FASHION PRODUCT ON WHICH RETROREFLECTIVE DESIGN PATTERN HAS BEEN DRAWN

Abstract

A fashion product with a design pattern on a visible region. A 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.

Claims

1. A fashion product with a design pattern on a visible region, wherein a hidden pattern different from the design pattern is further overlapped with the design pattern, and wherein 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.

2. The fashion product according to claim 1, wherein the hidden pattern is formed by firmly fixing a plurality of minute particles having retroreflectivity.

3. The fashion product according to claim 1, wherein a sheet on which the hidden pattern is formed on the design pattern in advance is fixed on the visible region of the fashion product.

4. The fashion product according to claim 1, wherein a sheet constituting the hidden pattern is adhered onto a region on which the design pattern is formed in advance.

5. The fashion product according to claim 1, wherein the hidden pattern is printed by a paint having retroreflectivity on a region on which the design pattern is formed in advance.

6. The fashion product according to claim 1, wherein the region of the fashion product uses fabric as a base member.

7. The fashion product according to claim 1, wherein the region of the fashion product uses resin as a base member.

8. The fashion product according to claim 2, wherein the region of the fashion product uses fabric as a base member.

9. The fashion product according to claim 3, wherein the region of the fashion product uses fabric as a base member.

10. The fashion product according to claim 4, wherein the region of the fashion product uses fabric as a base member.

11. The fashion product according to claim 5, wherein the region of the fashion product uses fabric as a base member.

12. The fashion product according to claim 2, wherein the region of the fashion product uses resin as a base member.

13. The fashion product according to claim 3, wherein the region of the fashion product uses resin as a base member.

14. The fashion product according to claim 4, wherein the region of the fashion product uses resin as a base member.

15. The fashion product according to claim 5, wherein the region of the fashion product uses resin as a base member.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a basic structure of a fashion product of one embodiment in the present invention.

[0012] 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.

[0013] 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.

[0014] 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.

[0015] 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

[0016] 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.

[0017] 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.

[0018] 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.

[0019] 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.

[0020] 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.

[0021] 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.

[0022] 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.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] Next, some formation methods of the design pattern and the hidden pattern in the embodiment of the present invention are explained.

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] The base product 1A 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 2a on which the design pattern 10 is formed with dye or pigment that provides diffuse reflection, and a second layer 2b 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 2a being applied with an adhesive agent 2c. The adhesive agent 2c 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 1A and the fashion product having the design pattern 10 and the hidden pattern 11 is obtained.

[0029] In the second method, the pattern sheet 2 having the hidden pattern in advance is fixed on the region of the base product 1A on which the design pattern is formed in advance.

[0030] 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).

[0031] The design pattern 10 formed with dye or pigment that provides diffuse reflection is provided in advance on the region of the base product 1A. 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 2c on the back side. Such a pattern sheet 2 is fixed on the base product 1A, and the fashion product having the design pattern 10 and the hidden pattern 11 is obtained.

[0032] The sheet material used in the first and the second methods includes a thermal transfer sheet.

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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 12a 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 12a 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 12a 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.

[0036] 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 11a 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 11b of the hidden pattern 11.

[0037] 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 11a, and the right side on which the minute particles are fixed at low density becomes the dark part 11b. All minute particles 12 are fixed or half embedded on the pattern sheet 2 with the hemisphere faces without exposing reflection films 12a. Thus, the retroreflectivity is achieved by the minute particles 12, and the hidden pattern 11 is clearly revealed.

[0038] 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 11a, and the right side on which the minute particles are fixed at low density becomes the dark part 11b. 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.

[0039] Not being covered by the minute particles 12 completely, the bright part 11a 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

[0040] 1 fashion product

[0041] 2 sheet

[0042] 10 design pattern

[0043] 11 hidden pattern

[0044] 12 minute particle