Illumination – Light fiber – rod – or pipe – Illuminating or display apparatus
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-10
2001-07-10
Husar, Stephen (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Light fiber, rod, or pipe
Illuminating or display apparatus
C362S034000, C362S084000, C362S096000, C362S234000, C362S562000, C362S800000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257750
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally related to safety devices for fire fighters and is more particularly directed to fire fighting hoses having indicia attached to the exterior surfaces thereof for assisting fire fighters to exit from a darkened and/or smoked-filled room or building.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When fighting a fire in a burning building, it is easy for a fire fighter to become disoriented and/or lose his or her sense of direction. This is particularly true when an individual is in a dark or smoke-filled room. Unfortunately, there have been far too many incidences of fire fighters becoming disoriented inside burning buildings, resulting in injuries and deaths. As a result, there is a tremendous need to improve safety conditions for fire fighters.
There have been many efforts directed to improving safety conditions for fire fighters. Among these are U.S. Design Pat. No. 382,501 to Clement which teaches a direction indicating band attachable to the exterior surface of a fire fighting hose to direct an individual toward the exit of a building. U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,000 to Clement discloses a direction indicating clamp that may be attached to a fire fighting hose. The direction indicating clamp partially surrounds the hose with an encircling elongated band. The band has protruding elongated extension fingers that point toward the exit of the building.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,741 to Smith et al. discloses another fire fighting hose which indicates an escape route from a fire. The fire fighting hose is a conventional hose having an outer surface of fire resistant fibers that are woven into the exterior canvas surface of the hose. The fibers are generally stiff so as to maintain a substantially constant angle with respect to the exterior surface of the hose, thereby forming a brush surface surrounding the hose. The brush surface is rough to the touch in the direction of the fire and smooth to the touch in the opposing direction, i.e., the direction to the exit of the building.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,890 to Lenske discloses a fire fighting hose having a coupling that indicates the direction to the exit of a building. The coupling has a cylindrical body with a plurality of lugs attached to the outside surface of the cylindrical body. Each lug features directional extensions and a raised indicia (e.g., the word “exit”) to direct the fire fighter to the exit. The coupling component has a threaded extension so that the component may be threaded to a female coupling component.
Although the above-mentioned safety devices provide some assistance, there remains a need for a fire fighting hose having visual indicia on the exterior surface thereof that enables a fire fighter to visually see where the fire fighting hose is located, and then follow the visual indicia to the exit of a building.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are preferably directed to providing an illuminating fire hose which emanates visible light to enable a fire fighter to quickly locate the hose in a dark and/or smoke-filled environment. The present invention may also provide a life-line for a trapped fire fighter, whereby a rescue or search team may follow a light path to locate the trapped individual.
In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of the present invention, an illuminating fire hose includes a fire hose, such as a standard fire hose having an interior section that contacts water and an exterior surface remote therefrom. Preferred fire hoses include those having an inner hose section comprising rubber and an outer hose section comprising canvas, polyester, or any other material able to withstand the heat of a fire, that is securable (e.g. bonded) to the exterior surface of the rubber hose section. The hoses also preferably have metallic male and female hose couplings so that the hoses may be coupled to a water source and/or to the couplings of other fire hoses. The fire hose may also include two or more hose sections, each hose section having a first end and a second end remote therefrom. Each end of the fire hose preferably has one of the above-mentioned male and/or female hose couplings.
The illuminating fire hose also preferably includes at least one light emitting element exposed at the exterior surface of the hose. As used herein, the term “light emitting element” means any element that is capable of emanating light or illuminating. The light emitting element may also be continuously exposed at the exterior surface of the hose so that the entire length of the light emitting element is visible at the exterior surface of the hose. In certain preferred embodiments, it is desirable that the light emitting element be exposed along the entire length of the fire hose so that a trapped and/or disoriented fire fighter may easily locate the fire hose by visually observing the light projecting from the fiber optic cable. The light emitting element may be one or more fiber optic fibers, a fiber optic cable, a chemiluminescent cable or line, or as a server of light emitting diodes.
The light emitting element may be attached to the exterior surface of the fire hose by an adhesive, such as an epoxy adhesive. The adhesive is preferably flexible so that the hose may bend and flex during use without detaching the light emitting element from the exterior surface of the hose. In certain preferred embodiments, the adhesive is substantially transparent so that light emanating from the light emitting element may pass through the adhesive. In other preferred embodiments, the light emitting element is attached to the exterior surface of the fire hose by sewing the element to the outer surface of the hose. In one preferred embodiment, fibers or monofilaments are used for sewing the element to the exterior surface of the hose. The monofilaments may be substantially transparent. In still other embodiments, the light emitting element may include one or more individual optical fiber cables that are woven into the outer jacket of the hose.
In certain preferred embodiments, the overall length of the light emitting element is longer than the distance between the first and second ends of the fire hose. In these particular embodiments, the light emitting element may have a first end attached to the hose, adjacent a first end of the hose. The light emitting element then extends away from the first end of the hose toward the second end. At the second end of the hose, the light emitting element preferably loops back on itself at a looped portion of the light emitting element and then extends back toward the first end of the fire hose. When the light emitting element is a fiber optic cable or one or more fiber optic fibers, a first end and/or a second end of the fiber optic cable may be optically coupled with a light source for transmitting light through the fiber optic cable. The light transmitted through the fiber optic cable then emanates from the sidewalls of the cable to provide visible lighting along the exterior surface of the hose. This visible light is particularly helpful when a fire fighter must quickly locate the fire hose in a dark and/or smoke-filled room.
In another preferred embodiment, the light emitting element is wrapped around and attached to the exterior surface of the fire hose in a coil-like configuration. Thus, the light emitting element provides illumination completely around the exterior surface of the fire hose. This embodiment may be particularly useful for illuminating fire hoses having two or more fire hose sections coupled to one another.
In certain preferred embodiments, a light source such as a laser device creates light that is transmitted through one or more fiber optic cables attached to one or more fire hoses. The light source may be attached to an optical coupler or connector having multiple receiver ports for receiving the ends of the optical fiber cables for optically coupling the fiber optic cables with the light source. As a result, light created by the light source may be transmitted through the fiber optic cables to provide ligh
Brown Roger J.
Strasser Richard T.
Husar Stephen
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
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