JP2004218254A - Information projector onto road surface - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information projector onto a road surface capable of indicating information onto a road, having a good visibility of light even in daytime, more excellent than conventional road face indication in attention attractive force, having no problems of traffic interruption due to works on embedding, treatment in repairing the road , etc. <P>SOLUTION: Information can be projected onto a road surface by making use of a strong light source 1 with a good visibility even during daytime. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a road surface projection device for information, and more particularly to a device for projecting information on a road surface, for example, for displaying traffic information to a car driver, and is applicable to fields such as traffic safety and advertising and publicity. is there.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The conventional traffic information road surface display device draws a white or yellow paint on the road surface to display a maximum speed as a regulation display, a prohibition of turning, a pedestrian crossing as an instruction display, and the like. I have.
[0003]
The drawback of drawing by paint or the like is that, because the display content is fixed, for example, a time limit such as "Right turn is prohibited from 8 o'clock to 12 o'clock" is not required, and the driver's view is not required. Cognition may decrease. Of course, it was not possible to regulate the temporary display due to an accident. The same is true for pedestrian crossings, where there are a large number in urban areas that can get used to and reduce the driver's alertness, which can lead to accidents. In order to overcome these problems, in the previous example, the time limit and the ever-changing traffic congestion status were displayed by using a separately provided light-emitting display panel or the like. Further problems such as high installation cost have arisen.
[0004]
Regarding the pedestrian crossing, when a pedestrian crosses, the pedestrian is detected by an infrared sensor or an ultrasonic sensor, and the luminous studs buried in the road are energized to emit light. There is a method that improves alertness. Similarly, a method of illuminating a pedestrian crossing instead of a luminous stud to improve the alertness has also been partially adopted.
[0005]
These methods have a problem in that the visibility of light is poor during the daytime when the environment is bright, and it is difficult to call attention. Also, regarding the light-emitting stud method, there are serious problems of traffic interruption due to construction work at the time of burial and processing at the time of road repair.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and has good visibility of light even in the daytime, has a better alertness than the conventional road surface display, traffic blocking by construction at the time of burial, It is an object of the present invention to provide an information road surface projection device capable of displaying information on a road surface without any problems such as processing at the time of road repair.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that information is projected onto a road surface using a powerful light source having good visibility even in the daytime. Various information such as traffic information is transmitted through such a road surface. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light is a visible light laser. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a material having good contrast in a visible light region such as white is applied, pasted or laid on the road surface as the projection surface.
[0008]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light is an ultraviolet laser, and the fluorescent material applied or mixed on the projection surface is irradiated with the ultraviolet light to emit fluorescent light. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light is an infrared laser, and the electron trapping agent applied or mixed on the projection surface is irradiated with the infrared light to emit visible light. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the information is traffic information.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a traffic information road surface projection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a laser light source that emits a powerful laser beam. The laser light source is guided by an optical fiber 2 to a light projecting device 4 provided above a support 3. The emitted light 5 from the light projecting device 4 projects a projection pattern 7 on a white line 6 drawn on the road surface by painting. In this case, the shape of the projection pattern 7 is not limited as long as it is intended to call the driver's attention to "there is a pedestrian!" Although the light is indicated by a broken line in the example, it can be easily changed to a traveling arrow or a straight line by modulating the intensity of the laser light with the two-dimensional optical scanner in the light projecting device 4.
[0010]
The structure of a general two-dimensional optical scanner is shown in FIG. 2 for reference, and the operation will be described accordingly. Light emitted from the laser light source 1 is incident on the vertical oscillating mirror 10. The mirror is provided with a vertical swing motor 11, and controls the angle of the swing mirror 10 according to an input control signal. The light reflected on the surface of the vertical oscillating mirror 10 enters the horizontal oscillating mirror 12. The horizontal oscillating mirror 12 is similarly provided with a horizontal oscillating motor 13 for controlling the angle of the horizontal oscillating mirror 12 in accordance with an input control signal. The light reflected on the surface of the horizontal oscillating mirror 12 projects a point A of light on the projection surface 14. Similarly, when the angles of the oscillating mirrors 10 and 12 change, the light emitted from the laser light source 1 projects the light point B on the projection surface 14 through the path shown by the dashed line.
[0011]
By controlling the angles of the oscillating mirrors 10 and 12 by the above operation, it becomes possible to project a point of light on the entire projection surface. Also, by increasing the scanning speed of the oscillating mirrors 10 and 12, it is possible to make it appear that the entire projection surface simultaneously emits light, similar to a television screen, due to the afterimage effect of the human eye. For this reason, a two-dimensional optical scanner device using this laser is used in combination with a control computer for indoor and outdoor events.
[0012]
In this embodiment, a simplified version of this projection apparatus is applied for traffic safety purposes. In recent years, a high-power and low-priced semiconductor laser and a high-speed and low-priced control computer have made it possible to provide a small and low-priced road surface information display device.
[0013]
It is the lowest cost to use a red semiconductor laser with high sensitivity to human eyes as a laser light source used in this apparatus. As the projection surface, a white painted surface including a light reflector, which has been conventionally used for drawing a pedestrian crossing on a road surface, is preferable from the viewpoint of contrast, durability, and cost.
[0014]
In addition, when there is a concern that visible light may enter the eyes of a pedestrian, if an infrared semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 1400 nm is used as a light source, for example, the detection limit can be detected by the human eyes, which raises a safety problem. Absent. In this case, by mixing an electron trapping agent (manufactured by LUMITEK, USA), which emits light when excited by a laser of the same wavelength, into the projection surface, only the portion hit by the laser light is emitted, and the same as the visible light semiconductor laser. In this way, a light-emitting display that can alert the driver's attention is made possible. In addition, even when a wavelength of ultraviolet light is used as a laser and a fluorescent substance is mixed into the projection surface material, a light-emitting display that can similarly alert the driver can be realized.
[0015]
FIG. 3 shows another embodiment. This embodiment is an example in which a small and lightweight optical semiconductor laser is used in the above embodiment. A light projecting device 24 incorporating a laser light source that emits a powerful laser beam and an optical scanner is provided above the support 23 at a high position for projecting on a road surface. The emitted light 25 from the light projecting device 24 projects a projection pattern 27 on a white line 26 drawn on the road surface by painting.
[0016]
Although the light is indicated by a broken line in the example, it can be easily changed to a running arrow or a straight line by turning on and off the two-dimensional optical scanner and the laser light in the light emitting device with good timing. A one-dimensional scanner may be used if the light spot is widened by a lens or the like.
[0017]
FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment. In this embodiment, a light projecting device 34 incorporating a laser light source for emitting a powerful laser beam and an optical scanner is provided above a support 33. The light 35 emitted from the light projecting device 34 projects a projection pattern 37 on a white painted surface 36 drawn on a road surface 38. In this embodiment, a prohibition display with a time limit of "8-12 o'clock right turn prohibition" is displayed. Displaying only the right-turn prohibition time zone enables a light-emitting display to alert the driver. As another application example, by combining the wireless communication device and the present device, temporary traffic regulation information due to an accident, a disaster, or the like can be immediately displayed, which is considered to contribute to improvement of traffic safety.
[0018]
Further, the present apparatus can be applied to information other than traffic information as shown in FIG. In this example, "700 yen with lunch service drink at 11-13 o'clock!" Is projected on a projection surface such as a mat laid on the sidewalk in front of the store, and is used for advertising of stores and products.
[0019]
As described above, any light such as a visible light laser, an ultraviolet laser, and an infrared laser can be selected and adopted as the light of the powerful light source having good visibility even in the daytime.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, by displaying various types of information including traffic information on the road surface with high-brightness light, the driver's attention and the like are also highly noticeable, and the alertness is higher than that of the conventional road surface display. Also has the advantage of being excellent. In addition, since the road surface is used as the projection surface, it is possible to display responsiveness information without rewriting or the like. Similarly, even when compared with the light emitting stud method that uses light to alert the user, costs for cutting off traffic due to construction work at the time of burial and for repairing roads are not required. Also, as compared with an electronic display panel or the like that achieves substantially the same purpose, there is an advantage that the device is small and inexpensive, and the installation place can be selected relatively freely. Furthermore, if a powerful laser beam is used, the visibility of the light is good even in the daytime, and the alerting power is conventionally improved, which has an excellent effect of contributing to the reduction of accidents.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a drawing showing an example of an information projection device installation of a system in which light emitted from a laser light source according to an embodiment of the present invention is guided by an optical fiber and projected on a road surface.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a structure of a general two-dimensional optical scanner.
FIG. 3 is a drawing showing an installation example of an information projection apparatus according to another embodiment, in which a laser light source is small and projects directly onto a road surface without using an optical fiber.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of setting an information projection device when displaying variable information according to still another embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of installing an information projection device when displaying variable information other than traffic information.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser light source 2 Optical fiber 3,23,33 Post 4,24,34 Projector 5,25,35 Outgoing light 6,26 White line 7,27,37 Projection pattern 38 Road surface

Claims (6)

An information road surface projection apparatus characterized in that information is projected onto a road surface using light of a powerful light source having good visibility even in the daytime. 2. The information road surface projection device according to claim 1, wherein the light is a visible light laser. 2. The information road surface projection device according to claim 1, wherein a material having high contrast in a visible light region such as white is applied, pasted or laid on the road surface as a projection surface. The information road surface projection device according to claim 1, wherein the light is an ultraviolet laser, and the fluorescent material applied or mixed on the projection surface is irradiated with the ultraviolet light to emit fluorescent light. 2. The information road surface projection device according to claim 1, wherein the light is an infrared laser, and the electron trapping agent applied or mixed on the projection surface is irradiated with the infrared light to emit visible light. The information road surface projection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the information is traffic information.

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