JP6843331B2 - Infrared snow melting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an infrared snow melting device that irradiates infrared light to melt snow at the tunnel entrance.

In the roadside zone in tunnels such as highways, emergency telephones, fire extinguishers, faucets and other emergency equipment are installed around the wellhead, which is the entrance side of vehicles, and at predetermined locations in the tunnel. Occasionally, it is used by drivers and fire brigades to prevent accidents from occurring or on a small scale.

By the way, in cold and snowy areas, the snow blown around the wellhead of the tunnel or the snow brought in every time the snowplow removes snow is piled up so as to partially fill the emergency equipment installed around the wellhead. In an emergency, the emergency equipment may be in a state where it cannot be used promptly or at all, and it is difficult to secure the role as an emergency.

That is, when snow is piled up on the road surface, snow removal work is frequently performed by a snowplow, but a snowplow generally has a structure in which a one-sided plow (snow removal plate) is used to scrape snow to the left side with respect to the traveling direction. Some are known to have a shooter structure that throws snow scraped off with a snowplow or rotating blades to the left side of the road. At the degree of snow removal work by the snowplow, the snow on the road surface in front of the tunnel entrance is scraped up as the snowplow progresses and brought into the tunnel, and the snow is deposited on the left wall in the tunnel around the tunnel entrance. The problem arises that the emergency equipment is partially buried.

Patent Document 1 proposes a device that irradiates infrared rays to melt snow and ice accumulated on a road surface and at the same time extinguishes fog generated above the road surface. Further, in Patent Document 2, infrared rays are remotely irradiated to the lower part of a tubular vehicle detection device erected at a tollhouse to prevent the detection surface from freezing by heating, and false detection of a vehicle is detected. Devices designed to prevent it have been proposed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-162907 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-85998

Patent Document 1 relates to a structure in which one of the infrared irradiators attached to the columns is directed to the space above the road surface via a reflector, and the other one is directed to the road surface via another reflector, and relates to a tunnel. It does not heat in relation to the specific installation on the inner side wall. Patent Document 2 uses heat transfer or heat convection to thaw the freezing of the detection surface, and does not heat the tunnel side wall in connection with a specific installation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides an infrared snow melting device that effectively melts snow accumulated on the front side of emergency equipment installed around a tunnel entrance.

The infrared snowmelting device according to the present invention is an infrared irradiator that is arranged above the emergency equipment installed on the side wall of the tunnel entrance and irradiates infrared rays from above toward the roadside zone on the front side of the emergency equipment. It is prepared. According to the present invention, the snow that is blown into the tunnel entrance or brought in every time the snow removal work is performed by a snowplow and accumulated so as to cover the emergency equipment is effectively melted by the irradiation of infrared rays from above. Then, the front of the emergency equipment is cleared of snow. Therefore, even if there is snow at the tunnel entrance, it is possible to use the emergency equipment promptly.

Further, the infrared irradiator irradiates the infrared rays toward the inner side of the tunnel from the center position of the emergency equipment with respect to the depth direction of the tunnel. According to this configuration, even if the amount of snow blown in and the amount of snow brought in by the snowplow is relatively large on the snowmelt slope on the back side of the tunnel, the amount of snow on the snowmelt slope side on the back side of the tunnel is increased. By melting the snow, the entire front surface of the emergency equipment is uniformly melted.

Further, the infrared irradiator is installed so that the mounting position is shifted to the back side of the tunnel. According to this configuration, since the mounting position is only shifted, the mounting structure and work become easy.

Further, the infrared irradiator is installed at an angle so that the infrared irradiation direction faces the back side of the tunnel. According to this configuration, it is possible to deal with it only by tilting the infrared irradiation direction.

Further, a snow gauge for remotely detecting the amount of snow accumulated on the roadside zone on the front side of the emergency equipment is provided, and the snow gauge is located directly above the roadside zone on the front side of the emergency equipment. It is provided at a shifted position. According to this configuration, the snow gauge can be installed at a position away from directly above the front side of the emergency equipment, which increases the degree of freedom in the installation location.

Further, the snow deposit sensor includes a reflective material having a black surface laid on the road shoulder surface on the front side of the emergency equipment, and the snow accumulation sensor optically detects the black surface of the reflective material. According to this configuration, false positives are effectively prevented.

According to the present invention, snow is effectively melted for emergency equipment installed near the tunnel entrance.

It is a figure which shows the application example of the infrared snowmelting apparatus installed around the tunnel entrance, (a) is a view which looked at the roadside belt side from a vehicle running path, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of a part of a tunnel. It is a structural drawing which shows one Embodiment of an infrared snow melting device, (a) is a structural drawing of a fixture, (b) is a perspective view of the infrared snow melting device in a state of being supported by the fixture, and (c) is a cross-sectional view. is there. 2 is a configuration diagram of the infrared snowmelting device, in which FIG. 2A is an exploded view illustrating attachment to the side wall, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an example of infrared radiation characteristics emitted from the infrared snowmelting device. It is a figure which shows another example of the mounting state of the infrared snow melting device, (a) is the mounting drawing which arranged the infrared snow melting device diagonally, and (b) is the mounting drawing which only the infrared snow melting device on the back side of a tunnel is arranged diagonally. is there. The layout of the snow gauge, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a view of the roadside zone side from the vehicle running path. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure for executing a snowmelt operation. It is a flowchart which shows an example of snowmelt processing. It is a figure which shows other application example of the installation state of the infrared snowmelt device installed around the tunnel entrance, (a) is a view which looked at the roadside belt side from a vehicle running path, (b) is a cross section of a part of a tunnel. It is a figure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an application example of an infrared snowmelting device installed around a tunnel entrance, (a) is a view of the roadside zone side from a vehicle running path, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of a part of the tunnel. Is. In FIG. 1, a vehicle running path 21 and a bulky roadside band 22 used as a sidewalk or the like are formed between the vehicle running path 21 and the tunnel side wall 11 in the tunnel 10. A rectangular parallelepiped-shaped recess 12 is bored in the tunnel side wall 11 at a position where the tunnel 10 is entered by a predetermined distance from the wellhead on the entrance (vehicle entry side lane) side. The recess 12 is formed from the roadside band 22 toward the upper part, and an emergency telephone box 30 as an example of emergency equipment is fitted therein. Regarding the emergency equipment of the tunnel 10, the installation location is individually defined by the "road tunnel emergency facility equipment standard" at a predetermined position near the wellhead and at a predetermined distance interval in the tunnel 10. The emergency telephone box 30 shown in FIG. 1 is installed near the wellhead. The emergency telephone box 30 has a size similar to that of a general telephone box, and a telephone device can be used by opening the front door and entering the inside.

During snowfall or snowfall, the roadside zone 22 around the wellhead in the tunnel 10 is filled with snow that blows in from the outside and snow that is brought in every time the snowplow is used to remove snow (before snowmelt). Like the snow 40, it covers the front side of the emergency telephone box 30 and becomes frozen, which makes it difficult for the door of the emergency telephone box 30 to open due to freezing, which may hinder the prompt use of the telephone in an emergency. There is.

In FIG. 1, a predetermined number of infrared snowmelting devices (hereinafter referred to as heaters) 50 that radiate infrared rays, including one, are installed side by side on the upper part of the emergency telephone box 30. The radiation region IR substantially indicates an angle range in which the snow melting action can be effectively exerted by the infrared rays emitted from the heater 50. The details of the structure of the heater 50 will be described later in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The two heaters 50 are installed so as to be separated by a predetermined dimension in the direction along the vehicle travel path 21. The two heaters 50 are not symmetrical with respect to the center line O (see FIG. 1A) in the width direction of the emergency telephone box 30 (direction along the vehicle travel path 21), but are as follows. In consideration of the circumstances, they are arranged on the back side of the tunnel with a predetermined dimension. That is, when the two heaters 50 are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the center line O without assuming the blowing of snow and the bringing in of snow, the front side of the emergency telephone box 30 is substantially equal on the left and right. Snowmelt slopes 41 and 42 showing snowmelt surfaces can be seen on both sides of the snowmelt (including deicing).

On the other hand, in the vicinity of the wellhead on the entrance side of the tunnel 10, snow is blown in and snow is brought in every time the snow removal work is performed by a snowplow, and in reality, it is necessary to consider these effects. Therefore, the applicant conducted an observation and experiment of snowmelt by infrared irradiation at a tunnel site, and found that the snow blown and the snow brought in by the snowplow face the tunnel entrance among the upper surfaces of the snowmelt slopes 41 and 42 during the snowmelt. We found that more snow tends to accumulate on the side, that is, on the snowmelt slope 42 at the back of the tunnel. Then, the front side of the emergency telephone box 30 was covered by the snowmelt slope 42 side, and as a result, the door of the emergency telephone box 30 was difficult to open.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1A, the heater 50 is arranged on the back side of the tunnel 10 by a predetermined dimension with respect to the center line O (see FIG. 1A). That is, by irradiating a relatively large amount of infrared rays (heat amount) on the snowmelt slope 42 side, a large amount of carry-in (including blowing) accumulated on the snowmelt slope 42 side is effectively melted, and the amount is equivalent to that of the snowmelt slope 41. By doing so, the entire front surface of the emergency telephone box 30 was erased. The dimension to be shifted to the back side of the tunnel 10 depends on the snow accumulation condition, wind speed, temperature (air temperature), etc., but when the width of the emergency telephone box is about 1 m, it is preferably several cm to several tens of cm.

2A and 2B are structural views of the heater 50, where FIG. 2A is a structural view of a fixture, FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the heater 50 supported by the fixture, and FIG. 3A and 3B are configuration views of the heater 50, where FIG. 3A is an exploded view illustrating attachment to the side wall, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of infrared radiation characteristics. It is formed in a plate shape with metal fittings such as, etc., and is formed into a U-shaped cross section by bending both sides in the long direction at right angles in the same direction. Heater bodies 52 are attached to both sides of the fixture 51.

The heater main body 52 is provided with a tubular halogen lamp 522 that generates infrared rays, for example, inside a housing 521 having a trapezoidal cross section in the longitudinal direction and an opening on one side. Although not shown in the drawing, structures are provided on both sides of the heater body 52 in the longitudinal direction to support the electrode portions at both ends of the halogen lamp 522 and to make an electrical connection. The number of halogen lamps 522 provided in the heater main body 52 can be set according to the amount of radiation required for the target snowmelt environment. In this embodiment, two halogen lamps 522 of 2 KW are arranged side by side. The type (4KW) is used. The wattage (W) number and the number of halogen lamps 522 can be selected according to the environment where the halogen lamps are applied. For example, four 1KW lamps may be arranged in a series-parallel manner to form a 4KW halogen lamp. The heater body 52 has a substantially U-shaped cross section and the opening is the opening of the housing 521 in order to efficiently irradiate the infrared rays radiated from the halogen lamp 522 from the opening of the housing 521 within the directional angle. It is provided with a reflector 523 arranged so as to substantially match with. Further, both ends in the tube direction inside the housing 521 are provided with side reflectors (not shown) inclined toward the opening side, and infrared rays directed toward the inclined side reflectors are reflected forward (opening side). I try to let you. Further, a grid-like protective net 524 for protecting the halogen lamp 522 is stretched in the opening of the housing 521.

In the halogen lamp 522, a filament made of tungsten is arranged in a substantially central portion of a valve made of quartz glass, and a halogen gas and an inert gas such as argon or nitrogen are sealed therein. Further, in the halogen lamp 522, the surface of the tube is coated with an infrared radiation material, for example, black far-infrared radiation ceramics.

A central hole 511 substantially in the center and an arc hole 512 having a predetermined length on the circumference thereof are bored on both sides of the fixture 51. On the other hand, on the back surface of the heater main body 52, a connecting plate 53 that matches the distance between both side portions of the fixture 51 is erected. The connecting plate 53 is provided with a central hole 531 and a plurality of holes 532 on the same radius around the central hole 531. The support shaft is passed through the center hole 511 and the hole 531 in the same state, and the hole 532 facing the arc hole 512 in a posture in which the heater main body 52 is rotated by a required angle with respect to the fixture 51. The heater body 52 is fixed to the fixture 51 in a state where the angle is adjusted by fastening the heater body 52 with a bolt. The curved surface of the reflector 523 of the heater main body 52 is shaped so that the infrared radiation region IR (irradiation angle) is a predetermined angle, for example, 30 ° (see FIG. 3B).

Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, a mounting plate 54 of a required size is attached to the side wall 11 in the tunnel 10 to which the heater main body 52 is mounted by a fastener made of anchor bolts 541. The mounting plate 54 is fixed to the mounting plate 54 by passing the holes of the mounting tools 51 through the anchor bolts 541 and tightening the nuts. As a structure for mounting on the tunnel side wall 11 on the heater 50 side, a known method other than the above can be adopted, and most of the structure of the mounting portion is provided on the tunnel side wall 11 side and engaged with the heater main body 52. It is also possible to adopt a mode in which only the portion is provided.

4A and 4B are views showing another example of the mounting state of the heater 50. FIG. 4A is a mounting diagram in which the heater 50 is diagonally arranged, and FIG. 4B is a mounting in which only the heater 50 on the back side of the tunnel 10 is diagonally arranged. It is a figure. In FIG. 1, the two heaters 50 are installed so as to be shifted to the back side of the tunnel 10 so that the front surface of the emergency telephone box 30 is melted substantially uniformly. However, in FIG. 4A, the two heaters are installed. The 50s are installed at positions symmetrical with respect to the center line O, and each of them is tilted toward the back of the tunnel at a predetermined inclination angle φ1 with respect to the vertical direction V. By tilting each heater 50 at an inclination angle θ, it is possible to melt more snow on the snowmelt slope 42 side with respect to blown snow and brought-in snow, and it is possible to melt the entire front surface of the emergency telephone box 30 more uniformly. Become. Even in the case of one heater 50, the same effect can be expected by inclining it.

Further, in FIG. 4B, the two heaters 50 are installed at positions symmetrical with respect to the center line O, and only the heater 50 on the entrance side of the tunnel 10 is installed at the back of the tunnel 10 with respect to the vertical direction V. It is tilted to the side at a predetermined tilt angle φ2. By tilting only the heater 50 on the entrance side of the tunnel 10 to an inclination angle of φ2, the overlap range of the heater 50 on the back side of the tunnel with the radiation range IR becomes wider on the back side of the tunnel 10 than on the center line O, and the amount of heat increases. Therefore, it is possible to melt more snow on the snowmelt slope 42 side where there is a lot of blown snow and brought-in snow. Therefore, it is possible to melt the entire front surface of the emergency telephone box 30 more uniformly. Further, the same effect can be expected by inclining two heaters 50 on the tunnel entrance side or one in the center in a manner in which three heaters 50 are arranged in series, for example. Further, the mounting height position of the heater 50 on the back side of the tunnel may be made relatively lower than that of the heater 50 on the entrance side of the tunnel, including the case of two cases.

5A and 5B are views showing the arrangement of snow gauges, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view and FIG. 5B is a view of the roadside zone 22 side from the vehicle travel path 21. The arrangement of the heater 50 is the same as in FIG. The snow gauge 71 detects, for example, a transmitter that transmits an infrared beam (note that a wavelength band different from the infrared rays emitted by the heater 50 is used to prevent interference) as a detection signal, and an infrared ray reflected from a reflecting object. It is provided with a receiving unit that detects the presence or absence of a detection target by receiving it as a signal. The snow gauge 71 detects the presence of snow by receiving the reflection from the snow surface when there is snow on the measurement site, while the snow gauge 71 is in a snow-clearing state when the detection site is a roadside zone 22 made of concrete or asphalt. However, the decrease in the reflection level is not sufficient, and there is a possibility that it will be erroneously detected as "unsnow-melted". Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent such false detection, the transmission direction of the detection signal of the snow gauge 71 is set at an angle θ that does not receive direct reflection from diagonally above, for example, 15 degrees, and the front surface of the emergency telephone box 30. I try to send it to the department. Since the snow gauge 71 can be installed at an appropriate position away from directly above the front surface of the emergency telephone box 30, the degree of freedom of installation is increased and workability is also improved.

Furthermore, by laying a mat-like, sheet-like or thin-layered plate material with a black surface on this part as the reflection inhibitor 711, the reflection of infrared rays is suppressed while the black surface is exposed by snow removal, and the snow is eliminated. I try to detect the condition reliably. The reflection suppressing material 711 is not limited to the one having a black surface, and a color, a material, or a surface-treated material that suppresses the reflection of infrared rays can be adopted. Further, the snow gauge 71 may be installed directly above the reflection suppressing material 711. Further, as the snow gauge 71, in addition to one using an infrared beam, one using a propagation time difference of propagation signals such as light, radio waves, and ultrasonic waves, and one using an imaging means such as a CCD can be adopted.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a functional configuration for executing the snowmelt operation. The snow melting operation of the heater 50 is controlled by a control unit 61 or the like built in the control panel 60. As shown in FIG. 1, the control panel 61 may be provided inside the wellhead of the tunnel 10 or may be provided outside the wellhead at an appropriate position. The control unit 61 is preferably composed of a microprocessor and functions as a heater control unit 611 and a timer 612 by executing a control program stored in the storage unit 64. The heater control unit 611 controls on / off of the power supplied to the heater 50 to the power supply unit 62 according to the control program while referring to the detection result of the snow gauge 71 and the time information of the timer 612. In this embodiment, the timer 612 executes two types of timer functions, one is automatically after a predetermined time from turning on in consideration of the case where the power of the heater 50 is forgotten to be turned off during "manual" operation. It functions as a timer for preventing forgetting to turn off the power, and the other one functions as a snow delay timer that keeps on for a predetermined time after determining that the snow has been erased by melting snow at the time of "automatic".

The operation unit 63 is a switch (not shown) that can be manually operated, and the switch can be switched between "manual" and "automatic" for the snowmelt operation. The thermometer 72 measures the air temperature, and the measurement result is used as needed. Further, although not shown in the figure, an anemometer may be provided and this information may be applied.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the snow melting process. When the main power is turned on, the state of the switch, which is the operation unit 63, is first determined (step S11). If it is determined to be "manual", it is determined whether or not the operation is turned on (step S13). If the operation is not turned on, the process returns to step S11. On the other hand, if the operation is turned on, the heater 50 is operated (on) (step S15). Next, the operation of the timer for preventing forgetting to turn off is started (step S17). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the timer for preventing forgetting to turn off has timed up the set time (step S19), and when it is determined that the time has expired, the heater 50 is stopped (step S21), and subsequently, prevention of forgetting to turn off is prevented. The timer is reset (step S23), and the process returns to step S11. This flowchart ends when the power of the control panel 60 is turned off.

On the other hand, if it is determined to be "automatic" in step S11, it is determined whether or not the operation is turned on (step S25). If the operation is not turned on, the process returns to step S11, and if the operation is turned on, the presence or absence of snow is determined by referring to the result of the snow gauge 71 (step S27). After waiting until it is determined that there is snow, the heater 50 is turned on and the snow melting operation is started (step S29). Next, referring to the result of the snow gauge 71, it is determined whether or not the snow has been removed, that is, no snow has been accumulated, by the snow melting operation (step S31). In step S31, the snow melting process by the heater 50 is continued until the snow is removed.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the snow has been cleared (Yes in step S31), the operation of the snow delay timer is started (step S33). After that, it is determined whether or not the snow cover delay timer has timed up the set time (step S35), and when it is determined that the time has expired, the heater 50 is stopped (step S37), and then the snow cover delay timer is set. It is reset (step S39) and returns to step S27. In step S27, when snow is accumulated due to, for example, bringing in snow by a snowplow, the same snow melting process is repeated. The time set in the snow delay timer has a heater on time to make the snow removal state more reliable, and may be a preset time, for example, of a thermometer 72 (or anemometer). It may be set in a variable manner with reference to the result. Further, when the switching of the switch is detected by the control unit 61, the process returns to step S11.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another application example of the installation state of the infrared snow melting device installed around the tunnel entrance, (a) is a view of the roadside zone side from the vehicle running path, and (b) is one of the tunnels. It is a cross-sectional view of a part. FIG. 8 shows an example of application of a fire extinguisher or a fire hydrant to a fire extinguishing equipment box 31 as emergency equipment. Similar to the case of FIG. 1, the heater 50 is installed even on the back side of the tunnel 10 with respect to the center line O of the fire extinguishing equipment box 31, so that the heater 50 can be used for blowing snow and snow brought in for each snow removal. The front of the fire extinguishing equipment box 31 is extinguished to ensure the reliable use of the equipment. Also in the case of FIG. 8, the aspects of FIGS. 4 and 5 can be adopted.

10 Tunnel 30 Emergency telephone box (emergency equipment)
31 Fire extinguishing equipment box (emergency equipment)
50 heater (infrared snow melting device)
51 Fixture 52 Heater body (infrared irradiator)
53 Connecting plate (mounting part)
71 Snow gauge 711 Reflection suppressor (reflector)

Claims (5)

It is equipped with a mounting part installed above the emergency equipment installed on the side wall of the tunnel entrance, and an infrared irradiator that irradiates infrared rays converged from above toward the roadside zone on the front side of the emergency equipment .
The infrared irradiator is an infrared snowmelting device that irradiates the infrared rays toward the inner side of the tunnel from the central position in the depth direction of the tunnel of the emergency equipment. The infrared snowmelting device according to claim 1, wherein the infrared irradiator is installed so that the mounting position is shifted to the inner side of the tunnel with respect to the central position of the emergency equipment in the depth direction of the tunnel. The infrared illuminator, to face the irradiation direction tunnel inner side of the infrared, tilted infrared snow melting apparatus of claim 1 or 2 are attached, et al in. A snow gauge that remotely detects the amount of snow accumulated on the roadside zone on the front side of the emergency equipment is provided.
The snow gauge is an infrared snow melting apparatus according to claim 1 that is kicked set at a position shifted from right above the position of the side strip of the front side of the emergency equipment. It is provided with a reflective material having a black surface, which is laid in the roadside zone on the front side of the emergency equipment.
The snow gauge is an infrared snow melting apparatus according to Der Ru claim 4 detects the black surface of the reflective material optically.

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