JP2003193444A - Car stop - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the use of an emitter with an increased luminance so as to enhance visibility of a car stop with the emitter at night, by minimizing total electric energy for use in the car stop. <P>SOLUTION: When an infrared ray 20, which is emitted from a pedestrian 2 getting close to the car stop 1, is received by a pyroelectric element of a pedestrian detecting sensor 11, a feeble current, which is generated in the pyroelectric element, is passed through a control board 15; only when the approach of the pedestrian 2 is detected, the current for emission is passed from a capacitor 14 in accordance with a signal from the control board 15, so that LEDs 16 can light up or blink toward the pedestrian 2; and in the absence of the comings and goings of the pedestrians 2, the LEDs 16 are prevented from emitting light, so that electricity can be saved and so that the luminance of the emitter can be increased by just that much. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
More particularly, the present invention relates to a car stop with a light emitter for clearly showing its existence to a pedestrian at night. [0002] Conventionally, in order to improve the visibility of a car stop at night, for example, in JP-A-8-319609,
A vehicle stop with a light emitter has been proposed that includes a solar battery, a storage battery that stores power from the solar battery, and a control circuit that supplies power from the storage battery to the light emitter when the external brightness is below a certain level. . However, in such a conventional vehicle stop, it is necessary to cover the power corresponding to the power consumption at night from the power obtained by the solar cell of a limited area, so that the LED is limited to a suitable brightness. And EL emitters were used, and there was a limit in terms of visibility. In addition, when a high-intensity illuminator with high power consumption such as a strobe illuminator is used to increase the current flowing to the LED using a commercial power supply, or when a high-intensity illuminator such as a strobe illuminant is used, there is almost no pedestrian traffic from midnight However, there were problems such as light pollution in residential areas. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems.
By turning on or flashing the illuminant only when a pedestrian approaches the stop, the total amount of power used is kept to a minimum, thereby increasing the brightness of the illuminator and using it at night. It is intended to improve the visibility. In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the vehicle stop according to the present invention is provided with a pedestrian detection sensor that detects the presence of a pedestrian with a pyroelectric element and outputs the detection signal, and a light emitter that lights or blinks toward the pedestrian based on the detection signal. Installed along the sidewalk. According to the present invention, only when a pedestrian approaches the car stop, its presence is detected by the pyroelectric element, and light is emitted thereby, so that pedestrian traffic hardly occurs at midnight. Without consuming power,
As a result, the power consumption of the illuminant can be greatly increased to increase the brightness and improve the visibility. In the solar cell type car stop, the electric power obtained by the solar cell of a limited area on the upper part of the main body is used. Furthermore, the power corresponding to the power consumption at night can be efficiently covered. In addition, even when a high-brightness illuminant with high power consumption such as a strobe illuminant is used with a commercial power supply, for example, a social problem such as a light pollution problem caused by constantly flickering light in a residential area, for example. You don't have to worry about it. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In general, as a pedestrian detection sensor, an ultrasonic sensor type sensor that emits an ultrasonic wave and detects it from the pedestrian based on a difference in the return time of a reflected wave, or a photoelectric tube is provided. There are known phototube sensor type devices that try to detect by reflection or blocking, but the former has many malfunctions due to noise, and the latter method increases the equipment cost for installing the phototube and light receiving unit. In the case of a pedestrian detection sensor using a pyroelectric element according to the present invention, the sensor is inexpensive because it is a method of detecting infrared rays emitted by a pedestrian with a very small element. It is possible to adjust its own accuracy by selecting the type of Fresnel lens provided just before it, and it is cheap and easy to use, but it can be used as a high-performance sensor. Is done. That is, the pyroelectric element detects the pedestrian by the pyroelectric current that flows when the infrared ray emitted by the pedestrian enters and the temperature of the element changes and the electric charge corresponding to the degree of the change is generated in the element. In addition, since the pyroelectric element is activated only when infrared rays from the pedestrian arrive, the pedestrian detection sensor itself does not require power consumption such as backup. The pyroelectric element is generally formed from a pyroelectric material such as lithium tantalate, lead titanate, glycine sulfate, etc., and an electrode is attached to the pyroelectric element, and the front surface is transparent with good infrared transparency such as silicon. Filled with resin. In order to detect whether the pedestrian is approaching or moving away, such as the direction and speed, a plurality of pyroelectric elements are arranged in parallel, and the plurality of pyroelectric elements. It is only necessary to check the pedestrian movement by comparing the generated pyroelectric current with the movement-specific pyroelectric current data input in advance to the control unit. Furthermore, the Fresnel lens collects a small amount of infrared rays that reach the sensor and detects it with high accuracy, and allows the adjustment of the sensing area by controlling the condensing angle as desired by the lens curvature and the like. As a light emitter that lights up or blinks toward the pedestrian based on the sensing signal, since the power can be increased by the present invention, a large number of LEDs orbit around the outer periphery of the vehicle stop. For example, a plurality of stages such as two to three stages may be provided, or a planar light-emitting body made of EL may be provided with greatly enhanced brightness. Furthermore, the light-emitting body that is turned on toward the pedestrian may be one in which a foot lamp that consumes a large amount of power illuminates the walking road, and the pedestrian as a stop post. A pedestrian detection sensor that detects the presence of a pedestrian by a pyroelectric element in the same manner as described above using a guard fence post or a fence body (beam or fence panel) provided at the boundary, and outputs a detection signal thereof, A light emitting body that lights or blinks toward a pedestrian based on the detection signal may be attached and installed along a sidewalk. In the following, examples of the embodiment of the car stopper according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figure, 1 is a car stop, 2 is a pedestrian (20 is an infrared ray emitted from a pedestrian)
11 to 17 represent components of each part in an example (FIG. 1) of an embodiment of the car stopper 1 for explaining the main part of the present invention. [I will explain in the following sentence. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the sensing area of the pedestrian sensing sensor according to the present invention by controlling the light collection angle,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining in detail the control mode in the example of the embodiment of FIG. In FIG. 1, infrared rays 20 emitted from a pedestrian 2 approaching the car stop 1 reach a pedestrian detection sensor 11 using a pyroelectric element, thereby controlling a weak current generated in the pyroelectric element. The control board 15 detects the approach of the pedestrian 2, and a signal from the control board 15 causes a current for light emission to flow from the capacitor 14, and the LED 16 lights up toward the pedestrian 2. Flashes. In the example of this embodiment, the LED 16
The diffused light emitting resin ring 17 made of a transparent synthetic resin such as an epoxy having a light diffusing compounding agent on its front surface is arranged in a plurality of numbers radially from the center of the upper portion of the car stopper 1 toward the lighting part. Is circulated so that the light from the LED 16 is emitted with a uniform and bright light flux. As described above, the pedestrian detection sensor 11 has electrodes attached to the pyroelectric elements, and the front surface is filled with a transparent resin having good infrared transparency such as silicon. The Fresnel lens provided in front of it collects a small amount of infrared rays that reach the sensor to detect it with high accuracy, and by changing the lens curvature, etc., the focusing angle can be controlled as desired to freely adjust the sensing area. It is what. That is, for example, in the application example shown in FIG.
The detection angle A is set to about 90 degrees, infrared rays can be detected only from the direction in which the pedestrian approaches, and light can be emitted only to the pedestrian, or (b) the detection angle B is set to approximately 180. It is used in such a way as to call attention to pedestrians who want to cross the road by setting it to a moderate degree. In this embodiment, a pyroelectric element and a Fresnel lens having sensitivity to react to a pedestrian approaching from a distance of about 5 m are used. However, a person approaching by bicycle is detected. For this purpose, a pyroelectric element having higher sensitivity may be used, or the focal length may be adjusted by the shape design of the Fresnel lens. In the example of the present embodiment, the vehicle stop 1
A solar cell 12 is provided with a top portion covered with a cover case 13 made of a transparent synthetic resin such as acrylic or polycarbonate, and energy obtained from sunlight is converted into electric power in the daytime. In the example, it is stored in the capacitor 14). As a method for turning on or blinking the light emitters in a predetermined time zone such as nighttime, a desired program is input to the control board 15 according to seasons, day and night, and specific conditions of the location. Alternatively, the brightness sensor may be built in, and the power from the storage battery may be started to be supplied to the light emitter when the external brightness falls below a certain level. In the example of the present embodiment, when the power generated by the solar cell 12 decreases and the voltage decreases below a certain value (0.9 volts in this example), power is supplied from the capacitor 14 to the LED 16. Is started, and a light emission pattern programmed in advance in the control board 15 is executed. If the location where the car stop according to the present invention is installed is simply a location where there is no pedestrian traffic for 5 hours in the middle of the night at 10 hours, other time zones. Even if there is always a pedestrian traffic, at least half of the power generation can be saved and the brightness can be increased significantly. ) Can also be used. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the control mode in the example of this embodiment in more detail.
That is, the power generated by the solar cell 12 is monitored by the sunset circuit 151 for starting the power supply from the capacitor 14 to the LED 16 when the voltage generated by the solar cell 12 falls below a certain level. Then, the voltage is stored in the capacitor 14 through the voltage control circuit 152. In order to avoid the deterioration of the capacitor 14 due to overcharge, the voltage control circuit 152 has a storage voltage of 2.4 ± 0.15 Volts in the example of the present embodiment, for example.
From the need to secure the minimum voltage as a guaranteed voltage for stable and normal light emission even after the LED has been stopped for a long time,
For example, in the example of this embodiment (at a stage before the booster circuit)
It is controlled so as not to fall below 0.9 Volts, and a protection circuit 153 for preventing overcharge and preventing overdischarge is provided. In the example of this embodiment, the voltage sent from the capacitor 14 at a low voltage of about 0.9 to 2.3 Volts is a voltage necessary for actually making the luminous body emit light brightly (for example, 5 Volts). A voltage booster circuit 154 is provided for transforming the voltage into a practical voltage, and the lighting time, its length, flashing cycle, etc. are operated as desired by the oscillation circuit 155, and the pedestrian detection sensor 11 is operated. By sensing, the sensor circuit 156 is started, the LED drive 157 is activated, and the LED 16 emits light. As described in detail above, the vehicle stop according to the present invention senses the presence of a pedestrian with a pyroelectric element and outputs the sensing signal, and based on the sensing signal, A light-emitting body that lights up or blinks toward the pedestrian and is installed along the sidewalk, and only when the pedestrian approaches, the presence is detected by the pyroelectric element and light is emitted. Therefore, it does not consume power at midnight when there is almost no traffic of pedestrians, and as a result, the power consumption of the illuminant can be greatly increased to improve brightness and improve visibility. In the car stop, it is possible to more efficiently cover the electric power corresponding to the power consumption at night from the electric power obtained by the solar cell having a limited area at the upper part of the main body. Even when a commercial power supply is used, even when a high-intensity illuminant such as a strobe illuminant is used, even if the location is near a residential area, it is always unnecessary to flicker. You don't have to worry about the social problem of light pollution caused by

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of each part representing an example of an embodiment of a car stopper according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detection area by controlling a light collection angle of a pedestrian detection sensor according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a control mode in the example of the embodiment of FIG. 1; [Explanation of Symbols] 1 Car stop 11 Pedestrian detection sensor 12 Solar cell 13 Cover case 14 Capacitor 15 Control board 16 LED 17 Diffuse light emitting resin ring 2 Pedestrian 20 Infrared rays emitted from pedestrians

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2D064 AA12 BA05 BA11 DA17 EA01                       EB05 FA00 FA03 GA03                 2D101 CA13 CB07 EA02 GA26 GA30                       GA32                 5C086 AA51 BA30 CA12 CB16 DA07                       DA40 EA08 EA17 FA12

Claims (1)

What is claimed is: 1. A pedestrian is detected by a pyroelectric element;
A pedestrian detection sensor that outputs the detection signal, and a car stop that is installed along a sidewalk to which a light-emitting body that lights or blinks toward the pedestrian based on the detection signal is attached.