Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04D—ROOF COVERINGS; SKY-LIGHTS; GUTTERS; ROOF-WORKING TOOLS
  • E04D13/00—Special arrangements or devices in connection with roof coverings; Protection against birds; Roof drainage ; Sky-lights
  • E04D13/04—Roof drainage; Drainage fittings in flat roofs, balconies or the like
  • E04D13/076—Devices or arrangements for removing snow, ice or debris from gutters or for preventing accumulation thereof
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
  • E01D—CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES, ELEVATED ROADWAYS OR VIADUCTS; ASSEMBLY OF BRIDGES
  • E01D19/00—Structural or constructional details of bridges
  • E01D19/16—Suspension cables; Cable clamps for suspension cables ; Pre- or post-stressed cables
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04D—ROOF COVERINGS; SKY-LIGHTS; GUTTERS; ROOF-WORKING TOOLS
  • E04D13/00—Special arrangements or devices in connection with roof coverings; Protection against birds; Roof drainage ; Sky-lights
  • E04D13/04—Roof drainage; Drainage fittings in flat roofs, balconies or the like
  • E04D13/076—Devices or arrangements for removing snow, ice or debris from gutters or for preventing accumulation thereof
  • E04D13/0762—De-icing devices or snow melters
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04D—ROOF COVERINGS; SKY-LIGHTS; GUTTERS; ROOF-WORKING TOOLS
  • E04D13/00—Special arrangements or devices in connection with roof coverings; Protection against birds; Roof drainage ; Sky-lights
  • E04D13/10—Snow traps ; Removing snow from roofs; Snow melters

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device to increase the security against major falling pieces of ice or hard-frozen snow or a combination thereof from elevated constructions, such as, e.g., bridge cables, walls, roofs, bridges and gutters or other objects such as, e.g., vehicles and parts thereof .
• the background of the problem is that if surfaces, which in winter have been cooled down to temperatures around 0 0 C and therebelow, are exposed to wet snow, supercooled and/or cool rain that in addition frequently is combined with strong winds from different directions, or cool oozing water, they becomes covered with a frozen-on layer of ice and/or hard snow. When it later becomes warmer, with an air temperature around 0 0 C or thereabove or when the sun shines, the hard-frozen snow and/or ice melts and may leave hold of the surface it from the beginning was frozen fast to.
• the reason for this may, among other things, be that the surface emits, conducts or reflects heat so that the hard snow or ice comes loose from the surface and falls down as major or minor pieces and/or sheets, since nothing longer keeps them in place. In doing so, they may cause very serious accidents and injuries/damages, if they hit people, animals or objects. Solutions used today frequently consist of different kinds of heating to prevent freezing-on or by melting frozen-on surfaces and thereby keep the surfaces free from ice or snow covers. Differ- ent types of paints or coatings on the surfaces are also used to prevent covering of ice or snow.
• the main object of the present invention is primarily to solve said problem readily, economically, safely and efficiently.
• a device which substantially is characterized in that the construction in question is provided with an insulating surface on which ice, etc., is intended to form a cover and that said insulating surface has elements extending at an angle from the construction, which elements increase the area for ice to form a cover on, but which, as seen facing the surface of the construction in question, divide the same into smaller surface portions, thereby decreasing the risk of major falling portions of formed ice, etc.
• a device which substantially is characterized in that an external protection in the form of a net, grid or a similar penetratable surface is installed on the surface in question from which major portions of ice, etc., are intended to be prevented from falling, that said protection is arranged to be kept at a distance from said construction by means of elements extending at an angle from the construction, which elements form an insulation, and that said protection is arranged to retain major portions of formed ice, etc., but allow the passage of meltwater when the ice, etc., melts.
• Fig. 1 shows a cross section view of a bridge wire having a surrounding ice-fall protection
• Fig. 2 shows said protection schematically
• Fig. 3 shows a side view of said protection
• Fig. 4 shows a protection having barbs
• Figs. 5-6 show a gutter ice protection
• Figs. 7-10 show different examples of spacer members having an appurtenant grid-shaped cover protection, wherein Fig. 7 shows an example of installing additional insu- lation between a construction and an external device, and
• Figs. 11-12 show a cross section view and a perspective view, respectively, of an ice-fall protection surrounded by a wire.
• a device 1 to increase the security against major falling pieces of ice from elevated constructions 2, such as, e.g., bridge cables 2 1 , walls, roofs, bridges, and gutters 102 or other objects such as, e.g., vehicles and parts thereof, e.g., vehicle covers, trailers, cabins, etc., is arranged and intended to cover and surround the surface A of the construction 2 in question or the object desired to be protected against covering and falling of frozen fast ice and/or snow, with an external applicable insulating surface 3 of a thermally insulating suitable material arranged between the construction 2 and said surface A and/or device 1.
• said insulating surface 3 which consists of an insulating material 3 1 , is substantially to delay the formation of an ice cover on the surface A at temperatures around 0 0 C but instead at a lower temperature.
• an ice cover is obtained that freezes fast to the covering insulating surface 3, such as ice would have done at a higher temperature directly on the construction 2 previously having it not been covered or surrounded by an insulating surface.
• Ice should also be understood as hard-packed, hard-frozen snow or a combination of ice and snow.
• Said insulating surface 3 may have elements 4 extending at an angle from the construction 2, which elements are intended to increase the area for the ice to get caught on and form a cover, but which, as seen facing the surface of the construction in question, divide the same into smaller surface portions, similar to ice-cube freezing trays, thereby decreasing the risk of major falling portions of formed ice.
• Said icecube freezing trays form cells 5.
• the walls of said cells 5 may lean so that the opening 6 decreases in dimension as seen to the bottom 7 thereof. Then, the ice is retained efficiently.
• Said elements 4 may also have a plurality of angled barbs 8, which project from the elements 4.
• Said elements 4 and barbs 8 increase the area along which ice is capable of freezing fast to. When said ice melts, the barbs 8 contribute further to increase the capacity of retaining this ice at said elements 4 without falling down.
• thermally insulating materials are polyurethane foam, cellular plastic, glass fibre, mineral wool, natural fibre insulation, or some form of non- rigid plastic .
• the elements 4 are, for instance, arranged to extend perpendicularly from the insulating surface 3, but they may also adopt other angles, e.g., within the interval of 60- 120°.
• Said elements 4 may, e.g., be in the form of cell walls 5. If it also is desir- 5 able to separate the elements 4 and the net 9, spacers in the form of, e.g., pins may be attached.
• Said spacers, having or not having barbs 8 have, in addition to the capability of keeping said parts spaced-apart from each other by means of the height thereof, also the capability of contributing to increase
• the height of the elements 4, having or not having spacers, from the external insulation 3 of the construction should be at least 1/3 of the thickness of the expected
• the distances between the insulation 3 and the net 9 also become 1/3 of the expected covering of ice.
• the covering of ice may proceed to grow through the net 9 and further outside the net
• the net 9 forms a reinforcement for the ice that, in addition to being frozen fast to the insulation 3 and to the elements 4 and/or cells 5 frozen fast in ice and having or not having barbs 8, also has frozen fast in the net 9.
• the surface that should be protected against covering of ice is surrounded by and is coated by a surface of thermally insulating material on which ice can form a cover.
• the above mentioned cells 5 may be smooth or provided with barbs, which, when ice or hard- frozen snow or a combination thereof melts, help to retain ice against the surface of the insulation 3 and/or against the surfaces of the walls of the cells without coming off and falling down.
• a net 9 may be installed, and then said cells 5 keep the net 9 separated from the insulation 3 by the distance that the height of the cells gives.
• loose elements of varying shape may be installed, for instance angles, triangles, quadrangles, quintangles, etc., longitudinal and/or transverse partition walls, cylinders, cones, pyramids, cubes, etc., in order to keep the insulation 3 and the net 9 spaced-apart at the distance desired.
• elements of the above shape and geometry may be attached and/or embedded that keep the insulation 3 and the net 9 spaced-apart at a desired dis- tance .
• elements of the above shape and geometry may be attached and/or embedded that keep the insulation 3 and the net 9 spaced-apart at the desired distance.
• the net 9 may surround or cover the insulation 3, or alternatively, in certain cases, the net 9 including the elements thereof may be used stand alone in order to directly surround or cover the construction 2.
• the components the insulation 3, the net 9 and the elements 4 may also constitute a homogeneous unit espe- cially formed to surround or cover the construction 2, and/or be composed of a number of homogeneous units, which when interconnected surround or cover the construction 2.
• It may also be shaped as a soft homogeneous unit, which directly may be formed against or around the con- struction 2 in question and cover the same.
• the cells 5 and elements 4 have the purpose of increasing the area that ice can freeze fast to as well as to keep the insulation 3 and the net 9 spaced-apart at the distance previously determined, which should be approx. 1/3 of the thickness of the expected ice cover.
• the covering of ice can proceed to grow through the net 9 and fur- ther outside the net 9. Then, the net 9 forms a roothold and a reinforcement for ice that, in addition to being frozen fast in the insulation 3 and/or cells 5 and/or elements 4, now also is frozen fast in the net 9 and armoured by the net 9.
• the dimensioning and material of the net 9 are calculated in such a way that the net 9 holds for the load of the expected quantity of ice between the insulation 3 and the net 9 as well as the cover outside the net 9 without breaking or being deformed, even if ice entirely would leave hold of the
• the distances between the tubes/threads/strings/strips included in the net 9 as well as the mutual position between them should be formed so that they form a pattern of a grid and/or net, through which wet snow,
• Said net or fine-meshed grid may be arranged to be formed of a plurality of smaller sections, which are assembled into a continuous larger net or grid.
• the insulation 3 is of a i0 partly insulating nature or coated with an insulating layer between the construction 2 and the insulation 3
• ice melts from outside and inward, first toward the net 9, provided that the coating of ice extends outside the net, and then toward the insulation 3 and does not leave hold of the insulation 3 as easily as it could have done from the construction 2 having the construction 2 emitted, conducted or reflected heat from below against ice. Therefore, ice does not come loose as easily from 5 the insulation 3 and fall down. Furthermore, this is prevented by the surrounding or covering net 9 and/or barbs 8 of the elements 4.
• ice is frozen fast on elements 4 and/or is secured by barbs
• L5 bridge cable 2 having a surrounding net basket 9 and elements 4 in the form of longitudinal ridges and/or triangles distributed along the surface extension of said cable 2a in the longitudinal and/or transverse direction.
• Said spacers may also be cone- shaped and have a plurality of barbs 8 along the sides thereof.
• the insulation may consist of, e.g., air in said elements 4, i.e., air pockets embedded in
• the elements or the elements may be manufactured from a suitable insulating material.
• parts of the net 9 may be without cells and/or elements and
• Said protection is formed of a net 9, grid or any similar penetratable surface, and that said protection 9 is arranged to be kept at a distance from said construction 2 by means of elements 4 that also form insulation against the con- struction 2. Said protection 9 is arranged to retain major portions of formed ice but allow the passage of meltwater when the ice melts at higher temperatures.
• spacers 104 and net 109 are arranged externally of the underside 150 of a gutter, the net 109 being arranged to be attached to the roof 151 of the house and extending along the top portion 152 of the gutter, and preferably being formed into an upstanding pointedly formed snow protection, and being attached to the batten 153 of the roof under the tiles 154 of the roof.
• Fig 6 a variant is shown, not in accordance with the invention, having depending net 209 attached to the gutter 202 and arranged to form reinforcement for ice being formed at the gutter 202.
• insulating parts fitting the circumferential shape of the construction in question, e.g., bridge wires, and having a surrounding net 9, are arranged connectable and, by means of screws or other attaching means 12, are arranged for the forma- tion of a surrounding insulating cage, and an insulating covering layer 3 of insulating material is arranged to form the core of the protection.
• a construction 2 is provided with elements 4 that extend at an angle from the construction.
• a layer of a thermally insulating material is arranged between the elements and the construction.
• the elements entirely or partly, consist of an insulating material.
• an external protection 9 in the form of one or more nets, grids or similar penetratable surfaces is installed at a distance from the construction. All features mentioned in the application may be combined freely.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Buildings Adapted To Withstand Abnormal External Influences (AREA)
• Building Environments (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=37741163

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2006
  • 2006-01-03 SE SE0600016A patent/SE528794C2/sv unknown
  • 2006-12-21 EP EP06835965A patent/EP1969192A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-12-21 WO PCT/SE2006/050611 patent/WO2007078248A1/en not_active Ceased

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events