The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 03, 2006
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2003
John P. Nikkanen, West Hartford, CT (US);
John P. Nikkanen, West Hartford, CT (US);
Other;
Abstract
Snow is made, for use on ski slopes and the like, using compressed air at a pressure substantially less than 95 psig, preferably around 30 psig. The air is provided to a snow making head or snow gun, where it is flowed through an air nozzle having effective diameter D. The air stream intersects a water droplet stream with angle A and at distance L from the air nozzle. Preferred angle A is in the range 70 to 110 degrees. The preferred ratio L/D is in the range 9:1 and 22:1. High pressure air from existing compressor systems is reduced to a desired substantially lower pressure by a central choked flow throttle upstream of an aftercooler, or by multi-stage throttles located near the snow making head. Water is added to the compressed air to substantially improve snow making, particularly when ambient relative humidity is low.