BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to an illuminated fixture of the type which serves as a guide for persons or vehicles in poor lighting conditions, and thus is referred to herein as an illuminated safety guide. Such illuminated safety guides may, for example, be used to illuminate theater aisles, hallways, stairwells, and freeway offramps.

[0003] 2. Discussion of Related Art

[0004] The present invention is intended to address several related problems. While stairwells and freeway offramps may appear to be unrelated, it is believed that the relationship will become clear upon reading and understanding the following specification and accompanying drawings. The common thread is the illumination of areas of passage, so as to prevent those passing through from tripping or hitting the sides of the passage, and the common problems are cost, convenience, and the maintenance of lighting even when the power supply fails, so as continue the illumination during emergencies. These and other problems addressed by the present invention are described in more detail as follows:

[0005] Problem #1—Providing Guidance for Persons in Buildings and Other Enclosed Spaces

[0006] This problem concerns the lighting found in the aisles of theaters, stadiums, concert halls, stairwells, airplanes, and other relatively dark indoor environments. The purpose of such lighting is to assist individuals in making their way to their seats and to provide illumination of the escape route during emergencies.

[0007] Currently, incandescent or fluorescent lighting is used for this purpose. However, such lighting installations require wiring to be provided for each lighting installation, which entails running wiring under the floor along the aisles to each installation, greatly increasing construction costs and making maintenance difficult. Conventional installations are also subject to breakage during emergencies, and failure during power outages, which is when the lighting is most needed.

[0008] In addition, such lighting arrangements do not provide adequate guidance in finding the exits for persons who do not know the way, or who are in a panic situation. In public places with more than one room and corridors, such as nightclubs, karaoke houses, and beauty salons, most customers do not take the time to memorize exit routes, and can easily get disoriented or lost if the path requires several turns and a substantial distance. This problem has been referred to “building blindness,” and can have tragic consequences in case of fire, earthquakes, bombings, gas leakage, and other situations where a building, train, airplane, or ship must be evacuated quickly and persons are likely to panic.

[0009] Problem #2—Exit Signs

[0010] This problem concern the illuminated exit signs which are required by law in most public buildings. Like the above-mentioned aisle and corridor lighting, illuminated exit signs conventionally use incandescent bulbs or fluorescent tubes as the light source and thus can easily be broken by vibrations from an earthquake, bomb blast, or panicking people.

[0011] To protect the conventional exit signs from damage, at least from the feet of fleeing or panicking individuals, and to ensure visibility, the conventional signs are usually placed above the door or stairway which provides the exit. This is particularly disadvantageous in the case of a fire because smoke from a fire generally accumulates first at the ceiling and will obscure any sign thus placed long before the escape route is closed.

[0012] Problem #3—Highway Exit Ramps

[0013] This problem concerns roadside illumination to provide drivers with an indication of the curvature of the road ahead, particularly in the case of freeway exits or offramps. While conventional lighting arrangements, usually in the form of mercury vacuum lamps installed on the street every 100 feet with a height of about 30 feet above the ground to protect them from damage, are generally satisfactory for pointing out the existence of a highway offramp or exit, it is still difficult to judge the curvature of the ramp, and thus many people are hurt or killed because they take the ramp too fast for the curvature of the ramp. Also, in certain weather conditions such as fog, the lights are impossible to see, while most signs which warn of a maximum speed are unlighted, and may be missed by a driver who is tired or impaired in some way.

[0014] One solution is to use reflectors, which can be placed at street level, to offer some definition of a curve in a street, but reflectors are generally not bright enough to protect persons travelling at highway speeds, are invisible unless directly in the path of a headlight, and are difficult to see in inclement weather.

[0015] Another solution is to use a product known as the Light Tube, which is a tradename of the 3M Company, for the purpose of roadside illumination. The Light Tube uses a super bright bulb such as a 50 Watt halogen bulb on one side of the tube, and fiber optics in the tube, to distribute the light along the tube, thereby providing a flexible installation suitable for exit ramps and other curved road areas. However, this design is too costly to be implemented on a widespread scale, and can only be used in urban areas where an adequate power supply is readily available. In addition, the fragility and high temperature of this type of light can itself present a hazard to pedestrians when the light is place at ground level.

[0016] Super Thin Lighting elements

[0017] As part of the solution to the above problems, the present invention proposes to use so-called “super thin lighting elements” as the light source in a lighted safety guide. The phrase “super thin” lighting element refers to a lighting element type containing a chemical sandwiched between protective layers, such as an electro-luminescent (EL) or photo-luminescent (PL) strip or panel. Such lighting elements typically have a thickness of less than ten millimeters, which explains the term “super thin.”

[0018] Super thin lighting elements of the type described above offer a number of advantages over conventional lighting elements such as incandescent light bulbs and light emitting diodes. These advantages include 1.) flexibility, which allows the lighting elements to follow curves on the object to which they are attached and to survive being stepped on or kicked if placed low to the ground for use as an exit sign visible even if smoke fills the upper portion of the passage, 2.) the ability to be shaped into different designs and printed or silk-screened with logos, marks, figures, and characters, or to be stenciled or masked, which allows super thin lighting elements to be used to provide information in addition to their illumination function, 3.) a wide variety of color choices, including green, blue, pink, yellow, and white, which allows superthin lighting elements to be used for a variety of different guiding purposes and increases attractiveness while avoiding conflict or confusion with other warning signs, 4.) low power consumption in the case of EL strips which enables the strips to be powered by an inexpensive battery pack without the need for connection to the power grid, and zero external power consumption in the case of PL strips or panels, and 5.) low assembly and installation costs.

[0019] Although highly advantageous in comparison with light sources conventionally used in safety guides, however, the two main types of super thin lighting element have certain disadvantages. EL lighting elements are relatively bright, but will not work when the power is cut off, as is likely to happen during an emergency. PL lighting elements, on the other hand do not depend on the maintenance of power, but are not as bright and are not available in as wide a range of colors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0020] It is accordingly an objective of the invention to provide an illuminated safety guide of the type used to illuminate a passage for persons or vehicles, and which does nto suffer the disadvantages of conventional incandescent or fluorescent safety guide arrangements.

[0021] It is also an objective of the invention to provide an illuminated safety guide for use in illuminating indoor passages such as aisles, corridors, hallways, and stairwells which does not require wiring to each installation, and which is not likely to be broken as a result of shocks due to earthquakes, bomb blasts, the feet of fleeing persons, and other hazards.

[0022] It is another objective of the invention to provide an illuminated safety guide which is not only capable of illuminating a passage, but also provide information concerning the direction to be taken by persons in the passage.

[0023] It is a yet another further objective of the invention to provide an illuminated exit sign which is highly visible and yet can be placed at floor level because of increased durability so as to be visible even when the upper portion of the passage is obscured by smoke.

[0024] It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a roadside illumination arrangement for delineating curves or offramps without the need for connection to an external electric power line, and which is relatively inexpensive and does not present hazards to passerby even though situated at ground level so as to be more visible in inclement weather.

[0025] Finally, it is also an objective of the invention to provide an illuminated safety guide having a light source that combines the respective advantages of both EL and PL lighting arrangements, namely brightness and the elimination of dependence on a power supply.

[0026] These objectives are accomplished, according to a first aspect of the invention, by providing an illuminated safety guide which utilizes a super thin lighting element as the light source.

[0027] In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, the super thin lighting element is made up of a combination of PL and EL particles laminated to a sheet, or multiple sheets, each with a different type of particle and relatively arranged to form a pattern visible when either of the particles is activated.

[0028] The combined PL and EL lighting element not only has the advantage of brightness and protection in the case of power failure, but also has the advantages common to both types of lighting element, namely the flexibility to be easily attached to a variety of planar and curved surfaces, relative softness so as to prevent injuries upon impact between the safety guide and a person, durability and the ability to withstand shocks and vibrations, a low power consumption of from 0.5 to 100 ma (0.09 ma/cm ² ) drawn soley byt the EL strips or panel and not by the PL strips or panels, the capability of using any mechanical or electrical switch and a variety of different light performances, the availability of a variety of colors with relatively high brightness, and the ability to be printed with a variety of different designs, logos, and so forth. In addition, the invention can make use of optical effects to further increase the lighting effect.

[0029] The principles of the safety guide of the present application can be applied to a variety of different indoor safety lighting situations, including “EXIT” signs, illuminated light tubes, lighted floor tiles, lighted anti-slide strips for stairs, guide rails, and so forth. Each application can have an appropriate message such as distance to exit, direction, floor number, and so forth, and can even provide a map of the way out, and the fixture itself can have any desired shape.

[0030] The principles of the safety guide of the present application can also be used in a variety of outdoor situations, in the form for example of a lighted tube, board, or sheet applied to roadside barricades, curb lighting, Jersey walls, highway ramp guard rails, traffic cones, and so forth, with power provided by a completely independent power source such as a battery or a generator powered by solar, wind, geothermal, oil, or other power source available in areas not convenient to the power grid.