A ROAD LINE ERASING METHOD

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is related to a method to erase paint and similar lines and tyre tracks from roads.

PRIOR ART

Nowadays the lines used on asphalt or concrete for road transport need to be renewed and re-painted, or the status of the road and its various technical features need to be changed and erased and renewed. One of the renewal and erasing methods used is erasing the prior track by spraying pressurized water on it and repainting a track. However the asphalt or concrete may be damaged during this process and by usage more abrasion occurs.

In the known state of the art, the German patent application numbered DE4413158 describes a method wherein a laser is used in order to be able to clean, paint or similar residue. Said application, and in many similar applications a cleaning process of materials having a certain thickness value such as paint over a certain surface is described.

The aim of the invention

The aim of the invention, is to develop a laser cleaning equipment that shall enable the lifting off of paint and/or plastics over a surface having indents and protrusions. The invention also aims to develop a method that shall increase and accelerate the efficiency of the equipment operation. Detailed description of the Invention

The road paint line and track erasing method improved in order to reach the aims of the present invention has been shown in the attached drawings wherein said drawings illustrate the following:

Figure 1 - Is the schematic view of the device operating according to the road paint line erasing method.

The parts in the figures have each been numbered and their corresponding references have been given below. 1. Road line erasing method

2. Track

3. Camera

4. Laser

5. Head The road paint line erasing method (1) subject to the present invention basically comprises a laser (4), and an orienting head (5) that can direct said laser (4). The head (5) can direct the laser (4) by means of the mirror, crystal, prism, lens and similar equipments.

The head (5) used to orient the laser (4) and the frequency of the laser (4) application and its amplitude can be carried out in the known systems or in driver systems that will be produced in the future.

Each of the laser pulses are controlled with the comprising head (5) and drivers and the pulse laser shall go over the track (2) that needs to be lifted and shall clean the tracks (2). The cleaning process of the tracks (2) varies according to the number of pulses and the frequency of pulses. In order to shorten said process in compliance with the aims of the invention after each laser pulse the control of the procedure must be carried out within certain intervals.

The configuration of the laser cleaning system which has been adapted to lift paint or plastic having a certain thickness, will have to be also changed when said thickness values of the paint or plastic change. Even though it is possible for a laser cleaning device that operates following a standard value all the time to give efficient results, it is not possible to shorten the operation time in such devices. However it is possible for the plastic or paint residues in some areas to be different due to the characteristics of the surface when cleaning is carried out from surfaces which have irregular intrusions and protrusions, or in other words from surfaces that are not smooth such as asphalt, concrete etc. Due to this difference, it shall be necessary for the system to renew itself in certain time intervals during laser cleaning.

The road paint track erasing method (1) shall initially capture data from a camera (3) that tracks down the image of the track (2) present on the road. Then said camera (3) data shall be used and the line (H) where the track (2) starts and ends shall be determined. Laser pulses shall be performed over the pre-defined values along the track (2) between the starting and ending values.

Following the application of laser pulses in accordance with the pre-values of a track line (H) the camera (3) shall re-capture images. The captured images will be then compared and the remaining amount of the tracks (2) left on the line (H) shall be determined. If all of the tracks (2) have been removed, the pre-defined values shall be changed /increased and the line (H) shall be cleaned by going over the track (2) one more time.

If the line (H) has areas which have not been able to be cleaned the configured values regarding the line (H) shall be changed and device will go over the track one more time. In the second run following controlling, if the line (H) is cleaned, the next line (H) shall be cleaned by using these values. As mentioned above, if the tracks (2) on the first line (H) have been cleaned, the cleaning process of the tracks (2) on the second line (H) shall be started to be cleaned. However the values used during the cleaning of the second line (H), shall be lowered to the pre-defined values and it will be perceived if the process can be shortened or not. If the cleaning of the tracks (2) on the second line is also completed, the values used in cleaning the second line shall also be decreased and the cleaning process of the third line will then be started.

The pre-defined values that have been mentioned during the application of the present invention can be as follows for the pulse laser: - The wavelength has to be between 532-1064 nm,

- The laser dimension has to be between 5-15mm,

- The laser pulse frequency has to be between 10-1500 Hz,

- The laser pulse distance has to be between 20ns-200ns.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above mentioned pre- defined values can be changed following a measurement of the thickness of the paint, plastic or coating on an asphalt/concrete surface forming the initial track (2). Despite this in order to increase the automation level and the ease of use, it is possible to carry out the initial procedures over a fixed value. By means of being able to automatically change these pre-defined values, the process can also be carried out automatically. The pre-defined values mentioned above as fixed values shall be as follows:

- Laser dimension 5 mm,

- Laser pulse frequency 1000 Hz,

- Laser pulse distance 100ns.

In the case that the track of the initial line has not been removed the above mentioned values shall be increased by 30%. By this means the tracks will be tried to be erased. However, if the initial track has been erased the values shall be decreased by 20% in order to clean the second line, thus the process will be tried to be accelerated.