JP7630178B2 - Navigational aids - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Zeni Lite-V Co., Ltd. published the present invention in its company catalog on March 31, 2022.

The present invention relates to a navigational beacon lamp.

Conventionally, gas lamps, light bulbs, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been used as light sources in navigational aids. In particular, navigational aids that use small, low-power LED light sources have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1-4).

These navigational aids are equipped with LED light sources that are smaller in size and consume less power than gas lamps or light bulbs, and are fitted with covers equipped with Fresnel lenses that focus the light direction (optical axis), improving visibility from a distance by aligning the viewer's eye height with the light direction at approximately the same height.

In particular, Patent Document 4 is a prior art document that uses a reflector, but according to a vertical cross-sectional view, it discloses one that is tilted approximately 15 degrees up and down with respect to the direction of irradiation of the light-emitting diode.

Special Publication No. 7-77081 JP-A-6-44808 (Patent No. 2668181) JP 2001-135102 A JP 2007-313946 A

In addition to the Fresnel lens that focuses the light irradiation direction (optical axis), the LED light source itself has a high degree of linearity of light. Therefore, when used in a light buoy installed on the water surface, which is a type of navigational marker, the deviation between the eye height of the viewer and the irradiation direction becomes large when a ship approaches very close to the navigational marker. Furthermore, the luminaire may tilt due to the rolling of the sea surface, which may further increase the deviation from the irradiation direction. This reduces the viewer's ability to see the position of the navigational marker (visibility) and whether the navigational marker luminaire itself is emitting light (conspicuity), making it difficult to determine the position of the navigational marker, and there was even concern that the navigational marker would be lost when approaching.

The present invention therefore aims to provide a navigational light that can improve visibility and conspicuousness, and is particularly intended to provide a navigational light that is easy to distinguish even when a ship is approaching the navigational light and the viewer's line of sight is above the navigational light, or when the light is tilted due to sea surface rolling.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a navigational aid lamp that includes an LED light source arranged on a cylindrical base, a reflector, and a hood,
The LED light sources are arranged along a single row along a circumference below a horizontal direction, which is an irradiation direction of the LED light sources on a base, in a vertical direction ;
The reflector is arranged so as to be inclined at a high angle in the range of 68 degrees to 82 degrees from a horizontal direction from a base end located above the base body , which is in a direction opposite to the downward direction with respect to the LED light source, to a tip end of the reflector that reaches the hood;
The hood is formed with a horizontal irradiation portion including a curved lens on a horizontal extension line of the LED light source and upper and lower bent portions of the curved lens,
A navigational light, characterized in that the vertical length of the reflector is longer than the vertical length of the horizontal illumination portion.

In addition to the above-mentioned configuration, the hood has an upward illumination portion which is on a horizontal extension of the reflector and has a surface which is slightly bent upward from the horizontal illumination portion of the hood toward the upper side of the base in the opposite direction to the downward direction of the LED light source.

According to the present invention, as described in claim 1, even if there is a discrepancy between the height from the navigational aid lamp and the viewer's eye height as the ship approaches, the reflector widens the divergence angle, making the navigational aid lamp visible.

In addition, by providing a reflector with a tolerance of 75 degrees ±7 degrees, even if the viewer's eye height differs from the horizontal by 700 mm or 900 mm, the light is projected upwards so that the viewer will not lose sight of the lamp when approaching it. Furthermore, even if the sea surface is rolling, the desired effect is exerted, making it possible to improve the visibility and attention of the lamp.

In addition, the reflector is formed so that the portion irradiated horizontally from the LED light source is also long in the vertical direction, and the divergent light from the LED light source is reflected over a wide area and irradiated upward. This prevents the viewer from losing sight of the lamp when approaching it, and even if the sea surface is rolling, it exerts a predetermined effect, making it possible to improve the visibility and attention of the lamp.

According to the invention of claim 2 , by having an upward illumination part that is bent finely upward in a position facing a reflector that has a predetermined height and reflects divergent light over a wide range at a high angle, it is possible to illuminate the divergent light further upward. This prevents the viewer from losing sight of the lamp when approaching it, and by exerting a predetermined effect even when the sea surface is rolling, it is possible to improve the visibility and attention of the lamp.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of a navigational beacon lamp of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing a trajectory of reflected light from an LED light source. 1 is a measurement graph of Experiment 1. 13 is a measurement graph of Experiment 2.

(Embodiment)
An example of a navigational aid lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1. The navigational aid in this embodiment is a buoy that is set floating on the sea and a light buoy with a navigational aid lamp 1 attached to the top of the buoy. The navigational aid lamp 1 shown in the embodiment is a simple beacon (a simple lighthouse, light beacon, or light buoy with a luminous intensity of less than 15 candelas or a vertical projection area of less than 2 square meters) that is not subject to the "Navigational Aids Act". The navigational aid lamp 1 is installed as a marker around marine facilities such as fish pens, fixed nets, aquaculture rafts, and temporary piers and is used by ships that navigate. Solar panels, batteries, etc. (not shown) are used to supply power to the LED light sources 2, 2, and colored colors are used for the LED light sources 2, 2.

As shown in Figure 1, the navigational light 1 has multiple LED light sources 2, 2 arranged in a single row on a horizontal circumference at the lower part of a cylindrical base 10, and a stainless steel reflector 3 inclined at a high angle so that it widens from the horizontal circumference toward the upper part. The LED light sources 2, 2 have a cylindrical shape with a hemispherical top of the package, and are molded entirely from soft resin, with a limited divergence angle from the LED light sources 2, 2, allowing the emitted light rays to reach farther positions. The LED light sources 2, 2 are arranged in the lower third of the vertical height of the base 10.

A spacer 5 is attached below the cylindrical base 10, extending further upward from the mount 4. A hood 6 is used, which is a colorless and transparent Fresnel lens using a curved lens 6a and bent portions 6b, 6b. The hood 6 is attached like a cover that covers the reflector 3, LED light sources 2, 2, and spacer 5 attached to the base 10. When covering the hood 6, it is fastened with an O-ring 7 and bolts 8 on the top surface of the mount 4, and the storage space of the hood 6 is sealed by applying and bonding an oil compound to the contact surfaces of the bottom surface of the hood 6 and the top surface of the mount 4. This makes it possible to prevent salt damage when the navigational beacon lamp 1 is placed on the sea.

The hood 6 has a curved lens 6a arranged on the horizontal extension of the LED light sources 2, 2, and large bent parts (upper bent part 6b, lower bent part 6b) are formed above and below the lens body 6a for bending in the horizontal direction. The part consisting of the curved lens 6a and the upper and lower bent parts 6b, 6b is the horizontal irradiation part 6c. When passing through the horizontal irradiation part 6c, the curved lens 6a and the upper and lower bent parts 6b, 6b perform irradiation in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, above the upper bent part 6b, multiple fine bends are formed to form the upper irradiation part 6d that irradiates upward (see Figure 2). In this explanation, horizontal irradiation does not refer to only the horizontal direction, but refers to a certain range oriented approximately horizontally to irradiate in the distance.

The reflector 3 is disposed singly above the LED light sources 2, 2, and is disposed so as to be inclined at a high angle with respect to the horizontal direction of the LED light sources 2, 2. In other words, the base end of the reflector 3 reaches a position corresponding to the upper bent portion 6b in the horizontal direction, and the upper end is extended up to the upper portion of the hood 6. The vertical length h1 of the reflector 3 is longer than the height h2 of the horizontal irradiation portion 6c which is the combination of the curved lens 6a of the hood 6 and the upper and lower bent portions 6b, 6b. The inclination of the reflector 3 is preferably a high angle of 60 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees, and is preferably 68 degrees to 82 degrees taking into account the tolerance of ±7 degrees that allows for an error of 75 degrees, and is most preferably 75 degrees. Note that the reflector 3 in this embodiment uses a stainless steel reflector, but may be made of other materials such as aluminum.

The illumination of the navigational beacon lamp 1 of this embodiment will be described. Illumination from the LED light sources 2, 2 is directed primarily horizontally, and is directed horizontally by the curved lens 6a of the hood 6 and the upper and lower bent portions 6b, 6b.

Next, we will explain how the divergent light from the LED light sources 2, 2 allows the viewer to see the navigational light 1 even when the light 1 is lower than the viewer's line of sight and the viewer is near the navigational light 1, or when the sea surface is shaking and the navigational light 1 is significantly tilted. As shown in Figure 2, the divergent light (shown by solid lines in Figure 2) near the optical axis (horizontal irradiation direction) from the LED light sources 2, 2 and the divergent light (shown by solid lines in Figure 2) in the vertical direction irradiated from the side of the LED light sources 2, 2 are diverged through the hood 6. At this time, the reflected light (shown by dashed lines in Figure 2) reflected by the reflector 3 overlaps with the divergent light near the optical axis, allowing the LED light sources 2, 2 to extend their light reach.

In addition, by using a Fresnel lens with an upward illumination section 6d above the horizontal illumination section 6c in the hood 6, the divergent light transmitted from the LED light sources 2, 2 to the upward illumination section 6d is diverged in an upward direction, making the light source appear larger.

Next, the experimental results of the visibility and conspicuousness of the navigational marking lamp 1 will be explained. In the experiment, the visibility and conspicuousness were measured when the navigational marking lamp 1 was moved in the downward direction D in Figure 1, assuming that the viewer approaches and the navigational marking lamp 1 is positioned below the viewer's line of sight (Experiment 1). In addition, the visibility and conspicuousness were measured when the navigational marking lamp 1 was tilted in the direction of the arrow R in Figure 1, assuming that the navigational marking lamp 1 is tilted at a specified angle due to rolling of the sea surface (Experiment 2).

In experiments 1 and 2, the angle θ (see Figure 2) of the reflector 3 inclined from the horizontal direction at the base end on the LED light source 2, 2 side was changed to 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, 75 degrees, and 90 degrees. The luminous intensity was measured at a horizontal distance of 1 m from the LED light source 2, 2.

Here, eye-catchingness refers to the degree to which an object attracts a person's attention, and the larger the size of the object (light source) and the higher the luminosity of the object, the greater the eye-catchingness. Also, the more highly saturated the saturation of the object is compared to the saturation of the non-object, the greater the eye-catchingness. In the present invention, the LED light sources 2, 2 are colored.

The results of experiment 1, which measured the visibility and attention when the navigational marker lamp 1 was moved downward in the D direction, are shown in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, there was no significant difference when the height from the optical axis indicating horizontal irradiation was 200 mm or 300 mm, but it was found that when the height was higher than 400 mm, a reflector with an angle of 30 degrees or more exhibited visibility and attention. Furthermore, when the height from the light source was 700 mm or more, reflectors with angles of 60 degrees and 75 degrees were used, it was found that higher visibility and attention were obtained compared to other reflectors, and when the height was 900 mm or more, a 75-degree reflector had more than twice the luminous intensity of reflectors with other angles, and when the reflector was at 90 degrees, it was found that it was no different from a 30-degree reflector.

Next, the results of experiment 2, which measured the visibility and conspicuousness of the navigational beacon lamp 1 when it was tilted in the direction of the arrow R, are explained in Figure 4. As Figure 4 shows, when the navigational beacon lamp 1 was tilted up to 30 degrees, the results were confusing, possibly because it was aligned with the optical axis, but when it was tilted at 40 degrees or more, the difference in luminous intensity due to the angle of the reflector became clearly apparent. When the navigational beacon lamp 1 was tilted at 40 degrees or more, high visibility and conspicuousness were observed when a reflector of 45 degrees or more was used. Furthermore, when the navigational beacon lamp 1 was tilted at a high angle of 70 degrees or more, it was revealed that high visibility and conspicuousness were obtained when a reflector of 60 degrees or 75 degrees was used.

As described above, the configuration allows a viewer to see the navigational marker lamp 1 from a distance (improved visibility), and also allows a viewer to see the light source of the navigational marker lamp 1 even when approaching the navigational marker lamp 1 (improved conspicuousness).

The above embodiment illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The angle θ of the reflector 3 is preferably greater than or equal to 60 degrees and less than 90 degrees, more preferably 75 degrees, and preferably ±7 degrees including tolerance.

1...navigational aid lamp, 2...LED light source, 3...reflector, 4...mount, 5...spacer, 6...hood, 6a...curved lens, 6b...bending portion, 6c...horizontal illumination portion, 6d...upward illumination portion, 7...O-ring, 8...bolt, 10...base.

Claims (2)

The lamp comprises an LED light source arranged on a cylindrical base, a reflector, and a hood,
The LED light sources are arranged along a single row along a circumference in a direction perpendicular to a horizontal direction, which is an irradiation direction of the LED light sources on the base ,
The reflector is arranged so as to be inclined at a high angle in the range of 68 degrees to 82 degrees from a horizontal direction from a base end located above the base body , which is in a direction opposite to the downward direction with respect to the LED light source, to a tip end of the reflector that reaches the hood;
The hood is formed with a horizontal irradiation portion including a curved lens on a horizontal extension line of the LED light source and upper and lower bent portions of the curved lens,
A navigational light, characterized in that the vertical length of the reflector is longer than the vertical length of the horizontal illumination portion. 2. The navigational light according to claim 1, wherein the hood has an upward illumination portion which is on a horizontal extension of the reflector and has a surface which is slightly bent upward from the horizontal illumination portion of the hood toward the upper side of the base in the opposite direction to the downward direction of the LED light source.

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