Roadside snow melting equipment and snow melting vehicles

Abstract

To provide a road shoulder snow melting device that appropriately and efficiently melts snow accumulated on the road shoulder. [Solution] The road shoulder snow melting device (1) comprises a high-pressure hot water supply device (2) that supplies hot water at a high pressure of 10 MPa or higher at a temperature of 60°C or higher, and a spray device (4). The spray device (4) consists of a support structure (6) fixed to a vehicle (101) and a spray unit (7) in which multiple spray nozzles (21) are arranged at predetermined intervals in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The spray unit (7) is rotatably supported by the support structure (6), and when rotated to a position approximately perpendicular to the road surface, it does not obstruct the movement of the vehicle (101). When the spray unit (7) is rotated to a position approximately horizontal, the spray unit (7) protrudes outward from the side of the vehicle (101). By spraying high-pressure hot water, snow can be melted on the road shoulder (R).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a snow melting device for melting snow accumulated on a paved road surface and a snow melting vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] Snow accumulation on a paved road surface hinders safe driving, and the problem is particularly serious in urban areas where the studless tire mounting rate is low. Not only traffic jams but also traffic stoppages and accidents occur. The snow accumulated on the paved road surface may be swept onto the road shoulder by a snowplow or collected and loaded onto a dump truck for external disposal. However, both methods have problems, especially in urban areas. First, regarding sweeping onto the road shoulder, generally, the road shoulders in urban areas are narrow, and when snow is swept out, the white lines drawn on the road surface are hidden, which is dangerous. Furthermore, there are drainage holes on the road shoulder, and if these are blocked by snow, the melted snow cannot be discharged and overflows onto the road surface. Such problems are particularly prominent on urban highways. Regarding external disposal by a dump truck, in urban areas, it is often difficult to secure a space for stacking snow, so there is a problem that it is difficult to implement.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a snow-melting vehicle comprising a self-propelled vehicle, a water tank, one or more high-pressure hot water supply devices, and multiple spray nozzles mounted on the underside of the vehicle. In this snow-melting vehicle, all the necessary equipment for snow melting, such as the water tank, is mounted on the self-propelled vehicle, i.e., the truck. Furthermore, the multiple spray nozzles are arranged at predetermined intervals in the direction of the vehicle's width. Therefore, while traveling on the roadway, snow can be efficiently melted over a width equal to or slightly wider than the width of the vehicle. The snow-melting vehicle described in Patent Document 1 can substantially completely melt snow on the roadway, making it particularly valuable for use on highways in urban areas. [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] The snow-melting vehicle described in Patent Document 1 is excellent because it can efficiently melt snow on roadways across the width of the roadway or a wider area. However, it is slightly excluded from the snow-melting range on the shoulders of the road because the snow-melting vehicle cannot access them. On the shoulders of the road, not only snow that has fallen directly onto the road accumulates, but also snow that has been kicked up by passing vehicles. Snow that has been removed by snowplows and other vehicles also accumulates there. If this snow accumulation on the shoulders of the road is left unattended, the white line marking the boundary between the shoulder and the roadway becomes hidden, creating a dangerous situation. This danger is especially great on elevated roads where geothermal energy cannot be expected, as the road can freeze. Also, as mentioned above, there are drainage outlets on the shoulders of the road. If these become clogged with snow, the snow cannot drain even after it melts, and the roadway becomes covered with slushy snow.

[0006] The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, and specifically aims to provide a road shoulder snow melting device that can appropriately and efficiently melt snow accumulated on the road shoulder, and a snow melting vehicle equipped with such a road shoulder snow melting device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The invention described in claim 1 is configured as a road shoulder snow melting device comprising a high-pressure hot water supply device mounted on a vehicle that supplies hot water at 60°C or higher and at a pressure of 10 MPa or higher, and an injection device provided on the side of the vehicle that receives high-pressure hot water from the high-pressure hot water supply device. The injection device comprises a support structure fixed to the vehicle and an injection unit having multiple injection nozzles arranged at predetermined intervals in both the horizontal and vertical directions, forming a planar shape as a whole. The injection unit is rotatably supported via a horizontal rotation axis relative to the support structure, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position approximately perpendicular to the road surface, the injection unit is housed inward on the side of the vehicle, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position approximately horizontal parallel to the road surface, the injection unit protrudes outward from the side of the vehicle, and the multiple injection nozzles face the road surface at a predetermined height and spray high-pressure hot water.

[0008] The invention described in claim 2 is configured such that the support structure includes a height adjustment structure that allows for adjustment of the height of multiple injection nozzles from the road surface. The invention described in claim 3 is configured such that the injection unit can be rotated to positions other than substantially perpendicular and substantially horizontal with respect to the road surface around the rotation axis. The invention described in claim 4 is configured such that a plurality of injection nozzles can be adjusted in angle within a predetermined range to change the angle of injection of high-pressure hot water onto the road surface. The invention described in claim 5 is configured as a snow-melting vehicle comprising a self-propelled vehicle, a water tank mounted on the vehicle, a high-pressure hot water supply device mounted on the vehicle that heats the water in the water tank to 60°C or higher and supplies it at a high pressure of 10 MPa or higher, and an injection device provided on the side of the vehicle to which high-pressure hot water from the high-pressure hot water supply device is supplied. The injection device comprises a support structure fixed to the vehicle and an injection unit having multiple injection nozzles arranged at predetermined intervals in both the horizontal and vertical directions, forming a planar shape as a whole. The injection unit is rotatably supported via a horizontal pivot axis relative to the support structure, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position substantially perpendicular to the road surface, the injection unit is housed inside the side of the vehicle, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position substantially horizontal parallel to the road surface, the injection unit protrudes outward from the side of the vehicle, and the multiple injection nozzles face the road surface at a predetermined height and spray high-pressure hot water. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, a road shoulder snow melting device is configured comprising a high-pressure hot water supply device mounted on a vehicle that supplies hot water at 60°C or higher and at a pressure of 10 MPa or higher, and an injection device provided on the side of the vehicle that receives high-pressure hot water from the high-pressure hot water supply device. The injection device comprises a support structure fixed to the vehicle and an injection unit in which multiple injection nozzles are arranged at predetermined intervals in both the horizontal and vertical directions, forming a planar shape overall. This injection unit is rotatably supported via a horizontal rotation axis relative to the support structure. When the injection unit is rotated to a substantially horizontal position parallel to the road surface, the injection unit extends outward from the side of the vehicle, and the multiple injection nozzles face the road surface at a predetermined height and spray high-pressure hot water. In other words, high-pressure hot water at 60°C or higher and at 10 MPa is sprayed onto the road surface of the road shoulder by multiple injection units arranged in a planar shape. Therefore, snow accumulated on the road shoulder can be crushed and melted regardless of the condition of the snow. For example, even if the road shoulder is covered with hard-frozen snow, spraying high-pressure hot water will quickly create holes in the snow, allowing the hot water to penetrate between the road surface and the snow. This prevents the hot water from flowing out and allows it to remain near the road shoulder, melting the snow there. Because the spray units are arranged in a planar configuration, the snow within the area covered by these units can be melted efficiently and completely. This ensures that the white lines on the road shoulder are reliably exposed and that the snow around the drainage outlets on the road shoulder is reliably melted. Furthermore, when the spray units are rotated to a position approximately perpendicular to the road surface, they are stored inside the side of the vehicle. This prevents them from interfering with vehicle movement.

[0010] According to the invention described in claim 2, the support structure is equipped with a height adjustment structure, which allows for adjustment of the height of multiple injection nozzles from the road surface. When the snow accumulation on the road surface at the shoulder is relatively low, the snow can be efficiently melted by lowering the height of the injection nozzles from the road surface. However, the snow accumulation on the road surface at the shoulder may be relatively high due to snow being thrown up from the surroundings. This invention makes it possible to easily address this issue by adjusting the height of the injection nozzles from the road surface. According to the invention described in claim 3, the injection unit can be rotated to positions other than substantially vertical and substantially horizontal around the rotation axis. For example, by rotating it to a position of 10 or 20 degrees, the high-pressure hot water from the injection nozzle can be sprayed to a distance slightly away from the side of the vehicle. This makes it possible to melt snow not only on the roadside but also at a distance. According to the invention described in claim 4, the angle of the injection of high-pressure hot water onto the road surface can be changed by adjusting the angle of the multiple injection nozzles within a predetermined range. This makes it possible to inject high-pressure hot water onto snow at a desired angle. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This is a front view of the snow melting vehicle according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a perspective view of the road shoulder snow melting device according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a perspective view of the road shoulder snow melting device according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This is a front view of the roadside snow melting device according to this embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a side view of the road shoulder snow melting device according to this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] <concept> The embodiments of the present invention will now be described. The shoulder snow melting device 1 according to this embodiment is mounted on the vehicle 101 of the snow melting vehicle 100 according to this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1. The shoulder snow melting device 1 according to this embodiment is a device for melting snow on the shoulder of the road, as will be explained in detail below. The vehicle 101 may be equipped with only the shoulder snow melting device 1 to melt snow only on the shoulder. However, the snow melting vehicle 100 according to this embodiment is also equipped with a device for melting snow on the roadway in addition to the shoulder snow melting device 1, although this is not shown in Figure 1. For example, a snow melting device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-034512 is provided. Therefore, the snow melting vehicle 100 according to this embodiment can melt snow on both the roadway and the shoulder simultaneously.

[0013] <Roadside snow melting device> The roadside snow melting device 1 according to this embodiment consists of a single high-pressure hot water supply device 2 mounted on a vehicle 101 and a spray device 4 located on the side of the vehicle 101 at the rear of the vehicle 101, which are connected by a water supply hose 5. The vehicle 101 is equipped with a water tank 102 which supplies water to the high-pressure hot water supply device 2. Although the specific configuration of the high-pressure hot water supply device 2 is not shown in the figure, it comprises a fuel tank, an engine-driven pump, and a heating device, which heats the water supplied from the water tank 102 to 60°C or higher, preferably 80-95°C, and pressurizes it to a water pressure of 10 MPa or higher, preferably 15-20 MPa, before supplying it. In other words, it supplies high-pressure hot water. There are no limitations on the product, but in this embodiment, a Kärcher® high-pressure washer (model number: HDS1000De) is used as the high-pressure hot water supply device 2, and such high-pressure hot water can be supplied at a rate of 15 L or more per minute.

[0014] The vehicle 101 is also equipped with other high-pressure hot water supply devices 2', 2'. High-pressure hot water may also be supplied from these other high-pressure hot water supply devices 2' to the injection device 4 described below. However, although the snow melting vehicle 100 according to the present embodiment is not shown in the figure, as described above, a device for snowing the roadway is provided, and these other high-pressure hot water supply devices 2', 2' are adapted to supply high-pressure hot water to such a device.

[0015] <Injection device> As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the injection device 4 is provided on the vehicle body frame 104 that constitutes the vehicle 101. The injection device 4 includes a support structure 6 fixed to the vehicle body frame 104 and an injection unit 7 provided on the support structure 6.

[0016] <Support structure> The support structure 6 includes a pair of rail members 9, 9 fixed to the vehicle body frame 104 and extending downward in the vertical direction by a predetermined length from the vehicle body frame 104, and slide members 10, 10 provided slidably in the vertical direction with respect to the pair of rail members 9, 9. A plurality of positioning holes 12, 12,... are formed at equal intervals in the pair of rail members 9, 9, and two pin holes 13, 13 are formed in the slide members 10, 10, respectively. Two fixing pins 14, 14 are attached to each of the slide members 10, 10, and the fixing pins 14, 14 are inserted into the pin holes 13, 13 and penetrate through the predetermined positioning holes 14, 14 to fix the slide members 10, 10 to the rail members 9, 9. By selecting the positioning holes 14, 14 through which the fixing pins 14, 14 are passed by sliding the slide members 10, 10 up and down, the slide members 10, 10 can be fixed at a desired height. That is, the pair of rail members 9, 9, the slide members 10, 10, and the fixing pins 14, 14 constitute a height adjustment structure. Stopper structures 15, 15 are provided at the tips of the fixing pins 14, 14 so that the fixing pins 14, 14 do not accidentally come out of the pin holes 13, 13.

[0017] In such a support structure 6, support plates 10a, 10a for rotatably supporting the injection unit 7 are fixed to the slide members 10, 10. A single rotary shaft 17 is inserted through the support plates 10a, 10a. This rotary shaft 17 is also a member constituting the injection unit 7 described below and also serves as a water supply pipe for sending high-pressure hot water. The injection unit 7 is rotatable about the rotary shaft 17. A connector portion 19 to which a water supply hose 5 (see FIG. 1) is connected is provided at an end of the rotary shaft 17. Slide pins 18, 18 are provided on the support plates 10a, 10a and are in a state of being pushed in by spring biasing. These slide pins 18, 18 are configured to fix the injection unit 7 at a desired rotational position as will be described later.

[0018] <Injection unit> The rotary shaft 17 is also a member constituting the injection unit 7. As described above, in the present embodiment, the rotary shaft 17 also serves as a water supply pipe through which the high-pressure hot water supplied from the high-pressure hot water supply device 2 is sent. The injection unit 17 includes the rotary shaft 17 which is a water supply pipe, a plurality of branch pipes 20, 20,... branched from this water supply pipe, and a plurality of injection nozzles 21, 21,... provided on the branch pipes 20, 20,.... The injection unit 7 also includes a fixing plate 23 and a pair of rotational position adjusting plates 24, 24 fixed to this fixing plate 23.

[0019] In this embodiment, there are four branch pipes 20, 20, ... If these branch pipes 20, 20, ... are designated as the 1st row, 2nd row, ..., ... 4th row, then in Figure 3, when viewed from the Z direction, the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... provided on the 2nd row branch pipe 20 are positioned between the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... provided on the 1st row branch pipe 20. The injection nozzles 21, 21, ... provided on the 3rd row branch pipe 20 are positioned to coincide with the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... provided on the 1st row branch pipe 20, and the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... provided on the 4th row branch pipe 20 are positioned to coincide with the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... provided on the 2nd row branch pipe 20. Because the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... are arranged in this way, the high-pressure hot water injected from the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... as the snow melting vehicle 101 (see Figure 1) moves will be injected at relatively close intervals from each other. These injection nozzles 21, 21, ... are arranged in a planar manner as a whole.

[0020] These four branch pipes 20, 20, ... are connected to the water supply pipe, i.e., the rotating shaft 17, via predetermined joints 26, 26, ... and are fixed to the fixing plate 23 by fixing devices 27, 27, .... The joints 26, 26 allow a slight rotation of the branch pipes 20, 20, ... around the axis, and the fixing devices 27, 27, ... loosely fix the branch pipes 20, 20, .... Therefore, by rotating the branch pipes 20, 20, ... around the axis, the spray angle of the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... can be changed within a predetermined range of angles, as shown in Figure 4.

[0021] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the rotation position adjustment plates 24, 24 have rotation positioning holes 29, 29, ... drilled at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis 17. The aforementioned slide pins 18, 18 are inserted into one of these rotation positioning holes 26, 26, ... Although it has been explained that the multiple injection nozzles 21, 21, ... are arranged in a planar manner, the injection unit 7 as a whole also has a planar shape. By selecting the rotation positioning holes 26, 26, ... into which the slide pins 18, 18 are inserted, the planar injection unit 7 can be fixed in the desired rotation position.

[0022] <Operation of roadside snow melting devices> The operation of the high-pressure hot water supply device 2 according to this embodiment will now be explained. When the snow melting vehicle 100 (Figure 1) is driven, the water supply hose 5 is removed from the connector part 19. As shown in Figure 2, the spray unit 7 is rotated to a position where it is approximately perpendicular to the road surface. Specifically, the slide pins 18, 18 are retracted against the spring force. When this is done, the slide pins 18, 18 come out of the rotation positioning holes 29, 29. The spray unit 7 is rotated to be approximately perpendicular to the road surface. When the slide pins 18, 18 are returned, they are inserted into the appropriate rotation positioning holes 29, 29, and the spray unit 7 is fixed in place. As a result, the spray unit 7 is housed inside the vehicle 101 without protruding from the side of the vehicle 101. The snow melting vehicle 100 (see Figure 1) is driven. Since the spray unit 7 is housed inside the vehicle 101, it does not get in the way when driving.

[0023] When melting snow on the shoulder of the road, proceed as follows: As shown in Figure 1, connect the water supply hose 5 to the connector 19. That is, connect the high-pressure hot water supply device 2 and the spray device 4. Rotate the spray unit 7 to a position where it is approximately horizontal to the road surface, as shown in Figure 3. Specifically, retract the slide pins 18, 18 against the spring force. The slide pins 18, 18 will come out of the rotation positioning holes 29, 29. Rotate the spray unit 7 so that it is approximately horizontal to the road surface. When the slide pins 18, 18 are returned, they will be inserted into the appropriate rotation positioning holes 29, 29, and the spray unit 7 will be fixed in place. In this way, the spray unit 7 will protrude outward from the side of the vehicle 101. In other words, the spray unit 7 will protrude onto the shoulder of the road.

[0024] The snow melting vehicle 100 is moved slowly while high-pressure hot water is supplied from the high-pressure hot water supply device 2. As a result, the high-pressure hot water W is sprayed from the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... as shown in Figure 5. Since the multiple injection nozzles 21, 21, ... face the road surface of the shoulder R, the high-pressure hot water W is inevitably sprayed in opposition to the snow accumulation S. The high-pressure hot water quickly creates holes in the snow accumulation S and reaches the road surface R. The high-pressure hot water that reaches the road surface of the shoulder R melts the surrounding snow accumulation S. In other words, the snow accumulation on the shoulder R can be melted efficiently.

[0025] The snow accumulation S on the shoulder R may be high. The shoulder snow melting device 1 according to this embodiment allows the sliding member 10 to slide up and down, as shown in Figure 5. Specifically, the fixing pins 14, 14 are removed. When this is done, the fixing pins 14, 14 are removed from the pin holes 12, 12 of the rail member 9. The sliding member 10 is slid to the desired height. When the fixing pins 14, 14 are inserted again, they are inserted into the appropriate pin holes 12, 12, and the sliding member 10 is fixed. In this way, the height H from the road surface on the shoulder R of the spray nozzles 21, 21, ... can be adjusted. This should be adjusted according to the height of the snow accumulation S.

[0026] As shown in Figure 5, when the injection unit 7 is positioned approximately horizontally, snow melting is concentrated in the area covered by the injection unit 7, that is, the area below the injection unit 7. This is highly effective on elevated roads with relatively narrow shoulders R. On the other hand, there are also roads with wide shoulders R. The shoulder snow melting device 1 according to this embodiment can also handle cases where the shoulder R is relatively wide. Specifically, as indicated by the arrow labeled 31 in Figure 5, the injection unit 7 is raised slightly from its approximately horizontal position. In this case, the high-pressure hot water W injected from the injection nozzles 21, 21, ... reaches a distance away from the vehicle 101. In other words, snow melting is possible even on relatively wide shoulders R. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0027] 1. Roadside snow melting system 2. High-pressure hot water supply system 4. Spray device 5. Water supply hose 6. Support structure 7. Injection unit 9 Rail member 10 Sliding member 10a Support plate 12 Positioning holes 13 Pin hole 14 Fixing pin 15 Stopper structure 17 Rotating shaft 18 Slide pin 19 Connector part 20 Branch pipe 21 Spray nozzle 23 Fixing plate 24 Rotation position adjustment plate 26 Joints 27 Fasteners 29 Rotation positioning holes 100 Snow melting vehicles 101 Vehicles 102 Aquarium 104 Vehicle frame R Road shoulder S Snowfall W High-pressure hot water

Claims

1. A high-pressure hot water supply device mounted on a vehicle that supplies hot water at a temperature of 60°C or higher and a pressure of 10 MPa or higher, The vehicle comprises an injection device provided on the side of the vehicle to which the high-pressure hot water from the high-pressure hot water supply device is supplied, The injection device comprises a support structure fixed to the vehicle, and an injection unit in which multiple injection nozzles are arranged at predetermined intervals in both the horizontal and vertical directions, forming a planar shape overall. A road shoulder snow melting device, wherein the injection unit is rotatably supported via a horizontal pivot axis with respect to the support structure, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position substantially perpendicular to the road surface, the injection unit is housed inside the side of the vehicle, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position substantially horizontal parallel to the road surface, the injection unit protrudes outward from the side of the vehicle, and a plurality of injection nozzles face the road surface at a predetermined height to inject the high-pressure hot water.

2. The road shoulder snow melting device according to claim 1, wherein the support structure is equipped with a height adjustment structure, allowing the height of the injection nozzle from the road surface to be adjusted.

3. The road shoulder snow melting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the injection unit can be rotated to a position other than substantially perpendicular or substantially horizontal with respect to the road surface around the rotation axis.

4. The road shoulder snow melting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the multiple injection nozzles are configured to adjust their angles within a predetermined range to change the angle of injection of the high-pressure hot water onto the road surface.

5. Self-propelled vehicles and The water tank mounted on the aforementioned vehicle, A high-pressure hot water supply device mounted on the vehicle, which heats the water in the water tank to 60°C or higher and supplies it at a high pressure of 10 MPa or higher, The vehicle comprises an injection device provided on the side of the vehicle, to which high-pressure hot water is supplied from the high-pressure hot water supply device, The injection device comprises a support structure fixed to the vehicle, and an injection unit in which multiple injection nozzles are arranged at predetermined intervals in both the horizontal and vertical directions, forming a planar shape overall. Snow melting vehicle, wherein the injection unit is rotatably supported via a horizontal pivot axis relative to the support structure, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position substantially perpendicular to the road surface, the injection unit is housed inside the side of the vehicle, and when the injection unit is rotated to a position substantially horizontal parallel to the road surface, the injection unit protrudes outward from the side of the vehicle, and a plurality of injection nozzles face the road surface at a predetermined height to inject the high-pressure hot water.

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