JP3443751B2 - Roof snow removal method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for removing snow from a roof. The term "roof" as used herein is a concept that includes a rigid tile roof, a tile bar roof, a planked roof, a flexible tent roof, and a dome-shaped roof having a large membrane structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present invention has made various studies on snow removal from roofs by using a flow control tape. Taking Okayama Prefecture, where the applicant of the present invention resides, as an example, the Chugoku Mountains lie near the border of Tottori Prefecture, and there is a considerable amount of snowfall every year on the southern slope of this mountainous area. In the Hokuriku and Tohoku regions, there is much snow inland from the Japanese side over the mountains, and it is a region that has suffered snow damage due to a large amount of snowfall for many years.

There are various methods for removing snow from a roof. For example, a method of installing a heat exchanger on the roof surface or flowing water directly onto the roof to melt snow is used. The object of the technical problem solving of the present invention is to the drawback of the roof snow melting technology by running water. The running snow melting technology for roofs is similar to running snow removal for roads that uses a large amount of groundwater found in cities in the Tohoku region.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the present invention] The removal of running snow from a roof is
In all cases, the total amount of water is extremely large because it is based on the method of predicting the amount of snowfall and obtaining the required amount of heat of snowmelt, and specifying the temperature and flow rate of the supplied water that matches this. Since water tends to converge and diverge, there is no recognition that snowmelt can be effectively performed with a small amount of halfway water, and if there is a situation where only a small amount of water is available, such running snowmelt will actually occur. I have been told that I cannot go to. When using groundwater, it is usually impossible to secure a sufficient amount of water, and running snow melting on the roof is not being used unexpectedly. Tap water is not a popular extension technology from the viewpoint of resource protection and cost. It is hard to say that using hot water from a boiler is a realistic method due to the high fuel cost. The same applies to the use of sprinklers.

Other various methods have been proposed.
For example, there is a method of attaching a hot water circulation pipe to the attic, a roof heat exchanger that uses a heat medium by underground heat exchange, or a method of using a heat pipe, but both require high investment and maintenance costs. It is not popular because it is bulky. An object of the present invention is to provide a concrete method for removing snow effectively by allowing existing roofs and new roofs to have a reliable snow removing function by simple work without requiring a large amount of capital investment. .

[0006]

In order to solve these drawbacks of the prior art, the method of the present invention covers at least a part of the roof surface with a flat water absorbing material prior to snow accumulation, and the water absorbing material is covered with snow melting material. The heat medium that serves as priming water is made to flow down, and the snow melting water that moves from the snow layer to the roof surface is received by this water absorbing material
Forming a flat radiator that impregnates the falling heat medium and snowmelt water, and forming a remarkable uneven surface on the snow surface by melting the snow located above the flat radiator prior to the snow of other parts, Due to the appearance of the uneven surface, the exposed surface area of the snow surface layer is expanded and the snow melting is promoted by the outside temperature or direct sunlight.

[0007]

The water-absorbent material forms a flow-down path of any width alone or as a part of the sheet or the fiber material. The heat medium flows down along the flow path of this arbitrary width. The supplied heat medium flows in a state where it remains dense, so that it does not easily freeze. The heat medium attached to the water-absorbing material spreads out evenly in a plane, and a flat radiator that holds the heat of the heat medium is formed. The snow particles absorb part of the heat medium flowing down, and the snow becomes sherbet-shaped. The snow sorbet floats on the heat medium, and easily slides along the flow path. Also, the water absorbing material retains the water that has been released from the snow due to the supply of heat, and the heat of this water is also used for melting the snow, so efficient heat exchange is performed between the heat medium and the snow. Be done.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 are perspective explanatory views specifically showing an implementation example of a snow removing method for a roof according to the present invention. Prior to the snow cover, the roof surface 1 is covered with a continuous elongated flat water absorbing material 2. The water absorbing materials 2 are arranged at intervals, and the heat medium flows along the water absorbing materials. This heat medium is a liquid that has the property of preserving snow, for example,
Warm water such as groundwater. Snow particles absorb the heat medium flowing down along the water absorbing material. If the snow particles absorb part of the heat medium flowing down from the water absorbing material, the white color of the snow disappears and a transparent sherbet is formed. Sherbet has a specific gravity of 1
Therefore, if there is a sherbet that floats on the heat medium, the sherbet in the floating state easily slides along the flow-down path due to the flow velocity of the heat medium. The arrangement interval, width and thickness of the water absorbing material, and the flow rate of the heat medium are optional items.

The snow-melting water generated by the heat of the heat medium is held by the water-absorbing material 2 to form a planar heat storage material which is impregnated with the falling heat medium and the snow-melting water. Although snow melting water has a low temperature, it possesses a certain amount of heat, and this heat is also effectively used. In this way, the flow-down path of the water-absorbing material forms a flat radiator, and the snow located above the flow-down path can be melted prior to the snow of other parts.

2 and 4 show a state in which no snow is accumulated above the downflow path, that is, the heat medium quickly melts snow particles to cause no snow on the downflow path, or after the snowfall has stopped. Also shows the state where snow melting has progressed around the downflow path by continuously flowing down the heat medium.
In the figure, reference numeral S indicates remaining snow.

[0011] If the amount of snowfall is large and the amount of heat possessed by the heat medium flowing through the flow path of the water absorbing material 2 is less than the amount of heat required for immediate snowmelt, snow will accumulate. Since the flow-down path of this deposited snow functions as a planar heat storage / heat-dissipating body, the snow located above the flow-down path is melted before other parts of the snow to form a marked uneven surface on the snow cover surface. However, the appearance of the uneven surface allows the exposed surface area of the snow surface layer to be enlarged, and the snow melting can be promoted by the outside temperature or direct sunlight.

The heat medium is supplied continuously or intermittently. In the case of intermittent supply, it is also possible to change the supply pressure so as to generate a pulse wave in the heat medium flowing down along the flow path. Such intermittent supply may increase the sherbet transportation efficiency.

FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view showing a concrete example of the flow-down path of the water absorbing material used in FIG. At least a part of the flow-down path of the water absorbing material 2 in this example is covered with the hydrophobic material 3 along the moving direction of the heat medium. The flow path of the water absorbing material is stored in the tray 4 of the hydrophobic material having the edges 4a and 4b arranged at both ends. According to this edge structure, it is possible to increase the supply amount of the heat medium as compared with the case without the edge.

According to the above-mentioned structure in which the cover of the hydrophobic material 3 is provided, a certain degree of heat retaining effect for the heat medium can be obtained.
Since the heat medium flowing under the cover does not come into direct contact with the snow particles and is not absorbed, the heat medium flowing in this portion has a larger amount of heat retained than the heat medium flowing in other portions. Therefore, even if the heat medium flowing through the exposed flow-down path may freeze, the heat medium flowing through the path blocked by the hydrophobic material 3 can be prevented from freezing.

FIG. 6 shows an example of improvement of the downflow path of FIG. In the flow-down path of this example, the edge 4a forms a rising portion that connects to the roof tile bar, and the pipe passage portion 5 is formed in contact with the edge 4b. That is, the exposed water-absorbing material 2 is provided, a portion adjacent to the water-absorbing material 2 covered with the hydrophobic material 3, and a pipe passage portion 5 located in the portion covered with the hydrophobic material. With such a configuration, for example, even in the worst situation in which the supply of the heat medium is stopped due to a failure of the heat medium supply system and the entire water-absorbing material is completely frozen, the heat medium supplied from the restored supply system is piped. The water is flown to the passage portion 5, the heat absorbing medium 2 and the hydrophobic material 3 are covered from the heat medium flowing through the pipe passage portion, and the heat is transferred laterally through the bottom of the tray to defrost the water absorbing material, and the flow path of the water absorbing material Performance can be restored to the original state.

The width of the tray 4 and the width of the water absorbing material may not be the same, and the tray 4 may be used in a form in which the bottom surface is exposed. That is, in addition to the exposed water absorbing material portion, a part of the bottom surface of the tray 4 can be exposed along the flow path of the heat medium. Further, all the water absorbing materials provided on the other bottom surfaces except the exposed bottom surface of the tray may be covered with the cover of the hydrophobic material. The absorbent material can also be placed on the tray as parallel strips. It is also possible to previously incorporate an electric heating element as the auxiliary heating means.

The water absorbing material can be composed of a water absorbing layer and a base material layer. The water absorbent material can be attached to the roof surface by an adhesive applied to the surface of the base material layer.
In addition, this base material layer is made of, for example, a plastic material containing a large amount of iron powder and having excellent thermal conductivity so that it is attached to a surface to be adhered made of a magnetic material having high magnetic permeability by a magnetic force. Alternatively, it may be composed of a rubber magnet. Alternatively, any fixing means may be used to fix the roof surface so that it does not shift.

The run-down path can be an independent tape strip, spaced apart as shown in FIG.
Further, it can be configured as a tray structure as shown in FIGS.

The water-absorbent material can be composed of a woven fabric, a non-woven fabric or a knitted fabric composed of hydrophobic fibers and water-absorbent fibers. For example, the woven fabric is composed of a woven fabric material woven using lyophobic warp yarns and weft yarns, and in addition to the warp yarns of this woven fabric fabric, a dense portion of the lyophilic warp yarns is woven in a stripe shape, A lyophobic woven fabric portion and a dense portion of lyophilic warp yarns are alternately arranged at intervals.

Further, the non-woven fabric comprises a liquid-proof sheet layer and a non-woven fabric of lyophobic fiber adhered to the sheet layer, and in addition to the lyophobic fiber of the non-woven fabric, a portion where the lyophilic fiber is dense is streaked. The lyophobic fiber portion and the lyophilic fiber portion are arranged alternately with a space therebetween.

Separately, the woven fabric is composed of a woven fabric material woven using lyophilic warp yarns and weft yarns, and in addition to the warp yarns of this woven fabric fabric, lyophobic warp yarns are densely packed. The portions may be woven in a stripe shape, and the portions of the lyophilic woven fabric material and the portions where the lyophobic warp threads are densely arranged may be alternately provided at intervals.

Alternatively, the woven fabric is composed of a woven fabric material woven using lyophilic warp yarns, and in addition to the warp yarns of the woven fabric fabric, a liquid retaining property which is richer in liquid absorbability than the fabric warp yarns. It is also possible to weave the densely packed portions of the warp threads in a streak shape and alternately provide the lyophilic woven cloth material portion and the densely packed portions of the liquid retaining warp threads.

Further, the woven fabric is composed of a woven fabric material woven using lyophilic warp yarns, and in addition to the warp yarns of the woven fabric fabric, a lyophilic warp yarn having a diameter larger than that of the fabric warp yarns. The dense portions may be woven in a stripe shape, and the lyophilic woven fabric portion and the thick lyophilic warp dense portions may be alternately provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view showing a situation when a roof snow removing method of the present invention is carried out.

FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view showing a snow removal state of the roof of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective explanatory view showing another situation when the snow removing method for the roof of the present invention is carried out.

FIG. 4 is a perspective explanatory view showing a snow removal state of the roof of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view showing an example of a downflow path.

FIG. 6 is a perspective explanatory view showing another example of the flow-down path.

FIG. 7 is a perspective explanatory view showing a snow removal state of a roof using the flow-down path of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 roof surface 2 Water absorption material 3 hydrophobic material 4 trays 4a, 4b edge 5 Piping passage

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A roof surface is covered with at least a part of a water absorbing material arranged at intervals in a lateral direction, and a heat medium of warm water which is a priming of the snow is made to flow along the water absorbing material, and made to flow to snowfall particles. Part of the heat medium is absorbed and melted, and the melted snow melting water is received by this water absorbing material to form a flat radiator that impregnates the falling heat medium and the snow melting water, and is located above this flat radiator. A snow removal method for a roof that forms unevenness on the snow surface by melting the snow prior to other parts of the snow, and increases the exposed surface area of the snow surface by this uneven surface to promote snow melting by outside temperature or solar radiation. . 2. The snow removing method for a roof according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the flow path of the water absorbing material is covered with a hydrophobic material along the moving direction of the heat medium to keep the temperature. . 3. The method for removing snow from a roof according to claim 1, wherein the water absorbing material has a base material layer on a side in contact with the roof surface, and the base material layer is made of a magnetic material made of plastic or rubber. How to remove snow from the roof.