Snow making
AssigneeAcer Snowmec Limited
InventorsMalcolm George Clulow, David Winnett
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method for making snow wherein snow is made within a closed environment by discharging water droplets into a body of air maintained by air conditioning means at a temperature and humidity such as to turn the water droplets into snow, falling on to a surface including coolant pipes which are covered with a layer of snow, the coolant being at a lower temperature than the air temperature such that there is a temperature gradient in the snow layer of the order of 0.1 degrees centigrade per centimeter depth, whereby during the initial part of the process a small quantity of small droplets is discharged to provide nucleating particles, and thereafter a larger quantity of droplets is discharged and whereby incoming air to be discharged into the body of air is drawn over cold surfaces.
Claims11
A method of making snow comprising:
- discharging water droplets into a body of air within a closed environment;
- maintaining the body of air at a temperature and humidity at least during snow making such as to turn the water droplets to snow in flight, the snow falling on to a surface within said environment;
- providing the surface with coolant pipes which in operational use are covered with a layer of snow;
- and
- maintaining the temperature of the coolant in said pipes such that the temperature gradient in the snow layer between the coolant and the air above the snow layer is of the order of 0.1 degrees centigrade per centimeter depth, the coolant being at a lower temperature than the air temperature.
A method of making snow in which snow is made artificially within a closed indoor environment, the method comprising:
- discharging a mixture of water droplets and air into a body of air within the environment;
- maintaining the body of air at a temperature and humidity, at least during snow making, which causes the water droplets to turn into snow in flight in the body of air;
- discharging the water droplets and air from a snow gun in such a manner as to encourage the formation of snow whereby during an initial part of the snow making process a relatively small quantity of small droplets are discharged into the body of air to provide nucleating particles, and thereafter a larger quantity of droplets are discharged;
- and
- varying the quantity of water discharged into the body of air via a water orifice size adjustment valve which adjusts the proportion of water droplets in relation to the volume of air discharged by the snow gun.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.