JPS60263881A - Snow coverage detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect stably and properly snowfall and to prevent the waste of heat energy for snow removal by detecting a snowfall continuously for a specific time and temperature. CONSTITUTION:A snowfall detection part 1 uses a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode and a photodetecting element such as a phototransistor and is fitted at specific height where a snowfall is detected. A temperature detection part 3 uses, for example, a thermistor. When light traveling from the light emission part of the detection part 1 to the photodetection part is cut off, it is considered that snowfalls to a specific depth, and a signal S1 is outputted. A timer 2 starts operating on receiving the signal S1 and outputs a signal S2 to a decision part 4 when the signal S1 continues for longer than a preset time T. In this case, the decision part 4 outputs a command signal S4 when the signal S3 from the detection part 3 is within a specific range and operates heat source equipment 7 through a control part 5 to start removing snow. Consequently, an error in snowfall detection due to a contingent body is prevented and a waste of energy at the temperatures at which snow melts naturally is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a snow detection device that detects the amount of snow and sends an operation command to an external heat source device for removing or thawing accumulated snow.

[Prior art]

Conventional devices of this type have a detection section consisting of a light emitting section and a light receiving section, and when the light is interrupted at the detection section, an operation command is immediately sent to an external heat source device. there were.

However, since the above-mentioned detection unit is installed outdoors, the reason for the light being blocked is not only snowfall, but also incidental objects such as birds and leaves. Therefore, even when birds or tree leaves momentarily block the light as described above, there are many problems in that incorrect commands are issued to the heat source equipment, assuming that a certain amount of snow has fallen. This resulted in unstable snowfall detection, resulting in wasted thermal energy being consumed even though there was no predetermined snowfall.

Furthermore, with conventional equipment, once a certain amount of snow is detected,
Operation commands were given to heat source equipment even when the temperature was considerably higher than 0°C. However, at temperatures well above 0°C, it is inevitable that accumulated snow will naturally melt if you simply leave it alone. Despite this, operating the heat source equipment results in a large waste of thermal energy, which does not meet the demands of the current era of energy conservation.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a snow detection device that solves the above problems and enables stable and appropriate snow detection, thereby realizing effective use of thermal energy.

[Structure of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the snowfall detection device according to the present invention includes a snowfall detection section that detects the amount of snowfall, a timer that can be set for an arbitrary time, a temperature detection section that detects the temperature, and the snowfall detection section. a determination unit that receives a signal from the temperature sensor via the timer and a determination unit that receives a signal from the temperature detection unit, and the determination unit makes a determination based on each of the signals so that a predetermined amount of snow is accumulated for a predetermined time. If the operation continues and the air temperature is at a predetermined temperature, an operation command can be sent to an external heat source device.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a snow removal device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a specific wiring diagram of the snow removal device.

In FIG. 1, the snow detection device according to the present invention includes a snow detection section 1, a timer 2. Temperature detection section 3. and a determination section 4.

As the snow detection section 1, specifically, for example, a photo sensor (particularly a photo coupler) 11 as shown in FIG. 3 can be used. The photon sensor 11 includes a light emitting section 11a and a light receiving section 1.
1b, a general light emitting element such as a light emitting diode can be used, for example. As the light receiving section 11b, a general light receiving element such as a phototransistor or a CdS photoconductive cell can be used, for example. These snow detection units 1 are installed at a predetermined height to detect snow accumulation outdoors (for example, on a roof).For example, as shown in FIG. Assuming that there was a predetermined amount of snow when
A signal S1 shown in the figure is output.

The timer 2 starts operating upon receiving the signal S1, and outputs the signal S2 when the signal S1 continues for a preset time. Although the timer 2 is not shown in FIG. 2, it is configured inside the operating section 20 by a normal electric circuit or software. The operation unit 20 includes a setting knob (not shown) for freely setting the operating time of the timer 2.
is provided.

As the temperature detection section 3, a general temperature detection element such as a thermistor, thermocouple, or platinum resistor can be used, for example.

The temperature detection section 3 detects a change in temperature as a change in resistance value, voltage value, etc., and outputs it as a signal S3.

The above signal S2 and signal S3 are guided to the determination section 4.

The determination unit 4 is provided within the operation unit 20 in FIG. The determination unit 4 first determines whether the signal 83 is within a predetermined value, that is, whether the temperature detection unit 3 is detecting a predetermined temperature, and if it is within the predetermined value, the signal S 3 ( (not shown). This determination is made by a normal electric circuit, software, or the like. Operation unit 20
is provided with a setting knob (not shown) for freely setting a value that serves as a reference for the judgment. This value can be set, for example, in the range of 00C to -10C, and it is desirable that the signal S3 be emitted when the temperature is lower than that.

Next, when the determination unit 4 detects both the signal S2 and the signal s+3, it outputs a signal S4 for starting the operation of the external heat source device 7. This determination can also be made by using known electrical circuits, software, or the like.

In FIG. 1, the control unit 5. The snow removal section including the heat source energization timer 6 and the heat source device 7 can use a conventional known device. Here, the signal S4 output from the determination section 4 described above is
is guided by the control unit 5 and operates the heat source equipment 7 via the heat source energization timer 6.

When the control unit 5 receives the signal S4, it starts the heat source energization timer 6.
The heat source device 7 is operated for a preset time to remove snow.

As the heat source device 7, when removing snow from the roof,
It is possible to use a pipe in which a pipe is stretched around the underside of the roof and hot water or steam passes through the pipe, or a pipe in which heating wires are stretched around the pipe. In FIG. 2, as an example of using hot water, hot water can be taken in and out of the vibrator by opening and closing a solenoid valve 21. Note that the solenoid valve 21 is a switch 2 that is turned on and off according to instructions from the heat source energization timer 6.
2 to open and close. Note that when snow removal is performed in conjunction with the operation of the heat source device 7, and the light blockage is canceled in the snow detection unit l (photo sensor 11), the output of the signal S1 shown in FIG. 1 is stopped, and the heat source device The operation of 7 also stops thereafter. That is, the snow removal device shown here performs feedback control.

Further, in FIG. 2, the snowfall I detection section 1 and the temperature detection section 3 arranged outdoors are connected to the operation section 20 indoors via a relay terminal box 23. The operation unit 20 is provided with a manual/automatic changeover switch (not shown) in addition to the above-mentioned setting knob.

When the changeover switch is set to the manual side, the switch 22 is closed and the solenoid valve 21 is opened regardless of whether snow accumulation is detected or not. When the changeover switch is set to the automatic side, snow removal is performed through feedback control based on snow accumulation detection and temperature detection as described above.

Next, specific operations when using the snow detection device shown in FIG. 1, particularly operations related to timer 2, will be explained based on the time chart shown in FIG. 4. Here, it is assumed that the operating time of the timer 2 described above is set to T.

FIG. 4(a) shows the signal SL output from the snow detection section l.
This shows a case where the timer 2 continues for a longer time than the set time T of the timer 2. When a predetermined snowfall amount is reached, the snowfall detection unit 3 continues to detect the snowfall, so the signal S1 is normally output for a set time T or longer. When the signal S1 is output, the timer 2 operates for a predetermined time tt (=r), and 1. After the elapsed time, a signal S2 is output. In this case, if the temperature is within a predetermined range, the determining section 4 internally issues a signal S°3, and therefore outputs a command signal S4 by simultaneously detecting both signals S2 and S°3. Snow removal is started by the signal S4.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4(b), the signal S1 is the set time T of timer 2.
Indicates the case where the output is for a shorter time than . This will not happen if there is a predetermined amount of snowfall, but if something such as a leaf or a bird accidentally blocks the snowfall detection unit, the signal Sl will be short, shorter than the set time T. When the signal S1 is output, the timer 2 attempts to operate for a predetermined time t2 (=T), but if the signal S1 disappears before t2 elapses, the timer operation is canceled and the signal S
2 is not output. Even when the second signal S1 is subsequently output, a new time t3 (='r) is set in the timer 2. However, if the signal S1 is an accidental signal that disappears before the elapse of time t3, the signal S2 will not be output. Therefore, in such a case, the determination unit 4 outputs the signal S4. Therefore, the heat source device 7 does not operate.

As shown in FIG. 4 (G), when the temperature is set to a predetermined value (for example,
C) If it is above, the determination unit 4 does not internally generate the signal S°3. Then, even if the signal S2 is output, the determination unit 4 does not output the signal S4, so the heat source device 7 also does not operate. If the temperature is 0° C. or higher, there is no need to use the heat source device 7 to remove the snow, just wait for it to melt naturally.

Note that the combinations of signals 51 to S4 are not limited to those shown in FIG. 4. Various combinations are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention sends an operation command to an external heat source device when two conditions are met: snowfall is continuously detected for a predetermined period of time and the temperature is a predetermined temperature. This is how it was done.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which an incidentally occurring object such as a bird or a tree leaf causes false detection of snowfall, and it is possible to reliably detect only cases where a predetermined snowfall has occurred. Furthermore, at temperatures that allow snow to melt naturally, wasteful thermal energy consumption for snow removal can be prevented. In other words, the present invention has extremely excellent effects in that it enables stable and appropriate snowfall detection and also realizes effective use of thermal energy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a snow removal device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a specific wiring diagram of the snow removal device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a photo sensor as a snow detection section. FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Snowfall detection part 2... Timer 3... Temperature detection part 4... Judgment part 5... Control part 6... Heat source energization timer 7... Heat source equipment 11... Photo sensor 11a ...Light emitting part ub
...Receiver section patent applicant: Shikahama Kogyo Co., Ltd. Shinko Electronics Co., Ltd. Agent: Tadashi Wakabayashi

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) A snowfall detection section that detects the amount of snowfall, a timer that can be set for an arbitrary time, a temperature detection section that detects the temperature, and the snowfall detection section continues for the time set by the timer or longer. What is claimed is: 1. A snowfall detection device comprising: a determination unit that detects a predetermined snowfall amount by detecting a predetermined snowfall amount, and outputs a signal when the temperature detection unit detects a predetermined temperature. (2) The snow detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the snow detecting section is a photo sensor including a light emitting section and a light receiving section. (3) The snow detection device according to claim 2, wherein the photo sensor is a photo coupler. (4) The snow detection device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the light emitting section is a light emitting diode. (5) Any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the light receiving section is a phototransistor.
The snow detection device described in . (6) Any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the light receiving section is a Cd'S photoconductive cell.
The snow detection device described in . (7) The snowfall detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the temperature detection section is a thermistor. (8) The snow detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the temperature detection section is a thermocouple. (9) The snow detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the temperature detection section is a platinum resistor.