Patent Application
20200370254
The present invention relates generally to a power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet, and more specifically to a power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet, in which a magnet is inserted into a waste golf ball and light is emitted using power generated via the magnet, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify a road even at night, thereby enabling the vehicle driver to perform safe driving.
In general, when a driver drives a vehicle at night, it is difficult to distinguish the color of an object, it is impossible to accurately determine the height of a ground surface, the driver cannot fully understand a surrounding situation because he or she becomes tired physically and alertness becomes loose, so that reaction speed slows down when an accident occurs, and the driver has to drive sensibly because it is difficult to view lanes. Accordingly, nighttime driving is more dangerous than daytime driving in which sufficient visibility is ensured.
As a way to mitigate the above-described problems of the nighttime driving, road markers that reflect the light of vehicles at night are being installed along center lines and lines dividing traffic lanes.
Such road markers have been developed in considerably various forms. Korean Patent No. 10-1317841 discloses a ‘road marker’ including: ‘a body part 100 configured to have a wind guide surface 110 in which a side surface is formed in a concave shape and which guides a wind thorough a traveling direction, to have a cylindrical shape such as an hourglass shape, and to be exposed to a road surface; a reflector 200 inserted into an engraved groove 112 which is engraved in the wind guide surface 110, and configured to reflect the light of a vehicle; and an insertion coupling rod 300 formed in a vertical direction in lower center of the lower portion of the body part 100, and provided with a projection surface 310 having a gear shape on the outer peripheral surface thereof, wherein the upper portion of the body part 100 is provided with an auxiliary guide plate 120 which assists in guiding wind, blowing to the wind guide surface 110, through its traveling direction, the auxiliary guide plate 120 is formed in the shape of a disk and protrudes from the upper portion of the body part 100 in a horizontal direction while covering all the upper portion of the body portion 100, and the edge of the auxiliary guide plate 120 protruding from the upper portion of the body part 100 in the horizontal direction is formed to be bent downward toward the body part 100’ as the gist of the technical configuration thereof, as shown in
However, although the ‘road marker’ disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1317841 (registered on Oct. 7, 2013) has an advantage in that the reflector can prevent the loss of its function attributable to dust, a problem occurs in that there is a high risk that the reflector is easily separated or damage when it comes into contact with a wheel of a vehicle because the reflector is configured to be simply fitted into the engraved groove formed on the outer circumferential surface of the body part.
Due to the above problem, the applicant proposed a ‘combined reflector and solar photoluminescent road marker’ disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1675377 (registered on Nov. 7, 2016). As shown in
The ‘combined reflector and solar photoluminescent road marker’ disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1675377 (registered on Nov. 7, 2016) informs a user of the location of a lane through the fluorescent material 43. The fluorescent material 43 formed on the protective cap 40 is reflected by the headlights of a vehicle and informs a user of the location of a lane. Accordingly, the identification of the reflector is varied depending on the angles of the headlights of a vehicle, and thus there is a limitation on effectively notifying a user of the position of a lane.
Due to the above-described problems, the present applicant has improved the ‘combined reflector and solar photoluminescent road marker’ disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1675377 (registered on Nov. 7, 2016), leading to the development of a road marker in which a magnet is inserted into a waste golf ball and light is emitted using power generated by the magnet, so that a lane can be easily identified at any angle and thus a vehicle driver can easily identify a road even at night, thereby preventing traffic accidents.
Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed to overcome the above-described problems of the conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to provide a new type of power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet, in which a magnet is inserted into a waste golf ball and light is emitted using power generated via the magnet, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify a road even at night, thereby enabling the vehicle driver to perform safe driving.
In particular, another object of the present invention is to provide a new type of power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet, in which a magnetic electrode unit is disposed in a waste golf ball, power generated by the magnetic electrode unit is supplied to a light emission unit, and the light emission unit is allowed to flicker, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify the flickering light emission unit and thus perform safe driving even at night, thereby preventing a traffic accident from occurring.
In order to accomplish the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet, the power-generating and rotating road marker including: a waste golf ball (20); a body part (30) configured such that a raised edge (32) is famed along the edge of the top surface (31) thereof, a seating depression (33) in which the lower portion of the waste golf ball (20) is seated is foamed in the center thereof, and an anchor (35) which is laid under a road surface is formed downward from the center of the bottom surface (34) thereof; a protective cap (40) configured such that it is famed in a hemispherical shape in which a support protrusion (41) protrudes from the edge of the lower end of the hemispherical shape, and configured such that a seating depression (42) is foamed therein so that the upper portion of the waste golf ball (20) is located in the seating depression (42); a fastening plate (50) configured such that a through hole (51) which is fitted over the protective cap (40) downward from a location above the protective cap (40) is formed in the center portion thereof and it prevents the separation of the protective cap (40) and the waste golf ball (20) in the state of being tightly fitted and fixed onto the top surface (31) of the body part (30); a magnetic electrode unit (60) disposed in the waste golf ball (20), and configured to generate power; and a light emission unit (70) configured to be disposed to come into close contact with an inner circumferential surface of the waste golf ball 20, to be connected with the magnetic electrode unit (60) via a coil (71), and to emit light by using power generated by the magnetic electrode unit (60).
In the power-generating and rotating road marker according to the present invention, the magnetic electrode unit (60) includes: a support shaft (61) configured such that it is coupled to the center portion of the seating depression (33) of the body part (30) in a vertical direction and the coil (71) connected to the light emission unit (70) is wound thereon; a magnetic bearing (62) disposed on the support shaft (61); and a plurality of electrode plates (63) formed in arcuate shapes and spaced apart from the magnetic bearing (62); and, as the plurality of electrode plate (63) repeats left and right rotations around the magnetic bearing (62), the light emission unit (70) flickers.
In the power-generating and rotating road marker according to the present invention, the magnetic bearing (62) and the electrode plate (63) have the same polarity.
In accordance with the power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet according to the present invention, an effect arises in that the magnet is inserted into the waste golf ball and light is emitted using power generated via the magnet, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify a road even at night, thereby enabling the vehicle driver to perform safe driving.
In particular, an effect arises in that the magnetic electrode unit is disposed in the waste golf ball, power generated by the magnetic electrode unit is supplied to the light emission unit, and the light emission unit is allowed to flicker, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify the flickering light emission unit and thus perform safe driving even at night, thereby preventing a traffic accident from occurring.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the accompanying drawings. In
Referring to
A space is formed in the waste golf ball 20 so that the magnetic electrode unit 60 and the light emission unit 70 are accommodated and disposed in the waste golf ball 20, a cylindrical groove 21 is formed inward in the center portion of the upper portion of the outer circumferential surface of the waste golf ball 20, and a rotation element 22 is inserted into the groove 21 and enables stable rotation during horizontal rotation in the seating depression 42 of the protective cap 40 to be described later.
The body part 30 is laid under a road surface, the material of the body part 30 is aluminum, and the section of the body part 30 has a “T” shape. In other words, a raised edge 32 is formed along the edge of the top surface 31 thereof, a seating depression 33 in which the lower portion of the waste golf ball 20 is seated is formed in the center thereof, and an anchor 35 which is laid under a road surface is formed downward from the center of the bottom surface 34 thereof.
Meanwhile, although the anchor 35 configured to be laid under a road surface is formed in a straight cylindrical shape in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this is merely an embodiment. However, a plurality of stop protrusions (not shown) may be formed on the cylindrical outer circumferential surface of the anchor 35, and may thus be fixed in a road surface.
The protective cap 40 is coupled to the top surface 31 of the body part 30, and is intended to prevent the waste golf ball 20 from being separated and to protect the waste golf ball 20 from external shocks, etc. The protective cap 40 is made of a hemispheric transparent material in which a support protrusion 41 protrudes outward from the edge of the lower end of the protective cap 40 and a seating depression 42 is formed inside the protective cap 40 so that the upper portion of the waste golf ball 20 is located therein. In this case, a groove 43 is formed in the center side of the top of the inner circumferential surface of the seating depression 42, i.e., at a location corresponding to the groove 21 of the waste golf ball 20.
As described above, the horizontal rotation of the waste golf ball 20 located in the seating depression 42 of the protective cap 40 is facilitated in such a way that the rotation element 22 functions as a rotating shaft, and vertical rotation and the like other than horizontal rotation may be prohibited.
As described above, the protective cap 40 is coupled to the top surface 31 of the body part 30 and the waste golf ball 20 is located in the seating depressions 33 and 42 of the body part 30 and the protective cap 40, thereby providing an effect in which when a wheel of an automobile applies pressure to the protective cap 40, the waste golf ball 20 will mitigate a shock by performing a shock-absorbing action.
The fastening plate 50 is intended to be tightly fastened to the top surface 31 of the body part 30 and to prevent the waste golf ball 20 and the protective cap 40 from being separated. The fastening plate 50 is formed to have a diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the raised edge 32 formed on the top surface 31 of the body part 30, and is press-fitted into the inside of the raised edge 32. Meanwhile, a through hole 51 which is fitted over the protective cap 40 downward from a location above the protective cap 40 is formed in the center portion of the fastening plate 50.
Meanwhile, although the fastening plate 50 is press-fitted into the inside of the raised edge 32 formed on the top surface 31 of the body part 30 in the power-generating and rotating road marker 10 using a magnet according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, this is merely an embodiment. It will be readily understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and alterations may be made within the range not departing from the technical spirit of the present invention, including a method in which threads are formed on both the inner circumferential surface of the raised edge 32 of the body part 30 and the outer circumferential surface of the fastening plate 50 and the inner circumferential surface and the outer circumferential surface are screwed into each other, or a method in which the fastening plate 50 is fastened to the body part 30 by bolts.
The magnetic electrode unit 60 includes a support shaft 61 configured such that it is coupled to the center portion of the seating depression 33 of the body part 30 in a vertical direction and a coil 71 connected to the light emission unit 70 is wound thereon, a magnetic bearing 62 disposed on the support shaft 61, and a plurality of electrode plates 63 formed in arcuate shapes and spaced apart from the magnetic bearing 62. As the plurality of electrode plate 63 repeats left and right rotations around the magnetic bearing 62, power is generated, and the light emission unit 70 receives the generated power and flickers.
In this case, the magnetic bearing 62 and the electrode plates 63 are formed to have the same polarity. The reason for this is that the magnetic bearing 62 and the electrode plates 63 can be spaced apart from each other and perform left and right rotations only when they have the same polarity. In other words, when the magnetic bearing 62 and the electrode plates 63 have different polarities, they are not spaced apart from each other, and do not perform rotations due to their attractive force, thereby not generating power.
The light emission unit 70 is disposed to come into close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the waste golf ball 20, is connected to the magnetic electrode unit 60 through the coil 71, and emits light by using power generated by the magnetic electrode unit 60. In this case, the light emission unit 70 includes LEDs.
In accordance with the power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet according to the present invention, an effect arises in that the magnet is inserted into the waste golf ball and light is emitted using power generated via the magnet, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify a road even at night, thereby enabling the vehicle driver to perform safe driving.
In particular, an effect arises in that the magnetic electrode unit is disposed in the waste golf ball, power generated by the magnetic electrode unit is supplied to the light emission unit, and the light emission unit is allowed to flicker, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify the flickering light emission unit and thus perform safe driving even at night, thereby preventing a traffic accident from occurring.
Meanwhile, a power-generating and rotating road marker 10 using a magnet according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention may be configured such that a sensor is formed in a waste golf ball 20 and a sensor configured to communicate with the former sensor is mounted on a vehicle, so that when the vehicle approaches the power-generating and rotating road marker 10 using a magnet, which is laid in a line of a road, an alarm is issued and warns a driver of lane departure.
Although the above-described power-generating and rotating road markers using a magnet according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated based on the foregoing description and drawings, this is merely an example. It will be readily understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and alterations may be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.
In order to accomplish the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet, the power-generating and rotating road marker including: a waste golf ball 20; a body part 30 configured such that a raised edge 32 is formed along the edge of the top surface 31 thereof, a seating depression 33 in which the lower portion of the waste golf ball 20 is seated is formed in the center thereof, and an anchor 35 which is laid under a road surface is formed downward from the center of the bottom surface 34 thereof; a protective cap 40 configured such that it is formed in a hemispherical shape in which a support protrusion protrudes from the edge of the lower end of the hemispherical shape, and configured such that a seating depression 42 is famed therein so that the upper portion of the waste golf ball 20 is located in the seating depression 42; a fastening plate 50 configured such that a through hole 51 which is fitted over the protective cap 40 downward from a location above the protective cap 40 is foamed in the center portion thereof and it prevents the separation of the protective cap 40 and the waste golf ball 20 in the state of being tightly fitted and fixed onto the top surface 31 of the body part 30; a magnetic electrode unit 60 disposed in the waste golf ball 20, and configured to generate power; and a light emission unit 70 configured to be disposed to come into close contact with an inner circumferential surface of the waste golf ball 20, to be connected with the magnetic electrode unit 60 via a coil 71, and to emit light by using power generated by the magnetic electrode unit 60.
In the power-generating and rotating road marker according to the present invention, the magnetic electrode unit 60 includes: a support shaft 61 configured such that it is coupled to the center portion of the seating depression 33 of the body part 30 in a vertical direction and the coil 71 connected to the light emission unit 70 is wound thereon; a magnetic bearing 62 disposed on the support shaft 61; and a plurality of electrode plates 63 formed in arcuate shapes and spaced apart from the magnetic bearing 62; and, as the plurality of electrode plate 63 repeats left and right rotations around the magnetic bearing 62, the light emission unit 70 flickers.
In the power-generating and rotating road marker according to the present invention, the magnetic bearing 62 and the electrode plate 63 have the same polarity.
It is expected that the prevent invention will be widely used in the industry in that in accordance with the power-generating and rotating road marker using a magnet according to the present invention, an effect arises in that the magnet is inserted into the waste golf ball and light is emitted using power generated via the magnet, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify a road even at night, thereby enabling the vehicle driver to perform safe driving. In particular, it is expected that the prevent invention will be widely used in the industry in that an effect arises in that the magnetic electrode unit is disposed in the waste golf ball, power generated by the magnetic electrode unit is supplied to the light emission unit, and the light emission unit is allowed to flicker, so that a vehicle driver can easily identify the flickering light emission unit and thus perform safe driving even at night, thereby preventing a traffic accident from occurring.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2017-0110835 | Aug 2017 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2018/008032 | 7/16/2018 | WO | 00 |
