JP2003105725A - Retractable delineator pole - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate extrusion molding of a cover film and to improve visibility by improving a retractable delineator pole including an inner layer 9 forming a body part of a pole 1, a reflecting marker body 8B formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inner layer 9, and an outer layer 7 formed by a cover film covering the outer peripheral surface of a component. SOLUTION: The reflecting marker body 8B is spirally constructed. When the reflecting marker body 8B passes through a forming nozzle of a cover film forming machine (not shown), the molten cover film (thermoplastic elastomer) is forced to flow along the edge of the reflecting marker body 8B as indicated by an arrow by the above construction so that the surface of the cover film (the outer layer) 7 becomes smooth and there is no fear of causing a nodal projection (not shown).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flexible line-of-sight guidance sign used for marking a center line of a road, a lane change line, a separation zone, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among the gaze guidance markers of this kind, it is the closest to the present invention and is the most advanced one.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 319, "Foldable gaze guidance sign post" is known.
This known invention was made in order to prevent a reflective marker (for example, a retroreflective tape) arranged on the outer peripheral surface of a flexible pole of a marker column from being damaged or deteriorated by cleaning or climate. The configuration is as described below. FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the configuration of the known invention, and as shown in FIG. 6A, a pedestal 2 is attached to a flexible hollow pole 1. On the outer circumference of the pole 1, a reflector 3 made of, for example, a retroreflective reflection tape is wound and attached in the circumferential direction at predetermined intervals. (B) is an external view of the wound and pasted state, and a seam 4 is formed on the wound reflector 3.

In the above-mentioned known invention, the outer periphery of the structure consisting of the "pole 1 to which the reflector 3 is wound and attached" is covered with a transparent cover film 7 to form an outer layer. This prevents damage from cleaning and improves weather resistance,
In particular, the excellent practical effect of eliminating the risk of cracking or peeling of the reflector 3 even during cold weather has been achieved. This Figure 6
(B) is an enlarged detailed view for explaining the details of the seam 4 of the reflector 3. The surface of the reflector 3 on the reflection side (the surface on the outer peripheral side in the drawing) is subjected to various processes in order to improve the reflection performance. Therefore, it is difficult to bond the front surface and the back surface of the reflector 3 at the overlapping portion formed in the vicinity of the seam 4, and they are easily peeled off. However, by covering with the cover film 7 according to the above-mentioned known invention, peeling of this portion is prevented.

[0004]

As described above with reference to FIG. 6, "to form the outer layer by covering with the cover film 7" means that the above-mentioned known invention is essential for achieving the object. Although it is a structure, there are difficulties as described below due to the industrial production of the cover film 7. Further, as a problem inherent to the retractable gaze guidance sign, there is a demand for further improvement in visibility. The present invention is intended to solve these problems all at once. FIG. 7 is shown to explain the problem relating to the cover film 7, and FIG. 7A is a perspective view schematically illustrating the structural function of the cover film molding machine 6. The cover film molding machine 6 has a function of extruding the melted thermoplastic elastomer in a thin-walled cylindrical shape from the molding nozzle 6a in the direction of the arrow a, and the pole 1 to which the reflector 3 is wound and attached is attached. As a core, the periphery thereof is covered with a cover film 7 to form an outer layer. FIG. 7B is an enlarged detailed view near the right end of FIG. The tape-shaped reflector 3 wound and attached around the pole 1 has a thickness t. Therefore, the structure composed of the pole 1 around which the reflector is wound is not a simple cylindrical surface but a stepped cylindrical surface having a step of the radial dimension t.

In FIG. 7 (A), when the cover film 7 is extruded while the pole 1 is moved in the direction of arrow g with respect to the cover film forming machine 6, the step formed by the reflector 3 is At the same time, it passes through the forming nozzle 6a. Therefore, the distance between the "outer peripheral surface of the pole 1 around which the reflector 3 is wound and attached" and the "inner peripheral surface of the molding nozzle 6a" is instantaneously changed, and the extrusion molding pressure is instantaneously changed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, a circumferential ring-shaped ridge 7a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cover film 7. Since this ridge resembles the contour of a bamboo knot, it will be referred to as a knot-shaped protrusion hereinafter. When the nodular protrusion is formed, the commercial value of the product is significantly reduced. The present invention is a further improvement of the folding gaze guidance sign post according to the above-mentioned known invention so that no knot-shaped projections are formed on the cover film forming the outer layer, and the visibility is improved. It is intended to provide an inverted gaze guidance signpost.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the structure of the invention according to claim 1 is a retractable gaze guidance sign post having a hollow pole which can be elastically deformed when contacted by a vehicle. In, an inner layer of thermoplastic elastomer mixed with pigments, which forms the body of the pole,
A spiral reflective marker provided to cover a part of the outer peripheral surface of the inner layer, and an outer layer composed of a transparent cover film covering the outer peripheral surface of the structure composed of the inner layer and the reflective marker.
It is characterized by having. According to the invention of claim 1 described above, a step is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the "structure including the pole provided with the reflective marker" depending on the thickness of the reflective marker disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the pole body. Even if it is formed, since the above-mentioned reflection sign body has a spiral shape, the above-mentioned step is also spiral shape. Therefore, the phenomenon that "the above-mentioned step passes through the entire circumference simultaneously with respect to the molding nozzle of the cover film molding machine" does not occur. Even if the “extrusion gap size of the molding nozzle” changes due to the step, the molten cover film material flows along the spiral, and a uniform cover film is smoothly molded.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the constituent features of the first aspect of the present invention, a retractable line-of-sight guide having a right-handed spiral reflection marker for the spiral reflection marker. A signpost and a retractable line-of-sight guidance signpost having a left-handed spiral reflection sign are prepared, and either the left or the right cantilevered line-of-sight line of sight depending on the conditions of the place of use. It is characterized in that it is possible to use guide signposts and to combine both left and right roll-type retractable gaze guideposts depending on the conditions. According to the invention of claim 2 described above, since the marker column having the right-handed spiral type or the left-handed spiral type reflective sign body can be arbitrarily selected and used, for example, in consideration of the inclination direction of the zebra zone, the visual recognition and operation can be performed. It is possible to use an easy spiral form (right-handed or left-handed) of, and, for example, a right-handed spiral-shaped marker column and a left-handed spiral-shaped marker column are alternately arranged, or a conventional marker column. By arranging and, etc. alternately, the driver's attention is strongly emphasized, and their practical value is increased.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in addition to the features of the first or second aspect of the invention, the inner layer is made of a general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer, and the outer layer is " And a thermoplastic elastomer having optical characteristics different from those of the inner layer. According to the invention of claim 3 described above, a. A general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer containing a pigment that does not easily discolor with ultraviolet rays is used for the pole, and a thermoplastic elastomer with a high light-shielding property against ultraviolet rays is used for the cover film to prevent fading due to ultraviolet rays. , B. By making the refractive index of the pole different from that of the cover film, it is possible to enhance the visibility by controlling the reflection and refraction at the boundary surface between the inner and outer layers.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the constituent features of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the inner layer is made of a general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer,
In addition, the optical characteristics of the outer layer are constituted by a thermoplastic elastomer having a total light transmittance of 80% or more and an ultraviolet absorption rate of 98% or more. According to the fourth aspect of the invention described above, it is possible to effectively shield the ultraviolet rays and prevent the fading of the pigment mixed in the inner layer without hindering the visual acuity as the gaze guidance marker.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a manufacturing process in one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in (A), a retroreflective tape 8A is diagonally applied to one end of a cylindrical pole 1 made of a general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer, and is wound as indicated by arrow c. An imaginary line with a reference sign d is a planned line for winding. (B) The drawing shows the state that the winding is completed halfway. When all the winding is completed, the result becomes as shown in (C), and the reflective tape 8A is used for the reflective marker 8B.
Is configured. (Note) The reflective tape 8A is a name for clarifying the material to be used, the reflective marker 8B is a name for expressing the action, and is the same as an object. Figure 2
The pole 1 and the reflective marker 8B configured as in (C)
When the structure consisting of and is obtained, the cover film 7 is coated by the same cover film molding machine 6 as shown in FIG. When the outer layer is formed, the body portion of the pole 1 becomes the inner layer (details will be described later with reference to FIG. 1B).

When the semi-finished product of FIG. 2B obtained as described above is covered with the cover film 7 and the pedestal 2 is attached, the finished product shown in FIG. 1A is obtained. As can be easily understood from this figure, when the pole 1 in which the reflective marker 8B is spirally wound is passed through the molding nozzle 6a (FIG. 7) of the cover film molding machine, the "reflection tape 8A" is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Even if there is a step corresponding to the thickness of the step, since this step does not form a circular shape in the circumferential direction but has a spiral shape, the effective extrusion area of the forming nozzle is narrowed by the step. The "melted cover film elastomer" flows along the inclined surface of the spiral as indicated by the arrow b, and no node-shaped projection 7a (see FIG. 7B) like the known invention is formed. In this embodiment, the cover film 7 is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer having a total light transmittance of 80% or more and an ultraviolet ray of 98% or more. With such a structure, the visibility as a gaze guidance marker column is hindered. The ultraviolet rays can be cut without being used to prevent fading of the pigment contained in the inner layer, and the weather resistance is improved.

FIG. 1 (B) is obtained by cutting and enlarging a portion surrounded by a chain line circle in FIG. 1 (A). Although the main body of the pole 1 has a cylindrical shape, a part of the cylindrical wall appears as the inner layer 9 in FIG. A reflective marker 8B is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cover film 7 to cover them.
Form the outer layer. Since the formation of the nodule is prevented as described above, the surface of the outer layer (the surface on the right side in the drawing) is smooth. In the conventional example, in order to suppress the formation of the nodular protrusions, the thickness dimension of the reflective tape is restricted, and it must be 0.5 mm or less in practice. By applying the present invention, the thickness of the reflective tape could be increased to 1.5 mm. When the restriction on the thickness dimension of the reflective tape is relaxed, it becomes possible to use a reflective tape having good visibility and other characteristics. In other words, technological advances in reflective tape are facilitated.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, a left-handed sign post 1 having a left-handed spiral reflection sign is provided.
A large number of 0L and right-winding type indicator columns 10R provided with a right-handed spiral reflection indicator body are prepared, and these can be arranged by combining them. As in the left half of FIG. 3, each of the three left-handed sign columns 10L and the three right-handed sign columns may be set as a set, and these two types of sets may be arranged alternately. Further, as in the right end portion of FIG. 3, it is possible to alternately arrange the right-winding indicator pillars 10R and the left-winding indicator pillars 10L one by one. In this way, if the line-of-sight guidance sign columns with different spiral forms are used together, it is easy to attract the driver's attention and contribute to traffic safety. FIG. 4 shows an example of use different from FIG. 3 described above, in which the marker posts 11 of the conventional example are also mixed and arranged. In this way, when the line-of-sight guidance sign post including the reflective signs of different styles is arranged, the effect of calling the driver's attention is improved.

FIG. 5 shows an example of use different from the above, in which a passing vehicle is branched (arrow f) in front of the zebra zone 12 provided on the road toward the main line (arrow e). Signposts are lined up so as to guide to. In such a case, the inclination direction in which the band of the zebra zone 12 looks inclined from the driver's perspective and the inclination direction in which the spiral reflection marker of the gaze guidance marker column seems to be inclined are aligned. If you look at this, it will be a harmonious view for the driver, and it will be easy to drive. In the present invention, since the reflective sign has a spiral shape, the molding of the cover film is facilitated as described above, and the nodal protrusions 7a are formed.
(FIG. 7) can be prevented, but as described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the effect of improving the visibility is also obtained.

As described above with reference to FIG. 2, when the reflective tape 8A is wound to form the reflective marker 8B, the reflective marker 8A is formed regardless of the thickness of the reflective tape 8A. The spiral-shaped fitting facilitates extrusion molding of the cover film and prevents the occurrence of nodal projections. When the reflective sign is formed by painting instead of winding a reflective tape, even if the shape of the reflective sign is not necessarily spiral, there is no particular difficulty in molding the cover film. However, by making the reflective marker spiral, the effect of improving the visibility can be obtained as described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

[0016]

As described above, the structure and operation of the embodiment of the present invention have been clarified, and according to the invention of claim 1, the reflective marker provided on the outer peripheral surface of the pole body portion. Even if a step is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the "structure consisting of poles provided with reflective markers" depending on the thickness of the above, since the above reflective marker has a spiral shape, the above step is also spiral. It has become. Therefore, the phenomenon that "the above-mentioned step passes through the entire circumference simultaneously with respect to the molding nozzle of the cover film molding machine" does not occur. Even if the “extrusion gap size of the molding nozzle” changes due to the step, the molten cover film material flows along the spiral, and a uniform cover film is smoothly molded. According to the invention of claim 2, a marker column having a right-handed spiral-shaped or left-handed spiral-shaped reflective marker can be arbitrarily selected and used. Therefore, for example, a spiral which is easy to visually recognize and drive in consideration of the inclination direction of the zebra zone. It is possible to use a form (right-handed or left-handed), and for example, a right-handed spiral marking column and a left-handed spiral marking column are alternately arranged, or a conventional marking column is alternately arranged. By arranging it, the driver's attention is strongly called for, etc., to increase its practical value. According to the invention of claim 3, a. A general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer containing a pigment that is resistant to discoloration by ultraviolet rays is used for the pole, and a transparent, highly light-shielding thermoplastic elastomer is used for the cover film to prevent fading due to ultraviolet rays. And b. By making the refractive index of the pole different from that of the cover film, it is possible to enhance the visibility by controlling the reflection and refraction at the boundary surface between the inner and outer layers. According to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to prevent the fading of the pigment contained in the inner layer by cutting off the ultraviolet rays without impairing the visibility as the gaze guidance marker.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (A) is an external view,
(B) is the partial expanded sectional view.

FIG. 2 is a manufacturing process diagram in the embodiment of FIG. 1 described above.

FIG. 3 is an external view for explaining an example of use of the retractable gaze guidance marker column according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a usage example different from that of FIG. 3 described above.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a use example that is different from the above-described FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is shown for explaining a conventional retractable gaze guidance sign post, and (A) is an exploded view showing a manufacturing method;
(B) is an external front view of the finished product, and (C) is a perspective view of a single reflector.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a cover film forming an outer layer of a retractable gaze guidance sign column according to a known invention, (A) is an image view of a state in which the cover film is being molded, (B) [Fig. 4] is an enlarged detailed view of the right end portion of the above (A) diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Pole, 2 ... Pedestal, 3 ... Reflective tape as reflector, 6 ... Cover film molding machine, 7 ... Cover film (outer layer), 8A ... Reflective tape, 8B ... Reflective marker, 9 ...
Pole body (inner layer), 10 ... Line of sight guidance sign, 10L ...
Left-handed signpost, 10R ... Right-handed signpost, 11 ... Conventional signpost, 12 ... Zebra zone.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shinsuke Inose             187-1 Usoba Komaki, Hwagawa Town, Kitaibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture             Japan MECTRON Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2D064 AA11 AA24 BA01 BA09 CA02                       DA05 DB12 EA01 EB23 EB31                       EB34 HA12 HA23 JA01 JA02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A retractable gaze guidance sign post having a hollow pole that can be elastically deformed when subjected to a vehicle contact, from a thermoplastic elastomer mixed with pigments, which forms the body of the pole. An inner layer, a spiral reflective marker provided so as to cover a part of the outer peripheral surface of the inner layer, and a transparent cover film covering the outer peripheral surface of the structure composed of the inner layer and the reflective marker. A retractable gaze guidance sign post, comprising an outer layer. 2. Regarding the spiral reflective sign, a foldable gaze guidance sign having a right-handed spiral reflective sign and a foldable gaze sign having a left-handed spiral reflective sign. Depending on the conditions of the place of use, either a left or right folding type gaze guide marker can be used, and depending on the conditions both left and right winding types can be used. The foldable gaze guidance sign post according to claim 1, wherein the foldable gaze guidance sign post can be arbitrarily combined. 3. The inner layer is composed of a general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer, and the outer layer is composed of “a thermoplastic elastomer having optical characteristics different from those of the inner layer”. The retractable gaze guidance sign post according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The inner layer is composed of a general-purpose thermoplastic elastomer, and the outer layer is composed of a thermoplastic elastomer having optical characteristics of 80% or more of total light transmittance and 98% or more of ultraviolet absorption rate. The retractable gaze guidance marker column according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that