US 4,730,774 AGranted

Dual pressure compensating snowmaking apparatus

OwnerJames H. Shippeeinventor

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Abstract

A snowmaking apparatus is formed of a concentric tubes to define an outer flow passage and an inner circular passage with water carried within the inner flow passage ejected across a pressure compensated annular gap defined by the end of the inner tube and the confronting surface of a spring biased nozzle disk tending to close off that annular gap. The same nozzle disk defines a second annular gap between the nozzle disk and an annular ring fixedly mounted within the outer flow passage has an end face confronting the end face of the nozzle disk. The nozzle disk is preferably mounted on a valve stem and spring biased toward dual gap closing position with the water flow through the inner tube and the compressed air flow through the outer tube acting against the spring bias for dual pressure compensation of the annular gap width, thereby modulating the position of the nozzle disk depending upon the relative pressures of the water and compressed air flows, to maintain the snowmaking capability of the apparatus irrespective of available compressed air and water pressure.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A dual pressure compensating snowmaking apparatus comprising an outer housing including concentric, radially spaced inner and outer tubes defining a first annular flow passage between said tubes and a second cylindrical flow passage within said inner tube, first nozzle means secured by said housing for tending to close off said second flow passage at said open end of said inner tube and defining a first nozzle gap between said first nozzle means and the open end of said inner tube, second means nozzle means carried by said housing for tending to close off said first flow passage at the open end of said outer tube and defining a second nozzle gap, means for supplying compressed air to said first flow passage, means for supplying water under pressure to said second flow passage such that;

water under pressure passes through said first gap towards second gap, and compressed air impinges the flow of water exiting from said first nozzle gap, mixes with said water and entrains the water as minute water particles and flows through said second nozzle gap, and means for commonly, continuously self-adjusting said first and second nozzle means to vary said first and second nozzle gaps in response to vary in pressure of the compressed air and water to automatically increase air flow with increase in water pressure and water flow and a reduction in compressed air flow at lower water pressure to maintain the snowmaking capability of the apparatus irrespective of ambient temperature variation and variation in pressure of the compressed air and water supplied therein.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.