Luminous fabric

Abstract

A luminous fabric includes a plurality of first light-reflecting fiber units, a plurality of light-guiding fiber units, and a plurality of light-accumulating fiber units. The first light-reflecting fiber units are directed toward a first direction and spaced apart in intervals. The light-guiding fiber units are directed toward a second direction and spaced apart in intervals. Each light-guiding fiber unit has a lateral light-guiding portion. Some light-accumulating fiber units are drawn through the first light-reflecting fiber units, and some other light-accumulating fiber units are drawn through the light-guiding fiber units. Thereby, the luminous fabric can provide passive illumination when a light source is provided, and provide active illumination in dark settings. The light reflected by the luminous fabric is concentrated and uniformly distributed on one side thereof.

1 . A luminous fabric, comprising:
 a plurality of first light-reflecting fiber units arranged substantially parallelly in a first direction at intervals;   a plurality of light-guiding fiber units arranged substantially parallelly directed toward a second direction at intervals, each light-guiding fiber unit having at least one side emitting portion,   wherein the light-reflecting fiber units and the light-guiding fiber units are crossingly arranged; and   a plurality of light-accumulating fiber units arranged along the first and the second directions, wherein a portion of the light-accumulating fiber units are interwoven with the first light-reflecting fiber units in the first direction, and wherein a portion of the light-accumulating fiber units are interwoven with the light-guiding fiber units.   
     
     
         2 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the first direction and the second direction are substantially perpendicular. 
     
     
         3 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the light-guiding fiber units are interwoven with some first light-reflecting fiber units. 
     
     
         4 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of second light-reflecting fiber units directed toward the second direction, wherein the second light-reflecting fiber units are inserted between the light-guiding fiber units and drawn through the first light-reflecting fiber units. 
     
     
         5 . The luminous fabric of  claim 4 , wherein the second light-reflecting fiber units are interwoven with some first light-reflecting fiber units. 
     
     
         6 . The luminous fabric of  claim 4 , wherein the light-guiding fiber units are interwoven with some first light-reflecting fiber units. 
     
     
         7 . The luminous fabric of  claim 4 , wherein the cross-sections of the first light-reflecting fiber units and the second light-reflecting fiber units are polygonal. 
     
     
         8 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the numbers of the light-guiding fiber units and the second light-reflecting fiber units are between the ratios of 20:0 and 1:5. 
     
     
         9 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the gloss value of the first light-reflecting fiber units is between grade 3 and grade 10 based on the gloss standard of CNS (Chinese National Standards)-7773. 
     
     
         10 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , wherein the luminous fabric has 50 to 210 threads per square inch. 
     
     
         11 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one polymer film coated onto the external surface of the luminous fabric, wherein the polymer film has a plurality of pores formed thereon. 
     
     
         12 . The luminous fabric of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of electrical conducting units, wherein some electrical conducting units are drawn through the first light-reflecting fiber units, wherein some electrical conducting units are drawn through the light-guiding fiber units, and wherein each electrical conducting unit is formed by an insulated thread and an electrical resistance heating wire.