JP2009057775A - Snow melting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve problems of a conventional snow melting device wherein a new heater cannot be disposed after extracting only the heater in a buried state since the heater is very long when buried, buried zigzag, and the portion of the heater between pipes is not inserted in the pipes and buried directly in a soil, and therefore, the soil must be dug up for replacing the heater. <P>SOLUTION: A heater unit is formed of a heater inserted into a protective pipe. A plurality of heater units are connected, parallel to each other, to a power supply line buried in the ground. The heater of each heater unit is formed of a foil-shaped ribbon heater. The ribbon heater is covered with a silicone rubber. A chord-like reinforcement is buried in the silicone rubber along the ribbon heater. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a snow melting device for melting snow accumulated on a parking lot, a road or the like.

  In areas where there is a lot of snowfall, snow on roads and parking lots prevents cars from passing and hinders traffic. Many means for removing this snow have been proposed in the past, and as an example, a heater is buried in the ground, and the ground surface is heated by energizing this heater to melt the accumulated snow (for example, Patent Document 1).

In this case, a plurality of steel pipes are installed parallel to each other at a predetermined pitch in a place dug down from the ground surface, and a single long heater is inserted through the steel pipes, and after embedding in that state, the ground surface is paved. ing.
JP-A-9-328708 (page 5-7, FIG. 1)

  In the conventional snow melting apparatus, since it is necessary to embed one long heater so as to cover the entire area where the snow is desired to be melted, even if it is considered not to break, there is a disconnection failure even at one location. If it occurs, it will not be possible to melt snow throughout the area. Since it is very difficult to specify where the disconnection failure has occurred, it is necessary to replace the entire heater with a new one. However, in the above-mentioned conventional one, the heater is very long, embedded in a zigzag, and further, between the steel pipes is not inserted into the steel pipe but directly buried in the soil, so that only the heater remains buried. It is impossible to remove and to install a new heater. Therefore, it is necessary to dig up and replace the heater.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the snow melting apparatus which can replace | exchange a heater simply even if a disconnection failure arises in view of said problem.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a snow melting device according to the present invention includes a heater embedded in the ground in a state of being inserted through a metallic protective tube, and in the snow melting device that heats the ground by energizing the heater. With the inserted heater as one heater unit, a plurality of heater units are connected in parallel to the power supply line buried in the ground, and the heaters of each heater unit are configured with foil-like ribbon heaters, This ribbon heater is covered with silicon rubber, and further, a string-like reinforcing material is embedded in the silicone rubber along the ribbon heater.

  In the above configuration, a single long heater is not embedded in the entire snow melting range, but a plurality of heater units are connected in parallel to the power supply line. However, the other heater units can continue to generate heat, and snow melting over the entire welding range is not impossible. In the case of a heater unit that has definitely broken down, it is only necessary to pull out only the heater while the protective tube is embedded, and to insert a new heater. When the heater is pulled out, the new heater is connected to one end of the old heater and pulled out from the other end, so that the old heater is pulled out and at the same time the new heater is inserted into the protective tube.

  However, if the heater is disconnected, the old heater can be pulled out, but a new heater cannot be inserted. Therefore, a string-like reinforcing material is embedded so that the heater can be replaced even if the heater is disconnected.

  In addition, when a heater is inserted into the protective tube, heat must be efficiently transferred to the protective tube. Therefore, along with the ribbon heater coated with the silicone rubber, a long rubber tube is inserted into the protective tube along the ribbon heater, and the tube is filled with air and expanded in the protective tube. It is desirable that the surface be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the protective tube.

  As is apparent from the above description, the present invention connects a plurality of heater units in parallel, so that the heater can be replaced without dug up the heater unit for each protective tube, so that the recovery when a disconnection failure occurs is short. And can be performed at low cost.

  Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a heater unit used in the snow melting device according to the present invention. As illustrated, a plurality of heater units 1 are connected in parallel to the power supply line 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a terminal box for connecting the heater unit 1 and the power supply line 2.

  The power supply line 2 is composed of a pair of electric wires, and is connected to a controller (not shown) so that AC 100V or 200V power is supplied. Moreover, the temperature sensor 4 is embed | buried with these heater units 1, and it is comprised so that the temperature of the soil heated with the heater unit 1 may be detected.

  The temperature sensor 4 is also connected to a controller (not shown), and the controller controls energization to the power supply line 2 so that the soil temperature detected by the temperature sensor 4 is maintained at a predetermined temperature. It is configured.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the heater unit 1 has a pair of side portions 11 and a pair of internal portions 12. However, when the heater unit 1 is embedded, the side portions 11 are separated from the terminal box 3. And the inside 12 was made to be horizontal. Since the side portion 11 is inclined in this way, even if rainwater enters the heater unit 1, it is drained to the terminal box 3 side.

  The terminal box 3 is closed by an openable / closable lid plate 30 and includes an inner box 31 inside. The inner box 31 floats from the bottom surface of the terminal box 3 by the legs 32, and is configured so that rainwater does not enter the inner box 31 as much as possible.

  A terminal plate 21 is provided in the inner box 31, and the power supply line 2 and the heater in the heater unit 1 are electrically connected via the terminal plate 21.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the heater unit 1 includes a protective tube 10 made of a steel pipe, and a heater portion 5 and a tube 6 are inserted into the protective tube 10.

  The heater section 5 has a structure in which a ribbon-shaped heater 51 is covered with a covering section 52 made of silicon rubber, and six reinforcing members 53 are embedded in the covering section 52. In the present invention, a ribbon heater 51 is used instead of a wire heater. By using the ribbon-like heater 51 in this way, the surface area of the heater 51 is expanded, and heat transfer to others is performed efficiently.

  However, the ribbon-shaped heater 51 has a reduced mechanical strength and may be broken when tension is applied. Therefore, the reinforcing material 53 is embedded in the covering portion 52. Therefore, even if tension acts on the heater portion 5, the tension is dispersed in the reinforcing material 53, and the possibility that the heater 51 is broken is reduced. The reinforcing material 53 is a thread made of synthetic fiber having high tensile performance.

  The tube 6 is made of a thin film of butadiene rubber or silicon rubber. The tube 6 is for inflating the tube 6 by filling the tube 6 with air, and thereby bringing the heater portion 5 into close contact with the inner wall of the protective tube 10.

  The reinforcing material 53 is exposed at both ends from the covering portion 52 for a predetermined length, and the reinforcing material 53 exposed from one end is attached to a string or the like previously inserted into the protective tube 10 to draw out the string or the like. Thus, the heater portion 5 is inserted into the protective tube 10. Further, when the heater unit 5 is replaced, the reinforcing members 53 of both the old and new heater units 5 are connected to each other, and the old heater unit 5 is pulled out from the protective tube 10 and at the same time, the new heater unit 5 is inserted into the protective tube 10. It was made to be.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described form, You may add a various change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

The figure which shows the structure of one embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the embedding state of a heater unit Diagram showing the configuration of the heater unit

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heater unit 2 Power supply line 3 Terminal box 4 Temperature sensor 5 Heater part 6 Tube 10 Protection pipe 21 Terminal board 31 Inner box 51 Heater 52 Covering part 53 Reinforcement material

Claims (2)

  In a snow melting device that embeds a heater in the ground in a state of being inserted into a metallic protective tube and heats the ground by energizing the heater, the heater inserted in the protective tube is used as a single heater unit. A plurality of heater units are connected in parallel to the power supply line embedded in the heater, and the heaters of each heater unit are constituted by foil-shaped ribbon heaters, and the ribbon heaters are covered with silicon rubber. A snow melting device in which a string-like reinforcing material is embedded along a ribbon heater.   Along with the ribbon heater covered with silicon rubber, a long rubber tube is inserted into the protective tube along the ribbon heater, and the tube is filled with air and expanded in the protective tube, so that the surface of the silicon rubber is expanded. The snow melting device according to claim 1, wherein the snow melting device is in close contact with an inner peripheral surface of the protective tube.

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