JP2001033134A - Method and apparatus for transporting ice and snow - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the ice and snow transporting apparatus in an artificial snow falling system from being clogged and to prevent the ice and snow supply thereof from lowering. SOLUTION: A ball 8 is provided in the hopper 12 of a rotary feeder 7. The ball 8 has a diameter smaller than the outlet diameter of the hopper 12 and larger than the interval of blades 11 constituting the rotary feeder 7. In the hopper 12, the ball 8 moves as the blades 11 turn and touches the inner wall of the hopper 12 to remove ice and snow adhering to the inner wall thus preventing clogging with ice and snow 60.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ice and snow transporting apparatus and method suitable for transporting artificially produced ice and snow to a slope or the like in a snow play facility such as an artificial ski resort.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows an example of an artificial snowfall system used in a conventional artificial ski resort (hereinafter referred to as "prior art 1").
FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the artificial snowfall device 1 includes an ice making device 2, an ice storage 3, and an ice and snow transport device 5 for transporting ice and snow 60 stored in the ice storage 3 to the slope 40.

In the artificial snowfall apparatus 1, first, water is supplied to the ice making apparatus 2 by a pump or the like, and ice and snow 60 is produced from the water. Thus, the ice and snow 60 produced by the ice making device 2
Is stored in the ice storage 3. When it is necessary to spray ice and snow on the slope 40, the ice storage 3
The ice and snow 6 is removed by a screw conveyor 6 or the like.
0 is supplied to the rotary feeder 7 of the ice and snow transport device 5 by a predetermined amount per unit time. The rotary feeder 7 is a rotary feeder having a hopper 12 at an upper part, and a rotor having a plurality of blades arranged in a circumferential direction around an axis to supply ice and snow to the ice and snow transport pipe 30. .

In the ice and snow transport apparatus 5, after driving the blower 9 to suck the external air into the air pipe 38 through the air filter 91 and compress it, the compressed air 50 'heated by the adiabatic compression of the blower 9 is used. Is returned to the temperature before suction by a heat exchanger 92 such as an intercooler to generate compressed air 50 and supply it to the rotary feeder 7. Then, the ice and snow 60 supplied from the ice storage 3 and the compressed air 50 cooled by the heat exchanger 92 are mixed in the rotary feeder 7. The ice and snow 60 supplied from the rotary feeder 7 into the ice and snow transport tube 30 is compressed by the compressed air 50.
And is supplied to the slope 40. The first and second to n-th spray areas 41 and 4 forming the slope 40
1st, 2nd, 2nd and 4th
The ice and snow 60 is sprayed out from the n-th outlets 31 and 32 to 3n via the spraying hose 35, and the ice and snow 60 is sprayed for each spraying area 4n.

[0005]

In the prior art 1, the ice and snow supplied to the rotary feeder 7 adheres to the inner wall surface of the hopper 12 provided above the rotary feeder 7 and to the rotor blades of the rotary feeder 7. ,
Ice and snow freeze with each other, and the diameter of the outlet of the hopper 12, that is,
The effective opening size is reduced, the amount of ice and snow discharged to the ice and snow transport pipe 30 is reduced, the amount of ice and snow supplied to the rotary feeder 7 becomes excessive, and the hopper 12 is filled with ice and snow. Blocked ice and snow transport pipe 30
There was a problem that ice and snow could no longer be supplied.

On the other hand, the following measures have conventionally been taken.

The attached ice and snow are scraped off by human power.

A hopper is provided with a heating means for melting frozen ice and snow.

The hopper is provided with a vibrating means to remove ice and snow.

However, the above-mentioned items have the following problems.

[0011] Unmanned operation is not possible due to the need for human power to scrape off attached ice and snow. In addition, the hopper wall surface is damaged during scraping.

[0012] The melted water enters the ice and snow transport tube and freezes and blocks in the tube.

[0013] The frozen ice and snow cannot be sufficiently separated by vibration.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ice and snow transport apparatus and method which can solve the above-mentioned problems, prevent a decrease in the amount of snow and ice discharged from a rotary feeder, prevent blockage, and provide a stable supply of ice and snow. It is in.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ice / snow transport apparatus, comprising: an ice / snow transport pipe; and a hopper provided on an upper portion thereof for quantitatively supplying ice / snow to the ice / snow transport pipe. A rotary feeder provided with a rotor having blades, and ice and snow supply means capable of supplying ice and snow to the rotary feeder, wherein the rotary feeder has, in the hopper, a diameter smaller than a diameter of an outlet of the hopper, and It is characterized in that a sphere having a diameter larger than the interval between the blades of the rotor of the rotary feeder is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for transporting ice and snow according to the present invention, wherein a hopper is provided at an upper portion for supplying ice and snow to the ice and snow transport tube at a constant rate, and a rotor having a plurality of blades is provided. The rotary feeder, and an ice and snow transporting device that is capable of supplying ice and snow to the rotary feeder. In the hopper, the diameter of the blade of the rotor of the rotary feeder is smaller than the diameter of the outlet of the hopper. Arranging a sphere having a diameter larger than the interval, moving the sphere in the hopper with the rotation of the rotor to contact the inner wall of the hopper, and separating ice and snow attached to the blade and the inner wall of the hopper. It is characterized by the following.

[0017]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an ice and snow transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a rotary feeder of the ice and snow transport apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view.

As shown in FIG. 1, an artificial ski resort 39 is provided with an artificial snowfall apparatus 1 for supplying and spraying ice and snow 60 on a slope 40. The artificial snowfall device 1 includes an ice and snow transport device 5 for transporting the ice and snow 60 to the slope 40,
A device 20 for spraying ice and snow 60 on the slope 40 is provided.
The ice and snow transport device 5 includes an ice making device 2, an ice storage 3, a screw conveyor 6, a rotary feeder 7, and an ice and snow transport pipe 30.

The ice making device 2 for producing ice and snow 60 to be scattered on the slope 40 as artificial snow is provided with an ice storage 3 connected thereto, and the ice and snow 60 produced by the ice making device 2 is stored in its storage tank. You can accept and save.

Below the ice storage 3, as shown in FIG.
A screw conveyor 6 is provided at the transport start end side thereof so as to be connected to the ice storage 3 via the ice outlet 3a. The screw conveyor 6 includes a screw-shaped blade 62.
The ice and snow 60 can be transported in the direction of the arrow A by the operation of rotating the drive shaft 61 on which is mounted the.

A rotary feeder 7 provided with a hopper 12 on the upper side is connected to the screw conveyor 6 via a dropping tube 63 and the hopper 12 below the transport end side of the screw conveyor 6. The rotary feeder 7 supplies the ice and snow 60 supplied from the screw conveyor 6 into the rotary feeder 7 via the drop tube 63 and the hopper 12 to the ice and snow transport tube 30 side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rotary feeder 7
An air pipe 38 is connected to the upstream side of. The blower 9 is connected to the upstream side of the air pipe 38 in such a manner that the ice and snow 60 supplied to the rotary feeder 7 can be pumped in the direction of arrow A, which is the direction of ice and snow transport. Further upstream of the blower 9, an air filter 91 is connected to be able to suck in outside air and supply it to the blower 9. Further, a heat exchanger 9 is provided between the blower 9 and the rotary feeder 7.
2 are provided. The heat exchanger 92 is connected to the air filter 9.
The compressed air 50 'generated and discharged by the blower 9 from the outside air supplied by 1 is adiabatically compressed and has a raised temperature, and thus has an effect of exchanging heat to lower the temperature. The blower 9 supplies the compressed air 50 for ice and snow transportation adjusted to a predetermined temperature by the heat exchanger 92 into the rotary feeder 7 at an arbitrary pressure set by an operation panel 93 provided on the blower 9. Has become.

An ice / snow transport pipe 30 is connected and mounted on the downstream side of the rotary feeder 7, and the ice / snow transport pipe 30 is extended and laid on the slope 40. The ice and snow transport pipe 30
The ice and snow 60 supplied to the rotary feeder 7 is transported to the slope 40 through the air pressure of the blower 9.

Thus, the ice and snow transport device 5 is configured. Note that, instead of the screw conveyor 6, another conveying device such as a belt conveyor may be used.

The ice and snow transport pipe 30 laid on the slope 40
Is provided with a plurality of ice and snow dispersing devices 20 for dispersing ice and snow 60 transported by the transport pipe 30. The ice and snow spraying apparatus 20 is provided with outlets 3n, and each outlet 3n is provided with a discharge port 34 so that ice and snow 60 can be discharged from the outlet 3n to the slope 40. In addition, the ice and snow transport pipe 30 is shaped so that the pressure can be released at the discharge port 34.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the rotary feeder 7 includes a hopper 12 and a rotor 10 having a plurality of blades 11. The rotor 10 has a water wheel shape in which a plurality of blades 11 are arranged at substantially equal intervals in a circumferential direction about an axis. The lower part of the rotary feeder 7 is the discharge end side of the ice and snow 60, and the air pipe 38 and the ice and snow transport pipe 30 are connected and mounted. Since the end of the blade 11 is in contact with the inner surface of the casing 71, the compressed air 50 of the ice and snow transport pipe 30 is sealed. Ice and snow 60 supplied from the upper hopper 12
The rotor 10 is inserted into the gap between the blades 11, rotates about the axis in the direction B shown in FIG. 3, is sent from the upper part to the lower part, and is supplied to the lower ice and snow transport pipe 30. Ice and snow 60 is the ice and snow transport pipe 3
0 and transported by compressed air 50.

The hopper 12 above the rotary feeder 7
Inside, a sphere 8 is arranged. The sphere 8 has a hopper 12
Has a diameter smaller than the diameter R of the outlet (see FIGS. 1 and 3) and larger than the distance L (see FIG. 3) between the plurality of blades 11 of the rotor. In the hopper 12, the sphere 8 moves with the rotation of the blade 11 and contacts the inner wall of the hopper 12, peels off the ice and snow attached to the blade 11 and the inner wall of the hopper 12, and prevents the ice and snow 60 from being clogged.

A typical shape of the sphere 8 is a true sphere. However, if it is possible to move in the hopper 12, for example,
The cross section may be an ellipsoidal sphere and not a true sphere, such as a rugby ball shape. Also, a polyhedron composed of a flat surface instead of a sphere, for example, a polyhedron close to a sphere such as a mirror ball can be used as long as it can move. The sphere 8 may be solid or hollow.

The material of the sphere 8 preferably has all of the following characteristics. However, not all of them are required.

It has a hardness that is not worn by ice and snow.

It has a hardness such that it does not wear even when it comes into contact with a member of the rotary feeder.

The rotary feeder has a hardness that does not cause wear of the members.

Ice and snow are hardly frozen.

As the above-mentioned materials, vinyl chloride, hard rubber, plastic and the like are suitable. The surface may be coated with a material having characteristics such as Teflon (registered trademark).

In order to spray ice and snow 60 on the slope 40,
First, ice and snow 60 is produced by the ice making device 2 and stored in the ice storage 3. When carrying out artificial snowfall, that is, when transporting and scattering the ice and snow 60, first, a predetermined amount per unit time is taken out of the ice storage 3 from the ice outlet 3a of the ice storage 3 by the screw conveyor 6 so as to take out the inside of the ice storage 3. The ice and snow 60 is supplied to the rotary feeder 7 by the screw conveyor 6 at a predetermined ice and snow supply amount.

In this way, the ice and snow 60 is supplied to the rotary feeder 7.
While driving the blower 9 to compress the outside air sucked from the air filter 91 to generate compressed air 50 ′, and the compressed air 50 ′ is transferred to the heat exchanger 92.
Is supplied to the rotary feeder 7 with the pressure-feeding air 50 whose temperature has been reduced by heat exchange through the rotary feeder 7. The rotary feeder 7 mixes a predetermined amount of ice and snow 60 with the pumping air 50 and supplies this to the ice and snow transport pipe 30. Thus, the ice and snow 60 is moved by the pressure of the compressed air 50 to the ice and snow transport pipe 3.
0, each spray area 4n of the slope 40 is pumped.
Transported to Therefore, when an arbitrary ice outlet 3n of the ice and snow dispersing device 20 laid on the slope 40 is opened, the ice and snow 60 is discharged from the outlet 34 of the opened ice and snow outlet 3n with the pressure of the compressed air 50. Ice and snow 60 is sprayed on each of the spray areas 4n of the slope 40.

Further, an ice removing machine (not shown) may be provided at the ice / snow extraction port so that the ice / snow 60 is sprayed. This ice removing machine is a separator that separates air and ice chips, an ejector that ejects separated ice chips from the separator, a crusher that crushes the discharged ice chips into a snow shape, and a crusher that is crushed into a snow shape It consists of means for spraying ice and snow on the slopes.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following useful effects can be obtained by disposing the spheres in the hopper of the rotary feeder.

The clogging of the ice and snow transport device is eliminated, and no human power is required to scrape off the attached ice and snow, so that unmanned operation can be performed.

The effective size of the supply port to the rotary feeder can be secured, and the quantitative transport of ice and snow can be performed.

Since no melt water is generated, clogging due to freezing in the ice and snow transport pipe does not occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an ice and snow transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a rotary feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing a rotary feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a rotary feeder according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing Prior Art 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Artificial snowfall device 2 Ice making device 3 Ice storage 3a Ice outlet 3n Outlet 34 Discharge port 5 Ice and snow transporting device 6 Screw conveyor 61 Drive shaft 62 Screw conveyor blade 63 Drop tube 7 Rotary feeder 71 Casing 8 Sphere 9 Blower 91 Air filter 92 Heat exchanger 93 Operation panel 10 Rotor 11 Blade 12 Hopper 20 Ice and snow dispersing device 30 Ice and snow transport pipe 31, 32-3n First and second to n-th outlets 35 Dispersion hose 38 Air piping 39 Artificial ski area 40 Slope 41, 42 -4n 1st, 2nd-nth spray areas 50 Compressed air 50 'Compressed air 60 Ice and snow

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kaichi Ishikawa 1-2-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nihon Kokan Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshige Nitta 2--13, Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Inside Maekawa Works (72) Inventor Toshiaki Hamada 2-13-1, Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside Maekawa Works, Ltd. (72) Masaharu Shigamatsu 2-1-1, Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo No. Inside the Maekawa Works (72) Inventor Takahiro Furudate 2-13-1, Botan, Koto-ku, Tokyo F-term in the Maekawa Works (Reference) 3F047 AA03 CC01 3F075 AA08 BA01 BB01 CA02 CA09 CC03 CC09 CC15 CC19 CC24 CC29 DA02

Claims (2)

[Claims] An ice / snow transport pipe, a rotary feeder provided with a hopper at an upper part thereof for supplying ice / snow to the ice / snow transport pipe at a constant rate, and a rotor having a plurality of blades, Ice and snow supply means capable of supplying the rotary feeder, wherein the rotary feeder includes a sphere in the hopper having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an outlet of the hopper and larger than an interval between the blades of a rotor of the rotary feeder. An ice and snow transport device, which is arranged. 2. An ice and snow transport pipe, a rotary feeder provided with a hopper on an upper part thereof for supplying ice and snow to the ice and snow transport pipe at a constant rate, and a rotor having a plurality of blades, and an ice and snow transporter provided on the rotary feeder. A sphere having a diameter smaller than a diameter of an outlet of the hopper and larger than an interval between the blades of a rotor of the rotary feeder, in an ice and snow transporting apparatus having an ice and snow supply unit capable of supplying the ice and snow. And moving the sphere in the hopper along with the rotation of the rotor to contact the inner wall of the hopper, thereby removing ice and snow attached to the blades and the inner wall of the hopper.