JP2895753B2 - Road sign with wind power generation type icing and snow prevention function - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing icing and snow on road signs used for traffic safety, which is likely to occur in winter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Signs for traffic safety are not useful due to freezing or snow accretion on the sign surface in winter, which poses a danger to road traffic.

[0003] The main causes of the sign surface freezing and snowing in cold weather are as follows. This is because the temperature of the sign surface drops below the freezing point during snowfall or icefall. Therefore, in order to prevent this, the temperature of the sign surface may be maintained at or above the freezing point.

Conventionally, in order to prevent the signs from icing and snowing, there is a method of energizing and heating an electric heater by receiving commercial electric power.
With this method, there is no problem where there is a commercial power supply nearby, but in places such as roads and railroad tracks, there is no commercial power supply that can be used for this purpose, and only a part is used.

[0005]

In most cases, there is no commercial power supply available for this purpose near a sign installed on a road or a railway line. New power reception requires very much labor and expense, such as land rent, government office procedures, construction costs, and electricity bills, so it is hardly practical.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-25808, a heat storage agent is installed on the back of a road sign, and then a heat insulating material is arranged.
The sign surface, heat storage agent, heat insulating material and back plate are integrated to heat the sign surface during the daytime when the outside air temperature is high and the outside air temperature at night becomes low when the outside air temperature becomes low. It has been proposed to.

This method is very effective for preventing dew condensation on the sign surface. However, to prevent the formation of icing and snow, it is effective for dry snow in Hokkaido and in areas where the temperature falls below the freezing point. It has the property of easily adhering to objects, and does not have a sufficient melting and snow effect due to lack of heat.

In recent years, solar cells have become widespread. However, solar cells have not been put to practical use because of low power generation efficiency in areas where the energy conversion efficiency is as low as 1/10 or less and where the sunshine conditions in winter are poor.

[0009] As described above, the techniques proposed in the past have not been sufficiently functional under a wide range of weather conditions.

[0010] Falling snow adheres to a traffic safety sign used outdoors. The invention is wet snow, compact snow,
The present invention has a sufficiently effective anti-icing / snow-preventing function for preventing freezing snow such as rough snow from adhering to the sign surface.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sign plate having a metal plate heat collecting and radiating portion, and a gel-like heat storage agent having a melting point of -50 ° C. to + 50 ° C. is heat-transmitted to the back side of the sign plate via a heat conducting buffer. In a road sign that integrates a container provided as possible as possible, a heat insulating material provided in contact with the back surface of the container, and a back plate provided on the back surface, a container in which the heat storage agent is sealed, and a heat insulating material. An electric heater and a reflector are interposed therebetween, the electric heater is connected to a wind generator equipped with a windmill, and a self-excited brushless AC generator is used as a wind generator for energizing the electric heater. The storage battery is not used, and the electricity is supplied directly through the thermostat.
A wind power generation-type road sign with a function of preventing icing and snow is characterized in that heat is stored in a heat storage agent when the weather is fine and when the weather is snowy to prevent icing and snow on the sign surface in cold weather.

[0012]

[Function] A wind power generator is rotated by wind energy, converted into electric energy, taken out, and an electric heater in close contact with a container containing a heat storage agent housed in a sign is used to generate electricity when there is wind energy and a generator output. The sign is heated while the heater generates heat and stores heat in the heat storage agent. When the wind stops or weakens, the sign surface is continuously heated by the heat stored in the heat storage agent by the solar heat in fine weather. When the outside air temperature is high, heat is collected from the sign surface and stored in the heat storage agent. According to the above principle, the label surface is set to the melting point temperature of ice (0 ° C).
Keep higher to prevent icing and snow. A reflector and a heat insulating material are put on the back side of the electric heater, and the whole is integrated with the sign surface and the back plate.

A wind power generator is an important part of the installation as a source of warming energy for the device according to the invention. This wind generator starts at a low speed of 3 m / s and must withstand strong winds of 15 m / s or more. In the present invention, in order to simplify the structure of the wind power generator, it is desirable to use a self-excited system and use a brushless AC generator.

The output of the wind power generator 10 is supplied to the electric heater 6 to heat it. A thermostat 22 is connected in the energizing circuit of the electric heater 6 to cut off energization when the outside air temperature increases. The setting of the thermostat 22 is operated at about 20 to 30 ° C., and the differential is preferably 5 to 10 ° C. and the difference is large. A pyrotechnic removing element 24 is connected to the thermostat 22 to protect the contacts of the thermostat 22.

The electric heater 6 preferably has a small thickness, is flexible, has a low specific heat, and has a rapid temperature rise after the start of energization.

As the heat storage agent 5, an aqueous solution of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol or the like in a liquid state in a wide temperature range from about -50 ° C. to + 50 ° C. is used. The aqueous solution is preferably gelled by an aqueous solution polymer and a crosslinking agent. The heat storage agent 5 may remain transparent, but may be colored with a coloring agent for food addition. The container 4 for storing the heat storage agent 5 is desirably a transparent film having low moisture permeability so as to be heated by the electric heater 6 to improve heat absorption. As the heat insulating material 8, urethane foam, foamed polyethylene, foamed styrene, or the like is used.

[0017]

EXAMPLES Examples according to the present invention will be described in more detail. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a road sign according to the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a metal plate having an appropriate flat sign surface and an appropriate thickness, and reference numeral 2 denotes a back plate integrally joined with an appropriate content accommodating space.

In the present invention, the reflective film 3 is adhered to the front of the sign board 1, the container 4 for storing the heat storage agent is stored on the back of the sign board 1, and the heat storage agent 5 is filled in the container 4. The electric heater 6 is installed on the back of the container 4 containing the heat storage agent,
A reflector 7 is installed on the back surface, a heat insulating material 8 is provided between the reflector 7 and the back plate 2, and the electric heater 6 is connected to a wind generator 15 having a windmill, and the heating of the wind generator 15 is performed. And, by the heat of the solar heat, heat is stored in the heat storage agent 5 at the time of fine weather and at the time of the snow, and the icing and snow on the sign surface 1A of the sign board 1 is prevented at the time of cold. Reference numeral 9 denotes a support fitting for connecting and supporting the marker plate of the present invention to the connecting fitting 10. Support bracket 9
The positioning fittings 11 are used for positioning and connecting the connecting fittings 10 in the vertical and horizontal directions.

If a wind self-excited AC generator is used as the wind power generator 15, automatic power generation can be performed using wind power even without a power supply. The wind generator 15 is mounted on a pillar 13 by a mounting bracket 16.
Alternatively, it is connected to and supported by the arm fitting 12 protruding laterally from the column 13. In order to install the sign board 1 on the upper part of the road, an arm fitting 12 protruding laterally from a pillar 13 is connected to a connecting fitting 10 with a fastener 14. The heat storage agent 5 preferably has a large specific heat and a large amount of heat storage in a wide temperature range from about −50 ° C. to 50 ° C., is liquid, nontoxic, and has little deterioration for a long time. Also, it is necessary to sufficiently consider the compatibility between the heat storage agent and the container.

In the present invention, in consideration of the above-mentioned conditions, for example, when a sign of 1.5 m × 2.0 m is used, the heat storage agent to be put in the heat storage agent container 4 is a mixed liquid of water and ethylene glycol or the like. use. In the present invention, an aqueous polymer and a cross-linking agent are added to this, and the mixture is gelled and used as a gel heat storage agent. Reference numeral 18 denotes a heat conduction buffer provided between the sign board 1 and the container 4 containing the heat storage agent.

On the front of the sign board 1, a high-strength reflective film 3 is attached with the sign display characters cut into pictorial patterns. A container 4 containing a heat storage agent 5 is arranged on the back of the sign board 1, an electric heater 6 is arranged on the back, and a reflector 7 is arranged on the back.
A heat insulating material 8 is arranged on the back, integrated with the back plate 2, and stored as a housing by the support fitting 9.

The container 4 for storing the heat storage agent shown in FIG.
17 will be provided. The reflector 7 uses a laminated film of aluminum and polyethylene. The heat insulating material 8 inserted between the reflector 7 and the back plate 2 is accommodated in a polyester foam bag for waterproofing a 40 ton polyester polyurethane foam. When the wind is blowing, the output of the wind power generator 15 is directly supplied to the electric heater 6 to store the heat energy in the heat storage agent 5. When the outside air temperature is high, heat is collected from the sign board 1 and this heat is stored in the heat storage agent 5. Further, the sign surface 1A of the sign plate 1 is heated with the energy stored in the heat storage agent regardless of the presence or absence of wind, and is kept at a temperature above the freezing point. The reflector 7 and the heat insulating material 8 prevent heat radiation from the back plate 2 side.

In practicing the present invention, a container provided with a gel-like heat storage agent having a melting point of -50 ° C. to + 50 ° C. provided on the back side of the sign plate 1 so as to allow heat propagation is provided.
It is preferable to enclose a heat storage agent in an amount of c / cm ² .

The reason why ¹ cc to 4 cc / cm ² per sign area is preferable is that in order to melt and remove snowfall,
When there is snow on the sign surface, when the amount of the heat storage agent inside the sign is small, the heat storage temperature is lowered by the low temperature snow that has accumulated outside the sign from the inside of the sign through the sign board And cannot melt the snow that has arrived.

Therefore, 1 cc to 4 cc / cm ² per sign area
With 1 cc of heat storage agent, the amount of heat stored for 1 ℃ of temperature difference is 1 calorie, and 4 cc for 4 cc. When the amount of heat stored is 10 ° C, it becomes 10 calories or 40 calories, so that the snow can be melted and dropped before the heat is exposed by the snow that has arrived. Number of snow pieces
Since the snow accumulates from a few millimeters to several centimeters, the capacity of the heat storage agent in the sign is very important.

As a conventionally known road sign, there is an invention described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-25808 according to the invention of the present inventors.
According to the invention, "Insulating material is installed behind the signboard of the road sign,
A road sign characterized by installing a container containing heat storage material on the back, installing thick heat insulating material on the back, and installing a back plate on the back. However, there is a drawback that heat is not conducted well to the heat storage agent from the sign surface heated by the solar heat because the heat insulating material is placed behind the sign plate of the road sign. There is a significant difference in the heat storage effect between the case where the heat insulating material is put on the back surface of the sign plate and the case where the heat insulating material is not put. Therefore, in the present invention, the heat insulating material 8 is provided only on the back plate 2 side, and on the back plate 2 side. It is designed to prevent heat radiation.

The present invention is advantageous in that solar heat is stored in the heat storage material in that a container containing a heat storage material is provided so that heat can be propagated between the sign plate and the heat storage material and the backside heat insulating material. In order to melt the snow that has landed on the board and melt it, it is important that the sign board be made heat-transmissible in order to heat the sign board from the container containing the heat storage material.

Further, in the present invention, a reflector is placed on the back of the heat storage agent, and the container for the heat storage agent is a heat-transmittable container. In order to efficiently store the heat taken in from the sign surface,
It is important that the heat is stored by the heat exchange method and the heat loss to the back plate side is eliminated by the reflector.

In the present invention, the power output of the wind generator is directly supplied to the electric heater via the thermostat to generate heat.
This stores heat in a heat storage agent while heating the sign surface, and differs from the conventional one in that a storage battery is not provided. In the present invention, when the output of the wind power generator decreases, the sign surface is heated by the heat energy stored in the heat storage agent.

According to the present invention, in order to melt and remove snow that has arrived, the present invention uses 0.005 to 0.005 per mark area at a wind speed of 7 m / sec.
Heat at a wind generator output of 0.1 W / cm ² . This is 0.
005-0.1 Joules of heat energy. In the case of a wind power generator, if the wind speed doubles, the output increases by a factor of three, and the output of the wind power generator increases eight times. In the present invention, when the wind is strong and the heat retention effect of the sign surface is reduced,
As the power supplied to the electric heater is further increased, the heat retention will work effectively.

In the present invention, effective prevention of snow accretion is achieved by the synergistic effect of the effect of increasing the heat capacity by the heat storage agent and the energy obtained by heat exchange between the solar heat and the power generated by the windmill. The generator used for the wind power generator in the present invention,
It is an important part of a wind generator. Since a brush is used in the direct current type, replacement work occurs at regular intervals due to wear of the brush and noise occurs, so a self-excited brushless AC generator is preferable. In the self-excited type, since a permanent magnet is used as a magnet for generating a magnetic field, there is no need to send an exciting current from the outside as in the separately excited type, and the circuit can be simplified.

In the present invention, the output of the wind power generator is not connected to the storage battery, and the electric heater is directly heated.
Even when the solar heat is not stored due to cloudiness, sufficient heat storage is possible when the wind is strong, and the purpose of melting and removing snow that has landed on the road sign and snow can be achieved.

[0033]

The present invention relates to the improvement of road signs for road safety such as roads and railways, and reduces the formation of icing and snow by effectively combining the characteristics of a wind power generator, an electric heater and a heat storage agent. It has a remarkable effect that can prevent and enhance traffic safety.

The effects of the present invention are listed as follows. I. In a place where there is no commercial power supply, wind power is generated by a wind power generator, and this power is supplied to an electric heater, and electricity and heat are exchanged and used. B. A wind power generator is only about one-thousandth of commercial power in terms of continuous power storage, and is an energy that has unstable fluctuations in strength. However, it is also pollution-free energy. Therefore, it is possible to use the heat storage agent and store and average the large fluctuation of the calorific value of the electric heater in the heat storage agent. This has a great merit that the sign surface can be heated by storing solar energy even when the wind energy decreases. C. Further, if the heat storage agent container and the heat storage agent have a light-transmitting structure such as transparent plastic that can transmit heat, the heat generated by the electric heater is transmitted to the heat storage agent of the heat storage agent container in a heat-propagating manner, while absorbing heat and storing heat. At times, the sign surface is heated by the solar energy that has passed through the light, so that effective heat storage can be performed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a comparison test situation between the road sign (A) of the present invention, a road sign made of only an aluminum plate without a fogging prevention function (hereinafter referred to as a conventional product (B)) and the ambient temperature. FIG. 3 is a graph in which the temperatures of the sign surface and its surroundings are recorded for 24 hours and graphed, and the temperature of the sign surface of the present invention is higher than the freezing point from night to early morning compared to the conventional product (B). Indicates a high temperature. This is because the sign surface is heated by the heat storage energy released from the heat storage agent only after the surrounding temperature decreases. From the above comparative test results, the sign of the present invention shows an extremely effective icing and snow prevention effect.

As a conventional countermeasure for preventing icing and snow, there is a method in which only an electric heater is built in. However, there is no commercial power near the sign to be installed, and even if power is received, procedures, construction costs and power consumption are reduced. Not used because management is large. These problems can be solved by utilizing the clean energy of wind power generation and solar heat, and are extremely industrially effective, which can be installed even in mountains and refuges.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view showing a main part of an example of an embodiment of a road sign according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a partially cutaway sectional view and a perspective view showing an example of a container for storing a heat storage agent.

FIG. 3 shows a road sign (A) of the present invention and a conventional product (B).
9 is a graph showing the behavior of a temperature change measured by comparing the performance with (D).

FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram showing a connection between a wind power generator and an electric heater according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 sign plate 1A sign surface 2 back plate 3 reflective film 4 container for storing heat storage agent 5 heat storage agent 6 electric heater 7 reflector 8 heat insulating material 9 support fitting 10 connecting fitting 11 positioning stopper 12 arm fitting 13 pillar 14 fastening fitting 15 Wind generator 16 Wind generator mounting bracket 17 Inlet 18 Heat conduction buffer

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sign plate having a metal plate heat collecting and radiating portion, and a melting point of -50.degree.
In a road sign in which a container in which a gel-like heat storage agent of ° C. is enclosed so as to be able to propagate heat, a heat insulating material provided in contact with the back surface of the container, and a back plate provided on the back surface, the heat storage agent is provided. An electric heater and a reflector are interposed between the container and the heat insulating material, and the electric heater is connected to a wind generator equipped with a windmill, as a wind generator for energizing the electric heater. Uses a self-excited brushless AC generator, does not use a storage battery, and supplies electricity directly through a thermostat. And a wind power generation type road sign with an icing and snow prevention function, wherein the road sign is configured to prevent icing and snow on the sign surface in cold weather.