The invention relates to a strip forming a caution or warning stripe which can be embedded into the surface of a floor or other base and which includes a frame channel element, the inner surfaces of the side walls of which frame channel have gripping designs, and inside which frame channel is installed a colour stripe element which is made from a flexible material and the side edges of which have opposing gripping designs which, in cooperation with the gripping designs, lock the colour stripe element inside the frame channel, and within or below the colour stripe element is placed a photoluminescent substance or LED light ribbon of the desired colour.

Caution or warning stripes are used i.a. in the platforms of train and metro stations to indicate the edge of the safe area beyond which no one is permitted to go while the train is in motion.

From publication US 5898814 A is known a caution stripe strip of this type which can be installed on the nosing of a stairway step. The caution stripe in it is formed by a ribbon of photoluminescent substance installed inside the transparent material, making the caution stripe strip also visible in the dark. This arrangement does not create such a caution or warning stripe which is of the desired colour under illuminated conditions, and which additionally functions as an illuminating or self-illuminating caution or warning stripe also in the dark.

From publication JP 2012209029 A is known a strip forming a caution or warning stripe in which a LED light ribbon is covered by a transparent surface slice and protected by lateral guards which may be separate or integral with the surface slice. By this arrangement is achieved a highly visible caution stripe adjacent to the nosing of the stair step. However, the arrangement is not suitable for purposes in which there is a need for a given colour of caution or warning stripe also under illuminated conditions because the upper surface of the colour stripe element is transparent or translucent along its entire width. In some embodiments, the LED light ribbon is covered by a non-transparent metallic protective strip with transparent openings. These embodiments also do not include a colour stripe element made from a flexible substance. The object of the invention is to provide a caution or warning stripe which is of the desired kind in colour and in width under illuminated conditions and which enables versatile illumination options in the dark as well.

This object is achieved by a strip forming a caution or warning stripe according to the invention, the characteristics of which are disclosed in the accompanying claim 1. The preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependant claims.

In the following, the invention is described by way of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing in which

Fig. 1 shows a cross-section of a strip according to one embodiment of the invention in which only the middle colour stripe element is shown as sectioned;

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of an alternative structure of the colour stripe element;

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section of a part of the strip according to another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 shows a cross-section of another alternative structure of the colour stripe element.

Firstly, the common characteristics of the embodiments of Figs. 1-3 are described.

The frame channel element 2 has a frame channel 3, the inner surfaces of the side walls of which have gripping designs 4. Inside the frame channel 3 is installed a colour stripe element 5 which is made from a flexible material and the side edges of which have opposing gripping designs 6 which, in cooperation with the gripping designs 4, lock the colour stripe element 5 inside the frame channel 3. The colour stripe element 5 has edge bands 7 in the desired caution or warning colour, for example, a yellow colour. The colour stripe element 5 has a middle band 8 which is of a transparent or translucent substance along the full height of the colour stripe element 5. Below the middle band 8, at the bottom of the frame channel 3, is a light channel 10 into which a photoluminescent substance 9 or LED light ribbon 9' of the desired colour is placed.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1, it is preferred that the colour stripe element 5 is made from a substance so flexible (a rubber or plastic mixture) that it may be detached from the frame channel 3. In this case, the photoluminescent substance 9 or LED light ribbon 9' may alternatively be placed into the light channel 10, on top of which the colour stripe element 5 may be reattached. In this case, the various illumination characteristics of both light sources can be utilized optionally also after the strip has been installed.

In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the photoluminescent substance 9 is placed into the intermediate layer of the middle band 8 of the colour stripe element 5. In this case, the LED light ribbon 9' may be placed below the photoluminescent substance in the light channel 10. This requires that the layer of the photoluminescent substance 9 is adequately translucent (passing light through), or that it covers only a part of the width of the middle band 8. In this case, the various illumination characteristics of both light sources can be utilized alternati ngly or simultaneously.

In the embodiment of Fig. 3, at the bottom of the frame channel 3 are two light channels 10, one of which includes a photoluminescent substance 9 and the other of which includes a LED light ribbon 9'. Also in this case, the various illumination characteristics of both light sources can be utilized alternatingly or simultaneously. This embodiment is especially preferred when the frame channel element has only one wide frame channel and, in it, one wide colour stripe element.

The colour of the photoluminescent substance 9 and the colour of the light it emits may be selected to be as close as possible to the caution or warning colour (e.g. yellow) used in the strip 1. The colour of the light of the LED light sources in the LED light ribbon may be arranged to be changeable (yellow, red, green etc.) by control to indicate the desired colour signal information (e.g. red, do not cross; green, crossing allowed). The LED lights may, if desired, also be controlled to make them flash. It is preferred that the frame channel element 2 comprises two or more adjacent frame channels 3, each of which includes a colour stripe element 5. In this case, an adequately wide strip is provided (e.g. 10 cm) in which the colour stripe elements 5 remain tightly attached. In this case, it is also possible to combine into the same strip various kinds of colour stripe elements 5 and colour stripe elements 5 equipped with various kinds of light sources 9, 9'. Thus, at least one light channel 10 of the frame channel 3 may include a photoluminescent substance 9, and at least one other light channel 10 of the frame channel 3 may include a LED light ribbon 9'. Another combination alternative can be implemented such that, in at least one frame channel 3, a photoluminescent substance 9 is placed into the intermediate layer (Fig. 2) of the middle band 8 of the colour stripe element 5, and, in at least one other frame channel 3, a LED light ribbon 9' is placed in the light channel 10 (Fig. 1).

It is also preferred that the upper edges 11, 12 and the inner surfaces of the walls of the frame channel 3 are substantially the same colour as the edge bands 7 of the colour stripe element 5. Hereby is assured a wide and more uniform caution or warning colour area. Further, the reflection of light from the inner surfaces of the desired colour strengthens the visibility of the colour in the middle band 8 area as well.

In the embodiments of Figs. 1-3, the edge bands 7 extend only along a part of the height of the colour stripe element 5, and the part of the colour stripe element 5 under the edge bands is of a transparent or translucent substance. In other words, except for the coloured edge bands 7, the rest of the colour stripe element 5 is of a transparent or translucent substance. This facilitates the passage of light from the light channel(s) 10 through the colour stripe element 5 to its upper surface. Further, this enhances the reflection of light from the inner surfaces of the frame channel of the desired colour through the transparent or translucent substance.

In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the colour stripe element 5 has a middle band 7' of the desired caution or warning colour, and correspondingly, edge bands 8' which are of a transparent or translucent substance. The coloured middle band 7' extends only along a part of the height of the colour stripe element 5, whereupon the colour stripe element 5 is, in its other parts, of a transparent or translucent substance. A colour stripe element 5 according to Fig. 4 is suitable for use with the frame channel elements 2 according to Figs. 1 and 3. In this case, the desired caution or warning colour reflects well from the inner surface of the frame channel 3 to the upper surface of the colour stripe element 5, when the light channel 10 includes a photolumi- nescent substance 9 or LED light ribbon.

The colour stripe element 5 may be manufactured by extrusion as a continuous bar, whereupon the coloured masses of the edge bands 7 may be fed as side streams into the clear mass flow which forms the middle band 8 and the lower part of the colour stripe element. The coloured, non-transparent substance of the colour stripe element 5 is attached to the transparent or translucent substance, whereupon the colour stripe element 5 is a structurally uniform element, the upper surface of which has visible parallel colour stripes and light stripes. In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the coloured mass of the middle band 7' is fed into the clear mass flow. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the photoluminescent substance 9 may be fed as colour pigment granules into the same mass flow, whereupon the photoluminescent substance 9 forms a translucent intermediate layer. The colour stripe element 5 may be cut into pieces of desired length, or, due to its flexibility, a colour stripe element in length of a finished strip may also be wound into a coil, from which it is unwound and pressed into place in an installed frame channel.

The frame channel element 2 may be manufactured from aluminium or plastic as a continuous profile strip by extrusion, after which it is cut into pieces of suitable length in terms of transportation and installation. Frame channel elements manufactured from the aluminium profile may be painted e.g. by powder coating or other known painting technique with a desired colour (e.g. yellow). When manufactured from plastic, a frame channel profile may be extruded from plastic mass of the desired colour (e.g. yellow). The frame channel element 2 may be fastened into a groove made in the base with countersunk head screws, the heads of which sink into the light channel 10, and/or by adhesive mass which adheres with positive locking to the groove 13 on the outer base side of the frame channel element 2.