KR100871660B1 - Road signboard - Google Patents

Abstract

A self-illuminating traffic sign is provided to solve the problem which hinders the safe driving by using a front panel made of optical transmission materials located on the front of a planar illumination device. A self-illumination traffic sign includes a front panel(115) made of optical transmission materials and provided with knurling patterns(115a) at one side, and an illuminator(110) installed at the rear side of the front panel and emitting light introduced from a light source toward the front in a planar fashion, wherein letters, symbols and figures which indicate road information are printed on the outer surface of the front panel with paints(116) to make the light incoming from the illuminator pass through the paints after penetrating the front panel, and the remaining area except the area of the letters, symbols and figures are printed on the inner side of the front panel with paints(117) to make the light incoming from the illuminator penetrate the front panel after passing through the paints.

Description

Road signboard

The present invention relates to a road sign, and more particularly, to a self-luminous road sign having lighting means for emitting surface and a front plate for displaying road information such as letters, symbols, and figures.

In general, there are signs for guiding roads near road sections and intersections.

This road signpost is a milestone that provides accurate road information to drivers and pedestrians for safe driving and road guidance of vehicles.It provides information on the road's starting point, end point, waypoints, and directions. Provide by using.

The road signs commonly used in the prior art are constructed by hanging a metal plate on which a support, a letter, a symbol, a figure, etc. for road guidance is mounted on a roadside, where a high-brightness reflective sheet is attached to the guide letters or symbols on the road sign. It is configured.

Accordingly, when the car lights are projected on the road sign at night, the high brightness reflector of letters or symbols scatters and reflects the light irradiated from the vehicle so that the driver can easily recognize the guide content.

However, in the conventional reflective signs as described above, if the lights of the automobile lights and the signs do not match according to the ups and downs of the road on which the signs are installed, the driver cannot read the signs properly and cannot obtain accurate information.

This is because the guide letter of the sign does not emit light by itself, but the driver can read the guide letter at that time when the light is reflected by the car.

In addition, due to the characteristics of the reflector, a light source can be used to expose information to the driver. However, since road signs are generally installed above a predetermined height from the ground of the road, the lights of automobile lights do not enter the reflector at a high position. This can be degraded, there is a problem that the driver can hardly see the sign at night.

In addition, the reflector is used considering the surrounding environment, durability, visibility, readability, economical efficiency, and reflection performance of the installation site, but since the distance that can be identified by the reflection of the light is relatively short, the sign recognition is possible only when the driver reaches a short distance. In addition, especially in a road with a lot of traffic or high-speed driving, it is necessary to use a bright one of the reflector. The higher the luminance, the higher the price, the higher the price, so there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the road sign increases.

Due to such a problem, a recent trend is developing a sign that emits light instead of a reflective sign that can be reflected by the lights of a vehicle.

Self-illuminated signs have been developed to emit light after connecting a power source by installing a light bulb or a light emitting diode (LED) inside, but it is difficult to maintain due to the reduced lifespan of the light bulb, and a light emitting diode is installed. In this case, the installation structure is complicated, and there is a disadvantage in that the discrimination power is reduced due to light dispersion.

Accordingly, self-luminous signs having various improvements in the structure of the luminaire are being developed. A light emitting diode is used as a light source of the luminaire, and a structure employing a light guide plate that receives light emitted from the light emitting diode and irradiates it with surface emission. Known.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a self-luminous road sign 10 according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the lighting means 11 in which surface light is emitted may include a plurality of light sources 12 such as light emitting diodes. ) Is installed on the side of the light guide plate 13, and when the light guide plate 13 is incident on the light guide plate 13 and the front light is emitted forward, the light emitted by the light guide plate 13 is displayed with letters, symbols, and figures. It has a structure passing through the front plate 16.

At this time, the illumination means 11 is a surface light-emitting is composed of a light source 12 and the light guide plate 13, and an optical sheet including a reflective sheet 14 behind the light guide plate and a transparent sheet 15 in front, In front of the luminaire 11, a front plate 16 fabricated by drilling a portion 16a such as a character, a symbol, or a figure for displaying road information is provided. In addition, a PCB 12a in which the light sources 12 are arranged, and a driving unit (not shown) for driving the light sources 12 are embedded.

After all, in the state where the light passes through the perforated portion of the front panel 16, when the driver looks at the sign 10 from the front, a portion (perforated portion) such as a letter, a symbol, a figure that displays road information ( 16a) emits light and shines to provide sufficient visibility even at a relatively long distance.

In particular, when the light source 12 is turned on at night or daytime, the portion 16a of the character, symbol, figure, etc. emits light so that the road information is displayed more clearly, thus providing improved identification than the conventional reflective signs. do.

However, the method of using the perforated front plate as described above has the following problems.

1) Since the light emitted from the surface-emitting lighting means is directly irradiated through the perforated portion of the front plate, there is a problem that the glare of the driver occurs badly. In particular, when the driver directly looks at the light coming out of the perforated portion of the front panel while driving, a moment of glare occurs, which seriously affects safe driving.

2) Conventionally, in order to express characters, symbols, figures, etc., the front plate was manufactured by perforating the light so that light can pass therethrough. In addition, because the process is complicated and expensive equipment such as a punching machine is required, there is a problem in that the manufacturing cost is increased, and the manufacturing time is long due to the drilling work. In particular, since the drilling operation should be considered, there is no limit to the shapes and dimensions of the characters, symbols, and figures, and there is a limit to the perforations of the characters, symbols, and figures in various shapes. Regardless of road, it is not easy to change and adjust common symbols and figures.

3) Because it is a structure with holes for letters, symbols, and figures on the front panel, it is difficult to be waterproof, and it is difficult to apply to road signs that are actually outdoor structures due to the possibility of internal penetration of rainfall during rain. Since the internal components are electrical components, if water penetrates, there is a problem such as a failure.

4) In the case of the perforation method, since the color of light is determined by the unique color of the LED, it is difficult to implement various colors, and there is a limit to apply it to road signs or signboards or billboards that require various colors.

Accordingly, the present invention has been invented to solve the above problems, using a front panel printed with letters, symbols, and figures on the knurled surface as a light transmitting element located in front of the surface-emitting lighting means, it is excellent during lighting The purpose of the present invention is to provide a road sign that can solve the problem of impairing safe driving by reducing the glare of the driver while providing subtle and high-level expressions.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a front plate of a light-transmissive material having a knurling pattern formed on one side, and an illuminating means provided to the rear of the front plate to irradiate the light emitted from the light source to the front surface with light emission. Composed of,

A character, a symbol, and a graphic area representing road information are printed and displayed on the outer surface of the front panel so that light incident from the lighting means passes through the front panel and passes through the paint.

Provides a road sign characterized by printing the remaining area except for the character, symbol, figure area on the inner surface of the front panel to the light so that the light incident from the lighting means passes through the front panel to the front panel do.

In a preferred embodiment, the front plate is disposed such that the surface on which the knurling pattern is formed is an inner surface on which the base area is printed.

In addition, the front plate is disposed so that the surface on which the knurling pattern is formed is an outer surface on which the letters, symbols, and figure areas are printed.

In addition, at least a portion of the entire area of the front plate is characterized in that both the inner surface and the outer surface is printed with paint.

In addition, the transparent means for protecting the lighting means is interposed between the lighting means and the front plate.

Accordingly, the road sign according to the present invention has the following advantages.

1) As the light transmitting element located in front of the surface emitting lighting means uses a front plate with a knurled pattern, it can give a soft and luxurious feeling when it is turned on. Can be greatly reduced. In particular, since the information is displayed by irradiating light at both night and daytime, the visibility is excellent and instantaneous glare does not occur, so there is an advantage of not impairing safe driving.

2) It is easy to manufacture by printing letters, symbols, and figures on the front and back of the front panel on which the knurling pattern is formed, and it is easy to manufacture. . Various characters, symbols, and figures can be printed without restriction of shapes and dimensions, various colors can be implemented, and symbols and figures can be easily changed and adjusted.

3) It is possible to realize various colors and to express delicately and luxuriously, so it can be applied to not only road signs but also signs, billboards, and various notice boards.

4) Because it is waterproof, there is no risk of rain penetration inside, and it does not cause troubles when applied to outdoor structures.

Hereinafter, the features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description based on the accompanying drawings. The terms or words used in the present specification and claims are consistent with the technical spirit of the present invention on the basis of the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concept of the term in order to explain his invention in the best way. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept.

2 is a front view showing the installation state of the road sign according to the present invention, as shown, after installing the strut 101 and the transverse support 102 installed on the road side, and the letter, symbol, figure, etc. The road sign 100 displaying the road information is installed.

3 and 4 are views showing the configuration of the road sign according to the invention, Figure 3 is an assembled perspective view, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view.

5A and 5B are enlarged partial views of a front plate having a knurled pattern in the present invention, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are cross-sectional views of road signs according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a view showing a state in which light is transmitted.

As shown, the present invention is a self-illuminated road sign 100, the lighting means 110 for irradiating the light emitted from the light source 111 with the surface emitting light, and to form the front of the sign of the lighting means 110 The front plate 115 made of a light-transmissive material, which is located in front and displays road information in various forms of letters, symbols, and figures, has a main configuration.

Here, as the surface light emitting means 110, a light emitting diode (LED) 111 is used as a light source as a conventional structure, for example, as described in the prior art, but the light emitting diode 112 is provided on the side surface of the light guide plate 112. 111 may be disposed, and the light guide plate 112 may be incident on the light emitted from the light emitting diode 111 on the side surface, and the front irradiation may be performed by surface emission.

In this case, the lighting means 110 includes a plurality of light emitting diodes 111, a light guide plate 112, and a reflective sheet 113 disposed behind the light guide plate 112 as an optical sheet.

In addition, the road sign 100 of the present invention has a main feature in the configuration of the front plate 115 for displaying road information, which is disposed in front of the lighting means 110 is installed, the light of the light source 111 When the light guide plate 112 is irradiated with surface light emission, the light guide plate 112 transmits the front plate 115 made of a transparent material.

First, in the road sign 100 of the present invention, the front plate 115 is characterized by a structure in which a knurling pattern 115a is formed on one side of front and rear sides, and the front plate 115 by the knurling pattern 115a. The surface of 115 may be a structure in which a plurality of fine protrusions protrude (FIG. 5A) or a structure in which a plurality of fine grooves are formed (FIG. 5B).

In addition, the front plate 115 is provided in the form of a transparent plate made of a light transmitting material in the material itself.

As described above, the front plate 115 on which the knurling pattern 115a is formed is attached to the front surface of the surface emitting LED lighting means 110. At this time, the surface on which the knurling pattern 115a is formed is positioned inward as shown in FIG. The surface emitting LED lighting means 110 may be in close contact with the structure.

As a method of fixing the front plate 115 to the front surface of the surface emitting LED lighting means 110 may be used, such as adhesive or bolting or bracket fixing, for example, a frame constituting a bracket on the side of the road sign 100 ( 118 may be fitted and fixed together with the luminaire 110 inwardly.

In addition, an accented portion such as a letter, a symbol, or a figure indicating road information is printed and displayed by the light-transmitting paint 116 on a smooth surface, that is, an outer surface (front surface) of the front plate 115, and a knurled pattern 115a. ) Is formed on the inner side (back side), except for the portion on which the paint, such as the letter, symbol, figure of the outer side is printed is printed as a separate transparent paint (117).

As the paint is printed on both sides of the front panel 115 made of transparent material, various colors can be expressed in parts such as letters, symbols, shapes, etc. representing road information and the rest of the background except for the road signs. It also enables application to billboards.

For example, a portion of a character, a symbol, or a figure indicating road information may be printed with a white paint on an outer surface, and may be printed with a green paint on a base portion of an inner surface on which a knurling pattern 115a is formed.

The front plate 115 displaying the road information as described above is attached to the front surface of the surface emitting lighting means 110 so that the surface on which the knurling pattern 115a is formed is the inner surface. The explanation is as follows.

In a transparent knurled plate with a knurled pattern formed on one side, light passes through the paint first and then passes through the knurled plate, which is blurred. If light passes through the knurled plate first and then passes through the paint, it transmits more clearly. Becomes

That is, in a transparent knurled plate with a knurling pattern formed on only one side, the same paint is printed on different planes on the plane that is opposite to the knurled side, and then the plane is viewed from the opposite side with the knurled side facing the illumination (viewing the illumination side). In the paint printing part of the knurling surface, light passes through the paint first and then through the knurling plate, so the paint printing part of the knurling surface is blurred.

On the other hand, in the paint printing part of the plane, since light passes first through the knurling plate and then through the paint, the paint printing part of the plane is seen more clearly.

This is true even if the lighting is left alone and only the knurled plate is turned over. In other words, if you point the plane towards the lighting side and look at the knurled side from the opposite side (looking at the lighting side), in the paint printing part of the knurled side, the light passes through the knurled plate first and then passes through the paint. The printed part looks sharper.

On the other hand, in the paint print portion of the plane, since light passes through the paint first and then through the knurling plate, the paint print portion of the plane appears relatively blurred.

As described above, in the knurling plate having a knurling pattern formed on one side, there is a clear difference in light transmittance and clarity between light passing through the plate after passing through the paint and passing through the plate after passing through the paint. In this regard, the paint is printed on the outer surface of the front panel so that the highlighted parts displaying the road information such as letters, symbols, and figures can be seen more clearly, and then the light of the luminaire passes through the front panel. Pass through paint print. This makes it possible to more clearly emphasize a portion displaying road information such as letters, symbols, and figures.

On the other hand, the paint is printed on the inner surface of the front panel except for road information display parts such as letters, symbols, and figures so that the light of the luminaire passes through the front panel passing through the paint printing portion. Accordingly, the base part becomes a relatively unhighlighted part as light passes through.

Referring to FIG. 7, when the light source (light emitting diode) is turned on and uniform light from the surface light emitting unit is incident evenly on the front face plate 115, the light-transmitting paint 116 on the outer surface In the road information display portion (letter, symbol, figure print portion, emphasis portion) printed by the light passes through the front plate 115 first and then through the paint, the light passes through the front plate 115 in a nearly straight form. Done.

As a result, when the driver looks at the road sign, the road information display portion (the portion where the paint is printed on the outer surface) showing the straight transmission state of the light is clearly highlighted.

On the other hand, in the base portion on which the light-transmitting paint 117 is printed on the inner surface, light incident from the surface-emitting lighting means 110 first hits the paint and is first dispersed, and then the remaining part passes through the front plate 115. In particular, since the light passing through the paint 117 first is scattered in the front plate 115 so that only a part of the light is transmitted, the base part is not clearly seen when looking at the sign from the front.

As described above, in the road sign 100 of the present invention, the front plate 115 having the knurling pattern 115a is used as the light transmitting element positioned in front of the surface light emitting unit 110, but the emphasis portion is placed on the outer surface. It is possible to set the highlight and non-highlighted parts simply by printing and printing the non-highlighted parts on the inner side.

When using the front plate formed with the knurling pattern in this way, the driver sees the light transmitted through the paint and the front plate, thereby reducing the glare, it is possible to give a subtle and luxurious feeling.

8 and 9 are cross-sectional views of road signs according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration, and FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which light is transmitted.

6 and 7, the front panel 115 of the light transmissive material having the knurling pattern 115a is the same, but the front surface of the knurling pattern 115a is formed. There is a difference in the structure in which the plate surface is located outward and the surface opposite to the smooth surface is in close contact with the front surface of the surface-emitting LED lighting means (110).

Then, the paint 116 is printed on the outer surface (front side) on which the knurling pattern 115a is formed on the front plate 115 to display letters, symbols, shapes, and the like representing road information, and the opposite side of the inner side (back side). ) Is printed as a separate paint 117 except for the portion where the transparent paint such as letters, symbols, figures, etc. are printed.

As the paints 116 and 117 are printed on both sides of the front panel 115 made of transparent material, various colors can be expressed in parts such as letters, symbols, and shapes indicating road information, and in other parts of the background except for the road signs. In addition, it can be applied to a billboard.

As described above, the front plate 115 printed with paint on both sides is attached to the front surface of the surface emitting lighting means 110 so that the surface on which letters, symbols, figures, etc. are printed is the outer surface. The state is not different from the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring to FIG. 9, when the light source (light emitting diode) is turned on and uniform light from the surface light emitting unit is incident evenly on the front face plate 115, the light-transmitting paint 116 is applied to the outer surface. In the road information display portion (letters, symbols, graphics printing portion, emphasis portion) printed by the light passes through the front plate first and then through the paint, the light is transmitted through the front plate 115 in a nearly straight form.

As a result, when the driver looks at the road sign, the road information display portion (the portion where the paint is printed on the outer surface) showing the straight transmission state of the light is clearly highlighted.

On the other hand, in the base portion on which the light-transmitting paint 117 is printed on the inner surface, the light incident from the surface light emitting means 110 first hits the paint and is first dispersed, and then the remaining part passes through the front plate 115. In particular, since the light passing through the paint 117 first is scattered in the front plate 115 so that only a part of the light is transmitted, the base part is not clearly seen when looking at a sign from the front.

In the road sign 100 according to the present invention, the front plate 115 having the knurling pattern 115a is formed as a light transmitting element positioned in front of the surface light emitting unit 110, but the emphasis portion is printed on the outer surface. By emphasizing the non-highlighted portion on the inside, the highlight and non-highlighted portions can be set.

When using the front plate formed with the knurling pattern in this way, the driver sees the light transmitted through the paint and the front plate, thereby reducing the glare, it is possible to give a subtle and luxurious feeling.

And, Figure 10 is attached as a cross-sectional view of a road sign according to another embodiment of the present invention, which shows an embodiment in which the sharpness is set in three steps according to each part of the front plate 115 of the road sign 100 Giving.

That is, using the front plate 115 having a knurling pattern 115a formed on one side, the paint 116 on the outer side so that the emphasis portion such as letters, symbols, shapes, etc. for displaying road information can be seen most clearly. In addition to the highlighted part, it prints with the paint 117 only on the inner side of the specific part in addition to the highlighted part so that it appears relatively blurred. For the remaining specific parts, the outer and inner sides are both painted with the paint 116a and 117a. It is printed so that it looks the most blurry.

As such, when the inner and outer surfaces of the front panel 115 are printed with the paints 116a and 117a in at least a portion of the entire area, the sharpness can be set in three steps. The part looks the most blurry.

11 and 12 are also cross-sectional views of road signs according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is a protective transparent plate 114 that can protect the lighting means between the lighting means 110 and the front plate 115. The embodiment configured through () is shown.

As shown, when the protective transparent plate 114 of the transparent material is interposed between the lighting unit 110 and the front plate 115, it is possible to protect the light guide plate 112 of the lighting unit, and also improve the waterproof performance Can be.

As the protective transparent plate 114, a commercially available transparent reinforced plastic sheet or a transparent bulletproof plastic sheet having a mechanical strength of a predetermined level or higher may be used.

In the above, a specific preferred embodiment according to the present invention has been described. However, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the above-described embodiments merely represent a part of various embodiments to which the principles of the present invention are applied. Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various changes without departing from the spirit of the technical idea of the present invention described in the claims below.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a self-luminous road sign according to the prior art,

2 is a front view showing an installation state of a road sign according to the present invention,

3 and 4 is a view showing the configuration of the road sign according to the invention, Figure 3 is an assembled perspective view, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view,

5A and 5B are partially enlarged views of a front plate on which a knurling pattern is formed in the present invention;

6 and 7 are cross-sectional views of a road sign according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6 is a view showing the configuration, Figure 7 is a view showing a state in which light is transmitted,

8 and 9 are cross-sectional view of a road sign according to another embodiment of the present invention, Figure 8 is a view showing the configuration, Figure 9 is a view showing a state in which light is transmitted,

10 is a cross-sectional view of a road sign according to another embodiment of the present invention, showing an embodiment in which the sharpness of each part is set in three stages on the front panel;

11 and 12 are cross-sectional views of road signs according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: road sign 101: prop

102: horizontal support 110: lighting means

111: light source (light emitting diode) 112: light guide plate

113: reflective sheet 114: protective transparent plate

115: front panel 115a: knurled pattern

116: paint (road information display portion) 117: paint (base surface)

Claims (5)

It comprises a front plate 115 of a light-transmissive material having a knurled pattern (115a) formed on one side, and a lighting means (110) installed at the rear of the front plate to irradiate the light emitted from the light source to the surface emitting front , To the paint 116, a character, symbol, or figure area representing road information on the outer surface of the front plate 115 so that light incident from the lighting means 110 passes through the front plate 115 and passes through the paint. To print and display, After the light incident from the luminaire 110 passes through the paint, the remaining surface of the front plate 115 is printed with the paint 117 on the inner surface of the front plate 115 so as to pass through the front plate. Road sign characterized by the configuration. The method according to claim 1, The front plate 115 is disposed so that the surface on which the knurling pattern (115a) is formed is the inner surface on which the base area is printed. The method according to claim 1, The front plate 115 is disposed so that the surface on which the knurling pattern 115a is formed is an outer surface on which the letters, symbols, and figure areas are printed. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Road signs, characterized in that both the inner surface and the outer surface is printed with paint in at least a portion of the entire area of the front plate (115). The method according to claim 1, Road sign, characterized in that between the luminaire 110 and the front plate 115 is provided with a protective transparent plate 114 to protect the luminaire.

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