JP3117581U - Sign board and light emitting diode assembly for sign board - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dramatically improve the useful life of a light source member so that there is no possibility of overheating and ignition by improving a light source member attached to the main body portion of a road sign board without requiring modification or modification. The power consumption is greatly reduced (about 1/10) while extending to (three times or more).
A light-emitting diode (LED) and a voltage / current control circuit are housed in an LED holder having a base adapted to a standard light bulb socket, and a space between these members is filled with a waterproof insulating sealing material. To do. The light emitting diode assembly configured in this manner is compatible with a conventional incandescent bulb (not shown). Further, according to the present invention, the current limiting circuit is constituted by a rectifier circuit 9c, a current limiting reactance 9e, and a discharge resistor 9f connected in parallel to the current limiting reactance, and there is a risk of overheating and ignition. Was lost.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a large signboard used for, for example, an expressway, and has been improved to extend the useful life of a light source, to prevent overheating, ignition and fire, and to reduce power consumption. The present invention relates to a light source member.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a sign board for a highway. (A) is a schematic front view of a road traffic information display state, and (B) is not displaying road traffic information. It is a general front external view of a state.
(See FIG. 3 (A)) Reference numeral 1a indicates an invariant character sign that represents the title by drawing with a paint or the like, and reference numeral 1b is a signal lamp.
Reference numeral 1c is a place display mechanism representing a place where information to be transmitted to the driver is generated, and reference numeral 1d is a situation display mechanism representing a road / traffic state in the above place.

If the characters and symbols of the place and situation displayed in the above figure (A) are deleted, the result is as shown in FIG.
That is, the location display mechanism 1c is configured by a lamp array 1e, and the status display mechanism 1d is configured by a lamp array 1f.
In this example, the lamp array 1f is composed of 15 vertical and 13 horizontal light bulbs, and a matrix of 15 × 13 = 195 dots is formed. Characters (or symbols, figures, etc.) are represented by lighting only a specific plurality of light bulbs among these many (195) light bulbs.

FIG. 4A is a partially enlarged view of part a shown in FIG. 3B surrounded by a chain line circle, and FIG. 4B is an extraction of one incandescent light bulb appearing in FIG. It is the figure which attached the socket and electric circuit of this incandescent lamp to the front view drawn in this way.
In order to turn on a specific incandescent light bulb 2 and turn off other incandescent light bulbs, a character / symbol / graphic control circuit 4 is provided and connected to a commercial power supply AC via a power supply circuit 5 to receive power.
However, the incandescent light bulb is a name meaning the type of light source, and does not represent the color tone of light emission.
JP 2004-61950 A JP 2004-55229 A JP 2004-37684 A

The useful life of the incandescent lamp 2 (FIG. 4) used for the signboard of the prior art is relatively short, about one year.
Looking at each of the many incandescent bulbs that make up the display mechanism, the lamps are repeatedly turned on and off, and at the same time the light is dimmed by lowering the voltage. It is difficult to describe.
However, even if only a part of the many incandescent bulbs is disconnected, it is necessary to replace the disconnected bulb.
Such a point is a difficult place of the light bulb for a display compared with the light bulb for an illumination.

The material cost for replacing the bulb is not small, but it is difficult to replace. That is, in the case of a highway sign board, it is necessary to quickly climb the sign supporting iron pole and to attach and detach the light bulb with traffic restrictions.
Moreover, since it is a work at a high place, special consideration is required for occupational safety management, and labor costs are also high. This is especially dangerous when the weather is strong.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, a device has been devised in which a light-emitting diode (LED) having a long service life as compared with an incandescent bulb is used as a light source.
FIG. 5 is a wiring system diagram of a lighting circuit in which n light emitting diodes 7 are arranged in series and connected to the AC power supply 10.
Thus, it was sought to use a light emitting diode as a light source for a road sign board.
However, the lighting circuit of FIG. 5 has an example in which the protective resistor 11 is overheated and ignites, as will be described in detail later. Because the road sign board is damaged by the fire, the amount of damage is very large.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and the purpose of the present invention is to improve the useful life of the light source lamp without modifying the existing signboard and without the risk of overheating and ignition. Is to extend it dramatically. Desirably, it is an improvement on the assumption that the price of the light source lamp is not significantly increased.

The inventors of the present invention have a significantly longer service life of light emitting diodes (LEDs) than incandescent bulbs, and
The light emitting diodes (LEDs) are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but focus on the fact that they consume significantly less power.
However, it has been impossible in the prior art to display characters, symbols, and figures by attaching a light emitting diode (LED) to an existing sign board that is designed to mount an incandescent bulb.
The point of the technical creation of the present inventors is “How can a light emitting diode be attached to a socket for an incandescent bulb so that it can safely (without fear of overheating) display the same display function as an incandescent bulb? ”. This will be described below.

The structure of the device according to claim 1 is a display mechanism 1c, 1d (see FIG. 3) comprising a lamp arrangement in which a large number of light bulb sockets 3 (see FIG. 4B) are arranged, and a character / symbol / graphic control circuit. 4 (see FIG. 4B), a sign board 1 (see FIG. 3),
(See FIG. 2) It is characterized by comprising a combination of a base 2d adapted to the above-mentioned light bulb socket, a light emitting diode (LED) 7, and a light emitting diode assembly provided with a voltage / current control circuit 9. By incorporating the voltage / current control circuit 9 in the diode assembly, overheating and ignition were prevented.
The important thing here is that anyone can come up with the idea of replacing incandescent lamps on road sign boards with light-emitting diodes, and there is no novelty or inventive step.
The present inventors have realized the use of a light emitting diode with a voltage / current control circuit 9 capable of preventing overheating and ignition.

  According to the device of the first aspect described above, the conventional incandescent bulb is removed by using the sign plate according to the prior art without discarding it, and a new light emitting diode assembly is replaced instead. By installing, the function of displaying characters, symbols, and graphics can be demonstrated, and there is no risk of overheating or fire.

  The configuration of the invention according to claim 2 (see FIG. 2) includes a light emitting diode (LED) 7 and a voltage / current control in a cylindrical LED holder 6 having a base 2d adapted to a standard light bulb socket 3. The circuit 9 is housed.

By applying the device of claim 2 described above, it is possible to quickly and easily attach a light emitting diode (LED) light source in place of a broken incandescent light bulb without the need to modify an existing lightning type sign board. .
For this reason, it is possible to exhibit the advantages by using a light-emitting diode that is much more durable than incandescent bulbs while continuing to use an expensive and long-life electric signboard.
Moreover, since the form of the member according to the invention of claim 2 is an assembly, it has market distribution as a single product and contributes greatly to the development of the light source component industry. .
In addition, it is economically advantageous for the user because it does not require replacement or modification of an expensive electric signboard.
Furthermore, for the national society, the light-weighted signboard, which is a large heavy object, can be continuously used as it is (instead of requiring modification) without causing it to become industrial waste. It is a great deal to contribute.

In the configuration of the invention according to claim 3, in addition to the configuration requirements of the invention of claim 2, a plurality of light emitting diodes 7 are housed in one LED holder 6 (see FIG. 2).
The plurality of light emitting diodes 7 are connected in series to the output terminal of the voltage / current control circuit 9.

When the above-described invention of claim 3 is applied, the light-emitting diode assembly component according to claim 2 can be rationally configured. In other words, better conditions can be obtained for securing the amount of light emission and voltage matching than incandescent lamps of the prior art.
That is, a plurality of light emitting diodes are used instead of one conventional incandescent bulb, so that a sufficient amount of light emission can be obtained, and the plurality of light emitting diodes are connected in series so that a voltage / current control circuit is required. The required current value is small.

In the configuration of the invention according to claim 4, in addition to the configuration requirements of the invention of claim 2, the voltage-current control circuit 9 has a rectifier circuit 9c (see FIG. 2).
In addition, at least a part of the “remaining space in which the light emitting diode and the voltage / current control circuit are accommodated in the cylindrical LED holder 6” is filled with a waterproof sealing material 8 having electrical insulation. To do.

According to the invention of claim 4 described above, it is possible to supply power to the light emitting diode (LED) by using the “power supply circuit mainly composed of a transformer” as used in the lightning type signboard according to the prior art as it is. Can
And since the interior space of the LED holder is sealed with a waterproof insulating sealing material, electrical insulation is maintained even when exposed to wind and rain, and it is safe.
Furthermore, this sealing material is advantageous because it can also serve as a mechanical support for the light emitting diode.

The configuration of the invention according to claim 5 is in addition to the configuration requirements of any one of the inventions according to claims 1 to 4 (see FIG. 1).
The voltage / current control circuit (9)
A control circuit input terminal (9a) connected to the AC power source (10), a control circuit output terminal (9b) connected to the light emitting diode (7), and a rectifier circuit (9c);
In addition, a current limiting reactance (9e) is connected between the control circuit input terminal (9a) and the input terminal (9d) of the rectifier circuit, and a discharge resistor (9f) in parallel with the current limiting reactance. Is connected,
Furthermore, a protective resistor (9h) is connected between the output terminal (9g) of the rectifier circuit and the control circuit output terminal (9b).

According to the invention of claim 5 described above, the AC power supplied from the existing sign board is rectified and converted into a suitable voltage / current for the light emitting diode (LED), and there is no fear of overheating and ignition. The light emitting diode can be activated (emitted).
In other words, the AC power supply is changed to a direct current suitable for a light emitting diode by a rectifier circuit, and “reactance with a discharge resistor” and “protective resistor” for current limiting “excessive voltage and current are applied to the light emitting diode. Therefore, the durability of the light emitting diode can be backed up without fear of overheating and ignition.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the signboard according to the prior art is used without being discarded, and a novel light emitting diode assembly is applied so that there is no possibility of overheating and ignition, and the display of characters, symbols, and figures is possible. The function can be demonstrated.

When the device of claim 2 is applied, a light-emitting diode (LED) light source can be quickly and easily mounted in place of a broken incandescent bulb without the need to modify the existing light-emitting signboard.
For this reason, it is possible to demonstrate the advantages of using a light-emitting diode that is much more durable than incandescent bulbs while continuing to use an expensive and long-life electric signboard. it can.
In addition, since the form of the member according to the invention of claim 2 is an assembly, it has market distribution as a single product and contributes greatly to the development of the light source component industry.
In addition, it is economically advantageous for the user because it does not require replacement or modification of an expensive electric signboard.
In addition, for the national society, the electric signboard, which is a large heavy object, is not used as industrial waste, but is used as it is, so it contributes to both resource conservation and environmental conservation. .

When the device of claim 3 is applied, the light-emitting diode assembly component according to claim 2 can be rationally configured.
In other words, better conditions can be obtained for securing the amount of light emission and voltage matching than incandescent lamps of the prior art.
Since a plurality of light emitting diodes are made to correspond to one conventional incandescent bulb, a sufficient amount of light emission can be obtained, and since the plurality of light emitting diodes are connected in series, a voltage / current control circuit is required. The required current value is small.

According to the invention of claim 4, the power supply circuit used for the light-emitting signboard according to the prior art can be used as it is to supply power to the light emitting diode (LED),
And since the interior space of the LED holder is sealed with a waterproof insulating sealing material, electrical insulation is maintained even when exposed to wind and rain, and it is safe.
Furthermore, this sealing material is advantageous because it can also serve as a mechanical support for the light emitting diode.

According to the invention of claim 5, while continuing to use the existing sign board as it is, the AC power supplied from the sign board is rectified and converted into an appropriate voltage / current for the light emitting diode (LED) to become a light emitting diode. Can be applied.
In other words, the supplied AC power supply is changed to a direct current suitable for the light emitting diode by the rectifier circuit, and the current limiting reactance and the protective resistor can be used to “prevent excessive voltage and current from being applied to the light emitting diode”. The durability of the light emitting diode assembly is backed up without fear.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a light emitting diode (LED) assembly according to the present invention, wherein (A) is a top external view, (B) is a front sectional view schematically drawn, and (C) is this light emitting diode. It is a fragmentary sectional front view of the socket for mounting | attaching an assembly to a sign board, supporting it mechanically, and connecting electrically.
Reference numeral 6 indicates an LED holder made of black synthetic resin, which has a cylindrical shape, and a base 2d is attached to one end thereof.
The base 2d is the same member as the base 2d used in the conventional incandescent bulb 2 shown in FIG. 4B. Therefore, it is suitable for the conventional light bulb socket 3 provided on the road sign board.
In the present embodiment, both the light bulb socket 3 and the base 2d are JIS standard products, and the light bulb socket 3 installed on the existing road sign board (see FIG. 3) is used as it is.
When carrying out the present invention, a base that is compatible with a conventional light bulb socket 3 (see FIG. 4B) used for an existing sign board may be used. Specifically, it can be arbitrarily selected from commercially available standard products.

(See FIG. 2) Three light emitting diodes (LEDs) 7 are housed in the LED holder 6, and the light projecting direction is directed upward in the drawing.
Generally speaking, when the present invention is implemented, the light projecting direction of the light emitting diode 7 may be aligned with the opening direction of the LED holder 6. The light emitting diode 7 is fixed by a waterproof insulating sealing material 8.
In this embodiment, an epoxy resin is used as the waterproof insulating sealing material. When implementing the present invention, the material is not limited to an epoxy resin, but is desirably a material having waterproofness, electrical insulation, and required heat resistance, and has bonding properties to the material of the LED holder 6. If so, it is preferable.
Reference numeral 9 indicates a voltage / current control circuit, which has a built-in rectifier circuit as will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 1. The input side of the rectifier circuit is connected to the base 2d. Connection is conducted.
The three light emitting diodes 7 are connected in series and connected to the output terminal of the voltage / current control circuit 9.
A specific configuration of the voltage / current control circuit 9 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, the voltage / current control circuit 9 is also mechanically supported by the waterproof insulating sealing material 8.
When carrying out the present invention, it is not always necessary to fill the entire interior space of the LED holder 6 with the waterproof insulating sealing material 8, but at least a part of the internal space is filled with the waterproof insulating sealing material, and the light emitting diode and voltage The current control circuit 9 is provided with a fixing function, a waterproof function, and an insulating function.
Most of the light emitted from the light emitting diode is directed in the main light projecting direction, but a part of the light is also emitted to the side. If the waterproof insulating sealing material 8 is made of a transparent material, the light emitted to the side and incident on the waterproof insulating sealing material becomes stray light (uncontrolled light flux), and the entire waterproof insulating sealing material is filled with stray light. It acts as a weak light source and improves the visibility of lightning characters (symbols and figures).

In the present example, the incandescent lamp before the replacement with the light emitting diode assembly was AC26V, 1.7W.
The light-emitting diodes 7 constituting the light-emitting diode assembly of this example exchanged with the incandescent bulb are DC 1.8 V (three in series: DC 5.4 V) and DC 12 mA.
The voltage / current control circuit 9 described in detail later with reference to FIG. 1 performs the function of stepping down AC26V to DC5.4V and AC / DC conversion. Even considering the energy efficiency of the voltage / current control circuit, the power consumption is reduced to about 1/4.

Although the power consumption per light source is small, the sign board installed on the highway usually has about 3000 light source lamps per unit, so the power consumption is fully lit, Conventionally, it was about 5 KW.
Since it has been reduced to about ¼ by the application of the present invention, its practical effect is enormous, and the reduction of power consumption meets the global demand for reduction of power generation energy and, in turn, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. To get.
Furthermore, since the lifetime of the light emitting diode is 30,000 hours to 50,000 hours of continuous lighting, the incandescent lamp according to the prior art had to be replaced in about one year, extending to more than five years. be able to.
Considering not only the material cost for replacement but also the labor cost and management cost of replacement work, the economic effect is extremely large.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a configuration of a voltage / current control circuit 9 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Reference numeral 9 indicates the voltage / current control circuit outlined in FIG. 2B.
The input end 9 a is connected to the AC power supply 10. The alternating current power source is an alternating current composed of a transformer as described above in paragraph 0015 and stepped down a high voltage.
Although the voltage value of the AC power supply 10 is not limited, specific examples are 26V, 24V, and 12V in the daytime. However, in general, dimming is performed at half the voltage value at night. The present invention can accommodate all voltages within this range.

The light emitting diode 7 is connected to the output terminal 9 b of the voltage / current control circuit 9. When the present invention is implemented, the number of connected light emitting diodes can be arbitrarily set.
In the example of FIG. 1, three light emitting diodes are connected in series. This corresponds to the embodiment shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 9b indicates an output terminal of the control circuit.

A rectifier circuit 9c is provided in the voltage / current control circuit. 9d is the input terminal, and 9g is the output terminal.
A current limiting reactance 9e is connected between the control circuit input terminal 9a and the rectifier circuit input terminal 9d. In this example, the reactance is configured by the capacitor (capacitance · C), but the reactance can also be configured by the coil (inductance · L).
The reactance performs a current limiting function.
A discharge resistor 9f is connected in parallel with the current limiting reactance 9e. This resistor safely discharges the charge charged in the capacitor C when the applied voltage drops rapidly.

A protective resistor 9h is connected between the rectifier circuit output terminal 9g and the control circuit output terminal 9b.
According to the results of experiments conducted by the inventors, the resistance value of the protective resistor is appropriately 200 to 490 ohms over a wide range of voltage values 2 to 260 V of the AC power supply.
As understood from the comparison between FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B, the voltage / current control circuit 9 and the light-emitting diode 7 shown in FIG. 1 are accommodated in the LED holder 6, It is sealed with a waterproof insulating sealing material 8.
The control circuit input terminal 9a shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the base 2d shown in FIG.

Next, the reason why the lighting circuit according to the prior art shown in FIG. 5 is overheated and ignited will be described before explaining the reason why the lighting circuit configured as shown in FIG. Is described.
The current I that flows through the protective resistor 11 and generates heat is expressed by the following equation (1).

発光ダイオードは半導体であるから、一般の金属導体と異なり、温度係数が負である。すなわち、温度が上昇すると抵抗値が低下して電流量が増大する傾向を示す。
このため、発光ダイオードがショート状態になると、保護抵抗器１１を流れる電流値Ｉが上昇して発熱量が増大し、過熱，発火するに至る。 The amount of heat generated by the protective resistor 11 is expressed by the following equation (2).

Since the light emitting diode is a semiconductor, the temperature coefficient is negative unlike a general metal conductor. That is, when the temperature rises, the resistance value decreases and the amount of current increases.
For this reason, when the light emitting diode is short-circuited, the current value I flowing through the protective resistor 11 is increased, the amount of heat generation is increased, and overheating and ignition are caused.

In contrast, the current value I in the circuit of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 has a relationship represented by the following equation (3) with the current limiting reactance, and the current value I is ( 4) given by equation

FIG. 6A shows the operation of the current limiting reactance 9e of FIG.
When a voltage indicated by a sine curve is applied, a current having a curve with parallel diagonal lines flows due to a reactance effect.
Further, since the electric charge charged in the current limiting reactance 11 is discharged through the discharge resistor 9f every half cycle, the waveform of the effective power becomes smooth, and a parallel diagonal line is added to FIG. 6 (B). As shown.
As described above, since the effective current value of the lighting circuit of the light emitting diode 7 is limited by the current limiting reactance 11 and the discharge resistor 9f, there is no possibility that the light emitting diode 7 is destroyed, and the discharge resistance There is no possibility of overheating the vessel 9f.
The value of the effective current indicated by parallel oblique lines in FIG. 6B is obtained by the above equation (5). This formula (5) is an experimental formula obtained by the present inventors.

The system diagram which shows the structure of the voltage current control circuit in the light emitting diode assembly which concerns on this invention. 1 shows an embodiment of a light emitting diode (LED) assembly according to the present invention, (A) is a top external view, (B) is a front sectional view schematically drawn, and (C) is a partial sectional front view of a light bulb socket. An example of a road sign board is shown, (A) is a front view of a display state, (B) is a front view of a resting state. (A) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of part a shown in FIG. 3 (B) surrounded by a chain line circle, and (B) is a diagram in which an electric circuit is added to an incandescent bulb. Light-emitting diode lighting circuit diagram in the prior art Chart depicting current waveforms for explaining the operation of the voltage / current control circuit shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Road sign board 2 ... Incandescent light bulb 3 ... Light bulb socket 5 ... Power supply circuit 6 ... LED holder 7 ... Light emitting diode (LED
8 ... Waterproof insulating seal 9 ... Voltage current control circuit
9a: Control circuit input terminal
9b: Control circuit output terminal
9c ... Rectifier circuit
9d: Rectifier circuit input terminal
9e ... Current limit reactance
9f ... Discharge resistor
9g ... Rectifier circuit output terminal
9h… Protective resistor
10 ... AC power supply
11 ... Protective resistor

Claims (5)

A display mechanism in which a large number of light bulb sockets (3) are arranged, and a sign board (1) having a character / symbol / graphic control circuit (4),
A sign board comprising a combination of a base (2d) adapted to the light bulb socket, a light emitting diode (LED 7), and a light emitting diode assembly including a voltage / current control circuit (9).   A light emitting diode (LED7) and a voltage / current control circuit (9) are housed in a cylindrical LED holder (6) having a base (2d) adapted to a standard bulb socket (3). A light-emitting diode assembly for a sign board, characterized in that A plurality of light emitting diodes (7) are housed in one LED holder (6),
3. The light-emitting diode for a sign board according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of light-emitting diodes (7) are connected in series to an output terminal of the voltage / current control circuit (9). Assembly. The voltage / current control circuit (9) has a rectifier circuit (9c),
Further, at least a part of the remaining space in which the light emitting diode and the voltage / current control circuit are accommodated in the cylindrical LED holder (6) is filled with a waterproof insulating sealing material (8). Item 3. A light-emitting diode assembly for a sign board according to Item 2. The voltage / current control circuit (9)
A control circuit input terminal (9a) connected to the AC power source (10), a control circuit output terminal (9b) connected to the light emitting diode (7), and a rectifier circuit (9c);
In addition, a current limiting reactance (9e) is connected between the control circuit input terminal (9a) and the input terminal (9d) of the rectifier circuit, and a discharge resistor (9f) in parallel with the current limiting reactance. Is connected,
The protective resistor (9h) is further connected between the output terminal (9g) and the control circuit output terminal (9b) of the rectifier circuit, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A light emitting diode assembly for a sign plate as described in 1.

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