Patent ID: 12251620

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the snow storage10shown inFIG.1and heat-insulated by the method according to the aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the heat-insulation of the roof11, end walls12and13as well as the lateral walls14and15parallel to the longer sides is provided by insulation board mats20consisting of insulation boards16joined together in an accordion-like fashion. Typically, the insulation boards16of the insulation board mats20are polyurethane, polystyrene or similar insulation boards, for example. Alternatively, the insulation boards16, or some of them, can be other insulation boards, such as foam rubber or cellular plastic boards. It is possible to select the outer dimensions of the insulation boards16of the insulation board mats case by case or to use standard-size insulation boards. The insulation boards16must be thick enough to sufficiently acknowledge the climatic conditions prevailing in the location of the snow storage30.

The corners17between the end walls12and13as well as the lateral walls14and15of the snow storage10shown inFIG.1are insulated by triangular corner inserts18fitted therein. Herein, the corner inserts18are made of an integral piece of an elastic and bendable heat-insulating material, such as a foam rubber or cellular plastic board. The outer dimensions and thickness of the corner inserts18may also vary according to the size and heat-insulation requirements of the snow storage. In an embodiment of the method and equipment according to the present disclosure, the corners17, and therefore, the end walls12and13of the snow storage as well, can also be insulated by means of inner walls made out of snow and/or ice, for example, as well as by means of a heat-insulating layer provided on the inner walls by using sawdust and/or pykrete, i.e. frozen sawdust, accumulated thereon.

The insulation materials of the roof11, end walls12and13as well as the lateral walls14and15comprise insulation board mats20consisting of individual insulation boards16, or, of groups of insulation boards put together out of several joined insulation boards16. The individual insulation boards16or the insulation board groups are pivotably joined together, alternately at the upper corners and the lower corners of the transversal end edges21thereof. The continuous insulation board mat20formed thereby and comprising several insulation boards is foldable into an accordion-like insulation board bundle20′ and re-openable into a continuous insulation board mat20(as is shown inFIGS.3and4). When the pivotably joined sections are not individual insulation boards16but insulation board groups consisting of multiple insulation boards16, the insulation boards joined together in the insulation group are preferably fixed together, or inserted into a single bag or sleeve made from a suitable fabric, to hold them against each other, as a single continuous piece of board.

In the snow storage ofFIG.1, the successive insulation boards16are pivotably connected together by a waterproof cloth19(such as a PVC cloth), to form an accordion-like structure, as shown inFIGS.3and4. In this case, the pivotable connection is achieved by inserting the successive insulation boards into bags made of a fabric-like material, or, into sleeves19aopen at two opposite ends, wherein there are several bags or sleeves one after another, joined, at an edge thereof, to each other by a suitable joint19b. Thus, the insulation boards16inserted into the bags or sleeves19aare pivotably joined together at their opposite edges, by the joints between the bags or sleeves19a. In a similar embodiment of the snow storage10, two or more insulation boards can be inserted into a single bag or sleeve19a, one after another and/or side by side, the bags or sleeves19athereby pivotably connecting groups of insulation boards to each other, in the way described above.

As appears fromFIG.1, the ends and the middle portions of the heat-insulated snow pile30are covered with several adjacent insulation board mats20. As for the snow storage ofFIG.1, three successive insulation board mats20are pulled over the snow pile30. Two of them lie on the sides (principally at the lateral walls14and15) while one of them lies on the roof11of the snow storage10, on top of the snow pile30. In another similar embodiment, there can also be one, two or more than three successive insulation board mats20. In this case, the position of the insulation board mats20is generally selected case by case to restrict the entrance of rainwater into the snow pile as far as possible. In the snow storage ofFIGS.1and2, the entrance of rainwater is also restricted by a joint shield24provided on top of the snow pile. Here, it covers the midmost insulation board mats20as well as the joint areas between them and the first and the last insulation board mats20. Thus, rainwater cannot enter the snow pile30, at least not very easily, through the joints between the successive insulation board mats20.

FIG.2is a view of the snow storage10ofFIG.1, with the insulation board mats20and the corner inserts18, provided in the front end12, as seen from the direction of the Figure, and in the corners17, respectively, removed, and with the first central insulation board mat20of this end face pulled off the snow pile, as the snow storage10is taken into use. InFIG.2, the joint shield24provided on the roof of the snow storage and the joint shields29between the insulation board mats20are removed as well.

The equipment for insulating a snow pile according to the aspects of the disclosed embodiments may comprise, in addition to the variety of heat-insulating materials, a pulling device for opening up a bundle of insulation boards20′ into an insulation board mat20and for pulling it onto the snow pile30. The pulling device can be an electrically or combustion engine driven winch or the like, for example, allowing each insulation board bundle20′ to be opened up and pulled onto the snow pile30. Alternatively (especially for smaller snow storages), some or all of the insulation board bundles20′ can be opened up by manual pulling. A suitable pulling member, such a pulling rope, wire rope, strap or the like, is attached to an end of the insulation board bundle20′ and taken over the snow pile to allow the insulation board bundle20′ to be opened up and pulled onto the snow pile30by manually pulling at the pulling member.

When insulating a snow pile30made at a storage site by the method according to the aspects of the disclosed embodiments, the heat-insulation is done by using the insulation board mats20and the corner inserts18as described above as well as different kinds of other heat-insulating materials provided in the intermediate areas between the insulation board mats20. After piling up snow, the accordion-like insulation board bundles20′ provided or brought next to the snow pile30are opened up into insulation board mats20and pulled onto the snow pile30. As for the snow storage10ofFIGS.1and2, the accordion-like insulation board bundles20′ are provided on all sides of the snow pile30, the insulation board bundles20′ intended for each side are situated next to this side. The location of the insulation board bundles20′ intended for the roof11of the snow storage10is selected case by case by to allow them to be pulled onto the snow pile30as effortlessly as possible. Before starting the pulling operation, the insulation board bundles20′ provided next to the snow pile30can be tilted towards the snow pile30to make it easier to open up them by pulling them at the topmost insulation board towards the snow pile30. The most common way of opening up the insulation board bundles20′ of pulling them to lie on the top and the sides of the snow pile30is to use an electrical pulling device, such as an electrical pulling winch. The pulling winch can be a pulling winch provided on a terrain vehicle, for example, the vehicle being drivable to a suitable position with respect to the pulling direction. The insulation board bundles20′ can also be opened up manually and pulled onto the snow pile30by means of suitable hand-operated pulling means (such as ropes or straps) extended over the snow pile to the other side of thereof. This allows the insulation board bundles20′ intended to be installed in different locations on the top and the sides of the snow pile30to be conveniently moved to these desired locations by pulling at the pulling means. Often, it is also possible to use a driven pulling device for opening up and pulling the larger and heavier ones of the insulation board bundles20′ onto the snow pile30and to only use manual force on the smallest ones of them.

Before pulling the insulation board bundles20′ onto the snow pile30and after removing them from the snow pile30, they are stored next to the snow pile30and laterally moved off the snow pile30, over a required distance (aside from a trail of a ski slope, for instance). To prevent the insulation board bundles20′ from getting wet and from freezing, they are covered with a suitable, preferably waterproof sheet (such as a plastic or PVC cloth) for the duration of use of the snow of the snow storage (i.e. mostly for the entire ski season).

As for the snow storage10ofFIGS.1and2, all of the insulation board bundles20′ are situated, at the beginning of the insulation step, on the side of the snow pile30encompassing their intended location on top of the snow pile, prior to pulling them onto the snow pile, and, after pulling them off the snow pile30and re-folding them into insulation board bundles20′. In some embodiments, it is also possible to store some of the insulation board bundles20′ on the side opposite to the side of the snow pile30where the rest of the insulation board bundles20′ are situated. To do this, these insulation board bundles20′ are pulled in a counter-direction with respect to the insulation board bundles20′ stored on the opposite side of said snow pile30as they are pulled onto the snow pile30or off the snow pile30.

The insulation board mats are pulled to lie side by side on top of the snow pile30so that there are several insulation board mats20on top of the snow pile, with their lateral edges22against each other. In general, it is not necessary to attach the (longitudinal) lateral edges22of the adjacent insulation board mats to each other but, usually, they are just positioned (by suitably pulling by means of a winch or a hand-operated pulling device) near each other, without leaving an excessively long distance (usually under 0.5 m) between the opposite lateral edges22. The spaces between the adjacent insulation board mats20are filled with an appropriate heat-insulating structure25consisting of heat-insulating materials26,28and29. As for the snow storage ofFIG.1, the filling is carried out, as is shown inFIG.5, prior to pulling the insulation board mats20onto the snow pile30, by providing the areas between their lateral edges with a sealing cloth26. The sealing cloth26can be a single elongated piece of a waterproof fabric or plastic (a piece of PVC fabric having a thickness of approximately 0.5 to 1 m, for example) extending over the entire snow pile. It is also possible to press (by means of a suitable tool) a groove in this point of the surface of snow pile30, the sealing cloth26thus forming a chute in the areas between the lateral edges22of the insulation board mats20to drain off any rainwater that has entered between the insulation board mats20from the snow pile30. Thereafter, the insulation board mats20are pulled into place and then onto the joint area, and, if necessary, an intermediate insulation28(such as a foam rubber or cellular plastic insulation), with an overlying joint shield29, such a geotextile, is provided between the lateral edges22of the insulation board mats20. As an example, the joint shield29can be fixed on the insulation board mats by means of binding members31installed at the lateral regions of the insulation board mats, such as by means of tie-down straps tightened against the insulation board mats20(as shown inFIG.5). This filling between the lateral edges22of the adjacent insulation board mats20provides heat-insulation and restricts the entrance of rainwater into the snow pile30, through the spaces between the adjacent insulation board mats20. However, in some cases, if it is desirable to attach the insulation board mats20to each other, it can be done with an adhesive member removably attaching to the insulation board mats, such as with adhesive tape or Velcro® fastener tapes/strips.

When several successive insulation board mats20are pulled onto the snow pile30, two or more of the insulation board mats20pulled onto the snow pile are positioned one after another, with a first end of a first insulation board mat20abutting a second end of a second insulation board mat20and with a rear end of a third insulation board mat20abutting a first end of the second insulation board mat20. If it desirable to attach the insulation board mats20one after another, it can be done in a way similar to the way they are attached, side by side, at their lateral edges22, i.e. with a suitable fastener removably provided between the end edges21of the insulation board mats20. It is common to use two or more successive insulation board mats20because the snow storage10is usually very large and because the use of a single insulation board mat20for covering the entire distance from one side of the snow pile30to the other side requires an insulation board mat20consisting of several dozens of insulation boards16. This increases the size of the insulation board bundles20′ to an extent that their weight and dimensions can make it hard to pull them onto the snow pile30and off the snow pile and to carry out any other operations needed.

A finished heat-insulation of the snow storage10created by the method according to the aspects of the disclosed embodiments does not usually require other heat-insulating materials to be provided the insulation board layer of the insulation board mats20. However, if it is desirable to do so, it is possible to lay an insulating cloth, such a geotextile and/or moisture shield, such as a plastic or waterproof cloth (such as a PVC cloth) over the insulation board mats. This eliminates the need of the sealing cloth29at the joints between the lateral edges22of the insulation board mats20.

FIG.3is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an insulation board mat, presenting an insulation board mat20having individual insulation board bundles20′ inserted into bags or sleeves19a(i.e. laterally open fabric sleeves) made of waterproof fabric19, as a structural option. Here, the waterproof cloth19enclosing the insulation boards16has joints19bparallel to the transversal edges of the insulation boards and joining the overlying waterproof fabric19and the underlying waterproof fabric19of the insulation boards20together, welded, glued or sewed between the transversal edges of successive insulation boards16(i.e. edges perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insulation board mats20). The joints19bare positioned between the fabric layers by alternating the successive joints19bat the level of the lower surface and the upper surface of the insulation boards20. Thus, articulations transversal to the insulation boards20are provided therebetween, allowing the insulation board mat to be folded into an accordion-like insulation board bundle20′, as shown inFIG.4.

Many aspects of the method and equipment according to the present disclosure can be implemented in ways deviating from the above-described exemplifying embodiments. In some cases, the insulation board mat can be a single integrated body entirely made of cellular plastic or of a similar highly heat-insulating soft and elastic insulation board material, for example. The structure of this integrated insulation board mat may comprise transversal joints or points which are more flexible than the rest of the areas, allowing the insulation board mat to be folded into an accordion-like form and re-opened up into an insulation board mat multiple times without causing damage to the structure. An insulation board mat of this type can also be inflated with air, or some other gas that has better heat-insulation properties than air, and also deflated. It is inflated once it has been opened up by pulling it onto a snow pile and deflated prior to pulling it off the snow pile and folding it into an accordion-like form. This solution has at least the advantage that it is simple and lightweight and requires less space in comparison with the solution presented above when the insulation board mats are in a folded state as insulation board bundles. Thus, the method and equipment according to the present disclosure are not restricted to the above-described exemplary embodiments but may vary within the scope of the following claims.