Snow making tower and method of making snow

Abstract

A snow making tower pipe comprised of multiple aluminum pipe segments of different diameters dimensioned whereby the segments are telescopically fitted and welded end to end with the segment of larger diameter at the lower end, and the end to end weld fittings are angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the tower pipe at an angle of less than 90 degrees to provide a maximum strength weld connection. The snow making tower ejects air and water under pressure through snow making nozzles to form an atomized plume of water in adjacent ambient atmosphere under sub-freezing conditions. Water is ejected under pressure from a projection nozzle in the form of a spray stream at a velocity greater than the ejection velocity of the plume and this water stream is directed to engage the plume and thereby project the plume outwardly farther than possible without the assistance of the spray stream.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention pertains generally to the art of fluid sprinkling and more particularly to snow making towers for ski slopes.[0002]The present invention pertains to improvements in snow making towers of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,427, issued Oct. 20, 1998, for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SNOW. Such snow making towers are generally manufactured of aluminum pipe and extend upwardly at least twenty to thirty feet and have air and water discharge nozzles at the upper end for producing a plume of atomized water from interacting air and water discharged under pressure, either internally or externally mixed, to produce snow in sub-freezing ambient conditions.[0003]It is desirable that the tower be as tall as possible as the high loft produces better quality of snow as the plume is given a greater dwell time to fall in sub-freezing conditions to the ski surface. However, to date, it has only been practical to manufacture snow making towers ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]The snow making tower of the present invention includes an elongated upright aluminum tower pipe mounted on a support with air and water connectors at the lower end of the elongated pipe for connection to sources of air and water under pressure and snow making nozzles at the upper end for discharge of air and water under pressure into ambient atmosphere, by either internal or external mixing, for manufacture of snow in sub-freezing conditions. The snow making tower pipe of the present invention is made up of multiple aluminum pipe segments of different diameters dimensioned whereby the pipe segments are telescopically fitted and welded end to end with the segment of largest diameter at the lower end. The end to end weld fittings are angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the tower pipe at an angle which is less than 90 degrees, and typically between 45 degrees to 50 degrees. This provides a much longer weld connection than the typical right angle weld, connection which will hold up to severe conditions, such as ice loading. This permits the snow making tower to be manufactured of light weight aluminum piping at finished length of forty feet or so of commonly available aluminum pipe as off-the-shelf products.

[0008]When the tower pipe is supported at an inclined angle as a lean-out tower, the slanted weld fittings are positioned with the upper most point of the weld fittings aligned along the under side of the inclined tower pipe to provide maximum support capabilities at the weld connections.

[0009]The tower pipe may consist of two separable sections releasably joined by a pipe coupling. Accordingly, a forty foot tower may be inexpensively shipped in two twenty foot sections and then coupled together in the field. The lower end of the tower pipe, which includes the air and water connectors, is detachable from the remainder of the tower pipe whereby tower pipes of different lengths and different lower end diameters may be interchangeably connected to the lower end of the tower pipe. For this purpose, the lower end of the tower pipe is threadably connected to the remainder of the tower pipe. The bottom end of the remainder of the tower pipe, whether a forty foot tower or a twenty foot tower, is provided with the same diameter threaded connection for interchangeable connection to the lower end of the tower pipe.

[0010]In a second embodiment of the present invention, a novel method of manufacturing snow is provided by ejecting air and water under pressure, by either internal or external mixing thereof, through snow making nozzles to form an atomized plume of water in adjacent ambient atmosphere under sub-freezing conditions. The present invention improves the method by ejecting water under pressure in the form of a spray stream at a velocity greater than the ejection velocity of the aforesaid plume and directing this stream to engage the plume and thereby project the plume outwardly farther than possible without the assistance of the spray stream.

[0013]It has been further discovered that the snow making nozzle at the top of the tower pipe should include one or multiple sets of three nozzles which are circumferentially positioned and spaced about the pipe tower with a separation of less than 60 degrees and most preferably approximately 30 degrees. It was formally thought that a separation angle of 60 degrees was ultimate, but it has been discovered that better interaction and atomization occurs when the nozzles are separated by an angle which more closely approximates 30 degrees. In addition, this provides a tighter plume for better contact and interaction with the spray stream from the projection water nozzle for more effectively and efficiently projecting the plume outwardly.

Problems solved by technology

However, to date, it has only been practical to manufacture snow making towers of aluminum pipe to a approximate length of thirty feet.

For example, a forty foot section of aluminum pipe of sufficient diameter is simply far too heavy for suspension at this extreme height above ground.

It has also been discovered that welding aluminum pipe sections together of increasing diameter in end-to-end telescopic fashion is not practical as the pipe sections break at the welded connections due to the fact that the towers are inclined or lean outwardly, and also due to ice buildup which can commonly occur at the top of the tower.

However, this is extremely expensive to manufacture and is, in fact, extremely impractical to manufacture.

An additional problem that is incurred with present day snow making towers is that the atomized water plume for creating snow in sub-freezing ambient conditions is ejected from the snow making nozzles at the top of the tower at a velocity which does not adequately project the manufactured snow a sufficient distance away from the tower head.

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