JPH0670832A - Road reflection mirror with antifogging function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the fogging of the reflection mirror and to improve the safety of road traffic by putting a heat buffer material to the inner side of the mirror finished surface of the reflection mirror, bringing a soft container housting a gelatinous heat accumulating material into tight contact therewith and putting a heat insulating material into the rear surface thereof, thereby adiabatically cushioning the rear plate. CONSTITUTION:The heat buffer material 18 is put into the inner side of the mirror finished surface of the reflection mirror 1 in contact therewith. The container 4 is then housed therein in contact therewith and the gelatinous heat accumulating material 5 is packed into this container 4. The heat insulating material 6A is provided in tight contact with the rear surface of the container 4 housing the heat accumulating material 5 further, the heat insulating material 6B is provided between this heat insulating material 6A and the rear plate 2. A fastening part 7 for the rear surface of the mirror finished surface integrally coupling a mirror finished surface plate 1 and the rear plate 2, a supporting plate 8 mounted to the rear surface of the rear plate 2, a pivotal shaft 10 for pivotally supporting a connecting piece 9 to this supporting plate 8, a clamp 11 for positioning between the supporting plate 8 and the connecting piece 9, an arc-shaped long groove 12 fitting to the clamp, a column 13 for supporting the connecting piece 9 and a fitting 14 for fastening this column are provided, by which the fogging of the front surface of the reflection mirror plate 1 by dew condensation is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a road reflector having an anti-fog function for a road reflector which tends to occur in cold weather.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Road reflectors are safety devices installed at intersections and bends in roads where visibility is poor, but the mirrors become cloudy and useless from night to morning during cold weather from autumn to spring. Since there is a traffic risk, it is strongly desired to solve it.

The main causes of clouding of the road reflector from night to morning in cold weather are as follows. That is, the radiation cooling causes the temperature of the mirror surface to become lower than the dew point temperature of the surrounding air, and water droplets are condensed on the mirror surface or ice particles adhere to the mirror surface. Therefore, in order to prevent the road mirror from fogging, it is sufficient that the mirror surface does not become lower in temperature than the surrounding air.

[0004] As a conventional publicly known example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-19890 proposes to form a latent heat storage layer between a mirror plate and a back plate, but in the case of a road reflector, it is installed and installed in various places throughout the country. The temperature around the reflector also differs depending on the location. In order to exert a sufficient effect at any temperature, it is effective to use sensible heat storage, which has large heat storage energy at any temperature.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Of these, water has the largest amount of heat storage. In the case of a reflector, sensible heat storage of 3 ~ at a constant temperature
Even if the amount of stored heat is four times that of water that is less than half of the water in other temperature regions, it is not suitable for a reflecting mirror. Further, it is a good method to form the heat storage layer between the mirror surface and the back plate, but if a heat insulating material is not put on the back plate side, heat is radiated from the direction of the back plate, so that heat radiation is increased and there is almost no effect.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-167803 proposes a method in which a space between the mirror plate and the back plate is a closed container and an antifreeze solution is poured into the container. The problem with this method is that the Japan Road Association uses a road reflector to guide the stainless steel plate, which is 0.8 mm thick for a round φ600 and 0.9 mm for a φ800.
The thickness is φ1000 and the thickness is 1.0 mm. In addition, the degree of distortion of the image is to be visually matched with the limit sample by making it face the mirror surface.

Regarding the present proposal, the above-mentioned Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-19890
As with the publication, since there is no heat insulating material on the back plate side, there is almost no effect of radiating heat from the back plate direction, and there is a method of putting antifreeze liquid inside.For example, with φ800, the average distance between the mirror surface and the back plate is If it is 3 cm, 15 kg of antifreeze will be injected, and the force that pushes the mirror surface in the bending direction and the lower direction will act, and the mirror surface will be distorted due to the downward expansion and the image will be distorted, so it cannot be used.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-204508, a container containing a liquid heat storage agent is installed on the mirror surface side between the road reflecting mirror surface plate and the back plate, and a heat insulating material is arranged on the back plate side for daytime. It has been proposed to collect heat from the mirror surface during a period when the outside air temperature is high, and when the outside air temperature becomes low from night to early morning, warm the mirror surface with a heat storage agent and keep the mirror surface temperature higher than the ambient temperature.

[0009] The problem with this method is that when the outside air temperature rises from early morning, the liquid heat storage agent convects, the temperature of the heat storage agent rises in the upper part, and rises after a considerable delay in the lower part.

Therefore, even if the outside air temperature starts to rise, the temperature rise in the lower portion of the heat storage agent is delayed at the lower portion of the mirror surface. May be cloudy. Furthermore, when the outside air temperature decreases from night to early morning, the internal heat storage agent convects, heat dissipation of the heat storage agent is promoted, and the heat storage effect decreases.

As described above, the conventionally proposed technique does not have a sufficient function under a wide range of weather conditions.

In the present invention, the main cause of clouding of the road reflector is that when the temperature of the mirror surface falls below the ambient temperature due to radiative cooling and becomes lower than the dew point of the surrounding air, water in the air is reflected on the mirror surface. It is an object of the present invention to provide a road reflector having an anti-fog function, which is sufficient for dew condensation from a temperature decrease cycle to a temperature increase cycle.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve these problems, in which a gel heat storage agent is installed on the back surface of a mirror surface so as to be able to conduct heat, and then a heat insulating material is adhered thereto. The heat storage agent, the heat storage material, the heat insulating material, and the back plate to be integrated, or a heat storage material-container with less moisture loss is installed on the back surface of the mirror in a heat conductive manner. This is achieved by arranging the heat insulating material closely.

The heat storage section is the main part of this equipment, but the heat storage agent stores sensible heat having a uniform specific heat in a wide temperature range, and a gel material is used as a property. That is, if it is a gel, there is no convection, so that the heat storage energy of the heat storage agent can be effectively used for a long period of time, there is no fear of liquid leakage, and it shows a preferable tendency against vibration during product transportation. . In addition, it is possible to mold it to a desired curvature, and it is also possible to attach the molded product to the road reflector with a hand and integrate it.

Further, for the purpose of manufacturing cost reduction, it is also possible to make a container having a mirror as the bottom surface and gel the liquid heat storage agent therein. As a container having a small loss of moisture permeability, for example, a three-layer film in which front and back surfaces of an aluminum foil are laminated with a polyethylene film is used. Also in this case, it is preferable to use the gel heat storage agent from the viewpoint of effective utilization of heat storage energy and fear of liquid leakage.

As the heat storage agent, it is preferable that the heat storage agent has a large heat storage amount per volume over a wide temperature range from -40 ° C to + 40 ° C and does not freeze at the lowest possible temperature, such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and diethylene glycol. An aqueous solution is used.

The gelation of the heat storage agent may be performed by any method. For example, a commercially available superabsorbent resin is used in an appropriate amount to form a gel, or 5 to 10% by weight of commercially available polyvinyl alcohol is added and dissolved at a high temperature, followed by freezing, or other hydroxyethyl ester. There is a method in which a bifunctional monomer such as ethylene glycol or dimethacrylate is added to a water-soluble monomer such as methacrylate to carry out a polymerization reaction. However, gelation may be performed by any method. Further, as the heat insulating material, a material having closed cells and having a role of a cushioning material, such as urethane home or styrofoam, is used.

[0018]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a road reflector of the present invention. Figure 2
[Fig. 3] is a perspective view in which a part of a container for containing a heat storage agent is cut away.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a mirror surface 1A having an appropriate curvature.
2 is a metal mirror surface plate with a back plate integrally joined with a space for containing an appropriate content, and 3 is an eave projecting above the mirror surface plate. In the present invention, the mirror plate 1
The heat buffer material 18 is put in contact with the inside of the mirror surface. Next, a container 4 for putting the gel heat storage agent in close contact therewith is housed, and the gel heat storage agent 5 is filled in the container 4 and the container 4 containing the heat storage agent is filled.
A heat insulating material 6A is closely attached to the back surface of the reflecting plate 1, and a heat insulating material 6B is further provided between the heat insulating material 6A and the back plate 2 to prevent fogging due to dew condensation on the surface of the reflector plate 1.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a mirror back plate tightening portion for integrally connecting the mirror plate 1 and the back plate 2 of the present invention, 8 a support plate mounted on the back surface of the back plate 2, 9 a connecting piece, and 10 a mounting plate. 8 is a pivot for pivotally supporting the connecting piece 9, 11 is a stopper for positioning between the support plate 8 and the connecting piece 9, 12 is an arc-shaped long groove for fitting the stopper, 13
Is a pillar that supports the connecting piece 9, and 14 is a fastener. As the heat storage agent, a gel heat storage agent that has a large amount of heat storage per volume over a wide temperature range from about -40 ° C to + 40 ° C, is not frozen at low temperature, has no toxicity, and is stable for a long time is preferable.

It is also necessary to fully consider the compatibility between the heat storage agent and the container. In the present invention, considering the above conditions, for example, when a mirror having a diameter of φ800 is used, 2.5% of a superabsorbent resin is added to a mixed solution of propylene glycol and water, and the mixture is poured into the container 4 for use. The gel heat storage agent 5 is put in the container 4 and attached between the heat buffer material 18 and the heat insulating material 6A. φ80
In the case of 0 road reflector, 3000mm is suitable for the radius of curvature of the mirror surface.

With respect to this curvature of the mirror surface, it is desirable that the container 4 containing the heat storage agent 5 is closely attached to the inner side 1B of the mirror surface plate 1 via the heat buffering material 18. Further, it is desirable that the volume of the heat storage agent per unit area of the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the mirror surface plate 1 be substantially the same. Further, as explained above, the operating temperature is -40
Since the temperature is between ℃ and +40 ℃, it is necessary that the container 4 is not damaged or the heat storage agent 5 is not dissipated to the outside even if the heat storage agent 5 expands in volume.

Considering these conditions, in the present invention, the container 4 is a round container using a three-layer film in which front and back surfaces of an aluminum foil are bonded with a polyethylene film and a polyester film, for example. The present invention is not limited to this. The container 4 containing the heat storage agent is configured so as to suppress the moisture permeation loss along with the uniform liquid amount seal 15 and the outer periphery seal 16 on the film 2 surface at regular intervals so that the gel heat storage agent 5 has almost the same volume over the entire mirror surface. To do. Container 4
Is provided with an inlet 17 into which the heat storage agent 5 is inserted.

Between the heat storage agent container 4 and the back plate 2, heat insulating materials 6A and 6B are put. The heat insulating material 6A, 6B is, for example, 40 mm
Put two pieces of thickness x φ800 and 20mm thickness x φ400, put them together in a polyethylene film bag and set it waterproof. During the daytime when the outside air temperature is high, more heat is collected from the mirror surface and transferred to the heat storage agent 5 to store the heat. When the outside air temperature decreases from night to early morning, the heat is radiated only from the side of the mirror plate 1 to warm the mirror surface 1A from the inside and keep the temperature higher than the ambient temperature of the outside air. In addition, by making the heat storage agent gel, the amount of heat stored is radiated over time.

Further, the sponge used as the heat insulating material serves as a cushioning material by using its elasticity to bring the heat storage agent container 4 into close contact with the mirror inner surface 1B.

FIG. 3 shows the results of a comparative test between the road reflector A of the present invention and a conventional road reflector B with a fog-preventing device, which uses a liquid heat storage agent on the back surface of the reflector.

As shown in FIG. 3, 10 days of observation are 6 every morning in winter.
The mirror surface temperature and the temperature around it are recorded at 30 minutes and plotted in a graph. The reflector mirror surface temperature (A) of the present invention is the mirror surface temperature without the conventional fog prevention function over the entire observation period. It shows a temperature higher than (B) and higher than the ambient temperature (C). The conventional product (B) shows almost the same temperature as the ambient temperature (C).

Next, the road reflector of the present invention and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2020/1990.
FIG. 4 shows the results of a comparative test of a road reflector equipped with an anti-fog device of the type proposed in Japanese Patent No. 4508, and a conventional product (D) below.

FIG. 4 is a graph obtained by recording the temperatures of the mirror surface and its surrounding area for 24 hours in the above both cases, and the temperature of the reflecting mirror surface of the present invention is higher than that of the conventional product (D) from night to 10:00 in the morning. It shows a high temperature. This is because the heat storage temperature energy released from the heat storage agent after the ambient temperature starts to decrease in the evening is gelled in the present invention, and thus the heat storage effect lasts for a long time. Further, the conventional product (D), in which the temperature of the mirror surface rises with no time delay from the morning as the ambient temperature rises, uses a liquid heat storage agent, so the heat storage effect is less persistent due to convection. From the results of the above comparative tests, the reflecting mirror of the present invention exhibits a very effective antifogging effect.

[0030]

The present invention relates to an improvement of a road reflector provided at a road intersection or a place with poor visibility,
Since a gel heat storage agent is used as a heat storage agent, its long heat storage time is used to prevent the fogging of the reflector that occurs during the night or early morning during cold weather or on high-humidity days. This is a remarkable effect that can improve the safety of road traffic.

Regarding prevention of fog on the conventional road reflector,
Although various ones have been used, none of them have sufficient anti-fogging effect and caused troubles in cold weather or high humidity.In the present invention, a heat buffer material is put inside the mirror surface of the reflecting mirror. Adhere a soft container containing a gel heat storage agent to
This problem was solved by a simple mechanism that puts a heat insulating material on the back surface and buffers the back plate adiabatically. As a result, it is possible to prevent the fogging due to dew condensation on the surface of the mirror surface plate as compared with the one using an antifreeze liquid or a liquid heat storage agent, and also to improve the heat conduction and prevent the distortion of the mirror surface. It is industrially useful.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of a main part showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an example of a container for containing a heat storage agent.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the behavior of temperature change measured by comparing the performances of the road reflector (A) of the present invention and the conventional products (B) and (D).

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the behavior of temperature change measured by comparing the performances of the road reflector (A) of the present invention and the conventional products (B) and (D).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mirror surface plate 1A Mirror surface 1B Mirror surface inner surface 2 Back plate 3 Eaves plate 4 Container for storing heat storage agent 5 Heat storage agent 6A Insulation material 6B Insulation material 7 Mirror surface back plate tightening section 8 Support plate 9 Coupling piece 10 Positioning stopper 12 Long Groove 13 Pillar 14 Tightening Fitting 15 Uniform Liquid Level Seal 16 Peripheral Seal 17 Injection Port 18 Thermal Buffer Material

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Nagasaki 2490-5 Higashikatagami, Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture (72) Inventor Yasuo Nanjo 400-8 Fukui, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture Katsumi Tamura 590 Takao, Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture -1

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gel heat storage agent is installed on the back surface of the mirror so as to be able to conduct heat, and then a heat insulating material is placed in close contact therewith, and the mirror surface, the heat storage agent, the heat insulating material, and the back plate are integrated. Road reflector with anti-fog function, which is characterized by that. 2. The road reflector with an anti-fog function according to claim 1, wherein a heat buffering material is provided between the back surface of the mirror and the gel heat storage agent.