JP3026060B2 - Reflective sleepers and reflectors - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sleeper, a reflector, and the like, which are used at night or in a subway to reflect light from a train headlight.
Related to rails and railway tracks. More specifically, an obstacle is made to emerge by coloring the railway track so that the light of the headlight of the train is easily reflected back.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At night, in a dark space such as in a tunnel or a subway, a driver operates a train while gazing forward, relying on the headlights of the train. If there is a whitish or light-reflective obstacle on the track ahead, the driver will recognize the presence of the obstacle, but if the obstacle is black, it is likely to overlook its presence. The black figure walking on the zebra zone of the pedestrian crossing on an ordinary road emerges in black on a white background around by the backlight effect, and the figure is easy to recognize.
Conventional railway lines do not take into account this backlight effect.

[0003] The ground surface portion of a conventional railway track is composed of rails, wooden or concrete sleepers, bolts and dog nails, and also crushed stone, asphalt or concrete subgrade. Collectively. In addition, the vertical buildings that are built close to the train passage space include the side walls of subway tracks and tunnels, elevated side walls, fences and soundproof walls, pillars of overhead lines, and structural materials on the side of iron bridges. , Platform side walls, and other signs that give instructions to the driver. These vertical buildings are collectively referred to as "peripheral buildings."

[0004] Such conventional roadbeds and surrounding buildings exhibit the original color of the material that constitutes them, and no means has been devised to actively retroreflect the light of the headlights of the train. New concrete sleepers and new surrounding buildings are slightly white, but are blackened over time. The glossy metal surface formed by contact with the wheels on the top of the rail reflects the light of the headlight of the oncoming train, but does not retroreflect the light of the headlight of the own train.

[0005]

Therefore, conventional roadbeds and surrounding buildings have not been devised to actively reflect the light of the headlights, and the driver must operate the train in the dark. Are forced. If the obstacle is black and does not sufficiently reflect the light of the headlight, the driver will not notice the presence of the obstacle. If the railway track and its surrounding area are entirely whitish and measures are taken to easily reflect the light of the headlights of the train, even if the obstacle is black, it will appear black in the surrounding brightness The driver can easily recognize the obstacle. Even if there are no people or obstacles in front, the bright roadbed makes it easy to confirm safety and does not give the driver any mental anxiety. The present invention is intended to provide a railway line with a color that easily reflects back light of a headlight from such a viewpoint.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the reflective sleeper of the present invention is constructed so that the entire surface exposed to the surface of the concrete or wooden sleeper is made of glass beads, mica fragments, aluminum powder, aluminum flakes and the like. In addition, the reflector is colored white to enhance the reflected light from the sleeper to the driver, and the top surface of the sleeper other than the rail mounting part on the sleeper to be whitened has a rail mounting part. At any position in the length direction of the sleeper other than that, only the cross section in the rail direction has a triangular or arc shape, and the height difference between the top of the sleeper and the rail mounting portion of the sleeper is 65 mm. The gist is that the reflection plate of the present invention is a reflection plate formed of a horizontal portion and a slope portion installed on the upper surface of the sleeper, and the slope portion has a height of 65 mm or less from the rail attachment portion of the sleeper. Having the slope The maximum length is 15 cm narrower than the inner width of the paired rails laid on the rail mounting part, and the slope is oriented perpendicular to the driver's line of sight in the train running direction, 85 degrees to the horizontal plane The gist is that the surface excluding the bottom portion is colored white with or without a reflective material.

The surrounding buildings and the roadbed may be colored white with a commercially available aqueous or oily white paint. However, in the case of concrete subgrades and crushed stone subgrades, inexpensive coloring materials may be desired from the viewpoint of the coating cost. In the case of repainting as a regular maintenance of a dirty roadbed, the spraying method may be generally used. In such a case, an inexpensive coloring material is desired.

[0008] Inexpensive white materials include ground gypsum, granular alumina and granular silica, artificial white aggregates obtained by melting and recrystallizing alumina and silica, silica sand, quartz powder and limestone powder as natural white aggregates. Although there is marble powder, these artificial and natural white aggregates preferably have an average particle size of 2 mm or less. There is also titanium dioxide as an inorganic white pigment. The above-mentioned white aggregate and inorganic white pigment may be used alone or as a mixture.

As a matrix for fixing the white material, white cement may be inexpensive, but in addition, acrylonitrile-butadiene resin, urethane resin, epoxy resin,
It is desirable to use an SBR resin, an unsaturated polyester resin, or the like.

[0010] Reflecting materials that reflect light more positively include glass beads, mica fragments, aluminum powder and aluminum flakes having an average particle size of 100 µm to 2 mm. It is effective to use the reflector together with the white material, and the reflector alone is not only costly but also sometimes dazzled too much. The application of these reflective materials is as follows: (a) Immediately after the white coating is completed, the reflective material is scattered on the coating surface at a maximum of 500 g / m ² , and when rolled, the reflective material is unevenly distributed on the surface layer. A large retroreflection effect can be obtained with a small number of reflectors. In addition, (a) a method of mixing the three materials of a white material, a reflective material, and a matrix in advance and painting the mixture may be adopted. (A) and (b) above
Are collectively referred to as white coloring and "using a reflective material".

[0011]

The entire railway track, including the sleepers and rails of the present invention and the surrounding buildings, is colored white as far as the driver can see while traveling, so that the presence and intrusion of obstacles / foreign matter into the entire railway track is possible. Can be instantly recognized. In addition, since the coloring is made to be retroreflected by the train headlight, there is no problem in operation during daytime when the train headlight is not used or is weakly used.

Further, as will be described later, the present invention is applicable to sleepers, reflectors, etc., in a shape necessary for producing the effects of the present invention.
Since the height and the angle are calculated, a great effect is produced by minimum coloring or installation of the reflection plate. Further, when a reflective material is used in combination with a white material, the retroreflective effect can be further enhanced.

[0013]

【Example】

Example 1 As shown in FIG. 2 (a), immediately after the surface of a wooden sleeper 1 was painted with a commercially available white acrylic water-based paint,
Glass beads having a particle size of 00 micron to 1 mm were sprayed at a rate of 300 g / m ² and lightly compacted with a sponge roll. In addition, 2 in a figure shows a painted surface. The following experiment was conducted to confirm the effect when the sleeper of the present invention was actually used for a railway line. When the sleeper of the present invention was placed horizontally and illuminated by a headlight of an automobile, a white sleeper could be recognized even at a distance of 500 m. If a large number of white sleepers combined with such a reflective material are arranged, it is easily assumed that a roadbed portion with a bright luminance is formed.

[Embodiment 2] As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the upper surface 1a of the sleeper 1 other than the rail mounting portion (see 10 in FIG. 1) is railed so as to reflect the light of the headlight of the train to a greater extent. A wooden sleeper inflated so that the cross-sectional shape in the direction became a triangle was created, and the height of the upper triangle was set to 50 mm. Immediately after coating the upper surface 1a with a commercially available white acrylic water-based paint, a mixture of mica flakes having a particle size of 100 microns to 1 mm and white cement was added in an amount of 300 g /
It was applied with a brush at a rate of m ² and lightly compacted with a sponge roll. This bulge may have an arc shape as shown in FIG. Whether the upper surface of the sleeper is triangular or arcuate, a difference of 65 mm between the highest part of the upper surface of the sleeper and the rail mounting portion is sufficient. If the top of the crushed stone subgrade or asphalt or concrete subgrade is lower than the lower surface of the rail mounting part,
When the driver gazes beyond 50m ahead, only the rails and white sleepers are visible, and the crushed stone, asphalt subgrade and concrete subgrade are almost invisible. A large effect of luminance can be obtained.

The following experiment was conducted in order to confirm the effect when the sleeper of the present invention was actually used for a railway line. When the sleeper of the present invention was placed horizontally and illuminated by a headlight of an automobile, a white sleeper could be recognized even at a distance of 500 m. If a large number of white sleepers combined with such a reflective material are arranged, it is easily assumed that a roadbed portion with a bright luminance is formed.

[Embodiment 3] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a reflector installed on a sleeper is used. In principle, a central reflector shown in FIG. 3A is installed on a sleeper between rails. 4
And the left and right reflectors 5 shown in FIG. 3B. One set of three pieces corresponds to one sleeper, but a total of three
The total length of one set of reflectors is the train width 1-2.
m is desirable, but it is assumed that at least the length of the sleeper, and even if the length is narrower by about 15 cm than the width of the rail, will fulfill its function.

The horizontal portions 6 provided at both ends of the central reflector 4,
The horizontal portion 6 provided at one end on the left and right reflectors is provided with a hole 8 for fitting to the rail fixing bolt 7, and the other end of the left and right reflector 5 is also provided with a hole 8 for fitting to the rail fixing bolt 7. The central reflector 4 shown in FIG. 3 (a) is made of a galvanized steel plate having a length of 60 mm and a width of 2000 mm, and a commercially available white oil paint is applied with a brush, and immediately thereafter, has a particle diameter of 100 μm to 1 mm. 300 glass beads per square meter
g and sprayed lightly with a sponge roll.

The mounting of these reflectors on the sleepers may be achieved by using dog nails or bolts for fixing the rails to the sleepers. The direction of the reflecting surface of the reflecting plate is trigonometrically calculated from the position of the headlight of the train and the eyes of the driver, and the distance of the driver's forward gaze depending on the running speed of the train. In FIG. 4, I is the position of the driver's eyes, H is the height of the driver's eyes from the sleeper surface,
L is the horizontal distance to the driver's forward gaze point, h is the height of the reflector from the rail attachment part of the sleeper, P is the sleeper interval pitch,
If Θ is the intersection angle with the horizontal plane formed by the driver's line of sight, h = P * sinΘH = L * tanΘ. Since H is sufficiently smaller than L, these 2
From the equation, Θ = H / L h = H * P / L is given. On a regular railway track, H is 2.5
m to 4m, L is 50m to 1000m, P is 550m
m to 650 mm. Therefore, the angle of the reflector with respect to the horizontal plane is 85 to 90 degrees, and the height of the reflector, or more precisely, the height of the reflector from the rail mounting portion of the sleeper may be 65 mm or less. Here, the height of the horizontal plate is 65
mm, the angle to the horizontal plane is 88 degrees, and when the driver looks at 50 m or more in front, only the white reflector and rail on the roadbed part jump into the field of view.

In order to confirm the above effects, the reflector was installed with its long side horizontal and its short side vertical, and it was illuminated with the headlight of an automobile in the same manner as in Example 1, and it turned white at a distance of 500 m. The glowing test piece could be easily confirmed.

Example 4 As shown in FIG. 1, the surface 9 excluding the top surface of the rail and the lower surface of the base was colored white with a mixture of quartz powder, epoxy resin and aluminum powder. When this rail was placed horizontally and illuminated by a headlight of a car from a point about 300 m away at night in the same manner as in Example 1, the area other than the top of the rail glowed white, and the existence of the rail could be easily recognized.
The other half, unpainted, was hazy and barely noticeable, even if you looked down.

[Embodiment 5] As shown by hatching in FIGS. 2A and 5, rails constituting a ground surface portion of a railway line, wooden or concrete sleepers, bolts and dog nails, crushed stones, A subgrade made of asphalt or concrete subgrade, etc., and a vertical structure built close to the space where trains travel, i.e., subway side walls, tunnel side walls, elevated side walls, fences, soundproof walls, and overhead lines Up to 5m at the maximum height of surrounding buildings such as pillars, structural materials on the side of the iron bridge, side walls on the track side of the platform, and other signs that give instructions to the driver, white with titanium dioxide and SBR resin If the material is colored white by spraying or brushing over the entire surface, it is expected that foreign substances that enter the driver's field of vision will be more easily recognized,
The effects of the present invention can be more expected in combination with the results of Examples 1 to 4. At this time, in the case of a surrounding building in which a reflector made of aluminum flakes having an average particle diameter of 1 mm is also used, it is sufficient to apply white paint to the height of the train roof, that is, at most 5 m. As shown in the hatched portion in FIG. 1, the surface of the track bed may be sprayed or painted by a brush method.

In this way, by making the necessary places white in the driver's field of view, obstacles can be found quickly and contribute to safe driving. To confirm the above effects,
About 10 years after use, half of the upper surface of the concrete sleeper that has turned brown has been painted with a commercially available white water-based paint, placed horizontally, and about 300 m apart at night from Example 1 Similarly, when illuminated with the headlights of a car, the half painted white was easily recognizable, but the other half unpainted was vague, and its presence was indistinguishable without staring and staring. Only reflected light was obtained. Therefore, it can be seen that the headlight reflection effect also occurs in the existing railway line due to the white coloring.

[0023]

[Effects of the Invention] On a subway, at night, especially on a railroad track on a rainy night, it is a train that the light of the headlight of the train is reflected and the roadbed and surrounding buildings are white and the driver sees the train. Even if the obstacle, the person, or the animal in the traveling direction is black, it can be easily and quickly identified by appearing black on a white background. Therefore, a great effect can be expected in terms of safe operation of trains. Even in these unusual situations, the bright, easy-to-see front reduces the mental burden on the driver.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a railway line showing one embodiment of the present invention.

2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c) are cross-sectional views showing a sleeper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view of the reflector of the present invention, an embodiment mounted on the crossties and between two rails, and FIG. 3 (b) is also a reflector mounted on the outside of the rail. This is one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for determining dimensions and mounting angles of the reflector of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a railway line showing one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sleeper 1a Upper surface of sleeper 2 Painted surface 4 Central reflector 5 Left and right reflector 6 Horizontal part 7 Rail fixing bolt 8 Hole 10 Rail mounting part I Eye of train operator. H Height of the driver's eye from the sleeper surface L Horizontal distance to the driver's forward fixation point h Height of the reflector from the bottom of the rail base P Pitch spacing Θ Intersection with the driver's line of sight angle

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. The entire surface exposed to the surface of a concrete or wooden sleeper is colored white using a reflective material made of glass beads, mica fragments, aluminum powder, aluminum flakes, etc., and is used to transfer the light from the sleeper to the driver. Reflective sleepers characterized by enhanced reflected light 2. A cross section of the upper surface of the sleeper other than the rail mounting portion to be whitened at any position in the longitudinal direction of the sleeper other than the rail mounting portion has only a triangular cross section. 2. The sleeper according to claim 1, wherein the sleeper has an arc shape and a height difference between an uppermost portion of the sleeper and a rail mounting portion of the sleeper is 65 mm or less. 3. A reflector formed by a horizontal portion and a slope portion installed on an upper surface of a sleeper, wherein the slope portion has a height of not more than 65 mm from a rail mounting portion of the sleeper, and the slope portion length. The maximum length is 15 cm smaller than the inner width of the pair of rails laid on the rail mounting part, and the slope is oriented in the train running direction so that the slope is perpendicular to the driver's line of sight, and 85 to 90 degrees to the horizontal plane. Reflector to be mounted on the upper surface of sleepers, characterized in that the surface excluding the bottom and the bottom excluding the bottom is colored white with or without the use of a reflective material