EP0607001B1 - Dispositif rétro-réfléchissant - Google Patents

Dispositif rétro-réfléchissant Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0607001B1
EP0607001B1 EP94300147A EP94300147A EP0607001B1 EP 0607001 B1 EP0607001 B1 EP 0607001B1 EP 94300147 A EP94300147 A EP 94300147A EP 94300147 A EP94300147 A EP 94300147A EP 0607001 B1 EP0607001 B1 EP 0607001B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
retro
white
reflective
lux
red
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP94300147A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0607001A1 (fr
Inventor
Harry Vincent Houghton
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
SWINTEX Ltd
Original Assignee
SWINTEX Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by SWINTEX Ltd filed Critical SWINTEX Ltd
Publication of EP0607001A1 publication Critical patent/EP0607001A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
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Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
    • G09F13/00—Illuminated signs; Luminous advertising
    • G09F13/16—Signs formed of or incorporating reflecting elements or surfaces, e.g. warning signs having triangular or other geometrical shape
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
    • E01F—ADDITIONAL WORK, SUCH AS EQUIPPING ROADS OR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLATFORMS, HELICOPTER LANDING STAGES, SIGNS, SNOW FENCES, OR THE LIKE
    • E01F9/00—Arrangement of road signs or traffic signals; Arrangements for enforcing caution
    • E01F9/60—Upright bodies, e.g. marker posts or bollards; Supports for road signs
    • E01F9/604—Upright bodies, e.g. marker posts or bollards; Supports for road signs specially adapted for particular signalling purposes, e.g. for indicating curves, road works or pedestrian crossings
    • E01F9/619—Upright bodies, e.g. marker posts or bollards; Supports for road signs specially adapted for particular signalling purposes, e.g. for indicating curves, road works or pedestrian crossings with reflectors; with means for keeping reflectors clean
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
    • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
    • G09F13/00—Illuminated signs; Luminous advertising
    • G09F13/04—Signs, boards or panels, illuminated from behind the insignia
    • G09F13/0418—Constructional details
    • G09F13/0472—Traffic signs

Definitions

  • This invention relates to improvements in the visual effectiveness of retro-reflective road traffic signs, delineators, barriers, bollards, cones, markers and the like in general, but is particularly beneficial when applied to temporary use products at sites such as road works, accidents or emergency situations.
  • the area of a given colour present on the sign as either background, border or text is such that when the area value, combined with the contrast value for the two colours is viewed, the message, legend or pictogramme presented is readily discernible to the human eye in daylight.
  • the retro-reflective image present performs adequately for an informative purpose, although often, the legibility or distance to comprehension is achieved by difference in relative brightness rather than difference in actual colour i.e., whilst in daylight, a driver will readily perceive a white legend against a blue background as "a white legend against a blue background”.
  • the driver will frequently be firstly aware of a "bright legend against a darker background” followed by at a closer distance "a bright white legend against a less intense blue background”.
  • such permanent signs are mounted in a position to one side or above the drivers' line of travel such that the driver is required momentarily to direct his/her line of sight a small part up or to the side to directly view the sign. At night, this is often sufficient to reduce the effect of glare from oncoming vehicles' headlights, or glare produced from lights in rain or vehicle spray, rendering the sign more visible than it would be if it was mounted at road level in an area substantially ahead of the driver.
  • red (orange/red is only acceptable for daytime non retro-reflective surfaces) portion should also be retro-reflective that this would provide the same visual message at night time as the device did in daytime.
  • This product type is representative of white sign sheetings over printed with a proprietary red ink and it was observed that the red portion was not as striking to the eye at night as may be desirable.
  • the effect was an improvement in clear dry conditions with minimal traffic flow and no street lighting (i.e., optimal night driving conditions) but in dense traffic flow with increased glare and in wet conditions, the benefit was much reduced.
  • a retro-reflective device comprising a white retro-reflective portion and at least one further retro-reflective portion displaying a blue or red colour, wherein the white retro-reflective portion has a performance of less than 180 cd/lux/m 2 and the coloured portion has a performance of at least 10 cd/lux/m 2 when blue and of at least 15 cd/lux/m 2 when red, said performance being measured in accordance with the requirements of British Standard 873 parts 6 and/or 8 (1983) at an entrance angle of -5° and an observation angle of 20'.
  • the invention rests on the discovery that a much improved visual performance at night could be achieved without detriment to daylight appearance by means of applying retro-reflective surfaces to the signs/cones/delineators which were of different retro-reflective performance. It was found that the application to a sign of a Class 1 (BS:873 Part 6) blue ground material with white legend to the basic requirements of Class 2 (BS:873 Part 6) (i.e. approximately 60 cd/lux/m 2 ) gave much earlier colour recognition and marginally less legibility at night than an overall Class 2 equivalent without the potential glare experienced using Class 1 white legends.
  • the performance of the blue coloured retro-reflective portions is at least 14 cd/lux/m 2 and that of the red portion at least 25 cd/lux/m 2 .
  • the device may be assembled from different pieces of different colour.
  • the device may be a single piece of material in which different colours are provided covering a retro-reflective substrate with an appropriately coloured transparent or translucent coating.
  • the retro-reflective substrate can be covered by a transparent layer such as of plastics, printed or coated on one or both surfaces with the desired colour.
  • the retro-reflective device may comprise glass microspheres or microprisms or a combination thereof.
  • the device can be rigid or flexible.
  • Fig.1 illustrates a road cone whereby the conical upright portion (1) is covered in retro-reflective material such that the upper portion (2) and lower portion (2) are red as defined in BS:873 Part 6 1983, and have a retro-reflective performance in excess of 25 cd/lux/m 2 when measured in accordance with BS:873 Part 6 1983 at entrance -5°/20' observation, and a centre portion (3) which is white as defined in the same standard, having a retro-reflective performance when similarly measured of less than 180 cd/lux/m 2 but preferably in the 100 to 170 cd/lux/m 2 range.
  • Figure 2 shows a sign (4) where a ground (6) which is blue as defined in BS:873 Part 6 1983 has a retro-reflective performance greater than 14 cd/lux/m 2 when measured at entrance -5°/observation 20' as defined in the same standard, and which also has a legend or design in white (5) (as defined in the same standard) which has a retro-reflective performance of less than 180 cd/lux/m 2 but preferably in the 100 to 170 cd/lux/ 2 range.
  • Either of the examples given above and illustrated in figures 1 and 2 can be manufactured by applying separate pieces of material of different retro-reflective performance but this is time consuming and difficult to achieve, especially if the final product is intended to be flexible, without joins, and minimum cost.
  • a substrate sheet of 250 microns thick plasticised PVC sheet which was reinforced with woven textile was coated using known art with a white binder layer onto which was cast and partially embedded, a layer of glass microspheres of between 54 and 120 microns diameter , the said beads having a coating of metal, the metal layer not embedded in the binder layer then being removed by known techniques.
  • the proportions of beads present being sufficient to provide a retro-reflective performance of 120 cd/lux/m 2 when covered with a clear PVC top layer. All this is known art.
  • the said top clear layer was, prior to being introduced to the substrate layer, coated in the desired areas with a transparent red lacquer having the minimum visible light absorption characteristics so that when laid over the substrate, the portion not coated red would retro-reflect light at the desired 120 cd/lux/m 2 and the portion coated red would retro-reflect light at greater than 25 cd/lux/m 2 .
  • a transparent red lacquer having the minimum visible light absorption characteristics so that when laid over the substrate, the portion not coated red would retro-reflect light at the desired 120 cd/lux/m 2 and the portion coated red would retro-reflect light at greater than 25 cd/lux/m 2 .
  • Such a coat comprised of Marler Red screen printing lacquer thinned slightly more than normal by the addition of a standard thinner.
  • the resultant product had the following characteristics.
  • the top cover may be joined to the substrate at the edges and/or at other desired points by adhesive means or welding, for example by high frequency radio energy or by ultrasonic sound.
  • the substrate and top cover do not need to be flexible as any suitable substrate and top cover may be employed.
  • the embodiments described are air incident microsphere materials, but the principle is equally suited to encapsulated non air incident materials.
  • the invention is particularly useful for marking or delineating hazards on the road, such as roadworks, an accident or the like.
  • the higher performance of the coloured part of the assembly means that the said coloured part will be visible to the driver of an oncoming vehicle while still at a considerable distance away. Moreover the fact that a colour is being perceived, not just white, alerts the driver that something out of the ordinary is ahead.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Geometry (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Road Signs Or Road Markings (AREA)
  • Illuminated Signs And Luminous Advertising (AREA)

Claims (10)

  1. Dispositif rétro-réflecteur comprenant une partie rétro-réfléchissante blanche et au moins une autre partie rétroréfléchissante de couleur bleue ou rouge, dans lequel la partie rétro-réfléchissante blanche présente un rendement inférieur à 180 cd/lux/m2 et la partie colorée présente un rendement d'au moins 10 cd/lux/m2 pour le bleu, et 15 cd/lux/m2 pour le rouge, mesurés selon les spécifications de BS:873 Partie 6 et/ou 8 à angle d'entrée -5°/angle d'observation 20'.
  2. Dispositif rétro-réflecteur selon la revendication 1, dans lequel la partie colorée en bleu présente un rendement d'au moins 14 cd/lux/m2.
  3. Dispositif rétro-réflecteur selon l'une des revendications 1 et 2, dans lequel la partie colorée en rouge présente un rendement d'au moins 25 cd/lux/m2 par recouvrement d'un substrat rétro-réflecteur avec un enduit bien transparent, coloré de façon appropriée.
  4. Dispositif selon l'une des revendications 1 à 3, dans lequel des fragments séparés de matériau fournissent différentes parties colorées.
  5. Dispositif selon l'une des revendications 1 à 4, dans lequel différentes parties colorées sont prévues.
  6. Dispositif selon la revendication 5, dans lequel l'enduit est prévu sur l'une ou les deux surfaces d'une couche transparente ou translucide.
  7. Dispositif selon l'une des revendications 1 à 6 comprenant des microsphères en verre.
  8. Dispositif selon l'une des revendications 1 à 7 comprenant des microprismes.
  9. Dispositif selon l'une des revendications 1 à 8, dans lequel le dispositif est flexible.
  10. Dispositif de signalisation ou de guidage destiné à une utilisation en construction routière ou en des points de déviation, ou à une utilisation par des services d'urgence, comprenant un dispositif rétro-réflecteur selon l'une des revendications 1 à 9.
EP94300147A 1993-01-13 1994-01-10 Dispositif rétro-réfléchissant Expired - Lifetime EP0607001B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9300538A GB2274295B (en) 1993-01-13 1993-01-13 Retro-reflective device
GB9300538 1993-01-13

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0607001A1 EP0607001A1 (fr) 1994-07-20
EP0607001B1 true EP0607001B1 (fr) 1996-09-25

Family

ID=10728619

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94300147A Expired - Lifetime EP0607001B1 (fr) 1993-01-13 1994-01-10 Dispositif rétro-réfléchissant

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0607001B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69400580T2 (fr)
GB (1) GB2274295B (fr)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1999024671A1 (fr) * 1997-11-12 1999-05-20 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Manchon a bandes retroreflechissant multicolore utile pour dispositif de signalisation routiere et procede de fabrication
JP4328919B2 (ja) * 1999-05-21 2009-09-09 株式会社トプコン ターゲット装置
WO2004074910A2 (fr) * 2003-02-14 2004-09-02 Tenebraex Corporation Systeme et procede permettant d'acheminer des signaux visuels ameliores vers un observateur
US10094080B2 (en) * 2015-02-11 2018-10-09 Terry Utz Traffic cone
US11603633B2 (en) 2015-02-11 2023-03-14 Terry Utz Traffic control channelizing system and method of use

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2171440B (en) * 1985-02-22 1988-04-20 Glasdon Ltd Planks for temporary roadway or pavement barrier systems
US4726134A (en) * 1986-11-21 1988-02-23 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Roadway sign
US5050327A (en) * 1989-11-17 1991-09-24 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Retroreflective sign having improved legibility

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69400580D1 (de) 1996-10-31
EP0607001A1 (fr) 1994-07-20
GB2274295B (en) 1996-01-17
GB9300538D0 (en) 1993-03-03
DE69400580T2 (de) 1997-04-30
GB2274295A (en) 1994-07-20

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