Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Nonplanar uniform thickness material
Reissue Patent
1996-12-31
2001-05-22
Weisberger, Richard (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Nonplanar uniform thickness material
C428S191000, C428S204000, C428S208000, C428S105000, C428S171000, C428S208000, C428S132000, C428S133000, C428S134000, C428S135000, C428S136000, C428S137000, C428S138000, C156S277000, C156S240000, C156S272200, C156S273300, C040S590000, C040S591000, C040S592000, C040S584000, C040S615000, C040S427000
Reissue Patent
active
RE037186
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to panels and more particularly transparent or translucent panels having a design or pattern visible from at least one side and not the other.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The term transparent panel as used herein includes a sheet of transparent material, a laminate of transparent materials or an assembly of transparent materials, such as glass or plastics, for example, acrylic sheets or polycarbonate sheets and including flexible materials such a polyester film or polyvinyl chloride film and also includes a transparent panel having an obscure or other distorted image effect. Similarly, the term translucent panel is intended to include a sheet of translucent material, a laminate of translucent materials such as glass or plastics, for example, acrylic sheets or polycarbonate sheets and including flexible materials such as polyester film, polyvinyl chloride film, paper, fabric or other material.
The incorporation of an opaque pattern on or into particular types of transparent panels in order to create unidirectional vision is already known in the construction of transparent walled squash courts, as seen in copending application Ser. No. 545,166 of Oct. 25, 1983. These panels include a continuous and opaque pattern applied in single color, or with the pattern appearing one color from one side of the panel but another color from the other side to enhance the one-way vision effect when one side of the panel is illuminated more than the other side. A single color pattern is normally white or a light color and a two color pattern is normally arranged to be white or light color on the one side of the panel and black or dark color on the other side of the panel. The patterns are superimposed with exact or near exact registration, an arrangement which
enhance
enhances
the clarity of vision from the other side to the one side. Such materials can be used to enable spectators or television cameras to see through a squash court from one side while the players on the other side cannot see through the material to the other side and thus are not distracted by the crowds, etc. The pattern in such panels is normally one of small dots such that, the eye of a spectator in the audience who is at a distance from the panel cannot discern the individual elements of the pattern, the elements being too small for the eye to resolve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A simple unidirectional vision panel comprises an opaque pattern of dots 1 mm in diameter and at a distance of 1.4 mm between the centers of adjacent dots on a square grid appearing white from one side and black from the other side, the other side being less illuminated than the one side. Light incident on the white dots is reflected and scattered, which has the effect of obscuring visibility from the one side into the other side. However, a substantially clear view is obtained from the other side
throught
through
the panel into the one side, albeit the intensity of light of the image is reduced by virtue of the degree of opacity, giving a “toned down” effect to the image, not dissimilar to tinted transparent panels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a panel comprising a colorless or light colored sheet of material and a design visible from one side of the panel and not visible from the other side of the panel, said design being superimposed on or forming part of a silhouette pattern (as herein defined).
A number of different vision effects are obtainable from different panels falling within the above definition. Thus clarity of vision can be maintained from the one side to the other side with the exception of the area covered by the design with clarity of vision through the whole of the panel from the other side to the one side. Visibility from the one side to the other side can be totally obstructed while there is clarity of vision throught the whole of the panel from the other side to the one side, in other words a unidirectional vision effect is obtained. Clarity of vision is obtainable from the one side to the other side except in the area of the design, while visibility from the other side to the one side is totally or partially obstructed. Vision from either side can be totally obstructed. In all cases, vision can be obtained in either direction through the panel when the level of illumination perceived through the panel from the far side of the panel sufficiently exceeds the illumination reflected from the near side of the panel.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a panel of transparent or translucent material having a first design visible from one side of the panel and not visible from the other side of the panel and a second design visible from the other side of the panel and not visible from the one side of the panel, each design being superimposed on or forming part of a silhouette pattern (as herein defined).
Examples of vision effects obtainable from the second aspect of the invention include clarity of vision through the one side to the other side with the exception of the area covered by the first design and clarity of vision through the other side to the one side except through the area covered by the second design. In another example, visibility through the panel from one side to the other side is totally or partially obstructed and visibility through the panel from the other side to the one side is totally or partially obstructed. In yet another example, visibility through the panel from one side to the other side is totally or partially obstructed, while clarity of vision is obtainable from the other side to the one side except through the area covered by the second design. In all cases vision through the panel can be obtained in either direction when the level of illumination perceived through the panel from the far side of the panel sufficiently exceeds the illumination reflected from the near side of the panel.
The panels of the invention can be illuminated and/or each design may be illuminated such that the eye will tend to concentrate upon the design on the panel or look through the panel and concentrate on an object or objects beyond the panel. In all cases vision can be obtained in either direction through the panel without any perception of any design or color of silhouette pattern, when the level of illumination perceived through the panel from the far side of the panel is much greater than the illumination reflected from the near side of the panel. In addition, it is a feature of the panels of the invention that the design and/or silhouette pattern becomes less perceptible from the side of the panel from which the design and/or silhouette pattern is normally visible as the level of illumination transmitted through the panel from the other side increases.
The design on one or both sides may be decorative and/or informative or for other purposes. The panel of the invention may also allow for the control of solar heat gain, glare or uv radiation received within, for example, a building, vehicle or other enclosure or shelter without unduly affecting the visibility outwards.
The invention allows the natural or artificial illumination of space to either side from the other side, so that, for example, a panel of the invention forming an advertisement can be placed in front of a building and still allow daylight to enter the windows, albeit of reduced intensity, coupled with vision out of the building.
The design on the panel of the invention forms or is superimposed on a pattern of opaque elements which is referred to herein as a silhouette pattern. The term “silhouette pattern”, as used herein, is intended to mean any arrangement of opaque material which subdivides the panel into a plurality of opaque areas and/or a plurality of transparent or translucent areas. The silhouette pattern may be in many forms, for example, it may be a regular geometric element in a regular layout, a regular geometric element in an irregular layout, a free form element in a regular layout, a free form element in an irre
Contra Vision Limited
Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP
Weisberger Richard
LandOfFree
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