JPH039119Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Industrial application field]

This invention relates to marine night beacon lights used for nighttime display of fish collecting nets and other underwater installations in the ocean, lakes, and rivers. Nighttime beacon light.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

Conventional marine night beacon lights use light bulbs that heat a filament to a high temperature to emit light. Light bulbs, which can be seen from hundreds of meters away, consume a lot of power and require a large-capacity power source. For this reason, without using marine night beacon lights,
The reality is that many accidents have occurred and no countermeasures have been taken because they are left unmarked. It is possible to light a light bulb using ordinary inexpensive batteries. However, when lighting a light bulb using a battery, the usable life of the battery is limited to two days, which cannot meet the demands of the fishermen who are the consumers. For example, when setting up a fixed net in an inland sea to farm yellowtail, sea bream, etc., the buoys can be seen with the naked eye during the day, but cannot be seen at night. As a result, ships collide with aquaculture fishing nets, and the fishing nets are cut off by the ship's screws, causing serious damage such as the aquaculture fish escaping. Furthermore, vessels with fishing nets entangled in their fishing nets become unable to navigate, causing accidents that threaten human lives. In order to minimize such damage, there is a strong need for a marine night beacon light that can be clearly seen from a distance and is inexpensive to run. That is, since marine night beacon lights used for this type of purpose are used at sea, it takes considerable effort to replace batteries. Furthermore, when the casing is opened to replace the battery, salt and moisture enter the battery, corroding the internal electrical components and significantly reducing durability. For this reason, marker lights used for this type of application are
What is most important is that it can be lit reliably for a long period of time without opening the casing, and unless this characteristic is satisfied, a usable marker light will not be realized. Furthermore, when this type of marine night beacon light is used as a beacon light for a net or the like installed at sea, it is extremely important that it be inexpensive, since it is used in large numbers at various locations on the net. Also, unlike those that are fixed on land, they shake violently with the waves, so it is important that they are resistant to vibrations. This invention was developed with the aim of satisfying all of these characteristics.The important purpose of this invention is that the casing can be made into a completely sealed structure, eliminating the need to replace batteries and light bulbs, and allowing underwater use. To provide a marker light which can be used easily and conveniently by simply connecting it to a net or the like with a string, and which can be identified from a distance. Another important objective of this invention is to provide a beacon light that can be mass-produced at low cost, is durable, and can be used safely for long periods of time in harsh environments such as the sea. Furthermore, another important purpose of this invention is that it has no mechanically moving parts or mechanically weak parts such as filaments, has excellent vibration resistance, and does not break down even if the entire unit is shaken by waves. Not to provide beacon lights.

[Means to solve the problem]

The marine night beacon light of this invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above-mentioned objective. (a) The marine night beacon light includes a casing 1, a power source 19, and a light emitting diode 4. (b) Casing 1 should be constructed to prevent water from entering inside.
Watertightly sealed. (c) Maritime night beacon lights have one casing so that they can be floated on the water surface without using floats.
However, it has a buoyancy that allows it to float on the water surface. (d) The center of gravity of the casing 1 is located below the center of buoyancy, with the power supply means 19 and the light emitting diode 4 built-in so that the casing 1 can be stably floated on the water surface. (e) The casing 1 is transparent to sunlight, and
At least the area above the waterline has translucency so that light from the light emitting diode 4 can also pass through. (f) The power source means 19 includes a rechargeable battery 2 that is charged by a solar battery 3 and a solar battery 3 that converts sunlight into electricity. (g) The solar cell 3 is connected to the battery 2 so as to supply the generated power to the battery 2 and charge it. (h) The solar cell 3 receives sunlight and generates electricity. Therefore, the solar cell 3 is connected to the casing 1
It is arranged horizontally or almost horizontally below the light-transmitting part of. (i) The light emitting diode 4 is emitted by the power supply means 19. Therefore, the light emitting diode 4 can be connected via the non-contact switching means 8 or
It is directly connected to the power supply means 19. (j) The light emitting diode 4 is attached to the casing 1 so that the emitted light can be irradiated to the outside of the casing 1.
is located above the waterline. (k) The light emitting diode is configured to be energized from the power source means 19 and the light emitting diode is lit by the power source means 19.

[Action, effect]

The marine night beacon light of this invention has power supply means 19.
and a light emitting diode 4 are built into the casing 1. As a light source, a light emitting diode is used instead of a traditional filament light bulb. Although light emitting diodes have high luminance, their current consumption is extremely low, several tenths of that of conventional light bulbs. Therefore, the marine night beacon light of this invention has the advantage of being able to clearly distinguish the light from a distance of several hundred meters, whereas conventional small miniature light bulbs could not distinguish the light at night. Furthermore, the low current consumption of the light emitting diode allows it to be lit for a long time with a small capacity power source. This makes it possible to supply power using small solar cells and rechargeable batteries, eliminating the need for battery replacement.
The casing can be made into a sealed structure that cannot be opened or closed. This not only eliminates the need to replace batteries and light bulbs, saving labor on maintenance and inspection, but also prevents moisture and salt from entering the casing, greatly reducing corrosion of internal electrical components. This can significantly extend the lifespan. Furthermore, light emitting diodes emit light on a completely different principle than light bulbs. It converts the difference in energy order of electrons into light. Therefore, there is no need for a filament that is thin and easily broken like a light bulb. Also,
Light-emitting diodes have no locally heated parts and have a structure that is extremely resistant to vibration. Therefore, even if the entire marine night beacon light that uses light emitting diodes as a light source is violently vibrated by waves or the like, the light source will not stop lighting up. Furthermore, the marine night beacon light of this invention is
Since there is no need to replace the battery, all connection parts can be soldered to create a structure that will not cause poor contact. Therefore, the strength against vibration can be significantly improved.
The wave resistance and durability against waves can be significantly improved, and the feature of not breaking down for a long time can be realized. In other words, the beacon light of this invention can be used easily and conveniently by simply connecting it to an underwater net etc. with a string, can be identified from a distance, can be mass-produced at low cost, is durable, and can withstand harsh conditions. It can be used safely for a long period of time in any environment.

[Preferred embodiment]

An embodiment of this invention will be described below based on the drawings. The marine night beacon shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 and the plan view of FIG. We are prepared. The casing 1 consists of a battery storage part 1a that extends vertically at the bottom and a main body part 1b whose upper surface is closed with a translucent lid material 5.
The whole area is sealed watertight. A binding hole 6 for anchor connection is provided at the lower end of the battery storage portion 1a. A connecting hole 7 for horizontally connecting a plurality of marker lights is provided on the lower surface of the main body portion 1b. By storing the battery 2 in the battery storage part 1a, the entire casing can be stably floated on the water surface without falling down due to the weight of the battery 2.
That is, it is extended downward so that the center of gravity is located below the center of buoyancy when everything is stored inside. In this way, when the battery storage part 1a is extended downward and the battery 2 is also used as a weight, there is no need to store a weight to prevent falling in the lower part of the casing 1, and the overall weight can be made lighter. can be realized. However, although not shown, it is also possible to store a weight in the lower part of the casing to lower the center of gravity below the center of buoyancy. The battery storage portion 1a is formed into a cylindrical shape with an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer shape of the battery 2 so that the battery 2 can be stored therein with almost no play. The main body portion 1b has a disk-like overall shape, and its upper surface is closed with a lid member 5 whose central portion protrudes like a dome. The lid material 5 has high transmittance of sunlight, and
The light emitted by the light emitting diode 4 is clearly visible from a distance, and a material having sufficient strength, especially impact resistance strength that will not be damaged even if an object collides with it, is used, for example, a material molded from transparent synthetic resin. By the way, the inventor discovered a very unique phenomenon while testing the prototype. It is a marine night beacon light in which a light emitting diode is projected outside from a casing so that the light from the light emitting diode can be seen directly, and a light emitting diode 4 is housed in a transparent cover material 5 as shown in FIG. A marker light in which the light from the light emitting diode 4 can be seen through the transparent cover material 5 was manufactured as a prototype, and both marker lights were confirmed from a distance. As a result, the latter indicator light, whose light passes through the cover material 5, could be seen from a greater distance than the former indicator light, where the light is seen directly. The inventor of the present invention was initially concerned that if light were to pass through the lid 5, a portion of the light would be absorbed and attenuated by the lid 5, and would not reach far. however,
As shown in FIG. 1, when the light emitting diode 4 is disposed inside the lid 5, when light passes through the lid 5,
A portion of the light was scattered by the lid material 5, making the lid material shine in a dome shape, and the light emitting area became wider, making it clearly visible from a distance. In particular, in actual use, the marine night beacon is floated on the water surface, so many water droplets adhere to the surface of the dome of the lid 5, and these water droplets act as lenses. This caused the light to be scattered, making the entire dome of the lid shine, making it clearly visible from a distance. Therefore, the cover material 5 does not necessarily have to have any irregularities on its surface, and can be made of transparent synthetic resin with smooth inner and outer surfaces to improve its visibility from a distance. However, it goes without saying that the surface of the transparent portion of the casing that covers the light emitting diode can be formed into an uneven shape. The sealed casing 1 is filled with a desiccant 16 to prevent condensation on the inner surface of the transparent part, and a ventilation hole 17 is provided in the mounting plate 18 to which the solar cell 3 is fixed. . The dome of the lid member 5 that scatters the light emitted by the light emitting diode 4 preferably has a radius of 10 mm or more, more preferably in the range of 30 mm to 100 mm. If the radius of the dome is too large, the luminous intensity of the entire dome will decrease. The power source means 19 includes a rechargeable battery 2 that is charged by a solar cell 3 and a solar cell 3 that converts sunlight into electricity. In the marine night beacon light shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 3, a diode 14 is connected between the solar cell 3 and the battery 2. The diode 14 can prevent the battery 2 from being discharged due to reverse current flowing from the battery 2 to the solar cell 3. As the battery 2, a rechargeable battery such as a nickel cadmium battery is used so that it can be charged with the power generated by the solar battery 3. The lighting voltage of the light emitting diode 4 is usually 2 volts or more. Therefore, the electromotive force of the battery is
For 1.2 volts, connect three in series. Also, the current consumption of the light emitting diode 4 is quite low, at most 20mA even if it is an ultra-high brightness one.
Can be lit for a long time with AA batteries. By the way, the capacity of a AA nickel cadmium battery is 550-600mAh. Therefore, the time during which the light emitting diode 4 can be continuously lit with this battery is approximately 30 hours at maximum. It is preferable that the solar cell 3 can efficiently receive sunlight incident from above, no matter which direction the casing 1 faces. Therefore, the solar cell 3
As shown in the figure, it is horizontally fixed below the translucent lid member 5. The power generation capacity of the solar cell 3 is such that when the light is turned off during the day and the light emitting diode is turned on only at night, the battery 2 is charged with sunlight during the day, and the charging power is enough to turn on the light emitting diode all night. It is determined. The power generation capacity of solar cells depends on the weather and the seasons. Therefore, the capacity to fully charge the battery under the worst conditions, usually when lighting one light emitting diode, is 25 square centimeters or more, preferably
Determined to be 100 square centimeters or more. The light emitting diode 4 irradiates light in all directions, and a cover material 5 is installed so that the light emission can be confirmed from the surroundings in the same way.
A luminescent beam is used, which is located below the center of the lamp and is fixed upward, emitting light in the same way around the area. The light emitting diode 4 can adjust the emitted light color by changing the material. Red or yellow is used as the emitting color so that it can be easily seen from a distance. The one that uses a gallium arsenide red-emitting high-intensity diode (current consumption 20mA) can be seen at night from a distance of 250 to 300 meters by fixing one light-emitting diode facing upward. Furthermore, a device with five identical light emitting diodes fixed in the center could be seen from a distance of 1,000 meters. Therefore, the distance traveled by the light can be adjusted by adjusting the luminance and number of light emitting diodes. The light emitting diode can also be connected directly to a battery. When a light-emitting diode is connected directly to a battery, the light-emitting diode is constantly lit. just,
Since there is no need to emit light during the day, it is preferable to
The light emitting diode 4 is connected to the battery 2 via switching means 8 . The switching means 8 is shown in FIG. This switching means 8 includes a photosensor 9, an astable multivibrator 10, and a switching transistor 11. The optical sensor 9 detects the surrounding brightness.
CdS etc. can be used. The output of this optical sensor 9 controls an astable multivibrator 10.
That is, the astable multivibrator 10 is operated in a state in which the optical sensor 9 detects that the brightness is below a predetermined brightness. The astable multivibrator 10 controls the switching transistor 11 on and off using an output signal. When the switching transistor 11 is on, the light emitting diode 4 is turned on, and when it is off, the light is turned off. Therefore, the light emitting diode 4 is intermittently blinked by the rectangular wave output of the astable multivibrator 10. In this switching means 8, when the outside becomes dark and the resistance of the optical sensor 9 increases, the input transistor 12 becomes conductive, the astable multivibrator 10 starts to oscillate, and the switching transistor 11 becomes constant. The light emitting diode 4 is made to blink by repeating on/off cycles. The period at which light emitting diode 4 flashes, and 1
The lighting time is astable as 10 times.
The oscillation period can be adjusted freely. usually,
The flashing cycle of the light emitting diode 4 is 0.1 to 5 seconds, 1
The lighting time of each cycle is determined to be about 0.05 to 1/2 of one cycle. The light emitting diode 4, which is turned on and off by the switching means, has the advantage of being easily distinguishable from other lights at night, and of reducing the power consumption of the battery 2. In order to prevent the light sensor 9 that detects external brightness from malfunctioning due to the light from the light emitting diode 4, it is preferably separated from the light emitting diode 4 and mounted on a cylindrical partition wall 13 extending vertically, as shown in FIG. located within. The switching means 8 shown in FIG. 4 does not use an optical sensor, but is equipped with a voltage sensor 15 that detects when the output voltage of the solar cell decreases as the outside becomes dark. The astable multivibrator 10 is controlled by the output of the voltage sensor 15. In this circuit, when the outside becomes dark and the output voltage of the solar cell decreases, the light emitting diode 4 starts blinking.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are longitudinal cross-sectional views and plan views of a marine night beacon light showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are circuit diagrams showing an example of the circuit of the switching means. 1...Casing, 1a...Battery storage part,
1b...Body part, 2...Battery, 3...Solar cell, 4...Light emitting diode, 5...Lid material, 6...
Binding hole, 7... Connection hole, 8... Switching means, 9... Optical sensor, 10... Astable multivibrator, 11... Switching transistor, 13... Partition wall, 14... Diode, 15...
... Voltage sensor, 16 ... Desiccant, 17 ... Ventilation hole, 18 ... Mounting plate, 19 ... Power supply means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of claims for utility model registration] (1) A night beacon light for maritime use having the following configurations (a) to (k). (a) The marine night beacon light includes a casing 1, a power source 19, and a light emitting diode 4. (b) The casing 1 is sealed watertight. (c) The casing 1 has the buoyancy to float on the water surface by itself. (d) The casing 1 houses the power supply means 19 and the light emitting diode 4, and the center of gravity is located below the center of buoyancy. (e) The casing 1 is translucent at least above the waterline. (f) The power source means 19 includes a rechargeable battery 2 and a solar cell 3. (g) Solar cell 3 is connected to battery 2. (h) The solar cell 3 is disposed horizontally or almost horizontally below the transparent portion of the casing 1, and the battery 2 is charged with the power generated by the solar cell 3. (i) The light emitting diode 4 is connected to the power supply means 19 directly or via a non-contact switching means 8. (j) The light emitting diode 4 is arranged above the waterline of the casing 1. (k) The light emitting diode 4 is configured to be turned on when the light emitting diode is energized from the power supply means 19. (2) The marine night beacon light according to claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting part of the casing 1 is dome-shaped, and the light-emitting diode 4 is disposed upward in the center of the dome-shaped part. (3) The marine night beacon light according to claim 1, wherein the lower part of the casing 1 is extended vertically downward, and the battery 2 is housed in this extended part.