Fibre optic assembly with discontinuities or breaks in the fibres

摘要

A fibre optic assembly for providing distributed emission of light includes a plurality of fiber optic strands 2 retained together. Each strand 2 has a sheathed 5 bundle of optic fibres 4 where there are discontinuities or breaks in the fibre at spaced locations 8. These breaks can take place pseudo-randomly under stresses exerted on the strands during a weaving operation. The assembly can be in the form of woven fabric where the fibre optic stands 2 provides the warp and the weft is provided by filaments 3 or visa versa. The filaments 3 can be made from either metal or plastics material. The sheath 5 can be transparent with tail ends 6 and 10. A light source 7 may be used to transmit light along the fibre optic strands 2 where the light can be different colours due to the movement of a colour filter 9.