A person working or performing activities at night is put in danger if the place is not illuminated by sufficient light. Illuminating means which may generate light signal at night time have been designed to be worn by people.
One proposal involves a vest with reflective material provided on the front and back of the vest. A person wears the vest over their clothing. The vest gives out reflected light when light from say a vehicle headlight is shone on the vest. However, it is not very useful in the circumstances when the environment is very dark and light is not shone on the vest. The person will still be remained in the dark and in danger.
Other proposals involve the using of an illuminating device provided in clothing. However, these illuminating devices and their ways of attachment in clothing are complicated. Furthermore, the attachment of the illuminating device in clothing is permanent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,918 issued to Perl on Mar. 13, 1973 discloses a vehicle indicator belt to be worn by a vehicle operator. The belt contains indicator lights which are positioned on the belt. A power supply is also positioned on the belt. Electrical wiring is used to interconnect the indicator lights to the power supply through an activating switch. The belt contains a channel formed by the belt material for use as a housing for the electrical wiring.
One of the disadvantages of this vehicle indicator belt is that it uses light bulbs as indicator lights. These light bulbs make the belt bulky and unsafe to use. Another disadvantage is that since the belt is to be worn around the waist of the vehicle operator, the portion of the clothing near the waist of the vehicle operator is likely to cover up and block the indicator lights on the belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,436 issued to Alexander et al. on Dec. 3, 1991 shows a signal vest which is made of bright coloured materials, reflective materials, and equipped on the front and back with flashing lights, controlled by self contained electrical circuits, including a battery.
The disadvantage of this signal vest is that it is very complicated in construction, and high in manufacturing and maintenance costs. Another disadvantage is that the signal devices are not readily attachable to and removable from the vest.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,325 issued to Eisenbraun on May 12, 1992 discloses a light assembly kit for illuminating an article of clothing. The kit assembly includes a central actuation unit having a plurality of wires connecting the central actuation unit with a plurality of light emitting diodes. The central actuation unit has a control circuit and a power supply connected thereto via a switch. The LED's, when installed through apertures in the garment, can flash ON and OFF in a desired pattern to enhance the illumination.
Again, the assembly consisted of too many wirings and light emitting diodes making the clothing rather bulky and uncomfortable to wear. These wirings and light emitting diodes are more or less permanently installed in the clothing. Another disadvantage is that numerous apertures have to be formed on the clothing. This seriously damages the clothing.