FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to textured or printed emblems bearing trademarks,
distributors' names, manufacturers' names or the like which may be applied to garments,
etc..
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Heretofore, the prior art has employed peculiar woven textures, special colors and/or
peculiar styles of letters for the purpose of preventing forgery of trademarks, etc.
on textured or printed emblems .
[0003] While identification marks such as trademarks have heretofore been made in the form
of textured emblems, printed names or labels, all of them can be easily forged in
that if samples were given, it was possible to easily produce counterfeits which could
not readily be distinguished form the real.
[0004] Should articles having forged trademarks or the like affixed thereon be found to
be poor in quality, the distributors or manufacturers would be obliged, in some instances,
to accept returned goods, resulting in badly impairing the distributors' or manufacturers'
credit.
[0005] For this reason, it was a common practice in the past to make emblems such as trademarks
by the use of peculiar woven textures, special colors and/or peculiar styles of letters
in an attempt to prevent forgery. Nevertheless, the method of manufacture could be
found out by analyzing the structure and/or constituents, so that such emblems could
easily be imitated and it was hard to discern fakes.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, the present invention contemplates providing a forgery-preventing textured
or printed emblem formed of a special material which makes it possible to detect any
counterfeit despite any resemblance in appearance.
[0008] In one aspect, the present invention provides a forgery-preventing textured emblem
having an identification mark such as letters, figures and/or other indicia woven
thereinto, the mark being made of thread having inorganic fluorescent material applied
thereon.
[0009] In another aspect, the present invention provides a forgery-preventing printed emblem
comprising a strip of textile fabric of natural, synthetic and or chemical fibers
bearing an identification mark such as letters, figures and/ or other indicia, the
mark being indicated by coating portions of the strip of fabric with resin liquid
containing inorganic fluorescent material.
[0010] The forgery-preventing textured emblem according to the present invention will appear
white or in an other particular color under the visible light, but due to the mark
such as trademark formed of inorganic fluorescent material-coated thread being woven
into the emblem, illumination of the emblem with ultraviolet radiation in the range
of wavelength between 300 nm and 400 nm will immediately cause only that portion of
the emblem having the mark to emit a light of a particular shade inherent to the inorganic
fluorescent material. It is thus to be appreciated that one glance is enough to discriminate
any counterfeit made to imitate only the appearance of the real, because the counterfeit
will not emit a light when subjected to illumination.
[0011] Likewise, the forgery-preventing printed emblem according to the present invention
will appear white or in an other particular color under the visible light, but due
to the mark such as trademark formed of natural, synthetic and or chemical fibers
being coated with inorganic fluorescent material, illumination of the emblem with
ultraviolet radiation in the range of wavelength between 300 nm and 400 nm will immediately
cause only that portion of the emblem having the mark to emit a light of a particular
shade inherent to the inorganic fluorescent material.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The construction and features of this invention will be apparent from the following
description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawing in which:
[0013] Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the textured emblem according to this invention.
[0014] Fig. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of the printed emblem according to this invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown an embodiment of the textured emblem according
to the present invention. This emblem generally designated by the reference numeral
1 includes an identification mark 2 such as letters, figures and/or other indicia
representing trademarks, distributors' names, manufacturers' names or the like. The
mark 2 is made of thread having inorganic fluorescent material applied thereon and
is woven into the emblem 1.
[0016] For the purpose of this invention, inorganic fluorescent materials having red, green,
blue or any other suitable color that will emit light of the characteristic color
of the material when illuminated with ultraviolet radiation in the range of wavelength
between 300 nm and 400 nm may be used either alone or in combination.
[0017] As indicated above, the textured emblem of this invention including a mark such as
a trademark formed of inorganic fluorescent material-coated thread will emit a light
of the characteristic color (or colors) of the fluorescent material (or materials)
the instant that the emblem is illuminated with ultraviolet radiation, whereby anybody
can readily distinguish the imitation from the original.
[0018] Fig. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the printed emblem according to the present invention.
This emblem generally designated by the reference numeral 10 comprises a strip of
textile fabric of natural, synthetic and or chemical fibers bearing an identification
mark 11 such as letters, figures and/or other indicia. The mark 11 is indicated by
coating or printing portions of the strip of fabric with resin liquid containing inorganic
fluorescent material.
[0019] The coating or printing may be effected by applying inorganic fluorescent material
on the fabric by means of resin adhesives.
[0020] As described with respect to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1, inorganic fluorescent
materials having red, green, blue or any other suitable color that will emit light
of the characteristic color of the material when illuminated with ultraviolet radiation
in the range of wavelength between 300 nm and 400 nm may be used either alone or in
combination for this embodiment as well.
[0021] Resin adhesives suitable for use in the present invention include polyacrylic resin,
polyvinyl chloride resin, polyester resin, polyurethane resin, nylon or others.
[0022] In addition, an appropriate amount of curing agent, plasticizer, release agent or
fire retardant depending upon the type of the resin used may be added to the resin
adhesive.
[0023] Curing agent will enhance the bond between the resin and the fabric as well as fastness
to rubbing. Plasticizer will provide a soft feeling.
[0024] It is thus to be understood that the present invention makes it possible for even
distributors to easily verify identification marks such as trademarks put on goods
returned from the market as substandard products, and lends itself to prohibiting
forgery of identification marks.
[0025] From the above discussion, many variations will be apparent to one skilled in the
art that would yet be encompassed by the spirit and scope of the invention.
1. A forgery-preventing textured emblem having an identification mark such as letters,
figures and/or other indicia woven thereinto, said mark being made of thread having
inorganic fluorescent material applied thereon, said inorganic fluorescent material
originally appearing white or in an other color under a visible light, but emitting
a color different from the original color.
2. A forgery-preventing printed emblem comprising a strip of textile fabric of natural,
synthetic and or chemical fibers bearing an identification mark such as letters, figures
and/or other indicia, the mark being indicated by coating portions of the strip of
fabric with resin liquid containing inorganic fluorescent material, said inorganic
fluorescent material originally appearing white or in an other color under a visible
light, but emitting a color different from the original color.