GB2410598A

GB2410598A - Reflective character for house name or number.

Info

Publication number: GB2410598A
Application number: GB0401820A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Amanda Burton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-01-28
Filing date: 2004-01-28
Publication date: 2005-08-03
Also published as: GB0401820D0

Abstract

A reflective character is provided for mounting at the front of a building, the character having at least one reflective surface and attachment means for securing the character to the front of a building. The reflective surface may comprise cube-corner reflectors or silvered glass and may be convex. The attachment means may comprise an adhesive layer or one or more holes to receive a nail or screw. A kit of parts for forming house names or house numbers comprises at least one reflective character and attachment means for securing the character to the front of a building. The characters may be coloured e.g. white, amber or red.

Description

24 1 0598 Reflective House Characters The present invention relates to

reflective characters. In particular, it relates to reflective characters for use at the front of houses and other buildings.

Whilst driving, and particularly at night, it is often difficult to locate a S particular house on a street. The problem is that in many housing estates and streets, the houses can look particularly similar. Normally, the easiest way to locate the correct house is by looking for the house number. However, in the dark it is often difficult clearly to see the house numbers. It is also difficult to see a house number if the house is some distance from the road, or behind a wall or

10 bush. To concentrate on looking for house numbers, the driver will often have to slow down and spend periods of time looking away from the road. This can of ee.. ..DTD: course be potentially dangerous as well as causing a nuisance to other drivers.

Known methods that attempt to address this problem can either involve illuminating the front of the house or the house number. This can be expensive in .

terms of electricity usage, and requires that the house owner is expecting a visit.

The present invention aims to provide a set of reflective characters that can be attached in front of a house or other building, either on the building itself or on a front wall, gate post or anywhere convenient so that the headlights of cars, or street lighting will make the house number obvious to passers by.

Therefore, according to a first embodiment of the present invention there is provided a reflective character, adapted for mounting at the front of a building, said character comprising at least one reflective surface, and attachment means for securing said character at the front of a building. 2

The character will preferably be a standard number, letter or any standard character such as an Din, Alternatively, it may be any other symbol that could be used to identify the address of the house.

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a kit of parts comprising at least one reflective character as hereinbefore described, and means for securing said character at the front of a building.

Where desired two or more characters may be provided, for example to indicate a house number having two or more digits, or to spell out a house name.

The characters may be provided in a range of different shapes, sizes and fonts, so 1 long as they still reflect sufficient light in order to be easily seen. A.

The reflective surface of the characters will preferably be formed from a bed e....

of so-called cube-corner reflectors, such as are used on cars and bicycles. These are made out of three mirrors at 90 degrees to one another, forming the corner of .

ë. a cube. When light shines on these reflectors, the light reflects off the three ë internal surfaces of the cube and is reflected back towards the source of the light.

Since the range of angles for which this works can be limited to as little as 20 degrees, it is preferable that the surface of the characters are convex. The advantage of this is that if a car approaches from an angle that is not perpendicular to the reflector, the light can still be reflected back towards the driver.

Alternatively, the reflective surface could simply be a shiny material, for instance a silvered glass mirror or a polished metal. This embodiment has the advantage that light originating from one source is reflected in all directions, rather - 3 than directly back towards the source only. This is particularly useful when street lighting illuminates the characters, and pedestrians and drivers will be able to see the incident reflection. Alternatively, the reflective surface of the characters may be made from any reflective material, or a combination thereof.

The colour of the reflective surface is optional, but it is preferable that the reflectors are white, amber or red, as these colours are the most efficient at reflecting light.

The characters may be attached at the front of the building in a number of ways. For example the characters may be provided with an adhesive back for attachment in front of the building. Alternatively, a hole may be provided at the top and/or bottom of the characters, to enable said characters to be hung from a nail a...

or screwed into place. . . . ë - 4

Claims

Claims 1. A reflective character, adapted for mounting at the front of a

building, said character comprising at least one reflective surface, and attachment means for securing said character at the front of a building.

S
2. A reflective character as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reflective surface is comprised of cube-corner reflectors.
3. A reflective character as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reflective surface is comprised of silvered glass.
4. A reflective character as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein . 10 the reflective surface is convex. ëe
5. A reflective character as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the see..

attachment means comprises an adhesive layer.
6. A reflective character as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the . attachment means comprises one or more holes adapted to receive a nail or ë screw.
7. A kit of parts comprising at least one reflective character as claimed in any of the preceding claims, and attachment means for securing said character at the front of a building.
8. A kit of parts as claimed in claim 7, comprising two or more characters.
9. A kit of parts as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the or each character is a number.
10. A kit of parts as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the or each character is a letter. - 5
11. A kit of parts as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one character is a number and at least one character is a letter.
12. A kit of parts as claimed in any of claims 7 to 11 wherein the character(s) are white, amber or red.
13. A kit of parts as claimed in any of claims 7 to 12, wherein the attachment means comprises an adhesive layer.
14. A kit of parts as claimed in any of claims 7 to 12, wherein the attachment means comprises one or more holes adapted to receive a nail or screw. I lee eee.

C /tee ooe : .. . e a. e e e ee