JP2019096013A - Signal device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a signal device that can respond to downsizing of a lamp box while preventing snow accretion without compromising the visibility of a lamp.SOLUTION: The signal device includes: a lamp device 10 including the arrangement of a plurality of light emitting diodes 11; a lamp box 20 having an opening 21a for a lamp in a front surface part 21, the opening making the light emitting surface of the lamp device 10 exposed; a plane-like heater 30 located along the inner surface of the upper part of the front surface part 21 in the lamp box 20 other than the opening 21a and also along the inner surface of the upper surface part 23; and a heat storage member located along the inner surface of the plane-like heater 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic signal that can exhibit good visibility even when installed in a snowfall area.

  In a snowfall area, the snow attached to the traffic light may interfere with the visibility of the traffic light, causing a traffic accident. In particular, in recent years, a traffic light (so-called LED traffic light) using a power-saving light emitting diode as a light source for signals has become widespread, and the problem caused by snowing on the traffic light has become more apparent. In particular, LED traffic lights have the disadvantage that the lighting equipment is less likely to get hot and the snow deposited around the lighting equipment is less likely to melt compared to previous traffic lights that used a light bulb as the light source for the signal (lighting equipment) Because

  In view of such actual conditions, as shown in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1, the inventor of the present invention covers a light source plate 10 (lamp) for emitting signal light forward and a front side of the lamp 10. A traffic signal comprising a light transmitting panel 20 and a heating means 30 for heating the light transmitting panel 20, wherein the light transmitting panel 20 is provided with a heat storage layer 21 and the lamp 10 is used as a large number of signal light sources 11 It has already been proposed to arrange the light emitting diodes) and to arrange the heating wires 31 constituting the heating means 30 in a state in which the gaps between the light emitting diodes 11 of the lamp 10 are stitched.

JP 2017-016451 A

  However, since the signal apparatus of Patent Document 1 is provided with the heat storage layer 21 on the front side of the lamp (between the light transmitting panel 20 and the lamp 10), the definition of light emitted from the lamp 10 is reduced. For example, it is not always easy to keep the visibility of the lamp 10 good. Even if the definition of the lamp 10 is good at the beginning of the installation of the traffic signal, there is a possibility that the deterioration of the heat storage layer 21 may decrease as the age passes.

  Moreover, in the signal apparatus of patent document 1, it was difficult to use what was curved in convex lens shape as the light transmission panel 20. FIG. This is because it is difficult to provide the heat storage layer 21 on the inner surface of the curved light transmitting panel 20 in the traffic light of Patent Document 1. For this reason, when the light transmitting panel 20 curved in a convex lens shape is adopted in the traffic light of Patent Document 1, a gap is generated between the light transmitting panel 20 and the heat storage layer 21, and the power consumption of the heating means 30 increases. Not only that, there is also a possibility that a defect such as distortion of the light emitted from the lamp 10 may occur.

  In addition, as the specification of the dimensions of the lighting equipment for vehicle traffic signals was reduced from 30 cm to 25 cm in 2017, signal equipment manufacturers are now planning to miniaturize the light box for housing the lighting equipment. Also, flat type traffic lights that do not have a ridge on the upper side of the lamp have been introduced. In this regard, in the traffic signal of Patent Document 1, the fixing plate 104, the fixing member 105, and the like are provided on the front side of the lamp 10 in order to support the heating wire and the heat storage layer 21 of the heating unit 30 on the front side of the lamp 10. For example, it is necessary to be provided, and the space limitation is large, and there is also a drawback that it is difficult to cope with the downsizing of the signal device body 100 (light box).

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a traffic signal that can cope with the miniaturization of a light box while preventing snowfall without obstructing the visibility of the light. It is

The above task is
A lamp unit configured by arranging a plurality of light emitting diodes;
A light box having a front surface portion, a back surface portion, a top surface portion, a bottom surface portion, a left side surface portion and a right side surface portion, and having a light device opening for exposing the light emitting surface of the light device;
A traffic signal equipped with
An inner surface of the upper portion of the front surface of the lamp box excluding the lamp opening, and a planar heater provided along the inner surface of the upper surface,
The problem is solved by providing a traffic signal characterized by further comprising a heat storage material provided along the inner surface of the planar heater.

  As described above, by arranging the planar heaters at least on the upper side of the front surface and the inner surface of the upper surface of the lamp box, it is possible to prevent snow deposition above the lamp opening in the lamp box. In the front part of the lamp box, the portion provided with the lamp opening is normally attached with a transparent lamp cover, and the portion with the lamp cover attached prevents heat buildup by the heat of the lamp itself It is possible. In the traffic signal of the present invention, since the planar heater and the heat storage material are not disposed on the front side of the lamp, the visibility of the lamp can be maintained well.

  Further, by further arranging the heat storage material on the inner surface of the planar heater, it is possible to increase the heat capacity of the portion of the lamp box where the planar heater is disposed. In addition, when the ambient temperature is high, such as sunshine, the heat energy is accumulated in the heat storage material, and when the ambient temperature is low, such as snowfall, it is possible to dissipate heat from the heat storage material. Therefore, the temperature of the lamp box can not be lowered easily when snowfall or the like, and the power consumption required to drive the planar heater can be suppressed to a low level.

  The type of heat storage material used in the traffic signal of the present invention is not particularly limited, but preferably use a gel-like (gelled heat storage material) that has uniform specific heat within the operating temperature range and stores sensible heat. Can. As a result, not only the heat storage material is less likely to be biased due to vibration, etc., it is possible to make the heat storage material less convective, so that not only heat dissipation from the heat storage layer is improved but temperature unevenness is It will also be possible to curb. In addition, the heat energy stored in the heat storage material can be dissipated for a long time. It is more preferable to add a far infrared radiator such as ceramic powder to the heat storage material.

  In the traffic light of the present invention, it is also preferable to provide a heat insulating material along the inner surface of the back surface, the bottom surface, the left side surface and the right side surface of the lamp box. As a result, the heat generated by the planar heater can be prevented from escaping from locations other than the front surface and the upper surface of the lamp box, and it is possible to efficiently warm the front surface and the upper surface necessary to prevent snowfall. Become. As a heat insulating material, it is preferable to use a thick sheet material made of a foamed resin such as foamed polyethylene. Among them, it is preferable to use a sheet material made of a closed cell foam resin, in consideration of the high heat insulation property and the low water absorption property.

  In the traffic signal of the present invention, the planar heater may be driven by a dedicated power supply (a dedicated planar heater driving power supply). However, the signal light of the present invention is extracted from the lamp drive power supply for driving the lamp, and the current for driving the lamp is rectified and converted into a current for driving the planar heater for driving the planar heater. It is preferable that the heater rectifying means be provided. As described above, in recent traffic signals, the miniaturization of the light box has been promoted, and it is difficult to secure a sufficient space inside the light box. It becomes possible to divert the drive power supply also as a planar heater drive power supply, and it becomes easy to cope with the downsizing of the light box. In addition, energy saving of traffic signals can be achieved. In this case, if the drive power of the planar heater is 7 to 15 W per lamp, it is possible to use the lamp drive power as the planar heater drive power.

  The traffic signal according to the present invention may further include snow detection means for detecting snow deposition on the front surface of the light box, and the planar heater may be driven when the snow detection means detects snow deposition. preferable. As a result, it becomes possible to automatically operate the planar heater when snow is deposited on the front surface of the light box or the like. Although the snow detection means is not particularly limited in its specification, etc., it is a photoelectric sensor on the light reflection side having a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion, and light emitted from the light emitting portion is reflected by snow and received by the light receiving portion. It is preferable to detect that snow deposition has occurred on the front surface of the light box. This makes it possible to detect snowfall with high accuracy while having a simple configuration.

  In the traffic signal of the present invention, when the snow detection means is provided as described above, the snow detection means may be driven by a dedicated power supply (a power supply for driving the dedicated snow detection means). However, for the same reason as the planar heater drive power supply described above, the traffic signal of the present invention is extracted from the lamp drive power supply for driving the lamp and rectified and the snowfall detection means is rectified. It is preferable to include a snowfall detecting means rectifying means as a current for driving the snowfall detecting means to be driven.

  The traffic signal according to the present invention is provided with a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the front part of the light box, and the temperature detected by the temperature detection means is a predetermined temperature (hereinafter referred to as "planar heater driving temperature" It is also preferable to drive the planar heater when it becomes lower than. In this case, the planar heater driving temperature is preferably set in the range of 10 to 20 ° C. As a result, when the temperature of the front surface of the light box or the like decreases to the extent that snowing is a concern, it is possible to automatically operate the planar heater. As a temperature detection means, a thermostat etc. are suitable. The temperature detection means is preferably shared with the snowfall detection means described above.

  In the traffic signal according to the present invention, a plurality of light emitting devices having different light emitting colors are provided as light devices, and current for driving the light devices is taken out from the light device driving power source for driving the light devices and rectified. It is also preferable to include a snowfall detection means and a shared rectification means for driving the temperature detection means. As a result, in a traffic signal that emits light in three colors, such as red, blue, and yellow, a sheet heater, snow detection means, only by passing the current from the lamp drive power supply through one rectification circuit (common rectification means). And, it becomes possible to drive the temperature detection means, the wiring and the like are further simplified, and it becomes easier to cope with the miniaturization of the light box. Further, by taking out the current for driving the lamp for each light emission color and rectifying it, it is also possible to prevent the current of each light emission color from interfering with each other.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a traffic signal capable of coping with the downsizing of a light box while preventing snowfall without obstructing the visibility of the light.

It is the perspective view which showed an example of the external appearance of the signal equipment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which showed the state which cut | disconnected the signal in FIG. 1 by the plane perpendicular | vertical to the left-right direction of a signal. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a planar heater of the traffic signal in FIG. 2 cut at a plane perpendicular thereto and enlarged. FIG. 6 is an electric circuit diagram showing an example of a planar heater, a snowfall detection means, and a drive circuit of a temperature detection means, which can be adopted in the traffic signal of the present invention.

  Preferred embodiments of the traffic light of the present invention will be more specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of a traffic signal according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the traffic signal in FIG. 1 cut in a plane perpendicular to the lateral direction of the traffic signal. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the planar heater 30 of the traffic signal in FIG. 2 cut at a plane perpendicular thereto and enlarged. FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram showing an example of a driving circuit of the planar heater 30, snow detection means 60 and temperature detection means 70 which can be adopted in the traffic signal of the present invention.

  1 and 2 show the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis for the convenience of explanation. The orientations of the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis coincide with one another in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the following, the x-axis positive side is "right", the x-axis negative side is "left", the y-axis positive side is "rear", the y-axis negative side is "front", z-axis The direction positive side may be referred to as the “upper” side, and the z-axis direction negative side may be referred to as the “lower” side, but this is only for representing the relative positional relationship of each part. It does not limit the positional relationship.

  The traffic signal of the present invention includes a lamp 10 and a lamp box 20 as shown in FIG. The lamp 10 is configured by arranging a plurality of light emitting diodes 11 as shown in FIG. The light box 20 forms a front face 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2) forming the front outer surface of the traffic light, a back face 22 (FIG. 2) forming the rear outer surface of the traffic light, and an upper outer surface of the traffic light The upper surface 23 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the bottom surface 24 (FIG. 2) forming the lower outer surface of the traffic light, and the left side (not shown) forming the left outer surface of the traffic light will be described later. It is comprised with the right side part 25 which forms the right outer surface of the traffic signal, and is arrange | positioned facing the right side part 25 in the left-right direction (x-axis direction). The front surface 21 a is provided with a lamp opening 21 a for exposing the light emitting surface of the lamp 10. The light box 20 is generally configured to be separable into the front side 21 and the back side 22 thereof.

  In the traffic signal of the present invention, the number of lamps 10 is not particularly limited, but is usually 1 to 3. A single traffic light 10 is often used as a single-flash-type traffic light installed at the intersection of a narrow street where a normal traffic light can not be installed, in order to clarify the master-slave and prevent a head-on accident . In addition, two traffic lights with a lamp 10 are often employed as traffic lights for pedestrians. Furthermore, the three traffic lights with the lamp 10 are often employed as traffic lights for automobiles. In the following, for convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG. 1, a traffic signal provided with three lights 10 (a traffic light provided with three lamp openings 21a on the front surface 21 of the light box 20) is taken as an example Although the traffic signal of the present invention will be described, the number of the lighting devices 10 is not limited to this, and can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the installation location of the traffic signal, the application, and the like. The emission color of the lamp 10 is usually red, blue (green) or yellow. When a plurality of lamps 10 are provided, the lamps 10 may be arranged horizontally or vertically.

  In the traffic light of the present invention, a planar heater 30 is provided along the inner surface side of the hatched and hatched portion in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the planar heater 30 is provided along the inner surface of the upper portion of the front surface 21 of the lamp case 20 excluding the lamp opening 21 a and the inner surface of the upper surface 23. A heat storage material 40 is disposed along the inner surface of the planar heater 30 further inside the planar heater 30.

  As described above, by arranging the planar heater 30 on the inner surface side of the upper portion of the front surface portion 21 and the inner surface side of the upper surface portion 23, snow deposition to the upper side of the lamp opening 21a in the lamp box 20 is prevented. It has become possible. In the traffic signal of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a portion of the front surface 21 of the light box 20 provided with the lamp opening 21 a is covered with a transparent lamp cover 26, and this lamp cover The portion to which 26 is attached can prevent snowfall by the heat of the lamp 10 itself. Since no member other than the transparent lamp cover 26 is disposed on the front side (light emitting surface side) of the lamp 10, the visibility of the lamp 10 is good.

The planar heater 30 is not particularly limited as long as it can generate heat (a sheet or a mat), but a heater wire (a wire which generates heat when a current flows. Usually, a metal wire) is formed into a planar shape. What was formed into is used. In the traffic signal according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the heater wire 31 provided with the insulating coating 31a is sandwiched between a pair of heat transfer sheets 32 (generally, a sheet made of metal such as aluminum). The heater 30 is used. The pair of heat transfer sheets 32 are in a state of being adhered to each other by an adhesive 33 disposed therebetween.
The thickness of the planar heater 30 is not particularly limited, but is usually 1 to 5 mm, preferably 2 to 3 mm.

  Further, by further arranging the heat storage material 40 on the inner surface side of the planar heater 30, it is possible to increase the heat capacity of the portion of the light box 20 where the planar heater 30 is disposed. Not only the heat energy generated by the planar heater 30 but also the heat energy generated by the lamp 10 can be accumulated in the heat storage material 40. In addition, when the ambient temperature is high, such as during sunshine, it is also possible to store the heat energy of the open air in the heat storage material 40 at that time. The heat energy stored in the heat storage material 40 is released when the ambient temperature is low, such as during snowfall, and warms the light box 20. Therefore, the temperature of the light box 20 is less likely to fall when snowfall or the like, and the power consumption required to drive the planar heater 30 can be reduced. A place where the snow cover to the lamp cover 26 etc. can not be prevented only by the thermal energy of the lamp 10. As described above, the sheet heater 30 is provided, and the heat storage material 40 is provided. Not only the thermal energy generated in the above, but also the thermal energy such as the planar heater 30 and the outside air are layered, it is possible to more reliably prevent the snow deposition on the lamp cover 26 and the like.

  The heat storage material 40 is not particularly limited as long as it has a heat storage property, but in the signal device of this embodiment, it is a gelled heat storage material. As the gelled heat storage material used as the heat storage material 40, a gelled aqueous solution of a water absorbing resin can be suitably used. In the signal device of the present embodiment, a heat storage material 40 is obtained by gelation by adding a copolymer of isobutylene / maleic anhydride (water absorbing resin), ethylene glycol (antifreeze agent), and a crosslinking agent to water. I use it. As a result, not only the heat dissipation effect from the heat storage material 40 can be improved, but also the heat storage material 40 can be less likely to be biased due to vibration or the like. In the signaling device 40 of the present embodiment, a far infrared radiator is further added to the gelled heat storage material (heat storage material 40) described above. As an infrared radiator, ceramic powder etc. are suitable.

  However, since it is difficult for the above-mentioned gelled heat storage material to maintain a planar shape by itself, it is difficult to be stored in the lamp 20 as it is. Therefore, when a gelled heat storage material is adopted as the heat storage material 40, the gelled heat storage material is usually filled in a container (including a flexible bag-like one). In the traffic signal of this embodiment, the heat storage material 40 is filled with the above-mentioned gelled heat storage material in a rectangular bag-like container made of a three-layer film obtained by laminating a polyethylene low temperature sealing film, a polyethylene film and a polypropylene film. Are configured. The thickness of the heat storage material 40 is not particularly limited, but is usually 5 to 30 mm, preferably 10 to 20 mm.

  The planar heater 30 and the heat storage material 40 may be provided at least on the inner side of the upper portion of the front surface 21 and the inner surface of the upper surface 23 in the lamp case 20. The planar heater 30 and the heat storage material 40 may be provided inside the lower portion of the front face 21, inside the back face 22, inside the bottom face 24, and inside the left side face and the right side face 25. However, since these places do not affect the visibility of the lamp 10 even if snowing there, it is less necessary to provide the planar heater 30 and the heat storage material 40 at these places. For this reason, in the traffic signal of the present embodiment, the planar heater 30 and the heat storage material 40 are provided only inside the upper portion of the front surface 21 and inside the upper surface 23.

  However, the heat in the heat box 20 (especially, the heat storage material 40) is stored through the portions (the back surface portion 22, the bottom surface portion 24, the left side surface portion and the right side surface 25) where the planar heater 30 and the heat storage material 40 are not provided. If a large amount of heat (heat) is released, there is a possibility that the front part 21 and the top part 23, which need to prevent snowfall, can not be warmed efficiently. In addition, the power consumption of the planar heater 30 may be increased. For this reason, in the traffic signal according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulating material 50 is provided along the inner surface of the back surface 22 and the inner surface of the bottom surface 24. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulating material 50 is provided also on the inner surface of the left side surface portion and the location along the inner surface of the right side surface portion 25.

  The type of the heat insulating material 50 is not particularly limited. However, in the signal device according to the present embodiment, in consideration of maintaining good heat insulation and suppressing water absorption low, closed cell foam type foam is used. A sheet material or a mat material made of resin (foamed polyethylene) is used as the heat insulating material 50. The thickness of the heat insulating material 50 is not particularly limited, but is usually 5 to 50 mm, preferably 10 to 30 mm. In the traffic signal of this embodiment, the thickness of the heat insulating material 50 is about 20 mm.

  Although the dimensions of the lamp box 20 differ depending on the number of lamps 10 and the like, and are not particularly limited, the traffic signal of the present embodiment is smaller than the conventional one. Specifically, the width of the light box 20 is 106 cm, the height is 36 cm, and the depth is 6 cm. In the case of using a light-emitting diode type of 25 cm in diameter as the lamp 10 in the traffic light of the side arrangement of the three-lamp type, the width of the lamp box 20 is preferably 90 to 110 cm, and the height of the lamp box 20 is The depth of the light box 20 is preferably 5 to 20 cm. The traffic light of the present invention is capable of suitably preventing snow deposition on the light box 20 even when the size of the light box 20 is thus small and the internal space of the light box 20 is narrow.

  The planar heater 30 may be driven manually, but is usually driven automatically. In the traffic signal according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, snow detection means 60 for detecting snow deposition on the front face 21 of the light box 20 is provided, and the snow detection means 60 is configured to receive snow. The planar heater 30 is driven when it is detected. In the traffic signal of the present embodiment, a light reflection type photoelectric sensor having a light emitting portion 61 and a light receiving portion 62 is used as the snow detection means 60. This photoelectric sensor (snowfall detection means 60) outputs a snowfall detection signal when light emitted forward from the light emitting portion 61 is reflected by snow and received by the light receiving portion 62 at a predetermined level or higher. It has become. The photoelectric sensor used as the snowfall detecting means 60 preferably emits infrared light or far infrared light from the light emitting portion 61, and in particular, in consideration of preventing malfunction due to disturbance light in sunlight. It is more preferable to use one emitting a modulated wave.

  In the traffic signal of the present embodiment, a temperature detection means 70 (FIG. 4) for detecting the temperature of the front face 21 of the light box 20 is also provided, and the temperature detected by the temperature detection means 70 is a predetermined temperature Even when the temperature is lower than the planar heater driving temperature), the planar heater 30 is driven. The planar heater driving temperature is usually set to 10 to 20 ° C. In addition, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection means 70 becomes higher than a predetermined temperature (surface heater stop temperature), the surface heater 30 is automatically stopped. The planar heater stop temperature is usually 20 to 40 ° C. Although various temperature sensors can be used as the temperature detection means 70, in the signal device of this embodiment, a thermostat is employed as described later.

  The planar heater 30 may be driven by a dedicated power supply (dedicated planar heater driving power supply), but in the traffic signal of this embodiment, a common lamp driving power supply for driving the lamp 10 is used. I have to. In addition, the lamp drive power supply is shared as a snowfall detection means drive power supply for driving the snowfall detection means 60 and a temperature detection means drive power supply for driving the temperature detection means 70. Specifically, a substrate provided with the electric circuit 100 shown in FIG. 4 is provided inside the light box 20 (A in FIG. 1), and the output current of the lamp drive power supply is It is converted to one that can be used by the snow detection means 60, the temperature detection means 70, and the like. For this reason, it is possible to cope with the miniaturization of the light box 20. If the driving power of the planar heater 30 is about 7 to 15 W per lamp, it is possible to suitably drive the planar heater 30 by an electric circuit as shown in FIG. 4.

  The electric circuit 100 shown in FIG. 4 (hereinafter, may be referred to as a “planar heater or other drive circuit”) will be described in more detail. The COM terminal in the planar heater drive circuit 100 of FIG. 4 is connected to the COM terminal of the lamp drive power supply. Further, the B terminal in the planar heater drive circuit 100 is connected to the B terminal of the lamp drive power supply (a terminal for supplying current to the lamp 10 having a blue emission color). Furthermore, the R terminal in the planar heater drive circuit 100 is connected to the R terminal of the lamp drive power supply (a terminal for supplying a current to the lamp 10 whose emission color is red). Furthermore, the E terminal of the planar heater drive circuit 100 is connected to the E terminal of the lamp drive power supply (a terminal for supplying a current to the lamp 10 whose yellow emission color is yellow).

  In the above-described planar heater drive circuit 100, the voltage input from the B terminal, the R terminal and the E terminal is converted to a DC voltage of 130 V by the rectifier circuit 101, and the planar heater is converted via the switching circuit 102 and the like. 30 and snow deposition detection means 60 and temperature detection means 70. In other words, the rectifying circuit 101 functions as a common rectifying unit that generates a DC voltage for driving the planar heater 30, the snow deposition detection unit 60, and the temperature detection unit 70. In the traffic signal of the present embodiment, the rectification circuit 101 takes out the current for driving the lamp for each light emission color (B terminal, R terminal and E terminal) and rectifies each other to prevent interference with each other. The thermostud functioning as the temperature detection means 70 is connected in series with the planar heater 30 (resistance element). In addition, a noncontact relay 103 is disposed between the snow detection means 60 and the planar heater 30.

  The traffic signal of the present invention described above is not limited in its application, and can be adopted in various traffic signals such as road signals and railway signals. The "traffic light" referred to in the present specification is a concept including an electric light bulletin board for posting various types of guidance on a general road, an expressway, or the like, a road sign, and the like. The traffic signal of the present invention is suitable for being installed in a cold area where there is a possibility of a decrease in visibility due to snowfall.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 light lamp 11 light emitting diode 20 light box 21 front part 21a light lamp opening 22 back part 23 top part 24 bottom face 25 right side part 26 light lamp cover 30 flat heater 31 heater wire 31a insulating coating 32 heat transfer sheet 33 adhesive 40 Heat storage material 50 Heat insulation material 60 Snow detection means 61 Light emitting part 62 Light receiving part 70 Temperature detection means 100 Flat heater and other drive circuit (electric circuit)
101 Rectification circuit (shared rectification means)
102 Switching circuit 103 Contactless relay

Claims (12)

A lamp unit configured by arranging a plurality of light emitting diodes;
A light box having a front surface portion, a back surface portion, a top surface portion, a bottom surface portion, a left side surface portion and a right side surface portion, and having a light device opening for exposing the light emitting surface of the light device;
A traffic signal equipped with
An inner surface of the upper portion of the front surface of the lamp box excluding the lamp opening, and a planar heater provided along the inner surface of the upper surface,
And a heat storage material provided along the inner surface of the planar heater.
The traffic signal according to claim 1, wherein the heat storage material is a gelled heat storage material.
The traffic signal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a far infrared radiator is added to the heat storage material.
The traffic signal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a heat insulating material provided along the inner surface of the back surface, the bottom surface, the left side surface and the right side surface of the lamp box.
A flat heater rectifying means for taking out and rectifying a lamp drive current from a lamp drive power supply for driving a lamp and converting the current into a planar heater drive current for driving a planar heater The traffic signal according to any one of Items 1 to 4.
The traffic light according to claim 5, wherein the driving power of the planar heater is 7 to 15 W per lamp.
Snow detection means for detecting snow on the front of the light box,
The traffic signal according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the planar heater is driven when the snow detection means detects snow.
The snow detection means is a photoelectric sensor on the light reflection side having a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion, and the light emitted from the light emitting portion is reflected on the snow and received by the light receiving portion. The traffic signal according to claim 7, wherein it is detected that it has occurred.
A rectifying means for snow detection means is provided which takes out the current for driving the lamp from the power supply for driving the lamp and rectifies the current for driving the snow detecting means and drives the snow detecting means. A traffic signal according to claim 7 or 8.
A temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the front of the light box,
The planar heater is driven when the temperature detected by the temperature detection means becomes lower than a predetermined temperature (hereinafter referred to as "planar heater driving temperature"). traffic lights.
The traffic signal according to claim 10, wherein the planar heater driving temperature is set in the range of 10 to 20 ° C.
Multiple lamps of different luminescent colors are provided as lamps.
Snow detection means for detecting snow on the front of the light box;
Temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the front of the light box;
Current for driving the lamp is taken out from the lamp drive power source for driving the lamp for each luminous color and rectified, and common rectifying means for driving the planar heater, snow detection means and temperature detection means;
The traffic signal according to any one of claims 1 to 11, comprising:

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