JP4948774B2 - Retroreflective sign - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a retroreflective marker having excellent visibility at night.

  As a well-known retroreflective marker, an arrow-shaped prism retroreflector is provided on a glass bead retroreflective sheet. For example, a pedestrian crossing sign or railroad crossing is provided on the surface (front) of a delineator. A delineator sign is disclosed in which a pictorial drawing of a sign is pasted, placed in a protective cover, and an iron pipe pillar is attached to the protective cover (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, it is a thick plate-like frame body composed of a plate portion continuous from the tip end portion of the arrow outline, and a reflective surface is formed on at least one surface of the frame body, and a column attachment member is provided at an appropriate position of the plate portion. A road guide sign is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 2).

Microfilm of Japanese Utility Model No. 53-35678 (Japanese Utility Model Application No. 54-138591) Microfilm of Japanese Utility Model No. 59-196570 (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-116808)

  However, in the retroreflective sign as in Patent Document 1, since the retroreflective brightness of the drawing is much lower than that of the delineator, the light from the delineator is displayed at the time of retroreflection due to irradiation of a vehicle headlight or the like. By covering the drawing, it was difficult to clearly see the drawing.

  Further, in the retroreflective marker as in Patent Document 2, since almost the entire label surface is a reflector, when the color tone of the reflective surface approximates the color tone of the background, visual recognition of an arrow or the like is visible. As a result, the degree of freedom of the installation location is limited.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is intended to provide a retroreflective marker that can clearly see a design as a marker and has a high degree of freedom in installation location.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, in the retroreflective marker according to the present invention, a sign surface is formed from a design portion and a base portion which is a remaining portion of the design portion, and the contrast portion of the design portion and the base portion has the lightness contrast. A sign is displayed on a sign surface, and a sign as a sign is displayed on the sign. The design part and the base part are both formed entirely by a prism retroreflector. Each of the prism retroreflector forming the pattern portion and the prism retroreflector forming the base portion is colored by mixing only the fluorescent pigment as the pigment, and each colored with the fluorescent pigment. It is characterized in that a brightness difference occurs in the color tone .

  According to the retroreflective marker according to the present invention, the design part and the base part are formed of the prism retroreflector, so that the retroreflective brightness of the entire label surface is increased and the visibility is improved. Since the outer periphery of the part is a prism retroreflector, the difference in retroreflective brightness between the peripheral part of the main part of the pattern part and the outer periphery of the surrounding part is reduced, and the pattern as a sign is clearly visible As the design part can be visually recognized by the contrast between the design part and the ground part, the design part can be clearly seen regardless of the color of the background, and the degree of freedom of the installation location can be increased. it can.

In addition, since the retroreflective marker according to claim 1 is formed using a prism retroreflector mixed with a fluorescent substance , the pattern is clearly displayed not only at night but also at daytime and twilight. It can be visually recognized.

Further, in the retroreflective marker according to claim 1 , in the formation of the prism retroreflector, the pattern portion and the base portion are each formed by combining a plurality of prism retroreflectors having the same shape. There is no need to provide a large number of molds, which is preferable.

Moreover, in the retroreflective marker according to claim 1 or 2 , if the front surface of the design portion and the base portion are substantially the same height, the design portion and the base portion are It is preferable that high visibility can be maintained without making a mutual shadow and interfering with retroreflection of light.

  According to the retroreflective marker according to the present invention, the design part and the base part are formed of the prism retroreflector, so that the retroreflective brightness of the entire label surface is increased and the visibility is improved. Since the outer periphery of the part is a prism retroreflector, the difference in retroreflective brightness between the peripheral part of the main part of the pattern part and the outer periphery of the surrounding part is reduced, and the pattern as a sign is clearly visible As the design part can be visually recognized by the contrast between the design part and the ground part, the design part can be clearly seen regardless of the color of the background, and the degree of freedom of the installation location can be increased. it can.

  BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The best embodiment according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

  1A and 1B show a first embodiment of a retroreflective marker according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view and FIG. First, in (a), the retroreflective sign 10 is used by being attached to a column 20 standing upright from the ground surface using an appropriate attachment member, and is mainly installed along a curve of a road so as to be viewed by the driver. It is a guidance. The marking surface 1 of the retroreflective marker 10 is formed by providing a pattern portion 11 having an arrow shape on a base portion 12, and the entire surface of the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12 is formed by a prism retroreflector. Yes.

  Here, since the pattern portion 11 has an arrow shape, the peripheral portion 2 of the main portion corresponds to the inclined side of the outer periphery, and the peripheral outer portion 3 of the base portion 12 in contact with the peripheral portion 2 is retroreflected by the prism. By being made into a body, the visibility of the symbol part 11 is ensured, and as a result, the meaning as a sign displayed by the symbol can be clearly ensured even at night.

  Next, in (b), the prism retroreflector which is the base portion 12 is fixed to the front side α of the marker driving body 4 made of an aluminum alloy plate by fastening means T such as a screw, and the design portion 11 is formed on the base portion 12. A similar prism retroreflector is attached and attached by an adhesive means H such as a double-sided tape. Light L1 from a vehicle headlight or the like arriving from the front side α is much higher than a retroreflective sheet or the like formed by embedding glass beads by a prism retroreflector forming the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12. It is retroreflected as light L2 on the front side α with reflection efficiency.

  In the base portion 12, the prism retroreflector reduces the difference in reflected luminance from the peripheral portion 2 of the design portion 11. Therefore, the entire base portion 12 does not necessarily need to be a prism retroreflector, and at least the main part of the design. It is only necessary that the outer peripheral edge 3 that contacts the peripheral edge 2 that is the outer peripheral part forming the part is a prism retroreflector. For example, the peripheral outer edge 3 is made to be a prism retroreflector in such a manner that the peripheral edge 2 is bordered. It may be.

  In the present embodiment, the design part 11 is red-orange and the base part 12 is yellow, and the design is displayed according to the contrast of each other's tone, but in order to ensure clear visibility, The brightness of the color indicated by the value is preferably 10 or more, more preferably 20 or more.

  Moreover, in setting the color tone of the prism retroreflector forming the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12, a normal pigment may be kneaded into the light-transmitting synthetic resin, but by using a fluorescent substance, The retroreflected light L2 has a clear color tone, and the visibility in the daytime and twilight as well as at night can be further enhanced. Examples of the fluorescent substance that can be suitably used include fluorescent pigments that emit fluorescence with a metal oxide having high chemical stability as a main component even when used outdoors, and as metal oxides that exhibit fluorescence. In general, oxides such as aluminum, calcium, barium, magnesium, zinc, cadmium, and strontium, and rare earth oxides such as europium are used, and these may be used alone or in combination of two or more. They may be used in combination.

  2A and 2B show a second embodiment of the retroreflective marker according to the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. First, in (a), like the first embodiment, the retroreflective marker 10 is mainly installed along a road curve to guide the driver's line of sight. The sign surface 1 of the retroreflective sign 10 is formed by providing a pattern portion 11 having an arrow shape and a base portion 12 on the remaining portion, and the entire surface of the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12 is a prism retroreflector. Is formed by.

  Here, the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12 are formed by using a prism retroreflector that is a planar shape of a right isosceles triangle divided by a portion indicated by a dashed line in the drawing, and such a planar shape. By using the prism retroreflector, the prism retroreflector is arranged without a gap even when the pattern part 11 and the base part 12 are of the same plane shape, so that the peripheral part 2 and the peripheral outer part 3 are smooth. Since the prism retroreflector can be formed using the same mold, there is no need to provide many types of molds at the time of molding, and there are advantages in cost and workability.

  Next, in (b), the prism retroreflector as the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12 is fixed to the front side α of the marker driving body 4 made of an aluminum alloy plate by fastening means T such as screws. Here, the surface on the front side of the pattern part 11 and the base part 12 is made to be a surface of substantially the same height by making the prism retroreflector substantially the same thickness, so that no step is generated, and shadows are formed on each other. Thus, the light L1 coming from the front side α and the retroreflected light L2 are not interfered by the step. When installed in the middle of the curve as in the present embodiment, light is often incident from an oblique direction, so that the front side surface of the pattern portion 11 and the base portion 12 has substantially the same height. The benefits that have been made can be even higher.

  The prism retroreflector is formed of a translucent synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, acrylic resin, or polyvinyl chloride, and has a prism processing on the back surface. The prism retroreflector may be any material as long as light from a headlight or the like incident from the front surface is retroreflected by the prism and returned to the light source direction. A reflective layer may be formed.

  Next, the effect of the retroreflective marker according to the present invention will be shown by the following examples.

Example 1
In the retroreflective marker as shown in FIG. 1, an arrow-shaped pattern portion having a surface area of 221 cm ² is provided on a marking surface of 40 cm in length and 22 cm in width, and both the pattern portion and the base portion are formed by a prism retroreflector. A retroreflective marker of Example 1 according to the present invention was obtained. The pattern part is a polycarbonate resin colored with a red fluorescent pigment (BASF, Lumogen Red305), and the base part is also a polycarbonate colored with a yellow-green fluorescent pigment (BASF, Lumogen F Yellow083). The brightness difference between the design part and the background part is 24 in terms of L value.

(Example 2)
A retroreflective marker of Example 2 according to the present invention was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that ordinary non-fluorescent red pigment and yellow-green pigment were used as pigments for coloring the design part and the base part. It was.

(Comparative Example 1)
A retroreflective marker of Comparative Example 1 was obtained in the same manner as Example 1 except that the base part was a yellow-green painted plate.

(Comparative Example 2)
A retroreflective marker of Comparative Example 2 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a glass bead retroreflective sheet colored yellow-green was used as the base part.

  Using the retroreflective markers of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, a nighttime visibility evaluation test was performed. In the evaluation test, a test subject gets on the driver's seat of a car (cardinaban), and the headlamp is irradiated with a low beam and a high beam at a distance of 10 m, 20 m, 40 m, and 60 m facing the front of the integrated retroreflective sign. Then, the visibility at that time is evaluated by a score. In addition, five retroreflective signs are installed on a road with a radius of curvature of 90 m at intervals of 10 m, and the visibility when traveling at 40 km / h while irradiating a headlight with a low beam and a high beam is evaluated by a score.

  The test subjects were 10 men and women between the ages of 26 and 47, and the rating was 5 points for the retroreflective marker and its design, which looked quite good, 4 points for good looks, 3 points for visible but 2 The score was 1 point, although it was not visible. The average value is shown in Table 1.

  In the results of the evaluation test, Examples 1 and 2 indicate that the visibility is much higher than that of Comparative Example 1, and the visibility is high by using a prism retroreflector on the base, that is, the outside of the periphery. It is clearly shown that In addition, it is shown that Examples 1 and 2 have clearly higher visibility than Comparative Example 2, and a prism retroreflector is obtained from the case where a retroreflective sheet using glass beads is used for the base part. It is shown that the use of is superior in nighttime visibility. In addition, Example 1 in which the peripheral portion and the outer periphery of the peripheral portion had a clear color tone with the fluorescent pigment resulted in the highest visibility.

  Next, using the retroreflective markers of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, a visibility evaluation test was performed in the daytime and at dusk. A test similar to the evaluation test at night is conducted except that the evaluation environment is on a clear day and at dusk.

  The test subjects were 10 men and women from the age of 26 to 47 years old as in the nighttime evaluation test, and the score was 5 points, although the retroreflective marker and its design looked quite well, 4 points, which looked well, Although it was conspicuous, it was 3 points, it was not so conspicuous, but it was 2 points. The average value is shown in Table 1.

  The visibility of Example 1 using fluorescent pigments at the periphery and outside of the periphery is remarkably high compared to other retroreflective markers, and high visibility at daytime and dusk by using fluorescent pigments It has been shown that sex can be obtained.

It is explanatory drawing which shows 1st embodiment of the retroreflective marker concerning this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows 2nd embodiment of the retroreflective marker concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Marking surface 11 Design part 12 Ground part 2 Peripheral part 3 Perimeter outer part 10 Retroreflective marker

Claims (3)

A sign surface is formed from the design portion and the background portion that is the remaining portion of the design portion, and the design is displayed on the sign surface by the brightness contrast between the design portion and the background portion. The design part and the base part are both formed entirely by a prism retroreflector, and the prism retroreflector and the base that form the design part. Each of the prism retroreflectors forming the part is characterized in that only a fluorescent pigment is blended and colored as a pigment, and there is a difference in brightness in each color tone colored with the fluorescent pigment. Retroreflective sign. A plurality of prism retroreflectors made of right-angled isosceles triangles having the same shape are combined to form a figure-shaped arrow-shaped pattern part and a base part that is the remaining part of the pattern part. Each of the parts is formed of four prism retroreflectors, and a total of eight prism retroreflectors are arranged to form a square, and the design part is 90 ° in the center of the square. The front half of the dogleg shape is constituted by the two prism retroreflectors positioned at the apex angle forming the top angle, and the apex angles forming 90 ° are positioned at the upper side center position and the lower side center position of the square, respectively. The retroreflective marker according to claim 1, wherein the rear half of the dogleg shape is constituted by the two prism retroreflectors . 3. The retroreflective marker according to claim 1, wherein the design part and the base part have a front surface having substantially the same height. 4.

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