JP2002245804A - Light-diffusing warning lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a warning lamp unit of light weight, low power consumption and long life, and that, almost maintenance-free. SOLUTION: The light-diffusing warning lamp 1 comprises a plurality of warning lamp units such as a flashing unit 4 irradiating flash light, a rotating light unit radiating rotating light, or the like contained in a transparent globe 3, at least one of which is composed of a plurality of light-emitting diodes in alignment, that is, an LED type unit 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a new diffused warning light. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technology for reducing the weight, saving power, and extending the life of a diffused warning light mounted on a roof or the like of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to warn surrounding vehicles and pedestrians by mounting it on the roof of an emergency vehicle such as a police car or an ambulance,
There is a diffused warning light in which a plurality of warning light units such as a flash type unit for irradiating a flash light and a rotating light type unit for irradiating a rotating light are accommodated in a translucent glove.

[0003] Among the warning light units used in the above-mentioned diffused warning light, the rotating light type unit combines a light source and a rotatable reflecting mirror and rotates the reflecting mirror with the light source turned on. Accordingly, the light reflected by the reflecting mirror is radiated and radiated, and a motor is used as a driving source for rotating the reflecting mirror.

[0004]

The rotating light unit of the conventional diffused warning light uses a motor to rotate the reflecting mirror, so that it consumes a large amount of power and runs out of battery on the vehicle side such as an automobile. There is a danger of causing Especially when idling stop is regarded as important as part of emission control for environmental protection, driving the rotary optical unit with idling stopped may cause the battery to run out easily. .

[0005] In addition, the rotating light type unit in the conventional diffused warning light has a problem that the weight becomes heavy since a motor is used as a driving source of the reflecting mirror.

Further, the rotating light type unit in the conventional diffused warning light uses an incandescent light bulb as a light source.
There is a problem that the life of the light source is short.

Furthermore, the rotating light type unit in the conventional diffused warning light has a problem in that since the reflecting mirror is rotated, there are many failures and maintenance is required.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a warning light unit which is lightweight, consumes little power, has a long service life, and is almost maintenance-free.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a diffused warning light,
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, at least one of a plurality of warning light units housed in a translucent glove is an LED type unit in which a plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged.

Therefore, in the diffused warning light of the present invention,
Since at least one LED type unit is used, the weight and power consumption can be reduced, and the life is long.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the diffused warning light according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a diffused warning light according to the present invention.
An embodiment will be described.

The light-scattering warning light 1 has light-transmitting gloves 3 attached thereon so as to cover the upper surface of a metal base 2, which is formed as an extruded product of aluminum, for example, and which is long in the left-right direction.
In the space surrounded by the translucent gloves 3, 3, flash type units 4, 4 and LED type units 5,
Are accommodated (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

Arranged grooves 6, 6 which are open upward are formed in the metal base 2 at a portion near the front end and a portion near the rear end of the upper end along the left-right direction. The flanges 6a, 6a,... Which are opposed to each other are formed (see FIG. 4).

The translucent globe 3 is formed of a transparent material, for example, a transparent synthetic resin, and has a globe main portion 3a having a transverse cross-sectional shape and a substantially C-shaped opening with a substantially open lower end, and an inner side of the globe main portion 3a. It comprises an inner cover 3b covering the end and an outer cover 3c covering the outer end of the glove main part 3a. The translucent globe 3 is formed as colorless and transparent or colored and transparent. In the case of colored and transparent, there are cases where a single color is used and cases where a plurality of colors are combined. In the case of combining a plurality of colors, the globe main part 3a is divided into several parts in the longitudinal direction as elements, and each element is colored transparent or colorless transparent of different colors. Globe main part 3 consisting of color combinations
a is formed. In addition, even in the case of a single color configuration,
By adopting the element configuration, the translucent glove 3 having a desired length can be formed as necessary.

The flash unit 4 has a reflector 8 and a flash circuit unit 9 fixed on a bracket 7, and a flash circuit unit 9.
A discharge bulb 10 such as a xenon bulb is supported, and the discharge bulb 10 is configured to periodically emit flash light by a flash circuit unit 9. The reflector 8 has a paraboloidal reflecting surface 8a, and the discharge bulb 10 is positioned substantially at the focal point of the reflecting surface 8a of the reflector 8. Attachment pieces 7a, 7a formed at both front and rear ends of the bracket 7 have attachment holes 7b,
7b are formed (see FIG. 3).

The flash unit 4 has bolts 11, 1
, Are fixed on the metal base 2 by nuts 12, 12,. That is, the bolt 11,
The heads 11a, 11a,... Are slidably positioned in the arrangement grooves 6, 6 of the metal base 2, and the screw shafts 11b, 11b,. And 6
a and 6a (see FIGS. 3 and 4). The head 11a of the bolt 11 is a flange 6
Since the outer diameter is larger than the distance between the gaps a and 6a, there is no possibility that the outer diameter will fall out of the arrangement groove 6 (FIG. 4).
reference).

Therefore, the screw shaft portions 11a, 11a,... Of the bolts 11, 11,. 7a, 7a,... Are inserted from below, and mounting holes 7a, 7a,.
. Nuts 12, 12,.
, Thereby fixing the flash unit 4 on the metal base 2 (see FIGS. 2 and 4).

The LED type unit 5 is configured such that an LED board 14 on which a large number of light emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as “LEDs”) 13, 13,... The bracket 15 includes a mounting piece 16 and the mounting piece 16.
And supporting pieces 17, 17 protruding upward from both ends of the mounting piece 16, and mounting holes 16 a, 16 a are formed in the mounting pieces 16, 16. Then, both ends of the LED board 14 are fixed to the support pieces 17, 17 of the bracket 15 by screws 18, 18,... (See FIG. 3).

The above-mentioned LED type unit 5 has the screw shaft portions 11b of the bolts 11, 11 supported by the metal base 2 in the mounting holes 16a, 16a of the bracket 15 as described above.
11b is inserted from below, and nuts 12, 12 are screwed into portions of the screw shaft portions 11b, 11b projecting upward from the mounting holes 16a, 16a of the bracket 15, and the metal base 2
Fixed on top. In addition, three LED type units 5,
Are fixed on the metal base 2 with the LEDs 13, 13,... Facing forward, backward, and sideways (see FIG. 2). .

As described above, the light-transmitting globe 3 is attached to the metal base 2 so as to cover the flash unit 4 and the LED units 5, 5, 5 fixed on the metal base 2.
And the diffused warning light 1 is formed.

In the above-mentioned diffused warning light 1, the flash emission of the discharge bulbs 10, 10 of the flash units 4, 4 is reflected by the reflecting surfaces 8a, 8a of the reflectors 8, 8, and the diffused warning light 1 is mounted. It is irradiated toward the front of the vehicle. LED1 of the LED type units 5, 5,...
The light emission of 3, 13,... Is irradiated with a certain spread to the front, rear and side. Therefore, the flash emission from the flash units 4, 4 is visually recognized at a high luminous intensity from the front of the vehicle.
Light emission of 3, 13, ... is visually recognized. Also, the light emission of the LEDs 13, 13,... In the LED type units 5, 5, 5 is visible from a position deviated from the front and other positions, that is, from the side and the rear even in front of the vehicle.

The LED in the LED unit 5
There are various light emission modes of 13, 13,.... For example, all the LEDs 13, 13,... Turn on and turn off simultaneously.
Are sequentially turned on, the LEDs 13, 13,... Are sequentially turned on, and all the LEDs 13, 13,.

The diffused warning light 1 described above does not use a rotating light type unit but uses an LED type unit 5, so that the weight is light and the power consumption is small. Also, the flash type unit 4 used together with the LED type unit 5 requires less power consumption. Therefore, when the diffused warning light 1 is driven while the vehicle is stopped, there is no danger that the battery will run out even if the engine is not driven, and it is possible to sufficiently cope with idling stop for environmental protection. .

Further, both the LED 13 and the discharge bulb 10 have a long life, do not require replacement over a long period of time, and have no moving parts, so that maintenance is not required and running costs can be reduced.

The above-mentioned flash type unit 4 is a so-called reflector type unit, which can irradiate a highly directional light and has a strong alerting power to a vehicle or a pedestrian in a specific direction. Instead of such a reflector type unit 4 or together with the reflector type unit 4, a flash type unit 19 called an inner lens type unit shown in FIG. 5 can be used.

The flash unit 19 of the inner lens type
Is formed by covering a flash circuit portion 9 fixed on a bracket 7 and a discharge bulb 10 supported by the flash circuit portion 9 with an inner lens 20 having a substantially cylindrical shape.

The inner lens 20 has a substantially cylindrical peripheral wall portion 20a and an upper surface portion 2 which closes the upper end of the peripheral wall portion 20a.
Are formed integrally with a transparent material, for example, a transparent synthetic resin, and on the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion 20a are formed lens elements 21, 21,... I have.

The flash unit 1 of the inner lens type
9, the light from the discharge bulb 10 is turned into a parallel light flux in the vertical direction by the lens elements 21, 21,... Therefore, there is no strong directivity as in the reflector type flash type unit 4 described above, and an action of uniformly attracting attention to vehicles, pedestrians, and the like in the four surrounding areas is performed.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another example of the LED type unit.

The LED type unit 22 includes a large number of LEDs 1
The LED substrate 14 in which 3, 13,... Are arranged and supported is housed in a case body 23. The case body 23 is configured such that the front side of the rear case 23a is covered by a transparent front case 23b. A reflective sheet 24 (shown with a satin pattern in FIG. 6) is attached to the inside of the front case 23b, and the LEDs 13, 13,.
The portion corresponding to the irradiation range of the light-transmitting portion 25 is removed,
25, and so on. In addition, LED13,13,
... the irradiation range is not uniform depending on the LED used, but the light diffusion angle θ (see FIG. 7) of the LEDs 13, 13,.
···And it is sufficient.

The above-mentioned LED type unit 22 is connected to the bolts 11 and 11 and the nut 1 via appropriate brackets.
It is fixed to the metal base 2 by 2 and 12.

The visibility of the light of the LEDs 13, 13,... Is reduced in the daytime due to the presence of sunlight.
LEDs 13, 13, ... seen through 5, 25, ...
The entire front case 23b appears to emit light in combination with the light emission of..., And the visibility in the daytime increases.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show still another example of the LED type unit.

The LED type unit 26 includes a large number of LEDs 1
The LED board 14 on which 3, 13,... Are arranged and supported is housed in a case body 27. The case body 27 is configured such that the front side of the rear case 27a is covered by a transparent front case 27b.

A retroreflective plate 28 is supported in the case body 27. The retroreflective plate 28 has a known structure in which three retroreflective elements composed of three surfaces that intersect at right angles, for example, the corners of a cube, are densely formed on the back surface of a transparent plate-shaped base. This function is to sequentially reflect light incident from the three surfaces of the retroreflective element and return the light toward the light source. Are formed at positions corresponding to the LEDs 13, 13,... Of the retroreflective plate 28, and the LEDs 13, 1,.
3, ... are located.

Then, the LED type unit 26 is connected to the bolts 11 and 11 and the nut 1 through appropriate brackets.
It is fixed to the metal base 2 by 2 and 12.

In the daytime when the visibility of the light of the LEDs 13, 13,... Decreases due to the sunlight, the sunlight is reflected by the retroreflective plate 28.
Combined with the light emission of 3,..., The entire inside of the front case 27b appears to emit light, and visibility during the day is increased.

The above-mentioned LED units 5, 2
2 and 26, the LED substrates 14 carrying the LEDs 13, 13,... Are all planar, but the LED substrate 14 having an appropriate curved surface
By supporting 3, 13,... To easily conform to the shape of the translucent globe, the degree of freedom in the shape design of the translucent globe can be increased.

FIGS. 10 to 12 show a diffused warning light according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, the diffused warning light 30 is of a type mounted on the left and right sides of the vehicle 31 above the front windshield frame 32.
The flash unit 4 and the LED units 5, 5 are accommodated in the translucent glove 33.

The brackets 7, 15, 15 of the warning light units 4, 5, 5 are provided with screw holes 34, 3,
The translucent gloves 33 are fixed to the vehicle body so as to cover the warning light units 4, 5, 5 fixed to the vehicle body in this manner.

The translucent glove 33 is made of a colorless and transparent or colored and transparent material.
9 and the LED type unit can be exchanged for 22 and 26 described above.

The diffused warning light 30 according to the second embodiment can provide the same effect as the diffused warning light 1 according to the first embodiment.

In each of the above embodiments,
Although only the warning light unit composed of a combination of a flash type unit and an LED type unit is shown, a flash type unit and a rotary type unit are combined with an LED type unit and a rotary type unit. Even when combined, the advantages of using an LED-type unit are: light weight, power saving,
It has the advantage of long life.

Further, the shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in each of the above-described embodiments are merely examples of the specific embodiments to be carried out when carrying out the present invention.
These should not be interpreted as limiting the technical scope of the present invention.

[0047]

As is apparent from the above description, the diffused warning light according to the present invention comprises a plurality of warning light units, such as a flash type unit for irradiating a flash and a rotating light type unit for irradiating a rotating light. A diffused warning light housed in a glove, wherein at least one of the plurality of warning light units is an LED type unit in which a plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged.

Therefore, in the diffused warning light of the present invention,
Since at least one LED type unit is used, the weight and power consumption can be reduced, and the life is long.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the warning light unit excluding the LED type unit among the plurality of warning light units is a flash type unit, the warning light unit is not provided with a rotating light type unit. And a long life.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the LED type unit is disposed outside the other warning light units and is scattered laterally, a small LED unit is provided. By arranging a plurality of LED type units having a substrate along a desired shape or by forming an LED substrate on a curved surface, it is possible to cope with various shapes of light-transmitting gloves, and the degree of freedom in shape design is increased. Increase.

In the diffused warning light according to the fourth aspect, in the LED type unit, since the reflecting means is provided in a portion surrounding the light emitting diode, during daylight when the visibility of the light emitting diode is reduced. The reflecting means surrounding the periphery reflects the sunlight, and the visibility of the LED unit as a whole is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a diffused warning light according to the present invention, together with FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a partially cut-away view.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where a translucent glove on one side is removed.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a state where a light-transmitting glove on one side is removed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a mounting portion of the warning light unit.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing another example of the flash unit, with a part cut away.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the LED type unit together with FIG. 7, and this figure is a front view.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 6;

8 shows still another example of the LED type unit together with FIG. 9, and FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a main part.

10 shows a second embodiment of the diffused warning light according to the present invention, together with FIGS. 11 and 12, and is a schematic perspective view showing a state where the warning light is mounted on a vehicle. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view with a part cut away.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a translucent globe with a part cut away.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Diffusion type warning light, 3 ... Translucent glove, 4 ... Flash type unit, 5 ... LED type unit, 13 ... Light emitting diode
19: Flash type unit, 22: LED type unit, 24
... Reflection sheet (reflection means), 26 ... LED type unit,
28: reflex reflector (reflecting means), 30: diffused warning light,
33… Transparent glove

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A diffused warning light comprising a plurality of warning light units, such as a flash type unit for irradiating flash light and a rotating light type unit for irradiating rotating light, housed in a translucent glove, wherein the plurality of warnings are provided. A diffused warning light, wherein at least one of the light units is an LED type unit in which a plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged. 2. An LED among the plurality of warning light units.
The diffused warning light according to claim 1, wherein the warning light unit excluding the mold unit is a flash type unit. 3. The diffused warning according to claim 1, wherein the LED-type unit is arranged outside the other warning light units, and is scattered laterally. light. 4. The diffused warning light according to claim 1, wherein a reflection means is provided in a portion surrounding the light emitting diode in the LED type unit.