Abstrict An emergency exit sign is incorporated directly into the floor
adjacent an emergency exit door. The emergency exit sign includes
visual and tactile properties that allow the sign to be read on
a day to day basis by those walking through the doorway. The tactile
properties of the sign also allow the sign to be read by those on
the floor in an emergency situation such as when the room or hallway
is filled with smoke. The tactile properties of the sign may also
be used by those trying to find the doorway in a dark room. Further,
the tactile properties of the sign are used on a day to day basis
as people walk over the sign to reinforce the person's memory of
the location of the emergency exit door.
Claims 1. A room having a floor, a wall, at least one emergency exit door
and at least one additional door that is not intended to be used
in an emergency situation; and an emergency exit sign positioned
adjacent the emergency exit door and adjacent the floor; the emergency
exit sign having visually-readable language adapted to indicate
to the reader that the emergency exit door is to be used to exit
the room in case of an emergency; and the emergency exit sign having
a tactile element that may be felt by a person on the floor to indicate
to the person feeling the tactile element that the emergency exit
door is to be used to exit the room in case of an emergency.
2. The room of claim 1 wherein the emergency exit sign is disposed
on the floor in front of the emergency exit door.
3. The room of claim 2 wherein the emergency exit sign is embedded
in the floor.
4. The room of claim 3 wherein the emergency exit sign includes
at least one tile having a body with an upper surface; the visually-readable
language defined by the body of the tile; the upper surface of the
tile defining the tactile element that may be felt by the person.
5. The room of claim 4 wherein the visually-readable language
defines the tactile property.
6. The room of claim 4 wherein the visual indicator is formed
from a plurality of tiles.
7. The room of claim 4 wherein the tile has a roughened background.
8. The room of claim 7 wherein the visual indicator is roughened.
9. The room of claim 8 wherein the background is roughened to
a different degree than the visual indicator.
10. A room having a floor, a wall, at least one emergency exit
door; and an emergency exit sign positioned adjacent the emergency
exit door and adjacent the floor where the sign may be felt by a
person crawling on the floor; the emergency exit sign being formed
from a plurality of tiles defining visually-readable language on
a background; the visually-readable language adapted to indicate
to the reader that the emergency exit door is to be used to exit
the room in case of an emergency; and the tiles having a tactile
element that may be felt by a person on the floor to indicate to
the person feeling the tactile element that the emergency exit door
is to be used to exit the room in case of an emergency.
11. The room of claim 10 wherein the tactile element is formed
on the visually-readable language elements on the tiles.
12. The room of claim 10 wherein the tactile element is formed
on the background of the tiles.
13. The room of claim 10 wherein the visually-readable language
is formed from a plurality of tiles.
14. The room of claim 10 wherein the sign is connected to the
floor.
15. The room of claim 10 wherein the sign is connected to the
door.
16. The room of claim 10 wherein the sign is connected to the
wall.
17. The room of claim 10 wherein the visually-readable language
includes a plurality of letters; each tile defining one of the letters.
18. The room of claim 17 wherein each of the letters is defined
by a plurality of small tiles disposed inside the tile that defines
the letter.
19. The room of claim 17 wherein the letter is roughened to provide
the tactile element.
20. The room of claim 17 wherein the tile defining the letter
is roughened to provide the tactile element.
Description CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application
serial No. 60/382658 filed May 22 2002; the disclosures of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] The present invention generally relates to signs and, more
particularly, to directional and informational signs. Specifically,
the present invention relates to a emergency exit sign that may
be viewed under normal conditions as well as being used in emergency
situations. The sign may be visually read under normal lighting
conditions and has tactile properties that allow the sign to indicate
an emergency exit during low visibility conditions.
[0004] 2. Background Information
[0005] Marking emergency exits in commercial buildings is required
by law. The signs that mark emergency exits are typically used in
the case of power failures, fires, and other emergency situations.
Numerous different types of emergency exit signs exist in the art
including those that use lights and those that have tactile properties
to guide people in the direction of an emergency exit door.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The invention provides an emergency exit sign that is incorporated
directly into the floor in front of an emergency exit door. The
sign incorporated into the floor includes visual and tactile properties
that allow the sign to be read on a day to day basis by those walking
through the doorway. The tactile properties of the sign also allow
the sign to be read by those on the floor in an emergency situation
such as when the room or hallway is filled with smoke. The tactile
properties of the sign may also be used by those trying to find
the doorway in a dark room. Further, the tactile properties of the
sign are used on a day to day basis as people walk over the sign
to reinforce the person's memory of the location of the emergency
exit door.
[0007] One embodiment of the invention provides an emergency exit
sign fabricated from tiles with the letters of the emergency exit
sign fabricated from a tactile tile placed in a background material.
The background material may be a smooth tile or a tactile tile.
Another embodiment of the invention provides an emergency exit sign
fabricated from tiles wherein the letters of the sign are provided
in a relatively smooth tile set in tactile background tiles. A further
embodiment of the invention provides an emergency exit sign wherein
the letters of the sign are formed from a plurality of tiles set
in a background material.
[0008] The invention provides that the sign may be placed on the
floor in front of the exit, on the exit door, or on a wall next
to the door.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] The first embodiment of the emergency exit sign of the present
invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10 in FIGS. 1 and
2. Sign 10 is located on or in the floor 12 in a room or hallway
14 that has at least one exit 16 that is designed to be used in
an emergency situation. A door 18 may be located at exit 16. An
additional door 20 may also be present in hallway or room 14. Sign
10 allows a person in hallway or room 14 to distinguish between
door 18 (to be used in emergency situations) and additional door
20 under conditions where time is of the essence and the person's
vision may be impaired by darkness and/or smoke.
[0018] Emergency exit sign 10 is placed on top of floor 12. Sign
10 is preferably embedded within floor 12 by insetting tiles 30
so that the upper surface of each tile 30 is substantially coplanar
with the upper surface of the material that covers floor 12. The
material that covers floor 12 may be any of a variety of materials
that are known in the art such as tile, carpet, vinyl, wood, etc.
Tiles 30 may also be provided in relatively thin heights so that
they may be placed on top of flooring materials if such a configuration
is desirable. Although tiles 30 are the preferred embodiment of
the invention, sign 10 may be fabricated from other materials capable
of supporting a textured surface such as concrete, wood, metal,
plastic, glass, fabric, and polymers.
[0019] Tiles 30 include visual indicators that may be read by a
person looking at sign 10. The visual indicator is designed to be
visually understood to represent an emergency exit doorway so that
a person looking at sign 10 will understand that door 18 is be used
in case of emergency. In the embodiment of the invention depicted
in the drawings, eight tiles 30 are used to spell "FIRE EXIT."
In other embodiments of the invention, other wording or symbols
may be used to show people that door 18 is to be used in case of
emergency instead of door 20. For instance, sign 10 may read "EXIT"
or "EMERGENCY EXIT" or "TORNADO SHELTER." In
the manner of typically visually-readable signs, persons repeatedly
using door 18 will constantly see sign 10 and remember the location
of door 18.
[0020] In addition to the visual indicator on each tile 30 or the
combination of tiles 30 sign 10 provides a tactile indicator that
may be used by a person in room 14 in a blackout or when smoke is
filling room 14. In these situations, a person in room 14 can feel
sign 10 with a foot or a hand to determine that door 18 is the emergency
exit door instead of additional door 20. In the first embodiment
of the invention depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 each letter or visual
indicator formed in each tile 30 is fabricated from a tactile tile
material that is rougher than the background material. As such,
each visual indicator 32 has a roughness that is substantially different
than background material 34. This roughness difference may be achieved
by fabricating visual indicator 32 from a nonslip tile material
that is commonly used on floors where water is present to prevent
slipping. Another advantage of sign 10 is that the use of tactile
materials with visual indicators 32 reinforces a person's memory
as they walk over sign 10 each day because the people will feel
the roughness difference with their shoes. Tactile material may
also be used when one is on their hands and knees searching for
emergency door 18 in a blackout or smoke-filled-room condition.
Any of a variety of known tactile materials may be used to form
visual indicators 32. The embodiment of the invention depicted in
FIG. 2 shows one letter per tile 30. The inventor contemplates that
the letters may be formed in one large tile or that two letters
may be formed in each individual tile 30.
[0021] The second embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIG.
3. In FIG. 3 the visual indicators 32 are fabricated from the smooth
or less rough material with background 34 being fabricated from
the tactile material.
[0022] FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the invention wherein
the visual indicators 32 are fabricated from a rough or nonslip
tile and background material 34 is fabricated from a rough or nonslip
tile. In this situation, visual indicators 32 may be fabricated
from a different color and may be fabricated from a material having
a different roughness from background material 34. Background material
34 may also be fabricated with a different roughness pattern (different
sized dots or stripes than visual indicators 32.)
[0023] In the embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 5 visual
indicators 32 are fabricated from a plurality of small mosaic type
tiles that each have tactile properties.
[0024] Another embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIG.
6. In FIG. 6 the emergency exit sign of the present invention is
indicated generally by the numeral 50 and is disposed on the surface
of door 52. Sign 50 may be fabricated from materials similar and
in configurations similar to sign 10 described above.
[0025] FIG. 7 depicts an alternative embodiment of the invention
wherein tactile tiles 60 are provided on walls 62 to guide a person
towards emergency exit door 64. Tiles 60 may include arrows that
may be felt by a person guiding themselves along wall 62 in the
dark or a smoke-filled-room configuration.
[0026] In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used
for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations
are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior
art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are
intended to be broadly construed. In each of the embodiments described
above, sign 10 50 or 60 is positioned adjacent floor 12 so that
a person crawling along floor 12 in a low visibility condition will
be able to reach and feel the tactile materials to guide him to
door 18.
[0027] Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention
is an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details
shown or described.
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