EP0583533A1 - Miroir pour la sécurité routière à qualité anti-condensation - Google Patents

Miroir pour la sécurité routière à qualité anti-condensation Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0583533A1
EP0583533A1 EP92850288A EP92850288A EP0583533A1 EP 0583533 A1 EP0583533 A1 EP 0583533A1 EP 92850288 A EP92850288 A EP 92850288A EP 92850288 A EP92850288 A EP 92850288A EP 0583533 A1 EP0583533 A1 EP 0583533A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
plate
road reflector
regenerating agent
mirror
mirror plate
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP92850288A
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0583533B1 (fr
Inventor
Katsumasa Fujii
Yukio Morishita
Yukio Kokami
Nobuyuki Nagasaki
Yasuo Nanjo
Katsumi Tamura
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of EP0583533A1 publication Critical patent/EP0583533A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0583533B1 publication Critical patent/EP0583533B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B5/00—Visible signalling systems, e.g. visible personal calling systems or remote indication of seats occupied
    • G08B5/008—Traffic signalling mirrors
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
    • E01F—ADDITIONAL WORK, SUCH AS EQUIPPING ROADS OR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PLATFORMS, HELICOPTER LANDING STAGES, SIGNS, SNOW FENCES, OR THE LIKE
    • E01F9/00—Arrangement of road signs or traffic signals; Arrangements for enforcing caution
    • E01F9/60—Upright bodies, e.g. marker posts or bollards; Supports for road signs

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a road reflector having a function for preventing a road reflector from fogging which is liable to bring about at the time of a cold season.
  • a road reflector is a safety device placed at positions where are obstructed to see through, such as intersections, bending curves and the like, but the reflector is fogged during the cold night and morning from autumn to spring and becomes not only useless but also dangerous in traffic. Therefore, its solution has strongly been expected.
  • the temperature of a mirror surface more lowers than the dew point temperature of ambient air by radiational cooling, and water drops are condensed on the mirror surface or ice grains are adhered to the mirror surface. Therefore, in order to prevent the road reflector from fogging, the mirror surface should be kept at higher temperature than the ambient air temperature.
  • Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 61-19,890 is proposed to form a latent heat regenerating layer between mirror surface plate and a back plate, but the road reflector is placed at various places of the whole country, and a temperature around the reflector is different by area. In order to exhibit a sufficient effect at every temperature, it is effective to utilize a latent heat regenerator having large heat regenerating energy.
  • Water has the largest regenerating amount.
  • a regenerator having 3-4 times the latent heat regeneration at a certain temperature but less than half the water at the other temperature zone is not suitable for a reflector.
  • Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-167,803 further proposes a method of injecting an anti-freeze into a sealed vessel made between a mirror surface plate and a back plate.
  • the problems of this method are that a road reflector index by Japan Highway Association provides for a stainless steel mirror plate of ⁇ 600 mm diameter in circle and 0.8 mm in thickness, ⁇ 800 mm diameter in circle and 0.9 in thickness, and ⁇ 1000 mm diameter in circle and 1.0 mm in thickness, and that an image distortion should be collated with a limit sample by the naked eye.
  • Japanese Patent application Laid-open No. 2-20,508 proposes to provide a liquid regenerating agent-containing vessel on the mirror surface side between a road reflector mirror plate and a back plate, to arrange heat insulation material on the back plate side, to collect heat from the mirror surface within a time zone of high air temperature in the daytime, to warm the mirror surface from the regenerating agent when the air temperature is lowered from the night to early morning, and to maintain a mirror surface temperature higher than the ambient air temperature.
  • the problem in this method is that a liquid regenerating agent is circulated by convection when air temperature is increased from early morning, a temperature of the regenerating agent is increased at the upper portion, but it is slowly increased at the lower portion.
  • the temperature in the lower portion of the mirror plate is delayed to increase because the temperature rise of the lower portion of the regenerating agent is delayed even when the air temperature is increased, and in this period, the temperature of the mirror plate is lower than the ambient air temperature to make the mirror surface dim.
  • the air temperature is lowered from the night to the early morning, the regenerating agent within the inside is convected, the radiation of the regenerating agent is accelerated, and the regenerating effect is lowered.
  • the present invention aims to obviate said shortcoming by taking the above points into consideration.
  • the present invention is to provide a road reflector having a sufficient anti-fogging function from a lowering cycle to a rising cycle of temperature, since the main cause of fogging a road reflector is because water in air is condensed on a mirror surface when temperature of the mirror surface more lowers than the dew point temperature of ambient air by radiational cooling.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide a road reflector with non-fogging function comprising: a mirror plate, a back plate secured to said mirror plate in the periphery of said mirror plate so as to make a sealed container, a heat insulating material inserted to back side of said mirror plate within said container, characterized in that a road reflector comprises a regenerating agent containing vessel attached to the back side of said mirror plate within said container as being heat transferable, a heat insulating material attached to back side of said vessel, thereby said road reflector is united integrally with a mirror plate, a regenerating agent containing vessel and heat insulating materials.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide a road reflector wherein said road reflector further comprises a heat buffer inserted and attached between the back side of said mirror plate and said regenerating agent containing vessel.
  • Still another object of the present invention is to provide a road reflector wherein said road reflector further comprises a roof plate attached to the upper portion of said mirror plate, a supporting plate attached to the back side of the back plate, a connecting piece pivotary connected to said supporting plate by a pivot, an elongated groove and a positioning fitting so as to make positioning between said supporting plate and said connecting piece, a clamp fitting for securing said connecting piece to a column.
  • 1 is mirror plate
  • 1A is mirror surface
  • 1B is rear surface of mirror
  • 2 is back plate
  • 3 is roof plate
  • 4 is regenerating agent containing-vessel
  • 5 is regenerating agent
  • 6A heat insulation material
  • 6B heat insulation material
  • 7 is fastening portion for mirror surface back plate
  • 8 is supporting plate
  • 9 is connecting piece
  • 10 is pivot
  • 11 positioning fittings
  • 12 is elongated groove
  • 13 is column
  • 14 is clamp fitment
  • 15 is uniform liquid amount seal
  • 16 is outer peripheral seal
  • 16 is injection hole
  • 18 is heat buffer.
  • a regenerating portion is the main portion of the present system, and as a regenerating agent, use may be made of gel-like material which regenerates latent heat having uniform specific heat within a wide temperature range.
  • the regenerating agent is gel-like, there is no convention, the regenerating energy of the regenerating agent is effectively utilized for a long period of time, there is no possibility of leaking, and there is shown a preferable tendency to vibration during transportation. Moreover, it is possible to mold into desired curvature, and it is also possible to integrate the molded article by fitting to a road reflector by hand.
  • a vessel which base is a mirror is formed and a liquid regenerating agent is gelled therein.
  • a vessel having less permeable loss use is made of a three-layered film sandwiching an aluminum foil with polyethylene films from both sides.
  • a gel-like regenerating agent viewed from effective application of regenerating energy and fear of liquid leakage.
  • a preferable regenerating agent has a large regenerating amount per volume through all the area within a wide temperature range from -40°C to +40°C and does not freeze at low temperature as possible, such as an aqueous solution of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol and the like.
  • Any method can be used for gelling a regenerating agent.
  • a method of gelling a regenerating agent with the use of a proper amount of high water absorbing resin available on the market, or a method of adding 5-10 wt% of polyvinyl alcohol available on the market, solving at high temperature, and freezing it, or a method of adding a bifunctional monomer such as ethylene glycol, dimethacrylate and the like to a water-soluble monomer such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate and the like and carrying out a polymerization reaction.
  • a bifunctional monomer such as ethylene glycol, dimethacrylate and the like
  • a water-soluble monomer such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate and the like
  • a heat insulation material use is made of such material having independent air bubbles and a role as a buffer, such as urethane foam and expanded styrol.
  • Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a road reflector according to the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a partly broken perspective view of a vessel for containing a regenerating agent.
  • Fig. 1 is a metallic mirror plate having a mirror surface 1A of suitable curvature
  • 2 is an integrally joined back plate having a space for housing suitable contents
  • 3 is a roof projected from said mirror plate upwardly.
  • a heat buffer 18 is provided adjacent to the inner side of the mirror plate 1.
  • a vessel 4 for containing a gel-like regenerating agent is housed by adhering to the heat buffer 18, a gel-like regenerating agent 5 is filled within the vessel 4
  • heat insulation material 6A is adhesively arranged on the rear of this regenerating agent-containing vessel 4
  • further heat insulation material 6B is arranged between the heat insulation material 6A and the back plate 2, thereby preventing the surface of the reflector 1 from fogging by moisture condensation.
  • Reference numeral 7 is a fastening portion for integrally connecting the mirror plate 1 and the back plate 2.
  • 8 is a supporting plate fitted to the rear of the back plate 2.
  • 9 is a connecting piece
  • 10 is a pivot for pivoting the connecting piece 9 to the supporting plate 8.
  • 11 is a fittings for positioning between the supporting plate 8 and the connecting piece 9.
  • 12 is an arc-like elongated groove for fitting the fittings 11.
  • 13 is a column for supporting the connecting piece 9, and 14 is a clamp fitting thereof.
  • a regenerating agent it is preferable to use a gel-like regenerating agent having a large regenerating amount per volume in the whole zone of a wide temperature range from about -40°C to +40°C, without freezing at low temperature with no toxicity, and being stable for a long period of time.
  • the present invention takes the above conditions into consideration, and in case of using a mirror of 800 mm ⁇ in diameter for example, 2.5% high water absorbing resin is added to a compounded solution of propylene glycol and water and injected into the vessel 4 for use.
  • the gel-like regenerating agent 5 is contained in the vessel 4 and fixed between the heat buffer 18 and the heat insulation material 6A.
  • a suitable curvature radius of the mirror surface is 3000 mm.
  • a use temperature is from -40°C to +40°C, so that it is necessary to prevent the vessel 4 from breaking by volume expansion of the regenerating agent 5 and to prevent the regenerating agent 5 from dissipating to the outside.
  • the present invention uses a round vessel as the vessel 4 by using a three-layered film made by sandwiching an aluminum foil with polyethylene film and a polyester film, but the vessel is not limited thereto.
  • the vessel 4 for containing a regenerating agent is composed of a film 2 with a uniform liquid amount seal 15 and an outer peripheral seal 16 at certain intervals to control a permeable loss for making the gel-like regenerating agent 5 substantially the same volume over the whole mirror surface.
  • the vessel 4 is provided with an injection hole for injecting the regenerating agent 5.
  • Heat insulation materials 6A and 6B are inserted between the vessel 4 and the back plate 2.
  • the heat insulation materials 6A and 6B are made by laminating two sheets of 40 mm thick ⁇ 800 mm ⁇ and 20 mm thick ⁇ 400 mm ⁇ , putting in a polyethylene film bag, and waterproofing.
  • heat is collected from the mirror surface, transmitted to the regenerating agent 5 and regenerated.
  • the regenerating agent is gelled so as to dissipate quantity of regenerated heat by taking much time.
  • a sponge used as heat insulation material plays a role of a buffer by adhering the vessel 4 to the inner surface 1B of the mirror surface with the aid of its resilience.
  • Fig. 3 shows a result of comparing the road reflector A of the present invention with the prior road reflector B having a non-fogging device with the use of a liquid regenerating agent on the back of a reflector.
  • Fig. 3 shows records and graphs of ten day's observation for a mirror surface temperature and its ambient temperature at 6:30 every morning in the wintertime, that the mirror surface temperature (A) of the reflector of the present invention is higher than the mirror surface temperature (B) of the reflector having no-fogging function and higher than the ambient temperature (C) over the whole zone of an observation period.
  • the prior product (B) shows substantially the same temperature as the ambient temperature (C).
  • Fig. 4 shows a result of comparing the road reflector of the present invention with a road reflector having a non-fogging device of the system proposed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2-204,508, which is called a prior product (D) hereinafter.
  • Fig. 4 show records and graphs of the mirror surface temperature and its ambient temperature of both the reflectors for 24 hours, and that the mirror surface temperature of the reflector of the present invention shows a high temperature from the night to 10 o'clock in the morning as compared with the prior product (D). This is because the ambient temperature starts to lower from the evening, and regenerated temperature energy released from the regenerating agent, which is gelled in the present invention, continues its regenerating effect for long time. While, the prior product (D) which mirror surface temperature is increased without any time lag with increase of the ambient temperature from the morning cannot continue a regenerating effect by a convection action because of the use of a liquid regenerating agent.
  • the present invention relates to improvement of a road reflector provided at intersections and hardly visible places, uses a gel-like regenerating agent as a regenerating agent, and utilizes long regenerating time, so as to prevent the reflector from fogging generated at the cold season and from the night to the early morning with high humidity and to constantly perform a function of the road reflector, and has such a remarkable effect that safety of traffic can be increased.
  • the prior road reflector has been tried to prevent fogging variously, but a non-fogging effect is not sufficient, and hindered at the cold or humid season, but the present invention solves the problem by such a simple mechanism that a heat buffer is inserted in the inside of the mirror surface of the reflector, a soft vessel containing a gel-like regenerating agent is adhered thereto, a heat insulation material is attached to the back thereof and a back plate is heat-insulatingly buffered.
  • fogging by surface condensation of the mirror plate can be prevented as compared with the use of an anti-freeze and liquid regenerating agent, heat is well conducting, and the mirror surface is prevented from distorting, so as to remarkably increase its effect and to be useful industrially.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Road Signs Or Road Markings (AREA)
  • Mirrors, Picture Frames, Photograph Stands, And Related Fastening Devices (AREA)
EP92850288A 1992-05-01 1992-12-10 Miroir pour la sécurité routière à qualité anti-condensation Expired - Lifetime EP0583533B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP112718/92 1992-05-01
JP4112718A JP2604938B2 (ja) 1992-05-01 1992-05-01 防曇機能付き道路反射鏡

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0583533A1 true EP0583533A1 (fr) 1994-02-23
EP0583533B1 EP0583533B1 (fr) 1998-06-10

Family

ID=14593785

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP92850288A Expired - Lifetime EP0583533B1 (fr) 1992-05-01 1992-12-10 Miroir pour la sécurité routière à qualité anti-condensation

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0583533B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2604938B2 (fr)
AT (1) ATE167323T1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69225890T2 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1069443A3 (fr) * 1999-07-13 2001-12-19 Sekisui Jushi Kabushiki Kaisha Shiga-Ryuoh Kojou Miroir
FR2884837A1 (fr) * 2005-04-26 2006-10-27 Jean Francois Lenoir Panneau miroir pour equiper l'intersection de deux voies de circulation.

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH0216207A (ja) * 1988-07-02 1990-01-19 Nakajima Hiroshi 曇り防止装置付き道路反射鏡
JPH0252652A (ja) * 1988-08-15 1990-02-22 Seibu Eng Kk 使用済注射針の安全化処理装置
JPH04138414A (ja) * 1990-09-29 1992-05-12 Aisin Seiki Co Ltd コンタクトレンズの処理ケース
JPH0497004A (ja) * 1990-10-31 1992-03-30 Nok Corp 反射鏡用蓄熱材

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 014, no. 499 (M-1042)1990 & JP-A-02 204 508 ( HIROSHI NAKAJIMA ET AL. ) *

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1069443A3 (fr) * 1999-07-13 2001-12-19 Sekisui Jushi Kabushiki Kaisha Shiga-Ryuoh Kojou Miroir
FR2884837A1 (fr) * 2005-04-26 2006-10-27 Jean Francois Lenoir Panneau miroir pour equiper l'intersection de deux voies de circulation.

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JP2604938B2 (ja) 1997-04-30
ATE167323T1 (de) 1998-06-15
DE69225890T2 (de) 1998-10-08
JPH0670832A (ja) 1994-03-15
DE69225890D1 (de) 1998-07-16
EP0583533B1 (fr) 1998-06-10

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