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US20180291572A1 - Reflective road device - Google Patents

Reflective road device Download PDF

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Publication number
US20180291572A1
US20180291572A1 US15/686,475 US201715686475A US2018291572A1 US 20180291572 A1 US20180291572 A1 US 20180291572A1 US 201715686475 A US201715686475 A US 201715686475A US 2018291572 A1 US2018291572 A1 US 2018291572A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
reflective
road device
translucent body
reflective road
base portion
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.)
Abandoned
Application number
US15/686,475
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English (en)
Inventor
Ching Hsiung Chen
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 US20180291572A1 publication Critical patent/US20180291572A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • E01F9/50—Road surface markings; Kerbs or road edgings, specially adapted for alerting road users
    • E01F9/553—Low discrete bodies, e.g. marking blocks, studs or flexible vehicle-striking members

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a reflective road device, especially a reflective road device with advantages of high strength, abrasion resistance, weatherability as well as higher reflective brightness.
  • Reflective devices are necessary safety facilities for road segmentation and warning and provide reflective effects for reminding drivers of road condition and traveling route resulted in a significant impact on traffic safety.
  • Setting of reflective road devices on the road can reflect light to warn drivers to pay attention to traffic conditions to avoid accidents.
  • One object of the present invention is directed to providing a reflective road device having high strength, abrasion resistance, weatherability and higher reflective brightness.
  • a reflective road device in one embodiment, includes a translucent body and a reflective layer.
  • the translucent body is made of a tempered transparent material and has a base portion and a bump portion.
  • the bump portion is integrally formed with the base portion and the bump portion is provided on the upper surface of the base portion.
  • the area enclosed by an upper edge of the base portion is larger than the area enclosed by the lower edge of the bump portion.
  • the bump portion is provided with a non-circular, oval arc at the lower edge in an incident direction of light emitted from a light source.
  • the reflective layer is provided on an outside surface of the base portion of the translucent body whereby the light emitted from the light source enters the translucent body through the bump portion and is reflected by the reflective layer and emitted toward the light source via the translucent body.
  • Another object of the present invention is directed to providing a less susceptible reflective road device.
  • a reflective road device further comprises a base mount having a groove at the upper surface of the base mount, wherein the base mount has two guide rails extending parallelly in the incident direction of the light, and the translucent body is disposed in the groove.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an upper surface of a reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2-1 is a top view of the reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2-2 is a top view of the reflective road device of another one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a lower surface of the reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing an upper surface of a reflective road device of another one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing the light reflection inside the reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing an upper surface of a reflective road device of still another one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a perspective view schematically showing two assembled reflective road devices of still another one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a measurement of reflection intensity of the reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is a graph illustrating the reflection intensity measurement data of the reflective road device of one embodiment of the present invention with a conventional 360° reflective road device.
  • FIG. 11 is a perspective view schematically showing a conventional 360° reflective road device.
  • a reflective road device including a translucent body 1 and a reflective layer 13 is provided.
  • the translucent body 1 is made of tempered transparent material and includes a base portion 10 and a bump portion 11 .
  • the bump portion 11 is provided on the upper surface of the base portion 10 , and the area enclosed by the upper edge of the base portion 10 is larger than the area enclosed by the lower edge of the bump portion 11 .
  • the base portion 10 is integrally formed with the bump portion 11 .
  • the bump portion 11 has a major axis aa′ and a minor axis bb′, and the major axis aa′ is positioned in the incident direction of light emitted from a light source such as a car lamp and the bump portion 11 is provided with a non-circular, oval arc 11 e at the lower edge in the direction of the major axis aa′.
  • the bump portion 11 may be formed to be a vault, which is an arched uplift.
  • the bump portion 11 may also be formed to be a truncated vault, i.e. the uppermost surface of the bump portion 11 is a flat surface. It should be noted that the above-mentioned shapes are merely illustrative and are not so limited.
  • the lower edge of the bump portion 11 has an oval shape or an oval-like shape; that is, the bump portion 11 preferably has a major axis aa′ and a minor axis bb′.
  • a ratio of the length of the minor axis bb′ to the length of the major axis aa′ may range from 0.5 to 0.99, preferably from 0.7 to 0.99, and most preferably from 0.9 to 0.99.
  • the shape of the bump portion 11 of the present invention is not necessarily limited by the length of the major and minor axis.
  • the spirit of the present invention is directed to the shape change of the incident surface into oval arc at the lower edge of the bump portion to achieve a directional increase of the reflected light, such that users in the same direction with the light source may sense more brightness of the reflective road device.
  • the length of the minor axis bb′ is intentionally increased, so that the length of the minor axis bb′ exceeds the length of aa′, the embodiment should still fall within the scope of the invention.
  • the contour of the bump portion 11 is shaped to be like a half capsule which has a lower edge resembling a rectangle in the middle and resembling two half ellipses at both sides, respectively.
  • the rectangle or the half ellipse described herein is not limited to be perfectly rectangular or perfectly ellipse.
  • the lower edge of the rectangle on the side surface 11 f in the minor axis direction may be straight linear or slightly curved.
  • the directionality of light reflected by the reflective road device may be determined by adjusting the shape of the side surface 11 f of the bump portion 11 .
  • the lower edge of the side surface 11 f may be straight linear such that the reflective road device has stronger directionality for the reflected light, namely the light may be all reflected toward the direction of the light source; therefore, it can be used for relatively straight roads such as highways.
  • the lower edge of the side surface 11 f may also be curved such that the reflective road device has weaker directionality for the reflected light, namely the light may be partly reflected toward the light source direction and partly reflected toward the side directions; therefore, it can be used for relatively curved roads such as mountain roads.
  • Adaptation of the major axis of the bump portion 11 being positioned in the incident direction of the incident light and the bump portion 11 having oval or oval-like arc 11 e at the lower edge in the direction of the incident axis of the incident light achieves entrance of the incident light through the bump portion 11 and increases proportion of the light reflected towards the incident axis of the incident light after the incident light enters the translucent body 1 .
  • a pattern or a small protrusion may be formed on the upper surface and the side surface 11 f of the bump portion 11 to increase frictional force thereby creating an anti-skidding effect and thus contributing to the construction.
  • the inconvenience for gripping the conventionally dome-shaped road reflective devices increases difficulties in road construction.
  • the construction worker can easily control the translucent body 1 of the reflective road device by holding the side surface 11 f of the bump portion 11 due to the increased frictional force during construction to achieve precise alignment of the direction identification mark 101 , thereby improving quality of mounting the reflective road device during construction and increasing reflection intensity of the reflected light.
  • the area of upper surface of the base portion 10 is larger than that of the lower surface of the base portion 10 , i.e. the base portion 10 has a reversed truncated cone (circular truncated cone) shape.
  • the side surface of the base portion 10 and the bump portion 11 of the translucent body 1 of the present invention may be non-spherical based on optically design or may be shape-modified during manufacturing and construction. It should be thus understood that the shapes described herein are for ease of understanding and should not be rigidly limited by their geometric definition.
  • the construction procedure of the reflective road device may include drilling the road surface, mounting the reflective road device into the borehole, and then adding the adhesive for fixing. Before mounting the reflective device, it is easier to construct using the round hole drilling.
  • the upper edge of the base portion 10 may be designed to be circular for ease of construction. But it is not thus limited.
  • an axis in the incident direction of the incident light may be defined as an optical axis of the base portion and another axis being opposite to the optical axis may be defined as a side axis of the base portion.
  • the ratio of the side axis to the optical axis may range from 0.8 to 1.2, preferably from 0.9 to 1.1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG.
  • the upper edge of the base portion 10 may be designed to have different shapes in consideration of optical reflection and refraction requirements of the bump portion 11 .
  • the reflective device may further include a cylindrical shell (not shown) to cover the translucent body 1 and facilitate construction.
  • the upper edge of the base portion 10 and the lower edge of the bump portion 11 are set along the ground, and it is understood that, after the construction is completed, the bump portion 11 is generally located on the ground and the base portion 10 is buried in the ground.
  • a plurality of patterns or small protrusions may be formed on the upper surface of the base portion 10 for increasing frictional force, thereby creating an anti-skidding effect.
  • a direction identification mark 101 may be provided on the upper surface of the base portion 10 for indicating the incident direction of the incident light.
  • the direction identification mark 101 may commonly include patterns (such as arrows), texts, digits, symbols and so on.
  • the lower surface of the base portion 10 has a recessed portion 12 .
  • the recessed portion 12 helps to increase the cooling rate of the translucent body 1 in manufacturing the translucent body 1 and which enhances the overall strength of the translucent body 1 and increases the specific surface area of the translucent body 1 . Due to the enhancement of the overall strength of the translucent body 1 , the translucent body 1 has better shape setting and is not easily deformed.
  • the recessed portion 12 has more than one ladder ring structures 121 to reflect the light refracted by the bump portion 11 and/or the base portion 10 .
  • a plurality of ladder ring structures 121 are illustrated on the recessed portion 12 , the number of the ladder ring structures 121 is only illustrative for the description of the embodiments and may be increased or decreased based on various applications.
  • the translucent body 1 may be made of tempered transparent material, such as glass, polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (Acrylic) and so on.
  • the translucent body 1 is made of tempered glass.
  • the rate of cooling the translucent body 1 may be increased in manufacturing the translucent body 1 to enhance the overall strength of the translucent body 1 such that the translucent body 1 has a better shape setting and is not easily deformed.
  • the colorant may be added as required to obtain colored glass of diverse colors.
  • the translucent body 1 can be set in the road, and the reflective layer 13 may be provided on an outside surface of the base portion 10 of the translucent body 1 , including the outer wall of the base portion 10 , the lower surface of the base portion 10 , and the outer wall of the recessed portion 12 or the ladder ring structures 121 whereby the light emitted by the light source enters the translucent body 1 through the bump portion 11 and is reflected by the reflective layer 13 and emitted toward the light source via the translucent body 1 . Further, referring to FIG.
  • the recessed portion 12 also has a reflective function whereby the outside light projected onto the translucent body 1 may be refracted to the recessed portion 12 and the ladder ring structures 121 of lower surface and then reflected by the recessed portion 12 and the ladder ring structures 121 to increase the light reflection effect of translucent body 1 .
  • the angle and distance between the incident surface of the bump portion 11 and the reflective layer 13 may be adjusted based on the characters of the material selected for the translucent body 1 .
  • the shape of the bump portion 11 and the angle and distance between the translucent body 1 and reflective layer 13 may be adjusted based on the refractive index of the selected material. It is well known that the refractive index of the glass is about 1.52, the refractive index of the polycarbonate is about 1.58, and the refractive index of the polymethyl methacrylate is about 1.48.
  • the translucent body 1 of the reflective road device may be colored as desired.
  • the translucent body 1 of the reflective road device may be embedded for indication of a one-way street by reflecting white light in the direction of permitted passage and reflecting red light in the reverse direction to indicate the prohibited passage.
  • the implementation of the colored reflective road device can be achieved by setting a thin layer of transparent red glass (or a transparent dyed film) at one half of the base portion 10 of the translucent body 1 while the other half is not dyed. After an aluminum reflective layer is sprayed on the base portion 10 of the translucent body 1 , the finished product having half-red and half-white is obtained.
  • the other possible color combinations of the reflective road device may be half-red and half-yellow, or half-yellow and half-white, or half-red and half-yellow.
  • FIG. 6 simply describes the light reflection path of the reflective road device in one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the parallel light beam from the car enters the upper surface of the base portion 10 and the bump portion 11 , focuses on the reflective layer 13 at the bottom of the reflective road device including the outer wall of the base portion 10 and the recessed portion 12 and ladder ring structures 121 , and then is reflected to the top portion of the reflective road device, and finally becomes a parallel beam back to a driver's eyes. There is a small included angle between the car lamp and the human eyes when viewed from the reflective road device.
  • the disclosed translucent body 1 may concentrate the reflected light within a horizontally effective reflection angle span centralized in the direction of the incident light on the road (the direction pointed by the arrow on the mark), as the angle 0° axis, to greatly enhance the reflective brightness.
  • the disclosed reflective road device is such manufactured that the concentration of the reflected light of the translucent body 1 may be increased when the horizontally effective reflection angle span becomes smaller. In other words, the smaller the effective reflection angle span is, the higher the reflective brightness is.
  • the horizontally effective reflection angle span centralized in the light incident direction may be but not limited to ⁇ 20°, ⁇ 15°, ⁇ 10°, 5°, ⁇ 2°.
  • the horizontally effective reflection angle span may be ⁇ 20° to obtain a reflective road device of generic type, where the reflective brightness within the horizontally effective reflection angle span can be higher than or close to that of the conventional 360° reflective road device. And a wider range of the horizontally effective reflection angle span is therefore achieved.
  • the horizontally effective reflection angle span may be ⁇ 5° to obtain a reflective road device of brightness enhancement type, where the reflective brightness can be greatly improved. This type has smaller horizontally effective reflection angle span and would be suitable for straight roads such as highways.
  • the reflective brightness of the reflective road device is measured according to the CNS (Chinese National Standard) 13762.
  • a light source A with a projecting aperture smaller than 26 mm in diameter and a photoreceptor B with effective detection area smaller than 26 mm in diameter shall be used.
  • the distance d from the window of the photoreceptor B to the specimen center C shall be adjusted to be more than 15.0 m.
  • the light source shall be equivalent to the CIE standard illuminant A (Color temperature 2856 K) to comply with comparative visual sensitivity of standard observer.
  • the incident light on the specimen center C shall be as uniform as possible.
  • the entrance angle shall be set at 0.5°, and the corresponding observation angle shall be 0.4°.
  • the photoreceptor B is firstly placed at the position of the specimen center C as shown in FIG. 9 with its detecting window facing the light source A.
  • the reflective road device in one embodiment is made of an acrylic having a refractive index of 1.48 while the conventional 360° reflective device is made of tempered glass having refractive index of 1.52.
  • a sample of the conventional 360° reflective device to be measured is redesigned to be made of an acrylic having a refractive index of 1.48.
  • FIG. 10 shows the measured brightness data of the comparison.
  • the disclosed reflective road device has the effect of concentrating the reflected light within the horizontally effective reflection angle span by reaching 315 MCD/LX at 0° angle axis, which is much higher than the brightness (105 MCD/LX) of the conventional 360° reflective device at 0° angle axis, and has similar brightness (80 to 86 MCD/LX) as the conventional 360° reflective device at ⁇ 10°.
  • the reflective road device may further comprise a base mount 2 having a groove 22 formed at the upper surface of the base mount 2 .
  • the base mount 2 has two guide rails 21 a and 21 b extending parallelly in the light incident direction.
  • the translucent body 1 may be disposed in the groove 22 .
  • the groove 22 may be disposed in the concave arc 26 at the upper surface of the base mount 2 such that the tip of the bump portion 11 of the translucent body 1 is slightly lower than the top of the upper surface of the base mount 2 and that the reflective device is less susceptible to damage and has long life span, resulting in better reflective effect.
  • the base mount 2 may be installed in the snowfield so that the guide rails 21 a and 21 b are slightly protruding from the snowfield surface. Both ends of each of the guide rails 21 a and 21 b are fornied with an oblique surface 24 , and each of guide rails 21 a and 21 b is provided with a stepped portion 25 .
  • the snow removal machine passes through the base mount 2 for snow shoveling, the snow removal machine would conveniently slide on the guide rails 21 a and 21 b via the oblique surface 24 without causing direct damage to the bump portion 11 of the translucent body 1 , so that the reflective device would be less susceptible to damage.
  • the number of the grooves 22 and/or the translucent body 1 is not limited herein.
  • the base mount 2 may further includes at least one rib 23 , the base mount 2 may have a plurality of grooves 22 disposed between the rib 23 and the guide rails 21 a and 21 b, and the translucent bodies 1 are disposed correspondingly in the grooves 22 .
  • the number of the rib 23 or the groove 22 may be even increased to accommodate more translucent bodies 1 and thus increase the reflective brightness.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Road Signs Or Road Markings (AREA)
  • Optical Elements Other Than Lenses (AREA)
US15/686,475 2017-04-06 2017-08-25 Reflective road device Abandoned US20180291572A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
TW106204741 2017-04-06
TW106204741 2017-04-06
TW106115921 2017-05-15
TW106115921A TWI644000B (zh) 2017-04-06 2017-05-15 路面反光裝置

Publications (1)

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US20180291572A1 true US20180291572A1 (en) 2018-10-11

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ID=61228820

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US15/686,475 Abandoned US20180291572A1 (en) 2017-04-06 2017-08-25 Reflective road device

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US (1) US20180291572A1 (zh)
EP (1) EP3385450A1 (zh)
JP (1) JP2018180504A (zh)
CN (2) CN207608839U (zh)
TW (3) TWI644000B (zh)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20180203269A1 (en) * 2017-01-13 2018-07-19 Japan Display Inc. Display device and electronic shelf label

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
TWI644000B (zh) * 2017-04-06 2018-12-11 陳慶雄 路面反光裝置
KR102467580B1 (ko) * 2020-12-18 2022-11-15 김광익 지반침하 탐지장치

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20180203269A1 (en) * 2017-01-13 2018-07-19 Japan Display Inc. Display device and electronic shelf label

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
TW201837273A (zh) 2018-10-16
EP3385450A1 (en) 2018-10-10
JP2018180504A (ja) 2018-11-15
TW201837274A (zh) 2018-10-16
CN108691280A (zh) 2018-10-23
CN207608839U (zh) 2018-07-13
TWI638075B (zh) 2018-10-11
TWM552934U (zh) 2017-12-11
TWI644000B (zh) 2018-12-11

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