JP7496757B2 - Automatic lowering gate without power during earthquakes - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic earthquake-resistant lowering gate that detects earthquake shaking without a power source and automatically shuts off a waterway when an earthquake of a certain magnitude or greater occurs.

Traditionally, waterways have had bridge structures such as aqueducts in some locations, and if the aqueducts are damaged in an emergency such as a large-scale earthquake, third-party damage due to overflow is expected. For this reason, measures have been taken in such locations, such as installing emergency descent gates equipped with electric motors, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, to cut off the waterway in an emergency. This measure requires a power source to drive the electric motor, and the emergency descent gates are relatively large, so they are installed in locations with large water intakes, such as waterways in rivers and reservoirs.

Patent No. 5851278

However, the emergency shutoff gates described in Patent Document 1 are rarely installed in locations with small water intakes, such as waterways with widths of around 50 to 60 centimeters, because the cost-effectiveness is not justified. For this reason, there is a demand for the construction of an inexpensive, battery-free system that automatically lowers a gate to shut off the waterway when an earthquake of a certain magnitude is detected, even for waterways with small water intakes.

The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic earthquake-resistant gate that can be installed inexpensively and cuts off the waterway without a power source when an earthquake occurs.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is an automatic lowering gate without electricity for use in earthquakes, comprising a gate body that blocks a waterway by lowering, a non-powered seismic sensor, and a gate body holding mechanism that normally holds the gate body in a standby position that does not block the waterway and allows the gate body to lower under its own weight when an earthquake of a predetermined scale or greater occurs, wherein the non-powered seismic sensor comprises a base and a weight placed on the base so as to fall off the base when an earthquake of a predetermined scale or greater occurs, and the gate body holding mechanism allows the gate body to lower in response to the weight falling off, The door mechanism comprises a ratchet mechanism connected via a first string, an interlocking weight provided below the ratchet mechanism and connected to the ratchet mechanism via a second string, and a lifting pin mechanism provided below the interlocking weight, and in a normal state, the door body is held in a standby position by the lifting pin mechanism, and in the event of an earthquake of a predetermined magnitude or greater, the ratchet mechanism drops the interlocking weight in conjunction with the falling off of the weight, and the lifting pin mechanism releases its hold on the door body by colliding with the dropped interlocking weight .
The invention as set forth in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned configuration, the door body holding mechanism includes an interlocking weight guide capable of guiding the interlocking weight in a predetermined direction.
The invention as set forth in claim 3 is characterized in that in the above-mentioned configuration, the base has a recess on an upper portion thereof for placing a weight thereon.
The invention as set forth in claim 4 is characterized in that in the above-mentioned configuration, the weight is a sphere.

The main advantage of the present invention is that it provides an automatic earthquake-resistant lowering gate that is inexpensive to install and can automatically shut off a waterway without a power source when an earthquake of a certain magnitude or greater occurs.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the power-free automatic descent gate of the present invention in the event of an earthquake. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the power-free automatic descent gate of the present invention in the event of an earthquake. 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing a lifting pin mechanism, in which FIG. FIG. 2 is a central vertical cross-sectional view showing the non-powered seismic sensor of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the descent of the gate body of a non-electric automatic descent gate during an earthquake. 13 shows the results of adjustments to an example of the operation of a non-battery seismic sensor, where (a) is the result assuming a seismic intensity of 4, and (b) is the result assuming a seismic intensity of 3.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Fig. 1 is a front view showing the automatic descent gate without electric power in case of an earthquake (normal state) of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view showing the automatic descent gate without electric power in case of an earthquake (normal state) of the present invention. Fig. 1 shows a transparent device cover 1a, which will be described later, and Fig. 2 shows the transparent device cover 1a and a part of a waterway H, which will be described later. The automatic descent gate without electric power in case of an earthquake 1 is preferably used to cut off a waterway H with a small amount of water intake.
The earthquake powerless automatic descent gate 1 cuts off the waterway H when an earthquake of a specified magnitude or greater occurs.
As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the earthquake non-powered automatic descent gate 1 comprises a gate body 2, a lifting pin mechanism 3 as a gate body holding mechanism K, an interlocking weight 4, a ratchet mechanism 5, and a non-powered seismic sensor 6, as well as an equipment cover 1a for protecting them from wind, rain, etc. The equipment cover 1a is held by a support material P. The earthquake non-powered automatic descent gate 1 is installed on a waterway H via a door hanging hardware F. Note that the support material P is omitted in Figure 1.

The gate body 2 is a thick plate having a rectangular shape when viewed from the front, and has a width equal to that of the waterway H. The gate body 2 must have a height sufficient to block the flow of water when the waterway H is blocked. The gate body 2 is provided with watertight rubber G over the entire area of both left and right side surfaces and the bottom surface of the gate body 2, which seals the gate body 2 and the waterway H when the waterway is blocked.
As shown in FIG. 2, the door body 2 is connected to a balance weight 7 provided behind a door hanging hardware F by chains C, C.

The door hanging hardware F comprises legs F1, F1 extending vertically, a first beam F2 connecting the upper ends of the legs F1, F1, and a second beam F3 for mounting a lifting pin mechanism 3 near the vertical center of the legs F1, F1.
Chain sprockets F4, F4 are provided near both upper left and right ends of the door hanging hardware F and hold chains C, C. Each chain C has an inverted U-shape when viewed from the side.
The door hanging hardware F is installed by hammering the lower parts of the legs F1, F1 into the side wall of the waterway H.

3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams showing the lifting pin mechanism, in which Fig. 3A is a front view and Fig. 3B is a plan view. The lifting pin mechanism 3 is provided at the center of the second beam portion F3 of the door hanging hardware F in the left-right direction.
3(a) and 3(b), the lifting pin mechanism 3 includes a lifting pin 31, a door hanging hardware side part 32, and a door body side part 33. The door hanging hardware side part 32 is attached to the second beam part F3 via an existing fixing means such as a screw. The door body side part 33 is attached to the door body 2 via an existing fixing means such as a screw.
The door body side part 33 has a plate-like part 34 along the upper edge of the door body 2 and a cylindrical locking part 35 protruding upward from the upper center of the plate-like part 34. The lifting pin 31 has a locking shaft 36 that is inserted into the locking part 35 from above and locks with the locking part 35, and a button 37 is provided above the locking shaft 36 as shown in FIG. 3B. A locking means (not shown) for locking the locking part 35 and the locking shaft 36 to each other has a mechanism that can release the locking state between the locking part 35 and the locking shaft 36 in conjunction with the pressing of the button 37, and the mechanism is not limited. The lifting pin 31 has a ring-shaped rotating part 38 at its upper part that can rotate around the connection part with the lifting pin 31 as a fulcrum.
The door hanging hardware side part 32 is provided with a generally cylindrical lifting pin fixing shaft 39 that extends vertically. The lifting pin fixing shaft 39 is inserted into the rotating part 38 of the lifting pin 31 that faces horizontally, and the rotating part 38 and the door hanging hardware side part 32 are fixed by welding or the like.

The interlocking weight 4 is a columnar body having a predetermined weight and provided above the button 37 of the lifting pin mechanism 3 .
The ratchet mechanism 5 is provided at the upper center in the left-right direction of the first beam portion F2 of the door hanging hardware F. The ratchet mechanism 5 is a rotatable disk-shaped body, and includes a ratchet drum 51 having a notch 52 on its circumference, and a clutch lever 53 having a claw portion N at one end that can be engaged with the notch 52. The other end of the clutch lever 53 is connected to the non-powered seismic sensor 6 via a first wire 8 serving as a first cord. The clutch lever 53 is provided so as to be able to swing around a middle portion near the claw portion N as a fulcrum. The rotation of the ratchet drum 51 is normally stopped by the engagement of the clutch lever 53 with the claw portion N.
The interlocking weight 4 is connected to the ratchet drum 51 via a second wire 9 serving as a second string, and is suspended above the button 37 of the lifting pin mechanism 3. The length of the second wire 9 is set to be equal to or longer than the length that allows the tip of the suspended interlocking weight 4 to collide with the button 37 of the lifting pin mechanism 3. The second wire 9 is wound around the ratchet drum 51 so that the descent of the connected interlocking weight 4 causes the ratchet drum 51 to rotate counterclockwise in a front view.
As will be described later, since it is necessary to drop the interlocking weight 4 toward the button 37 of the lifting pin mechanism 3 in the event of an earthquake of a specified magnitude or greater, to prevent the interlocking weight 4 from shaking and coming off the button 37 due to the shaking of the earthquake, an interlocking weight guide 10 which is cylindrical and extends vertically and guides the direction in which the interlocking weight 4 falls is attached so as to protrude downward from the left-right center of the first beam portion F2 of the door hanging hardware F.

FIG. 4 is a central vertical cross-sectional view showing a non-powered seismic sensor according to the present invention.
The non-powered seismic sensor 6 is provided on the upper right side of the first beam portion F2 of the door hanging hardware F, and comprises a base 61 and a ball 62 as a weight.
4, a recess 61a having a diameter of φ is formed in the upper portion of the base 61 so that a ball 62 can be placed thereon. The upper portion of the hollow portion of the recess 61a is cylindrical, and the lower portion is inverted cone-like.
Ball 62 has a predetermined weight, and in a normal state is placed on the top of pedestal 61. In other words, the lower end of ball 62 is placed in recess 61a of pedestal 61, so that ball 62 will not fall off pedestal 61 even when subjected to vibrations caused by weak earthquakes of less than a predetermined scale.
In addition, the ball 62 is connected to the other end of the clutch lever 53 of the ratchet mechanism 5 via a first wire 8 .

The operation of the earthquake-proof power-free automatic descent gate 1 having the above-mentioned configuration will be described below.
In the earthquake non-electric automatic descent gate 1, in the normal state, as shown in Fig. 1, the gate body 2 is set in a standby position suspended by the lifting pin mechanism 3. At this time, the gate body 2 is pulled upward by the balance weight 7, which makes it easy to hold the gate body 2 by the locking force between the locking portion 35 and the locking shaft 36 of the lifting pin mechanism 3. When the gate body 2 is in the standby position, the flow of water or the like in the waterway H is permitted.
In addition, the ratchet mechanism 5 is in a state where the claw portion N of the clutch lever 53 is engaged with the notch portion 52, and the rotation of the ratchet drum 51 is restricted. As a result, the interlocking weight 4 is suspended inside the interlocking weight guide 10 by the second wire 9 connected to the ratchet mechanism 5. At this time, the other end side of the clutch lever 53 is raised upward.
Furthermore, the non-powered seismic sensor 6 has a ball 62 placed on a base 61 .

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the gate body of the earthquake non-electricity automatic descent gate descending. In order to clarify the explanation, the device cover 1a is not shown in Fig. 5, but in reality, the earthquake non-electricity automatic descent gate 1 has the device cover 1a attached.
When an earthquake of a certain magnitude or greater (for example, seismic intensity 4) occurs in the normally standby state of the earthquake-resistant automatic descent gate 1, the ball 62 of the non-powered seismic sensor 6 falls off the pedestal 61 due to the shaking, as shown by the arrow a in Figure 5. At this time, the correlation between the diameter φ of the recess 61a formed in the top of the pedestal 61 and the weight and diameter of the ball 62 makes it possible to adjust so that the ball 62 falls off the pedestal 61 at the desired seismic intensity.
When the ball 62 falls off the base 61, the falling ball 62 pulls down the other end of the clutch lever 53 of the ratchet mechanism 5 due to its own weight, via the first wire 8, as shown by the arrow b in Fig. 5. Due to the swinging motion that pulls down the other end of the clutch lever 53, the claw portion N comes out of the notch 52 of the ratchet drum 51, and the ratchet drum 51 is released and becomes rotatable.

When the ratchet drum 51 of the ratchet mechanism 5 becomes rotatable, the interlocking weight 4 is guided by the interlocking weight guide 10 by its own weight and falls toward the button 37 of the lifting pin mechanism 3, as shown by the arrow c in Figure 5. At this time, the lower part of the second wire 9 gradually stretches, and the ratchet drum 51 rotates counterclockwise.
When the interlocking weight 4 hits the button 37, the button 37 is pressed downward, and the locking state between the locking portion 35 and the locking shaft 36 is released, and the door body side portion 33 becomes capable of falling. That is, the lifting pin mechanism 3 releases the hold of the door body 2. This allows the door body 2 to fall from the standby position into the waterway H under its own weight, and moves to a blocking position where the waterway H is blocked, as shown by the arrow d in Fig. 5. That is, the ratchet mechanism 5 and the lifting pin mechanism 3 work in conjunction with the falling off of the ball 62, and automatically allow the door body 2 to fall without power. Thus, the waterway H is blocked by the door body 2 that has moved to the blocking position, and the flow of water or the like in the waterway H is blocked.
In this way, the earthquake powerless automatic descent gate 1 can be installed inexpensively because it does not require a power source either in normal conditions or for the descent mechanism of the gate body 2 when an earthquake occurs. Therefore, it can be installed in places with small water intake volumes where the cost-effectiveness of conventional emergency descent gates is not balanced.
In addition, by utilizing the weight of the balance weight 7, the restoration work of the door body 2 from the blocking position to the standby position after the earthquake has subsided can be performed more easily than in the case where the balance weight 7 is not used.

An example of the operation of the non-powered seismic sensor 6 will be described in further detail below.
In general, the seismic intensity of an earthquake correlates with the acceleration (gal) that indicates the strength of the earthquake, and the acceleration (gal) correlates with the period of the shaking. Specifically, a seismic intensity of 4 corresponds to 80 gal, and 80 gal corresponds to a period of 0.2 seconds. Also, a seismic intensity of 3 corresponds to 60 gal, and 60 gal corresponds to a period of 0.1 seconds.
Here, a ball 62 having a diameter of 30 mm and a weight of 83 g was used, and the diameter φ of the recess 61a was adjusted so that the ball 62 would fall off the base 61 at a seismic intensity of 4, and the ball 62 would remain placed on the base 61 at a seismic intensity of 3. Six different diameters φ were prepared in total, ranging from 3.5 mm to 6.0 mm inclusive, at intervals of 0.5 mm.

Figure 6 shows the results of adjustments to an example of the operation of a non-battery seismic sensor, with Figure 6(a) showing the results assuming a seismic intensity of 4, and Figure 6(b) showing the results assuming a seismic intensity of 3. In Figures 6(a) and (b), cases in which the ball fell off the base are indicated with an X, and cases in which it did not fall off are indicated with an O.
Pedestals 61 having each diameter φ were prepared, and the above-mentioned balls 62 were placed on the respective pedestals 61 and set on the vibration excitation device. Then, the vibration excitation device applied vibrations with a period of 0.2 seconds to all six types of pedestals 61 for 30 seconds, simulating a seismic intensity of 4. The vibration excitation device also applied vibrations with a period of 0.1 seconds to all six types of pedestals 61 for 30 seconds, simulating a seismic intensity of 3. This application of vibrations was tried 10 times for each.

In the case of an earthquake of intensity 4, as shown in FIG. 6( a ), when the diameter φ of the recess 61 a of the base 61 was 4.5 mm or less, the ball 62 fell off the base 61 in all trials.
On the other hand, in the case of an earthquake of magnitude 3, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the diameter φ of the recess 61a of the base 61 was 4.5 mm or more, the ball 62 did not fall off the base 61 in any of the trials.
Therefore, in this adjustment, the diameter φ is selected to be 4.5 mm, and if this diameter φ = 4.5 mm is selected, a battery-free earthquake sensor 6 is provided that does not sense earthquakes of less than seismic intensity 4 and senses earthquakes of intensity 4 or more with high accuracy.
In this way, the correlation between the diameter φ of the recess 61a formed in the upper part of the base 61 and the weight and diameter of the ball 62 can be adjusted so that the ball 62 falls off the base 61 at a desired seismic intensity. The suitable diameter φ changes depending on the size and weight of the ball 62.

The non-powered automatic descent gate 1 in the event of an earthquake, constructed as described above, comprises a gate body 2 that blocks the waterway H by descending, a non-powered seismic device 6, and a door body holding mechanism K which normally holds the gate body 2 in a standby position where it does not block the waterway H and allows the door body 2 to descend in the event of an earthquake of a predetermined scale or greater. The non-powered seismic device 6 comprises a base 61 and a ball 62 placed on the base 61 so as to fall off the base 61 in the event of an earthquake of a predetermined scale or greater, and the door body holding mechanism K operates in conjunction with the ball 62 to allow the door body 2 to descend.
The door body holding mechanism K also comprises a ratchet mechanism 5 connected to the ball 62 via a first wire 8, an interlocking weight 4 provided below the ratchet mechanism 5 and connected to the ratchet mechanism 5 via a second wire 9, and a lifting pin mechanism 3 provided below the interlocking weight 4. In the normal state, the door body 2 is held in a standby position by the lifting pin mechanism 3, and in the event of an earthquake of a predetermined magnitude or greater, the ratchet mechanism 5 drops the interlocking weight 4 in conjunction with the falling off of the ball 62, and the lifting pin mechanism 3 releases its hold on the door body 2 by colliding with the fallen interlocking weight 4.
Therefore, the earthquake power-free automatic descent gate 1 can be installed inexpensively because it does not require a power source either in normal conditions or for the descent mechanism of the gate body 2 when an earthquake of a certain scale or larger occurs. Therefore, it can be installed in places with a small amount of water intake where the cost-effectiveness of conventional emergency descent gates is not balanced.

The present invention has been described above based on the illustrated examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these. For example, the installation location of the non-battery seismic sensor may be anywhere as long as it can transmit the force of the falling weight to the ratchet mechanism.
The shape of the base can be set to any shape as long as the weight can be placed on top of it in the normal state and the weight will fall off in the event of an earthquake of a predetermined magnitude or greater. Similarly, the weight can also be set to any shape.
Furthermore, the recess can have a weight placed on top in the normal state, and if the weight falls off in the event of an earthquake of a specified magnitude or greater, the recess can have any shape, such as a circle in plan view or a polygonal shape in plan view.
In addition, in order to prevent the first cord from becoming entangled with other components when an earthquake occurs, the non-powered seismic sensor may be provided with a weight guide that regulates the falling direction of the weight.
Furthermore, the locking portion and the locking shaft of the lifting pin mechanism need only be capable of locking with each other and be capable of releasing the locked body by pressing the button, and their shapes are not limited.
Furthermore, the shape of the interlocking weight can be set to any shape as long as it is possible for it to collide with the lifting pin mechanism.
In addition, the shape of the interlocking weight guide is not limited, and it may be cylindrical, prismatic, rail-shaped, etc., as long as it can guide the interlocking weight to the lifting pin mechanism. The interlocking weight guide may be omitted.
Moreover, the chain connecting the door body and the balance weight may be a wire or the like.
The first cord may be a chain or other than a wire. The second cord is similar to the first cord.
The chain sprocket may be any suitable structure as long as it functions as a pulley. The ratchet mechanism may also be any suitable structure as long as it operates in conjunction with the falling off of the weight.
The shape of the device cover can be designed in any shape, and the material is not limited as long as it can protect the powerless automatic descent gate during an earthquake. The device cover may be omitted.
Furthermore, the watertight rubber may be made of any elastic material other than rubber as long as it is capable of sealing between the door body and the water passage when the water passage is blocked.

1: Automatic lowering gate without power during earthquakes, 2: Gate body, 3: Lifting pin mechanism, 4: Interlocking weight, 5: Ratchet mechanism, 6: Non-powered seismic sensor, 61: Base, 62: Ball (weight), 8: First wire (first string body), 9: Second wire (second string body), 10: Interlocking weight guide, H: Waterway, K: Gate body holding mechanism.

Claims (4)

An automatic gate with no electricity required for earthquakes, comprising: a gate body that cuts off a waterway by lowering; a non-powered seismic sensor; and a gate body holding mechanism that holds the gate body in a standby position that does not cut off the waterway under normal conditions and allows the gate body to lower under its own weight when an earthquake of a predetermined magnitude or greater occurs.
The non-electrical seismic sensor includes a base and a weight placed on the base so as to fall off the base when an earthquake of a predetermined magnitude or greater occurs.
The door body holding mechanism allows the door body to descend by interlocking with the falling off of the weight, and includes a ratchet mechanism connected to the weight via a first string, an interlocking weight provided below the ratchet mechanism and connected to the ratchet mechanism via a second string, and a lifting pin mechanism provided below the interlocking weight,
The door body is normally held at the standby position by the lifting pin mechanism,
The ratchet mechanism causes the linked weight to drop in response to the falling off of the weight when an earthquake of a predetermined magnitude or greater occurs,
An automatic lowering gate without power during an earthquake, characterized in that the lifting pin mechanism releases the hold of the gate body by colliding with the dropped interlocking weight . 2. The automatic lowering gate without power during an earthquake according to claim 1 , wherein the gate body holding mechanism is provided with an interlocking weight guide capable of guiding the interlocking weight in a predetermined direction. 3. An automatic lowering gate without power during an earthquake according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the base has a recess in an upper portion for placing the weight thereon. 4. An automatic descent gate without electric power during an earthquake according to claim 1, wherein the weight is a sphere.

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