of one example of the base product,  FIG. 3B  is a plan view of the pattern sheet to be fixed on the base product, and  FIG. 3C  is a vertical sectional view of a part of the pattern sheet.  FIG. 3C  is obtained when a rectangular part “r” illustrated with dotted lines at the center of  FIG. 3B  is sectioned in the transverse direction. 
     The base product  1 A is solid color, and the pattern sheet  2  has a two-layered structure made of transparent resin or the like. Namely, the pattern sheet  2  has a first layer  2   a  on which the design pattern  10  is formed with dye or pigment that provides diffuse reflection, and a second layer  2   b  on which the hidden pattern  11  is formed with a plurality of minute particles  12  that provide retroreflectivity, a back face of the first layer  2   a  being applied with an adhesive agent  2   c.  The adhesive agent  2   c  is selected depending on the kinds of the base material and includes an adhesive agent capable of obtaining adherence property by pressing and heating with an iron or the like. The above-mentioned pattern sheet  2  is firmly fixed on the base product  1 A and the fashion product having the design pattern  10  and the hidden pattern  11  is obtained. 
     In the second method, the pattern sheet  2  having the hidden pattern in advance is fixed on the region of the base product  1 A on which the design pattern is formed in advance. 
       FIG. 4A  is a plan view of another example of the base product,  FIG. 4B  is a plan view of the pattern sheet to be fixed on the base product, and  FIG. 4C  is a vertical sectional view of a part of the pattern sheet.  FIG. 4C  is obtained when a rectangular part “r” illustrated with dotted lines at the center of  FIG. 4B  is sectioned in the transverse direction (The rectangular part “r” is sectioned when the pattern sheet is fixed on the base product). 
     The design pattern  10  formed with dye or pigment that provides diffuse reflection is provided in advance on the region of the base product  1 A. In such a case, a ready-made product having the design pattern  10  can be used. The pattern sheet  2  is a sheet made of transparent resin or the like, is provided with the hidden pattern  11  with a plurality of minute particles  12  having retroreflectivity, and is applied with the adhesive agent  2   c  on the back side. Such a pattern sheet  2  is fixed on the base product  1 A, and the fashion product having the design pattern  10  and the hidden pattern  11  is obtained. 
     The sheet material used in the first and the second methods includes a thermal transfer sheet. 
     In the third method, the hidden pattern can be printed with paint having retroreflectivity on the region of the base product on which the design pattern is formed in advance. Specifically, the hidden pattern is printed with an adhesive agent on the region of the base product on which the design pattern is formed in advance, minute particles having retroreflectivity are sprayed on the region, and the adhesive agent is dried. Thus, the fashion product having the design pattern and the hidden pattern is obtained. Alternately, paint mixed with minute particles with retroreflectivity in advance can be used. The printing method is not limited and includes an anastatic printing, an intaglio printing, an offset printing, an ink jet printing, or the like. 
       FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  are sectional views explaining an action principle of minute particles having retroreflectivity and illustrate that light enters the same particles from different directions. 
     The minute particles  12  are minute transparent spherical bodies made of glass or acrylic resin, or the like (beads) and the hemisphere face is formed with a reflection film  12   a  by metal evaporation or the like. A metal evaporation film is ordinarily opaque, but an extremely thin metal evaporation film becomes transparent. When the minute particle  12  works as a convex lens, the focal point is out of the particle  12 , but the distance between the surface of the minute particle  12  and the focal point is closer as the diameter of the minute particle  12  is smaller. Therefore, when the reflection film  12   a  is formed on the minute particle  12  with very small diameter, parallel light entered the minute particle  12  from various directions is converged on the reflection film  12   a  by refraction, is reflected and diffused in the reverse direction, is refracted and converged again on the entered surface, and is returned to parallel light, as illustrated in  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B , thereby producing retroreflective light. 
     The hidden pattern  11  is represented by the local area density of the minute particles  12  when the minute particles  12  are dispersed on the pattern sheet  2  or the base product. The area of the pattern sheet  2  on which the minute particles  12  are fixed at high density becomes a bright part  11   a  of the hidden pattern  11  and the area on which the minute particles  12  are fixed at low density, including zero degrees, becomes a dark part  11   b  of the hidden pattern  11 . 
       FIG. 5C  is a sectional view showing one example of the pattern sheet on which the minute particles are fixed. In the embodiment, the left side on which the minute particles are fixed at high density becomes the bright part  11   a,  and the right side on which the minute particles are fixed at low density becomes the dark part  11   b.  All minute particles  12  are fixed or half embedded on the pattern sheet  2  with the hemisphere faces without exposing reflection films  12   a.  Thus, the retroreflectivity is achieved by the minute particles  12 , and the hidden pattern  11  is clearly revealed. 
       FIG. 5D  is a sectional view showing another example of the pattern sheet on which the minute particles are fixed. Also in the embodiment, the left side on which the minute particles are fixed at high density becomes the bright part  11   a,  and the right side on which the minute particles are fixed at low density becomes the dark part  11   b.  In this embodiment, the minute particles  12  are fixed on the pattern sheet  2  in random directions. In such a case, since the number of the minute particles  12  is enormous, the retroreflectivity is achieved at a fixed rate and the visibility of the hidden pattern  11  has no problem. 
     Not being covered by the minute particles  12  completely, the bright part  11   a  of the hidden pattern  11  has gaps, so that the design pattern  10  on the back of the hidden pattern  11  is naturally revealed under normal light. The reflection films of the minute particles  12  do not reflect all light but transmit part of the light, so that the design pattern  10  on the back is revealed through the minute particles  12  under normal light. Therefore, the hidden pattern  11  has transparency to normal light. 
     REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
       1  fashion product 
       2  sheet 
       10  design pattern 
       11  hidden pattern 
       12  minute particle