JPH0739930Y2 - Self-luminous road tack - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a self-luminous road stud, and more particularly to a self-luminous road stud installed at, for example, a central position of an intersection or a driving division zone of a general road.

[Prior art]

Prior art of this type was disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-61137, which was published on December 27, 1982, and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-68113, which was published on May 10, 1986. There is something. In all of these, the output of the solar cell is directly charged into the battery through the backflow prevention diode, and the battery is used as a power source at night, resulting in poor charging efficiency. Therefore, in order not to run out of battery capacity at night, the light emitting diode (hereinafter, "LED") is adjusted to light only when necessary. That is, the actual public Sho 57-611
In No. 37, the battery is charged in the daytime, and the timer discharges the battery only at night to light the LED. In addition, in No. 61-68113, the battery is charged in the daytime, and the LED is discharged by the battery only at night when the car light is detected by the light detection circuit.
Is designed to emit light.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, in the former conventional technique of controlling the light emission of the LED by the timer, for example, the length of the night is significantly different between the summer and the winter, so the time period in which the LED needs to be emitted is different,
The timer must be reset depending on the season, which makes the setting work complicated.

Further, in the latter conventional technology that detects a car light and emits an LED, the car light does not always hit the sensor, and in some cases, the car light cannot be detected.
It is possible that the LED will not illuminate even when needed.

Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a self-luminous road tack that enables a battery to be charged by a charging circuit having a high charging efficiency and can obtain a sufficient battery capacity.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-luminous road tack that can improve charging efficiency and secure battery capacity, thereby eliminating complications such as resetting the light emission time zone each season. That is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-luminous road tack in which a light emitting element always emits light when necessary.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-luminous road tack in which a light emitting element emits light all day.

Another purpose of this device is simple and cheap to construct,
It is to provide self-luminous road tacks.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The invention is directed to a solar cell, a pulse forming means for forming a pulse by the output voltage of the solar cell, a first capacitor charged by the pulse, and an output voltage of the solar cell and a discharge voltage of the first capacitor. A self-luminous road tack, comprising a second capacitor, a battery charged by the discharge voltage of the second capacitor, and a light-emitting element driven by the battery.

[Action]

The pulse forming means operates by the output voltage of the solar cell to form a pulse having a predetermined duty ratio. The first capacitor is charged by the output voltage of the solar cell.
The discharge voltage of the first capacitor and the output voltage of the solar cell are superimposed and applied to the second capacitor. Therefore, the second capacitor is charged with the superposed output voltage of the solar cell and the discharge voltage of the first capacitor. Therefore, the charging voltage of the second capacitor becomes approximately twice as high as the output voltage of the solar cell, and when the second capacitor discharges, the battery is charged by the discharging current. Then, the light-emitting element is, for example, constantly blinking driven by the charged battery.

[Advantage of the Invention] According to this invention, since the second capacitor is charged by the discharge voltage of the first capacitor and the output voltage of the solar cell, the voltage of the second capacitor, that is, the charging voltage of the battery, It is increased to about twice the output voltage,
The battery charging efficiency improves. Therefore, a sufficient battery capacity can be obtained without increasing the area of the solar cell.

And because you can get enough battery capacity,
The light-emitting element can be flashed all day (24 hours), eliminating the need for the work of resetting the time zone for each season as in the past, and eliminating the situation of not emitting light when necessary.

Further, since it is not necessary to provide an additional circuit such as a timer or a sensor as in the prior art, it can be manufactured easily and inexpensively.

The above-mentioned objects, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments below with reference to the drawings.

〔Example〕

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the self-luminous road tack 10 of this embodiment includes a main body 12 made of, for example, an aluminum alloy casting. The main body 12 includes a tack body 14 and a leg portion 16 having a substantially cylindrical shape that hangs from a central portion of a lower surface of the tack body 14, and these are integrally molded. Conventional road-embedded self-luminous road tacks include, for example, No. 61-184720 (November 18, 1986) and No. 64-64
As can be seen in No. 42317 (March 14, 1988), etc., each has a separate embedded lower container and tack body, and both are integrated with a bolt or the like during construction. there were. Therefore, the service life is short due to the severe road environment, and particularly when rainwater invades, each part is severely deteriorated. Therefore, it is necessary to pay close attention to ensure sufficient water sealing during design and construction. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the tack body 14 and the leg portion 16 are integrally molded, so that the water sealing property is very good, and therefore, the complexity of design and construction as described above is released.

The tack main body 14 is formed in a truncated pyramid shape, and a brim 18 extending outward is formed on each of two opposite sides thereof. In addition,
The lower surface of the brim 18 is embedded so as to contact the road surface.

Further, the diameter of the leg portion 16 is made as thin as about 75φ in this embodiment in order to improve the workability. Also, the tack body 14
A thick reinforcing portion 20 is formed in the vicinity of the joint between the leg portion 16 and the leg portion 16 to thereby increase the strength of the tack body 14 and the tack body 14 and the leg portion.
The strength of the integral molding with 16 is strengthened. However, this reinforcing portion 20 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in the same plane as the tack main body 14, and its long side is about 120 mm in this embodiment. As described above, in this embodiment, the leg portion 16 is about 75φ and the long side of the reinforcing portion 20 is about 120 mm, so that the work of embedding the self-luminous road tack 10 in the road is very easy. That is, in the conventional self-luminous road tack, the above-mentioned lower container is very large, and therefore, in order to embed it, for example, the road surface is cut into a predetermined size by a cutter with a rotary blade, and then that portion is dug out. Therefore, the construction work is not easy and therefore the cost is high. On the other hand, in order to embed the self-luminous road tack 10 of this embodiment in the road, first,
Drill a hole for leg 16 with a 75φ drill, then 120φ
All you have to do is drill a hole for the reinforcement 20 from above. That is, in order to embed the self-luminous road tack 10 of this embodiment, cutting by a cutter with a rotary blade or the like is not necessary, and it is possible to easily make a hole only with a drill,
The construction is simple and the cost is very low.

A hollow portion 22 extending from the upper surface of the tack body 14 to the inside of the leg portion 16 is formed in the body 12. A transparent protective plate 24 is located slightly below the upper end of the inner peripheral surface of the tack body 14 defining the hollow portion 22.
A step 26 for supporting the is formed. Also, the step
Below the 26, a step 30 for supporting the circuit board 28 is formed.

Further, concave portions 34a and 34b for fitting retroreflectors 32a and 32b such as "AC-1000" (trade name) manufactured by Reflectite Co., Ltd. are formed on the two opposite side surfaces of the tack main body 14, respectively. Between the recesses 34a and 34b and the hollow portion 22, between the above-mentioned two steps 26 and 30,
There are two through holes 36a and 36b so that they are aligned in the horizontal direction.
Individually formed.

On the step 26 of the tack body 14, the above-mentioned substantially square transparent protective plate 24 made of, for example, reinforced plastic or the like is arranged, and a plate-shaped solar cell 38 made of, for example, an amorphous semiconductor is fixed to the lower surface thereof. Also, on the step 30, the circuit board 28
Is placed, and a capacitor (described later), an IC, or the like charged by the output of the solar cell 38 is mounted thereon.

Further, in a portion of the hollow portion 22 below the circuit board 28, that is, inside the leg portion 16, a battery 40 such as an AA battery such as a nickel cadmium battery is housed in a battery case 42 and arranged. Then, the hollow portion 22 of the leg portion 16 is filled with a sealing material 44 made of, for example, a silicone resin. The sealing material 44 further improves the water sealing property.

In the above-described through holes 36a and 36b, an ultra-high brightness LED 46 is arranged as a light emitting element driven by the battery 40. That is, the LEDs 46 are mounted and supported on the substrate 46a, respectively, and the substrate 46a is supported by the through holes 36a and 36b of the tack body 14.
The LED 46 is disposed in the through holes 36a and 36b by being fixed to the rear of the LED. At this time, the lead wire length of the LED 46 and the like are appropriately adjusted so that the LED 46 has a through hole 36a and
It must be positioned at the optimum position for 36b.

Then, in the recesses 34a and 34b, the trapezoidal retroreflectors 32a and 32b having through holes at the positions of the above through holes 36a and 36b are fitted, and the retroreflectors 32a are
And 32b are firmly fixed in the recesses 34a and 34b by, for example, an epoxy adhesive or the like. A protective sheet is arranged on the retroreflectors 32a and 32b, if necessary.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit diagram of this embodiment, which is a self-luminous road tack 10
Charges the battery 40 with the voltage of the solar cell 38, and causes the charged battery 40 to constantly blink the LED 46.

As the solar cell 38, in this embodiment, for example, a maximum voltage of 3.8 V, a maximum current of 40 mA, a maximum output of 152 mW is used, the negative terminal of the solar cell 38 is grounded, the power input terminal of the IC48 to the positive terminal. Connected. This IC48 is an IC for voltage conversion.
L7660 "is used. The terminals of IC48 and are commonly connected and grounded. This IC48 is RC
It has a built-in oscillator, flip-flop, voltage level conversion circuit, and switching circuit, receives the output voltage of the solar cell 38 at its terminals, and drives the RC oscillator by that voltage.
The output of the oscillator is divided by 1/2 by the flip-flop, and the output of the flip-flop is output to the output terminal through the voltage level conversion circuit and the switching circuit. Therefore,
From the output terminal of IC48, as shown in Fig. 4 (A),
A pulse voltage with a predetermined duty ratio, which has a peak value of 3.0 V, for example, corresponding to the output voltage of solar cell 38 (for example, 3.4 V) is output. The output terminal is connected to the negative terminal of the capacitor 50.

On the other hand, the positive terminal of the solar cell 38 is also connected to the collector of the npn-type transistor 52. Transistor 52
The emitter of is connected to the positive terminal of capacitor 50.
That is, the emitter of the transistor 52 and the positive terminal of the capacitor 50 are commonly connected, and the anode of the backflow preventing diode 54 is connected to the connection point. Diode 54
The cathode of is connected to the positive terminal of the capacitor 56 whose negative terminal is grounded. This capacitor 56 functions as a smoothing capacitor for charging the battery 40. As the capacitor 56 and the above-mentioned capacitor 50, for example, an electrolytic capacitor of 100 μF / 16V can be used.

A resistor 58 of, for example, 10 kΩ for bias is connected between the positive terminal of the capacitor 56 and the base of the transistor 52, and a resistor 60 of, for example, 100 kΩ for bias is connected between the collector and the base of the transistor 52. It

First, when the output voltage (for example, + 3.4V) is output from the solar cell 38, the base current is given by the resistor 60, and the transistor 52 is turned on. Thereafter, the output voltage at the point d is applied to the resistor 58, so that the base current flows and the on state of the transistor 52 is maintained.

When the transistor 52 is turned on, a voltage having a value obtained by subtracting the voltage drop between the collector and the emitter from the output voltage of the solar cell 38 is applied to the positive terminal of the capacitor 50.

At this time, if the pulse level at the point a is 0 V, the capacitor 50 is charged by the output voltage of the solar cell 38 applied via the transistor 52. Therefore, the capacitor
The terminal voltage of 50, that is, the voltage at the point b is 3.0 V as shown in FIG. 4 (B).

When the pulse level at the point a reaches 3.0 V, the potential difference across the capacitor 50 almost disappears and the capacitor 50 is no longer charged. Therefore, at this time, the previously charged capacitor 50 is discharged. Therefore, since the discharge voltage (3.0V) of the capacitor 50 and the output voltage (3.0V) of the solar cell 38 are superposed, the voltage at the point b becomes 6.0V as shown in FIG. 4 (B).

Thus, the capacitor 56 is charged via the diode 52 by the voltage at the point b which changes between 3.0V and 6.0V. That is, when the voltage at the point b exceeds the charging voltage of the capacitor 56, the charging current flows from the point b via the diode 54. Therefore, the charging voltage of the capacitor 56 is the fourth
As shown in the figure (D), it becomes 5.4V obtained by subtracting the forward drop voltage of the diode 54 from 6.0V.

As shown in FIG. 4 (C), the voltage at point c is almost constant depending on the output voltage of the solar cell 38. Therefore, the transistor 52 is always conducting and has a function equivalent to that of a diode. Thus, the transistor 52 is used instead of the diode because its voltage drop is smaller than that of the diode.

As the battery 40, for example, a voltage of 1.2 V and a capacity of 1800 mA / h
Some AA nickel cadmium batteries are available.
The battery 40 is charged by the discharge voltage of the capacitor 56. Since the discharge voltage of the capacitor 56 is about twice as high as the output voltage of the solar cell 38, the charging efficiency for the battery 40 is good.

An overcharge prevention circuit is connected in parallel to the battery 40. That is, the collector of the npn-type transistor 62 is connected to the positive terminal of the battery 40,
The emitter of 62 is grounded via resistor 64. A Zener diode 66 is connected between the positive terminal of the battery 40 and the base of the transistor 62. Therefore, when the charging voltage of the battery 40 reaches the upper limit value, the Zener diode 66 is turned on to turn on the transistor 62, so that the discharge current of the capacitor 56 from the point d is shunted to the transistor 62. Therefore, overcharging of the battery 40 is prevented.

Further, the positive terminal of the battery 40 is connected to the terminal of the IC 68 for blinking the LED 46. As for this IC68,
For example, LED flasher made by National Semiconductor
"LM3909N" called is used. The terminal of the IC 68 is grounded, the capacitor 70 is connected between the terminal and the IC 68, and is grounded via the resistor 72. Further, the LED 46 is connected between the terminal and.

Therefore, the IC 68 is driven by the output voltage of the battery 40, a drive current intermittently flows through the LED 46 at a predetermined cycle determined by the capacitor 70 and the resistor 72, and the LED 46 blinks. Further, since the voltage doubler circuit is used as described above, the charging efficiency of the battery 40 is improved, sufficient battery capacity can be obtained even with the AA battery, and the LED 46 can keep blinking all day long. it can. Thus, since the AA battery can be used, the diameter of the leg portion 16 (FIG. 1) for accommodating the AA battery can be reduced as described above.

The number of times of blinking is, for example, 120 times or more per minute. However, the number of times of blinking can be appropriately changed as desired by changing the capacitance value of the capacitor 70 and the resistance value of the resistor 72.

FIG. 5 is a line graph showing the daily change of the output voltage of the solar cell 38 measured on different days by the self-luminous road tack 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2. The day when the polygonal line A was obtained was sunny, so the output voltage of the solar cell 38 was maintained at approximately 3.0 V or higher from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. However, on the day when line B was obtained, the conditions were not good and the solar cell 38
Output voltage also dropped to nearly 1.0V.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the battery voltage when the battery 40 is charged according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 by the output voltage of the solar cell 38 shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the polygonal line A ′ corresponds to the polygonal line A in FIG. 5, and the polygonal line B ′ corresponds to the polygonal line B. The battery 40 is charged by the discharging voltage of the capacitor 56, and the charging voltage of the capacitor 56 is, as described above, approximately twice the output voltage of the solar cell 38 to the collector-emitter drop voltage of the transistor 52 and the diode. This is the value obtained by subtracting the forward voltage drop of 54. Therefore, the battery voltage shown in FIG. 6 changes according to the daily change of the output voltage of the solar cell 38 shown in FIG.

For example, in the broken line B in FIG. 5, the voltage + Vcc decreases to nearly 1V before PM1, but the battery 40 at that time
The battery voltage is increased to nearly 2V as shown by the broken line B'in FIG. Therefore, even when it becomes cloudy and the output voltage of the solar cell 38 becomes small, the self-luminous road tack 10 can efficiently perform charging.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the daily change of the output voltage of the battery 40 with respect to the time when the LED 46 is blinking by the charged battery 40. Thus, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the battery 40 can be efficiently charged even on a cloudy day, so that the output voltage of the battery 40 is maintained stable even during the lighting time of the LED 46 from PM5 to AM7, for example. Can be done.

If you use a battery 40 with a large charge capacity, even if bad weather continues for a few days and you do not receive enough light,
There is no problem in driving the LED46.

Although the LED 46 is used as the light emitting element in the above-described embodiments, for example, an EL element or a liquid crystal element may be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing the voltage of each part of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the daily change of the output voltage of the solar cell measured on different days in this example. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the diurnal variation of the conventional voltage of the battery obtained according to FIG. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the daily change of the battery voltage at night in this embodiment. In the figure, 10 is a self-luminous road tack, 12 is a main body, 14 is a tack main body, 16 is a leg portion, 38 is a solar cell, 40 is a battery, and 46 is a LE.
D, 48 and 68 are ICs, 50, 56 and 70 are capacitors, 52 and 62 are transistors, and 72 is a resistor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Shinji Sugitani 1569, Kuramae-cho, Sakai-shi, Osaka Prefecture Sugitani Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroki Kitamori 250 Shinocho, Shinjo-cho, Kitakatsuragi-gun, Nara Prefecture Sugitani Electric Co., Ltd. (72) ) Inventor Hiroshi Maeda 1569 Kuramae-cho, Sakai-shi, Osaka Prefecture In Sugitani Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Noriyuki Nishio 250, Shinjocho, Shinjyocho, Kitakatsuragi-gun, Nara (72) In Makoto Kaga, Katsuragi-gun, Nara 250 Shinobu-cho Ninkai Sea Sugitani Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A solar cell, pulse forming means for forming a pulse by an output voltage of the solar cell, a first capacitor charged by the pulse, an output voltage of the solar cell and discharging of the first capacitor. A self-luminous road tack, comprising a second capacitor charged by a voltage, a battery charged by a discharge voltage of the second capacitor, and a light emitting element driven by the battery. 2. The self-luminous road tack according to claim 1, wherein electric power is constantly supplied from the battery to the light emitting element.