JP3051782U - Road marking device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To improve visibility of a road marking device using glass beads at night from a pedestrian side. SOLUTION: It mainly comprises diffusely reflective glass beads having a particle size of 0.3 to 3 mm and a road marking paint. The diffusely reflective glass beads used are formed by adhering a plurality of pieces of a reflective thin film to the surface of a transparent glass bead using an adhesive. Each piece of the reflective thin film has a thickness of 6 to 12 μm and a size of 5
It is preferably from 0 to 300 μm, and the coverage on the surface of the transparent glass beads is preferably from 5 to 50% by area. Aluminum foil or aluminum vapor-deposited film can be used for the reflective thin film. If the reflective thin film or the adhesive is colored in advance, a darkly colored road marking device can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

 The present invention relates to a road marking device using glass beads to which a diffuse reflection function has been added, and more specifically, it is easily visible with street lights and lighting of surrounding houses, and is particularly suitable for pedestrians. The present invention relates to a road marking device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Transparent glass beads inherently have the characteristic of refracting and reflecting incident light on the inner surface of the beads and efficiently returning the light toward the light source, so-called retroreflection characteristics of light. Widely used as reflectors for road signs and road signs. When the glass beads used as such a reflector are illuminated at night by a vehicle headlight, etc., the driver receives the reflected light and must clearly see the presence of road markings and road signs. Can be. Therefore, a road marking device using these glass beads as a reflector is known as a particularly effective marking means when the content of the marking is mainly for a vehicle such as a lane marking.

[0003] Usually, when glass beads are used as the above-mentioned reflective material, a method of mixing glass beads into a road marking paint and applying the same or a method of applying the glass beads to the surface of a coating film immediately after the coating of the road marking paint is used. Methods such as spraying are used. Alternatively, a method of arranging glass beads on a resin layer formed on a sheet-like support to form a reflection sheet has been adopted.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

 However, since the road marking device using glass beads described above originally used the retroreflective characteristics of light, the driver of the vehicle, which illuminated the headlights at the marking device at night, clearly did so. However, those who have no means of irradiating light themselves can hardly receive the reflected light, and thus have the drawback that pedestrians cannot easily see the side. In particular, since road marking paints colored yellow and green have low reflectivity, it is quite difficult to see such a road marking device using colored paint and glass beads at night from pedestrians. Was

[0005] Further, even when the road surface is maintained at a certain level of brightness at night due to the illumination of road lighting facilities such as street lights and surrounding houses, glass beads are fixed from a light source fixed at a high position. The light incident on the pedestrian is reflected in the direction of the light source, that is, upward due to its retroreflection characteristics, so that a pedestrian cannot receive reflected light. Therefore, even in such a case, it was difficult to visually recognize the marking device.

[0006] As described above, the fact that the pedestrian cannot easily recognize the presence and the position of the sign device at night has been a major obstacle in securing the traffic safety of the pedestrian. This is especially true when the content of the sign is intended for pedestrians, such as pedestrian crossings and stop lines. For example, pedestrians cannot see the marking device, so they may collide with vehicles, etc. by crossing the road in dangerous places other than pedestrian crossings or entering intersections without confirming safety. there were. On the other hand, the driver of the vehicle can easily assume that the display device is clearly visible from himself and that it is also visible to pedestrians. I was Since the road marking device is difficult to see, there is a risk that a serious accident involving pedestrians may occur.

With the aging society in recent years, it is required to create a road environment where elderly pedestrians can pass with peace of mind. However, from the viewpoint of ensuring traffic safety, it is urgently necessary to improve the visibility of pedestrian road marking devices at night.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional road marking device using glass beads. In particular, the present invention provides a road marking device with improved night visibility from a pedestrian side. Its purpose is to provide.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The pavement marking device of the present invention is a pedestrian pavement marking device mainly composed of a diffuse reflection glass bead having a particle diameter of 0.3 to 3 mm and a pavement marking paint. In addition, a plurality of pieces of the reflective thin film are attached to the surface of the transparent glass beads by an adhesive.

The reflective thin film has a thickness of 6 to 12 μm, each piece has a size of 50 to 300 μm, and a coverage of the reflective thin film on the surface of the transparent glass beads is 5 to 50 area%. This is a further feature of the present invention. Each piece of the thin film does not need to be limited to a specific shape, and may be, for example, a polygon such as a triangle or a quadrangle, a circle, or an irregular shape similar thereto, or a mixture thereof. It can be used well. The numerical value shown as the size of each piece corresponds to, for example, the length of a long side in the case of a quadrangle and the size of a diameter in the case of a circle. Therefore, the size of each piece of 50 to 300 μm means that the area of each piece is in the range from the area of a circle having a diameter of 50 μm to the area of 300 μm square or less.

Here, the road marking device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of a part of the road marking device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the present apparatus has a configuration in which diffusely reflective glass beads 1 are partially embedded in a coating film 2 of a road marking paint. The diffuse reflective glass beads 1 according to the present invention have a structure in which a plurality of pieces 4 of a reflective thin film (hereinafter, referred to as reflective flakes) are adhered to the surface of a transparent glass bead 3 with an adhesive.

When light is applied to the diffusely reflective glass beads 1 partially embedded in the coating film 2, depending on the direction of the light source and the location of the light on the surface of the glass beads 1, that is, whether or not the reflective flakes 4 are attached, Light spreads along different paths. The pedestrian or the driver of the vehicle will then receive the light contributed in various proportions.

Next, various paths of light incident on the diffusely reflective glass beads according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 show typical examples of the path of light incident on the diffusely reflective glass beads. In these figures, the direction in which the light travels is indicated by an arrow, and the light incident on the glass bead surface from a low position near the coating film is an example of light from a headlight or the like. Light is shown as an example of light from a lighting facility fixed at a high position such as a street light.

As shown in FIG. 2, light A of the light emitted from the light source is incident from a portion where the reflective flake is not attached, enters the glass bead while refracting, and arrives at the inner surface of the glass bead. Light. This light A is reflected at the point of arrival when there is a reflective flake at that point, and part of the reflected light returns to the light source as retroreflected light B. However, most of the reflected light is repeatedly reflected on the internal reflection surface as shown in FIG. When there is no reflective flake at the arrival point on the inner surface of the glass beads, as shown in Fig. 4, the light is refracted and goes out of the glass beads once, but diffuses in the coating part in contact with the glass beads. The light is reflected, enters the glass bead again, and is repeatedly reflected on the internal reflection surface, and is also emitted to the outside as diffused light C.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the light D incident on the portion where the reflective flake is attached is diffused by specular reflection on the surface of the reflective flake. The direction of the light C to be diffused varies depending on the position of the reflective flake. Since the glass beads to which the reflective flakes are attached as described above have a large contribution of diffused light to visibility as compared with conventional glass beads that mainly use retroreflected light, this is not considered in the present invention. Diffuse reflective glass beads.

In the present invention, the size of the diffusely reflective glass beads is preferably 0.3 to 3 mm in particle size, and more preferably 0.5 to 2.0 mm in particle size. Diffuse reflective glass beads having a particle size of less than 0.3 mm are difficult to adhere to the reflective flakes at the coverage of the present invention because the glass beads as a raw material tend to aggregate during production. On the other hand, in the case of the diffuse reflective glass beads having a particle size exceeding 3 mm, the embedding depth of the road marking paint into the coating film at the time of forming the road marking device becomes insufficient, so that the coating material easily falls off the coating film. This is also not preferred.

The transparent glass beads used for obtaining the diffuse reflective glass beads according to the present invention are not particularly limited in material and the like, as long as they are glass beads used for a road marking device and satisfy the above particle size range. Anything may be used.

In the present invention, as the thickness of the reflective thin film attached to the transparent glass beads increases, it also affects the amount of incident light or the amount of reflection. The material of the reflective thin film is not particularly limited as long as a thin and good reflective film surface can be formed on both the front and back surfaces.Although aluminum is particularly suitable because it is advantageous in terms of cost. It is possible. For example, an aluminum foil having a thickness of 6 to 12 μm or an aluminum vapor-deposited film obtained by vapor-depositing aluminum on the surface of a resin film such as polyester having the same thickness can be used favorably as a reflective thin film. When the resin film is transparent, aluminum is vapor-deposited on one side to form a reflective film surface on both the front and back surfaces, so that at least one surface of the reflective thin film according to the present invention is made of aluminum. Is enough.

The aluminum reflective surface is usually silver, but if the surface is colored in advance with a transparent colored pigment or dye, diffused reflected light of a specific color tone such as yellow or gold can be obtained. it can.

In the present invention, the size of the above-mentioned reflective flake is sufficiently smaller than the particle diameter of the glass bead of 0.3 to 3 mm and 50 to 300 μm in order to keep the reflective flake attached to the glass bead well. Is preferably within the range. More preferably, the thickness is in the range of 100 to 150 μm.Such flakes can be easily obtained by finely cutting the above-mentioned film and then finely sieving it to 80 mesh or less using, for example, a Tyler standard sieve. Can be.

The ratio of the size of the reflective flake to the particle size of the glass beads is preferably in the range of 0.01 to 0.1. When the thickness is smaller than 50 μm, reflection visibility is poor, and when the thickness is larger than 300 μm, it is difficult to control the adhesion to the glass bead surface, which is not preferable.

In the present invention, the coverage of the reflective thin film on the surface of the transparent glass beads is preferably 5 to 50 area%. More preferably, it is in the range of 25 to 35%. When the coverage exceeds 50% by area, the amount of specular reflection by the reflective flakes increases and the amount of retroreflection decreases, so that the total amount of diffuse reflection light based on retroreflection also decreases. As a result, the nighttime visibility from the driver may decrease, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the coverage of the reflective thin film is less than 5% by area, the amount of specular reflection by the reflective flakes decreases, the amount of retroreflection increases, and the total amount of diffuse reflected light decreases. I don't like it because it doesn't lead to improved sex.

In the diffuse reflective glass beads according to the present invention, the above-mentioned numerical range of the coverage of the reflective thin film is such that when the aluminum thin film having a thickness of about 12 μm is used as the reflective thin film, for example, the amount of the reflective flake is set to the glass. It can be easily achieved by controlling the amount of beads to 0.5 to 5.0% by weight, more preferably 1.0 to 3.0% by weight.

In the diffuse reflective glass beads according to the present invention, an adhesive can be used for attaching the reflective flakes to the surface of the transparent glass beads. What kind of adhesive can be used as long as it is excellent in weather resistance and is suitable for a road marking device that is exposed to the wind and rain for a long time outdoors and a vehicle runs on it under severe environments Anything can be used. For example, urethane-based adhesives, silicone-based adhesives, or acrylic-based adhesives can be used favorably.

The adhesive is colored in advance with a transparent colored pigment or dye, and a reflective flake is adhered to the surface of the transparent glass bead to diffuse and reflect a specific color tone such as yellow or gold. Obtainable. When the colored colored reflective flakes are bonded by using the colored adhesive thus colored, it is possible to obtain diffuse reflection light having a darker color tone. Therefore, the low reflectivity of the colored road marking paint can be sufficiently compensated.

In order to obtain the road marking device of the present invention, the above-mentioned diffuse reflective glass beads are sprayed on the road marking coating formed on the road while the coating viscosity is low. The glass beads on the coating film are buried at an appropriate depth by their own weight and fixed to the coating film. Alternatively, after the diffuse reflective glass beads are dispersed in the road marking paint in advance, the beads may be applied to form a marking device.

The road marking device of the present invention receives light from surrounding lighting facilities, such as street lights, and diffuses and reflects the light in many directions. Therefore, the road marking device can be visually recognized by pedestrians at night, and can be visually recognized by the driver of the vehicle. The nature is enough. Therefore, it is suitable, for example, for marking pedestrian crossings, especially at the borders with sidewalks, or for marking pedestrian-only roads and pedestrian priority roads. It is very useful for securing. It is also suitable for road marking in tunnels where the amount of light from road lighting facilities such as sodium lamps is sufficient and headlights are often not turned on.

[0028]

[Embodiment of the invention]

 Hereinafter, the details of the present invention will be described with reference to examples.

Example 1 Prior to manufacturing a road marking device, diffuse reflective glass beads were manufactured. First, aluminum is vapor-deposited on the surface of a 12-μm-thick polyester film, and then gold-colored with a polyazo-based transparent pigment, and then finely cut into 80 mesh or less to obtain a 100-180-μm-sized gold reflective film. A slice was obtained.

Then, transparent glass beads having a particle diameter of 1 mm were weighed at a ratio of 97 parts by weight with respect to 3 parts by weight of the obtained reflective flakes, and both were weighed together with 2 parts by weight of the urethane-based adhesive in a mixer. After mixing, it was dried. The reflective flake coverage of the resulting diffusely reflective glass beads was determined by visual observation under a microscope to be 30%.

The thus obtained diffuse reflective glass beads were sprayed on the coating film immediately after the road marking paint was applied linearly on the road surface. And a golden linear pedestrian road marking device was obtained. The road marking device of the present invention was well visible to pedestrians at night only by the light of the street lights without headlight irradiation.

Example 2 The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that the urethane-based adhesive used for bonding the reflective flakes to the transparent glass beads was previously colored gold with a polyazo-based transparent pigment. The road marking device of the present invention was manufactured. A gold-colored line having a darker color tone than that of Example 1 was obtained, and it could be visually recognized well by night pedestrians.

Example 3 A road marking device of the present invention was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the reflective flakes were not colored. A silver line was obtained, and it was possible to visually recognize the pedestrian at night.

Example 4 Both sides of an aluminum foil having a thickness of 12 μm were colored gold with a polyazo-based transparent pigment and cut finely into a square of 50 μm to obtain a gold reflective flake.

Then, a transparent glass bead having a particle size of 0.5 mm was weighed at a ratio of 97 parts by weight with respect to 3 parts by weight of the obtained reflective flakes, and both were weighed in a mixer with 2 parts by weight of an acrylic adhesive. After mixing with the parts, it was dried.

Using the thus obtained diffuse reflective glass beads, a road marking device was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. The device was reflected in gold and was easily visible from pedestrians.

Example 5 A reflective flake having a size of 300 μm square, a transparent glass bead having a particle size of 3 mm, and a blending amount of the reflective flake with respect to 95 parts by weight of the transparent glass bead was 5 parts by weight. In the same manner as in Example 1, diffusely reflective glass beads were produced. The reflective flake coverage was 50% as measured by visual observation under a microscope.

When a road marking device was manufactured using the diffusely reflective glass beads, the road marking device was satisfactorily visible to pedestrians.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE Transparent glass beads having a particle size of 1 mm were sprayed on the coating film immediately after the road marking paint was applied linearly on the road surface in the same manner as in Example 1. A linear road marking device was obtained by fixing to the coating surface. At night, the road marking device was well visible to the driver of the vehicle illuminated by the headlights, but it was difficult for pedestrians to see it only with the streetlight.

[0040]

[Effect of the invention]

 As described above, according to the present invention, a road marking device with improved night visibility from a pedestrian side is provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a cross section of a part of the road marking device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of retroreflection of light incident on diffusely reflective glass beads.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of diffuse reflection of light incident on diffuse reflection glass beads.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of diffuse reflection of light incident on diffuse reflection glass beads.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of specular reflection of light incident on diffuse reflection glass beads.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... diffuse reflective glass beads 2 ... coating film of road marking paint 3 ... transparent glass beads 4 ... reflective flakes

Claims (4)

[Utility model registration claims] 1. A road marking device mainly comprising a diffuse reflective glass bead having a particle diameter of 0.3 to 3 mm and a road marking paint, wherein the diffuse reflective glass bead is provided on a surface of the transparent glass bead. A road marking device comprising a plurality of reflective thin films adhered with an adhesive. 2. Each of the pieces of the reflective thin film has a thickness of 6 to 12
μm, the size is 50 to 300 μm, and the coverage of the reflective thin film on the surface of the transparent glass beads is 5 to 50.
The road marking device according to claim 1, wherein the area is% by area. 3. The road marking device according to claim 1, wherein at least one surface of the reflective thin film piece is made of aluminum. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the reflective thin film piece and the adhesive is colored.
The road marking device according to 2 or 3.