Solar induction lamp and induction system using same

The present invention relates to a solar induction lamp and an induction system using same. The solar induction lamp has a wireless communication module equipped therein to support wireless communication with a controller, so that light can be emitted in various colors and periods according to a lighting cycle of the controller to increase the visibility of lane identification and at the same time, effectively guide a vehicle according to signal connection and special purpose. The solar induction lamp is configured to perform wireless communication with the controller according to a preset communication period (T) to enhance energy efficiency by effectively preventing power consumption due to continuous data communication, and after a deactivation information generating module detects a charge amount of a capacitor and compares the charge amount with a threshold value, if the charge amount is lower than the threshold value, the solar induction lamp is configured to be turned on or off according to an initial setting without performing wireless communication, so that the functions of lane identification and vehicle guidance can be performed with minimal energy consumption according to the charge amount.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a solar guide lamp and a guide system using the same, and specifically, to a solar guide lamp and a guide system using the same, which can improve visibility of vehicle identification and maximize efficiency of vehicle guidance by controlling the color and lighting cycle according to a signal and a specific purpose.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, a road marker is one of display means installed on a road to limit a driving range of driving vehicles, and road markers are installed on the center lines of roads, on the lane boundaries, in the safety zones of branching roads, on the front side of crosswalks, speed enforcement sections and the like to promote safe driving, and reflects light of headlights of vehicles especially during night driving to secure visibility of lanes for drivers and induce safe driving.

The road markers for identifying lanes during the day and night are manufactured and installed in various forms to promote safe operation of drivers and vehicles along with development of road facilities.

The road marker (hereinafter, referred to as a prior art) disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1303313 (title of invention: Embedded solar road marker for omnidirectional projection) is configured of a base embedded in the ground, a marker body, and a fixing plate.

The marker body is seated inside the base and fixed by the fixing plate to project a light source forward and refract and reflect the light source backward to have visibility of lanes in the front and rear directions.

In addition, the marker body is configured of a solar cell for receiving and converting sunlight into electrical energy, a battery substrate for charging electricity converted by the solar cell, and an LED module for projecting a light source.

The prior art configured as described above has an advantage of preventing damage or deformation caused by the loads and frictional forces of driving vehicles, and preventing infiltration of moisture due to climate changes and inflow of foreign substances on the road.

However, since the prior art is configured to emit light for a predetermined time, not to emit light of an LED in connection with specific information such as a traffic signal or the like, it has a structural limitation incapable of providing detailed information such as traffic signals, guidance signals or the like.

In addition, as the prior art is configured to light an LED of a preset color and to emit light according to a preset flashing cycle, it has a disadvantage in that information other than information for identifying lanes cannot be provided.

At this point, if it is assumed that the lighting cycle is determined under the control of an external controller in the prior art, a communication module for performing wireless communication with a controller should be installed inside the prior art. However, there is a problem in that stability of power supply is lowered since real-time communication through the communication module swiftly consumes power.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a solar guide lamp and a guide system using the same, which can increase visibility of lane identification and effectively guide vehicles according to signal association and a special purpose by emitting light in various colors and cycles according to the lighting cycle of a controller, as a wireless communication module is installed therein to support wireless communication with the controller.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a solar guide lamp and a guide system using the same, which can enhance energy efficiency by effectively preventing power consumption caused by continuous data communication, as the solar guide lamp is configured to perform wireless communication with the controller according to a preset communication cycle T.

In addition, still another object of the present invention is to provide a solar guide lamp and a guide system using the same, which can perform the functions of lane identification and vehicle guidance while minimizing energy consumption according to charged electric power, as the solar guide lamp is configured to be turned on according to an initial setting without performing wireless communication when a deactivation information generation module detects charged electric power of a capacitor and compares the charged electric power with a threshold value and the charged electric power is lower than the threshold value.

To accomplish the above objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle guide system for guiding vehicles, the system comprising: solar guide lamps including a solar cell, a capacitor for charging electric power stored by the solar cell, LED modules for emitting light of multiple colors, and a control device for controlling on and off of the LED modules, and installed to be buried in a road surface at regular intervals; and a controller for receiving lighting cycle information including a lighting color and a lighting cycle from outside, wherein the control device further includes: a wireless communication module for receiving the lighting cycle information from the controller; a lighting-on-off control module for controlling the LED modules according to the lighting cycle information received from the controller through the wireless communication module; and a control module for activating the wireless communication module to operate only during a preset communication cycle T, and deactivating the wireless communication module to stop the operation when a threshold time is elapsed, and the control device further includes a communication error information generation module for generating communication error information when wireless communication with the controller is not performed for a preset number of times (TH: Threshold), wherein when the communication error information is generated by the communication error information generation module, the control device controls the wireless communication module to transmit the communication error information to the controller, and when the communication error information is received from the control device, the controller re-sets the communication cycle T, and transmits the re-set communication cycle T to the control devices of the solar guide lamps, and the control device performs wireless communication according to the re-set communication cycle T received from the controller, and the control device further includes a deactivation information generation module, and the deactivation information generation module further includes: a charged electric power detection module for detecting charged electric power of the capacitor; a comparison module for comparing the charged electric power detected by the charged electric power detection module with a preset threshold value; and a generation module for generating, when the charged electric power is determined to be lower than the threshold value by the comparison module, deactivation information indicating that wireless communication with the controller is not performed, and when the deactivation information is generated by the deactivation information generation module, the control module of the control device transmits the generated deactivation information to the controller not to drive the wireless communication module.

In addition, in the present invention, the vehicle guide system further comprises an external server for transmitting a preset operation processing value, and it is preferable that the controller sets in advance and stores matching information on matching color and cycle information of each solar guide lamp according to the operation processing value received from the external server, and generates, when the operation processing value is received from the external server, the lighting cycle information according to the received operation processing value using the matching information.

In addition, it is preferable that the external server is a traffic signal light control device, the operation processing value is display cycle information, and the controller generates the lighting cycle information according to the display cycle information received from the traffic signal light control device, and transmits the generated lighting cycle information to the control devices of the solar guide lamps.

According to the present invention having the problems and solutions as described above, as a wireless communication module is installed to support wireless communication with the controller, it is possible to increase visibility of lane identification and effectively guide vehicles according to signal association and a special purpose by emitting light in various colors and cycles according to the lighting cycle of the controller.

In addition, according to the present invention, as the solar guide lamp is configured to perform wireless communication with the controller according to a preset communication cycle T, it is possible to enhance energy efficiency by effectively preventing power consumption caused by continuous data communication.

In addition, according to the present invention, as the solar guide lamp is configured to be turned on according to an initial setting without performing wireless communication when the deactivation information generation module detects charged electric power of a capacitor and compares the charged electric power with a threshold value and the charged electric power is lower than the threshold value, it is possible to perform the functions of lane identification and vehicle guidance while minimizing energy consumption according to the charged electric power.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1is a perspective view showing a solar guide lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 2is an exploded perspective view ofFIG. 1.

A solar guide lamp100according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device installed on the road surface at regular intervals to accomplish the purpose of lane identification and vehicle guidance.

At this point, the solar guide lamp100may be installed for any one purpose of a road marker, a delineator, a landscape lamp, a lighting lamp, and a security lamp.

In addition, as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, the solar guide lamp100is configured of a base110, a marker body120, a fixing plate130.

At this point, although the shape and configuration of the solar guide lamp100are described inFIGS. 1 and 2as an example in the present invention for convenience of description, the shape and configuration of the solar guide lamp100are not limited thereto, and it is natural that various shapes and configurations may be applied.

The base110is formed in a cylindrical shape having an open top and installed to be buried in the road surface.

In addition, the base110has an insertion end111formed to insert and couple the fixing plate130in the top opening. At this point, an elastic ring (not shown) is installed at the insertion end111to maintain airtightness with the fixing plate130.

In addition, a seating unit112on which the marker body120is seated is provided inside the base110.

The marker body120is seated on the seating unit112of the base110and fixed by the fixing plate130.

In addition, as the marker body120projects a light source forward and also refracts and reflects the light source backward, it has visibility of lanes or vehicle guidance in the front and rear directions.

In addition, the marker body120is configured of a lower case121and an upper case122. At this point, the upper case122and the lower case121are tightly sealed and coupled to maintain airtightness of the inside to prevent infiltration of moisture or inflow of foreign substances.

In addition, the lower case121of the marker body120is provided with a solar cell1211for receiving sunlight inside thereof and converting the sunlight into electrical energy, and a battery substrate1212for charging electricity converted by the solar cell1211.

In addition, the lower case121of the marker body120is provided with an insertion unit1213through which a battery is inserted into the center.

Meanwhile, the upper case122of the marker body120has a light incident unit1221at the center, through which sunlight enters the solar cell211.

In addition, the upper case122of the marker body120has a light transmitting unit1222formed on the outer surface of the light incident unit1221to project light sources of the LED modules1215in the front and rear directions, respectively.

The fixing plate130is installed to tightly seal the top opening of the base110.

In addition, the fixing plate130has an exposure unit131formed at the center to penetrate both surfaces, and the upper portion of the marker body120is exposed to the outside through the exposure unit131.

Although not shown in the drawing, a control device180ofFIG. 4described below, for controlling the operation of each component through communication with the outside, is installed inside the marker body120of the solar guide lamp100configured as described above.

FIG. 3is a view showing the configuration of a vehicle guide system to which the solar guide lamp ofFIG. 1is applied.

The vehicle guide system1of the present invention includes the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N ofFIGS. 1 and 2described above, which are installed to be buried in the road surface at regular intervals, a controller3for managing and controlling the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N, an external server5for transmitting lighting cycle information to the controller3, a communication network10for providing a data movement path between the controller3and the external server5, and an auxiliary communication network20for providing a data movement path between the controller3and the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N.

At this point, although it has been described as an example that the communication network10and the auxiliary communication network20are applied to the vehicle guide system1of the present invention, it is natural that the auxiliary communication network20for supporting wireless communication between the controller3and the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N may be configured to replace the communication network10.

The communication network10supports data communication between the controller3and the external server5and may be configured as a wide area network (WAN), a wired or wireless network, a mobile communication network, an LTE network, or the like.

The auxiliary communication network20supports wireless communication between the controller3and the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N, and specifically, it may be configured as a short-range communication network such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication (NFC) or the like, an IoT-dedicated network, a wireless network or the like.

The external server5is a server of a system having a specific purpose, and specifically, it may be configured as a server of a traffic signal light control device, a parking system, or a control center.

In addition, the external server5detects an operation processing value for accomplishing the purpose of an applied system. At this point, when the external server is a traffic signal light control device, the operation processing value may be display cycle information, and when the external server is a parking system, the operation processing value may be a vehicle detection data of each parking surface.

The controller3manages and controls the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N allocated to the controller3by performing wireless communication with the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N through the auxiliary communication network20.

In addition, location information and communication identification information of each of the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N are preset and stored in the controller3, and driving direction information of a corresponding road is preset and stored in the controller3.

In addition, the controller3stores matching information on matching color and cycle information of each solar guide lamp100corresponding to the operation processing value received from the external server5.

For example, the matching information may match the lighting color of the solar guide lamp100installed on the road in red color when display of the vehicle traffic signal light is red indicating stop of vehicles, and the lighting color of the solar guide lamp100installed on the crosswalk may be matched in green color when display of the pedestrian traffic signal light is green indicating walk of pedestrians.

That is, as drivers or pedestrians may identify lanes through the lighting color and cycle of the solar guide lamps100and more effectively recognize traffic signals, car accidents may be efficiently prevented.

In addition, when the operation processing value is received from the external server5, the controller3generates lighting cycle information of each solar guide lamp100according to the operation processing value using the matching information, and transmits corresponding lighting cycle information to each solar guide lamp100. At this point, the lighting cycle information includes a lighting color, a lighting-on time, a lighting-off time and the like of each solar guide lamp100.

At this point, if the controller3continuously transmits the lighting cycle information to the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N, power consumption increases due to wireless communication since available electric power of the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N is limited, and accordingly, there is a problem in that the light source may not be emitted due to insufficient power.

Accordingly, since it is configured, in the present invention to solve this problem, such that the controller3does not continuously transmit the lighting cycle information to the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N, but transmits the lighting cycle information at a preset communication cycle T, power consumption of the solar guide lamps100having limited available power is significantly reduced.

As described above, as the vehicle guide system1of the present invention is configured to turn on and off the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N in various colors and cycles by performing wireless communication with the controller3, it is possible to increase visibility of lane identification and efficiently guide vehicles in association with traffic signals or according to a specific purpose, and particularly, the wireless communication is performed only during the communication cycle T to minimize power consumption caused by data communication of the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N operated by the power stored from the sunlight.

FIG. 4is a block diagram showing the control device of the solar guide lamp ofFIG. 3.

The control device180ofFIG. 4performs data communication with the controller3at every preset communication cycle T to control on and off of the LED module1215to emit a light source according to the lighting cycle information received from the controller3. At this point, the control device180may be manufactured in the form of a board or a chip.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 4, the control device180is configured of a control module181, a memory182, a wireless communication module183, a GPS module184, a lighting-on-off control module185, a communication error information generation module186, a communication cycle T re-set module187, and a deactivation information generation module188.

The control module181is an operating system (OS) of the control device180, and manages and controls the control targets182,183,184,185,186,187and188.

In addition, the control module181activates the wireless communication module183and the GPS module184to operate when a preset communication cycle T or a communication cycle T re-set by the communication cycle re-set module187arrives, and deactivates the modules to stop the operation when a threshold time is elapsed.

In addition, when the lighting cycle information is received from the controller3during the communication cycle T, the control module181inputs the received lighting cycle information into the lighting-on-off control module185.

In addition, when communication error information is generated by the communication error information generation module186, the control module181controls the wireless communication module183to transmit the generated communication error information to the controller3.

In addition, when the re-set communication cycle T is received from the controller3, the control module181inputs the inputted re-set communication cycle T into the communication cycle re-set module187.

In addition, when deactivation information is generated by the deactivation information generation module188, the control module181controls the wireless communication module183to transmit the generated deactivation information to the controller3. At this point, the deactivation information is defined as information for deactivating wireless communication with the controller3when the electric power charged by the capacitor is lower than a threshold value.

The communication cycle T and the lighting cycle information are stored in the memory182.

The wireless communication module183does not operate in normal times, and operates at the preset communication cycle T or the communication cycle T re-set by the communication cycle re-set module187under the control of the control module181to transmit and receive data with the controller3through the auxiliary communication network20.

The GPS module184synchronizes the current time in association with a GPS satellite at every predetermined cycle so that lighting of the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N is accurately performed according to the lighting cycle information.

The lighting-on-off control module185controls on and off of each of the LED modules1215according to the lighting cycle information received from the controller3through the wireless communication module183so that lighting may be accomplished according to the lighting cycle information.

The communication error information generation module186generates communication error information when wireless communication with the controller3is not performed for a preset number of times (TH: Threshold).

At this point, the communication error information generated by the communication error information generation module186is transmitted to the controller3under the control of the control module181, and when the communication error information is received from the control device180of the solar guide lamp100, the controller3re-sets the communication cycle T and transmits the re-set communication cycle T to all the solar guide lamps100-1to100-N.

That is, since the control device180of the present invention is configured to perform wireless communication with the controller3only during a preset communication cycle T, the communication cycle T is re-set when the wireless communication cannot be performed due to such reasons as a synchronization error, a cycle setting error or the like, and wireless communication is performed later according to the re-set communication cycle T, so that a prompt and immediate response to a communication error can be achieved.

The communication cycle re-set module187re-sets the re-set communication cycle T received from the controller3as a communication cycle applied later.

In other words, as the control device180performs wireless communication with the controller3according to the communication cycle re-set by the communication cycle re-set module187, the control device180may solve a communication error by itself even when the communication error occurs.

FIG. 5is a block diagram showing the deactivation information generation module ofFIG. 4.

As shown inFIG. 5, the deactivation information generation module188is configured of a charged electric power detection module1881for detecting charged electric power of a capacitor, a comparison module1882for comparing the charged electric power detected by the charged electric power detection module1881with a threshold value, and a generation module1883that is driven to generate deactivation information when the charged electric power is determined to be lower than the threshold value by the comparison module1882.

At this point, the deactivation information is defined as information for deactivating wireless communication with the controller3when the electric power charged by the capacitor is lower than a threshold value, and when the deactivation information is received from the control device180of the solar guide lamp100, the controller3does not perform wireless communication with the corresponding solar guide lamp100thereafter.

FIG. 6is a view showing an example of the vehicle guide system of the present invention associated with pedestrian traffic signal lights.

As shown inFIG. 6, when the vehicle guide system1of the present invention is associated with a pedestrian traffic signal light810, the solar guide lamps100may be installed on both sides of a crosswalk800.

At this point, when a display cycle is received from the control device of the pedestrian traffic signal light810, the controller3generates lighting cycle information corresponding to the received display cycle using preset matching information.

In addition, the controller3transmits the lighting cycle information generated at every preset communication cycle T to the solar guide lamps100, and the control device180of the solar guide lamp100controls the LED to emit light of a color corresponding to the lighting cycle received from the controller3, so that vehicle drivers may immediately recognize traffic signals through the solar guide lamp100, as well as the vehicle traffic signal light.

At this point, when the charged electric power of the solar guide lamp100is lower than a threshold value as illumination is insufficient due to rain or the like during the daytime, the solar guide lamps100operates according to an initial setting without performing wireless communication with the controller3.

FIG. 7is a view showing an example of the vehicle guide system of the present invention installed in a parking lot.

As shown inFIG. 7, when the vehicle guide system1of the present invention is installed in a parking lot, the solar guide lamps100may be installed for the purpose of guiding vehicles to each parking surface.

At this point, the controller3may guide drivers to a selected parking space by performing wireless communication with parking sensors which sense presence of a vehicle on each parking surface.

As described above, as the wireless communication module183is installed to support wireless communication with the controller3, the solar guide lamp100according to an embodiment of the present invention may increase visibility of lane identification and effectively guide vehicles according to signal association and a special purpose by emitting light in various colors and cycles according to the lighting cycle of a controller.

In addition, as the solar guide lamp100of the present invention is configured to perform wireless communication with the controller3according to a preset communication cycle T, it is possible to enhance energy efficiency by effectively preventing power consumption caused by continuous data communication.

In addition, as the solar guide lamp100is configured to be turned on according to an initial setting without performing wireless communication when the deactivation information generation module188detects charged electric power of a capacitor and compares the charged electric power with a threshold value and the charged electric power is lower than the threshold value, it is possible to perform the functions of lane identification and vehicle guidance while minimizing energy consumption according to the charged electric power.