Apparatus for making snow

Claim 1

An apparatus for making snow comprising: a cold water line extending along a given area below the frost line, an air line extending along said area generally parallel to the cold water line, means supplying cold water under pressure to said cold water line, means supplying air under pressure to said air line, valved outlets above and adjacent the ground surface, one connected to each of said water and air lines, a fixed vertical standard, a slender elongated hollow conduit mounted vertically on said standard and extending vertically from a point adjacent the ground surface at the valved outlets to a point higher than the heads of all skiers of the area, connection means from each of said outlets for simultaneously introducing air and water under pressure only into a lower end portion of said hollow conduit whereby the air and water are intermingled in said conduit, a restricted orifice at the opposite end of said conduit for discharging a mixture of air and water as a spray, and said conduit having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valved outlets so that only a fluid discharge of the mixture of air and water occurs at said restrictive orifice.

Claim 2

An apparatus for making snow comprising: a cold water line extending along a given area below the frost line, an air line extending along said area generally parallel to the cold water line, means supplying cold water under pressure to said cold water line, means supplying air under pressure to said air line, valved outlets above and adjacent the ground surface, one connected to each of said water and air lines, a fixed vertical standard, a slender elongated hollow conduit mounted vertically on said standard and extending vertically from a point adjacent the ground surface at the valved outlets to a point higher than the heads of all skiers of the area, connection means from each of said outlets for simultaneously introducing air and water under pressure only into a lower end portion of said hollow conduit whereby the air and water are intermingled in said conduit, a restricted orifice at the opposite end of said conduit for discharging a mixture of air and water as a spray, and said conduit having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valved outlets so that only a fluid discharge of the mixture of air and water occurs at said restrictive orifice.

Claim 7

An apparatus for making snow comprising: a slender elongated hollow conduit having discharge nozzle means at one end thereof, said conduit being adapted to be supported with respect to a land area to receive snow and extending generally vertically upwardly from such a land area with said one end being located at least 8 feet above such an area; independent air and water lines communicating only with a lower portion of said conduit at a location no higher than upwardly adjacent such a land area; valve means cooperable with said air and water lines to selectively control the respective flow of air and water to said lower portion of said conduit; and said conduit having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valve means so that only a fluid discharge occurs at said nozzle means during snow making operations of said apparatus.

Claim 8

An apparatus for making snow comprising: a slender elongated hollow conduit having discharge nozzle means at one end thereof, said conduit being adapted to be supported with respect to a land area to receive snow and extending generally vertically upwardly from such a land area with said one end being located at least 8 feet above such an area; independent air and water lines communicating only with a lower portion of said conduit at a location no higher than upwardly adjacent such a land area; valve means cooperable with said air and water lines to selectively control the respective flow of air and water to said lower portion of said conduit; and said conduit having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valve means so that only a fluid discharge occurs at said nozzle means during snow making operations of said apparatus.

Claim 18

A system for making snow comprising: a plurality of individual slender elongated hollow conduits having discharge nozzle means at respective one ends thereof, said conduits being spaced along a hand area to receive snow, each of said conduits adapted to be supported with respect to such a land area with said one ends being located at least 8 feet above such an area; independent air and water lines communicating only with a lower portion of each of said conduits at respective locations no higher than upwardly adjacent such a land area; valve means cooperable with said air and water lines respectively to selectively control the respective flow of air and water to said lower portion of said conduits; and said conduits having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valve means so that only a fluid discharge occurs at said nozzle means during snow making operations of said apparatus.

Claim 19

A system for making snow comprising: a plurality of individual slender elongated hollow conduits having discharge nozzle means at respective one ends thereof, said conduits being spaced along a hand area to receive snow, each of said conduits adapted to be supported with respect to such a land area with said one ends being located at least 8 feet above such an area; independent air and water lines communicating only with a lower portion of each of said conduits at respective locations no higher than upwardly adjacent such a land area; valve means cooperable with said air and water lines respectively to selectively control the respective flow of air and water to said lower portion of said conduits; and said conduits having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valve means so that only a fluid discharge occurs at said nozzle means during snow making operations of said apparatus.

Claim 20

An apparatus for making snow comprising: a slender elongated hollow conduit having discharge nozzle means at one end thereof, said conduit being adapted to be supported with respect to a land area to receive snow and extending generally vertically upwardly from such a land area; independent air and water lines communicating only with a lower portion of said conduit at a location no higher than upwardly adjacent such a land area; valve means cooperable with said air and water lines to selectively control the respective flow of air and water to said lower portion of said conduit; said conduit having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valve means so that only a fluid discharge occurs at said nozzle means during snow making operations of said apparatus; and said nozzle means being located at a height above such a land area to allow a dwell time to freeze the fluid discharged from said nozzle during snow making operations into artificial snow prior to such fluid settling on such a land area.

Claim 21

An apparatus for making snow comprising: a slender elongated hollow conduit having discharge nozzle means at one end thereof, said conduit being adapted to be supported with respect to a land area to receive snow and extending generally vertically upwardly from such a land area; independent air and water lines communicating only with a lower portion of said conduit at a location no higher than upwardly adjacent such a land area; valve means cooperable with said air and water lines to selectively control the respective flow of air and water to said lower portion of said conduit; said conduit having a substantially unobstructed internal volume which is cooperable with said valve means so that only a fluid discharge occurs at said nozzle means during snow making operations of said apparatus; and said nozzle means being located at a height above such a land area to allow a dwell time to freeze the fluid discharged from said nozzle during snow making operations into artificial snow prior to such fluid settling on such a land area.