JP2632129B2 - Artificial snowfall equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an artificial snowfall apparatus mainly for a snowfall laboratory or a snowfall exhibition room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of apparatus has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-1.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3823 and shown in FIG. 7, a net-shaped screen S is provided transversely at an opening O of a low-temperature air passage R facing a laboratory A, and water is sprayed on the surface of the screen S. A nozzle N, and a long brush body B that rotates while shifting the contact position on the screen S by a drive unit G including a motor M, and rubs ice frozen on the screen S with the brush body B in a plane. Artificial snow C is caused to fall sequentially on ice pieces.

[0003]

However, in the above method, since the ice frozen on the screen S is rubbed off with the brush body B in a plane, the driving portion G of the brush body B is strongly applied. In addition to this, there is a problem that the cost is increased, and there are many failures due to clogging on the screen S or freezing of the driving portion. Further, with the rotation of the long brush body B, the portion from which the snow is released from the screen S sequentially changes with time, so that there is a problem of giving an unnatural impression such as the manner in which the snow falls intermittently. is there.

[0004] A main object of the present invention is to provide an artificial snowfall apparatus which can reduce the number of failures, reduce costs, and continuously make snow fall from the same position to artificially create a snowfall state close to nature. It is in.

[0005]

Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned main object, the invention of claim 1 comprises a means 1 for generating a fine ice block in the air, a rotating brush 2, and a brush, as shown in FIG. A contact body 3 and a brush rotation drive unit 4 are provided. The rotating brush 2 is used to receive the falling ice blocks from below.
It is rotatably provided at a fixed position below the generating means and has a number of bristles 22 on its surface. The brush contact body 3 comes into contact with the bristle 22 of the rotating brush and compresses and condenses the minute ice blocks captured on the rotating brush in the gap between the bristle 22. The brush rotation drive unit 4 drives the rotating brush to rotate in a predetermined direction, so that snow whose particle diameter has increased due to the compression and condensation of the fine ice blocks is continuously lowered from between the rotating brush and the brush contact body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, as a specific configuration of the generating means 1, the generating means 1 is a two-fluid nozzle 10 for spraying minute water droplets to a low temperature region with water and compressed air.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the brush contact body 3 has a plurality of bristles which come into contact with the bristles 22 of the rotating brush 2 on a tubular main body 31 installed in a lateral direction. 32, and a reverse rotation brush 30 that rotates in the opposite direction to the rotation brush 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method according to the third aspect of the invention, in which the compaction of the fine ice blocks is more preferably performed.
The length of the bristles 22 of the rotating brush 2 is mixed long and short, and the length of the bristles 32 of the reverse rotating brush 30 is mixed long and short.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the rotary brush 2 and the reverse rotary brush 30 are combined with each other to reduce the power of the driving portion and to perform the compaction of the fine ice blocks satisfactorily. Hair 22a, 32 on the tall side of each brush 2, 30
a are in contact with each other, and the short hairs 22b and 32b are arranged in a non-contact relationship.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the rotation speed changing means 5 is provided in the brush rotation drive unit 4 so that the manner in which snow falls can be easily changed.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the fine ice blocks generated by the generating means 1 accumulate on the rotating brush 2. When the rotary brush 2 is rotated by the brush rotation drive unit 4, the small ice blocks accumulated on the rotary brush 2 are sent downward. At this time, due to the contact between the bristles 22 of the rotating brush 2 and the brush contact body 3, the fine ice blocks are compacted and condensed in the gaps between the bristles 22 of the rotating brush 2, and the particle diameter is increased. The snow whose particle diameter has increased is continuously discharged downward from between the rotating brush and the brush contact body.

In the invention according to claim 2, the two-fluid nozzle 1
Small water droplets sprayed from 0 adiabatically expand in a low temperature region and become small ice blocks within a short distance of the nozzle discharge port, so that the distance between the two-fluid nozzle 10 and the rotating brush 2 can be reduced, and the entire device is It can be made compact.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the rotating brush 2 and the reverse rotating brush 30 having different rotation directions can smoothly feed the small ice block downward, and the bristles 22 provided on the two brushes 2 and 30 can be used. , 32 can favorably promote the compaction of ice blocks.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a gap for compressing and condensing minute ice blocks can be ensured between the bristles 22 and 32 of the two brushes 2 and 30 which are mixed long and short. Can be satisfactorily performed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the two brushes 2 and 30 are in contact with each other at the bristle portions 22a and 32a on the long side and are not in contact with the bristle portions 22b and 32b on the short side. , The contact force of each brush 2, 30 can be reduced,
The driving torque of each of the brushes 2 and 30 can be reduced, and the bristles 22 and 32 that are long and short can favorably condense and condense minute ice blocks.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the rotation number changing means 5 provided in the brush rotation drive unit 4 can change the amount of snow released from below the rotating brush 2 per unit time, and can reduce the amount of fine ice blocks. The compression setting time can be changed, and the way of falling snow can be easily changed.

[0017]

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes an experiment or exhibition snowfall room constituted by a prefabricated panel 60 made of a heat insulating wall or the like, and an artificial snowfall device 100 according to the present invention is provided near the ceiling of the snowfall room 6. Is installed, and the lower suction port 61 of the snowfall chamber 6 is provided.
Is cooled by the evaporator 71 of the air conditioner 7 and guided to the upper part of the snowfall chamber 6 through the circulation fan 72 and the ventilation duct 8, and is made up of a punching plate or the like having a large number of opening holes 91. After the ceiling board 9, -5
Low-temperature air of about -10 ° C to 10 ° C is circulated.

The artificial snowfall apparatus 100 is provided with a means 1 for generating micro ice blocks above a frame 101 which is framed. This generation means 1 is provided in the width direction of the frame 101.
And two in the depth direction. Each of the generating means 1 includes a nozzle main body 11, a water supply line 12 having a water pressure of about 1 kg / cm ² G, and an air pressure of 3 kg / cm ^2.
A two-fluid nozzle 10 connected to a compressed air supply line 13 of about G is used to spray fine water droplets having a diameter of about several tens of microns into a low temperature region by using water and compressed air.

Below the generating means 1 in the frame 101, a large number of hairs 2 are attached to a cylindrical main body 21 lying in the depth direction.
6, six rotating brushes 2 rotating clockwise,
A rotating brush 2 is attached to the cylindrical body 31 also lying in the depth direction.
A plurality of bristles 32 in contact with the bristles 22 of the rotating brush 2
6 reverse rotating brushes 3 that rotate counterclockwise in the opposite direction
0 of the brush contact body. The diameter of the cylindrical main bodies 21 and 31 of the brushes 2 and 30 is, for example, about 100 mm.

As shown in FIG. 2, each rotating brush 2 is linked to a forward rotation motor 42 such as a gear motor through a forward rotation power transmission means 41 having a number of sprockets 41a and chains 41b. In addition, each reverse rotation brush 30 is linked to a reverse rotation motor 44 such as a geared motor via a reverse rotation power transmission means 43 also including a number of sprockets 43a and chains 43b. Each of the motors 42 and 44 serving as the brush rotation drive unit 4 for rotating the brushes 2 and 30 is provided with a rotation speed changing means 5 so that each of the drums 2 and 30 has
The motor can be rotated slowly within a variable speed range of about 30 rpm.

The bristle 22, 32 provided in the rotating brush 2 and the reverse rotating brush 30, respectively, is made of nylon having a diameter of, for example, about 0.5 mm.
1, tens to hundreds are provided in the circumferential direction of 1, 31. Each bristle 22, 32 is also provided in the longitudinal direction of each cylindrical main body 21, 31 at the same density. In addition, each hair 22,
As shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 32 denotes bristles 22a and 32a having a length of 25 mm and short sides having a length of 15 mm with respect to cylindrical bodies 21 and 31 having a diameter of 100 mm. The hairs 22b and 32b are mixed by random arrangement or alternate arrangement in which several hairs are alternately arranged. Further, the tall hairs 22a and 32a overlap each other by about 10 mm and come into contact with each other.
b and 32b set the pitch P between each pair of rotating brushes 2 and the counter-rotating brush 30 in a non-contact relationship. In addition, a small gap D for removing air of about 2 to 3 mm is provided between adjacent brush pairs.

With the above configuration, as shown in FIG.
Micro water droplets of about 20 microns expand adiabatically at low temperatures,
Within a short distance of about 50 cm from the nozzle body 11, the diameter becomes about 10 times, that is, a small ice block of about 100 to 200 μm.
It is stored in the upper part of 31. Then, each of the bristles 22, 32 is sent out downward with the rotation of each of the brushes 2, 30.
Is compressed and condensed in the gap, and the particle size of the ice block is 1 to 3 m.
m. Then, the snow C having an increased particle diameter is discharged into the snowfall chamber 6 one after another.

The amount of snowfall in the snowfall chamber 6 and the two-fluid nozzle 10
The relationship between the amount of fountain and the number of rotations of each of the brushes 2 and 30 is as shown in FIG. 4. When the number of rotations of the brushes is increased, the number of snow particles emitted from each of the brushes 2 and 30 in a unit time increases. As a result, the amount of snowfall increases. FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the average particle size of snow and the number of rotations of the brush. When the number of rotations of the brush is reduced, the time for compressing and condensing minute ice blocks on each of the brushes 2 and 30 increases. The average particle size increases.

In the above-described embodiment, the reverse rotating brush 30 is used as the brush contacting member 3. However, as shown in FIG. A fixed contact body 300 having irregularities may be used.

[0025]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the minute brush generated by the rotating brush 2 and the brush contact body 3 by the generating means 1 is used instead of shaving ice as in the prior art to form snow. Since the ice block is compressed and condensed to increase its particle size, there are few failures, cost reduction can be achieved, and snow can be released continuously from below the rotating brush 2 in a continuous manner. Can be made.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the generating means 1
Since the two-fluid nozzle 10 is used for the
The distance between the rotating brush 2 and the rotating brush 2 can be reduced, and the entire apparatus can be made compact.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the reverse rotating brush 30 is used as the brush contact body 3, the small ice blocks can be smoothly sent downward, and the compaction of the small ice blocks can be favorably performed. Can be encouraged.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the bristles 22, 32 of the two brushes 2, 30 are mixed long and short, it is possible to favorably compact and coagulate the fine ice blocks.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the two brushes 2 and 30 are in contact with each other at the bristle portions 22a and 32a on the long side, and are not in contact with the bristle portions 22b and 32b on the short side. Therefore, while the driving torque of each of the brushes 2 and 30 can be reduced, it is possible to satisfactorily compress and condense the fine ice blocks.

According to the present invention, the snowfall state can be easily changed by changing the rotation speed by the rotation speed changing means 5 provided in the brush rotation drive unit 4,
Various snowfall conditions such as a quiet snowfall condition and a snowstorm condition can be created.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an artificial snowfall device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the brush rotation drive unit.

FIG. 3 is a main part drawing of the brush part.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship among the snowfall amount, the fountain amount, and the brush rotation speed.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between an average particle diameter of the snow and a brush rotation speed.

FIG. 6 is a main part drawing showing another example of the brush contact body.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1; generating means, 10; two-fluid nozzle, 2; rotating brush,
21; cylindrical body, 22; bristles, 3; brush contact, 30;
Reverse rotation brush, 31; cylindrical body, 32; bristles, 4; brush rotation drive unit, 5;

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Utility Model 5-17466 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 3 118484 (JP, U)

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. Means for generating a fine ice block in the air (1)
A rotating brush (2) rotatably provided at a fixed position below the generating means and having a large number of bristles (22) on its surface, for receiving the falling ice blocks from below; A brush contact body (3) that contacts the bristles (22) and compresses and condenses the fine ice blocks captured on the rotating brush in the gaps between the bristles (22); and rotationally drives the rotating brush in a predetermined direction. By
An artificial snowfall device comprising: a brush rotation drive unit (4) for continuously lowering snow whose particle diameter has increased due to compression and condensation of micro ice blocks from between the rotating brush and the brush contact body. 2. The artificial snowfall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generating means is a two-fluid nozzle for spraying minute water droplets to a low temperature region with water and compressed air. 3. A brush contact body (3) having a plurality of bristles (32) in contact with bristles (22) of a rotating brush (2) on a tubular body (31) installed in a lateral direction, the rotating brush (3). 2. The artificial snowfall device according to claim 1, wherein the brush is a reverse rotation brush that rotates in a direction opposite to that of 2). 4. The length of the bristle (22) of the rotating brush (2) is mixed with the length of the bristle, and the length of the bristle (32) of the reverse rotating brush (30) is mixed. 3. The artificial snowfall device according to 3. 5. A rotating brush (2) and a reverse rotating brush (30).
And the hair (22a, 3) on the tall side of each brush (2, 30).
2a) are in contact with each other and the short hairs (22b, 32b)
The artificial snowfall device according to claim 4, wherein the artificial snowfall devices are arranged in a non-contact relationship. 6. The artificial snowfall device according to claim 1, wherein a rotation speed changing means is provided in the brush rotation drive unit.