JPH03252800A - Traffic signal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely recognize the flashing color of a signal even in the daylight time by arranging plural neon tubes at one unit light apparatus and comprising the front cover of the unit light apparatus of nonreflective glass. CONSTITUTION:The plural neon tubes 41-48 in the unit light apparatus 1 perform emission of red, yellow, and blue repeatedly sequentially at constant time interval as a traffic signal. Since such structure that the front cover 2 of the unit light apparatus 1 is comprised of the nonreflective glass, and the plural neon tubes 41-48 are used as light sources, and the display of color can be performed only when the tubes are lit and emitted light is employed, a lamp other than an emitting lamp is observed in transparent or cloudy color as a whole. Thereby, it is possible to solve a problem such as to dazzle a driver, etc., by receiving solar light with the colored lens of a signal lamp and performing self-emission.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a traffic signal, and particularly to a vehicular traffic signal used for controlling vehicular traffic on ordinary roads.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, many vehicle traffic signals have been used at road intersections and the like to automatically control vehicle traffic.

As shown in FIG. 3, its basic configuration includes a green light unit 52a, a yellow light unit 52b,
Red light units) 52c are installed side by side,
These light source units are composed of a lamp 61, a reflecting mirror 62, and colored (blue, yellow, red) prism lenses 63, as shown in FIG. Lamp 61 used as a light source
Most of them are incandescent light bulbs. In addition, the semicircular reflector 62 on the back of the lamp 61 efficiently collects the light emitted from the lamp to the front of the traffic light, so that the vehicle occupants etc. can clearly recognize which color is lit. It is provided.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the conventional traffic lights have various problems as described below.

(b) When vehicle occupants drive with the sun on their backs, it may be difficult to distinguish whether the light is blue, yellow, or red because the lens of the signal light strongly reflects sunlight. be. This reflection of sunlight is not only due to the lens described above, but also largely due to the action of the reflecting mirror provided on the back surface of the lamp. In other words, sunlight that passes through the lens and enters the signal light unit is reflected back to the lens by the action of the reflecting mirror, giving the impression that the colored lens is emitting light (self-colored luminescence phenomenon). I was looking at the traffic lights in broad daylight. Conventionally, measures such as attaching a light-shielding hood 53 to the top of each signal unit (see Figure 3) or making the inside of the hood black have been taken, but this method completely blocks the incidence of diffusely reflected sunlight. Therefore, the above problems have not been solved yet.

(b) The larger each signal light source unit is, the easier it is for the vehicle occupants to confirm the signal display. However, if the light source unit is made larger, the reflector must also be sized accordingly, so the above self-luminous The effect increases, making it difficult to check signals during the day.

(C) At large intersections, direction indicators 54 are installed at the bottom of traffic lights to indicate a specific direction of travel.
These turn signals are even harder to see than the blue, yellow, and red lights mentioned above. This is due to the small size of the display and the incidence of sunlight.

(iv) In conventional types of traffic lights, once the size of the main body is determined, the size of each signal unit is limited accordingly. Therefore, if you try to make the entire device smaller and lighter, you will have to make the signal unit smaller.Also, if you make the signal unit larger for clearer display, the weight of the entire signal will increase, and the poles that support it will be overloaded. It takes a load.

(e) Including the direction indicator lights, the three light source units of blue, yellow, and red are provided separately, so there are a large number of lights, and the manufacturing and maintenance costs are high.

(f) In addition to the large number of lights, incandescent bulbs are used as light sources, which consumes a lot of electricity.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a traffic signal in which the lighting color and indicated direction can be easily and reliably identified, the light source unit is large, the weight of the entire signal is light, and various costs are low. It is an object.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to solve the above problems, the first invention according to the present application provides a plurality of neon tubes 41 to 48 in one unit lamp 1.
The front cover 2 of the unit lamp 1 is made of non-reflective glass.

A second invention is a traffic signal having the above-mentioned configuration, which includes an arrow-shaped neon tube 46 extending radially from the center of the lamp, and ring-shaped neon tubes 41 to 45 installed on the outer periphery of the arrow-shaped neon tube 46. .47.48.

The third invention is characterized in that the arrow-shaped neon tube is a blue-emitting neon tube, and the multiple ring-shaped neon tubes are blue-, yellow-, and red-emitting neon tubes.

<Operation> The plurality of neon tubes 41 to 48 in the unit lamp 1 sequentially and repeatedly emit blue, yellow, and red light as a traffic signal. The control method for periodically emitting light is the same as the control method for conventional traffic lights.

Which part of the neon tube emits light of which color is arbitrarily determined depending on the method of arranging the neon tubes. Also,
The arrow-shaped neon tube 46 acts as a direction indicator light,
The arrow part at the tip and the rod-shaped part 49 are installed separately, and 8
It is also possible to light up two arrows at the same time and use it for purposes other than indicating direction. The traffic light according to the present invention has a structure in which the front cover 2 of the unit lamp 1 is made of non-reflective glass, a plurality of neon tubes are used as the light source, and a color display appears only when the light is lit. The entire area is transparent or cloudy except for the luminescent lamps. Therefore, the colored lenses 52a, 52b, 52 of the signal light, which were found in the prior art,
This solves the problem of self-colored light emitting when the light source c receives sunlight and dazzles passengers and the like. 'In addition, the light-emitting display area is larger than conventional signal lights, making it easier for passengers to see, and the overall weight of the signal is lighter.
Power consumption is also low.

<Example> Hereinafter, a traffic signal according to the present invention will be described in detail based on an example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of essential parts of an embodiment of a traffic signal according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. A unit lamp 1 of a traffic signal has an outer surface consisting of a front cover 2 and a rear cover 3, and has a plurality of neon tubes 41 to 48 disposed therein as a light source.

The front cover 2 is a disc-shaped cover made of non-reflective glass that covers the front surface of the unit lamp 1, and has a flange portion on the periphery. Heater wires can also be buried in the front cover for use when it snows.

The back cover 3 is a disc-shaped cover made of light alloy or hard plastic that forms the back of the unit lamp 1, and like the front cover 2 described above, a flange is provided at the peripheral edge.

The front cover 2 and the back cover 3 are joined to each other by inserting or screwing together the image leading edge (not shown) of the flange part, and the outer surface of the hollow unit lamp is formed by both force bars.

A plurality of neon tubes 41 to 48 are arranged as light sources inside the unit lamp. Neon tubes consume less power and have a longer lifespan than incandescent light bulbs, so they are suitable for use as light sources for traffic lights that are used all the time. In this embodiment, the neon tube is composed of an arrow-shaped tube 46 extending radially from the center of the unit lamp and ring-shaped tubes 41 to 45, 47, and 48. In FIG. 1, a slight gap 5 is provided between the five ring-shaped neon tubes on the outer periphery, but it is also possible to arrange them without any gaps.

In this example, the first and fourth ring-shaped neon tubes 41.44 from the outside are red-emitting neon tubes, and the second and fifth ring-shaped neon tubes 42.45 are yellow-emitting neon tubes. . Third ring-shaped neon tube from the outside 4
3. Ring-shaped neon tube in the center of the unit lamp 47.
48, and radially extending arrow-shaped neon tubes 46a to 4
6h is a blue-emitting neon tube. When displaying a red light, the red light emitting neon tubes 41 and 44 emit light in a double circular shape, and when displaying a yellow light, the yellow light emitting neon tube 42 emits light.
．． 45 emits light in a double circular shape. In the case of a caution signal, it is also possible to control the flashing to repeat. It is also possible to flash red and yellow alternately. When displaying a green light, use one of the blue light emitting neon tubes other than the arrow-shaped neon tube 46, that is, the blue light emitting neon tube 43.
47.48 emits light. Arrow-shaped neon tubes 46 extending radially from the center function as direction indicator lights (in the example shown in the drawings, the configuration is capable of indicating eight directions). for example,"
When displaying "Right turn only allowed", the ring-shaped blue-emitting neon tube 47 in the center and the arrow-shaped blue-emitting neon tube 46a extending toward the right side emit light at the same time as the red-emitting neon tubes 41 and 44. The way the neon tubes are arranged, how they are lit, how they emit light, etc. are not limited to the above embodiments, and various configurations are possible. Further, it is also possible to make changes such as making the outer ring larger and making the arrow in the center larger.

In addition, the neon tube constituting the arrow is connected to the arrow part 46 at the tip.
A to 46h and the rod-shaped portion 49 may be separated into separate bodies. With this, when you want to display blue, if you light up all 8 tips of the arrows at the same time, you can display the blue 47 in the center.
．． 48 and the blue 43 on the outer periphery, a blue footprint sign can also be added in the middle.

Neon tubes with a circular cross section are used, but using a neon tube with a flat cross section increases the illuminance and is very effective. Compared to the use of conventional incandescent bulbs, the illuminance is higher and the power consumption is lower, so the effect is synergistically greater.

Furthermore, the display becomes clearer by blinking the ring-shaped neon tube so that it appears to rotate or expand/contract when emitting light. This is especially effective in times of heavy fog, snowfall, etc.

The traffic light of the present invention is controlled in a manner similar to conventional traffic lights.

Since the traffic light of the present invention uses non-reflective glass as the front cover and employs a neon tube as the light source, the traffic light is colorless or cloudy except for the energized luminescent lamp. Therefore, so-called self-colored light emission due to reflection of sunlight does not occur, and signals can be reliably identified even in broad daylight.

In addition, the neon tubes used as light sources in the traffic lights of the present invention consume less power and have a longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs, which are the light sources of conventional traffic lights, so there is also the cost of maintaining the traffic lights, such as the cost of electricity and the cost of replacing the light source. can save significantly. By using the unit light devices of the present invention connected back to back, the number of traffic lights installed at intersections can be reduced,
The effect of the above-mentioned cost savings becomes even greater. In addition, when unit lamps are installed back-to-back and connected, an opaque black-gray plate is interposed at the joint part, so that the emitted color of the signal stands out and identification can be easily performed.

It goes without saying that the traffic signal of the present invention can be used not only for road traffic as described above, but also for railway traffic.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the traffic signal of the present invention configured as described above, the following various effects can be achieved.

(a) Since the front cover of the unit lamp is made of non-reflective glass and does not use a reflective mirror, it does not reflect sunlight, and unlike the conventionally used colored prism lenses, it does not reflect sunlight. It does not emit self-colored light. Therefore, the lighting color of the traffic light can be reliably recognized even in broad daylight.

(b) Since the light source is larger than the light source unit in conventional traffic lights, it is possible to easily and reliably identify signals by color and check the signals of direction indicator lights.

(C) Since three-color signals and direction indicators (blue, yellow, and red) are housed in one unit light device, the overall weight can be reduced compared to conventional traffic lights.

(d) Since a neon tube is used as a light source, power consumption is low and the lifespan is long. As a result, maintenance and repair costs for traffic lights can be significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are a front view and a side view of essential parts of a traffic signal according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are a perspective view and a sectional view of a conventional traffic signal. <Explanation of symbols> 1: Unit lamp 2: Front cover 3: Back cover 41 to 45, 47, 48: Ring-shaped neon tube 46: Arrow-shaped neon tube 49: Rod-shaped neon tube

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A traffic signal characterized in that a plurality of neon tubes are arranged in one unit light device, and the front cover of the unit light device is made of non-reflective glass. (2) In the traffic signal according to claim 1, the neon tube has an arrow-shaped neon tube extending radially from the center of the lamp and is arranged around the outer periphery of the arrow-shaped neon tube. A traffic signal characterized by consisting of multiple ring-shaped neon tubes. (3) In the traffic signal according to claim 2, the arrow-shaped neon tube is a blue-emitting neon tube, and the multiple ring-shaped neon tubes are blue-, yellow-, and red-emitting neon tubes. A traffic signal characterized by: