Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6318110
-
Patent Number
6,318,110
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, January 18, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, November 20, 200122 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 052 211
- 052 63
- 052 222
- 052 273
- 062 347
- 062 74
- 454 188
- 454 189
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
A facility including an inclined plane for sliding for which snow is used, a snow producing apparatus for producing snow from water and supplying the snow to the facility, and an air jet apparatus for forming an air roof by air flow so that the air roof covers space over the facility, are provided. The air roof covers space over the facility for which artificial snow is used, thus making the building of a roof and the like unnecessary and lowering building costs. The inside of the facility is opened to the fresh air by stopping the supply of air for forming the air roof, which makes special equipment for measures against exhaust gas unnecessary.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial snow system utilized for facilities such as a skiing ground, a snow-boarding ground, and the like for which artificial snow is used.
2. Description of the Related Art
This kind of faculty for which artificial snow is used is generally housed within doors. This is because, for example, the outside air temperature is often high in regions where artificial snow needs to be used, which requires that the inside of the system is maintained at or below a given temperature to thereby prevent melting of snow.
The above system has, however, a disadvantage that building costs for a roof and the like are very high.
Further, in the above system, a snow spreader and the like are used during maintenance, thereby causing another disadvantage that special equipment for eliminating exhaust gas emitted from the snow spreader is required since the system is within doors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an artificial snow system capable of lowering building costs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an artificial snow system which does not need special equipment for measures against exhaust gas.
To attain the above objects, the main aspect of the present invention is a system comprising a facility for which snow is used, snow producing means for producing snow from water and supplying the snow to the facility, and means for forming an air roof by air flow so that the air roof covers space over the facility.
In the present invention, the air roof covers space over the facility for which artificial snow is used, thus making the building of a roof and the like unnecessary and lowering building costs. Further, in the present invention, the inside of the facility is opened to the fresh air by stopping the supply of air for forming the air roof, thus making special equipment for measures against exhaust gas unnecessary.
These objects and still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing the structure of an artificial snow system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a front view of the artificial snow system shown in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a front view showing the structure of an air jet apparatus shown in FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of the air jet apparatus shown in
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view showing the structure of an air jet apparatus according to another embodiment;
FIG. 6
is a side view showing the structure of the air jet apparatus shown in
FIG. 5
;
FIG. 7
is a plan view showing the structure of an air jet apparatus according to still another embodiment;
FIG. 8
is a front view of the air jet apparatus shown in
FIG. 7
;
FIG. 9
is a sectional view of an air jet apparatus according to yet another embodiment;
FIG. 10
is a side view showing the structure (the first structure) of an artificial snow system according to still another embodiment; and
FIG. 11
is a side view showing the structure (the second structure) of the artificial snow system shown in FIG.
10
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing the structure of a system of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a skiing ground or a snow-boarding ground for which artificial snow is used.
An artificial snow system
10
includes a facility
20
for which snow is used, an ICS (Ice Crashing System)
30
for producing snow from water and supplying the snow to the facility
20
, and an air roof forming section
40
for forming an air roof
41
by air flow so that the air roof covers space over the facility
20
.
The facility
20
has an inclined portion
21
on which a snow surface, for example, a sliding surface is formed with snow supplied by the ICS
30
. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the inclined portion
21
is held, for example, by a steel construction
26
, and has a height of about 15 m to about 100 m at the top thereof, a length of about 100 m to about 500 m, and an inclination of not more than 15°. The facility
20
is provided with an air conditioner
23
for maintaining the inside of a space
22
formed between the inclined portion
21
and the air roof
41
at not more than a predetermined temperature, for example, at a temperature of not more than 15° C.
As shown in FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
, the air roof forming section
40
has a plurality of air jet apparatus
42
disposed, for example, at intervals of about 7 m to about 10 m in an inclined direction
24
of the inclined portion
21
. The air jet apparatus
42
are disposed at positions higher than the inclined portion
21
by about 10 m, for example.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, each of the air jet apparatus
42
is disposed across the inclined portion
21
along a direction
25
nearly perpendicular to the inclined direction
24
of the inclined portion
21
above the inclined portion
21
. It is preferable that each air jet apparatus
42
is formed into an upward convex shape above the inclined portion
21
. This is because there seems to be a wide space over the inclined portion
21
when the inclined portion
21
is seen from the top of the inclined portion
21
.
As shown in FIG.
3
and
FIG. 4
, each air jet apparatus
42
has a long body
45
provided with an inlet port
43
for drawing in air from one side of the inclined direction
24
and a jet port
44
for jetting air to the other side of the inclined direction along the aforesaid direction
25
. A cylindrical fan
46
is disposed inside the body
45
and rotated by a motor
47
arranged on one side of the body
45
. With the rotation, air is drawn in from the inlet port
43
, and jetted from the jet port
44
.
Therefore, each air jet apparatus
42
draws in air jetted from the jet port
44
of the air jet apparatus
42
adjacent thereto through the inlet port
43
, and jets the drawn air from the jet port
44
. Thus, in the air roof forming section
40
, the air roof
41
by air flow between the adjacent air jet apparatus
42
is formed so as to cover space over the facility
20
. In terms of maintenance of uniform temperature inside the space
22
formed between the inclined portion
21
and the air roof
41
, it is preferable that air flow is formed from the lower side to the upper side of the inclined portion
21
, but it is naturally suitable that air flow is formed from the upper side to the lower side of the inclined portion
21
.
In the system
10
according to this embodiment, space over the inclined portion
21
on which the snow surface is formed is covered with the air roof
41
, whereby the space
22
formed between the inclined portion
21
and the air roof
41
can be treated similarly to an indoor space. Meanwhile, as compared with a case where the indoor space is formed, it is unnecessary to build a roof and the like, thereby lowering building costs. When maintenance by the use of a snow spreader or the like is required, the air roof
41
is removed by stopping a jet of air from each air jet port
44
, and the space over the inclined portion
21
is opened to the fresh air. As a result, special equipment for measures against exhaust gas becomes unnecessary.
Although the air roof
41
is formed by air flow along the inclined direction
24
of the inclined portion
21
in the aforesaid embodiment, air jet apparatus
51
each for jetting air toward the inclined portion
21
in the direction
25
nearly perpendicular to the inclined direction
24
of the inclined portion
21
to thereby form an air roof
52
may be disposed along both sides of the inclined portion
21
as shown in FIG.
5
and
FIG. 6
, for example. Consequently, there is nothing over the inclined portion
21
, which makes it possible to obtain visually beautiful appearance and further to lower building costs.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, it is suitable that first air jet apparatus
71
for jetting air
73
in the inclined direction
24
are disposed along the direction
25
nearly perpendicular to the inclined direction
24
of the inclined portion
21
above the inclined portion
21
, second air jet apparatus
72
for jetting air
74
in such a manner that the air
74
and the air
73
jetted from the first air jet apparatus intersect each other are disposed along both sides of the inclined portion
21
, and that wind pressures of the air
73
and the air
74
jetted from the first and the second air jet apparatus
71
and
72
are controlled according to the jet position of air so that wind pressure at the air roof
75
formed by the air
73
and the air
74
jetted from the first and the second air jet apparatus
71
and
72
is almost uniform. For example, the wind pressures of the air
73
and the air
74
jetted from the first and the second air jet apparatus
71
and
72
increase as the jet position gets closer to the center. As a method of controlling the wind pressures of the air
73
and the air
74
jetted from the air jet apparatus
71
and
72
according to the jet position of air, for example, there is a method in which the size of an opening of an air jet port
76
in each of the air jet apparatus
71
and
72
is changed depending on the jet position of air as shown in FIG.
8
. When the wind pressure needs to be increased as the jet position approaches the center, for example, the size of the opening of the air jet port
76
needs to be reduced as the jet position gets closer to the center.
A shutter mechanism
93
for controlling the size of the opening of a jet port
92
of an air jet apparatus
91
is provided as shown in
FIG. 9
, thereby enabling the control of wind pressure of air jetted from the air jet apparatus
91
. For example, the space
22
can be formed more efficiently by controlling the aforesaid wind pressure according to the difference between the temperature of the space
22
formed between the inclined portion
21
and the air roof
41
and outside air temperature. For instance, the wind pressure needs to be decreased when the aforesaid temperature difference is small, while the wind pressure needs to be increased when the temperature difference is large.
As shown in
FIG. 10
, a flexible roof
101
held by the air roof
52
may be disposed on the air roof
52
(See FIG.
5
and FIG.
6
). The flexible roof
101
is made of vinyl, for example, and fixed on the top of each air jet apparatus
51
. The above flexible roof
101
functions, for example, as an umbrella, thereby preventing rain from directly falling to the inclined portion
21
. Further, light can be irradiated from the inclined portion
21
toward the flexible roof
101
by lighting equipment
102
, thus making it possible to create a fantastic space by lighting. Furthermore, the flexible roof
101
can be easily removed, for example, by removing (getting rid of) the air roof
52
depending on outside air temperature. As a result, when the temperature of the inclined portion
21
is not very different from outside air temperature, an opener space can be created. The use of a member which infrared rays do not penetrate for the flexible roof or a coat of paint over the flexible roof can prevent the inclined portion
21
from being exposed to infrared rays.
The present invention can be applied to other facilities for which artificial snow is used as well as an artificial skiing ground and an artificial snow-boarding ground.
The aforesaid embodiment has the intention of clarifying technical meaning of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the above concrete embodiment and to be interpreted in a narrow sense, and various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the present invention and within the meaning of the claims.
Claims
- 1. A system, comprising:a facility having an inclined surface; snow producing means for producing snow from water and supplying the snow to said inclined surface; and an air roof forming unit located near said inclined surface for jetting air flow to form an air roof so that the air roof covers over at least said inclined surface at an angle that is substantially parallel to said inclined surface.
- 2. The system as set forth in claim 1,wherein said air roof forming unit further comprises a plurality of air jet units which are disposed at a predetermined interval in an inclined direction, each of said air jet units jetting air in a direction substantially perpendicular to the inclined direction of the inclined portion above the inclined portion, said air jet units drawing in air from one side of the inclined direction and jetting air to the other side of the inclined direction.
- 3. The system as set forth in claim 2,wherein said air jet units draw in air from a lower side of the inclined direction and jet the air to an upper side of the inclined direction.
- 4. The system as set forth in claim 1,wherein said air roof forming unit further comprises air jet units disposed along a side portion of the inclined portion for jetting air toward a center of the inclined portion in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to an inclined direction of the inclined portion.
- 5. The system as set forth in claim 1,wherein said air roof forming unit further comprises a first air jet unit disposed along a direction nearly perpendicular to an inclined direction of the inclined portion above the inclined portion for jetting first air in the inclined direction; a second air jet unit disposed along a side portion of the inclined portion for jetting second air in such a manner that the first air and the second air intersect each other; and a wind pressure controlling unit for controlling a relative wind pressure within the first air and the second air according to a relative position so that the wind pressure at the air roof formed by the first air and the second air is uniform.
- 6. The system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:a temperature controlling unit for controlling the temperature of a space between the inclined portion and the air roof.
- 7. The system as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:a flexible roof disposed on the air roof and held by the air roof.
- 8. The system as set forth in claim 7, further comprising:an air roof determination unit for determining whether or not the air roof is formed by said air roof forming unit according to an outside air temperature.
- 9. The system as set forth in claim 7, further comprising:means for irradiating light toward said flexible roof.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2 679 988 A1 |
Feb 1993 |
FR |
2 764 052 A1 |
Dec 1998 |
FR |
04005380 |
Jan 1992 |
JP |
7-239164 |
Sep 1995 |
JP |
10015147 |
Jan 1998 |
JP |