KR20100057441A - Apparatus for heating road surface - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A road surface heating apparatus is provided to prevent sliding due to rain fall and icing on a road using electricity stored through the piezoelectric element. CONSTITUTION: A road surface heating apparatus(100) comprises a controller(110), a piezoelectric element(120), a condenser(130), a sensor(140), and a heater(150). The piezoelectric element is embedded on the road and generates electric charge using the weight of the vehicle as physical power. The condenser stores electric charge generated by the piezoelectric element. The sensor senses snowfall, rain fall, and icing on the road. The heater is installed on the road and generates heat using the electric charge stored in the condenser. The controller controls the operation of the heater according to the signals.

Description

Road heating device {Apparatus for heating road surface}

The present invention relates to a road surface heating apparatus, and more particularly, to a road surface heating apparatus capable of melting or evaporating snow or rain on the road using electricity stored through a piezoelectric element installed on the road.

When snow falls on the road during winter, ice builds up, causing a lot of disruption to the flow of vehicles, and it can cause numerous traffic accidents and pedestrian safety accidents.

In addition, during a normal rainfall, sudden changes in the road surface, ie, slippery roads, may cause a lot of traffic accidents.

Therefore, when it snows in winter, it is necessary to remove snow on the road to prevent snow accumulation or to quickly melt snow that has already accumulated, to prevent the road from freezing, and to prevent sudden changes in the road surface during the initial rainfall. The need to dry the road surface is required.

In particular, bridges are not affected by geothermal heat, making freezing easier than on roads. Tunnel entrances and exits, which are always shaded, are also frost freezing areas that do not melt easily when snow is piled up.

In addition, if the road is frozen because the slope of the highway, etc. may lead to a big accident. Therefore, in such a section, it is necessary to make an effort to prevent the road from freezing in winter.

A commonly used method for this purpose is to spray sand (friction agent) and calcium chloride (melting agent) in appropriate amounts according to the weather conditions. However, in this method, sand or calcium chloride must be sprayed directly on the road by hand or snowplow, so in case of sudden heavy snowfall, rapid snow melting is difficult and requires a lot of time, personnel and equipment.

In addition, the sprayed sand is often piled up on the shoulder and the central separator to block the drainage, and the sprayed calcium chloride can corrode the vehicle or facility, must be removed after the snow melts, and interfere with comfortable driving. Caused.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a road surface heating apparatus that enables snow melting, thawing, or drying more quickly and simply when snow, rainfall or freezing is detected on a road using electricity stored using a piezoelectric element.

In addition, the present invention provides a road surface heating apparatus that can automatically detect the initial snow and the like and quickly cope with it using a sensor.

In addition, it provides a road surface heating apparatus that can dry the road surface to prevent sudden changes in the road surface during the initial rainfall.

In addition, the present invention provides a road surface heating apparatus that can significantly reduce the overall management cost because no manpower is required.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a road surface heating apparatus is provided.

According to an embodiment, a road heating device includes: a piezoelectric element installed on a road to generate a charge by receiving a load of a vehicle traveling on the road; A power storage device storing charges generated in the piezoelectric element; A heater installed on the road and generating heat using electric charges stored in the power storage device; A sensor for sensing at least one of snow, rainfall and freezing on the road surface; And a controller configured to control a connection between the power storage device and the heater according to a signal from the sensor.

According to another embodiment, a road heating device includes: a piezoelectric element installed on a road to generate a charge by receiving a load of a vehicle traveling on the road; A power storage device storing charges generated in the piezoelectric element; A heater installed on the road and generating heat using electric charges stored in the power storage device; Communication unit for performing communication with the meteorological office server; And a controller configured to control a connection between the power storage device and the heater according to weather information or weather forecast information received from the meteorological office server through the communication unit.

The apparatus may further include a sensor configured to detect at least one of snow, rainfall, and ice on the road surface, wherein the controller is configured to store the power by at least one of the weather information, the weather forecast information, and a signal from the sensor. The connection between the device and the heater can be controlled.

The controller may connect the power storage device and the heater when the weather information indicates at least one of snowfall, rainfall and temperature.

The heater may include a heating wire that receives heat and generates heat, and a switch positioned between the heating wire and the power storage device and turned on and off under control of the controller.

A portion of the upper portion of the piezoelectric element may protrude on the road surface of the road.

The piezoelectric element may be concentrated in an area close to the lane of the road lane.

Other aspects, features, and advantages other than those described above will become apparent from the following drawings, claims, and detailed description of the invention.

The road surface heating apparatus according to the present invention may be more quickly and easily melted, thawed or dried when snow, rainfall or freezing is detected on the road using electricity stored using a piezoelectric element.

In addition, the present invention to automatically detect the initial snow and the like by using a sensor to respond quickly.

In addition, to prevent the sudden change of the road surface during the initial rainfall to allow the road surface to dry.

In addition, since no manpower is required, the overall management cost can be significantly reduced.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a road heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The road surface heating device 100 includes a control unit 110, a piezoelectric element 120, a power storage device 130, a sensor 140, and a heater 150.

The piezoelectric element 120 is a device in which positive and negative charges are generated in proportion to the physical force applied to both surfaces of the crystal plate when a physical force is applied to a predetermined crystal plate in a predetermined direction. Also called piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric element 120 is embedded in the road to generate electric charges using the load of the vehicle traveling on the road as a physical force.

When physical force is applied from the outside, the electrical energy generated in the piezoelectric element 120 shows a very high instantaneous voltage but has a low current and relatively little power is generated. The amount of power generated is also proportional to the volume change of the piezoelectric element 120 with respect to the physical force applied to the piezoelectric element 120.

Therefore, it is possible to have a structure in which the amount of deformation with respect to the load of the vehicle traveling on the road is increased to increase the power production. That is, instead of using one large piezoelectric element, a plurality of thin film piezoelectric elements 120 are arranged in series and / or in parallel so that external force is applied to the plurality of piezoelectric elements 120 simultaneously or sequentially.

In addition, in arranging the plurality of piezoelectric elements 120, the plurality of piezoelectric elements 120 may be buried under the tracks of the wheels to which the load of the vehicle is concentrated in the road. That is, intensively embedding the piezoelectric element 120 in the vicinity of the lane and not in the vicinity of the center line between the lane and the lane where the boundary point is indicated by a safety sign in order to distinguish between the lane and the lane may have a higher effect. .

The piezoelectric element 120 may be formed by stacking a plurality of uni-morph type or bi-morph type piezoelectric thin plates at regular intervals within an elastic deformation that does not cause plastic deformation. This is merely an example, and it should be understood that piezoelectric elements of various shapes and structures may be applicable to the present invention.

The electrical storage device 130 collects electric charges generated by the piezoelectric element 120. The electrical storage device 130 collects electric charges in the space between the two conductors, and is also called a condenser or a capacitor.

The electrical storage device 130 generally uses two insulated conductor plates or metal plates as electrodes, and an insulator or dielectric is interposed therebetween. Charges are stored on the surface of each conductor plate and the boundary between the insulators. The amount of charge collected on both surfaces is the same but the sign is reversed. The larger the surface area of the electrode, the narrower the gap, and the larger the dielectric constant of the dielectric, the greater the amount of charges collected in the power storage device 130.

The power storage device 130 may be an air capacitor, a vacuum capacitor, a gas injector, a liquid capacitor, a mica capacitor, a paper capacitor, a metallized paper capacitor, a magnetic capacitor, an organic film capacitor, an electrolytic capacitor, or the like. In addition, it may be a fixed capacitor and a variable capacitor classified according to whether the capacitance changes.

The sensor 140 detects snowfall, rainfall, and freezing such as snowfall or snow accumulation on the road. The sensor 140 may be installed on a road surface, a side opening between a road and a sidewalk, or around the road.

For example, the sensor 140 may include a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. When the ambient temperature is below a predetermined threshold temperature (eg, image 5 degrees) and the ambient humidity is above a predetermined threshold humidity (eg, 80%), the temperature sensor may detect that snow or rain has fallen.

Alternatively, if the road surface temperature is below a predetermined threshold temperature (eg, minus zero degrees) and the road surface moisture is above a predetermined threshold humidity, the temperature sensor may detect that the ice is frozen.

The critical temperature and the critical humidity may vary depending on the location where the sensor is installed.

Alternatively, the sensor 140 may include a light source and an optical sensor, and the optical sensor detects light from light sources spaced at predetermined intervals. When snow is accumulated between the light source and the light sensor at a predetermined height (for example, 5 mm) or more, light propagation from the light source to the light sensor is disturbed, and in this case, snow may be detected as accumulated.

The controller 110 controls whether the heater 150 operates according to a signal from the sensor 140. When the signal from the sensor 140 is the first signal (indicating no snow or rain), the heater 150 is not operated. When the signal from the sensor 140 is the second signal (indicating snow or rain or snow accumulation), the heater 150 is operated by using the charge stored in the power storage device 130.

The controller 110 may control the operation of the heater 150 independently or in association with the operation of the sensor 140. For example, it is common for snow to fall in winter, and the controller 110 may control the heater 150 to operate only from November to February to March of the next year or only in winter depending on the date or season.

In addition, in summer, since the road surface may be slippery due to the initial rainfall, the heater 150 may be controlled to operate according to the initial rainfall time.

Alternatively, the controller 110 may communicate with the meteorological office server in association with the communication unit 160. The communication unit 160 receives the current weather information or weather forecast information of the road area where the road surface heating apparatus 100 is installed through the Meteorological Agency server, and the controller 110 uses the same to independently of the signal from the sensor 140. The operation of the heater 150 may be controlled.

The heater 150 generates heat using electric charges stored in the power storage device 130 under control of the controller 110. Heat or rain or freezing of the road surface may be prevented by the heat generated by the heater 150.

The electric charge stored in the electrical storage device 130 by the piezoelectric element 120 is difficult to generate a large power, the heater 150 in the present invention preferably has a simple structure.

Heater 150 according to an embodiment is composed of a switch 152 and the hot wire 154.

The switch 152 is provided between the power storage device 130 and the heating wire 154, and the on-off is controlled by the controller 110. When the controller 110 attempts to operate the heater 150, the switch 152 is turned on to electrically connect the power storage device 130 and the heating wire 154, and the heater 150 is not operated. The switch 152 is turned off so that the electrical storage device 130 and the heating wire 154 are not electrically connected.

The heating wire 154 is embedded in the road, and when electrically connected to the electrical storage device 130, the electric charge stored in the electrical storage device 130 is connected to the heating wire 154 to generate heat. The heat generated from the hot wire 154 prevents snow or rain and freezing that fall or accumulate on the road.

The road heating device 100 may be connected to the peripheral electric device 170. Here, the peripheral electric device 170 may be a street lamp or the like installed around the road.

If the road surface heating device according to the present invention is used only for snow melting, since it hardly snows when it is not in winter, electric charges may be accumulated in the power storage device 130 by cars traveling on the road, and thus it may not be used. have.

Therefore, the electric power is stored in the electrical storage device 130 to supply the electric charge to the peripheral electric device 170 to enable the use of the peripheral electric device 170 without providing a separate electric supply facility.

The switch 172 is positioned between the peripheral electric device 170 and the power storage device 130, and the on / off of the switch 172 is controlled by the controller 110.

2 is a view showing a state in which the road surface heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed on the road, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line A-A shown in FIG.

The piezoelectric element 120 and the heating wire 154 are installed on or below the road surface of the road 200 through which the vehicle passes. The piezoelectric element 120 is connected to the power storage device 130, and the heating wire 154 is connected to the power storage device 130 through the switch 152. The sensor 140 is installed on the road surface or side opening of the road, and the sensor 140 is connected to the controller 110. The controller 110 is installed at a position where the piezoelectric element 120 and the heating wire 154 are not obstructed to pass the vehicle.

By the passage of the vehicle, the piezoelectric element 120 receives a physical force (running load of the vehicle) in the direction of the earth's center to generate electric charges. The charge is transferred to the power storage device 130 through the connection line 122 and stored in the power storage device 130.

If the sensor 140 detects snowfall, rainfall or freezing on the road 200 on which the heating wire 154 is installed, the weather information or the weather in the area where the road 200 on which the heating wire 154 is installed is located from the Meteorological Administration server. When the forecast information is received, the controller 110 turns on the switch 152 between the heating wire 154 and the power storage device 130.

The electric charge stored in the electrical storage device 130 moves to the heating wire 154 to generate heat to thaw snow or freeze or fall on the road 200 or to dry the road surface.

In FIG. 2, the piezoelectric elements 120 and the heating wires 154 arranged in a row are alternately arranged, but this is only an example. According to an exemplary embodiment, the piezoelectric element region in which the piezoelectric element 120 is concentrated may be divided into the hot wire region in which the heating wire 154 is concentrated.

In other embodiments, the piezoelectric element 120 may have a portion of the upper portion protruding on the road surface to effectively receive the physical force from the vehicle.

Referring to FIG. 3, the piezoelectric element 120 having a part of the upper portion protruding on the road surface effectively receives a load of the vehicle downwardly by the vehicle wheel without interfering with the rotation of the vehicle wheel, thereby receiving more electric charge. Can be generated.

Road heating device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be particularly effective to prevent freezing of the winter road, but is not limited thereto.

In the case of snow, bridges are not easily affected by geothermal heat, making it easier to freeze than ordinary roads, and tunnels, entrances and exits, which are habitual icing areas that do not melt easily when snow is accumulated because they are always shaded. If it is installed in the way of the highway, etc., it is possible to effectively prevent the freezing of the road without a separate management personnel.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be varied and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a road heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing a state in which the road surface heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed on the road.

3 is a cross-sectional view along the line A-A shown in FIG.

≪ Description of reference numerals &

100: road surface heating device 110: control unit

120: piezoelectric element 130: power storage device

140: sensor 150: heater

152, 172: switch 154: heating wire

160: communication unit 170: peripheral electric device

Claims (7)

A piezoelectric element installed on a road to generate a charge by receiving a load of a vehicle traveling on the road; A power storage device storing charges generated in the piezoelectric element; A heater installed on the road and generating heat using electric charges stored in the power storage device; A sensor for sensing at least one of snow, rainfall and freezing on the road surface; And And a control unit for controlling a connection between the power storage device and the heater in accordance with a signal from the sensor. A piezoelectric element installed on a road to generate a charge by receiving a load of a vehicle traveling on the road; A power storage device storing charges generated in the piezoelectric element; A heater installed on the road and generating heat using electric charges stored in the power storage device; Communication unit for performing communication with the meteorological office server; And And a control unit controlling a connection between the power storage device and the heater in accordance with weather information or weather forecast information received from the meteorological office server through the communication unit. The method of claim 2, Further comprising a sensor for detecting at least one of snow, rainfall and ice on the road surface, And the controller controls a connection between the power storage device and the heater by at least one of the weather information, the weather forecast information, and a signal from the sensor from the communication unit. The method according to claim 2 or 3, And the controller is configured to connect the power storage device and the heater when the weather information indicates at least one of snowfall, rainfall and temperature. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the heater includes a heating wire that receives the charge and generates heat, and a switch located between the heating wire and the power storage device and switched on and off under control of the controller. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The upper part of the piezoelectric element is a road surface heating apparatus, characterized in that is provided to protrude on the road surface of the road. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the piezoelectric element is concentrated in an area close to the lane of the road lane of the road.

Images