JP6596314B2 - Foreign matter removal device for vehicle detector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus that can easily remove foreign matter when the foreign matter adheres to the surface of a sensor part of a vehicle detector provided in an automatic toll charging facility such as a toll road or an expressway, for example, an ETC system. It is.

Currently, there are interchanges called so-called unmanned smart interchanges, but these interchanges are located in the mountains, surrounded by forests and rivers, and are relatively inhabited by insects such as moths. .
These insects fly at night, are attracted to light such as infrared rays emitted from the sensor part of the vehicle detector, and frequently adhere to the lens surface of the sensor part surface.

In this way, if insects such as moths adhere to the lens surface of the sensor part of the vehicle detector, an automatic toll system such as an expressway, for example, an ETC system will stop functioning and the lane may be closed. It becomes.
When the lane was closed, in order to resume the operation of the lane, it was necessary to remove the attached foreign matter by hand and restore the function of the vehicle detector.

In recent years, the number of smart interchanges as described above has increased, and such interchanges have been unmanned, and in order to perform foreign object removal work as described above, it is necessary to call maintenance personnel urgently to perform removal work. The current situation is that it has been over one hour, and it has been difficult to deal with passing vehicles.
Also, there has been no apparatus that can remove such foreign matter.

Therefore, in the present invention, there is provided an apparatus capable of automatically removing foreign substances adhering to the surface of a sensor unit (a light emitting unit or a light receiving unit such as an infrared ray) of a vehicle detector used in an ETC system such as a toll road. Offering is the subject.
It is also an object of the present invention to enable the operation of this device through a remote monitoring station.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a first object of the present invention is to provide a foreign object disposed on the front surface of a sensor unit arranged in a vertical direction of a pair of columnar vehicle detectors disposed on both sides of a vehicle traffic path. The foreign matter removing device includes a linear member disposed in a vertical direction on the front surface of the sensor unit, and a linear member disposed on an upper end portion or a lower end portion of the linear member. It consists of an operation part and a support part arranged at the other end of the linear member, and the operation of the operation part allows the linear member to move left and right along the surface of the sensor part. And the support part can also move to the left and right following the left-right movement of the linear member, whereby the foreign matter adhering to the surface of the sensor part can be removed. This is a foreign matter removing device.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vehicle detection device according to the first aspect, wherein the vehicle detector to which the foreign substance removing device is attached is disposed in an automatic toll charging facility such as a toll road. It is a dexterous foreign matter removing device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the linear member is made of a synthetic resin or a metal, and the operating portion includes an operating rod connected to a drive shaft of an electric motor. It is a foreign matter removing apparatus for a vehicle detector, wherein the linear member can move left and right by rotating or reciprocating.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, a determination unit that determines that a foreign object has adhered to the vehicle detector is further added, and the vehicle detection is performed by the determination unit. Determining that a foreign object has adhered to the surface of the sensor unit of the vessel, and transmitting the determination information to the remote monitoring station by wire, thereby transmitting an operation command to the foreign object removing device by wire at the remote monitoring station, The vehicle detector foreign matter removing device is characterized in that the operation portion starts to operate based on the operation command.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the invention, the sensor unit includes a plurality of light emitting units or light receiving units arranged in a row, and the determination unit includes the light emitting unit or the light receiving unit. A foreign matter removing device for a vehicle detector, wherein at least one of the foreign matter is determined to be broken by being shielded from light for a predetermined time, and an operation command is transmitted to the foreign matter removing device based on the failure judgment.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, in a pair of columnar vehicle detectors arranged on both sides of a vehicle traffic path, a light emitting portion or a light receiving portion or the like in a vertical direction so as to face each other on the road side of the detector. There is a sensor unit consisting of a signal transmission unit or a signal reception unit, and there is a possibility that pests such as moths may adhere to the front surface of the sensor unit arranged in the vertical direction, especially at night. It is a foreign material removal apparatus for removing the foreign material.

The foreign matter removing device includes a linear member disposed in a vertical direction on the front surface of the sensor unit, an operation unit of the linear member disposed on an upper end portion or a lower end portion of the linear member, and the line The linear member can be moved left and right along the surface of the sensor unit by the operation of the operating unit. The support part can also move left and right following the right and left movement.
As a result, the foreign matter adhering to the surface of the sensor portion can be easily removed.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, it is specified that the vehicle detector to which the foreign substance removing device is attached is disposed in an automatic toll charging facility such as a toll road.

  In the third aspect of the present invention, the linear member and the operating portion of the foreign matter removing apparatus are more specifically limited, that is, the linear member is made of a synthetic resin or a metal, The actuating part specifies that the linear member can move left and right by rotating or reciprocating an actuating rod connected to a drive shaft of an electric motor.

  In the fourth aspect of the present invention, a determination means for determining that foreign matter has adhered to the vehicle detector is further added, and the foreign matter has adhered to the surface of the sensor portion of the vehicle detector by the determination means. And the determination information is transmitted to the remote monitoring station by wire or wireless, so that the remote monitoring station transmits an operation command to the foreign substance removal device by wire or wireless, and the operation unit is operated based on the operation command. The foreign substance removal device is configured to automatically remove foreign substances based on a command from a remote monitoring station without requiring mobilization of workers or the like. It is.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, the determination means is more specific. That is, the determination means includes a plurality of light emitting sections arranged in a sensor section of a vehicle detector. Alternatively, it is characterized in that at least one of the light receiving units is shielded from light for a predetermined time to determine a failure, and an operation command is transmitted to the foreign matter removing device based on the failure determination.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a general automatic fee billing facility. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is the conceptual diagram which concerns on one Embodiment of the foreign material removal apparatus provided in the vehicle detector of this invention, The (A) is a front view, The (B) is a left view, The (C) is a right view. It is. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the linear member which concerns on the said embodiment, Comprising: (A) is the state in which the linear member exists in a left end position, (B) is the state in which the linear member exists in a right end position (C) is a figure which shows the movement state of the right and left of the linear member. It is an expansion explanatory view of a portion of an operation part and a linear member concerning the above-mentioned embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the network which performs remote operation of the said foreign material removal apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the determination means based on this invention which determines that the foreign material adhered to the sensor part of a vehicle detector. It is a flowchart of the determination means which concerns on this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a general automatic fee billing facility.
In this automatic fee billing facility (entrance), a pair of vehicle detectors 10 and 10 are installed on both sides of the road R, and a plurality of the pair of vehicle detectors 10 and 10 are provided at the entrance. Yes. In this illustrated example, four sets are provided.

  In these vehicle detectors 10 and 10, depending on the respective positions, vehicle entry detection, number of axles and number detection, vehicle entry / exit detection, display content switching to the roadside display unit 31, forward / reverse detection, A system has been established that allows vehicles to properly pass through the automatic fee billing facility, such as communication start / end notifications, confirmation of toll collection, opening / closing commands to the vehicle traffic control device (opening / closing bar) 30, etc. .

The foreign object removing device for a vehicle detector according to the present invention is installed on the surface of the sensor unit 12 provided in the longitudinal direction on the road side of the vehicle detector 10.
The pair of vehicle detectors 10 and 10, which will be described in detail later, are composed of vertically long columns, and are arranged so that the sensor unit 12 faces in a substantially central longitudinal direction on the road side.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram according to an embodiment of the foreign matter removing apparatus provided in the vehicle detector of the present invention, in which (A) is a front view, (B) is a left side view, and (C). Is a right side view.
The vehicle detector 10 has a vertically long columnar outer shape, and a sensor unit 12 is provided in a substantially central vertical direction on the front side (road side).

  A pair of the vehicle detectors 10 are installed on both sides of the vehicle passage, and the sensor unit 12 is arranged on the front side (road side) facing each vehicle detector 10.

In this embodiment, the sensor unit 12 includes an infrared light emitting unit or a light receiving unit, and an infrared light emitting unit which is the sensor unit 12 of one vehicle detector 10 always faces the front side of the other vehicle detector 10 ( The light is projected toward an infrared light receiving portion which is a sensor portion provided in a line in a substantially central vertical direction on the road side), and the light receiving state is constantly detected.
In this embodiment, the sensor unit 12 is formed of 52 light emitting units in the vertical direction and 52 light receiving units opposed thereto.

When this light receiving state is blocked, the passage of the vehicle can be detected.
Therefore, when a wrinkle or the like is attached to the surface of the sensor unit 12 provided on the road side of the vehicle detector 10, the sensing (light receiving) state between the infrared light emitting unit and the light receiving unit is blocked, and the vehicle detection Malfunctions can occur and cause trouble.

  In the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention, the linear member 20 arranged on the surface side of the sensor portion 12 of the vehicle detector 10 and the upper end portion of the linear member 20 are connected in order to remove foreign matters such as wrinkles. And an electric motor 24 as an operating portion for operating the operating rod 22 and support portions 26 and 27 provided at the lower end portion of the linear member 20.

The electric motor 24 and the operating rod 22 provided at the upper end portion of the linear member 20, that is, these operating portions can be provided at the lower end portion of the linear member 20.
Similarly, the support portions 26 and 27 provided at the lower end portion of the linear member 20 can also be provided at the upper end portion of the linear member 20.

The support portions 26 and 27 can be formed of left and right elastic members connected to the lower end portion of the linear member 20, for example, coil springs.
The center side end portions of the left and right elastic members may be connected to the lower end portion of the linear member 20, and the other end portions may be fixed to the left and right end portions of the lower end portion of the vehicle detector 10, respectively.

  One end of a rod-shaped operating rod 22 is connected to the tip of the rotational drive shaft of the electric motor 24 and the operating member 22 is reciprocally rotated within a range of approximately 45 degrees, whereby the linear member 20 is connected to the sensor unit 12. In this way, it is possible to reciprocate in the left-right direction on the surface, thereby removing foreign matter adhering to the surface of the sensor unit 12.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the linear member, wherein (A) shows a state where the linear member is at the left end position, and (B) shows a state where the linear member is at the right end position. (C) is a figure which shows the movement state of the left and right of a linear member.
The movement of the linear member 20 can be clearly seen from FIG.

In FIG. 3A, this state indicates a stationary state, and in this state, the linear member 20 is located on the left side of the sensor unit 12 when viewed from the front.
From this state, when the electric motor 24 is energized, the operating rod 22 having one end connected to the rotational drive shaft of the electric motor 24 rotates approximately 45 degrees, resulting in the state of FIG.

As the operating rod 22 is rotated approximately 45 degrees, the linear member 20 is pulled upward, and is substantially parallel moved to the right as viewed from the front.
Left and right support portions 26, 27 made of coil springs are connected to the lower end portion of the linear member 20, and the base end portion 26k of the left support portion 26 is fixed to the left side of the lower end portion of the vehicle detector, Since the base end portion 27k of the other right support portion 27 is fixed to the right side of the lower end portion of the vehicle detector, the lower end portion of the linear member 20 also reciprocates left and right as the upper end portion reciprocates left and right. You can move.

In this embodiment, the operating rod 22 is set to reciprocate in a range of approximately 45 degrees, but the operating rod 22 may rotate 360 degrees.
This is because the linear member 20 can be substantially translated left and right by rotating the operating rod 22.

  The configurations of the electric motor 24 and the operating rod 22 can be freely changed in design. In short, if the linear member 20 moves substantially parallel to the left and right and can be reciprocated left and right along the surface of the sensor unit 12, Other configurations may be employed.

  FIG. 3C shows the operation of the linear member 20, and as shown in this figure, the linear member is moved by the rotational movement of the operating rod 22 connected to the electric motor 24 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 20, as shown in the figure, it is possible to remove the foreign matter adhering to the surface of the sensor unit 12 by performing a substantially parallel movement left and right.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of the operating part and the linear member according to the embodiment.
As is well understood from this figure, the base end portion of the operating rod 22 is connected to the rotational drive shaft 24 s of the electric motor 24, and the linear member 20 is connected to the distal end portion of the operating rod 22.

  As the rotational drive shaft 24s of the electric motor 24 reciprocates and rotates, the tip of the operating rod 22 performs reciprocating rotation as indicated by the arrow D, and the linear member 20 is substantially reciprocated left and right accordingly. I do.

Thereby, although not shown, foreign matter adhering to the surface of the sensor part of the vehicle detector can be removed.
In this embodiment, the left-right reciprocating distance of the linear member 20 is set within a range of about 30 mm to 50 mm.

  Although the configuration of the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention has been described above, the operation thereof will be described below.

(1) Method for automatically operating the foreign matter removing apparatus First, a determination means for determining that foreign matter such as a bag has adhered to the sensor portion of the vehicle detector is provided in the vehicle detector. The determination means will be described later.
When the determination means detects foreign matter, the setting is made such that the electric motor of the foreign matter removing apparatus is turned on, and the electric motor is operated for a predetermined time.

  Alternatively, after the operation of the electric motor is started, it is possible to adopt a method in which the state in which the foreign matter is removed is determined by the return of the determination unit to the normal state and the energization of the electric motor is stopped.

(2) A method of transmitting an operation command for the foreign substance removing device at the remote monitoring station The foreign substance removing device can be operated at a remote monitoring station that can manage an automatic toll system such as a toll road.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a network that performs wireless remote operation of the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention.

  As shown in this conceptual diagram, in the procedure of (1) above, the determination information of the determination means for determining that the foreign matter has adhered to the sensor unit is wirelessly transmitted to the remote monitoring place, and the foreign matter removing device from the remote monitoring place It is only necessary to transmit an energization command to the electric motor via radio and operate the motor.

  The energization stop command to the electric motor of the foreign matter removing device can be issued based on the foreign matter removal determination from the removal determining means, or the operation time of the electric motor is set to a predetermined time in advance by the energization command to the previous electric motor. It is also possible to adopt a method for stopping the operation.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining determination means for determining that a foreign object has adhered to the sensor unit of the vehicle detector.
In this block diagram, the determination means K is a failure diagnosis unit.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the determination unit.

  The judging means K emits light from either the infrared light emitting part or the light receiving part provided in the sensor part of the vehicle detector that is always operating due to foreign matter such as soot adhering to the sensor part of the vehicle detector. If the light reception is blocked and the blocking time is set to a predetermined time, for example, 5 minutes, the failure diagnosis unit recognizes the failure as a result of the light being blocked for 5 minutes or more, and this failure information is notified to the remote monitoring station. Report as.

Based on this notification, the worker gives an operation command to the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention at the remote monitoring station, that is, sends a power-on command to the apparatus.
As described above, the determination means K is a system that senses a light reception interruption of the sensor unit for a predetermined time, recognizes a failure in the failure diagnosis unit, and sends the information to a remote monitoring station.
This predetermined time is set to 5 minutes in the above embodiment, but this time can be changed as appropriate.

Also, the number of light-shielded sensor units can be set as necessary, such as two or more of the 52 light emitting units and light receiving units described above, or five or more.
Further, if the setting is made so that information can be transmitted and received via radio as shown in FIG. 5, the remote monitoring station can be managed remotely by a central management center or the like without being provided in the interchange.

  As described above, with regard to the operation of the foreign matter removing apparatus according to the present invention, the determination means for determining the foreign matter adhesion provided in the vehicle detector is provided, and the operating part of the foreign matter removal apparatus is automatically activated based on the foreign matter adhesion determination of this judging means. This can be done automatically in the device or through a remote monitoring station (in the interchange or another management center).

Although the embodiment according to the present invention has been described above, various design changes can be made in the present invention as follows.
Although the electric motor serving as the operating portion is provided at the upper end portion of the vehicle detector, it can be provided at the lower end portion of the vehicle detector.

Similarly, in the above embodiment, the support portion is provided at the lower end portion of the vehicle detector. However, the support portion may be provided at the upper end portion.
As the linear member, for example, a fishing line made of synthetic resin can be used. According to this, an off-the-shelf product can be used, but it is not necessary to use a fishing line, and an extremely fine metal wire can be used as appropriate. it can.

The reason for using an extremely fine linear member is that it does not hinder the light detection operation of the sensor part of the vehicle detector.
An elastic member such as a coil spring was also used as the support provided at one end of the linear member, but these ends were magnetically attached to both side surfaces of the lower end of the vehicle detector using a strong magnet. Can be easily installed.

  Similarly, if the operation unit can be magnetized using a strong magnet, it can be easily attached to and detached from the vehicle detector.

With regard to the determination means for determining the adhesion of foreign matter provided in the vehicle detector, if a circuit for opening the electric motor as an operating part is opened based on the determination result of the determination means, the foreign matter is automatically detected for a predetermined time. A removal operation can also be executed.
As the wireless communication means with the remote monitoring station, the conventional one can be used as it is, and of course, it may be wired.

  As described above, the present invention can be implemented by attaching the foreign matter removing device having a simple configuration to the vehicle detector, and the foreign matter removing device can be automatically or remotely operated. Thus, the foreign object removing device for a vehicle detector capable of easily removing the foreign matter adhering to the sensor part of the vehicle detector can be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle detector 12 Sensor part 20 Linear member 22 Actuation rod 24 Electric motor (action part)
26, 27 Support part 30 Vehicle traffic control device 31 Roadside display part K determination means

Claims (5)

A foreign matter removing device disposed on the front surface of a sensor unit arranged in a vertical direction of a pair of columnar vehicle detectors arranged on both sides of a vehicle passageway,
The foreign matter removing apparatus includes a linear member disposed in a vertical direction on the front surface of the sensor unit, an operation unit of the linear member disposed on an upper end portion or a lower end portion of the linear member, and the line And a support portion disposed at the other end of the member.
By the operation of the operating part, the linear member can move left and right along the surface of the sensor part, and the support part can also move left and right following the horizontal movement of the linear member. Can
Thereby, the foreign material removal apparatus for vehicle detectors which can remove the foreign material adhering to the surface of the said sensor part.   The vehicle detector foreign matter removing device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle detector to which the foreign matter removing device is attached is disposed in an automatic toll charging facility such as a toll road.   The linear member is made of a synthetic resin or metal, and the operating part is capable of moving the linear member left and right by rotating or reciprocating an operating rod connected to a drive shaft of an electric motor. The foreign matter removing apparatus for a vehicle detector according to claim 1 or 2.   A determination means for determining that a foreign object has adhered to the vehicle detector is further added. The determination means determines that a foreign object has adhered to the surface of the sensor unit of the vehicle detector, and the determination information is wired. Alternatively, by transmitting to the remote monitoring station wirelessly, an operation command is transmitted to the foreign substance removing device by wire or wireless at the remote monitoring station, and the operation unit starts operating based on the operation command. Item 4. The foreign matter removing device for vehicle detector according to any one of Items 1 to 3.   The sensor unit includes a plurality of light emitting units or light receiving units arranged in a row, and the determination unit determines that a failure occurs when at least one of the light emitting units or the light receiving units is shielded from light for a predetermined time. 5. The foreign matter removing apparatus for a vehicle detector according to claim 4, wherein an operation command is transmitted to the foreign matter removing apparatus based on a failure determination.