Lighting strip apparatus for visually guiding the occupants of a structure
First Claim
1. An apparatus for visually guiding the occupants of a structure in a path of travel along a floor within the structure, comprising a carpet having a fibrous face and overlying the floor, a lighting strip extending underneath said carpet and comprising an elongate ribbon of flexible plastic sheet material, a group of laterally spaced-apart electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of said ribbon of sheet material, a series of relatively small light-transmissive plastic housings connected to and arranged longitudinally in spaced relationship along a common outer surface of said ribbon of plastic sheet material, and a relatively small and singular light-emitting means within each of said housings and being electrically connected to predetermined ones of said group of electrical conductors, said carpet having relatively small holes extending therethrough and spaced inwardly from the sides of the carpet and arranged in a series corresponding to said series of light-transmissive housings, and said housings being positioned in the holes of said carpet and being completely surrounded by said fibrous face so that when the light-emitting means positioned within the housings are energized a visually discernible pathway is defined along the fibrous face of the carpet, and when the light-emitting means are not energized no pathway of lights is discernible and the light-emitting means are substantially hidden from view.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for visually guiding the occupants of a structure in a path of travel along the floor within a structure is provided. This apparatus is comprised of a carpet overlying the floor, and a lighting strip positioned underneath the carpet. The lighting strip comprises an elongate ribbon, with a group of laterally spaced-apart electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of the ribbon of sheet material. A series of light-transmissive plastic housings are connected to and arranged longitudinally along a common outer surface of the ribbon of plastic sheet material. Light-emitting means are positioned within each of the housings, and are electrically connected to predetermined ones of the group of electrical conductors encased in the ribbon of sheet material. The carpet has holes extending therethrough which are arranged in a series corresponding to the series of light-transmissive housings on the lighting strip. The housings are positioned in the holes of the carpet so that when the light-emitting means positioned within the housings are energized, a visually discernible pathway appears along the face of the carpet.
134 Citations
20 Claims
- 1. An apparatus for visually guiding the occupants of a structure in a path of travel along a floor within the structure, comprising a carpet having a fibrous face and overlying the floor, a lighting strip extending underneath said carpet and comprising an elongate ribbon of flexible plastic sheet material, a group of laterally spaced-apart electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of said ribbon of sheet material, a series of relatively small light-transmissive plastic housings connected to and arranged longitudinally in spaced relationship along a common outer surface of said ribbon of plastic sheet material, and a relatively small and singular light-emitting means within each of said housings and being electrically connected to predetermined ones of said group of electrical conductors, said carpet having relatively small holes extending therethrough and spaced inwardly from the sides of the carpet and arranged in a series corresponding to said series of light-transmissive housings, and said housings being positioned in the holes of said carpet and being completely surrounded by said fibrous face so that when the light-emitting means positioned within the housings are energized a visually discernible pathway is defined along the fibrous face of the carpet, and when the light-emitting means are not energized no pathway of lights is discernible and the light-emitting means are substantially hidden from view.
- 8. An apparatus for visually guiding the occupants of a structure in a path of travel along a floor within the structure, comprising a carpet having a fibrous face and overlying the floor, a lighting strip extending underneath said carpet and comprising an elongate flexible ribbon formed of relatively stiff plastic sheet material, the stiffness of the plastic sheet material forming said ribbon imparting such flexural rigidity to the ribbon both lengthwise and width-wise thereof as to provide a memory to urge the ribbon to lie linearly in a straight condition along the floor, a group of laterally spaced-apart tape-like metallic electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of said ribbon of sheet material, a series of relatively small light-transmissive plastic housings connected to and arranged longitudinally in spaced relationship along a common outer surface of said ribbon of plastic sheet material, and a relatively small and singular light-emitting means within each of said housings and being electrically connected to predetermined ones of said group of tape-like metallic electrical conductors, said carpet having relatively small holes extending therethrough and spaced inwardly from the sides of the carpet and arranged in a series corresponding to said series of light-transmissive housings, and said housings being positioned in the holes of said carpet and being completely surrounded by said fibrous face so that when the light-emitting means positioned within the housings are energized a visually discernible pathway is defined along the fibrous face of the carpet, and when the light-emitting means are not energized no pathway of lights is discernible and the light-emititng means are substantially hidden from view.
- 10. In combination with a structure having a passageway therein, and wherein an emergency exit is located nearby the passageway, an apparatus for guiding the occupants of the structure along said passageway to said exit, comprising a carpet having a fibrous face and overlying the floor of said passageway, a lighting strip extending underneath said carpet and comprising an elongate ribbon of flexible plastic sheet material, a group of laterally spaced-apart electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of said ribbon of sheet material, a series of relatively small light-transmissive plastic housings connected to and arranged longitudinally in spaced relationship along a common outer surface of said ribbon of plastic sheet material, and a relatively small and singular light-emitting means within each of said housings and being electrically connected to predetermined ones of said group of electrical conductors, said carpet having relatively small holes extending therethrough and spaced inwardly from the sides of the carpet and arranged in a series corresponding to said series of light-transmissive housings with said housings being positioned in the holes of said carpet and being completely surrounded by said fibrous face, and power means electrically connected to said group of electrical conductors, so that when said light-emitting means are energized by said power means a visually discernible pathway is defined along the floor which can be followed by the occupants of the structure to the nearby emergency exit, and when the light-emitting means are not energized no pathway of lights is discernible and the light-emitting means are substantially hidden from view.
- 13. A lighting strip having light-emitting means for use in providing a visual pattern of lights along a surface when energized, and when the light-emitting means are not energized no pathway of lights is discernible and the light-emitting means are substantially hidden from view, whereby when the lighting strip is installed in a carpeted surface having relatively small holes extending therethrough, the light-emitting means are substantially completely surrounded by the fibrous surface of the carpet, said lighting strip comprising an elongate flexible ribbon of plastic sheet material, a group of laterally spaced-apart electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of said ribbon of sheet material, a series of relative small light-transmissive plastic housings connected to and arranged longitudinally in spaced relationship along a common outer surface of said ribbon of plastic sheet material, and a relatively small and singular light-emitting means within each of said housings and being electrically connected to predetermined ones of said group of electrical conductors.
- 19. A lighting strip having light-emitting means for use in providing a visual pattern of lights along a floor surface when energized, and when the light-emitting means are not energized no pathway of lights is discernible and the light-emitting means are substantially hidden from view, whereby when the lighting strip is installed in a carpeted surface having relatively small holes extending therethrough, the light-emitting means are substantially completely surrounded by the fibrous surface of the carpet, said lighting strip comprising an elongate flexible ribbon formed of relatively stiff plastic sheet material, the stiffness of the plastic sheet material forming said ribbon imparting such flexural rigidity to the ribbon both lengthwise and widthwise thereof as to provide a memory to urge the ribbon to lie linearly in a straight condition along a floor surface, a group of laterally spaced-apart tape-like metallic electrical conductors encased in and extending longitudinally of said ribbon of sheet material, a series of relatively small light-transmissive plastic housings connected to and arranged longitudinally in spaced relationship along a common outer surface of said ribbon of plastic sheet material, and a relatively small and singular light-emitting means within each of said housings and being electrically connected to predetermied ones of said group of tape-like metallic electrical conductors.
Specification