The invention relates to a road-marking system comprising:
The invention also relates to a road-marking unit and a road-marking complex.
Such a road-marking system is known from WO-01/92641 (PHNL000516). The road-marking system is used in traffic-control systems for marking traffic routes for vehicles, such as roads for cars and other road users, and runways for aircraft. One of the methods used by traffic planners in their attempts to reduce traffic jams is a so-called “tidal flow system”. In such a dynamic system, the direction of the traffic of multi-lane roads is changed for one or more lanes in accordance with the direction of the main flow of traffic. In an alternative embodiment, the number of lanes available to traffic moving in a specific direction is increased or reduced, dependent upon the amount of traffic. A problem with these methods resides in indicating in a flexible manner the direction of the desired flow of traffic for a specific lane, or in changing the arrangement of the traffic route in a flexible manner. Known means for indicating the desirable direction of the flow of traffic include signaling lights alongside or above the traffic route.
Said road-marking systems cannot only be used as dynamic road-marking systems, but can also be used for static applications. Static applications of road-marking systems include marking parts of traffic routes (for example, straight parts or curves) so as to give guidance to the direction of the traffic in given weather conditions, for example, fog, rain, black ice, etc. and/or in given light conditions, such as daylight, twilight, a low position of the sun, night, etc.
Road-marking systems can be provided alongside and/or above the traffic route, for example, on a crash barrier at the side of the traffic route. Road marking systems can also be provided in a road surface of the traffic route by making cavities therein in which the known systems are to be accommodated/inserted. The known road-marking systems have the disadvantage that the unit, because of its saw-cut adapted shape, i.e. a circular segment cylindrical bottom part so as to be suitable to be accommodated in a saw-cut cavity in the road surface, is liable to turn when the unit is subjected to inhomogeneously distributed forces exerted thereon. Another disadvantage is that upon removal and/or insertion of a unit in the system, the operation of a relatively large number of units of the system is interrupted as the interconnection of the units extends through each respective unit.
It is an object of the invention to provide a road-marking system of the type described in the opening paragraph in which these disadvantages are counteracted.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that each unit is provided at lateral ends of its emission surface, with respective stabilizers essentially extending alongside the plane P and/or the circular-segment bottom part is partly truncated as to form a flat surface and/or characterized in that the front an back surfaces are provided with spacers. Thus the respective unit is counteracted from turning around an axis A normal to the plane P and/or counteracted from tilting around an axis laying in plane P or by the addition of the stabilizers or the flat surface, the circular segment of the outer contour of the luminaire has been removed. The unit, when accommodated on the cavity, bears with its stabilizers and/or with its flat surface on the bottom wall of the cavity. The road-marking system of the invention is composed of separate units which may be electrically interconnected via grooves which extend perpendicularly to the plane P. The independent units do not form a large integral one-part array of units embedded in the road surface. Therefore, requirements with respect to skid resistance imposed on these units are relatively mild, since suitable contact between wheels of vehicles and the road surface is determined mainly by the road surface itself and only to a small degree by these units. The road-marking system of the invention has another advantage in that it is safer to road users when it is out of operation, as it does not form a continuous line/stripe in the road surface which, in given circumstances, might be mistaken for permanent “non-dynamic” road markings. The relatively small and shallow continuous groove of the saw-cut, which is made for the electrical/optical cables that electrically interconnect the units, does not lead to such confusion. As these stabilizers can be accommodated in the grooves already present for the electrical/optical cables, separate cavities in the road surface for accommodating the stabilizers are not necessary. The units thus connected to each other via electrical/optical cables in the grooves preferably have stabilizers of a shape adapted to cross-sections of the grooves. It is thus realized that the interconnection of the units passes alongside each unit instead of passing right though them, thus enabling insertion/removal of a unit without interrupting the functioning of the system. Preferably, the stabilizer has a reference surface facing away from the emission surface, which reference surface corresponds to a bottom surface of the groove. The unit can thus be positioned in a road via a simple drop-and-place method. Because of the shape of the unit, the emission surface of the unit protrudes only slightly, for example 2-4 mm, from the surface of the road provided with the recess in which the unit is accommodated. The stabilizers reduce the risk of turning of the unit with respect to the road surface due to forces exerted on the unit by the wheels of vehicles. The risk of the unit protruding too far from the road surface due to turning of the unit is thus counteracted. The risk of emission of light in undesired directions, possibly with subsequent distortion of an imaginary light line, is counteracted as well. In the description of the current invention, a “light source” is defined as a sub-unit which emits (visible) light, the origin of said light not necessarily being situated at the location of the light source. For example, light emitted by the light source may also be generated at a remote location and be transferred, for example, by means of light guides, such as optical fibers, from a so-called light generator to the light source. The term “light source” generally does not refer to light generated by reflection of light, in particular light emitted by a vehicle which is reflected at the location of the “light source”. Furthermore, in this description, light beams exhibiting a “uniform overlap” are to be understood to mean light beams which cannot be distinguished by the human eye.
Each unit of the road-marking system is to be accommodated in a cavity provided in a road surface. The cavity, for example, in a road made of asphalt or concrete or ZOAB, i.e. “Zeer Open Asfalt Beton” (in English: “very open asphalt concrete”), has smooth walls of a relatively high mechanical strength. The unit and the cavity are adapted to each other in respect of shape, the known unit having a narrow fit in the cavity. It appeared though, that a perfect fit is very difficult to obtain, so that the unit is liable to tilt around an axis lying in plane P. To counteract such tilting an embodiment of the road-marking system is characterized in that the front and back surfaces are provided with spacers. The spacers are helpful in creating a slit between the front/back surfaces and the walls of the cavity. Said slits subsequently have to be filled with cement, enabling the unit accommodated in the cavity to bear against the walls of the cavity by way of practically its complete front/back surfaces and via the cement. The unit is thus kept in position and tilting is counteracted.
In an embodiment of the road-marking system at least one stabilizer comprises at least one recess, extending at least substantially parallel to the normal to the plane P, for accommodating electrical/optical cables. Each unit is connected, via electrical and possibly also optical cables, to a central control server. Consequently, each unit has to be fed with signals/energy from said server so as to operate adequately. Thereto, electrical/optical cables have to enter the unit from the grooves in which the cables are embedded; this can easily be achieved by providing said recesses in said stabilizers. As the cables often are forced to make sharp bends upon entering the unit, the recess in the stabilizer preferably has rounded edges/corners so as to counteract damaging of the cables at said sharp bends.
To further counteract damaging of the cables, in an embodiment of the road-marking system the recess is closed by a lid comprising a mechanical (pull) strain relief, e.g. by holding the cables with a clamping force.
In another road-marking system comprising at least a first and a second road-marking unit, each having an emission surface, the first unit comprising a first light source, and the second unit comprising a second light source, wherein each unit has at least one light channel with an opening at the emission surface, for enabling light from the light source to emerge from the emission surface, is characterized in that each light channel is provided with a light guide component which fits with a capillary spacing in the light channel. The capillary spacing enables relatively simple fixing of the component inside the light channel, for example, via gluing. To this end, glue is applied via an injection channel extending essentially transversely of the light channel. Due to capillary forces, the glue flows around the component and hence fills the capillary. There is no tendency of the glue to flow beyond the capillary. However, to counteract the risk of the glue flowing in the path of the light-wave, the road-marking system is also characterized in that a closing strip is provided at an internal end of the light channel within the unit in order to form an airtight connection between the light channel and the light source. Both the glue-filled capillary and the closing strip act as a barrier so that water and/or moisture cannot come into contact with electrical current-carrying parts inside the unit and subsequently cause short-circuiting. Thus, a more reliable unit is obtained.
Preferably, the component essentially consists of a material chosen from the group consisting of glass, hardened glass and sapphire. The component optionally might be provided with a scratch resistant coating. Said materials/coating are less liable to be damaged. Damaging of the component is thus counteracted, (e.g. scratching), so that it will not cause glare due to light scattered into undesired directions.
To (further) protect the light sources/light-guide component, the road-marking system is characterized in that the emission surface is provided with sloped guiding surfaces in the vicinity of the openings, said guiding surfaces extending transversely of the plane P. Thus, vehicles driving across the road-marking system will not have to overcome a sudden step in height due to the unit protruding from the road surface. Because the step in height is bridged gradually, it is also achieved that vehicles driving across said unit produce less noise.
To counteract collection of dirt in front of the opening, the road-marking system is characterized in that the emission surface has a slope in between the guiding surfaces in front of the openings, the slope extending away from the guiding surfaces in the direction away from the openings.
In a preferred embodiment of the road-marking system light beams emanate from the first and the second light source at an angle β of 1 to 35° relative to the road surface, thus enabling a viewer who is relatively far away from the unit, i.e. more than 40 m, to see the light. The light has a beam width angle of about 45°, enabling a viewer who is relatively close to the unit, i.e. about 5 m, to see the light at an angle α of at least 45° relative to the road surface. It is thus achieved that a road user, for example, a motorist or a truck driver who, from his vehicle, looks ahead at the traffic on the road and the markings in the road surface, sees at a distance equal to or larger than 40 m, that the light beams emanating from the first light source in the first road-marking unit and from the second light source in the second road-marking unit exhibit a uniform overlap. Light originating from the first and the second light source at an angle α of 0.1 to 8° relative to the road surface is perceived as an imaginary “white” line in said circumstances. A suitable arrangement of openings, acting as a single light source, is a one-dimensional array of four openings per unit. Said four openings, where from light is emitted and which extend transversely of the viewing direction of the road user, are so closely spaced that the human eye cannot distinguish these four openings at a distance equal to or larger than 40 m. Said four openings thus appear as a single light source to the road user. The present invention can be particularly effectively used when the distance a between the road user and the first light source is in the range 40 m<=a<=100 m.
In a favorable embodiment of the road-marking system, an opto-electronic element can be used for the light source. The luminous flux of the opto-electronic element amounts to at least 1 ln, for example 5 lm, during operation. Opto-electronic elements, also referred to as electro-optical elements, such as electro-luminescent elements, for example, a LED, (i.e. a Light Emitting Diode), having a luminous flux which amounts to 5 lm during operation, can very advantageously be used as the light source. The opto-electronic element is preferably mounted in the road-marking unit; however, a combination with an optical fiber is alternatively possible. The luminous flux is relatively high and is necessary to generate enough light also in the presence of ambient light, for example, sunlight or light originating from headlights, so that the light beam can be sufficiently brightly perceived from a distance. LEDs have a relatively long service life, for example, 50,000 hours or more, so that the road-marking system has the advantage that maintenance costs potentially are significantly reduced. Another advantage is that LEDs are electronically dimmable light sources, since electronic dimming is more efficient than mechanical dimming. Optionally, the LED is combined with a collimator for collimating light from the LED and for directing the light through the opening in the emission surface. LEDs do not emit ultraviolet radiation, hence the unit and collimator can be made of synthetic materials, for example, plastic, without an increased risk of degradation due to the emitted light. Plastics involve relatively low system costs and offer increased system design possibilities. As an alternative light source for use in the road-marking system, use can very well be made of a LED with an end portion of an optical fiber. This has the advantage that the light emitted by the light source is generated in a light generator at a distance from the road-marking unit and transferred from the light generator to the light source by means of optical fibers. A further advantage of employing optical light guides is that the use of optical fibers results in a very efficient use of light, implying that there is no, or at least very little, luminous pollution. Luminous pollution is to be understood to mean the loss of light due to the fact that areas are illuminated where illumination is not necessary and/or undesirable. An advantage of the use of optical light guides with respect to the use of opto-electronic elements is that, in the case of optical fibers, no electric voltages and currents have to be fed to the light source via the road surface. This results in increased traffic safety. Furthermore, in the case of traffic accidents and other calamities, the risk of an electric voltage flash-over or a short-circuit, which might cause an explosion, is precluded.
The invention also relates to a road-marking complex which is provided with one or more road-marking systems in accordance with the invention, with a control system for the road-marking systems, and with means for coupling the road-marking systems to the control system. The means for coupling the one or more road-marking systems to the control system may be implemented as a cable for guiding electrical or optical signals. In a further version, the means for coupling are implemented as a wireless connection by means of an emitter/receiver pair, where the emitter sends control signals from the control system to a receiver incorporated in the road-marking complex.
Embodiments of the road-marking system of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of non-limitative examples, with reference to the drawing. Therein:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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02075641.7 | Feb 2002 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IB03/00345 | 1/31/2003 | WO |