SNOW GENERATING APPARATUS

Abstract

A snow generating apparatus is provided with a snow generator to cover with snow a run for winter sports, with a housing chamber which is designed to be laid underground in the run, and with a lifting system to move the snow generator in a moving direction between a lifted position and a lowered position; the lifting system being provided with a guide device and a slide, which has an elongated shape, extends in the moving direction, is coupled to the guide device in a sliding manner and, furthermore, at least partly extends into the housing chamber when it is arranged in its lowered position.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a snow generating apparatus.

BACKGROUND

In particular, the present disclosure relates to a snow generating apparatus of the type comprising a snow generator for covering with snow a run for winter sports; a housing chamber, which is designed to be laid underground in the run; and a lifting system for moving the snow generator in a moving direction between a lifted position and a lowered position.

The apparatus further comprises a power supply device which is at least partly mounted in the housing chamber and is connected to the snow generator to supply it with power, and a hydraulic supply device which is at least partly mounted in the housing chamber and is connected to the snow generator to hydraulically supply it.

The lifting system comprises a guide upright, which has an elongated shape, extends in the moving direction, and is fixed to the housing chamber so as to substantially entirely protrude above the run.

The lifting system further comprises a slide, which supports the snow generator, has a length, measured parallel to the moving direction, which is smaller than a length of the guide upright, which is also measured parallel to the moving direction, and is coupled to the guide upright in a sliding manner so as to move between the aforementioned lowered and lifted positions.

Generally, the snow generator is moved in its lifted position during the winter season so as to cover with snow the run and in its lowered position during the summer season for maintenance and/or removal activities of the snow generator.

Since the guide upright has a relatively long length and substantially entirely protrudes above the run, the known snow generating apparatuses of the type described above have some drawbacks mainly deriving from the fact that the guide upright is relatively dangerous and compromises the landscape appearance of the run.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting example embodiment, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure shown in a lowered resting position;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of the apparatus of FIG. 1 shown in a lifted operating position;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of a detail of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view, with parts in section and parts removed for clarity, of the detail of FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are two schematic perspective views, with parts removed for clarity, of a variation of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 indicates, as a whole, a snow generating apparatus comprising a well 2, which has the shape of a substantially parallelepiped box-shaped body, is configured to be laid underground in a run (not shown) for winter sports, and defines a housing chamber 3 limited by an upper wall 4.

The apparatus 1 further comprises a snow generator 5 for covering with snow the run (not shown), and a lifting system 6 configured to move the generator 5 in a moving direction 7 between a lowered resting position (FIG. 1), in which the generator 5 is moved close to the run (not shown) to enable maintenance and/or removal operations of the generator 5, and a lifted operating position (FIG. 2), in which the generator 5 is moved away from the run (not shown) to enable the covering with snow of the run (not shown).

In this case, the direction 7 is inclined according to an angle different from 90° with respect to the wall 4 and to the run (not shown).

The system 6 comprises a guide device 8, which is fixed to the wall 4 on the outside of the chamber 3, extends in the direction 7, and comprises a train of guide rollers 9 (FIG. 3) mounted for rotating around respective rotation axes 10 substantially transverse to the direction 7.

The rollers 9 are engaged in a sliding manner by a slide 11, which has an elongated shape, extends in the direction 7, and is provided, at an upper free end thereof, with a support shelf 12 on which the generator 5 is mounted.

The slide 11 has a length, measured parallel to the direction 7, greater than a length of the guide device 8, which is also measured parallel to the direction 7.

When the assembly defined by the generator 5 and by the slide 11 is moved in the lifted operating position (FIG. 2), the slide 11 substantially entirely extends on the outside of the well 2.

When the assembly defined by the generator 5 and by the slide 11 is moved in the lowered resting position (FIG. 1), the slide 11 extends through the wall 4, is partly housed inside the chamber 3, and protrudes with the shelf 12 and the generator 5 on the outside of the chamber 3 and above the run (not shown).

According to what shown in FIG. 4, the assembly defined by the generator 5 and by the slide 11 is moved between its lowered resting position and its lifted operating position by an operating device 13 comprising a screw 14, which extends along the slide 11 in the direction 7, is fixed to the slide 11, and is coupled by a screw-nut screw coupling to a hub 15.

The hub 15 extends around the screw 14, is coupled to the well 2 in a rotatable and axially fixed manner, is driven into rotation by an electric motor (not shown) or by a manually operated electric screwdriver (not shown) configured to impress on the screw 14 rectilinear movements through the guide device 8 in the direction 7.

The apparatus 1 further comprises a power supply device (not shown), which is at least partly mounted in the chamber 3 and is connected to the generator 5 to supply it with power, and a hydraulic supply device 16, which is at least partly mounted in the chamber 3 and is connected to the generator 5 to hydraulically supply it.

The variation shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from what illustrated in the previous figures only for the fact that therein:

the wall 4 is eliminated and replaced by a trapdoor 17 which is movable between a closed position and an open position of the chamber 3; and

the assembly defined by the generator 5 and by the slide 11 is entirely arranged inside the chamber 3 when it is moved in its lowered resting position.

In this case, the trapdoor 17 comprises two doors 18, 19, of which the door 18 has a U shape and the door 19 has a rectangular shape complementary to the door 18.

The doors 18, 19 are hinged to the well 2 and configured to rotate between their open and closed positions of the chamber 3.

The shape of the doors 18, 19 enables closing the door 18 and leaving open only the door 19 when the assembly defined by the generator 5 and by the slide 11 is arranged in its lifted operating position (FIG. 6).

According to some variations not shown, the two doors 18, 19 both have a rectangular shape or are eliminated and replaced by a single door.

With regard to what described above, it is suitable to specify that the apparatus 1 comprises a locking device (not shown) provided with a plurality of locking pins to lock the slide 11 in the lifted operating position and in the lowered resting position.

Accordingly, the apparatus 1 has some advantages over certain of the prior art mainly deriving from the fact that, during the summer period, the assembly defined by the generator 5 and by the slide 11 is moved in its lowered resting position, in which it is partly or completely housed inside the well 2 and below the run (not shown), and has a relatively reduced landscape impact. As such in certain embodiments, the present disclosure provides a snow generating apparatus which is exempt from certain of the above-described drawbacks and which is relatively simple and cost-effective to manufacture.

It should be appreciated that variants to the present disclosure can be made without departing from the scope of protection of the appended claims. That is, the present disclosure also covers embodiments that are not described in the detailed description above as well as equivalent embodiments that are part of the scope of protection set forth in the claims. Accordingly, various changes and modifications to the presently disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. A snow generating apparatus comprising: a snow generator configured to cover a run with snow;a housing chamber configured to be laid underground in the run; anda lifting system configured to move the snow generator in a moving direction from a lowered position to a lifted position, the lifting system comprising: a guide device, anda slide slidably coupled to the guide device to move between the lowered position and the lifted position, wherein the slide defines an elongated shape, the slide extends in the moving direction and, when in the lowered position, the slide at least partly extends into the housing chamber.

12. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the guide device has a length measured parallel to the moving direction which is smaller than a length of the slide measured parallel to the moving direction.

13. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, wherein when in the lifted position, the slide extends outside of the housing chamber.

14. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the guide device is fixed to the housing chamber.

15. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the guide device comprises a train of guide rollers slidably engageable by the slide.

16. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a power supply device at least partly mounted in the housing chamber and connected to the snow generator to supply the snow generator with power.

17. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a hydraulic supply device at least partly mounted in the housing chamber connected to the snow generator to hydraulically supply the snow groomer.

18. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an operating device configured to move the slide between the lowered position and the lifted position, the operating device comprising a screw mounted along the slide parallel to the moving direction and a nut screw coupled to the screw and mounted to rotate around a longitudinal axis of the screw to move the screw in the moving direction.

19. The snow generating apparatus of claim 11, wherein an assembly defined by the snow generator and the slide is entirely located inside of the housing chamber when arranged in the lowered position.

20. The snow generating apparatus of claim 19, wherein the housing chamber defines a trapdoor configured to move between a closed position and an open position in association with the assembly being moved between the lowered position and the lifted position.