KR20210120505A - Road reflector with frost prevent and safety information guidance - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a road reflector having functions for frost preventing and safety information guiding, which prevents frost generation by providing a heat source when external air temperature is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, and provides safety information to guide safe driving by detecting approach of a vehicle on the opposite road lane. The road reflector uses eco-friendly energy by using a solar battery and detects external air temperature around the road reflector and an object approaching to the same. The road reflector compares the detected external air temperature and temperature criteria saved in an internal memory, and when the external air temperature is less than the temperature criteria, suppresses frost generation by activating a heating wire for preventing frost. The road reflector displays the approach of the vehicle and safety information based on the object detection result and analysis information of the detected object so as to help a driver on the driving lane to drive safely. The road reflector comprises a solar cell, a power unit, a temperature detection unit, an object detection unit, a controller, and a heating wire activation unit.

Description

Road reflector with frost prevent and safety information guidance

The present invention relates to a road reflector equipped with defrost removal and safety information guidance functions, particularly when the outside air is below a set temperature, by providing a heat source to prevent the occurrence of frost, and to induce safe driving by detecting vehicle entry into the opposite lane. It relates to a road reflector equipped with anti-fog and safety information guidance functions that can provide safety information.

The reality is that in a country with a small land area like Korea, road conditions are quite poor compared to the rapid increase in automobiles. In other words, to expand various road networks including expressways in line with the speed of automobile supply, there are many difficulties in terms of securing budget or usable land area.

Due to the topographical conditions, there are many curved roads, and it is important to quickly identify the road condition on the invisible side to reduce traffic accidents on the curved road. For this purpose, circular reflectors (road reflectors) are installed at the corners of most curved roads so that the condition of the opposite road can be checked in advance. In the place where this circular reflector is installed, it is possible to not only check the road condition on the side of the turn, but also to prevent a safety accident in advance by notifying the other driver of his or her location.

Currently installed road reflectors have the following problems.

First, when the temperature difference between day and night is large, such as in spring or autumn, fogging or dew points occur on the reflector, causing light to scatter and blur the view of the reflector.

Second, when the weather is cold, such as in winter, snow, frost, or condensation occurs on the entire reflector, so the situation on the other side of the road cannot be checked at all.

Third, due to the structure of the reflector, there is a limit to the prevention of safety accidents because the driver's eyes only check the presence of a vehicle on the other side of the road and other people or objects.

Fourth, when visibility is not secured, such as in bad weather or at night, since the reflector can be checked only with the light generated by the vehicle, visibility is significantly reduced when the installation height of the reflector is incorrect.

Therefore, various road reflector improving devices have been proposed to improve these problems, and the following <Patent Document 1> also discloses a conventionally proposed technique for improving the road reflector problem.

<Patent Document 1> is a device for removing fogging of a reflector by using the heat of sunlight without relying on electric power, and by bringing warm air discharged from a warm-up outlet into contact with the surface of the reflector to raise the surface temperature, thereby blurring the reflector. method to remove it.

However, this prior art also can remove the blur of the reflector to some extent due to the increase in the surface temperature of the road reflector, but there is a disadvantage in that it cannot provide safety information such as vehicle information entering the opposite road using the road reflector.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2020-0004876 (published on Jan. 14, 2020) (reflector blur removal device)

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed to solve the problems that occur in the general road reflector and the prior art as described above. When the outside air is below a set temperature, a heat source is provided to prevent frost, and the vehicle entry into the opposite lane is detected. An object of the present invention is to provide a road reflector equipped with anti-fog and safety information guidance functions that can provide safety information to induce safe driving.

In order to achieve the above object, "road reflector equipped with anti-fog and safety information guide function" according to the present invention,

a solar cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy;

a power supply unit for charging the built-in battery with electricity output from the solar cell and supplying charging power of the battery as driving power;

a temperature sensing unit that detects the ambient temperature around the road reflector;

an object detection unit for detecting an object approaching the road reflector;

Comparing the outside temperature sensed by the temperature sensing unit with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, if the outside air temperature is lower than the reference temperature, a hot wire drive control signal to prevent frost is generated, and the object detection result and the detected result of the object detection unit a controller for controlling vehicle entry and display of safety information based on the analysis information of the object;

a heating wire driving unit for suppressing the occurrence of frost on the road reflector by driving the heating wire according to the heating wire driving control signal generated from the controller;

and a vehicle entrance display unit for visually indicating vehicle entrance according to the vehicle entrance display control signal generated by the controller.

In addition, the "road reflector equipped with frost prevention and safety information guidance function" according to the present invention further includes a safety information display unit that visually displays safety information for vehicle accident prevention according to a safety information display control signal generated from the controller. characterized by including.

In the above, the heating wire is characterized in that it is built in the surface or rear of the road reflector.

In the above, the vehicle entrance display unit uses the LED to indicate whether the vehicle has entered or not, and it is characterized in that the vehicle entrance or not is displayed by the color of the LED or the presence or absence of lighting on the front or side of the road reflector.

In the above, the safety information display unit visually displays vehicle type information classified according to the size of the object and the distance to the object, and the vehicle type information provides shape information including a passenger car, a truck, and a tank lorry as vehicle type information.

In the above, the controller compares the sensed outdoor temperature with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, and when the outdoor temperature is lower than the reference temperature, a temperature control module for generating a hot wire drive control signal for preventing frost; an object detection module that determines whether an object is detected based on the object detection signal of the object detection unit and generates an object detection signal when the object is detected; an object size determination module for determining the size of an object based on the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit, and generating object shape information according to the determined size of the object; a distance detection module that detects a distance to an object using the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit and generates an object distance signal; and a display control module for controlling the display of the object detection signal, the object shape information, and the object distance signal.

According to the present invention, when the outside air is below a set temperature, by providing a heat source to prevent the occurrence of frost, it is possible to clearly recognize whether an opposite vehicle enters on a curve road, thereby preventing a vehicle accident.

In addition, by providing safety information for inducing safe driving by detecting vehicle entry into the opposite lane, there is an advantage in that it is possible to prevent a traffic accident by allowing a vehicle to enter the opposite lane in advance.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a road reflector equipped with an anti-fog and safety information guide function according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a block diagram of a road reflector equipped with an anti-fog and safety information guide function according to the present invention;
3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the controller of FIG. 2 .

Hereinafter, a road reflector equipped with a function of preventing frost and guiding safety information according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms or words used in the present invention described below should not be construed as being limited to conventional or dictionary meanings, and the inventor may appropriately define the concept of terms in order to best describe his invention. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be

Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, so various equivalents and It should be understood that there may be variations.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a road reflector 10 equipped with an anti-fog and safety information guide function according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a road reflector 10 equipped with an anti-fogging and safety information guide function. As a block diagram of a solar cell 20, a temperature sensing unit 30, an object sensing unit 40, a power supply unit 50, a controller 60, a heating wire driving unit 70, a heating wire 71, a vehicle entry display unit (80), may include a safety information display unit (90).

The solar cell 20 serves to convert solar energy into electrical energy, and the power supply unit 50 charges the built-in battery with electricity output from the solar cell 20, and supplies the charging power of the battery as driving power. plays a role To this end, the power supply unit 50 may include a rechargeable battery, a charging device, and a power supply device.

The temperature sensing unit 30 detects the outside air temperature around the road reflector 10 and serves to transmit it to the controller 60, and the object sensing unit 40 detects an object approaching the road reflector 10. plays a role

Here, the object detection unit 30 serves to detect an object (particularly, a vehicle) in the opposite lane, and transmits ultrasonic waves and receives a reflected wave reflected from the object to measure the presence or absence of object detection, speed, distance, etc. An ultrasonic sensor, an object detection and a lidar sensor that can measure distance, size, etc. can be used. In addition to ultrasonic sensors and lidar sensors, various known sensors capable of detecting objects or measuring speed and distance may be used.

The controller 60 compares the outside air temperature sensed by the temperature sensing unit 30 with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, and generates a hot wire drive control signal to prevent frost when the outside air temperature is lower than the reference temperature, and the object It serves to control vehicle entry and display of safety information based on the object detection result of the detection unit 40 and the analysis information of the detected object.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the controller 60 compares the sensed outside air temperature with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, and when the outside air temperature is lower than the reference temperature, a temperature control that generates a hot wire drive control signal to prevent frost The module 61, the object detection module 62, which determines whether an object is detected based on the object detection signal of the object detection unit 40, and generates an object detection signal when the object is detected, is detected by the object detection unit 40 The object size determination module 63 that determines the size of an object based on an object detection signal and generates object shape information according to the size of the determined object, using the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit 40 and a distance detection module 64 for detecting the distance to the object and generating an object distance signal, and a display control module 65 for controlling the display of the object detection signal and the object shape information and the object distance signal. .

The heating wire driving unit 70 drives the heating wire 71 according to the heating wire driving control signal generated by the controller 60 to suppress the occurrence of frost on the road reflector 10 . Here, the heating wire 71 may be embedded in the surface or the rear surface of the road reflector 10 .

The vehicle entrance display unit 80 serves to visually display vehicle entrance according to the vehicle entrance display control signal generated by the controller 60 . The vehicle entrance display unit 80 may display whether or not a vehicle has entered using an LED, and may indicate whether or not a vehicle has entered by using the color or lighting of the LED on the front or side of the road reflector 10 .

The safety information display unit 90 serves to visually display safety information for preventing a vehicle accident according to the safety information display control signal generated by the controller 60 .

The safety information display unit 90 visually displays vehicle type information classified according to the size of the object and the distance to the object, and the vehicle type information may be provided as shape information including a passenger car, a truck, and a tank lorry.

The operation of the road reflector equipped with the anti-fog and safety information guide function according to the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail as follows.

First, in a state in which the road reflector 10 according to the present invention is installed at an appropriate position on a curved road such as a curved road, driving power is self-produced using sunlight, which is an eco-friendly energy for driving each device.

For example, the solar cell 20 converts solar energy into electrical energy, and the power supply unit 50 charges the built-in battery with electricity output from the solar cell 20, and uses the battery's charging power for a portion requiring power. to supply driving power.

According to the power supply, the controller 60 built in a predetermined position of the road reflector 10 performs an anti-fog function and a display control function of safety information, thereby preventing a traffic accident on a curved road.

That is, the controller 60 detects the outside temperature around the road reflector 10 using the temperature sensing unit 30 , and detects an object approaching the road reflector 10 using the object sensing unit 40 . Here, the temperature sensing unit 30 is a temperature sensor that detects a change in temperature and converts it into a measurable signal, and is a contact-type temperature sensor such as a thermocouple, thermistor, resistance temperature detector (RTD), liquid expansion temperature sensor, and bimetal temperature sensor. Alternatively, it can be implemented as a non-contact temperature sensor such as an infrared thermometer that detects temperature with infrared rays.

In addition, the object detection unit 30 detects an object (especially a vehicle) in the opposite lane (a road reflector is a mirror showing a vehicle traveling in the opposite lane to the driving lane), and generates an object detection signal when the object is detected. transmitted to the controller 60 .

The object detection signal may include a simple electrical high or low signal when an object is detected, an image signal for checking the size of the object, and a distance signal for checking the distance.

The controller 60 compares the outside air temperature sensed by the temperature sensing unit 30 with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, and generates a hot wire drive control signal to prevent frost when the outside air temperature is lower than the reference temperature, Based on the object detection result of the object detection unit 40 and the analysis information of the detected object, vehicle entry and display of safety information are controlled.

For example, the temperature control module 61 of the controller 60 compares the outside air temperature sensed by the temperature sensing unit 30 with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, and when the outside air temperature is lower than the reference temperature, a heating wire for preventing frost Generates a drive control signal. Here, the reference temperature may be set to a temperature at which frost may occur through an experiment.

The hot wire driving control signal generated through the controller 60 is transmitted to the hot wire driving unit 70, and the hot wire driving unit 70 converts the driving power (current) supplied from the power supply unit 50 according to the hot wire driving control signal to the hot wire 71 . ) is approved. The heating wire 71 generates heat by generating heat with the applied driving power (current), and the generated heat source is transferred to the glass of the road reflector 10 to remove snow accumulated on the road reflector 10, frost, etc. Remove frost by The heating wire 71 may be built in the front glass of the road reflector 10 or built in the back of the glass.

The temperature control module 61 does not generate a hot wire drive control signal when the sensed outdoor temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature. The hot wire drive unit 70 drives the hot wire 71 if the hot wire drive control signal is not applied Turn off the hot wire drive by cutting off the electric power.

Meanwhile, the object detection module 62 in the controller 60 determines whether an object is detected based on the object detection signal of the object detection unit 40 and generates an object detection signal when the object is detected. The generated object detection signal is transmitted to the vehicle entrance display unit 80 through the display control module 65 .

The vehicle entrance display unit 80 visually displays the vehicle entrance according to the vehicle entrance display control signal generated by the controller 60 . That is, the LED is used to indicate whether or not the vehicle has entered. An LED may be installed on the front or side of the road reflector 10, and the color of the LED may be used to indicate whether or not a vehicle has entered, or whether or not a vehicle has entered may be indicated by whether or not the light is on. In other words, the LED may be turned on to indicate that the vehicle is not entering the opposite lane, and the LED may be turned on to indicate that the vehicle is entering the opposite lane in red. The driver of the driving lane can easily recognize from a distance whether or not a vehicle enters the opposite lane through the vehicle entry display unit 80. It is possible to promote safe driving by driving the vehicle to a predetermined position on the lane.

In addition, the object size determination module 63 of the controller 60 determines the size of the object based on the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit 40 . And according to the size of the determined object, the object shape information is generated as vehicle model information and transmitted to the safety information display unit 90 . Here, the object detection signal may be an image, and the size may be estimated through image analysis. That is, it is possible to estimate the size of an object based on the ratio of the detected image to the entire screen. In other words, if the detected image occupies 1/4 of the screen, it is estimated as the size of a passenger car; And when the size of the object is estimated, the shape information of the vehicle type is transmitted to the safety information display unit 90 according to the estimated size of the object.

The safety information display unit 90 displays the shape information as vehicle model information approaching the opposite lane. That is, if the object size corresponds to a preset passenger car (including SUV, RV, etc.), the car shape is displayed, if the object size corresponds to a preset truck, the truck shape is displayed, and if the object size corresponds to a preset large vehicle It is displayed in the shape of a tank lorry. Here, depending on the size, if the truck is estimated to be less than 2.5 tons, it may be displayed as a truck, and if it is estimated to be more than 2.5 tons, it may be recognized as a large vehicle and displayed in the shape of a tank lorry.

As a method of displaying vehicle model information as shape information, shape information may be displayed using a plurality of LEDs, or shape information may be expressed using a display device such as an LCD.

When the type information of the vehicle approaching the opposite lane is displayed through the safety information display unit 90 in this way, the driver of the driving lane can recognize the type of vehicle entering the opposite lane, and lower the speed according to the recognized vehicle type. or by changing the location of the driving lane, safe driving is promoted. For example, when the recognized vehicle information is a large vehicle, the vehicle is driven to the outside of the driving lane to prevent a traffic accident that may occur because the turning radius of the large vehicle is not considered on a curve road.

In addition, the distance detection module 64 of the controller 60 detects the distance between the object and the road reflection mirror using the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit 40 and generates an object distance signal. Here, the object detecting unit 40 may acquire time information from emitting a measurement signal to receiving a signal reflected from the object. Accordingly, the distance detection module 64 converts this time information into a distance to detect the distance between the object and the road reflector. The detected distance information is transmitted to the display control module 65 , and the display control module 65 transmits the distance display information to the safety information display unit 90 . This process continues in real time until no object is detected.

The safety information display unit 90 displays the distance between the object and the road reflector 10 so that the driving lane driver recognizes the distance from the vehicle approaching in the opposite lane. Here, the distance between the object and the road reflector 10 is continuously variable and displayed in real time. The driving lane driver who recognizes the approach distance of a vehicle entering the opposite lane uses this as safety information to promote safe driving.

As such, the present invention can fundamentally prevent frost from occurring on the road reflector through hot wire driving in a situation in which frost can occur through detection of the outside temperature, and information (vehicle entry, vehicle type, distance), so that the driver can promote safe driving in the driving lane.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been described in detail according to the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it is common knowledge in the art that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. self-evident to those who have

10: road reflector
20: solar cell
30: temperature sensing unit
40: object detection unit
50: power unit
60: controller
61: temperature control module
62: object detection module
63: object size determination module
64: distance detection module
65: display control module
70: hot wire drive unit
71: hot wire
80: vehicle entry display unit
90: safety information display unit

Claims (6)

a solar cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy;
a power supply unit for charging the built-in battery with electricity output from the solar cell and supplying charging power of the battery as driving power;
a temperature sensing unit that detects the ambient temperature around the road reflector;
an object detection unit for detecting an object approaching the road reflector;
Comparing the outside temperature sensed by the temperature sensing unit with the reference temperature stored in the internal memory, if the outside air temperature is lower than the reference temperature, a hot wire drive control signal to prevent frost is generated, and the object detection result and the detected result of the object detection unit a controller for controlling vehicle entry and display of safety information based on the analysis information of the object;
a heating wire driving unit for suppressing the occurrence of frost on the road reflector by driving the heating wire according to the heating wire driving control signal generated from the controller;
A road reflector equipped with an anti-fog and safety information guide function, characterized in that it includes a vehicle entrance display unit that visually displays vehicle entrance according to the vehicle entrance display control signal generated from the controller.
The road reflector with anti-fog and safety information guidance function as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a safety information display unit that visually displays safety information for preventing vehicle accidents according to the safety information display control signal generated from the controller. .
The road reflector of claim 1, wherein the heating wire is built-in on the surface or rear of the road reflector.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle entrance display unit uses LED to indicate whether or not the vehicle has entered, the front or side of the road reflector to indicate the presence or absence of vehicle entrance by the color or lighting of the LED on the front or side of the road reflector, frost prevention and safety information guide Road reflector with function.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the safety information display unit visually displays the vehicle model information classified according to the size of the object and the distance of the object, wherein the vehicle model information provides shape information including a passenger car, a truck, and a tank lorry as vehicle model information. Road reflector equipped with anti-fog and safety information guidance.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the controller compares the sensed outdoor temperature with a reference temperature stored in the internal memory, when the outdoor temperature is lower than the reference temperature, the temperature control module for generating a hot wire drive control signal for preventing frost; an object detection module that determines whether an object is detected based on the object detection signal of the object detection unit and generates an object detection signal when the object is detected; an object size determination module for determining the size of an object based on the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit, and generating object shape information according to the determined size of the object; a distance detection module that detects a distance to an object using the object detection signal detected by the object detection unit and generates an object distance signal; and a display control module for controlling the display of the object detection signal, the object shape information, and the object distance signal.

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