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

The present invention is a snow making tower and method that can efficiently produce snow in sub-freezing conditions. The tower is made up of multiple aluminum pipe segments with different diameters that are telescopically fitted and welded end to end with the segment of largest diameter at the lower end. The weld fittings are angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the tower pipe at an angle which is less than 90 degrees, which allows for a longer weld connection that can hold up to severe conditions, such as ice loading. The tower pipe can be manufactured of light weight aluminum piping at finished length of forty feet or so. The method involves ejecting air and water under pressure through snow making nozzles to form an atomized plume of water in adjacent ambient atmosphere under sub-freezing conditions. The snow making nozzle should include one or multiple sets of three nozzles that are circumferentially positioned and spaced about the pipe tower with a separation of less than 60 degrees, preferably approximately 30 degrees, to provide better interaction and atomization. This patent text provides a solution for efficiently producing snow in various conditions.

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.

Images