KR102269579B1 - Smart pavement marker using optical cable - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart beacon having a landscape lighting function and a digital milestone function, comprising: a housing body having an interior space for accommodating one or more components; an optical cable assembly mounted in the inner space of the housing body and emitting light through an optical cable disposed along an upper edge region of the housing body; and a cover case disposed on an upper portion of the housing body to cover an open upper surface of the housing body.

Description

Smart sign bottle using optical cable {SMART PAVEMENT MARKER USING OPTICAL CABLE}

The present invention relates to a smart beacon, and more particularly, to a smart beacon having a landscape lighting function and a digital milestone function.

A road is a road made for vehicles or people to pass through. Because these roads are located outside, they are exposed to various risk factors. Road safety products such as street lights, road signs and road signage are used as a measure to reduce risk factors on the road.

Among them, road signage is a device that guides the direction of the road by reflecting the light when it receives light. In order to overcome environmental hazards such as nighttime and rain, the road center line, lane boundary line, exclusive lane, safety zone, and obstacles on the road. It is installed where it is necessary to supplement the function of road markings, etc. Furthermore, recently, by embedding a large-capacity battery and/or a solar cell in a road sign to light an LED element at night, the effect of preventing safety accidents as well as landscape lighting is enhanced.

Accordingly, the conventional road signs partially solve the problems of the road exposed to various risk factors by reflecting light to the driver at night or in rainy weather to safely guide the direction of the road. However, the conventional road sign has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to spread the light reflected from the road sign to the outside due to the shape embedded in the road surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to solve the above and other problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide a smart marker with improved visibility and esthetics.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a smart beacon that emits light by mounting an optical cable on the housing body.

According to one aspect of the present invention to achieve the above or other objects, the housing body having an interior space for accommodating one or more components; an optical cable assembly mounted in the inner space of the housing body and emitting light through an optical cable disposed along an upper edge region of the housing body; and a cover case disposed on the upper portion of the housing body to cover the open upper surface of the housing body.

More preferably, the smart label includes an energy storage device mounted on the inner bottom surface of the housing body; a circuit board assembly disposed on the energy storage device; and a solar cell module disposed on the circuit board assembly.

More preferably, an optical cable accommodating part and an optical connector accommodating part for accommodating the optical cable assembly are formed inside the housing body. The optical cable receiving portion is characterized in that it comprises a ring-shaped insertion groove formed in the circumferential direction along the upper edge of the housing body. In addition, the optical connector accommodating part is characterized in that it is formed in an area adjacent to a point at which the optical cable disposed on the upper edge of the housing body is bent in the downward direction.

More preferably, the optical cable assembly comprises a circuit board, an LED chip on the circuit board, an optical connector on the LED chip, and an optical cable connected to the optical connector. The circuit board is installed on the inner bottom surface of the housing body, and is electrically connected to the circuit board assembly through one or more wires. The LED chip is characterized in that it includes a plurality of LED elements emitting light of different colors.

More preferably, the optical connector has a chip accommodating part for accommodating the LED chip, a first through hole for inserting one end of the optical cable, and a second through hole for inserting the other end of the optical cable. characterized by being The optical cable is a transparent optical cable in which a core, a cladding, and a coating layer are formed of a transparent material.

The effects of smart markers according to embodiments of the present invention will be described as follows.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, by directing light of various colors through an optical cable disposed along the upper edge region of the housing body as well as a plurality of LED elements disposed on the upper portion of the housing body, the smart It has the advantage of being able to more effectively deliver the landscape lighting function and digital beacon function of the beacon to pedestrians or vehicle drivers at night.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, by installing a smart sign with improved visibility and aesthetics on the road floor, the landscape lighting function and digital sign function of the smart sign can be more effectively delivered to pedestrians or vehicle drivers at night. There is this.

However, the effects that can be achieved by the smart marker according to the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned above are based on common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs from the description below. It will be clearly understood by those who have it.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a smart beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a smart beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a view showing a shape of a housing body according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a view showing a shape of a cover case according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an optical cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;
6 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of an optical cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;
7 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of an optical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the same or similar components are assigned the same reference numerals regardless of reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, in describing the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, if it is determined that detailed descriptions of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the accompanying drawings are only for easy understanding of the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, and the technical spirit disclosed herein is not limited by the accompanying drawings, and all changes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention , should be understood to include equivalents or substitutes.

The present invention proposes a smart marker with improved visibility and esthetics. In addition, the present invention proposes a smart sign that emits light by mounting an optical cable on the housing body.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a perspective view showing the exterior of a smart beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a smart beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2 , the smart label 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing body 110 , one or more energy storage devices 120 , an optical cable assembly 130 , and a circuit board assembly 140 . , a solar cell module 150 , a cover case 160 , and a plurality of fastening members (not shown).

* The housing body 110 accommodates the energy storage device 120 , the optical cable assembly 130 , the circuit board assembly 140 , and the solar cell module 150 , and serves to support the cover case 160 . The housing body 110 has a first internal space 111 for accommodating one or more energy storage devices 120 , a second internal space 112 for accommodating the optical cable assembly 130 , and a circuit board assembly 140 . A third internal space 113 for accommodating the , and a fourth internal space 114 for accommodating the solar cell module 150 may be provided.

The housing body 110 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the overall shape of the smart label 100 . For example, the housing body 110 may be formed in a cylindrical shape, but is not necessarily limited thereto. In addition, the housing body 110 may be formed so that the upper surface is opened to the outside.

The housing body 110 may be integrally formed through injection molding using a mold or the like. In this case, the housing body 110 may be formed of a plastic material, a metal material, or a non-metal material. A detailed description of the housing body 110 will be described later with reference to FIG. 3 .

The energy storage device 120 is accommodated in the first internal space 111 formed on the bottom surface of the housing body 110 , and serves to supply power to the components of the smart label bottle 100 . A battery capable of being charged/discharged may be used as the energy storage device 120 . For example, a nickel hydrogen battery, a lithium ion battery, a lithium polymer battery, or the like may be used for the energy storage device 120 , but is not limited thereto.

The optical cable assembly 130 is mounted in the second inner space 112 of the housing body 110 , and serves to emit light through the optical cable disposed along the upper edge region of the housing body 110 . In this case, the optical cable assembly 130 may emit light while continuously emitting one light or sequentially changing light of various colors.

The optical cable assembly 130 may be configured by assembling a first circuit board, an LED chip, an optical connector, and an optical cable. The first circuit board may be electrically connected to the circuit board assembly 140 through one or more wires (not shown). A detailed description of the optical cable assembly 130 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

The circuit board assembly 140 is accommodated in the third inner space 113 of the housing body 110 , and serves to control the overall operation of the smart label 100 . For example, the circuit board assembly 140 may perform the main functions of the smart sign bottle 100 , such as a landscape lighting function, a digital milestone function, and a battery charging function.

The circuit board assembly 140 is disposed on the energy storage device 120 and may be electrically connected to the energy storage device 120 through one or more wires (not shown). The circuit board assembly 140 may be coupled to the housing body 110 through a plurality of fastening members (not shown).

The circuit board assembly 140 may include a second circuit board, a beacon module (not shown) mounted on the second circuit board, and a plurality of LED devices mounted on at least one area of an upper surface of the second circuit board. have.

The second circuit board may be formed of a PCB board or an FPCB board. The second circuit board may include a predetermined circuit wiring for electrically connecting the electronic components.

The plurality of LED elements may be disposed to face each other in both edge regions of the second circuit board, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the plurality of LED elements may be LED elements irradiating light of the same color or LED elements irradiating light of different colors.

The solar cell module 150 is accommodated in the fourth internal space 114 of the housing body 110, and serves to convert light energy obtained from the sun into electrical energy. The solar cell module 150 may be coupled to the housing body 110 through a plurality of fastening members (not shown).

The solar cell module 150 is disposed on the circuit board assembly 140 and may be electrically connected to the circuit board assembly 140 through one or more wires (not shown). In this case, the solar cell module 150 may be disposed to be spaced apart from the circuit board assembly 140 by a predetermined distance.

The cover case (or upper case, 160 ) is coupled to the upper surface and outer side surfaces of the housing body 110 , and serves to cover the open upper surface of the housing body 110 . In this case, the cover case 160 may be coupled to the housing body 110 through a plurality of fastening members (not shown).

The cover case 160 may transmit light emitted from the plurality of LED elements and the optical cable disposed on the upper portion of the housing body 110 to the outside. In addition, the cover case 160 may transmit light emitted from the sun to the inside. To this end, the cover case 160 may be formed of a plastic material having excellent light transmittance, but is not necessarily limited thereto.

The cover case 160 may be integrally formed through injection molding using a mold or the like. In this case, the cover case 160 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the overall shape of the smart cover bottle 100 . For example, the cover case 160 may be formed in a cylindrical shape, but is not necessarily limited thereto. A detailed description of the cover case 160 will be described later with reference to FIG. 4 .

As described above, the smart label according to an embodiment of the present invention includes not only a plurality of LED elements disposed on the upper part of the housing body, but also a plurality of LED elements of various colors through an optical cable disposed along the upper edge area of the housing body. can emit light. Accordingly, according to the present invention, by installing a smart sign with improved visibility and aesthetics on the road floor, the landscape lighting function and digital sign function of the smart sign can be more effectively delivered to pedestrians or vehicle drivers at night.

3 is a view showing a shape of a housing body according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, Figure 3 (a) is a view of the housing body viewed from the top, Figure 3 (b) is a view of the housing body viewed from the bottom, Figure 3 (c) is a view of the housing body viewed from the side.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the housing bodies 110 and 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention accommodate the energy storage device 120 , the optical cable assembly 130 , the circuit board assembly 140 , and the solar cell module 150 . and protects it from the outside. The housing body 200 is integrally coupled with the cover case 160 to constitute the smart cover bottle 100 .

The housing body 200 may be formed in a cylindrical shape corresponding to the overall shape of the smart label 100 . The upper surface of the housing body 200 may be formed to be open to the outside. The lower surface of the housing body 200 is formed to be sealed with the outside and may be formed in a flat shape.

The lower surface of the housing body 200 may be formed to have a larger area than the upper surface of the housing body 200 . A plurality of fastening holes 260 may be formed in an edge region of a lower surface of the housing body 200 . A plurality of fastening members (not shown) for coupling the housing body 200 and the cover case 160 may be inserted into the plurality of fastening holes 260 .

Inside the housing body 200, one or more battery accommodating part 210 for accommodating the energy storage device 120, an optical cable accommodating part 220 and an optical connector accommodating part 230 for accommodating the optical cable assembly 130. , a circuit board accommodating part 240 for accommodating the circuit board assembly 140 , and a solar cell accommodating part 250 for accommodating the solar cell module 150 may be provided.

The battery accommodating part 210 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the overall shape of the energy storage device 120 . The battery accommodating part 210 may be formed under the circuit board accommodating part 240 .

The optical cable accommodating part 220 may be formed in a circumferential direction along an edge region of the upper surface of the housing body 200 . A ring-shaped insertion groove may be formed in the optical cable accommodating part 220 so that the optical cable can be easily detached/attached.

The ring-shaped insertion groove may be formed to have a constant width and height. In addition, the insertion groove may be configured not to be formed in a portion of the upper surface edge region of the housing body 200 . This is to connect both ends of the optical cable disposed along the upper edge of the housing body 200 in the lower direction of the housing body 200 to the optical connector.

The optical connector accommodating part 230 may be formed in an area adjacent to a point at which the optical cable disposed on the upper edge of the housing body 200 is bent downward. The optical connector accommodating part 230 is disposed adjacent to the battery accommodating part 210 and may be formed under the circuit board accommodating part 240 .

The circuit board accommodating part 240 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the overall shape of the circuit board assembly 140 . The circuit board accommodating part 240 may be formed on the battery accommodating part 210 and the optical connector accommodating part 230 .

The solar cell accommodating part 250 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the overall shape of the solar cell module 150 . The solar cell accommodating part 250 may be formed on the circuit board accommodating part 240 .

As such, a predetermined step may be formed between the plurality of accommodating portions 210 to 250 formed inside the housing body 200 . This is to maintain an appropriate separation distance between the components 120 to 150 mounted inside the housing body 200 through a predetermined step.

4 is a view showing a shape of a cover case according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, Fig. 4 (a) is a view of the cover case viewed from the top, Fig. 4 (b) is a view of the cover case viewed from the bottom, Figure 4 (c) is a view of the cover case viewed from the side.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the cover cases 160 and 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention are disposed on the upper portion of the housing body 110 and serve to cover the open upper surface of the housing body 110 . . The cover case 300 is integrally coupled with the housing body 110 to constitute the smart cover bottle 100 .

The cover case 300 may be formed in a cylindrical shape corresponding to the overall shape of the smart cover bottle 100 . An inner space 310 for accommodating the housing body 110 may be formed in the cover case 300 .

The upper surface of the cover case 300 may be formed to be sealed with the outside. A plurality of protrusions 320 may be formed on the upper surface of the cover case 300 to prevent sliding of pedestrians. The plurality of protrusions 320 may be formed in a predetermined pattern.

The upper surface of the cover case 300 may be formed to have a larger area than the lower surface of the cover case 300 . A central area of the top surface of the cover case 300 may be formed to be flat, and an edge area of the top surface may be formed to be slightly inclined. Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the entire upper surface of the cover case 300 may be formed to be flat.

The lower surface of the cover case 300 may be formed to be open to the outside. A plurality of LED receiving units 340 for accommodating a plurality of LED devices mounted on the circuit board assembly 140 may be formed on a lower surface of the cover case 300 . Each LED receiving part 340 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the upper shape of each LED element.

A plurality of fastening holes 330 may be formed in an edge region of a lower surface of the cover case 300 . A plurality of fastening members (not shown) for coupling the housing body 110 and the cover case 300 may be inserted into the plurality of fastening holes 330 .

5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an optical cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of an optical cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an embodiment of the present invention It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the optical connector which concerns on an example.

5 to 7 , the optical cable assemblies 130 and 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention include a first circuit board 410 , an LED chip 420 , an optical connector 430 and an optical cable 440 . includes The optical cable assembly 400 is mounted in the inner space of the housing body 110 , and serves to emit light through the optical cable 440 disposed along the upper edge region of the housing body 110 .

The first circuit board 410 may be installed on the inner bottom surface of the housing body 110 . To this end, a plurality of fastening holes 411 may be formed in the first circuit board 410 . A plurality of fastening members (not shown) for coupling the housing body 110 and the first circuit board 410 may be inserted into the plurality of fastening holes 411 .

The first circuit board 410 may be formed of a PCB board or an FPCB board. The first circuit board 410 may include circuit wiring for electrically connecting the circuit board assembly 140 and the LED chip 420 . In addition, the first circuit board 410 may be configured to be electrically connected to the circuit board assembly 140 through one or more wires (not shown).

The LED chip 420 is mounted on the first circuit board 410 and serves to emit one or more lights. In this case, the LED chip 420 may include one or more LED elements.

When the LED chip 420 includes a plurality of LED elements, the plurality of LED elements may be LED elements emitting light of different colors. For example, the plurality of LED devices may include at least one of a red LED device, a blue LED device, a green LED device, a yellow LED device, and a white LED device. In this case, the LED chip 420 may sequentially and alternately emit light of various colors.

The optical connector 430 is disposed on the first circuit board 410 and the LED chip 420 , and serves to guide the light emitted from the LED chip 420 toward the end surface of the optical cable 440 . can be done In addition, the optical connector 430 may serve to fix the end of the optical cable 440 so that the end surface of the optical cable 440 is positioned above the LED chip 420 .

A first through hole 431 for inserting one end of the optical cable 440 and a second through hole 432 for inserting the other end of the optical cable 440 may be formed in the optical connector 430 . . In addition, one or more fastening holes 433 may be formed in the optical connector 430 .

A chip accommodating part 434 for accommodating the LED chip 420 may be formed under the optical connector 430 . The chip accommodating part 434 may be formed in a shape corresponding to the upper shape of the LED chip 420 . Also, the chip accommodating part 434 may be formed to be connected to the first and second through holes 431 and 432 .

The optical cable 440 includes a glass or plastic core, a cladding surrounding the core, and a coating layer surrounding the cladding. The optical cable 440 may be a transparent optical cable in which a core, a cladding, and a coating layer are formed of a transparent material.

The optical cable 440 may be formed in a ring shape along an edge region of the upper surface of the housing body 110 . The cross-section of the optical cable 440 may be formed in a circle, square or rectangular shape, but is not limited thereto.

Both ends of the optical cable 440 may be bent downward of the housing body 110 to be inserted into the first and second through holes 431 and 432 of the optical connector 430 . According to this structure, when a predetermined light is emitted from the LED chip 420 , the light emitted from the LED chip 420 is incident on the core of the corresponding cable 440 through the end surface of the optical cable 440 . The optical cable 440 transmits the light incident to the inside of the core to the entire cable while totally reflecting the light, thereby emitting light to the outside of the cable.

Meanwhile, in this embodiment, the first circuit board 410 is exemplified to be installed on the inner bottom surface of the housing body 110, but is not necessarily limited thereto. Accordingly, the first circuit board may be configured to be omitted according to the embodiment. In this case, the LED chip 420 and the optical connector 430 may be mounted on the upper or lower surface of the circuit board assembly 140 .

In addition, in this embodiment, the optical cable 440 is exemplified to be disposed along the upper edge region of the housing body 110, but is not necessarily limited thereto. Accordingly, the optical cable 440 may be disposed in the upper central region of the housing body 110 through a design change. Alternatively, the optical cable 440 may be disposed along an edge area of the lower surface of the cover case 160 or may be disposed in a central area of the lower surface of the cover case 160 .

Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and should be defined by the following claims as well as the claims and equivalents.

100: smart label 110: housing body
120: energy storage device 130: optical cable assembly
140: circuit board assembly 150: solar cell module
160: cover case

Claims (3)

a housing body having an interior space for accommodating one or more components;
one or more energy storage devices mounted on the inner bottom surface of the housing body;
A plurality of pieces disposed in the inner space of the housing body, a first circuit board, a beacon module mounted on the first circuit board to perform a digital milestone function, and disposed to face each other in both edge regions of the first circuit board A circuit board assembly comprising the LED elements of the;
a solar cell module disposed on the circuit board assembly;
an optical cable assembly mounted in the inner space of the housing body and emitting light laterally through an optical cable disposed in a horizontal direction along an upper edge region of the housing body; and
It is disposed on the upper portion of the housing body, including a cover case for covering the open upper surface of the housing body,
The housing body includes an optical cable accommodating part formed in a circumferential direction along an upper surface edge region of the housing body, and a light formed in an area adjacent to a point at which an optical cable disposed in the upper surface edge region of the housing body is bent in a downward direction. comprising a connector receptacle;
The optical cable assembly includes a second circuit board installed in the inner space of the housing body, an LED chip on the second circuit board, an optical connector on the LED chip, and an optical cable connected to the optical connector,
A first through hole for inserting one end of the optical cable and a second through hole for inserting the other end of the optical cable are formed in the upper portion of the optical connector, and the LED chip is accommodated in the lower portion of the optical connector Smart label, characterized in that the chip receiving portion is formed for. According to claim 1,
The optical cable accommodating part smart cover, characterized in that it comprises a ring-shaped insertion groove so that the optical cable is easily detached/attached. According to claim 1,
The second circuit board is installed on the inner bottom surface of the housing body and is electrically connected to the first circuit board through one or more wires.

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