Route marking tool

Abstract

To provide a route marking tool that can be easily installed in the opposite direction of a route direction with a simple configuration.SOLUTION: A route marking tool 1 is provided with a main body 10 having both opposite side surfaces serving as a marking surface and an opening formed inside the marking surface, and a route marking part 11 attached to the opening. The route marking part 11 is provided with marking bodies 11a to 11c arranged on respective surface sides of the marking surface correspondingly to the route direction, and the marking bodies are arranged in the same pattern on respective surface sides of the marking surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a route indicator for indicating a route for vehicles, pedestrians, etc. to pass through.

Background Art

[0002] When road construction or the like is carried out on a road on which a vehicle travels, a route indicating body is installed to clarify the traveling direction of the vehicle. Also, when the passage range is changed due to construction or the like on a sidewalk or passage where pedestrians pass, a route indicating body for clarifying the passage direction is installed in accordance with the change.

[0003] Such route indicating bodies have been variously improved according to their uses and locations, and improvements such as clarifying route indication at night, weight reduction and compactification for easy transportation and storage have been made.

[0004] In Patent Document 1, a road sign is described in which legs are foldably attached to a signboard having indications such as instructions or guidance on the front and back surfaces. Also, in Patent Document 2, a left-right switching type arrow board is described in which a plate that rotates left and right is attached to an arrow board body, and left and right arrows are attached to the front and back of the plate. Further, Patent Document 3 describes a road signboard in which electrical energy generated by a solar cell is stored in a storage battery and supplied to a light bulb of a signboard to perform light emission display, and the signboard indicating the traveling direction can be installed on a road. Also, in Patent Document 4, a foldable guiding display tool is described in which power is supplied from a dry battery, which is a power source, to a light emitting member in which LEDs are linearly arranged at the edge of a sign, and light emission display is performed, and the sign indicating the traveling direction can be installed on a road.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

[0006] In Patent Document 1, since display units are provided on the front and back surfaces, it is necessary to provide mechanisms for performing light-emitting display on the front side and the back side. As a result, there are problems such as the road sign becoming thick and heavy, making it difficult to handle. Further, in Patent Document 2, since it has a simple structure in which a rotating plate is attached to the arrow plate body, it is lightweight and easy to handle. However, since it is not a light-emitting display, there is a problem that the visibility of the arrow is low.

[0007] In Patent Document 3, light-emitting display is performed using the electric power obtained from a solar cell. However, when the sign body indicating the traveling direction is set in the opposite direction, it will be installed with the top and bottom reversed. In order to allow the solar cell to be irradiated with sunlight even when the top and bottom are reversed, the solar cell is arranged to protrude from the back side. However, it is necessary to secure a space for protruding the solar cell, and there are restrictions at the installation location such as measures for preventing damage to the protruding solar cell.

[0008] In Patent Document 4, since a dry battery is used as the power source, it is easy to install it with the top and bottom reversed in the opposite traveling direction. However, there is a problem such as the consumption of the dry battery due to long-term use.

[0009] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a route indicator that can be easily installed in the opposite direction of the route direction with a simple configuration. [Means for Solving the Problems]

[0010] The route marking device according to the present invention includes a main body portion having opposing both side surfaces as marking surfaces and an opening formed inside the marking surfaces, and a route marking portion attached to the opening. The route marking portion is provided with marking bodies arranged corresponding to the route direction on each surface side of the marking surfaces. Further, the marking bodies are arranged in the same pattern on each surface side of the marking surfaces. Further, the marking bodies include a plurality of light emitting elements arranged corresponding to the route on both surfaces of the route marking portion. Further, a solar cell is provided on the upper surface of the main body portion facing the bottom surface serving as the installation surface, and a power control portion for supplying power to the light emitting elements based on the power obtained by the solar cell is provided at one of the left and right side end portions between the bottom surface and the upper surface. Further, the power control portion is provided with switching means for causing one of the marking surfaces of the light emitting elements arranged on both surfaces of the route marking portion to emit light. Further, support legs for supporting the main body portion to be erected are attached to the bottom surface serving as the installation surface of the main body portion. Further, the support legs are detachably attached so as to be able to project on each surface side of the marking surfaces.

Effect of the Invention

[0011] By having the above-described configuration, the present invention forms an opening inside the main body portion having opposing both side surfaces as marking surfaces and attaches the route marking portion, and arranges the marking bodies corresponding to the route direction on both side surfaces of the route marking portion. Therefore, it is possible to mark the route direction on both marking surfaces with a simple configuration, and it is possible to easily install the route direction in the opposite direction by changing the marking surface from one surface side to the other surface side.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. Note that the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples for carrying out the present invention, and thus various technical limitations are imposed. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified in the following description to limit the invention.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view (FIG. 1(a)) seen from one of the marking surfaces and a perspective view (FIG. 1(b)) seen from the other marking surface regarding the route marking tool according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view seen from one of the marking surfaces.

[0015] The route marking tool 1 includes a main body 10 having opposing side surfaces as marking surfaces and openings 10a to 10c formed inside the marking surfaces, and a route marking portion 11 including marking bodies 11a to  11c attached to the openings 10a to 10c respectively.

[0016] The main body 10 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front, and is formed in a horizontally long shape that is long in the left - right direction and has a predetermined thickness in the front - rear direction. The main body 10 is preferably integrally formed by hollow molding with a resin material. By making the main body 10 a hollow molded body, a lightweight and high - strength molded body can be obtained.

[0017] The main body part 10 has inner frame parts 10e to 10h integrally formed inside an outer frame part 10d that forms a substantially rectangular outer shape. An opening 10a is formed between the inner frame parts 10e and 10f, an opening 10b is formed between the inner frame parts 10f and 10g, and an opening 10c is formed between the inner frame parts 10g and 10h. The openings 10a to 10c are each opened with a predetermined width so as to be in an inverted "く" shape when viewed from one indication surface and in a "く" shape when viewed from the other indication surface, and each inner frame part between the openings is set to have a width approximately the same as the opening width.

[0018] On the upper surface part of the outer frame part 10d, a step for attaching the strip-shaped solar cell 12 is formed, and on the bottom surface part that serves as the installation surface, a pair of recesses for attaching a pair of support legs 13 are formed on the indication surface side. Also, a notch for attaching a power supply control part 14 that supplies power to the route indication part 11 based on the power obtained by the solar cell 12 is formed on one of the left and right side ends of the outer frame part 10d.

[0019] The indication bodies 11a to 11c are each formed in a "く" shape according to the shape of the openings 10a to 10c and are fitted therein. Protrusions for attaching to the inside of the adjacent inner frame parts are formed around each indication body, and the protrusions are fitted into the recesses formed inside and screwed. And each indication body is arranged in the same pattern on each surface side of the indication surface of the main body part 10.

[0020] Figure 3 is an exploded view of the indication body. Each indication body includes a substrate 110 on which a plurality of light-emitting elements 111 are mounted on both sides, a support-side covering body 112 that supports the substrate, and a cover-side covering body 113 that can be fitted to the support-side covering body 112. The substrate 110 is attached so as to sandwich the substrate 110 between the support-side covering body 112 and the cover-side covering body 113 and is integrally fixed by screwing at a plurality of locations. The substrate 110 can be configured by mounting light-emitting elements such as LED elements on a known electronic circuit board. Also, the support-side covering body 112 and the cover-side covering body 113 can be molded from a light-transmissive resin material.

[0021] The light-emitting elements 111 mounted on both sides of the substrate 110 are arranged along the shape of a "く" character respectively, and in the central part, they are linearly arranged along the center line of the "く" character shape in order to indicate the path direction. Therefore, the path direction indicated by the protruding direction of the "く" character can be clearly visually recognized by the lighting along the arrangement of the light-emitting elements 111.

[0022] Since a plurality of light-emitting elements 111 are arranged on both sides in the same pattern corresponding to the path to indicate the path direction in the path indication part 11, as shown in FIG. 1, when one indication surface is installed so as to be on the front side, the path is indicated to proceed in the right direction (see FIG. 1(a)), and when the other indication surface is installed so as to be on the front side, the path is indicated to proceed in the left direction (see FIG. 1(b)). Therefore, the path indication can be set in the opposite direction only by rotating the path indicator 1 in the horizontal direction, and it becomes possible to easily install the path change.

[0023] On the support-side covering body 112, a plurality of protruding portions 112a for attaching to the inside of the inner frame portion are provided protruding from the outer peripheral edge at a plurality of locations. By attaching the protruding portions 112a to the inner frame portion, the indicator 11 is positioned substantially in the middle in the thickness direction of the main body portion 10. Therefore, the indicator 11 is attached at a position recessed from the indication surfaces on both sides of the main body portion 10, and the inner frame portion rises stepwise around the indicator 11 so that the outer shape of the indicator 11 is clearly defined and protected from damage such as collision from the outside. Also, since the indicator 11 is set at a position where both sides are recessed at the opening of the main body portion 10, the light of the light-emitting element 111 is reflected around the opening so that the shape of the opening stands out, and the path direction can be indicated more clearly.

[0024] The support-side covering body 112 and the cover-side covering body 113 have screw holes formed at a plurality of locations facing each other, and the substrate 110 is sandwiched and supported by support portions protruding inside the screw holes. The substrate 110 also has hole portions formed at positions corresponding to the screw holes, and by passing a bolt inserted into one screw hole through the hole portion and fixing it with a nut in the other screw hole, the substrate 110 can be securely fixed, and the light-emitting elements 111 mounted on both sides of the substrate 110 can be protected by both covering bodies.

[0025] The solar cell 12 can use a known thin-plate-shaped solar cell and may be formed in a strip shape that fits into a step formed on the upper surface portion of the outer frame portion 10d. Also, since the route indicator 1 can be rotated horizontally to change the route indication, the solar cell 12 is always arranged on the upper surface when the route indication is changed, and can be fixed to the upper surface portion of the outer frame portion 10d by screwing.

[0026] The power control unit 14 houses electronic components such as a control circuit and a battery in a housing 14a having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that fits into a notch formed at the side end portion of the outer frame portion 10d. The housing 14a is housed in the notch of the outer frame portion 10d and fixed by screwing up and down, and a push button switch 14b for switching ON / OFF and the lighting mode is attached to the side surface on the indication surface side. By sequentially pressing the push button switch 14b, sequential switching operations to the ON / OFF and lighting modes can be performed. In the lighting mode, various lighting controls can be performed, for example, a mode in which the three indication bodies blink simultaneously, a mode in which the indication bodies are lit sequentially from the left side, and a mode in which the indication bodies are lit in order from the left side.

[0027] Also, a push button switch 14c for lighting only one side or both sides of any one of the indication bodies 11 is attached to the side surface formed along the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 10.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 2, the wiring connecting the power control unit 14 and the indicator 11 is fitted and attached to the groove portions 101 and 102 formed at the boundary between the upper portion of the outer frame portion 10d of the main body portion 10 and the inner frame portions 10e, 10f, and 10g. The wiring connecting the power control unit 14 and the solar cell 12 is fitted and attached to the groove portion 103 extending upward from the groove portion 102. Since the wiring is fitted and attached to the groove portion so as not to protrude outside, the wiring portion can be protected from troubles such as disconnection and leakage.

[0029] The power control unit 14 is equipped with a primary battery and a secondary battery as batteries. By generating electricity with the solar cell 12 and charging the secondary battery, the indicator 11 can be lit even when the solar cell 12 does not generate electricity for several days.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 2, the support leg portion 13 is attached to two notches 13b of a strip-shaped bottom plate body 13a fixed to the bottom surface portion of the outer frame portion 10d of the main body portion 10. An attachment portion 13c extending upward is formed at the position of the notch 13b of the bottom plate body 13a. The bottom plate body 13a can be fixed by fitting and screwing the attachment portion 13c into a recess formed on the indicator surface side of the outer frame portion 10d so as to sandwich it.

[0031] The rod-shaped support leg portion 13 is fitted and detachably held between a pair of holding pieces protruding alternately from both the left and right sides in the notch 13b. The support leg portion 13 is slidably attached with both ends protruding in the front-rear direction. Then, as shown in Fig. 1, by shifting and arranging one end of each of the pair of support leg portions 13 so as to protrude forward or backward of the main body portion 10, the main body portion 10 can be erected in a stable state. Also, when storing the route indicator 1, the support leg portion 13 can be removed from the bottom plate body 13a and stored.

[0032] FIG. 4 is a perspective view (FIG. 4(a)) as seen from one of the display surfaces and a perspective view (FIG. 4(b)) as seen from the other display surface, regarding another embodiment of the route indicator. The route indicator 1' includes a main body portion 10' having two openings formed inside the display surface, and a route indication portion 11' including display bodies 11a' and 11c' respectively attached to the openings, similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

[0033] The main body portion 10' has inner frame portions 10b', 10c' and 10d' integrally formed inside an outer frame portion 10a' forming a substantially rectangular outer shape. The two openings formed between the inner frame portions are each opened with a predetermined width so as to be in an inverted "U" shape as seen from one display surface and in a "U" shape as seen from the other display surface. Each inner frame portion between the openings is set to have a width approximately the same as the opening width.

[0034] On the upper surface portion of the outer frame portion 10a', a strip-shaped solar cell 12' is attached, similar to the above embodiment. Also, on one of the left and right side ends of the outer frame portion 10a', a support leg portion 13' formed by bending a rod-shaped member into a substantially U shape is attached. On the other of the left and right side ends, a power supply control portion 14' for supplying power to the route indication portion 11' based on the power obtained by the solar cell 12' is attached, similar to the above embodiment. And, similar to the above embodiment, the power supply control portion 14' is configured to perform lighting control of the display bodies 11a' and 11b'.

[0035] The support leg part 13' is rotatably attached at its upper end above the side end of the outer frame part 10a' by a shaft support part 13a', and is rotatably attached at its lower end below the side end by a shaft support part 13b'. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 4(a), when indicating the route on one indication surface of the main body part 10', by rotating the support leg part 13' to a position substantially orthogonal to the main body part 10' on the other indication surface side and installing it, the main body part 10' can be supported in a stable state. And, as shown in Fig. 4(b), when indicating the route on the other indication surface of the main body part 10', the support leg part 13' can be rotated to the opposite side and installed at a position substantially orthogonal to the main body part 10' so as to be supported in a stable state.

[0036] And, the route indication part 11' arranges indication bodies on both side surfaces corresponding to the route direction in the same way as the route indication part 11 of the above embodiment. Therefore, with a simple configuration, the route direction can be indicated on the indication surfaces on both sides, and by changing the indication surface of the main body part 10' from one surface side to the other surface side, it becomes possible to easily install the route direction in the opposite direction.

[0037] Fig. 5 is a front view (Fig. 5(a)) and a rear view (Fig. 5(b)) of the route indicator shown in Fig. 4. In this example, as shown in Fig. 5(b), the support leg part 13' is rotated and arranged along one indication surface of the main body part 10' so as to be in a retractable state.

[0038] In Fig. 5(a), on one indication surface side of the main body part 10', a groove part 101' for wiring connecting the indication body 11b' and the power control part 14' is formed at the boundary part between the upper sides of the outer frame part 10a' and the inner frame part 10c'. At the boundary part between the upper sides of the outer frame part 10a' and the inner frame part 10b', groove parts 102' and 103' for wiring connecting the solar cell 12' and the power control part 14' are formed.

[0039] In Fig. 5(b), on the other marked surface side of the main body 10', in order to accommodate the rod-shaped support leg 13', recesses 10e' are formed in the outer frame part 10a' and the inner frame part 10d' according to the shape of the upper end part of the support leg 13'. Recess 10f' is formed in the inner frame part 10c' according to the downwardly inclined shape of the support leg 13'. Recess 10g' is formed in the inner frame part 10c' according to the shape extending vertically above and below the middle of the support leg 13'. Recess 10h' is formed in the outer frame part 10a' according to the shape extending horizontally to the left and right below the support frame part 13'. Therefore, the support leg 13' can be accommodated in each recess, and it is possible to store it without protruding outward.

[0040] In this example, the solar cell 12', the support leg 13' and the power control unit 14' are accommodated and attached to the step or recess formed in the main body 10', and it has a structure that is easy to handle and store.

[0041] In the examples described above, the indicator of the route indication part uses a "く" - shaped indication form, but it is not particularly limited as long as it is a form capable of recognizing the route. For example, an arrow shape in which a horizontal linear shape is combined with the above - mentioned "く" - shaped form can be used. In this case, by arranging the light - emitting elements in the route direction and performing lighting control on the linear shape as well, it is possible to perform route indication in the same manner as in the above - mentioned examples.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0042] 1···Route indicator, 10···Main body, 11···Route indication part, 11a, 11b···Indicators, 12···Solar cell, 13···Support leg, 14···Power control unit

Claims

1. A path marking device comprising a main body portion having opposite side surfaces as marking surfaces and an opening formed inside the marking surfaces, and a path marking portion attached to the opening, wherein the path marking portion is provided with markers arranged corresponding to the path direction on each surface side of the marking surfaces.

2. The path marking device according to claim 1, wherein the markers are arranged in the same pattern on each surface side of the marking surfaces.

3. The path marking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the markers comprise a plurality of light emitting elements arranged corresponding to the path on both surfaces of the path marking portion.

4. The path marking device according to claim 3, wherein a solar cell is provided on the upper surface of the main body portion facing the bottom surface which is the installation surface, and a power control unit for supplying power to the light emitting elements based on the power obtained by the solar cell is provided at one of the left and right side ends between the bottom surface and the upper surface.

5. The path marking device according to claim 4, wherein the power control unit is provided with switching means for lighting one of the marking surface sides of the light emitting elements arranged on both surfaces of the path marking portion.

6. The path marking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein support legs for supporting the main body portion to be erected are attached to the bottom surface which is the installation surface of the main body portion.

7. The path marking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support legs are attached to be protrudable on each surface side of the marking surfaces.

Images