JPH07325982A - Blinking display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a blinking display device in a nearly maintenance-free state without requiring battery replacement by constituting the power source part by combining a solar battery, an electric double-layered capacitor charged by the solar battery, and a photodetecting circuit. CONSTITUTION:The power source part 10 has the solar battery 11 and the electric double-layered capacitor 12 which is connected in parallel to the solar battery 11 and charged. Further, an oscillation part 30 is equipped with an oscillation circuit 31 which has two output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, and LEDs(light emission diode) 32a and 32b as light sources are connected to the output terminals OUT1 and OUT2. Then the photodetecting circuit 40 consists of a photodetetor such as a photodiode, a phototransistor, Cds, or CdSe and holds the photodetection signal from the photodetector for a previously set certain time, e.g. 30 seconds to directly connect a switch means 20 to the oscillation part 30 only for the time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blinking display device, and more particularly to a blinking display device suitable for a tail light of a bicycle or an accessory light of an automobile which does not require battery replacement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case of a bicycle, a small DC generator or a battery is used as a power source for its headlights and tail lights. In addition, there are some interior accessories for automobiles in which a light source such as a light emitting diode (LED) is made to blink, but in general, the power source depends on a vehicle battery.

[0003]

In the case of a small DC generator, it can be used semi-permanently, but since the rotating force is obtained from the tires of the bicycle, not only is the load on the rider increased by that amount. , When the vehicle is stopped, the headlights and tail lights are turned off, which may cause a rear-end collision accident.

In this respect, when the battery or the battery is used, it is separated from the drive system of the bicycle and the like, so that the rider is not burdened and the lamp is not turned off even when the vehicle is stopped, but it is a consumable item. There was the annoyance that I had to replace it with a new one.

[0005]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the structural features thereof are as follows.
In a blinking display device comprising a power supply unit and an oscillating unit that includes a light source and controls the current supplied from the power supply unit at predetermined time intervals to blink the light source, the power supply unit is a solar cell and a solar cell. It is composed of a combination of an electric double layer capacitor charged by and a photo detection circuit.

In this case, a secondary battery may be used instead of the electric double layer capacitor. Further, it is preferable that the power supply section is connected to a switch means for switching charging / discharging of the electric double layer capacitor, particularly a switching transistor whose on / off is controlled by an electromotive voltage of the solar cell.

[0007]

Function: During sunshine, electric energy generated by the solar cell is stored in the electric double layer capacitor. After sunset,
For example, when light from an automobile headlight or the like is detected, the electric energy is supplied from the electric double layer capacitor to the oscillation unit and the light source, and the light source blinks.

The electric double layer capacitor has a large electrostatic capacity per unit volume, has no limitation in charging and discharging, and has a long life. Therefore, it can be used almost maintenance-free without requiring replacement.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an optimum first embodiment of a blinking display device according to the present invention. According to this, the blinking display device includes the power supply unit 10, the oscillation unit 30 connected to the power supply unit 10 via the switch unit 20 and the photodetection circuit 40.
And a light source 32 whose blinking is controlled by the oscillator 30.
It has and.

The power supply unit 10 has a solar cell 11 and an electric double layer capacitor 12 which is connected to the solar cell 11 in parallel and charged. In this embodiment, charging and discharging of the electric double layer capacitor 12 is performed. A PNP transistor 21 is used as the control switch means 20.

The solar cell 11 includes an electric double layer capacitor 1
A Zener diode 13 for protecting 2 from its overvoltage is connected in parallel, and a reverse current blocking diode 14 is provided in a charging circuit from the solar cell 11 to the electric double layer capacitor 12.

The transistor 21 has its emitter-collector connected to the current supply path from the power supply section 10 to the oscillation section 30, and has its base connected via a suitable base resistor 22 and auxiliary adjusting resistor 15 to the common circuit of the device. Connected to the side.

In this embodiment, the oscillating section 30 comprises an oscillating circuit 31 having two output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, and LEDs (light emitting diodes) 32a and 32b as light sources are connected to the output terminals OUT1 and OUT2, respectively. Has been done.

A resistor 33 for limiting current and an electrolytic capacitor 34 are connected to the input side of the oscillator circuit 31. The capacitor 34 is a capacitor that instantly supplies the light emission energy to the LEDs 32a and 32b, and it is required that the internal resistance be low and the leakage current be small so that a large current can be taken out. On the other hand, the electric double layer capacitor 12 is required to have characteristics such that self-discharge is small even if the internal resistance is high.

Further, in this embodiment, a photodetector circuit 40 is incorporated between the switch means 20 and the oscillator 30.

The photodetector circuit 40 comprises a photodetector such as a photodiode, phototransistor, CdS or CdSe, and holds the photodetection signal from the photodetector for a preset period of time, for example, 30 seconds, and the switch means only for that time. It functions so as to directly connect 20 and the oscillation unit 30.

In the above structure, when the solar cell 11 is in the electromotive state due to sunlight, the emitter potential and the base potential of the transistor 21 are kept at the same potential, so that the transistor 21 is off and therefore the solar cell is The electric energy generated at 11 is charged into the electric double layer capacitor 12 via the diode 14.

When the electromotive force cannot be obtained from the solar cell due to the break of the day, the emitter potential of the transistor 21 becomes lower than the base potential, so that the transistor 21 turns on. At this time, for example, when this blinking display device is attached to a bicycle and the light from the headlight of the automobile is received (detected) by the photodetection circuit 40, it is set by the photodetection circuit 40 via the photodetection circuit 40. The energy stored in the electric double layer capacitor 12 is stored in the capacitor 34 for a time.
Is charged to the LEDs 32a, 32 through the oscillation circuit 31.
b blinks alternately.

The bicycle is in the garage, and the light detection circuit 4
If no light is detected at 0, the LEDs 32a, 32
Of course, b does not blink. Therefore, a power saving effect can be expected. In addition, the light detection circuit 40 has LEDs 32a, 3
The respective arrangements are devised so that the light emission of 2b is not received, or the light detection circuit 40 is set to a level at which the light detection circuit 40 does not malfunction even if light is received.

Here, the electromotive force of the solar cell 11 is 2.0
V, 200 mA, the rating of the electric double layer capacitor 12 is 2.4 V2.2 F, the current limiting resistor 33 is 10 kΩ, the base resistor 22 is 1 MΩ, the adjusting resistor 15 is 100 kΩ, the electrolytic capacitor 34 is rated 16 V 100 μF, and the oscillator circuit is used. First, the solar cell 11 is exposed to sunlight for 20 minutes by using a stepping motor driving IC (model number SM5546) manufactured by Nippon Precision Co., Ltd. 31 and alternately turning on the two LEDs 32a and 32b for 40 msec every second. The electric double layer capacitor 12 was charged.
At this time, the charging voltage of the electric double layer capacitor 12 is 2.
It was 2V.

After that, the solar cell 11 was shielded from light. Along with this, the transistor 21 is turned on, and the electric double layer capacitor 12 starts discharging,
The LEDs 32a and 32b start blinking alternately, and this state continues for about 5 hours. The light emitted to the light detection circuit 40 is L
It was given until the EDs 32a and 32b stopped emitting light.

This service life depends on the capacitance of the electric double layer capacitor 12, the light emission time and the light emission interval set by the oscillation circuit 31, and can be adjusted arbitrarily.

FIG. 2 shows a modification of the blinking display device shown in FIG. Although the photodetector circuit 40 is interposed between the switch means 20 and the oscillator 30 in FIG. 1, it is provided as the photodetector circuit 50 in series with the adjusting resistor 15 in FIG.

When light is detected by the photodetector circuit 50, the adjusting resistor 15 is operated for the time set by the photodetector circuit 50.
Blinks and functions to be connected to the ground line of the display device.

Further, although the electric double layer capacitor is used in each of the above embodiments, a secondary battery may be used instead of the electric double layer capacitor in view of the concept of the energy storage element.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The power supply part is a combination of a solar cell that receives energy from sunlight and an electric double layer capacitor that has almost no restrictions on charging and discharging and is suitable for accumulating electric energy. A blinking display device is obtained which can be used.

Further, in the present invention, the blinking operation is performed only when the vehicle equipped with the blinking display device receives light from another vehicle, so that a power saving effect is achieved and It can be used for a long time by charging.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an optimum embodiment of a blinking display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Power Supply Section 11 Solar Cell 12 Electric Double Layer Capacitor 20 Switch Means 21 Switching Transistor 30 Oscillation Section 31 Oscillation Circuits 32a, 32b LED 40 Photodetection Circuit 50 Photodetection Circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A power source section comprising a solar cell and an electric double layer capacitor charged by the solar cell; and a current including a light source, the current supplied from the power source section is controlled every predetermined time to blink the light source. When the oscillator and light is detected,
A blinking display device comprising: a photodetector circuit configured to supply a current from the power supply unit to the oscillating unit for a set time. 2. The blinking display device according to claim 1, wherein a secondary battery is used instead of the electric double layer capacitor. 3. The blinking display device according to claim 1, wherein the power supply unit is connected to a switch means for switching charging / discharging of the electric double layer capacitor. 4. The blinking display device according to claim 3, wherein the switch means comprises a switching transistor whose on / off is controlled by an electromotive voltage of the solar cell.