3m Innovative Properties Company

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Jeanine M Shusta

Paul E Marecki

Olester Benson, Jr

Cheryl M Frey

Matthew R Atkinson

Robert L Jensen, Jr

Rino A Feduzi

Kenneth L Smith

Susan K Nestegard

Chester A Bacon, Jr

Robert L Jensen

Vera L Lightle

William B Robbins

Harlan L Krinke

Joseph R Zwack

Norman D Ligtenberg

A vapor permeable retroreflective material for use on protective garments. The material may be formed in a non-continuous pattern that provides a high-level of retroreflective brightness, yet also provides adequate permeability to prevent exposure to trapped thermal energy and heated moisture. The non-continuous retroreflective pattern may include retroreflective regions and non-retroreflective regions arranged such that thermal decay through the protective garment is not substantially decreased in the regions corresponding to the retroreflective material. Rather, vapor permeation and thermal decay through the garment may be substantially the same as if the retroreflective material was not present.

Vapor permeable retroreflective garment

Vapor permeable retroreflective material for use on protective garments. The material may be formed in a non-continuous pattern that provides a high-level of retroreflective brightness, yet also provides adequate permeability to prevent exposure to trapped thermal energy and heated moisture. The non continuous retroreflective pattern may include retroreflective regions and non retroreflective regions arranged such that thermal decay through the protective garment is not substantially decreased in the regions corresponding to the retroreflective material. Rather, vapor permeation and thermal decay through the garment may be substantially the same as if the retroreflective material was not present.

The disclosure describes vapor permeable retroreflective material for use on protective garments. The material may be formed in a non-continuous pattern that provides a high-level of retroreflective brightness, yet also provides adequate permeability to prevent exposure to trapped thermal energy and heated moisture. The non-continuous retroreflective pattern may include retroreflective regions and non-retroreflective regions arranged such that thermal decay through the protective garment is not substantially decreased in the regions corresponding to the retroreflective material. Rather, vapor permeation and thermal decay through the garment may be substantially the same as if the retroreflective material was not present.

Exposed lens retroreflective appliques incorporate a monolayer of beads and a dielectric mirror proximate the beads. A pigmented or otherwise colored bead bond layer in which the beads are partially embedded is visible through the dielectric mirror, giving the article a highly colored daytime appearance. The appliques exhibit an initial reflectivity. By appropriate materials selection, the appliques can be made to retain at least 75%, and in most instances at least 90%, of the initial reflectivity if subjected to fifty home laundering cycles. In one case the dielectric mirror includes zinc sulfide as a relatively high refractive index material and calcium fluoride as a relatively low refractive index material. In another case the dielectric mirror includes zinc sulfide as the relatively high refractive index material and silicon dioxide as the relatively low refractive index material.

Dielectric mirror retroreflective appliques having excellent repetitive laundering performance

Glittering retroreflective sheeting

Glittering cube-corner retroreflective sheeting

A glittering non-retroreflective sheeting 60 includes an array of cube-corner elements 30 that are arranged in the array such that the sheeting glitters when light is incident thereon. The glitter is in the form of many discrete points of light 68 that tend to blink off and on. The array may be configured such that a dihedral angle .alpha. varies between adjacent cube faces 31 of adjacent cube-corner elements 30 in each groove in one of the groove sets 45, 46, or 47 and such that the base plane 36 are not parallel to each other when the sheeting 60 is laid flat. Preferably, the dihedral angle .alpha. between faces 31 of adjacent cube-corner elements 30 varies in essentially all of the grooves such that the cube-corner elements are randomly tilted throughout the array. The glitter can make the sheeting very useful for aesthetic or decorative applications.

Glittering cube-corner article

A cube-corner retroreflective sheeting 60 includes an array of cube-corner elements 30 that are defined by three sets of intersecting parallel grooves 45, 46, 47. The cube-corner elements 30 are arranged in the array such that the sheeting 60 glitters when exposed to light. The glitter is in the form of many discreet points of light that tend to blink on and off when viewed by the naked eye. The array may be configured such that a dihedral angle .alpha. varies between adjacent cube faces 31 of adjacent cube-corner elements 30 in each groove in one of the groove sets 45, 46, or 47 and such that base planes are not parallel to each other when the sheeting 60 is laid flat. Preferably, the dihedral angle .alpha. between faces 31 of adjacent cube-corner elements 30 varies in essentially all of the grooves such that the cube-corner elements are randomly tilted throughout the array. The sheeting glitters very well under daytime viewing conditions and also to some extent under nighttime or retroreflective conditions. The glittering effect can enhance the sheeting's conspicuity, and hence highlight a person's presence to give them improved safety and security.

A mold 79 that includes an array of cube-corner elements 80 that are arranged in the array such that a retroreflective cube-corner sheeting 60 that is formed thereon is capable of glittering when light is incident on the sheeting. The array may be defined by three sets of intersecting grooves 25, 26, 27 where each groove set includes two or more generally parallel grooves. At least one groove in at least one of the sets has faces 22 of adjacent cube-corner elements 30a, 30b arranged such that a dihedral angle .alpha. located between adjacent faces varies along the groove(s) in the set.

Mold for producing glittering cube-corner retroreflective sheeting

A method of making a glittering cube-corner sheeting, which method includes: (a) providing a first retroreflective sheeting that includes an array of cube-corner elements arranged in a repeating pattern; and (b) exposing the first retroreflective sheeting to heat, pressure, or a combination thereof to produce a second retroreflective sheeting that comprises an array of cube-corner elements that are randomly tilted; or which method may comprise: (a) providing a mold that has a structured surface that includes a multiplicity of cube-comer elements, the cube-corner elements each including a base plane and three faces, the cube-corner elements being arranged such that the base planes do not reside in the same plane when the sheeting is laid flat; and (b) forming a cube-corner sheeting from the mold.

Method of making glittering cube-corner retroreflective sheeting

A retroreflective sheeting having a multiplicity of discrete, cube-corner elements cured in situ on a transparent, polymeric overlay film deformed into a three-dimensional structure so that base edges of a plurality of cube-corner elements are non-planar with respect to one another. The retroreflective article preferably has at least one target optical property. The present invention is also directed to a method of deforming the retroreflective sheeting to form a retroreflective article in which the base edges of a plurality of cube-corner elements are non-planar with respect to one another.

Formed ultra-flexible retroreflective cube-corner composite sheeting

A method for manufacturing flexible cube corner retroreflective sheeting comprising the steps of:

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Mahtomedi, MN, United States of America

Jeanine M Shusta