EP0124946A2 - Process for making or tracing a road surface marking, and a road surface marking thus obtained - Google Patents

Abstract

A trace of paint from a solvent-containing marking compound is applied as a thin-layer marking, this marking compound being designed in such a way that it remains plastically deformable for a relatively long time after the drying time that determines its passability before it completely hardens. Glass beads that have undergone a surface treatment to reduce their sinking depth, a so-called floatation treatment, are sprinkled on the freshly drawn color trace and a certain proportion of which has a high refractive index between 1.9 and about 2.0, while the others are normally refractive . After the drying time has elapsed and before the marking compound has completely hardened, the color trace is deformed by pressing in a surface profile, which in the case of a new marking line drawn for the first time, profile heights between 0.5 and 2.0 mm and a profile height up to when a color trace to be renewed is drawn can have to 3.0 mm. A marking line produced in this way is characterized by good night visibility, even when wet.

Description

The invention relates to a method for producing or tracing a horizontal marking on roads, in particular boundary, guiding and warning lines, according to the preamble of claim 1, and also to a horizontal marking produced by this method.

Thin-film markings, the solids of which are dissolved in a solvent for application, are known (for example "Handbook for Marking Streets", edited by Schönborn and Domhan, Otto Elsner Verlagsgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1981). After spraying, these marking compounds dry and harden only in the case of one-component paints by evaporation of the solvent or, in the case of multi-component paints, by evaporation of the solvent and by chemical drying. In contrast to thick-film markings made from hot plastics or cold plastics, these marking colors are applied with only a relatively small layer thickness, namely with a wet film thickness between a minimum of approximately 0.35 mm and a maximum of approximately 1.5 mm, which means dry film thicknesses of approximately 0.2 mm to approximately Corresponds to 1.0 mm.

It is also known to sprinkle glass beads on freshly drawn markings before they are dried in order to improve the night visibility and the grip of the marking (book cited above, pages 270, 272, 274 to 277). In particular, too Already, as stated at the cited literature reference, so-called floatation pearls are known which, due to a special aftertreatment of their surface, sink into solvent-containing marking compounds just so deep that optimal night visibility results. Experiments in this regard have shown that with glass beads which have been post-treated in this way, considerable improvements in terms of night-time visibility can in fact be achieved if the after-treatment is specifically tailored to the marking substance used.

Finally, it is known, as also stated in the cited literature, to improve the night visibility of road markings by using glass beads with a high refractive index. Normal glass beads have a refractive index of 1.50 to 1.53. The retroreflection, which is decisive for night visibility and is generated by catadioptric, i.e. refractive and specularly acting parts, in which, as is known, the incident light is reflected back largely in directions that are close to the direction of illumination, regardless of the direction of illumination, is indeed achieved by beads with a higher refractive index of for example, increased from 1.65 to about 2, although such high refractive index beads are currently more expensive than normal glass beads. In particular, glass beads with a refractive index of 1.90 to 1.95 are currently available on the market, which are offered by Potters-Ballotini GmbH. Because of their high specific weight, however, such glass beads tend to sink largely into the freshly applied marking. While the general night visibility on dry roads can be improved by the measures mentioned above, achieving good night visibility when wet is a problem which has not yet been solved satisfactorily. The retroreflection of road markings which is partially or completely covered by a film of water in the dark and wet are more or less greatly reduced or practically no longer available, because the headlight light emanating from a vehicle is largely or completely reflecting on the water surface, instead of being retroreflected towards the driver of the vehicle. However, especially in the dark and rainy weather, the visibility of the road markings, especially the boundary lines for the road or lane, as well as the guidance or warning lines, is particularly important.

• Zunächst einmal sind Dickschichtmarkierungen teurer als Dünnschichtmarkierungen, und auch ihre Verlegung erfordert mehr Aufwand und Zeit als die von Dünnschichtmarkierungen. Zum andern haben die für die Dickschichtmarkierungen verwendeten Plastiken eine Härtungs- oder Topfzeit von im allgemeinen nur wenigen Minuten und sind daher schon kurze Zeit nach dem Verlegen praktisch nicht mehr bleibend verformbar. Daher muss die Profilierung einer frisch verlegten Farbspur unmittelbar nach deren Aufbringung eingepresst werden, wobei diese Arbeit wegen der nur kurzen zur Verfügung stehenden Zeitspanne von wenigen Minuten zwischen dem Zeitpunkt, an welchem die Markierung nicht mehr klebrig ist, und dem Erreichen eines harten, praktisch nicht mehr verformbaren Zustands sehr delikat ist. Die Profilierung muss also im kurzen Abstand hinter der Markierungsmaschine mit der gleichen verhältnismässig langsamen Geschwindigkeit vorgenommen werden, mit der markiert wird. Da diese beiden Arbeitsgeschwindigkeiten kaum über längere Zeiten genau aufeinander abstimmbar sind, können im allgemeinen immer nur vergleichsweise kurze Abschnitte durchgehend markiert werden, die dann sofort profiliert werden müssen, wobei zur Profilierung in der Regel eine abschnittsweise versetzte spezielle Form verwendet wird. Aus diesen Gründen ist die Profilierung von Dickschichtmarkierungen zeitraubend und kostspielig und daher nicht sehr rationell. Ferner kann die Tagessichtbarkeit der profilierten Markierung, da starke Profilierungen für Staub und Verunreinigungen besonders anfällig sind, herabgesetzt werden. Durch den erforderlichen Winterdienst werden ausserdem starke Profilierungen besonders rasch abgerieben und zerstört. Vor allem aber ist eine einwandfreie Nachmarkierung, also das Nachziehen einer profilierten Dickschichtmarkierung, praktisch nicht möglich, so dass auch der Unterhalt derartiger profilierter Dickschichtmarkierungen sehr erschwert und verteuert wird.

Previous attempts to increase the night visibility in wet and rain, which is so important for traffic safety, have focused on this. Profiling road markings in a suitable manner so that protruding elevations with surface areas are formed from the water film which are oriented as steeply as possible, preferably at least approximately perpendicular to the incident headlight light. As a result, the specular reflection is reduced and the retroreflection is increased at those surface areas from which the water runs off. So far, obviously, strong profiles, i.e. large profile heights, have been considered, which - as stated in the above-mentioned book, page 252 - can of course only be achieved with thick-film markings, i.e. with plastics. Other suggestions and attempts concern pre-profiled foils that are glued to the road. However, strongly profiled road markings and the production of such a strong profile by deforming a thick-film marking have various disadvantages:

• First of all, thick-film markings are more expensive than thin-film markings, and their laying also requires more effort and time than that of thin-film markings. On the other hand, the plastics used for the thick-film markings generally have a curing or pot life of only a few minutes and are therefore practically no longer permanently deformable shortly after installation. Therefore, the profiling of a freshly laid color trace must be pressed in immediately after it has been applied, this work being practically not possible because of the short time available of a few minutes between the point at which the marking is no longer sticky and the hard point being reached more deformable condition is very delicate. The profiling must therefore be carried out at a short distance behind the marking machine at the same relatively slow speed at which marking is carried out. Since these two working speeds can hardly be coordinated with one another over longer periods of time, generally only comparatively short sections can be marked continuously, which then have to be profiled immediately, a special form which is offset in sections generally being used for profiling. For these reasons, profiling thick-film markings is time-consuming and costly and therefore not very efficient. Furthermore, the Daily visibility of the profiled marking is reduced, since strong profiles are particularly susceptible to dust and contamination. The required winter service also means that strong profiles are rubbed off and destroyed very quickly. Above all, however, it is practically not possible to carry out correct post-marking, that is to say drawing a profiled thick-film marking, so that the maintenance of such profiled thick-film markings is also made very difficult and expensive.

Despite the disadvantages mentioned above, all previously known proposals and attempts to profile road markings to increase night visibility in the rain have been limited to thick-film markings, because it was believed that profiling thin-film markings could not be done because of the comparatively low profile heights that can be generated in this case result in significant improvements. Therefore, profiling thin-film markings for the purpose of increasing night visibility in wet conditions has never been considered.

The invention has for its object to provide a combination of features and process steps known per se, a thin-layer road marking, which has a surprisingly good night visibility when wet and which can be produced with little effort and rationally and in particular also easily re-marked and maintained can be.

Based on the method specified in the preamble of claim 1, this object is achieved by the Characteristic of claim 1 specified method steps solved.

The present invention also relates to a road marking produced by this method.

Surprisingly, it has been shown that even profiles with a comparatively low profile height, such as can be produced with thin-layer marking, significantly improve night visibility in the wet when using glass beads that have both undergone a known floatation treatment and a high one Have refractive index from 1.9 to about 2.0. Obviously, the properties of these special pearls, which were assumed to largely sink into the color mass due to their large specific weight, compensate for the restrictions that only the relatively low profile heights bring about with regard to proper water drainage. So even if the ridges formed by the profiles do not protrude from the water surface or the water does not drain completely from these ridges during heavy rain, the increased retroreflection due to the high refraction of these glass beads and the favorable angle of incidence due to the steep surface areas of the profile ridges guarantee of the headlight in general sufficient recognition of the marking. This decisive advantage outweighs the higher price of the special glass beads, which can be mixed with normal glass beads for cost reasons.

In the production of the profiling, use is made of the typical property, known per se, of a solvent-containing thin-film marking, namely the property that such a marking no longer sticks for a period after the point in time at which it can be driven over, i.e. when it is passed over smeared, can be permanently deformed by a suitably dimensioned pressure. Depending on the composition of the marking compound, the thickness of the wet film, the temperature and the atmospheric humidity, the drying time, which determines the time of passability, is generally between 15 minutes and one hour; It generally takes several hours to fully cure, after which practically no permanent deformation is possible.

Such commercial marking compounds, which are plastically deformable for a relatively long time after they have been driven over, are known, for example, under the trade name Plastiroute and owe this property to their special composition. In addition to pigments, this one-component marking compound contains a binder based on polyvinyl, a highly polymeric plasticizer that has a long-lasting plasticizing effect, ketone resins, fillers in the form of carbonates and silicates as well as ketones and aromatics as solvents.

Appropriate embodiments of the method according to the invention result from the dependent claims. If the surface profile is formed according to claim 6 and by rolling a rubber tire. its tread with correspondingly profiled grooves is provided, then the smooth tread sections located between the grooves push part of the marking mass as long as they roll on the color track - with a slight reduction in the applied layer thickness and with the accumulation of a wavy elevation of the marking mass progressing before the contact point of the tire - in front of it until this accumulated marking compound is molded and pressed into the following groove. If the smooth tread sections between successive grooves are sufficiently long, i.e. the distance between successive elevations of the surface profile is large enough, for example between 10 and 30 cm, then surface profiles with a profile height that is greater than the dry film thickness can be produced. For example, in the case of markings with a dry film thickness of approximately 0.4 mm, the raised linear profiles can rise above the level of the remaining mark by 0.8 to 1.0 mm and in the case of larger dry film thicknesses by 1.0 to 2.0 mm.

The method according to the invention is particularly interesting in the aftermarking of worn-out color lines if the marking compound used, as in the case of the already mentioned Plastiroute marking products and also other commercially available marking compounds, contains a binder, the hardening of which is reversible, so that the old hard color trace on its surface becomes soft and deformable again through the action of the solvent of the freshly drawn marking. When profiling a traced marking, not only that fresh color trace, but also the surface area of the underlying old color trace is deformed, so that profile heights can now be generated that are even greater than those obtained when a new trace was first produced. If. For example, if the old color trace to be re-marked has a dry film thickness of approximately 1 mm and the fresh color trace applied to it during post-marking has only 0.4 to 0.5 mm dry film thickness, then profile heights of up to approximately 2.5 mm can be produced.

Thin-film markings generally have a drying time of 20 to 40 minutes, with very large wet film thicknesses of 1.0 to 1.5 mm also up to 60 minutes, and only fully harden after a few hours. Therefore, in the production of profiled markings, there is sufficient time to first preferably mark a long distance of, for example, 5 to 8 kilometers in one operation and to coat with glass beads, which takes about 1 hour at marking speeds of generally 5 to 8 km / h , and only then to provide the entire long, newly drawn marking section with a surface profile in a further continuous work step, for which purpose a suitable vehicle is preferably used, the wheel of which rolls on the marking with its appropriately profiled rubber tire. Of course - completely independently of the marking speed, the maximum possible profiling speed of generally 10 to 30 km / h can be driven. This possibility of marking comparatively long road sections in one continuous operation and then in a further continuous operation profiling allows the required work to be carried out quickly and efficiently.

The method according to the invention is intended in particular to produce lane boundary lines on motorways and other highways, because the boundary lines, the good recognition of which is particularly important at night and in the wet, are outside the lane and are therefore usually wet and covered with water for longer periods of time. On the other hand, due to the low profile heights, the method according to the invention can also be used to produce center lines or guideline and warning lines.

• Figur 1 eine Draufsicht auf eine profilierte Markierungslinie nach der Erfindung,
• Figur 2 eine schematische perspektivische Seitenansicht der Markierungslinie nach Figur 1 und
• Figur 3 die schematische Teilansicht eines Gummireifens bzw. Autoreifens, dessen Lauffläche mit den Profilen nach den Figuren 1 und 2 entsprechenden Nuten versehen und zur Herstellung der Profilierung geeignet ist.

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing using an exemplary embodiment. Show it:

• FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a profiled marking line according to the invention,
• Figure 2 is a schematic perspective side view of the marking line of Figure 1 and
• 3 shows the schematic partial view of a rubber tire or car tire, the tread of which is provided with grooves corresponding to the profiles according to FIGS. 1 and 2 and is suitable for producing the tread pattern.

To produce the marking according to FIGS. 1 and 2, a marking line 2 in the form of a thin-layer marking is first drawn in a known manner from a solvent-containing marking compound on the road surface 1, which is done by means of a Marking vehicle installed spray gun using compressed air or, if necessary, by means of a spray can attached to a hand-held marking vehicle and containing the marking compound. Immediately thereafter, are scattered in a known manner to the fresh color lane marking glass beads, but special glass beads are used which have undergone reducing its penetration distance a treatment floatation and of which a certain percentage for increasing the retroreflective a ^g calculation index is from about 1.9 while the rest have the normal refractive index of 1.5 to 1.53. The proportion of glass beads with a high refractive index, which can generally be between about 1.9 and 2.0, is expediently between 301 and 70%, preferably about 50 /, and is chosen according to the respective conditions or wishes. In principle, of course, only glass beads with high refraction can be used; however, since these are more expensive than normal refractive glass beads, a mixture is less expensive, and in general such a mixture of high and normal refractive glass beads also provides a surprising improvement in retroreflection.

While the glass beads with high refraction must always be floatation beads at the same time, it is not necessary that the normally refractive glass beads present in the mixture used have also been subjected to a floatation treatment; all or part of the normally breaking glass beads can be conventional, untreated beads. However, floatation pearls are only a little more expensive, so that in general the entire mixture expediently consists of floatation pearls. Amount and Size distribution of the glass beads correspond to the usual regulations.

The marking compound is applied, for example, with a wet film thickness of 0.6 mm, which results in a dry film thickness of, for example, 0.38 mm after drying, that is to say after the solvent has evaporated. The drying time, after which the marking can be passed without the risk of damage or smearing, when using a marking compound known under the trade name Plastiroute, if the air humidity is not too high, is between 20 and 30 minutes. The marking compound remains plastically deformable from the point at which it can be driven on until it has fully hardened. Only after complete hardening, up to which a time span of several hours, in particular three to five hours, can the marking practically no longer be deformed.

In a further operation, the surface of the marking line 2 is then profiled in the desired manner after the drying time has elapsed and before it has fully cured, starting at the earliest about 30 minutes after application. In the example under consideration, the surface profile consists of linear elevations 3 which run obliquely to the roadway and which have an approximately trapezoidal cross-section which tapers upwards and have an average width of about 1 to 3 mm and are at a distance of about 20 cm from one another. A vehicle with a correspondingly profiled rubber tire 4 can preferably be used to produce this profiling are on the tread the grooves 3 corresponding to the ridges 3 are provided and which can be rolled while driving on the marking line 2. The contact pressure of the tire or the vehicle weight acting on the wheel axle in question must be dimensioned accordingly. When the tread sections 4 located between adjacent grooves 5 roll off, the deformable marking compound is advanced with the formation of an increasing undulating elevation until it is covered by the following groove 5 and is therefore pressed into it. In this way, for each groove 5 that comes into contact with the marking line, there is sufficient marking material to fill this groove and thus form the line-shaped elevations 3, the profile height of which can be greater than the dry film thickness of the other marking line 2. In the example considered, this is Profile height, that is the height of the profile elevation 3, which is above the level of the other marking line 2, approximately 0.8 mm to 1 mm.

The trapezoidal profile of the elevations 3 indicated in FIG. 2 naturally has more or less rounded edges in practice. Triangular or arc-shaped profiles can also be selected, it is important to create profile surface sections that are as steep as possible, preferably approximately perpendicular to the incident headlight, so that due to the low or vanishing angle of incidence, the normal specular reflection also contributes to retroreflection.

It has been shown that a profiled marking line produced in this way has good night vision availability in the wet, because the glass beads protruding from the steeply oriented areas of the elevations 3 have good retroreflection due to their high refraction even in the rain. The rainwater can run off rapidly within the large flat areas between the elevations 3, so that the elevations 3 are practically never completely flushed with water for a short time, or at most only under very unfavorable conditions, optimum retroreflection even then occurring due to the favorable angle of incidence. It has also been shown that a sufficient number of glass beads only sinks into the marking mass when scattered so that their outstanding spherical segment is large enough to produce good retroreflection. On the other hand, the glass beads are pressed a little into the marking compound by the subsequent rolling over with the rubber tire, so that they adhere well to it. During the subsequent complete hardening, there is still a slight shrinkage of the marking compound in such a way that at least some of the beads on the surface increase the size of the protruding segment somewhat. The glass beads located on the steep surface section of the elevations 3 facing an incoming vehicle are also, due to this position, fairly protected from excessive stress, which could tear them out of the marking mass, so that the retroreflectivity, which is optimal due to the favorable angle of incidence, has a steep orientation Surface sections has a long service life.

In general, the wet film thickness of thin Layer markings which are suitable for producing profiled marking lines according to the invention are between approximately 0.35 mm and 1.5 mm, which corresponds to dry film thicknesses of approximately 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm. The profile heights that can be achieved when drawing a new color trace for the first time can be between approximately 0.5 and 2.0 mm, preferably between 0.8 and 1.5 mm.

When tracing a partially worn marking, since - as mentioned - the surface area of the old marking line is again strongly dissolved by the solvent of the newly applied marking compound and therefore becomes soft, even greater profile heights can be achieved if sufficient pressure is applied because the softened surface can deform the old marking. In this case, profile heights between about 0.5 and 3.0 mm, preferably between 1.0 and 2.0 mm can be produced. If the old color line to be renewed, which in turn can of course have already been renewed one or more times, has a dry film thickness of approximately 1 mm and the dry film thickness of the newly applied marking line is approximately 0.4 mm, then profile heights can easily be achieved Shape approximately 2 mm to 2.5 mm.

The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment described, but rather allows for numerous variants with regard to the shape and the geometry of the surface profiles produced and the type of their production. Various such surface profiles and devices for their production are the same in DE-OS 1 534 209 Described by the applicant. In particular, the distances between the elevations 3 according to FIGS. 1 and 2 can be chosen as desired, preferably between 10 and 30 cm, and the cross sections and the widths of the raised profile areas can also be different. Furthermore, the surface profile can consist of alternating raised and recessed areas with approximately the same dimensions in the direction of travel. If necessary, depressions can also be pressed into the marking line at greater distances, the cross-sectional width of which is smaller than the distance between successive depressions. All of these possible surface profiles can be easily created with a correspondingly profiled car tire.

However, the surface profiling is preferably selected such that as many surface areas as possible are at least approximately perpendicular to the direction of incidence of the headlight light and are already irradiated from a greater distance therefrom and that the water can run off well between the elevations; As far as possible, no water should be able to accumulate on the elevations, so that these elevations should expediently be sufficiently narrow and their mean widths should not exceed a maximum of 10 mm, preferably 1 mm to 5 mm.

Claims (9)

1.Procedure for producing or tracing a horizontal marking on roads, in particular boundary, guideline and warning lines, according to which a trace of paint from a solvent-containing marking compound is applied as a thin-layer marking, which remains plastically deformable for a long time after the drying time determining its passability has passed Glass beads are sprinkled on this trace of color, of which at least a certain proportion has undergone a surface treatment to reduce their sinking depth, a so-called floatation treatment, characterized in that surface-treated glass beads are used, at least a certain proportion of which have a refractive index of 1.9 up to approximately 2.0, and that after the drying time and before the marking compound has completely hardened, in particular 30 to 180 minutes after it has been applied, the color trace is deformed in a manner known per se by pressing in a surface profile. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized. that a glass bead mixture is used, the 30X to 70%, preferably 50X. surface-treated glass beads having a refractive index of 1.9 to un- _f arranty 2.0 and the balance of normal refractive glass beads with or without surface treatment contains. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when drawing a new color trace, a surface profile with a profile height between 0.5 and 2.0 mm, preferably 0.8 and 1.5 mm, is produced becomes. 4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when tracing a color trace using a marking compound with a binder, the drying of which is reversible, a surface profile with a profile height between 0.5 and 3.0 mm. preferably 1.0 and 2.0 mm. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a surface profile is produced from inclined or transverse to the road, linear or strip-shaped elevations, the distances from each other are greater than the average width of these elevations and preferably a multiple of this average Width. 6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that elevations with an average width of 1 mm to 10 mm, preferably up to 5 mm, are produced at intervals of 10 cm to 30 cm. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a surface profile with at least approximately perpendicular to the incident light of a headlight oriented surface areas, in particular from cross-sectionally trapezoidal, triangular or rounded elevations, is produced. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the surface profile is produced by driving over the color track with a correspondingly profiled rubber tire. 9. According to one of claims 1 to 8 produced horizontal marking with surface profile.

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