Snow melting device

Abstract

The present invention provides a snow melting device that is easy to install and has low running costs. 【Solution means】 A snow melting device comprising a sheet-like or plate-like snow melting member and an LED light source disposed at a predetermined distance on the lower surface side of the snow melting member, wherein the snow melting member is heated by light irradiated from the LED light source to melt the snow accumulated on the upper surface side. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a snow melting device that is easy to install and has low running costs. Further, since the snow melting member has water permeability, hydrophilicity, or water absorbency, it is possible to promote the drainage and evaporation of water generated by melting snow, enabling more efficient snow melting.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a snow melting device.

Background Art

[0002] In regions where a large amount of snow falls in winter, in order to deal with the snow accumulation on the roof, hot water pipes or heating wires are laid on the roof board to melt the snow (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in order to lay hot water pipes or heating wires on the roof, pipe and wiring work etc. are necessary and it costs money. Also, since snow can only be melted near the heat generating bodies such as pipes, it is necessary to densely arrange pipes and heaters to increase the output such as boilers and power supplies, so the installation cost and running cost are high. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a snow melting device that is easy to install and has a low running cost.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The above problems are solved by an invention having the following configuration. [1] A snow melting member in the form of a sheet or a plate, and an LED light source arranged at a predetermined distance on the lower surface side of the snow melting member, The snow melting member is coated with a color, material, or paint that absorbs the light of the LED light source. A snow melting device characterized by heating the snow melting member with the light irradiated from the LED light source to melt the snow accumulation on the upper surface side. [2] The snow melting member has water permeability, and the snow melting device described in [1]. [3] The snow melting member has water absorption or hydrophilicity, and the snow melting device described in [1]. [4] The snow melting device according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the predetermined distance is 50 to 300 mm.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] The snow melting device of the present invention melts the snow accumulated on the upper surface side of the snow melting member by irradiating light from an LED light source from the lower surface side of a sheet-like or plate-like snow melting member that covers a snow melting place such as a roof to warm the snow melting member. Since a large area is heated by light, it is not necessary to densely arrange hot water pipes or the like as in the prior art, and the installation is easy. In addition, since an LED light source with low power consumption is used, the running cost is also low. Furthermore, since the snow melting member has water permeability, the water generated by melting snow can be quickly discharged. This prevents waste of heat by heating the generated water, and enables efficient snow melting with lower running costs. Also, when the snow melting member has water absorption or hydrophilicity, the water generated by melting snow does not stay in place and easily spreads. As a result, it is possible to melt snow more efficiently by promoting the evaporation of the generated water.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] The present invention is a snow melting device installed to cover a place where snow melting is desired, such as the roof of a building, and is easier to install and has lower running costs than conventional snow melting devices using hot water pipes or electric heaters.

Embodiment

[0009] The snow melting device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the snow melting device 10 of the present invention is installed on a general corrugated roof 30 formed by continuously forming ridges and valleys in a concavo-convex shape using a long steel plate or the like.

[0010] The snow melting device 10 of the present invention includes a snow melting member 12 and an LED light source 14 disposed on the lower surface 12b side of the snow melting member 12 at a predetermined distance D from the lower surface 12b of the snow melting member.

[0011] The snow melting member 12 is a sheet-like or plate-like member that is heated by the light from the LED light source 14 to melt the snow accumulation on the upper surface side. The snow melting member 12 is laid so as to cover the place where snow melts. In FIG. 1, the snow melting member 12 is installed so as to span a plurality of ridges 32a on the upper surface of the corrugated roof 30.

[0012] The snow melting member 12 is composed of a sheet-like member such as a woven fabric, a non-woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a film, or a plate-like member, and its thickness is preferably about 1 to 10 mm. Various materials such as synthetic resins such as polyester, polypropylene, and polycarbonate, metals, and glass can be used for the material of the snow melting member 12. These sheet-like members or plate-like members may be used alone or laminated. For example, a sheet such as a non-woven fabric, a woven fabric, or a film is stacked on the upper surface of a plate-like member made of a synthetic resin such as polycarbonate to form the snow melting member 12.

[0013] The material, color, etc. of the snow melting member 12 are preferably selected so as to easily absorb the light of the LED light source 14. For example, when a visible light LED light source is used, the snow melting member 12 is made black, etc., and when an infrared LED light source is used, a synthetic resin that easily absorbs infrared rays or a synthetic resin in which a known infrared absorber is kneaded is used for the snow melting member 12.

[0014] Furthermore, the snow melting member 12 may be configured with a paint applied to its surface in order to increase the snow melting efficiency. For example, by applying a light absorbing paint to the surface of the snow melting member 12, it is possible to efficiently absorb the light from the LED light source and melt the snow. Furthermore, by applying a thermally conductive paint, it is possible to efficiently transfer the heat of the snow melting member 12 and melt the snow. Publicly known paints can be used for these paints.

[0015] The LED light source 14 is installed below the lower surface 12b side of the snow melting member 12, and irradiates light L to the snow melting member 12 to heat it. The LED light source 14 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a tape-shaped LED light source in which many LEDs are arranged at a predetermined interval on a flexible substrate, and is arranged along the valley portion 30b on the upper surface of the folded plate roof 30 so that the light-emitting surface faces the snow melting member 12. The LED light source 14 is provided at a predetermined distance D from the lower surface of the snow melting member 12. If the distance D is too close, the snow melting member 12 cannot be widely heated, and if it is too far, the irradiation intensity is low and the snow melting member 12 cannot be sufficiently heated. For example, when the snow melting member 12 is made of black polyester nonwoven fabric, and the LED light source 14 uses tape-shaped white light LEDs with an input voltage of DC12V, a power consumption of about 4.8W / m, and a number of LEDs of about 60 / m, and these are arranged in parallel so that the interval W is 150 to 300 mm, the predetermined distance D is appropriately 50 to 300 mm. In the above configuration, the power consumption of the snow melting device of the present invention is 1 m2 of the area of the snow melting member (place where snow is to be melted). 2 It is about 20 to 40W per

[0016] The LED light source 14 can be in various known shapes, such as the tape-like shape described above, or a strip-like shape. In addition, various wavelengths of emitted light can be used, such as ultraviolet light, visible light, and infrared light, and as described above, more efficient snow melting is possible by selecting the color and material of the snow melting member 12 so that it can absorb the light of each wavelength.

[0017] When the LED light source 14 is turned on in the snow melting device of the present invention having the above configuration, the light from the LED light source 14 is irradiated onto the lower surface of the snow melting member 12, and the snow melting member absorbs the irradiated light and is warmed. As a result, the snow 40 accumulated on the upper surface of the snow melting member 12 melts.

[0018] Thus, in the present invention, since the energy required for snow melting is mainly transmitted to the snow melting member by light, it is not necessary to densely arrange heating elements such as hot water pipes and heating wires as in the prior art, and cover the heating elements with heat conductors such as metal plates, concrete, and synthetic resins. Therefore, it is easier to install than the conventional snow melting devices.

[0019] When the material of the roof board is equivalent to the above-described snow melting member, the snow melting device of the present invention can be configured by using the roof board itself as the snow melting member and arranging an LED light source on the lower surface side of the roof board. For example, in a building having a roof board made of a polycarbonate plate-like member such as a carport, the snow melting device of the present invention can be configured by using the roof board itself as the snow melting member and providing an LED light source on the lower surface side thereof. Further, the snow melting device of the present invention may be used for snow melting on the ground by installing a snow melting member so as to cover the ground, for example.

[0020] The snow melting device of the present invention can keep the running cost lower as compared with the conventional snow melting methods. In the conventional snow melting methods using heating wires or hot water pipes, the power consumption required for snow melting on the roof or the ground is generally about 80 to 300 W / m 2 or so. In contrast, in the snow melting device of the present invention, the power consumption can be significantly reduced to about 20 to 40 W / m 2 as described above. In the conventional method, the heat of the heating element easily escapes into the surrounding environment by heat conduction or convection. In the present invention, in addition to the high energy conversion efficiency of the LED light source, the directivity of the LED light is high and the snow melting member side can be selectively irradiated with light, so that it is considered that snow melting can be performed efficiently.

[0021] Furthermore, for the purpose of increasing the snow melting efficiency of the snow melting device of the present invention, a snow melting member having water permeability, water absorption or hydrophilicity can be used.

[0022] Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view when the snow melting device of the present invention is configured using the water-permeable snow melting member 12 and installed on a folded plate roof. The snow melting member 12 is provided with a plurality of holes 12c penetrating from the upper surface 12a to the lower surface 12b, and the water 42 generated by the melting of the snow accumulation on the upper surface 12a passes through the holes 12c and is drained to the lower surface 12b side. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the already melted water 42 from being wastedly heated, and heat is selectively transmitted to the remaining snow 40, so that the running cost can be suppressed and snow melting can be efficiently performed.

[0023] In addition to the example of FIG. 2, the water-permeable snow melting member 12 can specifically be constituted by a non-woven fabric or the like. As the non-woven fabric, known water-permeable non-woven fabrics by various manufacturing methods such as air-through non-woven fabric, spunbond non-woven fabric, or point-bond non-woven fabric can be used. In addition, the snow melting member 12 may be constituted by a woven fabric or a knitted fabric to have water permeability.

[0024] Moreover, efficient snow melting can also be achieved by using a snow melting member 12 having water absorption or hydrophilicity. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view when the snow melting device of the present invention is installed on a folded plate roof as in FIG. 1, and is an example configured using a snow melting member 12 having hydrophilicity.

[0025] When the surface of the snow melting member 12 has hydrophilicity, the water 42 generated by snow melting becomes familiar with and spreads on the upper surface 12a of the snow melting member 12, increasing the surface area and promoting evaporation. Thereby, the area where the snow accumulation has already disappeared on the upper surface of the snow melting member can be utilized for the exclusion of the generated water 42. Also, when the snow melting member 12 has water absorption, the same effect can be obtained by the generated water 42 generated by snow melting spreading without staying in place.

[0026] The snow-melting member 12 having hydrophilicity can be composed of, for example, woven fabric, non-woven fabric, etc., as well as plate-shaped synthetic resin, metal, glass, etc. that have been subjected to hydrophilic treatment. Examples of the hydrophilic treatment include surface modification treatments such as corona treatment, plasma treatment, ozone treatment, etc., and coating treatments with hydrophilic coating agents, lamination of hydrophilic films, etc. The snow-melting member 12 having water absorption can be composed of, in addition to woven fabric and non-woven fabric, porous bodies, etc. As the porous body, for example, sponge-like synthetic resin, sintered polymer powder, etc. formed into a sheet shape or plate shape, porous glass, ceramics, etc. can be used.

[0027] Incidentally, the snow-melting member 12 having water permeability, hydrophilicity, or water absorption may have a multilayer structure in which a plurality of sheet-shaped / plate-shaped members of various materials exemplified above are laminated. For example, a sheet having water permeability and a sheet having water absorption may be bonded together to form a snow-melting member 12 having both characteristics.

[0028] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a snow-melting device that is easy to install and has a low running cost. Further, since the snow-melting member has water permeability, hydrophilicity, or water absorption, it is possible to promote the drainage and evaporation of the water generated by melting snow, enabling more efficient snow melting.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0029] 10 Snow-melting device 12 Snow-melting member 12a Upper surface 12b Lower surface 14 LED light source 40 Accumulated snow

Claims

Claim 1 A sheet-like or plate-like snow melting member, and an LED light source disposed at a predetermined distance from the lower surface side of the snow melting member, wherein the snow melting member is coated with a color, material, or paint that absorbs the light of the LED light source, and a snow melting device characterized by melting the snow on the upper surface side by heating the snow melting member with the light irradiated from the LED light source. Claim 2 The snow melting device according to claim 1, wherein the snow melting member has water permeability. Claim 3 The snow melting device according to claim 1, wherein the snow melting member has water absorption or hydrophilicity. Claim 4 The snow melting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined distance is 50 to 300 mm.

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