JP2855555B2 - Snowfall measurement device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a snowfall measuring device capable of automatically and accurately measuring the snowfall within a predetermined time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional apparatus for measuring the amount of snowfall,
As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the support 1 is erected on the ground,
At the middle of the support 1, a snow receiving plate 2 rotatable in the horizontal axis direction by 180 degrees is fixed by a support 3, and a tip 1 a of the support 1 is fixed.
The light from the light emitting diode 4a is condensed by a convex lens 4b and projected on a snow plate, and the light from the light projecting unit 4 reflected on the snow plate is collected by a convex lens 5b and photodiodes A light receiving unit 5 for receiving light at 5a is provided, and the change in the incident angle of the reflected light at the light receiving unit 5 due to the rising change of the reflecting surface due to the amount of snowfall on the snow receiving plate 2 is set as the voltage change amount due to the movement of the photodiode 5a. There has been proposed a method in which a voltage is detected by a meter 5c and the voltage change is converted into a snowfall and measured. (No. 4-95994)

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional snowfall measuring device, since the height of the snow receiving plate 2 is fixed,
In an area with a large amount of snow, it is necessary to set the snow receiving plate 2 at a position higher than the actual snow surface. Therefore, in the case of a strong wind or a snowstorm, the snow on the snow receiving plate 2 is blown off by the strong wind, resulting in measurement data smaller than the actual amount of snowfall, which is a problem in terms of accuracy. Further, the method of measuring the amount of snowfall is such that a change in the incident angle of the reflected light from the snow receiving plate 2 surface of the light projecting unit 4 and the snowfall surface is detected by the light receiving unit 5 as a change in the mechanical movement amount, The amount of change is converted and regarded as the amount of snowfall. Therefore, although it depends on the structure of the light receiving unit 5, it is difficult to take a large distance between the convex lens 5b and the photodiode 5a, so that the change in the incident angle is detected only as a very small movement amount, and this detection is also performed mechanically. Therefore, there was a problem in accurately measuring the amount of snowfall. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional apparatus, and an object of the present invention is to provide a snowfall amount measuring device capable of accurately measuring the snowfall amount.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a snowfall measuring device comprising: a snow receiving portion including a snow receiving plate capable of moving up and down in a vertical direction and having means for removing snow falling; A distance measuring unit using an ultrasonic wave provided so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction, a measurement data processing unit for storing and processing the measurement data of the distance measurement unit, and a storage data of the measurement data processing unit and a processing timing. A control unit for performing an ascending and descending operation of the snow receiving unit and removing snowfall and an ascending and descending operation of the distance measuring unit, and a data output for displaying or recording a snowfall amount within a predetermined time based on a measurement result of the distance measuring unit. And a unit.

[0005]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the entire configuration of a snowfall amount measuring apparatus according to the present invention, in which reference numeral 11 denotes a support erected on the ground, and 12 denotes a support 1.
1 is a snow receiving plate supported by a supporting arm 13 on a connecting portion 14 provided to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction. The snow receiving portion including the connecting portion 14 and the supporting arm 13 is referred to as a snow receiving portion. 15 is a pillar 11
The distance measuring unit is supported by a support arm 17 on a connecting unit 16 provided to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction. For example, an ultrasonic transducer is used. Reference numeral 18 denotes snow cover, 18a denotes a snow cover surface (old snow cover surface) at the start of snowfall measurement, and 18b denotes a predetermined time after the start of measurement, that is, a snow cover surface (new snow cover surface) at the time of snowfall measurement.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a measurement data processing unit including a CPU.
The measurement data of the distance measurement unit 15 is stored, and the amount of snowfall is calculated based on the data and sent to the data output unit 20 to be displayed on the display unit 20a or recorded on the recording unit 120b on recording paper or the like. Reference numerals 21, 22, 23 and 24 denote motors, which are driven by signals from the measurement data processing unit 19 to raise and lower the connecting unit 14 of the snow receiving unit and to remove the snow falling on the snow receiving plate 12 so that the horizontal axis of the snow receiving plate 12 is removed. It controls the rotation in the direction and the movement of the snow plate 12 in the circumferential direction in order to change the snow removal place, and the raising and lowering operation of the connecting part 16 of the distance measuring unit 15. Reference numeral 25 denotes a timer for setting a time at which the amount of snowfall is measured, and a plurality of times can be set in advance. Instead of relying on the timer 25, it is also possible to observe the amount of snowfall at an arbitrary time or to separately provide a switch to start measuring the amount of snowfall at an arbitrary time.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, the distance measuring unit 15 and the snow plate 1
The distance between the two is determined and the reference distance data is stored in the measurement data processing unit 19 (S ₁ ). This reference distance is set to a distance that is sufficiently larger than the amount of snowfall that falls within a predetermined time, and that has little effect on the measurement accuracy in relation to the frequency of the ultrasonic wave for distance measurement. Next, at the start of measurement, the motor 21 is driven so that the upper surface of the snow receiving plate 12 is
Match with a. Then, the motor 24 is driven to control the elevation of the distance measurement unit 15 so that the distance between the distance measurement unit 15 and the snow plate 12 becomes the initially set reference distance (S ₂ ).
Note that this distance measurement is performed until an ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer of the distance measuring unit 15 and the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the snow plate 12 and reaches the ultrasonic transducer of the distance measuring unit 15. Is measured, and this time is converted into a distance to calculate.
If snow falls in this state, as shown in FIG.
Snow also piles on the top, and after a lapse of a predetermined time set in advance by the timer 25 (S ₃ ), the snow surface 18 a becomes the new snow surface 1.
8b. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the distance measuring unit 1
5 measures the distance from the distance measurement unit 15 to the new snow surface 18b in the same manner as described in the distance measurement at the start of the snowfall observation measurement, stores this data in the measurement data processing unit 19, and measures the data first. The difference from the distance to the old snow surface 18a is calculated, and the data is displayed on the display unit 2 of the data output unit 20.
It sends a 0a or recording unit 20b (S _4).

In order to prepare for the next measurement of the amount of snowfall, the snowfall on the snowboard 12 is eliminated and the snowboard 12 is replaced with a new snow surface 18b.
And the motor 24 is controlled so that the distance measuring unit 15 is located at a reference distance position between the snow receiving plate 12 and the initially set snow receiving plate 12. The operating state of the plate 12 is shown in FIG. That is, (a) shows the snow receiving plate 12 after a predetermined time of FIG.
This shows a snowfall state in which the above-described measurement of the snowfall amount is performed. (B) shows a measurement data processing unit 1 for eliminating snowfall on the snow plate 12 after the snowfall measurement.
Connecting portion 14 of the受雪unit based on an instruction 8 is raised by the motor 21, showing a state in which raised the受雪plate 12 by a predetermined distance (S _5, S _6). (C) in order to eliminate the snowfall on受雪plate 12 causes first the受雪plate 12 in the circumferential direction is horizontally moved by a predetermined angle motor 23 (S _7,
S _8). This is to remove the snow from places other than where the snow was collected, so as to reduce the influence on the next measurement of the amount of snow. After the movement of the snow plate 12, the snow plate 1
The two support arms 13 are moved 9 in the horizontal axis direction by a motor 22.
It shows a state in which the snow that has been rotated by 0 degrees or more and is dropped by falling due to its own weight is removed (S ₉ , S ₁₀ ).

(D) shows a snow plate 1 for the next snowfall measurement.
2 shows a state in which the surface of the snow receiving plate 12 coincides with the surface of the new snow-covered surface 18b. The snow receiving plate 12 is returned to a horizontal state after the snowfall is eliminated in (c), and is horizontally moved by the motor 23 to a position where the snowfall is collected. (S ₁₁ , S ₁₂ ), and can be matched by lowering the snow receiving plate 12 by the motor 21 by a distance obtained by subtracting the snowfall amount from the predetermined distance at which the snow receiving plate 12 has been raised described in (b). _13, S _14). In addition, since the distance between the distance measuring unit 15 and the snow plate 12 at the beginning of the measurement is stored, the distance can be matched by lowering the distance by subtracting the snowfall amount from the distance by the motor 21. As a method for matching the snow receiving plate 12 with the new snow surface 18b, when the snow receiving plate 12 is lowered to a state in which the snow receiving plate 12 matches the new snow surface 18b, the contact pressure that operates in contact with the new snow surface 18b is reduced. A high-sensitivity switch may be provided in the snow receiving portion to mechanically match the snow receiving plate 12 with the new snow surface 18b. The above-mentioned snow plate 12 is replaced with the new snow surface 1
After matching 8b, the distance measuring section 15 so that between the distance measuring unit 15 and the受雪plate 12 becomes the reference distance is increased by the motor _{24 (S 15, S 16)} .

It is also possible to adopt a structure in which the distance between the distance measuring unit 15 and the snow receiving plate 12 is set as a distance having little influence on the measurement accuracy and the two are integrally moved up and down so as to always keep the distance constant. In the case of such a structure, the position where the snow receiving plate 12 is first matched with the snow-covered surface is set as a reference height position, and the snowfall measured at this reference height position is added each time. The next measurement is possible by storing the position of the new snow cover 18b for each measurement and controlling the vertical position of the snow receiving plate 12 to match this position.

The above-mentioned lifting and lowering of the snow receiving part and the distance measuring part 15, the rotation of the snow receiving plate 12 in the horizontal axis direction, and the
The method of controlling the rotation of the support arm 13 in the circumferential direction for moving the motor by the motors 21, 22, 23, and 24, respectively, is performed, for example, as shown in FIGS. That is, the lifting and lowering of the snow receiving portion is performed by providing the support shaft 11 with the spiral shaft 112 by the bearing 111, rotating the spiral shaft 112 by the motor 21, and controlling the connection portion 14 engaged with the spiral shaft 112 to move up and down. Snow plate 1 connected to this connecting portion 14
2 and the drive unit 141 of the support arm 13 are moved up and down. The rotation of the snow plate 12 in the horizontal axis direction is performed by the driving unit 141.
A support plate 142 provided on the substrate 144 so as to be able to rotate appropriately in the horizontal direction with the rotation shaft 145 as a fulcrum,
The support arm 13 supported on the support plate 142 by a bearing 143 is rotated by the drive motor 22. The horizontal rotation of the support arm 13 in the circumferential direction for moving the snow plate 12 is performed by rotating the motor 23 provided on the rotation shaft 145 of the support plate 142 by an appropriate angle. Be moved.

When the distance measuring section 15 is moved up and down, only the connecting section 14 of the snow receiving sections provided on the column 11 and the connecting section 16 of the distance measuring section 15 are viewed from the right side in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5B, a spiral shaft 113 similar to the above-described lifting and lowering of the snow receiving portion is provided on the support 11 in parallel with the spiral shaft 112, and the spiral shaft 1
13 is engaged with the connecting portion 16 of the distance measuring portion 15,
It is possible to raise and lower by driving the motor 24 and controlling the rotation direction, and to control the raising and lowering of the distance measuring unit 15. In the present embodiment, the supporting shaft 11 is provided with the spiral shafts 112 and 113 for raising and lowering the snow receiving portion and the distance measuring unit 15, but may be provided as separate supporting columns. The above-described drive motors 21, 22, 23, and 24 are all connected to respective drive shafts via a deceleration function.

The above-mentioned snow receiving part and distance measuring part 15
In place of the lifting / lowering means by the spiral shafts 112 and 113, the column 11 is provided with a vertical transfer means such as a belt or a chain in the vertical direction, and the transfer means
4 and 16 may be fixed, and the snow receiving part and the distance measuring part 15 may be moved up and down. The rotation of the snow plate 12 in the horizontal axis direction and the horizontal rotation of the support arm 13 for moving the snow plate 12 in the circumferential direction are switched by a changeover switch using various gear mechanisms. It is also possible to control with one motor. As a method of removing snowfall of the snow receiving plate 12, in addition to the method described above, the snow receiving plate 12 may be removed by a wiper or an air compressor without rotating the snow receiving plate 12, and a combination of these means and a rotating means may be used. May go.

In the above embodiment, the measurement data processing unit 19, the data output unit 20, the timer 25, etc.
Although described as being provided near the column 11, it is obvious that these components can be provided in an office such as a measurement center, and the amount of snowfall can be measured by remote control.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the means for collecting a snowfall sample in the measurement of snowfall, which has been a problem in the conventional snowfall measurement, must be collected under conditions not identical to the actual snowfall. Since the method of measuring the amount of snow converts the amount of snowfall into the angle of reflection of light and changes the angle as a change in travel distance and mechanically detects it as a variable,
It solves the basic problem that measurement errors may occur due to them. That is, the sample of the snowfall amount is not configured to be collected in an actual snowfall state (natural environment), and the measuring method is also to convert the snowfall amount to the reflection time by the ultrasonic wave and process the temporal change amount by the electronic circuit. It is calculated by means, and it is designed to measure at a fixed distance between the snow receiving plate surface and the distance measuring unit, and it is possible to use ultrasonic waves of an appropriate frequency in relation to the measured distance As a result, measurement errors are extremely small, and this has the beneficial effect of providing accurate and reliable weather information to local residents and public institutions.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention;
It is a continuation of.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation of the snow plate in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a control mechanism of a snow receiving unit and a distance measuring unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional snowfall amount measuring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,11 Prop 2,12 Snow plate 3,13 Snow plate support arm 4 Light emitting unit 5 Light receiving unit 14 Snow plate connection unit 15 Distance measurement unit 16 Distance measurement unit support arm 17 Distance measurement connection unit 18a Old snow surface 18b New snow surface 19 Measurement data processing unit 20 Data output unit 21, 22, 23, 24 Motor 25 Timer

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A snow receiving part including a snow receiving plate which is vertically movable and provided with means for removing snowfall, and an ultrasonic wave which is vertically movable above said snow receiving plate. A distance measurement unit, a measurement data processing unit that stores and processes the measurement data of the distance measurement unit, and an operation of removing the ascending and descending and snowfall of the snow receiving unit based on the storage data and the processing timing of the measurement data processing unit. a control unit that occupies perform the lifting operation of the distance measuring unit, and a data output unit for displaying or recording the snowfall within a predetermined time period based on the measurement result of the distance measuring unit, wherein during snowfall observed measurement start Snow plate
A distance based on the ultrasonic reflection time between the distance measuring unit and the snow receiving plate surface in a state in which the ground or the snow surface is matched ,
Calculating the difference between the distance based on the reflected ultrasonic time between the distance measuring unit and snowfall surface on the受雪plate after a predetermined time has elapsed and outputs the distance data, and on subsequent said受雪plate the受雪plate surface after the elimination snow with allowed to match the ground or snow surface <br/>, allowed controlled to be a predetermined distance position the distance between the distance measuring unit and the受雪plate surface, next snowfall A snowfall measurement device designed to prepare for snowfall measurements. 2. The snow receiving part and the distance measuring part are integrated.
The snowfall amount measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the snowfall amount measuring device is provided so as to move up and down .