Patent Application
20250101696
The invention relates to an automatic system for the maintenance of road surfaces according to weather warnings, phenomena and parameters measured in real time for each microclimate, capturing floods or water which does not enter the drainage systems of public roads.
A de-icing system for road bridges or tunnel openings using a subsystem for collecting meteorological information from the road surface, a spraying subsystem and a control subsystem is known from the document CN 104294760 A, the weather information collection subsystem includes a sensor that collects atmospheric temperature, humidity, wind speed, ice water and snow conditions and road surface temperature, the intervention with the spraying subsystem covering the bridge, after ice has already formed or after snow has deposited.
Further known according to KR 20210006281 A is an apparatus for spraying a liquid on a road and a method for spraying the liquid on the road, which can equally maintain the amount of sprayed solution from each spray module provided in a supply line and which keeps the initial spray amount of the solution constant, thereby improving the fast action and continuous properties of a snow removal work.
Also known from the documents CN 212053087 U and CN 210002198 U are water collection systems consisting of drainage ditches, collection channels, water collection and storage tanks, pumps, which communicate with the drainage pipes, systems which are based on the calculation of the maximum amount of water and water flow rate.
From the document filed with the European Patent Office under number 22000091.3 is known an installation for the maintenance of road surfaces according to warnings, phenomena and weather parameters measured in real time, which is located on several sections of road, on the median line of the road or on one of its sides. This installation does not solve the problem of absorbing excess water or capturing floods or water that does not enter the drainage systems on public roads.
Known de-icing or de-icing solutions use installations that are mounted on roadsides, or on the railings of bridges and only intervene when snow or ice has already formed. These systems are only activated when various sensors or cameras on the relevant section of road record ice or snow deposits, are ineffective when there is traffic on the road and do not prevent these phenomena, as there is no real-time correlation between weather warnings in the microclimate and the activation of the system.
The technical problem which the present invention solves consists in absorbing or capturing floods or waters which do not enter the drainage systems of public roads and maintaining the road surfaces in optimal conditions for traffic by automatically maintaining the road surfaces according to severe weather warnings, weather phenomena and parameters measured and transmitted in real time by a weather station serving a microclimate or weather parameters transmitted by infra-weather systems.
This technical problem is solved by at least one or more road surface maintenance installations, located on several road sections, on the median line of the road or on one of the sides of the road, which operate according to the meteorological parameters measured in real time by the weather station assigned to each section or the duration of the issuing of a warning code in the geographical area of each section, an installation comprising an air compressor, a compressed-air reservoir, one or more tanks for the intervention fluids, connected by couplings to a group of pumps controlled by a GSM module with remote relay according to the commands of a server, the fluids circulating through couplings and pipe sections installed underground in the carriageway, with compression collars on each pipe section, connected to spray sub-assemblies consisting of directional valves, flow restrictors, movable quick couplers and nozzles, allowing automated actions based on the interpretation of meteorological data received from weather stations and on the recordings of the sensors with which they are equipped and/or when severe weather warnings are issued and received, the excess water from the roadway when the sewage system cannot cope is absorbed by a sewage pump and directed to a sewage tank, and on the section of pipe between the nozzles there are single-sensor flap outlets through which the sewage pump sucks water from the roadway when the amount of water is large, i.e. more than 3 cm, and water level sensors on each outlet transmit the data to the server.
The advantages of the present invention are:
The following Legend identifies the reference numerals used in the figures:
In the following an example of embodiment of the invention is presented in connection with the figures representing the schematic view of the installation according to the invention:
The automatic plant for maintaining and maintaining in an optimum state of use road surfaces, railways, airports, heliports or other surfaces subject to bad weather, according to weather warnings, phenomena and weather parameters measured in real time according to the invention, consists of an air compressor 1, a tank for compressed air 2 and a tank 3 for intervention fluids, which tanks are connected to a group of pumps 4 which distribute said fluids from the selected tank to a spraying subassembly. An electrically operated switch 5 selects the source of fluid which is distributed through connections 6, a pump 7 for dirty water which absorbs excess water from the roadway when the sewage system cannot cope and directs it to a dirty water tank 8.
Remote operation of the pump unit 4 is performed by a GSM module with relay 9, according to commands given by a server 10.
Depending on the commands given by the server 10, the fluid chosen air or water is directed to a section of pipe 11 whose length may vary from 10 m to 3500 m and then to the spraying subassembly.
Compression collars 12 are mounted on the pipe section 11, which are internally threaded and into which directional valves 13 are fixed which can block the directions of fluid movement.
The pipe section 11 is provided at equal intervals with spray subassemblies, each subassembly consisting of flow restrictors 14 and movable quick couplers 15 which allow nozzles 16 arranged along the entire length of the pipe section 11 to enter the roadway when the wheels of vehicles press on them. Also on the section of pipe 11 are arranged at intervals greater than the nozzles 16, nozzles 17 by means of which the dirty water pump 7 sucks water from the roadway when the quantity of water is large, i.e. more than 3 cm.
Water level sensors 18 are mounted on the roadside, which transmit data to the server 10.
The pipe section 11 together with the spraying sub-assemblies is arranged on the median axis of two or more lanes per direction, it is buried, and the nozzles 16 for dispersing the materials on the corresponding surfaces as well as the nozzles 17 are arranged at different intervals depending on the road dimensions along the length of the section. On roads with only one lane in each direction, the system is mounted on one side of the road. They are able to spray the required fluid depending on the weather forecast, with a pressure of 8 bar for liquid and 12 bar for air, unidirectional or bidirectional, covering an area of between 10 m2 and 70 m2 for unidirectional spraying or bidirectional spraying, depending on the type of nozzle fitted.
On the basis of meteorological data from weather stations 19 and records from the sensors with which they are equipped, i.e. temperature sensor 191, humidity sensor 192, wind direction and speed sensor 193, global radiation sensor 194, atmospheric pressure sensor 195, rain quantity sensor 196, air quality sensor 197 and/or when severe weather warnings, imminent weather events (thunderstorm, lightning, wind, rain, snow, etc.) are issued and received, relevant to a specific geographic location/area identified by geographic coordinates and for a specific time interval, which data is also corroborated with other data received from other sources such as radars, satellites, other weather stations, the weather data provider sends weather warnings to the server 10, and the server will send a message to activate the pump unit 4, via the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) module 9.
Server 10 manages the received data, its database also contains additional data such as the identification code of each section, the county code of the county where the installation is located, the GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates of the streets.
The automated system will confirm each action it takes, so that sections where malfunctions occur can be detected.
Severe weather warnings are transmitted according to the GPS coordinates of the sections on four alert levels: yellow, orange, red, purple or by generic descriptions in non-standard format, which will indicate the date, start and end time of the event. The data received is saved in the database of server 10 and at pre-determined intervals will generate reports that will be published on a publicly available map on the Intrernet via a web page. If there is a GPS-based warning system in the area or on the route of a section, it can communicate with server 10, which triggers the installation. In this way anyone accessing the interactive map can be informed about the activity on the stretch or the road conditions.
Depending on the colour of the warning code, the approximate duration of the weather event and the amount of precipitation is given.
The installation according to the invention will have set the type of intervention absorption or dispersion of the fluid used, the time and duration of operation according to the warning code or according to the parameters measured by the weather stations related to each section. This setting of the installation according to the warning code will allow preventive intervention on the road surface so that there is no water layer or snow/ice layer and to make road traffic more efficient.
In the event of extreme weather events, large amounts of rainwater, torrential downpours, or freezing temperatures, to prevent the formation of ice on the roads at a predetermined threshold, the installation automatically starts the absorption of excess water or the distribution of materials.
At a certain predetermined threshold of the parameters collected from a certain location, the server 10 gives the START command by a message, and the plant operation and/or material dispensing for the prevention of ice jam starts. The same can be done in case of blizzard, where the air blowing acts to disperse excess water, deposited snow cover, or melting of windblown snow on roads when water or de-icing fluid is spread.
Automated road washing or decontamination can also be carried out if necessary. The situations are determined by the public or private road administrator, and the type of intervention or the solution with which to intervene in road washing is also determined by the administrator of this road segment.
The installation, using via server 10 the data collected from each individual location, can also intervene to cool roads or to avoid the effect of aquaplaning on the road surface.
In another embodiment, the automatic installation can be designed for railways by placing tanks, connections 6, pumps 4, GSM module with relay 9 above ground and directional valves 13, nozzles 16 for dispersing materials on the related surfaces and siphons 17 underground between railway sleepers.
The automatic installation according to the present invention can also be used for the maintenance of runways at airports, on the surfaces of heliports or even in areas and on surfaces where it is necessary both to clear water from their surface and to clear snow, avoid the formation of ice, or to decontaminate them, and where mechanical or manual intervention is difficult to perform.
