JP2008041405A - Guide light device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a guide lamp device which can obtain a stable operation as a guide lamp and which can be reduced in size and weight and reduced in cost.
SOLUTION: A rechargeable battery 6 is used as a power source for lighting a light emitter 4 of a guide light device, and an AC adapter 12 having a charging unit 13 can be connected to the apparatus main body 1, and charging is performed by the charging unit 13. The battery 6 was charged to a full charge, enabling the next use. Further, as the rechargeable battery 6 to be incorporated, a lithium ion secondary battery that can be rapidly charged with a current of 10 C or more is used.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a guide light device for safely guiding the passage of an automobile or a person.

  Conventionally, in construction sites and the like, especially at night when the surroundings are dark, a guide light device for safely guiding the passage of cars and humans has been used.

Patent Document 1 shows an example of such a guide light device. A rechargeable battery is used as a power source of a light source composed of a plurality of light emitting diodes, and power is supplied to the light source by the rechargeable battery. .
Utility Model Registration No. 3064865 JP-A-6-342893 JP-A-2005-123183

  However, when a rechargeable battery is used as a power source, the remaining battery level becomes a problem. If the light source continues to be lit when the remaining battery level is low, the brightness of the light source will decrease, leading to safety. It may be difficult to work stably.

  For this reason, it is desirable to immediately charge the rechargeable battery until the battery is fully charged if the remaining battery level is reduced to a predetermined value. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration that enables charging of the rechargeable battery. .

  However, the rechargeable battery is, for example, a nickel hydride storage battery that is generally used, and requires a charging time of about 12 hours for normal charging and 2 to 3 hours for quick charging. For this reason, the guide light device using such a rechargeable battery becomes unusable during this time. For this reason, it is conceivable to prepare a plurality of guide light devices of the same type and use them in order. However, this increases the cost and is not practical.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to install a rechargeable battery having a large capacity so that the guide light device can be used continuously for a long time. However, since such a large-capacity rechargeable battery is itself large, if such a rechargeable battery is incorporated in the apparatus, the apparatus main body becomes large and heavy, and the usability is extremely poor. It becomes a thing.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228667 discloses a power supply that uses a power capacitor as a power source and that can be charged in a relatively short time.

  However, when a power capacitor is used as the power source, the power capacitor discharges in a short time, so that the brightness of the light source is not stable, and it is difficult to stably perform the guidance work giving priority to safety.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a guide light device that can obtain a stable operation as a guide light and that can be reduced in size and weight and reduced in cost.

  The invention according to claim 1 is provided in the apparatus main body, a rechargeable battery that can be rapidly charged with a current of 10 C or more provided in the apparatus main body, a light emitter provided in the apparatus main body, and the apparatus main body. And a control means for controlling lighting of the light emitter using the rechargeable battery as a power source.

  The invention according to claim 2 further comprises charging means in the invention according to claim 1, and the charging means is electrically connectable to the apparatus main body and charges the rechargeable battery in the connected state. It has a charging part.

  A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the invention, the apparatus main body includes a remaining battery amount display means for displaying a remaining battery amount of the rechargeable battery.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the monitoring according to claim 1, further comprising detecting at least one of overcharge, overdischarge and overcurrent of the rechargeable battery and stopping charging or discharging of the rechargeable battery. It has a protective means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the stable operation | movement as a guide light is obtained, and also the guide light apparatus which can aim at size reduction and weight reduction can be provided.

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

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a guide lamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an apparatus main body, and this apparatus main body 1 has a cylindrical shape. In this case, the apparatus main body 1 has a thickness that is easy for an operator to hold by hand.

  The apparatus main body 1 is provided with a light emitting unit 3 via a connecting member 2. The connecting member 2 has a cylindrical shape, and one end is fixed to the end of the apparatus main body 1 by, for example, screwing. Moreover, the edge part of the light emission part 3 is being fixed to the other edge part of the connection member 2 by screwing etc., for example. The light emitting unit 3 has a light emitter 4 provided therein. In this case, the light emitter 4 is a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) light emitting diodes 4a to 4d arranged in a line. In addition, the four light emitting diodes 4a to 4d in the illustrated example are an example, and in actuality, a number that can obtain a sufficient amount of light as a guide light is used.

  The apparatus main body 1 is provided with a battery housing 5. The battery storage unit 5 stores a rechargeable battery 6. The battery storage unit 5 is provided with a lid (not shown), and the lid allows the opening of the battery storage unit 5 to be opened and closed.

  Here, the rechargeable battery 6 is a lithium ion secondary battery capable of rapid charging. A lithium ion secondary battery includes a container made of an exterior member made of an aluminum laminate film, a non-aqueous electrolyte housed in the container, and a lithium cobalt oxide on a positive electrode current collector made of aluminum foil housed in the container. A positive electrode carrying a positive electrode layer as a positive electrode active substance, and a negative electrode current collector made of aluminum foil and housed in the container include lithium titanate having a particle size distribution of 1 μm or less as negative electrode active material particles And a negative electrode carrying a negative electrode layer.

  Here, the lithium ion secondary battery will be described in more detail. Such a lithium ion secondary battery includes a negative electrode containing lithium titanium oxide as an active material. As disclosed in Patent Document 3, lithium titanium oxide as an active material is a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium, and insertion / extraction of lithium ions is performed in the vicinity of 1.4 V to 1.7 V / Li. . For this reason, even if the secondary battery is rapidly charged with a large current, it is possible to ensure safety without causing lithium deposition compared to the case where a carbon material is used as a conventional negative electrode active material. In addition, since expansion and contraction associated with insertion and extraction of lithium can be suppressed, structural destruction of the negative electrode active material can be suppressed even when rapid charging with 20 C current is repeatedly performed. As a result, a long life can be maintained even when charging and discharging are repeated. Since the potential of the battery is about 2.4 V, it corresponds to two conventional nickel-metal hydride storage batteries or nickel cadmium storage batteries in series, so that a reduction in use of 50% can be achieved.

  Specifically, it was confirmed that the lithium ion secondary battery assembled by the following method is a fast charge secondary battery that can be charged to about 80% battery capacity by charging at 20 C for 3 minutes. ing. Here, “C” is a unit representing a charge / discharge rate, and a rate that can be calculated in one hour when a constant current charge from full discharge to full charge (or from full charge to full discharge) is calculated is expressed as 1C. In the case of 1/10 hour, it is expressed as 10C. Therefore, for example, 20C charging requires 20 times as much current as 1C charging.

<Production of negative electrode>
As an active material, lithium titanate (Li ₄ Ti ₅ O ₁₂ ) powder having an average particle diameter of 5 μm and an Li storage potential of 1.55 V (vs. Li / Li ⁺ ), and carbon having an average particle diameter of 0.4 μm as a conductive agent. The powder and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) as a binder were blended in a weight ratio of 90: 7: 3, and these were dispersed in an n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) solvent to prepare a slurry.

  In addition, the laser diffraction type particle size distribution measuring apparatus (Shimadzu Corporation model number SALD-300) was used for the measurement of the particle diameter of an active material. First, about 0.1 g of a sample was put in a beaker or the like, and then a surfactant and 1 to 2 mL of distilled water were added and stirred sufficiently, and poured into a stirred water tank. The light intensity distribution was measured 64 times at intervals of 2 seconds, the particle size distribution data was analyzed, and the particle size (D50) having a cumulative frequency distribution of 50% was defined as the average particle size.

Next, an aluminum foil (purity: 99.99%) having a thickness of 10 μm was applied to the negative electrode current collector, dried, and then pressed to prepare a negative electrode having an electrode density of 2.4 g / cm ³ .

<Preparation of positive electrode>
Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO ₂ ) as an active material, graphite powder as a conductive material, and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) as a binder are blended in a weight ratio of 87: 8: 5. -A slurry was prepared by dispersing in a methylpyrrolidone (NMP) solvent. The slurry was applied to an aluminum foil (purity 99.99%) having a thickness of 15 μm, dried, and pressed to prepare a positive electrode having an electrode density of 3.5 g / cm ³ .

<Assembly of secondary battery>
An aluminum-containing laminate film having a thickness of 0.1 mm was prepared as a forming material for the container (exterior member). The aluminum layer of this aluminum-containing laminate film had a thickness of about 0.03 mm. Polypropylene was used as the resin for reinforcing the aluminum layer. By laminating this laminate film by thermal fusion, a container (exterior member) was obtained and further contained in a metal aluminum container.

  Next, a positive electrode terminal was electrically connected to the positive electrode, and a negative electrode terminal was electrically connected to the negative electrode. A separator made of a polyethylene porous film having a thickness of 12 μm was coated in close contact with the positive electrode. The positive electrode covered with the separator was overlapped with the negative electrode so as to face each other, and these were wound in a spiral shape to produce an electrode group. This electrode group was pressed into a flat shape. An electrode group formed into a flat shape was inserted into a container (exterior member).

LiBF ₄ , which is a lithium salt, is dissolved in an organic solvent in which ethylene carbonate (EC) and γ-butyllactone (GBL) are mixed at a volume ratio (EC: GBL) of 1: 2 to obtain a liquid. A non-aqueous electrolyte was prepared. The obtained nonaqueous electrolyte was poured into the container to assemble a lithium secondary battery. Such a lithium secondary battery can be used at a full charge voltage of 2.8 V and a discharge end voltage of 1.5 V.

  In this embodiment, a lithium ion secondary battery that can be rapidly charged with a current of 10 C or more is used as the rechargeable battery 6. Of course, such a rechargeable battery 6 can be charged to about 80% battery capacity by charging at 20 C described above for 3 minutes.

  A switch 7 is disposed on the side surface of the apparatus main body 1. For example, a slide switch that can be slid in a plurality of stages is used as the switch 7, and the power of the rechargeable battery 6 is supplied to the light emitter 4 by the first slide operation. The amount of light (brightness) can be varied. Details will be described later. Of course, the switch 7 may be provided with a power switch for supplying the power of the rechargeable battery 6 to the light emitter 4 and a switch for adjusting the brightness of the light emitter 4 separately. In addition, the continuous lighting and blinking of the light emitter 4 may be switched by a slide operation of the switch 7.

  On the side surface of the connecting member 2, a battery remaining amount display portion 8 is disposed. The battery remaining amount display unit 8 displays the discharge state of the rechargeable battery 6 and lights up the light emitter when the remaining amount of the battery is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and blinks when the remaining battery level falls below the predetermined value. For example, an LED is used as the light emitter. In this case, for example, a blue LED may be turned on when the remaining charge amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and a red LED may be turned on when the remaining battery amount falls below a predetermined value.

  At the end portion of the apparatus main body 1, a charging terminal portion 9 constituting a connecting means is provided. The charging terminal portion 9 can be connected to a charging terminal portion 16 of an AC adapter 12 described later, and enables charging of the rechargeable battery 6. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2A, the charging terminal portion 9 is formed with a hole 9a along the central axis of the device main body 1 on the end surface of the device main body 1, and the device main body 1 on the side surface of the hole 9a. Electrodes 10a and 10b are separately provided along the central axis at positions facing each other across the central axis. These electrodes 10 a and 10 b constitute a positive electrode, for example, and are electrically connected to the positive electrode terminal of the rechargeable battery 6. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the charging terminal portion 9 is provided with an electrode 10 c at the center position of the hole portion 9 a along the central axis of the apparatus main body 1. The electrode 10 c constitutes, for example, a negative electrode and is electrically connected to the negative electrode terminal of the rechargeable battery 6. A plug 11 is provided in the hole 9 a of the charging terminal portion 9. The plug 11 is used to block the opening of the hole 9a when the charging terminal portion 9 is not used and to prevent water from entering the charging terminal portion 9 from the outside. The plug 11 is of a fitting type or a screwing type for the opening of the hole 9a.

  An AC adapter 12 as shown in FIG. 3A can be connected as a charging means to the guide light device configured as described above. The AC adapter 12 includes a charging unit 13 and an AC / DC converter 14 as charging means. The charging unit 13 charges the rechargeable battery 6 with DC power output from the AC / DC converter 14. The AC / DC converter 14 converts AC power into DC power, and here generates a DC voltage of about 3 V from a 100 V commercial power supply supplied via the power plug 15.

  A charging terminal portion 16 corresponding to the charging terminal portion 9 of the apparatus main body 1 is connected to the AC adapter 12 as shown in FIG. The charging terminal portion 16 has a cylindrical terminal body 16a made of an insulating material, the positive electrode 17a is disposed along the outer peripheral surface of the terminal main body 16a, and the inner peripheral surface of the terminal main body 16a. A cylindrical negative electrode 17b is arranged. The positive electrode 17a and the negative electrode 17b are connected to a positive / negative output terminal (not shown) of the charging unit 13.

  And such a charging terminal part 16 inserts the terminal main body 16a in the hole 9a of the said charging terminal part 9, inserts the positive side electrode 17a between the electrodes 10a (10b) of the positive electrode side of the charging terminal part 9, At the same time, by inserting the electrode 10c on the negative electrode side of the charging terminal portion 9 into the hollow portion of the negative electrode 17b, the charging portion 13 is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery 6 of the apparatus body 1.

  FIG. 4 shows a circuit configuration of the guide light device configured as described above. In FIG. 4, the same parts as those in FIGS.

  The rechargeable battery 6 is provided inside the apparatus main body 1. This rechargeable battery 6 has the characteristics described above.

  The rechargeable battery 6 is connected to the electrodes 10 a (10 b) and 10 c of the charging terminal portion 9, and a control unit 18 is connected via the switch 7. The switch 7 is composed of a slide switch as described above, and includes a switch unit 701 that is turned on by the first slide operation and a plurality of switch units 702 and 703 that are turned on by the subsequent slide operation. Yes. Then, when the switch unit 701 is turned on, the power of the rechargeable battery 6 is supplied to the light emitter 4 via the control unit 18, and when the switch units 702 and 703 are turned on, the light amount of the light emitter 4 is supplied to the control unit 18. Instructs to change (brightness).

  The control unit 18 is connected to the light emitter 4 and the battery remaining amount display unit 8. In addition, the control unit 18 includes a light amount control unit 181 and a battery remaining amount monitoring unit 182. The light quantity control means 181 controls the brightness of the light emitting diodes 4a to 4d constituting the light emitting body 4 in accordance with a light quantity variable command corresponding to the ON operation of the switch units 702 and 703. The battery remaining amount monitoring means 182 monitors the discharge state of the rechargeable battery 6, turns on the light emitter of the battery remaining amount display unit 8 when the remaining charge amount is a predetermined value or more, and the remaining charge amount falls below the predetermined value. Flash the illuminant.

The rechargeable battery 6 is provided with a monitoring protection circuit 20 as monitoring protection means. The monitoring protection circuit 20 monitors the state of the rechargeable battery 6 and stops charging / discharging of the rechargeable battery 6 by driving a switch (not shown) according to the monitoring result. In this case, the monitoring protection circuit 20 monitors overcharge, overdischarge, and overcurrent of the rechargeable battery 6. When the charging voltage of the rechargeable battery 6 is within a predetermined value range, charging / discharging of the rechargeable battery 6 is allowed. When the charging voltage of the rechargeable battery 6 exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined that the battery is overcharged and the switch (not shown) ) Is released to stop the charging of the rechargeable battery 6, and when the charging voltage of the rechargeable battery 6 falls below a predetermined value, it is determined that the battery is overdischarged and the switch (not shown) is opened to open the rechargeable battery 6. Stop the discharge. Further, when the discharge current of the rechargeable battery 6 exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined as an overcurrent, and the switch (not shown) is opened to stop the discharge of the rechargeable battery 6. This prevents the rechargeable battery 6 from being overcharged and generating gas due to the decomposition of the electrolyte, thereby increasing the pressure inside the battery and preventing leakage, and the rechargeable battery 6 is in an overdischarged state. Thus, the copper of the negative electrode current collector is prevented from being dissolved by the electrolytic solution and deteriorating the battery performance. Such a monitoring protection circuit 20 is modularized and used as a unit integrated into the rechargeable battery 6.
Note that the monitoring protection circuit 20 may monitor at least one of overcharge, overdischarge, and overcurrent of the rechargeable battery 6.

  An AC adapter 12 can be connected to the charging terminal portion 9 of the apparatus main body 1. The AC adapter 12 includes the charging unit 13 and the AC / DC converter 14 as described above. The charging unit 13 charges the rechargeable battery 6 until it is fully charged with the DC power output from the AC / DC converter 14. The AC / DC converter 14 converts AC power into DC power, and here generates a DC voltage of about 3 V from a 100 V commercial power supply supplied via the power plug 15.

  The AC adapter 12 is connected to a charging terminal portion 16 corresponding to the charging terminal portion 9 of the apparatus main body 1 shown in FIG. Then, the charging terminal portion 16 is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery 6 by being inserted into the hole portion 9 a of the charging terminal portion 9.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  In this case, the charging terminal portion 16 of the AC adapter 12 is inserted into the hole 9 a of the charging terminal portion 9 of the apparatus main body 1, and the rechargeable battery 6 is charged to full charge by the charging portion 13. The user confirms that the rechargeable battery 6 is fully charged because the light emitter of the battery remaining amount display unit 8 is continuously lit. When it is confirmed that the rechargeable battery 6 is fully charged, the charging terminal portion 16 of the AC adapter 12 is disconnected from the charging terminal portion 9 of the apparatus main body 1.

  In this state, it is carried by an operator at a construction site or the like, and is used as a guide light for safely guiding the passage of a car or a person.

  In this case, when the switch 7 is slid to turn on the switch unit 701, the power of the rechargeable battery 6 is supplied to the light emitter 4 via the control unit 18, and the light emitting diodes 4 a to 4 d constituting the light emitter 4. Lights up. Further, when the switch 7 is further slid to turn on the switch units 702 and 703, the light quantity control means 181 causes the light quantity control means 181 to turn on the light emitting diodes 4a to 4d according to the variable light quantity command according to the on operation of the switch parts 702 and 703. Control the brightness.

  The battery remaining amount monitoring unit 182 monitors the remaining battery amount of the rechargeable battery 6. Then, when the remaining battery level falls below a predetermined value, the light emitter of the remaining battery level display unit 8 blinks. When the user confirms the blinking display of the battery remaining amount display portion 8, the user inserts the charging terminal portion 16 of the AC adapter 12 into the hole portion 9a of the charging terminal portion 9 of the apparatus main body 1 to charge the rechargeable battery 6 to full charge. Prepare for the next use.

  Accordingly, in this case, the rechargeable battery 6 is used as a power source for lighting the light emitter 4, and the AC adapter 12 having the charging unit 13 can be connected to the apparatus main body 1, and charging is performed by the charging unit 13. The battery 6 was charged to a full charge, enabling the next use. The rechargeable battery 6 to be incorporated is also characterized in that a lithium ion secondary battery that can be rapidly charged with a current of 10 C or more is used. As a result, the rechargeable battery 6 can be quickly charged in a short time, and the rechargeable battery 6 can be repeatedly charged simply by connecting the AC adapter 12 to the apparatus main body 1. Therefore, even with at least one guide light device, It can be used stably without interruption for a long time. Since it is not necessary to prepare an unnecessarily large number of guide lamp devices, this can be reduced in cost.

  Since the rechargeable battery 6 can be charged frequently, it is possible to use the rechargeable battery 6 with a small battery capacity, and it is possible to reduce the cost and reduce the size and weight of the entire guide light device. This can be realized by using a rechargeable battery 6 capable of rapid charging.

  The device main body 1 is provided with a battery remaining amount display unit 8 for displaying the discharge state of the rechargeable battery 6, so that the discharge state of the rechargeable battery 6 can be confirmed at a glance while using the guide lamp device. It can be avoided in advance that the remaining battery level of the rechargeable battery 6 becomes zero and becomes unusable. Further, for example, a charging abnormality such as a failure of the AC adapter 12 is confirmed from an abnormality display of the battery remaining amount display unit 8 such that a light emitter of the battery remaining amount display unit 8 continues to flash regardless of a charging state of the rechargeable battery 6. You can also.

  Since the brightness of the light emitting diodes 4a to 4d constituting the light emitter 4 can be varied by the sliding operation of the switch 7, an optimal light amount can be obtained according to the ambient brightness where the guide light is used. In particular, sufficient brightness can be ensured even in an environment where the surrounding field of view is not sufficient due to fog or the like, and traffic of a car or a person can be safely guided.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. For example, the AC adapter 12 may be one that can be connected to a cigarette plug of an automobile via a power cord. In this way, it is possible to easily charge the rechargeable battery 6 to a full charge from an automobile placed at a construction site.

  Furthermore, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and is described in the column of the effect of the invention. If the above effect is obtained, a configuration from which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

The figure which shows schematic structure of the guide light apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows schematic structure of the charge terminal part used for the guide lamp apparatus of one embodiment. The figure which shows schematic structure of the AC adapter used for the guide light apparatus of one Embodiment, and the charge terminal part of this AC adapter. The figure which shows the circuit structure of the guide light apparatus concerning one Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Apparatus main body, 2 ... Connecting member, 3 ... Light emission part 4 ... Light emitter, 4a-4d ... Light emitting diode 5 ... Battery storage part, 6 ... Rechargeable battery 7 ... Switch, 701 ... Switch part 702.703 ... Switch part 8 ... Battery remaining amount display part, 9 ... Charging terminal part 9a ... Hole part, 10a. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10b, 10c ... Electrode 11 ... Plug, 12 ... AC adapter 12a ... Hole part, 13 ... Charging part, 14 ... AC / DC converter 15 ... Power plug, 16 ... Charging terminal part, 16a ... Terminal main body 17a ... Positive side electrode, 17b ... Negative electrode 18 ... Control part, 181 ... Light quantity control means 182 ... Battery remaining amount monitoring means, 20 ... Monitoring protection circuit

Claims (4)

The device body;
A rechargeable battery capable of being rapidly charged with a current of 10 C or more provided in the apparatus body;
A light emitter provided in the apparatus body;
A guide lamp device, comprising: a control unit that is provided in the device main body and controls lighting of the light emitter using the rechargeable battery as a power source. The guide light according to claim 1, further comprising a charging unit, the charging unit including a charging unit that is electrically connectable to the apparatus main body and charges the rechargeable battery in the connected state. apparatus. The guide light device according to claim 1, wherein the device main body includes a remaining battery amount display unit that displays a remaining battery amount of the rechargeable battery. The guide light according to claim 1, further comprising monitoring protection means for detecting at least one of overcharge, overdischarge, and overcurrent of the rechargeable battery and stopping charging or discharging of the rechargeable battery. apparatus.

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