JP2012246647A - Cone cover - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problems: a conventional cone cover cannot be used for a road sign cone used widely and cannot enhance night-time visibility.SOLUTION: A cone cover is used by covering a road sign cone so as to solve the above problems. The cone cover includes an approximately cone-shaped optically-transparent cone cover body, and a plurality of skirt-part LED illuminants which are arranged along an inner peripheral surface of a skirt part of the cone cover body and which have a light illumination direction directed toward the top of the cone cover approximately along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cone cover that is used on a road sign cone and includes a light source for enhancing nighttime visibility.

  Road sign cones used to guide and regulate vehicles and pedestrians during road construction, etc. are visible at night by attaching reflectors on the surface or placing a light source inside the road sign cone. Ingenuity to secure is made.

  However, most road sign cones are made of resin and colored red or yellow for daytime visibility, and light from the inside of the road sign cone does not transmit much outside, ensuring sufficient nighttime visibility. Absent.

  In view of this, a device has been devised in which a light source is arranged outside the road sign cone to further improve nighttime visibility. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a warning display cover shown in FIG. A large number of light bulbs (1003) are arranged on the cover (1002) covering the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone (1001), and light is emitted from the dry battery (1005) through the lead wire (1004).

  Patent Document 2 discloses a security display tool shown in FIG. The indicator includes a road sign cone (1101) in which a plurality of light emitters (1104) are arranged, a transparent or translucent cover (1103), a case (1105) in which wiring and plugs are stored, and a battery case. (1106) and a platform (1102) on which it is installed.

Noto 3038485 gazette JP 2000-96528 A

  In any of the above-described inventions, since the light source is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and illuminates the periphery of the road sign cone, the light emitted from the light source can be visually recognized from a distance. However, since these light sources do not illuminate the road sign cones, they do not increase the visibility of the road sign cones themselves. For drivers and pedestrians, they can recognize that something is shining, but they cannot recognize the guidance and regulations that road sign cones should fulfill.

  Furthermore, the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2 cannot use a general-purpose road sign cone, and has many components and is not a simple structure. For this reason, it is impossible to promptly install and remove it, and it is difficult to provide it at a low price.

  Then, in order to solve the said subject, in the present invention, the following cone covers are provided. That is, the first invention is a cone cover that is used by covering a road sign cone, along a substantially cone-shaped cone cover body that is light transmissive, and along the inner peripheral surface of the hem portion of the cone cover body. A cone cover comprising a plurality of skirt LED emitters that are arranged such that the light irradiation direction is substantially along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body and toward the top of the cone cover.

  As a second invention, there is provided a first invention having a spacer for arranging the plurality of skirt LED light emitters between an inner peripheral surface of a skirt portion of a cone cover body and an outer peripheral surface of a road sign cone. A cone cover as described in 1. is provided.

  As a third invention, the cone cover main body is configured in such a shape that a gap is formed between the inner peripheral surface other than the skirt portion of the cone cover main body and the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone. Or the cone cover as described in 2nd invention is provided.

  As a fourth invention, together with the plurality of skirt LED light emitters or in place of the plurality of skirt LED light emitters, the light irradiation is arranged along the inner peripheral surface of the top portion of the cone cover body. The cone cover according to any one of the first to third inventions, wherein the cone cover has a plurality of top LED light emitters whose directions are substantially along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body and toward the bottom of the cone cover. provide.

  As a fifth invention, the cone cover main body provides the cone cover according to any one of the first to fourth inventions, wherein the cone cover main body has a mounting hole for mounting an accessory on a substantially conical top. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cone cover that can enhance visibility of a road sign cone that is widely used at night.

Conceptual diagram of cone cover according to Embodiment 1 Conceptual diagram of cone cover according to Embodiment 1 The conceptual diagram which shows the progress of the light by the skirt LED light-emitting body concerning Embodiment 1. The conceptual diagram which shows the spacer which concerns on Embodiment 1. The conceptual diagram which shows the spacer which concerns on Embodiment 1. The conceptual diagram which shows the spacer which concerns on Embodiment 1. Conceptual diagram of cone cover according to Embodiment 2 Conceptual diagram of cone cover according to Embodiment 3 Conceptual diagram of mounting hole according to Embodiment 3 Conceptual diagram of cone cover according to prior art Conceptual diagram of cone cover according to prior art

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention should not be limited to these embodiments at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

The first embodiment mainly relates to claims 1, 2, 3 and the like. The second embodiment mainly relates to claim 4 and the like. The third embodiment mainly relates to claim 5 and the like.
<Embodiment 1>
<Summary of Embodiment 1>

A conceptual diagram of this embodiment is shown in FIG. The cone cover (0102) used on the road sign cone (0101) has a spacer (0104) in which an LED light emitter (0103) is arranged along the inner peripheral surface of the skirt portion. The LED emitter is arranged so that light is irradiated toward the top of the cone cover. In a state where the road sign cone is covered with the cone cover, the irradiated light is directed from the skirt to the top of the road sign cone, so that the entire road sign cone is illuminated. Thereby, the visibility of the road sign cone itself can be effectively enhanced at night.
<Configuration of Embodiment 1>

  The cone cover of the present embodiment is disposed along a light-transmitting substantially conical cone cover main body and an inner peripheral surface of the hem of the cone cover main body, and the light irradiation direction is substantially the same as that of the cone cover main body. And a plurality of skirt LED emitters that are in a direction toward the top of the cone cover along the peripheral surface.

  The “cone cover body” is formed in a light-transmitting substantially conical shape. The size of the inside of the cone cover main body only needs to be such a size that a gap that allows at least the skirt LED light emitter to be disposed is generated between the outer peripheral surface of the cone and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body. For example, when the cone cover body is formed with the apex angle of the cone equal to the apex angle of the road sign cone and the height of the cone higher than that of the road sign cone, a certain gap is provided for the road sign cone. The entire road sign cone can be covered with the outer peripheral surface. The cone cover body does not necessarily have a size that can cover the entire road sign cone, but the skirt LED illuminator illuminates a wider area of the road sign cone outer peripheral surface when covering the entire road sign cone. It is more preferable for improving visibility.

  Light transmittance can be obtained by using a transparent or translucent synthetic resin or the like. As the synthetic resin, for example, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic, or the like can be used. Further, not only colorless but also red or yellow may be colored.

  Although the thickness of a cone cover main body can be determined suitably, about 0.5 mm-3 mm are preferable, for example. If it is too thin, the durability may be impaired, and if it is too thick, the handleability may be reduced due to an increase in weight, and it may be difficult to ensure light transmittance.

  FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a road sign cone and a cone cover placed on the road sign cone. FIG. 2B is a conceptual diagram showing a cross section taken along line “AA” in FIG. The cone cover body (0201) is put on the road sign cone (0202). A skirt LED luminous body (0203) is disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the skirt (0206) of the cone cover main body. Note that “the skirt portion of the cone cover body” means a side portion close to the bottom surface of the cone when the substantially cone-shaped cone cover is regarded as a cone. The skirt LED light emitter is disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the hem portion of the cone cover main body, so that the hem LED light emitter is covered with the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the inner periphery of the cone cover main body. It is located in the gap (0205) with the surface.

  The skirt LED luminous body is not disposed directly on the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body in the drawing, but is disposed on the spacer (0204). This spacer will be described later. You may arrange | position a skirt LED light-emitting body directly to a cone cover main body without providing such a spacer. The skirt LED illuminator is arranged such that the light irradiation direction is a direction (0208) toward the top (0207) of the cone cover along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body. The light irradiated by arrange | positioning in this way can illuminate to the outer peripheral surface of a road sign cone and the top part of the internal peripheral surface of a cone cover main body.

  The LED (light emitting diode) used for the skirt LED light emitter preferably has a certain degree of directivity with respect to light irradiation. For example, a commercially available bullet-type LED package is effective because it has directivity by means of a bullet-shaped transparent resin acting as a convex lens. Alternatively, the LED package may have a flat light exit surface, or the LED chip may be located at the center of a hemispherical dome-shaped transparent resin. When these are used, a desired directivity may be obtained by a lens or a reflector as necessary.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the progress of light of the skirt LED light emitter between the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body. The skirt LED luminous body (0303) is disposed between the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone (0301) and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body (0302). The irradiated light is reflected on the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone (0304), reflected on the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body (0305, 0306), or transmitted through the cone cover main body (0307, 0308). ), Along the outer peripheral surface of the cone cover body (0309, 0310), etc., and when the incident angle (0311) to the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body exceeds the critical angle, Some (0312) are transmitted from the peripheral surface side and reflected by the outer peripheral surface.

  The skirt LED illuminator is disposed so that the direction of light irradiation is directed to the top of the cone cover along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body, and the irradiated light has directivity, so that the cone cover body More light travels in a direction substantially parallel to the inner peripheral surface of the. In addition, the refractive index of the air existing between the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body and the refractive index of the synthetic resin or the like forming the road sign cone and the cone cover main body are synthetic resins, etc. Because the refractive index is higher and the incident angle of light radiated to the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body is shallow, most of the irradiated light is the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the cone. Reflection is repeated by the inner peripheral surface of the cover body, and a light guide effect from the skirt to the top is obtained.

  By reflecting or transmitting the irradiated light in this way, for example, when the cone cover body is colorless and transparent, a road sign cone receiving light on the outer peripheral surface can be visually recognized. When the cone cover main body is colored red, the cone cover main body is visually recognized as red by the light transmitted through the cone cover main body. Each of them looks different, but in any case, visibility at night is extremely high.

  As described above, the visibility at night is enhanced by the reflection and transmission of the irradiated light. Therefore, it is preferable that there is a gap between the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover body. When the spacer described later is provided, the gap is naturally generated at the hem of the cone cover main body, but there is a gap between the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body other than the hem. It is preferable to form the cone cover body so that it can. Even when the spacer is not provided, it is preferable that a gap is formed from the skirt to the top as described above.

  In arranging the skirt LED light emitter, a spacer for arranging a plurality of skirt LED light emitters may be used between the inner peripheral surface of the skirt portion of the cone cover body and the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone. Good. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the spacer as viewed from the top side of the cone cover body. The spacer is provided for disposing the skirt LED light emitter between the inner peripheral surface of the skirt portion of the cone cover body and the outer peripheral surface of the cone. The spacer also contributes to creating a gap between the inner peripheral surface of the bottom part of the cone cover body and the outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone.

  The spacer (0402) is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the bottom of the cone cover body (0401), and is formed in an annular shape having a predetermined width. A plurality of skirt LED emitters (0403) are arranged in the spacer. The spacer is formed of, for example, a synthetic resin. It is also preferable that the inner side surface (0404) of the spacer in contact with the road sign cone is made difficult to slip by attaching rubber or the like or roughening the surface. By doing in this way, when it puts on a road sign cone, it becomes difficult to come off easily. Moreover, you may provide the area | region which can accommodate the battery for supplying electric power to the skirt LED light-emitting body in a part of spacer.

  A solar cell may be provided in the spacer. Since the cone cover main body is light transmissive, it can receive light sufficiently and can be used as a power supply source for light emission. Further, in this case, the possibility that the solar cell is soiled or damaged without being directly exposed to wind and rain by the cone cover body is reduced.

  The spacer is not limited to being integrally formed as shown in FIG. Examples of other spacers are shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a spacer composed of a plurality of members. FIG. 5A shows an example in which a plurality of individual members (0502) on which one skirt LED emitter (0503) is arranged are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the skirt of the cone cover body (0501). FIG. 5B shows an example in which a plurality of individual members (0512) on which the three bottom LED light emitters (0513) are arranged are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the bottom of the cone cover body (0511). . In such a configuration, for example, even if the road sign cone is distorted due to damage or the like, or slightly different from the general-purpose shape, the cone is adapted to those shapes. A cover can be put on.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a cross-section of the spacer taken along the “AA line” in FIG. FIG. 6A shows a case where the skirt LED light emitter (0602) is provided so as to protrude from the upper surface (0603) of the spacer (0601). Since the lens of the skirt LED luminous body is exposed, the irradiation efficiency is good.

  The spacer (0611) shown in FIG. 6B is arranged in such a manner that the skirt LED luminous body (0612) is embedded in the groove, and a light-transmitting cover (0613) is provided on the top. . By doing so, it is possible to prevent the lens from becoming dirty. Note that it is also preferable to fill the space of the groove closed by the cover with a transparent substance (0614) such as gel. By eliminating the air in the blocked space, the difference in refractive index at the interface with the cover is reduced, and the light reflected by the cover can be reduced and the transmitted light can be made relatively large.

In addition to the cover (0623), the spacer (0621) shown in FIG. 6 (c) further has a hem LED emitter (0622) arranged in a groove whose surface is mirror-finished and whose surface is mirror-finished. It is. By doing in this way, the irradiation efficiency of a skirt LED light-emitting body improves. Such a configuration is more suitable when the light directivity of the skirt LED light emitter is low. The fact that it is preferable to fill the groove space closed by the cover with a transparent substance such as gel (0614) is the same as the description in FIG.
<Embodiment 1 effect>

With the cone cover of the present embodiment, the visibility of the road sign cone at night can be improved.
<Embodiment 2>
<Overview of Embodiment 2>

This embodiment is based on Embodiment 1, and relates to a cone cover that improves visibility at night by providing an LED light emitter on the top of the cone cover main body and irradiating from the top to the bottom. Even when the LED illuminator is provided only at the top, sufficient nighttime visibility can be obtained as in the first embodiment. Further, by providing the LED light emitter at the top together with the skirt LED light emitter, even more visibility can be obtained, and even if one of the light emitters fails, it can be visually recognized by the other. Therefore, visibility can be maintained more reliably.
<Embodiment 2 configuration>

  The cone cover of the present embodiment is disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the top portion of the cone cover body together with the plurality of skirt LED light emitters or instead of the plurality of skirt LED light emitters, and irradiates light. It has a plurality of top LED light emitters whose directions are substantially along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body and toward the bottom of the cone cover.

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of the cone cover of the present embodiment. In Fig.7 (a), a top LED light-emitting body (0703) is arrange | positioned along the inner peripheral surface of the top part of a cone cover main body (0701) via a spacer (0702). The top LED light emitter is disposed so that the light irradiation direction is substantially along the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body and toward the hem of the cone cover. By providing the LED light emitter on the top of the cone cover body, for example, because the road sign cone is large, even if the cone cover cannot be covered to the bottom of the road sign cone, The light can illuminate to the bottom of the road sign cone, and it is possible to improve nighttime visibility.

  The top LED illuminator may be disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the top of the cone cover body without using a spacer, as in the case of the skirt LED illuminator. In addition, the operation and effects such as a mechanism for obtaining nighttime visibility by irradiation of the top LED light emitter are the same as those of the bottom LED light emitter.

FIG.7 (b) shows the cone cover with which the top LED light emitter was equipped with the skirt LED light emitter. Here, the skirt LED emitter (0711) and the top LED emitter (0713) are arranged in the spacers (0714, 0712), respectively.
<Embodiment 2 effect>

The cone cover of the present embodiment provides good nighttime visibility with the top LED emitter, and when provided with the hem LED emitter, ensures visibility even if one of them fails. Can be maintained.
<Embodiment 3>
<Overview of Embodiment 3>

The cone cover of this embodiment is based on Embodiment 1 or 2, and has an attachment hole for attaching accessories to the top of the cone cover body. As a result, accessories such as safety lights and construction lights can be attached, and not only the visibility at night can be improved, but also the functions of these accessories can be added to the road sign cone.
<Embodiment 3 configuration>

  The cone cover of this embodiment is provided with an attachment hole for attaching an accessory to the top of the cone cover main body having a substantially conical shape. Accessories include, for example, a safety light, a warning light, a construction light, etc. for prompting a caution or warning by blinking or lighting.

  FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing the cone cover of the present embodiment. A hole for attaching an accessory (0803) is provided at the top of the substantially conical shape of the road sign cone (0802). Such road sign cones are widely used. The cone cover body (0801) is used by being put on such a road sign cone, and has an attachment hole for attaching accessories. As shown in the figure, by covering the road sign cone with the cone cover body and attaching the accessories, the visibility of the road sign cone can be improved at night and the functions of the blinking accessories can be exhibited. .

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a cross section of the top of the road sign cone with the cone cover body covered. The cone cover body (0902) turns from the outer peripheral surface side of the road sign cone to the inner peripheral surface side so that rain does not enter the gap between the road sign cone (0901) and the inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body. It is preferable to be formed as follows. Also, as shown in the figure surrounded by a dotted line (0903), it is preferable to form the attachment hole in a shape that fits into the opening of the top portion of the road sign cone from the viewpoint of easy positioning. In FIG. 9, the attachment hole is formed integrally with the cone cover body, but may be configured separately. For example, the cone cover main body may be formed by opening the top, and the opening may be covered with a lid having a mounting hole.
<Embodiment 3 effects>

  With the cone cover of this embodiment, the visibility of the road sign cone can be improved at night, and the function of the accessory can be exhibited by attaching the accessory.

0101 Road Sign Cone 0102 Cone Cover Body 0103 Bottom LED Light Emitter 0104 Spacer

Claims (5)

A cone cover used on a road sign cone,
A light-transmitting substantially conical cone cover body;
A plurality of skirt LED emitters disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the hem of the cone cover main body, wherein the direction of light irradiation is substantially the direction toward the top of the cone cover along the inner peripheral surface of the corn cover main body. A cone cover consisting of   The cone cover according to claim 1, further comprising a spacer for disposing the plurality of skirt LED light emitters between an inner peripheral surface of a skirt portion of the cone cover main body and an outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone.   The cone cover according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cone cover body is configured in such a shape that a gap is formed between an inner peripheral surface of the cone cover main body other than a skirt portion and an outer peripheral surface of the road sign cone.   Along with the plurality of skirt LED light emitters or instead of the plurality of skirt LED light emitters, the cone cover body is disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the top, and the light irradiation direction is substantially the same as that of the cone cover body. The cone cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a plurality of top LED light emitters extending in a direction toward the hem of the cone cover along the inner peripheral surface.   The cone cover body according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cone cover body has a mounting hole for mounting an accessory on a substantially conical top portion.

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