JPH11209938A - Snow carrying device for artificial snow producing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a snow carrying device which can stably send out a required quantity of an artificial snow, and even in the case of a small carrying out quantity, can exactly send out the artificial snow, and is suitable for an artificial snow producing system for a skiing ground. SOLUTION: A snow carrying device is equipped with a shovelling and sending device 11 for shovelling off an artificial snow on the surface as the surface of the artificial snow 4 in an ice storing house 1B is about horizontally scratched and sending it to a specified position in the ice storing house; a snow carrying device 32 for carrying out the artificial snow from the shovelling and sending device 11 outside the ice storing house; and an elevating mechanism 12 for vertically moving the shovelling and sending device at an optional speed or stopping the device at an optional position to control a quantity of the artificial snow shovelled by the shovelling and sending device. The elevating mechanism has a motor 23 functioning as a drive source always rotating at a specified speed regardless of the movement or stopping of the device 11, and a clutch 26 is provided on a way of a shaft for power transmission from the motor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a snow-carrying device used in an artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort, for example, for spraying artificial snow on a ski slope.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort for spraying artificial snow on a ski slope at a ski resort, an artificial snow generating device and an ice storage for storing artificial snow generated by the device have been used. A snow-carrying device for sending a required amount of artificial snow to a slope. The artificial snow generating apparatus is configured to spray water on an outer peripheral surface of an ice making drum, which is a cooler to which a refrigerant is supplied from a refrigerator, to freeze the ice, and to scrape off the ice on the outer peripheral surface with a scraping blade while rotating the ice making drum to remove artificial snow. Generate.

[0003] An ice storage provided with a snow-carrying device is provided below the ice making room provided with the snow-making device. The artificial snow generated by the snow-making device is dropped and stored in the ice storage, and is appropriately transported. It is carried out by a snow device, and is further spread on a ski slope at a ski resort by a snow blowing device using compressed air.

[0004] Some conventional snow-carrying devices include a scraping device for scraping a required amount of artificial snow from the surface of artificial snow stored in an ice storage. The artificial snow scraped by the scraping device is conveyed. The depth of the artificial snow scraped by the scraping device is adjusted by moving the scraping device up and down by appropriate lifting / lowering means, and the amount of the artificial snow to be sent out. Is controlling.

[0005] In an artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort, the amount of artificial snow carried out from the ski slope varies greatly depending on the conditions of the ski slope. For example, in the case of an artificial snow making system capable of spraying 40 tons of snow per hour, It is necessary to be able to reduce the carry-out amount per hour to about 5 tons.

As a specific example of carrying out such a small amount of artificial snow, not only a case where it is desired to reduce the amount of spraying but also a case where a small amount of artificial snow In some cases, pre-cooling is performed by sending artificial snow, and this pre-cooling prevents troubles such as melting of artificial snow in a snow pipe and causing clogging.

[0007] In order to control the carry-out amount of artificial snow, the vertical position and the vertical speed of the scraping device are adjusted by controlling the operation or stop of the motor serving as the drive source of the vertical mechanism or the number of rotations. As described above, in order to reduce the amount of artificial snow carried out, it is necessary to finely adjust the vertical position and the elevating speed of the scraping device. There is a risk that the motor will burn out due to a large size, and it is difficult to carry out a small amount of artificial snow using a conventional snow-carrying device.

[0008]

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to stably send out a required amount of artificial snow. It is an object of the present invention to provide a snow-carrying device that can send out snow and is suitable for an artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a snow-carrying apparatus according to the present invention scrapes the artificial snow on the surface of an ice storage while substantially horizontally scraping the surface of the artificial snow. A scraping device that sends the artificial snow from the scraping device to the outside of the ice storage, and a scraping device that moves the scraping device at an arbitrary speed in the vertical direction, or Equipped with an elevating mechanism that controls the amount of artificial snow scraped by the scraping device by stopping at an arbitrary position, and the elevating mechanism is a driving source that always rotates at a predetermined speed regardless of the movement or stop of the scraping device. A motor is provided, and a clutch is provided in the middle of a shaft for transmitting power from the motor.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention.
This will be described in detail based on specific examples shown in FIGS. The second floor portion of the building 1 is an ice making room 1A, and the first floor portion is an ice storage 1B. The ice making room 1A is provided with a plurality of refrigerators 2 and a plurality of ice makers 3 to which a refrigerant is supplied from each refrigerator. The ice making machine is constituted by the refrigerator and the ice making machine, and the floor of the ice making room 1A is provided with a communication opening 5 for allowing the artificial snow 4 from each ice making machine 3 to fall into the ice storage 1B. is there.

The ice making machine 3 is provided with two ice making drums 6 as a liquid-filled cooler, and while constantly rotating the ice making drums, water is sprinkled on the surface of the ice making drums to freeze the water. The ice grown on the surface of the ice making drum is scraped off with a scraper blade 7 to produce artificial snow 4. In the artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort, the above-described refrigerator 2 and icemaker 3 are operated for 24 hours during the ski season, and always generate a predetermined amount of artificial snow.

An ice storage 8 for storing artificial snow from the ice making room 1A on the floor is provided below the communication opening in the ice storage 1B, and a front portion of the ice storage 8 (the left side in FIGS. 2 and 3). ) Is provided with a gate plate 9 which can be opened and closed, and a rear part (right side in FIGS. 2 and 3) is provided with a fixed partition plate 10 so that artificial snow can be stored between the gate plate 9 and the partition plate 10. It has become.

Above the ice storage table 8 is provided a scraping device 11 called a rake for sending snow toward the gate plate 9 while scraping the surface of the snow substantially horizontally. Can be moved up and down at a required speed by an elevating mechanism 12 described later, and can be stopped at a required position.

The front and rear shafts 14 and 15 are wound between the left and right side frames 13 and 13 of the scraping device 11, and the front (gate gate 9 side) shaft 14 is driven by the driven wheels 16 near the left and right ends.
A fixed shaft 16 is attached so as to be freely rotatable. Drive wheels 17 are fixedly fitted to the left and right ends of a shaft 15 on the rear side (partition plate 10 side), and the rear shaft 15 is driven. The motor 18 is mounted on the outside of one side frame (front side in FIG. 3) and is driven to rotate in a fixed direction (clockwise in FIG. 2) at a fixed speed via a reduction gear 19. It has become.
The driven wheels 16 and the driving wheels 17 are made of, for example, sprockets, and the left and right driven wheels and the driving wheels are each wound with a loop member 20 made of, for example, an endless chain.

A plurality of scraping plate members 21, 21 are attached in parallel between the left and right loop members 20, 20 at appropriate intervals. The scraping plate members are, for example, channel rods whose outer edges are formed in a wavy shape. The outer edge is attached to the outside of the loop material.

An elevating mechanism 12 is located near the front and rear ends of the left and right side frames 13 in the scraping device 11 described above.
The lower ends of the cords 22 and 22 are fixed, and the scraping device 11 is moved up and down by being wound up or pulled out by the elevating mechanism.

The lifting mechanism 12 has front and rear winding drums 25, 25 fixedly mounted on left and right shafts 24, 24, respectively, which are rotationally driven by the rotating power of a motor 23. The cords 22, 22 are wound up or paid out.

As shown in FIG. 4, the power transmission mechanism of the elevating mechanism 12 from the motor 23 to the winding drum 25 is such that the drive shaft of the motor 23 is a clutch 26 and a reduction gear 2.
7 is connected to a motor-side sprocket 28, and the motor-side sprocket 28 is fixedly fitted to the ends of the left and right shafts 24, 24 via two loop members 29, 29 made of, for example, endless chains. The take-up drum 25 is connected to the side sprockets 30 and 30 so that each take-up drum 25 is rotated by the drive of the motor 23. The forward / reverse rotation of the take-up drum is switched by, for example, operating the reduction gear 27. Winding drum 25, 2
The left and right shafts 24, 24 provided with the
B is rotatably held by holding members 31 provided on the lower surface of the ceiling of B.

The motor 23, which is the power source of the lifting mechanism 12, is driven at a constant speed regardless of the movement and stoppage of the scraping device 11, and is provided on the drive shaft of the motor. The opening and closing of the clutch 26 controls the movement, stop or movement speed of the scraping device.

Specifically, when the scraping device is stopped, the clutch 26 is fully opened, and the moving speed of the scraping device is controlled by adjusting the degree of opening of the clutch 26, so that the scraping device is moved at the maximum speed. If so, the clutch is fully closed. The power transmission mechanism including the motor-side sprocket 28, the loop member 29, and the drum-side sprocket 30 may be constituted by a pulley and a belt, or may be directly meshed via a gear.

The amount of artificial snow produced by the artificial snow producing apparatus is controlled to be constant, but actually varies slightly due to changes in various ice-making conditions such as ambient temperature and ice-making water temperature. Therefore, the error of the height of the artificial snow on the ice storage table and the vertical position of the scraping device can be calibrated by manually operating the scraping device by a manual lifting switch (not shown).

When the artificial snow is not carried out, the gate plate 9 is located at a position where the lower edge of the gate plate is in contact with the edge of the ice storage device 8 to block the snow on the ice storage device. At this time, the scraping device is moved in a forward and upward direction in the snow feeding direction by a drive mechanism (not shown) and opened, and the artificial snow on the ice storage table is dropped onto the first screw conveyor 32 as an artificial snow carrying-out device. There are things.

Upper and lower level sensors 33 and 34 are provided above the first screw conveyor 32. When artificial snow accumulates to the position of each sensor, an upper level signal,
When the upper and lower level sensors detect snow, such as when artificial snow falling in excess of the conveyor capacity of the first screw conveyor falls, the upper and lower level signals are output from each sensor. When the warning is issued, a warning such as a buzzer is issued from an appropriate output means.

The front end of the first screw conveyor 32 in the conveying direction faces above the first hopper 35, and
The lower end of the hopper 35 is connected to the inlet end of the second screw conveyor 36, and the outlet end of the second screw conveyor 36 faces above the second hopper 37.

The second hopper 37 serves as an inlet of a snow-feeding device 38. The snow-feeding device 38 is driven by compressed air sent from an air compressor 39 via an air cooler 43 to an air pipe 40 and a branch air pipe 40a. The artificial snow from the hopper 37 is sent out into the snow pipe 41, and a snow blower 42 called a transporter is connected to a plurality of places in the middle of the snow pipe 41 via a snow pipe 41a. A branch air pipe 40b for supplying compressed air from the air pipe 40 is also connected to the snow blower 42, so that the artificial snow 4 can be scattered with compressed air.

The first and second screw conveyors 3
The drive speeds of the screw conveyors 2 and 36 can be adjusted by, for example, inverter control, and the drive speed of each screw conveyor changes as appropriate according to the amount of artificial snow carried out. The snow pipes 41a and the branch air pipes 40b are flexible so that the snow blower 42 can be moved to an arbitrary place so that artificial snow can be supplied to a required place on the slope. It has become.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 44 denotes a water storage tank for temporarily storing ice making water from a water intake source such as a pond or a pond, and 45 denotes a cooling tower for the refrigerator 2.

[0028]

The artificial snow generated by the ice making machine 3 of the artificial snow generating apparatus of the ice making room 1A is supplied from the communication opening 5 to the ice storage room 1B.
And is stored on the ice storage 8 and is scraped by the scraper 11
The surface is made substantially horizontal by the scraping plate member 21. In an artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort, the above-described artificial snow generating apparatus is operated for 24 hours during the ski season, and always generates a predetermined amount of artificial snow. 11 is adjusted by being moved up and down at a required speed by a lifting mechanism 12 or stopped at a required position.

The motor 23, which is the drive source of the lifting mechanism, is always driven at a constant speed, and the movement, stop or movement speed of the scraping device 11 is controlled by opening and closing a clutch 26 provided on the drive shaft of the motor 23. For example, when the scraping device is stopped, the clutch 26 is fully opened, the moving speed of the scraping device is controlled by adjusting the opening of the clutch 26, and when the scraping device is moved at the maximum speed, The clutch is fully closed.

The artificial snow sent to the first screw conveyor 32 by the scraper 11 is scattered to the slope by the compressed air from the snow blower 42 through the second screw conveyor 36, the snow transmitter 38, and the snow pipe 41. Is done.

As described above, since the motor as the drive source of the lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the scraping device is always driven at a constant speed, the vertical position and the moving speed of the scraping device are controlled by opening and closing the clutch 26. It is not necessary to change the rotation speed of the motor of the lifting device, so that even if the vertical position and the moving speed of the scraping device are frequently changed, there is almost no risk of the motor being burned out, and the removal of artificial snow The amount can be finely adjusted, and accurate and stable removal of artificial snow can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire artificial snowmaking system for a ski resort provided with a snow-carrying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a building of the artificial snowmaking system.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a scraping device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of a lifting mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the snow carrier showing a state in which a gate plate is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Building 1A Ice making room 1B Ice storage 2 Refrigerator 3 Ice maker 4 Artificial snow 5 Communication opening 6 Ice making drum 7 Scraping blade 8 Ice storage stand 9 Gate plate 10 Partition plate 11 Scraping device 12 Elevating mechanism 13 Side frame 14, 15 Scraping Device shaft 16 Follower wheel 17 Drive wheel 18 Motor 19 Reduction gear 20 Loop material 21 Scraping plate material 22 Cable 23 Motor 24 Elevating mechanism shaft 25 Winding drum 26 Clutch 27 Reduction gear 28 Motor side sprocket 29 Loop material 30 Drum side sprocket 31 Holding Member 32 First Screw Conveyor 33 Upper Level Sensor 34 Lower Level Sensor 35 First Hopper 36 Second Screw Conveyor 37 Second Hopper 38 Snow Feeding Device 39 Air Compressor 40 Air Pipe 41 Snow Feeding Tube 42 Snow Blowing Device 43 Air Cooler 44 Water storage tank 45 cooling tower

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A scraping device for scraping an artificial snow on the surface of an ice storage while scraping the surface of the artificial snow in the ice storage substantially horizontally, and sending the scraped snow to a predetermined position in the ice storage. A carry-out device for carrying out artificial snow out of the ice storage, and controlling the amount of artificial snow scraped by the scraping device by moving the scraping device at an arbitrary speed in the vertical direction or stopping at an arbitrary position. A lifting mechanism is provided.The lifting mechanism includes a motor as a drive source that always rotates at a predetermined speed regardless of the movement of the scraping device, and a stop, and a clutch is provided in the middle of a shaft for transmitting power from the motor. Equipment for artificial snowmaking systems.