Snow skiing acceleration device and snow skiing acceleration method

Abstract

The present invention provides a snow-sliding acceleration device and a snow-sliding acceleration method for accelerating snow sliding on roofs. [Solution] A device 10 for promoting snow sliding on a roof 18 having a sloped roof section 12 and a passage section 16 arranged along the lower side 14 of the sloped roof section 12, wherein the device is equipped with a heater 20 for heating the surface of the passage section 16.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to, for example, a ski promotion device and a ski promotion method for a roof having a film-like body.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer) film has been adopted as a roofing material for large space structures such as stadiums and arenas by taking advantage of its high light transmittance and light weight (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). The support method of the ETFE film is divided into a tension method and a cushion method by a tension introduction method. Since the cushion method can increase the distance between fulcrums, a lighter roof structure can be realized.

[0003] As shown in Non-Patent Document 2, the ETFE film has low friction like other film materials, so the skiing characteristics of the film itself are excellent. Also, as in Patent Document 1, a mechanism for promoting snow melting in the ETFE film part by supplying warm air inside the film has been proposed, and it is possible to apply it to supplying warm air between the upper and lower films of the cushion method.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0004]

Non-Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Document 2

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

[0006] As shown in Figure 6, in the cushion-type roof 1 described above, a steel passageway 3 is required between the left and right film sections 2 for film installation, cleaning, and maintenance. Because the steel passageway 3 has a higher coefficient of friction than the ETFE film of the film section 2, snow slides less easily through it, and snow tends to accumulate more easily. In roofs 1 installed in heavy snowfall areas, this becomes a weak point, leading to a deterioration in the overall snow-sliding performance of the roof. Therefore, there was a need for technology to promote snow sliding on the roof.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide a snow-sliding acceleration device and a snow-sliding acceleration method for accelerating snow sliding on a roof. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objective, the snow-sliding acceleration device according to the present invention is a device for accelerating snow sliding on a roof having a sloped roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the sloped roof section, and is characterized by comprising a heater for heating the surface of the passage section.

[0009] Furthermore, another snow-sliding acceleration device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described invention, the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiples with spacing between them in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction.

[0010] Furthermore, another snow-sliding acceleration device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described invention, the roof portion has a cushion structure having an upper membrane-like body that is convex upward and an upper membrane-like body that is convex downward and is positioned directly below the upper membrane-like body via an air layer.

[0011] Furthermore, the snow-sliding promotion method according to the present invention is a method for promoting snow sliding on a roof having a sloped roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the sloped roof section, characterized in that a heater for warming the surface of the passage section is activated before snowfall, during snowfall, or after snow accumulation to warm the surface of the passage section.

[0012] Furthermore, another snow-sliding promotion method according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described invention, the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiples with intervals between them in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction.

[0013] Furthermore, another snow-sliding promotion method according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described invention, the roof portion is a cushion structure having an upper membrane-like body that is convex upward and an upper membrane-like body that is convex downward and is positioned directly below the upper membrane-like body via an air layer. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] The snow-sliding acceleration device according to the present invention is a device for accelerating snow sliding on a roof having a sloped roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the sloped roof section, and is equipped with a heater for heating the surface of the passage section, so that by heating the surface of the passage section with the heater, the melting of snow in the passage section where snow from the roof section accumulates is promoted, and snow sliding in the passage section is promoted. This has the effect of promoting snow sliding on the roof.

[0015] Furthermore, according to another snow-sliding promotion device of the present invention, the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiples with spacing between them in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction, thus having the effect of promoting snow sliding on the roof of a large-space structure having multiple roof sections and passage sections.

[0016] Further, according to another ski promotion device of the present invention, since the roof portion has a cushion structure including an upwardly convex upper membrane-like body and a downwardly convex lower membrane-like body disposed via an air layer directly below the upper membrane-like body, for example, it is possible to promote skiing on a cushion structure having a membrane-like body such as an ETFE film, and thus an effect of promoting skiing can be achieved.

[0017] Further, according to a ski promotion method of the present invention, it is a method of promoting skiing on a roof having a sloped roof portion and a passage portion disposed along a side portion below the slope of the roof portion. Before snowfall, during snowfall, or after snow accumulation, a heater for heating the surface of the passage portion is operated to heat the surface of the passage portion, thereby promoting snow melting on the passage portion where snow accumulates on the roof portion and promoting skiing on the passage portion. As a result, an effect of promoting skiing on the roof can be achieved.

[0018] Further, according to another ski promotion method of the present invention, the roof portion has an upwardly convex shape, and a plurality of them are arranged at intervals in the left-right direction. The passage portion is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof portions and has a slope inclined in the front-rear direction. Therefore, it is possible to promote skiing on a roof having a large space structure with a plurality of roof portions and passage portions, and thus an effect of promoting skiing can be achieved.

[0019] Further, according to another ski promotion method of the present invention, since the roof portion has a cushion structure including an upwardly convex upper membrane-like body and a downwardly convex lower membrane-like body disposed via an air layer directly below the upper membrane-like body, for example, it is possible to promote skiing on a cushion structure having a membrane-like body such as an ETFE film, and thus an effect of promoting skiing can be achieved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional perspective view showing an embodiment of a ski promotion device according to the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a skiing mechanism when no heater is used. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a skiing mechanism when a heater is used. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of an outdoor experiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a diagram showing the effect of the heater on skiing. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a photographic diagram showing the snow accumulation situation and maintenance situation of a conventional cushion-type roof.

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of a skiing promotion device and a skiing promotion method according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by this embodiment.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, a skiing promotion device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device for promoting skiing on a roof 18 having a roof portion 12 with a gradient and a passage portion 又1沿2016 arranged along a side portion 14 on the lower side of the gradient of the roof portion 12, and includes a heater 20 for heating the surface of the passage portion 16.

[0023] The roof portion 12 has a cushion structure having an upper film-like body 12A convex upward, a lower film-like body 12B convex downward arranged via an air layer 22 directly below the upper film-like body 12A. A plurality of roof portions 12 are arranged at intervals in the left-right direction. The upper film-like body 12A and the lower film-like body 12B are ETFE films, and the front, rear, left, and right edges are fixed to a support body not shown. Note that the upper film-like body 12A and the lower film-like body 12B are not limited to this, and other materials may be used.

[0024] The passageway section 16 is a passageway used for maintenance, etc., and comprises a base material 24 and a finishing material 26. The passageway section 16 is arranged to extend in the front-rear direction between the left and right roof sections 12, and the surface of the finishing material 26 has a water slope in the front-rear direction. The base material 24 can be made of, for example, a steel member. In the example shown in the figure, the base material 24 is made of two rectangular steel pipes extending in the front-rear direction. The rectangular steel pipes are spaced apart in the left-right direction. The finishing material 26 can be made of, for example, a steel plate. The coefficient of friction of the surface of the finishing material 26 is greater than the coefficient of friction of the surface of the roof section 12 (upper membrane-like body 12A).

[0025] The heater 20 is a sheet-like material sandwiched between the base material 24 and the finishing material 26. The heater 20 consists of a planar heating element 20A that generates heat upward, a nailing element 20B, and power and ground wires (not shown). The nailing element 20B is for fixing the heating element 20A to the base material 24 and is provided on the side of the heating element 20A. The power wire is provided to supply power to the heating element from an external power source, and the ground wire is provided for grounding. The power and ground wires extend to the outside from the back of the heating element 20A. It is desirable to use a heater 20 that can heat the surface of the finishing material 26 to about 5°C.

[0026] The operation and function of the above configuration will be explained. First, when the heater 20 is not in use, as shown in Figure 2(1), after snow accumulates on the roof section 12, when the temperature rises, the snow on the roof section 12, which has a low coefficient of friction, breaks apart at the top of the curved section and slides towards the valley-shaped passage section 16, as shown in Figure 2(2). Since the passage section 16 has a higher coefficient of friction than the roof section 12, the snow on the passage section 16 tends to stay longer than on the roof section 12, and when it adheres (freezes) with the snow from the roof section 12, the snow-sliding performance of the passage section 16 decreases. For this reason, the snow on the passage section 16 slides in the direction of the slope of the passage section 16 only after the temperature rises further or a considerable amount of time has passed.

[0027] In contrast, when the heater 20 is used, as shown in Figure 3(1), after snow accumulates on the roof section 12, when the temperature rises, the snow on the roof section 12, which has a low coefficient of friction, breaks apart at the top of the curved section and slides towards the valley-shaped passage section 16, as shown in Figure 3(2). If the heater 20 is turned on during snowfall or after snow accumulation, as shown in Figure 3(3), the heating by the heater 20 melts the snow in the passage section 16, preventing the snow on the passage section 16 and the snow on the roof section 12 from sticking together (freezing), which is a weak point for snow sliding, and improving the snow sliding performance of the passage section 16. As a result, the snow sliding action of the snow that has accumulated from the roof section 12 to the passage section 16 is promoted, and the snow slides faster than when the heater 20 is not used.

[0028] In this embodiment, the heater 20 is activated before snowfall, during snowfall, or after snow accumulation to heat the surface of the passageway 16, thereby enabling this snow-sliding mechanism. This prevents the snow from sticking (freezing) to the finishing material 26, which is a weakness of snow sliding. This promotes the melting of snow in the passageway 16 where snow from the roof 12 accumulates, improving the snow-sliding performance in the passageway 16, and thus promoting snow sliding on the cushioned roof 18.

[0029] Furthermore, it is not necessary to melt all the snow in the passageway 16 with the heater 20. For this reason, a heater 20 with simple specifications can be used. By minimizing the power consumption of the heater 20, installation and operating costs can be reduced.

[0030] (Verification of the effects of the present invention) Next, we will describe the results of verifying the effects of the present invention through outdoor experiments. As shown in Figure 4(3), a full-scale test specimen simulating a cushion-type ETFE film roof was fabricated. The test specimen consisted of two roof sections 12, each with an ETFE film attached to the upper surface of a roughly arc-shaped wooden surface 28, arranged on the left and right sides, with a passageway 16 between them, supported by pillars 30. The passageway 16 had a structure in which a sheet-like heater was installed on the upper surface of a wooden base material, and a galvalume steel sheet (finishing material) (registered trademark) was attached to the upper surface. The depth L of the roof section 12 was 3000 mm, the width W was 2500 mm, and the slope of the surface of the roof section 12 was 15°. The width W1 of the passageway 16 was 500 mm. When the heater switch was turned on, it heated the surface (galvalume steel sheet) of the passageway 16 until the temperature reached 5°C, stopped heating when it reached 5°C or higher, and restarted heating when it reached 4°C or lower. Furthermore, the heater output is 150W / m (333W / m) for a heater width of 450mm. 2 The experiment was conducted in Sapporo, Hokkaido, during the winters of 2023 and 2024. A total of 14 instances of skiing were observed during this period.

[0031] Figure 4(1) shows the snow accumulation on the test specimen. As time passes, as shown in Figure 4(2), snow concentrates from the roof section 12 to the walkway section 16, and then slides down the slope of the walkway section 16, as shown in Figure 4(3). This outdoor experiment showed that by using a heater, the time required to transition from the state in Figure 4(2) to the state in Figure 4(3) was shortened compared to when no heater was used.

[0032] The effect of the heater on snow sliding was confirmed by comparing the duration of time the ETFE film surface temperature was 0°C or higher before snow sliding occurred, and the cumulative warmth of the ETFE film surface temperature being 0°C or higher, between an embodiment of the present invention using a heater and a comparative example without a heater. The cumulative warmth of the ETFE film surface temperature being 0°C or higher is the value obtained by multiplying the surface temperature of the ETFE film by the duration of time the ETFE film surface temperature was 0°C or higher and summing the results (unit: °C·h).

[0033] Figure 5(1) shows the surface temperature (t) of the ETFE film. ETFE Figure 5(2) shows the relationship between the duration of temperatures above 0°C and the depth of snow on the roof, and the surface temperature (t) of the ETFE film. ETFE This figure shows the relationship between the cumulative temperature above 0°C and the depth of the snow on the roof. The depth of the snow on the roof is the snow depth in the passageway section 16. In the figure, the example with a heater is plotted as the example, and the example without a heater is plotted as the comparative example.

[0034] As shown in these figures, the examples using heaters showed shorter durations and lower cumulative warmth compared to the comparative examples, especially when the snow depth was small. In other words, as the temperature rises, the time required for snow sliding from when the surface temperature of the ETFE film exceeds 0°C is shorter in the examples using heaters than in the comparative examples. Furthermore, since the cumulative warmth required for snow sliding is lower in the examples using heaters compared to the comparative examples, it is considered that snow sliding can be promoted by using heaters even when the surface temperature of the ETFE film does not rise significantly from 0°C.

[0035] As described above, the snow sliding acceleration device according to the present invention is a device for accelerating snow sliding on a roof having a sloped roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the sloped roof section, and is equipped with a heater for heating the surface of the passage section, so that by heating the surface of the passage section with the heater, the melting of snow in the passage section where snow from the roof section accumulates is promoted, and snow sliding in the passage section is promoted. This makes it possible to accelerate snow sliding on the roof.

[0036] Furthermore, according to another snow-sliding acceleration device of the present invention, the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiples with spacing between them in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction, so that snow sliding can be accelerated on the roof of a large-space structure having multiple roof sections and passage sections.

[0037] Furthermore, according to another snow-sliding acceleration device of the present invention, the roof portion has a cushion structure having an upper membrane-like body that is convex upward and an upper membrane-like body that is convex downward, which is positioned directly below the upper membrane-like body via an air layer. Therefore, it is possible to accelerate snow sliding on cushion structures having a membrane-like body such as an ETFE film.

[0038] Furthermore, the snow-sliding promotion method according to the present invention is a method for promoting snow sliding on a roof having a sloped roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the sloped roof section, wherein a heater for warming the surface of the passage section is activated before snowfall, during snowfall, or after snow accumulation to warm the surface of the passage section, thereby promoting the melting of snow in the passage section where snow from the roof section accumulates, and promoting snow sliding in the passage section. This makes it possible to promote snow sliding on the roof.

[0039] Furthermore, according to another snow-sliding promotion method of the present invention, the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiples with spacing in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction, so that snow sliding can be promoted on the roof of a large-space structure having multiple roof sections and passage sections.

[0040] Furthermore, according to another snow-sliding promotion method of the present invention, the roof portion is a cushion structure having an upper membrane-like body that is convex upward and an upper membrane-like body that is convex downward and is positioned directly below the upper membrane-like body with an air layer in between. Therefore, it is possible to promote snow sliding on a cushion structure having a membrane-like body such as an ETFE film.

[0041] Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 international goals adopted at the UN Summit in September 2015. The snow-skid acceleration device and snow-skid acceleration method according to this embodiment can contribute to achieving some of the 17 SDGs, such as Goal 9, "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation." [Industrial applicability]

[0042] As described above, the snow-sliding acceleration device and snow-sliding acceleration method according to the present invention are useful for snow sliding on roofs, and are particularly suitable for accelerating snow sliding on roofs made of film-like materials such as ETFE film. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 10 Snow sliding promotion device 12. Roof section 14 Side 16 Passage section 18 Roof 20 Heater 22 Air layer 24. Underlayment 26 Finishing materials

Claims

1. A device for promoting snow sliding on a roof having a sloping roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the slope of the roof section, A snow-skid promoting device characterized by comprising a heater for heating the surface of the passage section.

2. The snow-sliding device according to claim 1, characterized in that the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiple sections spaced apart in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction.

3. The snow-sliding device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the roof portion has a cushion structure having an upper membrane-like body that is convex upward and an upper membrane-like body that is convex downward and is positioned directly below the upper membrane-like body with an air layer in between.

4. A method for promoting snow sliding on a roof having a sloping roof section and a passage section arranged along the lower side of the slope of the roof section, A method for promoting snow sliding, characterized by activating a heater to warm the surface of the passage before snowfall, during snowfall, or after snow accumulation, thereby warming the surface of the passage.

5. The snow-sliding promotion method according to claim 4, characterized in that the roof section has an upwardly convex shape and is arranged in multiples with spacing between them in the left-right direction, and the passage section is arranged in the front-rear direction between the roof sections and has a slope that is inclined in the front-rear direction.

6. The snow-sliding promotion method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the roof portion has a cushion structure having an upper membrane-like body that is convex upward and an upper membrane-like body that is convex downward and is positioned directly below the upper membrane-like body with an air layer in between.

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