Optical articles and systems interacting with the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12169748-B2
Application number	US-202318295461-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2023
Priority date	Feb 20, 2017
Publication date	Dec 17, 2024
Grant date	Dec 17, 2024

Abstract

The present disclosure includes in one instance an optical article comprising a data rich plurality of retroreflective elements that are configured in a spatially defined arrangement, where the plurality of retroreflective elements comprise retroreflective elements having at least two different retroreflective properties, and where data rich means information that is readily machine interpretable. The present disclosure also includes a system comprising the previously mentioned optical article, an optical system, and an inference engine for interpreting and classifying the plurality of retroreflective elements wherein the optical system feeds data to the inference engine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a) an optical article that is deformable in the form of shrinking or expanding or both, comprising a data rich plurality of retroreflective elements that are configured in a spatially defined arrangement, wherein the plurality of retroreflective elements comprise retroreflective elements having at least two different retroreflective properties, wherein data rich means information that is readily machine interpretable;
b) an optical system; and,
c) an inference engine for interpreting and classifying the plurality of retroreflective elements wherein the optical system feeds data to the inference engine.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the article is disposed on at least one of infrastructure, targets, wearables, or vehicles.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the optical system is part of a vehicle, and further wherein the vehicle uses the information as an input to an autonomous driving module.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the vehicle uses the information to provide human language feedback to the driver.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the vehicle uses the information to provide at least one of haptic, audible or visual feedback to the driver.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data rich plurality of retroreflective elements is visible in the infrared spectrum.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the information related to the data rich plurality of retroreflective articles comprises at least one of road workers expected, pedestrians expected, construction workers expected, students expected, emergency responder workers expected.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inference engine is a locally stored component of the optical system.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the optical system communicates with the inference engine using a wireless communication protocol.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the optical article further comprises a printed layer disposed on the outer surface of at least a portion of the retroreflective elements.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data rich plurality of retroreflective elements are configured in a repeating spatially defined arrangement such that the information is interpretable even when the portion of the retroreflective elements are occluded.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein deformable comprises deforming of a garment on which the optical article is mounted.

13. The article of claim 1 wherein deformable comprises causing a spacing change between at least two of the retroreflective elements.

Assignees

• 3M Innovative Properties Company

Inventors

• Mccoy Michael A
• Casner Glenn E
• Gold Anne C
• Guttmann Silvia Geciova-Borovova
• Shaklee Charles A
• Shannon Robert W
• Singh Gautam
• Somasundaram Guruprasad
• Tilstra Andrew H
• Wheatley John A
• Ylitalo Caroline M
• Sangari Arash
• Cunliffe Alexandra R
• Gandrud Jonathan D
• Chen-Ho Kui
• Potts Travis L
• Giese Maja
• Geldmacher Andreas M
• Hansen Katja
• Lierse Markus G W
• Sharma Neeraj

Classifications

• G02B5/305

  including organic materials, e.g. polymeric layers · CPC title

• G02B5/124

  plural reflecting elements forming part of a unitary plate or sheet · CPC title

• G06K2019/0629

  Holographic, diffractive or retroreflective recording · CPC title

• G02B5/3025

  Polarisers, i.e. arrangements capable of producing a definite output polarisation state from an unpolarised input state (G02B5/3008, G02B5/3016 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02B5/12

  Reflex reflectors · CPC title