JP2009251985A - Antenna unit, lighting device, traffic signal lighting device and traffic signal controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting device which suppresses deterioration in visibility due to overlapping between a patch element and light emitters. <P>SOLUTION: The lighting device 1 includes: optical units 2 having a plurality of light emitters 7 arranged in a prescribed pattern and a cover member 9 having visible light transmittance to cover the plurality of light emitters 7 in front of them; and an antenna 4 having the patch element 11 provided over a range from the cover member 9 to the front ends of the light emitters 7 and a ground element 12 located behind the patch element 11. The patch element 11 includes a mesh body having openings 22 for visible light transmittance. The pattern of a grid forming the mesh body is different from the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lamp, and more particularly to a traffic signal lamp installed on a road, a traffic signal controller, and an antenna unit provided in the lamp.

  In recent years, an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) has been proposed for the purpose of promoting traffic safety and preventing traffic accidents. In this ITS, a communication device (infrastructure device) is installed on the road, and the information emitted from the antenna of this communication device is received by the in-vehicle device of the vehicle traveling on the road, and this information is utilized, The safety of traveling of the vehicle can be improved (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  When such road-to-vehicle communication is performed wirelessly, from the viewpoint of securing the prospect of wireless communication, an arm is extended from the column installed on the sidewalk or the like to the roadway side, and the antenna of the communication device is mounted on this arm. Further, when the line of sight can be secured without providing the arm, an antenna can be attached to the support column.

  In order to install the antenna of the communication device on the road, it is not economical to provide a new support for the antenna, and it is not preferable from the viewpoint of the aesthetics of the road. Has proposed a traffic signal lamp incorporating an antenna (Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-186019).

  The traffic signal lamp is provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and an optical unit having a light emitter and a cover member that has visible light permeability and covers the light emitter forward. And an antenna having a ground element behind the patch element, and the patch element has visible light transmissivity. In such a traffic signal lamp, since the antenna is incorporated in the optical unit of the traffic signal lamp, a support for installing the antenna can be dispensed with and the appearance of the road is not impaired. Furthermore, since the patch element has visible light permeability, even if the antenna is incorporated in the optical unit, it is possible to prevent the light emission from being hindered by the light emitter.

Japanese Patent No. 2806801

  As the patch element, for example, a conductor knitted in a mesh shape can be used. In this case, depending on the pattern of the mesh, many of the light emitters behind at a certain direction angle by the conductor constituting the mesh. May be hidden all at once, reducing the visibility of the lamp.

  That is, the light emitter in the traffic signal lamp is usually composed of a light emitting diode, and a plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged in a concentric radiation pattern in order to improve the luminance uniformity of the lamp. On the other hand, when the patch element mesh has the same concentric radiation pattern, both patterns partially overlap at a certain direction angle, and many light emitting diodes are hidden behind the patch element at the same time. The visibility of traffic signal lamps will be reduced.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an antenna unit, a lamp, a traffic signal lamp, and a traffic signal controller that can suppress a decrease in visibility due to the overlap between the patch element and the light emitter.

The lamp of the present invention includes an optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a cover member that has visible light transmittance and covers the plurality of light emitters at the front,
An antenna having a patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element behind the patch element;
With
The patch element is formed of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light, and a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body is different from an arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters.

  In the lamp of the present invention, the lattice pattern constituting the mesh body of the patch element and the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters are different, so that the light emitters partially overlap each other at a certain direction angle. Many of them are not hidden behind the lattices that make up the mesh body all at once. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle.

  When the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters is concentric, the grid of the mesh body may be composed of a vertical grid and a horizontal grid orthogonal to the vertical grid. According to this configuration, since the arrangement pattern of the light emitters arranged in the cylindrical coordinate system is different from the lattice pattern of the mesh body that is the XY coordinate system, the two patterns are partial at a certain direction angle. As a result, many of the light emitters are not hidden behind the lattice forming the mesh body at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle.

When the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters is concentric, a mesh of the mesh body is arranged between a plurality of circular lattices that are concentric with the center of the concentric arrangement pattern of the light emitter and an adjacent circular lattice. The pitch of the plurality of light emitters in the radial direction and the pitch of the plurality of circular gratings in the radial direction may be different from each other. In this case, since the radial pitch of the plurality of light emitters and the radial pitch of the plurality of circular lattices have different sizes, the circular lattice and the light emitters located on both sides (outer side and inner side) The intervals are slightly shifted along the radial direction, and the arrangement pattern of the circular lattice and the arrangement pattern of the light emitters are different. For this reason, at a certain direction angle, both patterns are partially overlapped, and many of the light emitters are not hidden behind the lattice constituting the mesh body at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle.
When the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters is concentric, a mesh of the mesh body is arranged between a plurality of circular lattices that are concentric with the center of the concentric arrangement pattern of the light emitter and an adjacent circular lattice. The radial pitch of the plurality of light emitters can be made substantially uniform, whereas the radial pitch of the plurality of circular lattices can be made non-uniform. . In this case, the pitches in the radial direction of the plurality of light emitters are made substantially uniform and the pitches in the radial direction of the plurality of circular gratings are made non-uniform, so that they are located on the circular grating and on both sides (outside and inside). The interval between the light emitters can be varied along the radial direction, and the arrangement pattern of the circular lattice and the arrangement pattern of the light emitters are different. For this reason, at a certain direction angle, both patterns are partially overlapped, and many of the light emitters are not hidden behind the lattice constituting the mesh body at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle.

A traffic signal lamp according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern and a cover member that has visible light transparency and covers the plurality of light emitters in front. When,
An antenna having a patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element behind the patch element;
With
The patch element is formed of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light, and a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body is different from an arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters.

  In the traffic signal lamp according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pattern of the lattice constituting the mesh body of the patch element is different from the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters. There is no overlap and many of the light emitters are not hidden behind the lattice that forms the mesh body all at once. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle.

In addition, a traffic signal lamp according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a cover member that has visible light transparency and covers the light emitters in front. An optical unit;
An antenna having a patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element behind the patch element;
With
The patch element is a traffic signal lamp composed of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light,
When the traffic signal lamp is looked up in an elevation angle range of 0 to 45 °, the ratio of the light emitting portions of the plurality of light emitting bodies overlapping with the lattice constituting the mesh body is 30% or less of the total number of light emitting portions. As described above, the pattern of the mesh body is set.

  In the traffic signal lamp according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the traffic signal lamp is looked up at an elevation angle in the range of 0 to 45 °, the light emitting portions of the plurality of light emitters overlapping with the lattice constituting the mesh body. Since the pattern of the mesh body is set so that the ratio is 30% or less of the total number of light emitting portions, the visibility is not significantly reduced by the overlap of the lattice and the light emitting portions.

An antenna unit for a lamp according to the present invention is for a lamp incorporated in an optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern and a cover member that has visible light transmission and covers the light emitter forward. An antenna unit,
A patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element provided behind the patch element;
The patch element is formed of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light, and a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body is different from an arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters.

  In the antenna unit of the present invention, since the pattern of the lattice constituting the mesh body of the patch element is different from the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters of the optical unit in which the antenna unit is incorporated, Patterns partially overlap so that many of the illuminants are not hidden behind the lattice that forms the mesh body all at once. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle.

The traffic signal controller of the present invention is a traffic signal controller connected to the traffic signal lamp and for turning on and off the traffic signal lamp,
Via the antenna, it is configured to transmit signal information relating to the display of the traffic signal lamp present and in the future to a vehicle traveling on the road where the traffic signal lamp is installed. Yes.

  According to the antenna unit, the lamp, the traffic signal lamp, and the traffic signal controller of the present invention, it is possible to suppress a decrease in visibility due to the overlap between the patch element and the light emitter.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. The lamp shown in FIG. 1 is a traffic signal lamp 1 (hereinafter also simply referred to as “signal lamp”) installed on a road, and is for a vehicle.

  A support column 40 is installed on the side of a road such as a sidewalk, and an arm 41 is provided so as to protrude from the support column 40 to the roadway side, and the signal lamp 1 is attached to the arm 41. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 denotes an antenna coaxial cable described later.

  The signal lamp 1 includes a plurality (three in the example shown in FIG. 1) of optical units 2 and a housing 3 in which these optical units 2 are incorporated. The three optical units 2 have red, yellow, and blue lamp colors, respectively. A eaves (not shown) is attached to each optical unit 2.

  A control device 5 that controls the signal lamp 1 is attached to the support column 40. The installation structure of the signal lamp 1 may be other than that shown in the drawing, although not shown, the pillars 40 and the arms 41 may have different forms, and the signal lamp 1 is installed on a pedestrian bridge. It may be. Further, the control device 5 may be provided in the housing 3 of the signal lamp device 1.

  The control device 5 that controls lighting of the signal lamp 1 can be configured to perform wireless communication control via the antenna 4 described later (or the device that performs wireless communication control is built in the same housing. But can be a separate device. When separate, it is preferable that the device for performing the wireless communication control is installed in the vicinity of the control device for controlling the lighting of the signal lamp 1 or the like (the same column 40).

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of one optical unit 2. The optical unit 2 includes a light emitting diode 7 (hereinafter also referred to as “LED”) as a light emitter, a substrate 8 on which a plurality of LEDs 7 are mounted on a front surface 8a, a housing member 6 for housing the substrate 8, and a cover member. 9. The substrate 8 has a wiring pattern formed on the back surface thereof, and the terminal 37 of the LED 7 is connected to the wiring pattern. On the substrate 8, a plurality of LEDs 7 are arranged in a planar shape. More specifically, the plurality of LEDs 7 are arranged so as to form a concentric circular radiation pattern, and the radial dimension between adjacent concentric circles is substantially uniform (see FIG. 3).

  The LED 7 has a lens portion 38, and an LED element or a light emitting portion (not shown) that is a portion that actually emits light is provided in the lens portion 38.

  The accommodating member 6 has a dish shape having a bottom portion (bottom wall) 6a and side portions (side walls) 6b erected from the peripheral edge of the bottom portion 6a, and opens forward. A cover member 9 is attached to the opening side end face of the side portion 6b. Thereby, the accommodation space part S is formed between the accommodation member 6 and the cover member 9, and LED7 and the board | substrate 8 are accommodated in this accommodation space part S. FIG. The substrate 8 is fixed to the housing member 6. In the accommodation space S, the front space part S1 is the front space part S1 and the rear space part S2 is the rear space part S2.

  The cover member 9 has visible light permeability (transparent to visible light) and covers the plurality of LEDs 7 in the front. In this optical unit 2, the front is the light projecting side (the cover member 9 side), and the rear is the bottom 6 a side of the housing member 6.

  An antenna 4 is incorporated in the optical unit 2. The antenna 4 is a patch antenna and includes a patch element 11 and a ground element 12. That is, in FIG. 2, the patch element 11 and the ground element 12 are stored (accommodated) in the optical unit 2, that is, in the accommodating space S.

  The patch element 1 is formed in a mesh shape with a conductor such as a conducting wire (see FIG. 3 and the like), and is supported and fixed by a support member 13 standing forward from the substrate 8. The support member 13 is made of an insulating member. The patch element 11 has a plurality of openings for transmitting visible light, and is provided in a range A from the cover member 9 to the front end 39 of the LED 7. 2, the cover member 9 has a rear surface (back surface) 9a having a concave curved surface and a front surface 9b having a convex curved surface, and the patch element 11 is provided rearward from the rear surface 9a of the cover member 9. Yes. Here, the cover member 9 is an uneven curved surface. However, if the signal lamp 1 is an LED lamp, it may be a flat surface.

  The ground element 12 is formed in a circular planar shape (flat plate shape), and is attached to the substrate 8 on the front surface 8 a of the substrate 8. For example, the ground element 12 is fastened to the housing member 6 together with the substrate 8 by screws. The ground element 12 is provided behind the patch element 11 and between the substrate 8 and the front end 39 of the LED 7 in the front-rear direction. The contour shape of the ground element 12 is larger than the contour shape of the patch element 11. In the present invention, the shape of the ground element 12 is not limited to a circle, and may be any shape as long as it is somewhat larger than the patch element 11.

  Thereby, the ground element 12 and the patch element 11 are provided in the front space portion S1, the patch element 11 is provided in a range A from the front surface 8a of the substrate 8 to the front end 39 of the LED 7, and the ground element 12 is patched. The state is provided behind the element 11. The ground element 12 and the patch element 11 are arranged opposite to each other in the front-rear direction, and the directivity of the antenna 4 is the direction from the signal lamp device 1 toward the front. That is, the light projecting direction by the optical unit 2 and the antenna directivity can be substantially matched, and the signal lamp 1 is installed at a position where the line of sight is good with respect to the vehicle. A good communication state can be obtained with an in-vehicle device (not shown).

  In addition, in order to use the signal lamp 1 in which the antenna 4 is stored in an intelligent road traffic system (ITS) that performs radio communication between road vehicles, when the use frequency is set to 715 MHz to 725 MHz, the ground element 12 and the patch are used. The space | interval of the front-back direction with the element 11 can be set to 10-40 mm. This is the case where air is interposed between the ground element 12 and the patch element 11.

  A terminal portion 19 for connecting the coaxial cable 15 for the antenna 4 is attached to the housing member 6 (bottom portion 6a), and the coaxial cable 15 extending from the control device 5 of FIG. Can do. A coaxial cable 15 a extending from the terminal portion 19 to the rear space portion S <b> 2 is connected to the antenna 4. The coaxial cable 15a includes an inner conductor 15b, an insulator 15c, an outer conductor 15d, and a covering portion 15e. The inner conductor 15b of the coaxial cable 15a is connected to the patch element 11, and the outer conductor 15d is a ground element. 12 is connected. The inner and outer conductors 15b and 15d and the elements 11 and 12 (conductor portions of each element) can be connected and fixed by soldering, but methods other than soldering may be used.

  A power cable (not shown) for the LED 7 extending from the control device 5 in FIG. 1 is connected to the LED substrate 8 via a terminal portion (not shown) attached to the bottom 6 a of the housing member 6. Yes.

  A feature of the present invention is that a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body of the patch element 11 is different from an arrangement pattern of the plurality of LEDs 7. In the present embodiment, the arrangement pattern of the LEDs 7 is a concentric radiation pattern arranged in a cylindrical coordinate system. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the grid pattern constituting the mesh body is composed of a vertical grid 20 and a horizontal grid 21 orthogonal to the vertical grid 20 (an array in the XY coordinate system). (Embodiment 1). According to this lattice pattern, a substantially rectangular opening 22 is provided as an opening for transmitting visible light. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the interval between adjacent vertical lattices and the interval between adjacent horizontal lattices are also made non-uniform. For example, the interval between the vertical lattice 20a and the vertical lattice 20b is set larger than the interval between the vertical lattice 20b and the vertical lattice 20c. The interval between the horizontal lattice 21a and the horizontal lattice 21b is set larger than the interval between the horizontal lattice 21b and the horizontal lattice 21c.

  In this way, when the signal lamp 1 is viewed from the front by changing the arrangement pattern of the LEDs 7 and the pattern of the lattice constituting the mesh body of the patch element 11, both patterns are partially at a certain direction angle. Many of the light emitters do not overlap and are not hidden behind the lattice that forms the mesh body at the same time. That is, it is impossible to completely eliminate the overlap between the LED 7 and the mesh lattice, but it is possible to prevent the degree of the overlap between the LED 7 and the mesh body from suddenly increasing at a certain angle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from deteriorating suddenly at a certain direction angle.

  Further, as another example of the lattice pattern of the mesh body, which is different from the concentric arrangement pattern of the LEDs 7, the one shown in FIG. 7 can be given. The grid pattern shown in FIG. 7 includes a plurality of circular grids 30 that are concentric with the center of the concentric arrangement pattern of the LEDs 7 and a radial grid 31 that connects adjacent circular grids (Embodiment 2). ). In the plurality of circular lattices 30, the radial dimension between adjacent circular lattices, that is, the radial pitch of the plurality of circular lattices arranged concentrically is set smaller than the radial pitch of the LEDs 7. Yes.

  In this case, since the pitch in the radial direction of the LEDs 7 and the pitch in the radial direction of the plurality of circular gratings 30 are different from each other, the distance between the circular grating 30 and the LEDs 7 located on both sides (outside and inside) is as follows. The arrangement pattern of the circular lattice 30 and the arrangement pattern of the LEDs 7 are different from each other by being slightly shifted along the radial direction. For this reason, in a certain direction angle, both patterns are partially overlapped, and many of the LEDs 7 are not hidden behind the lattice constituting the mesh body at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the visibility of the lamp from being suddenly lowered at a certain direction angle. In the present embodiment, the radial dimension between adjacent circular gratings is constant, but by making the radial dimension non-uniform, the arrangement pattern of the circular grating 30 and the arrangement pattern of the LEDs 7 Can be different. For example, in FIG. 7, the arrangement pattern is different by setting the radial dimension between the circular grating 30a and the circular grating 30b to be smaller than the radial dimension between the circular grating 30b and the circular grating 30c. It can also be made.

  From another point of view, the arrangement pattern of the circular grating 30 and the arrangement pattern of the LED 7 are determined by randomizing the positional relationship between the circular grating 30 and the LEDs 7 on both sides (both sides in the radial direction) of the circular grating 30. Can be different.

That is, the radius of the concentric circles of the LEDs 7 is R_L0 (center), R_L1 (smallest circle),..., And the radius of the six circular lattices 30 (in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7) is from the center. If R_s1, R_s2,... R_s6, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
R_s1 = R_L1- (R_L1-R_L0) / 6 × 1
R_s2 = R_L2- (R_L2-R_L1) / 6 × 2
R_s3 = R_L3- (R_L3-R_L2) / 6 × 3
R_s4 = R_L4- (R_L4-R_L3) / 6 × 4
R_s5 = R_L5- (R_L5-R_L4) / 6 × 5
R_s6 = R_L6- (R_L6-R_L5) / 6 × 6
It is said that. This equation is generalized
R_si = R_Li- (R_Li-R_L (i-1)) / n × jn: The number of element lattices. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, i = j and R_Li-R_L (i -1) = constant (the LEDs 7 are arranged with a constant radius), the interval (pitch) of the circular lattice 30 is constant. However, the arrangement pattern of the circular grating 30 and the LED 7 is different from each other by making the pitch of the circular grating 30 and the pitch of the LEDs 7 different.

  However, the present invention is not limited to i = j, i = (n + 1) −j may be used, and the order of j may be different. That is, R_s1 to R_s6 can be set by using j only once as an integer from 1 to n.

  When R_Li-R_L (i-1) = constant, if i = (n + 1) −j, R_s1 = R_L1- (R_L1-R_L0) / 6 × 6, R_s2 = R_L2- (R_L2-R_L1) / 6 × 5,..., R_s6 = R_L6- (R_L6-R_L5) / 6 × 1, and the interval (pitch) of the circular lattice 30 is constant, but the pitch of the circular lattice 30 and the pitch of the LEDs 7 are different. Therefore, the arrangement patterns of the circular grid 30 and the LEDs 7 can be different from each other.

  In addition, when R_Li-R_L (i-1) = constant, the pitch of the LEDs 7 is uniform when the order of j is varied, that is, when j is used only once as an integer from 1 to n. Since the pitch of the circular grating 30 becomes non-uniform, the arrangement patterns of the circular grating 30 and the LEDs 7 can be different from each other.

  Next, regarding the visibility of the lamp of the present invention, a patch element is disposed at a position 28 mm ahead of the substrate on which 192 LEDs are concentrically arranged, and the angle (elevation angle) at which this lamp is viewed is set to 0 ° to The change was confirmed in increments of 5 ° up to 45 °. This confirmation was performed by gradually tilting the lamp backward in 5 ° increments on the screen and counting the number of LED light-emitting portions hidden by the grid of patch elements at each angle.

  Lattice pattern according to the first embodiment (square pattern (square element): a lattice pattern including a vertical lattice and a horizontal lattice orthogonal to the vertical lattice), and a lattice pattern according to the second embodiment (circular random pattern (circular random pattern) Element): a lattice pattern composed of a plurality of circular lattices concentric with the center of the concentric arrangement pattern of the LEDs and a radial lattice connecting adjacent circular lattices. And a concentric lattice pattern (circular pattern (circular element)) that is the same as that of the LED as a comparative example. On the arc having a radius obtained by adding the radius R1 of the outer circumference arc of the lattice and the inner radius R2 and dividing by 2 and located on the center line of the center angle of the arc. For the case of the three are location), it was confirmed. The results are shown in Tables 1-3. Table 1 shows the number of LEDs hidden for each angle, Table 2 shows the number of LEDs visible for each angle, and Table 3 shows the number of LEDs visible for all LEDs (192). The ratio (%) of the number of LEDs is shown. These are illustrated in FIGS.

  3 is an explanatory front view of the light emitting part of the patch element and the LED according to Embodiment 1 at an elevation angle of 0 °, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are also front views at an elevation angle of 15 °, an elevation angle of 30 °, and an elevation angle of 45 °. It is explanatory drawing. Further, FIG. 7 is an explanatory front view of the light emitting part of the patch element and LED according to Embodiment 2 at an elevation angle of 0 °, and FIGS. 8 to 10 are also front views at an elevation angle of 15 °, an elevation angle of 30 °, and an elevation angle of 45 °. It is explanatory drawing. FIG. 11 is a front explanatory view at an elevation angle of 0 ° of the light emitting portion of the patch element and LED according to the comparative example, and FIGS. 12 to 14 are front explanatory views at an elevation angle of 15 °, an elevation angle of 30 °, and an elevation angle of 45 °. It is. 3 to 14, for the sake of easy understanding, only one light emitting portion is expressed by a small “◯” except for one LED on the substrate. Further, illustration of members other than the patch element, the LED, and the substrate is omitted.

  From Tables 1 to 3 and FIGS. 3 to 17, the lattice pattern of the mesh body constituting the patch element is different from the LED arrangement pattern at a certain direction angle (in the above example, the elevation angle is 25 °). It was confirmed that it was possible to prevent many of the LEDs from disappearing all at once. Specifically, when the traffic signal lamp is looked up in an elevation angle range of 0 to 45 °, the ratio of the light emitting portions of the plurality of LEDs overlapping with the lattice constituting the mesh body is 30% of the number of all light emitting portions. The following was confirmed. In particular, in the case of the lattice pattern of the first embodiment, it can be seen that a large proportion of the light emitting portions can be seen stably regardless of the elevation angle, and good visibility can be ensured. On the other hand, in the circular pattern of the comparative example, it was found that about half of the total 89 LEDs suddenly disappeared at an elevation angle of 25 °, and the visibility deteriorated.

  The control device 5 (traffic signal controller) for controlling the traffic signal lamp 1 described above is configured to transmit the traffic signal lamp to a vehicle traveling on a road where the traffic signal lamp 1 is installed or a nearby road via an antenna 4. Signal information regarding the current and future indications of the device 1 can be provided.

  The signal information refers to information on the current or future signal lamp color displayed by the traffic signal lamp 1, and includes information on the scheduled display duration of each signal lamp color, the display order, and the like.

  For example, the currently displayed lamp color is a blue light and its scheduled duration is 5 seconds, the next displayed lamp color is a yellow signal and its scheduled duration is 8 seconds, and the next displayed lamp color. It is preferable to include information such as a right turn blue arrow light whose estimated duration is 5 to 10 seconds in a predetermined format. Note that only the currently displayed lamp color and its duration may be provided, or information for one cycle may be provided collectively. Further, in addition to these pieces of information, parameter information related to the control, information on a time zone in which the control is performed, and the like may be included at the point where the point sensitive control is performed.

  Then, the vehicle-side computer on the vehicle side that has received the signal information estimates the time required to reach the stop line from the distance to the stop line and the traveling speed, acceleration, etc. of the vehicle, and after the required time has elapsed. Can be estimated. For example, even if a green signal is displayed at the present time, if the signal light color is predicted to be a red signal when arriving at the stop line, the in-vehicle computer is safely stopped before the stop line. Can be controlled. Conversely, if it can be determined that the vehicle can safely pass through the intersection unless the vehicle is decelerated, control may be performed to maintain the speed.

  Further, the in-vehicle computer may perform not only control driven by the in-vehicle device but also operation for assisting the driving operation of the driver such as brake assist.

  The in-vehicle computer may notify the vehicle occupant of the determination result by voice or image information. For example, a voice message such as “The signal will change soon and should be stopped” may be emitted to the driver, or may be displayed on the screen of the head-up display or the navigation device with characters and symbols.

  The lamp of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the signal lamp may be for pedestrians as well as for vehicles. Further, the light emitter included in the signal lamp device may be a light bulb other than the LED. In each of the above embodiments, the ground element 12 is circular. However, other than this, the ground element 12 may be rectangular.

  The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the meanings described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a front view of one embodiment of the lamp of the present invention. It is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the optical unit in the lamp shown in FIG. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 0 degree of the patch element of Embodiment 1, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 15 degrees of the patch element of Embodiment 1, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 30 degrees of the patch element of Embodiment 1, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 45 degrees of the patch element of Embodiment 1, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 0 degree of the patch element of Embodiment 2, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 15 degrees of the patch element of Embodiment 2, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 30 degrees of the patch element of Embodiment 2, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 45 degrees of the patch element of Embodiment 2, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 0 degree of the patch element of a comparative example, and a light emission part. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 15 degrees of the patch element and light emission part of a comparative example. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 30 degrees of the patch element and light emission part of a comparative example. It is front explanatory drawing in the elevation angle of 45 degrees of the patch element of a comparative example, and a light emission part. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an elevation angle and the number of LEDs which are hidden. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an elevation angle and the number of visible LEDs. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an elevation angle and the probability of the number of visible LEDs.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Signal lamp 2 Optical unit 4 Antenna 5 Control apparatus 6 Housing member 7 Light emitting diode 8 Board | substrate 9 Cover member 11 Patch element 12 Ground element 20 Vertical lattice 21 Horizontal lattice 22 Opening 30 Circular lattice 31 Radial lattice

Claims (8)

An optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a cover member that has visible light transparency and covers the plurality of light emitters in front;
An antenna having a patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element behind the patch element;
With
The patch element is formed of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light, and a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body is different from an arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters.   The lamp according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters is concentric, and the grid of the mesh body includes a vertical grid and a horizontal grid orthogonal to the vertical grid. The arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters is concentric,
The lattice of the mesh body is composed of a plurality of circular lattices that are concentric with the center of the concentric arrangement pattern of the light emitter, and a radial lattice that connects between adjacent circular lattices,
The lamp according to claim 1, wherein a radial pitch of the plurality of light emitters and a radial pitch of the plurality of circular gratings are different from each other. The arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters is concentric,
The lattice of the mesh body is composed of a plurality of circular lattices that are concentric with the center of the concentric arrangement pattern of the light emitter, and a radial lattice that connects between adjacent circular lattices,
The lamp according to claim 1, wherein pitches in the radial direction of the plurality of light emitters are made substantially uniform, whereas pitches in the radial direction of the plurality of circular gratings are made non-uniform. An optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a cover member that has visible light transparency and covers the plurality of light emitters in front;
An antenna having a patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element behind the patch element;
With
The patch element is made of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light, and a traffic signal lamp characterized in that a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body and an arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters are different. . An optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern, and a cover member that has visible light transparency and covers the plurality of light emitters in front;
An antenna having a patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element behind the patch element;
With
The patch element is a traffic signal lamp composed of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light,
When the traffic signal lamp is looked up in an elevation angle range of 0 to 45 °, the ratio of the light emitting portions of the plurality of light emitting bodies overlapping with the lattice constituting the mesh body is 30% or less of the total number of light emitting portions. Thus, the traffic signal lamp characterized by the pattern of the said mesh body being set. An antenna unit for a lamp incorporated in an optical unit having a plurality of light emitters arranged in a predetermined pattern and a cover member that has visible light transparency and covers the light emitter forward,
A patch element provided in a range from the cover member to the front end of the light emitter, and a ground element provided behind the patch element;
The patch element is made of a mesh body having an opening for transmitting visible light, and a pattern of a lattice constituting the mesh body is different from an arrangement pattern of the plurality of light emitters. Antenna unit. A traffic signal controller connected to the traffic signal lamp according to claim 5 or 6 for turning on and off the traffic signal lamp,
Via the antenna, it is configured to transmit signal information related to the display of the current and future traffic signal lamps to a vehicle traveling on a road where the traffic signal lamps are installed. Traffic signal control machine.

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