DE29905577U1 - Snow and / or ice surface - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a snow and/or ice surface for winter sports according to the preamble of the main claim.

Snow and ice slopes for skiing, snowboarding, skating, bobsleighing and tobogganing, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "slopes") are increasingly being used for pleasure and leisure purposes in addition to purely sporting purposes. This is reflected, for example, in the increasing use of artificial snow to extend the winter sports season and quality control measures.

Niemannsweg, ¹ 33 ■ D-24105 Kiel · Telephone+4<M31-840/5 · Fax+49-431-84077

MUNICH - BREMEN - BERLIN - FRANKFURT - DÜSSELDORF - POTSDAM - BRANDENBURG - HÖHENKIRCHEN - KIEL - BIELEFELD - ALICANTE

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flow of the slopes, indoor ski halls, ice skating halls with discotheques, illuminated cross-country ski trails, night events under floodlights, etc.

These are the current manifestations of "winter sports" (even if they can be practiced indoors, for example outside the winter season).

Until now, snow or ice has been left in its natural white color or artificially produced without color treatment. Ice and especially snow can have gray or dark colors when wet, due to use and/or due to light or lighting conditions, which is undesirable, however, because the sight of such a snow or ice surface appears visually "boring." The invention is based on the object of creating snow that does not have these disadvantages.

It is also desirable to make slopes for winter sports more visually attractive and more exciting and/or fun for the observer/athlete through targeted individual measures or by combining several measures.

According to the invention, this is achieved by a snow with the features of the main claim. The subclaims give advantageous embodiments.

When colouring snow or ice, this can be done on natural slopes by adding colour to the colour or running surface and/or to the normally unused (side) edges or before and/or during the production of the snow or ice

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and/or before or during the distribution and application of snow or ice.

Color treatment is particularly suitable before, during and/or after the production of ice crystals in machines that produce an ice crystal slurry from an aqueous mixture or solution, which is then applied to the slopes with the desired proportion of ice. The color of the ice can also be influenced advantageously by suitable lamps and their color or color spectrum. The ice can appear "cool" with blue tones, "warm" with red and yellow tones, "cheerful" with green tones, "mysterious" with black tones, etc. In particular, the interaction of ice or snow coloring and the color or color spectrum of the lamps offers interesting variations. There are no limits to the color interaction here. The color of the ice or snow and the color or color spectrum of a lamp can trigger color effects through addition, subtraction, extinction and/or amplification; they can even be made dynamic by switching individual lamps on, off and/or connecting them together. Movable lamps can also be used.

For this purpose, it is particularly suggested to add fluorescent or luminescent substances (hereinafter referred to as fluorescence). These are particularly interesting for slopes that are illuminated with artificial light, such as in ice rinks or slopes that are used at night. The addition can be made for "natural" snow (or ice) as well as for colored snow (or ice).

The fluorescence is triggered by so-called "black light lamps" or other suitable lamps. If the fluorescent substance is applied to the surface of the ice or

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of snow, for example, the impression of freshly fallen snow or fresh ice is created, in particular, the addition would have been made sporadically and the light reflection is similar to sunny slopes. Likewise, snow or ice with a high proportion of fluorescent substances in the surface and with appropriate lighting can "glow" and trigger a special optical and sensory perception.

It is also proposed to cover a runway or parts of a runway with transparent and/or opaque "fog". This fog can be produced with low-boiling liquids or other substances (e.g. carbon dioxide, nitrogen, etc.) with the finest aerosols (e.g. from oils or water) and/or with water vapor. The color of the fog can be designed or varied using suitable lighting and/or by color reflection of the ice or snow and/or by fluorescence. The fog can cover the entire horizontal area of the runway or just parts of the runway horizontally. The vertical coverage of the runway can also be defined by the density of the fog, the flow conditions through thermal lift or downforce or a combination of these. In this case, appropriate ventilation devices, which are advantageously integrated into lamps already provided, with the lamps illuminating the fog, can be reinforced. It can be exciting to ski down a color-coordinated, possibly illuminated and/or fluorescent piste with ground fog or, for example, to play curling in the fog.

In particular, the optical appearance of a runway can change over time. In particular, variations in lighting together with occasional fluorescence and the sporadic appearance of horizon-

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talent and/or vertical fog surprisingly exciting and therefore entertaining.

In addition to snow and ice surfaces outdoors, indoor surfaces used for winter sports can also be provided with dyes applied to or in the surface while the snow is being brought in, especially those that fluoresce or sparkle attractively under certain lighting (introduced ice crystals).

Low-boiling additives can create fog on these cold surfaces whenever warmer air (possibly specially produced for this purpose) is used at the same time.

Slopes that are prepared in this way, e.g. by lamps arranged at the edge of the area used for winter sports, which shine mainly on the snow and/or ice surface, can make the short winter days outdoors usable for winter sports for longer, especially in the evenings and at night. If the lamps are also equipped with air buoyancy devices and direct at least part of their light into the area of air buoyancy, optical "boundaries" of slopes can be created, similar to walls.

Claims (5)

BOEHMERT H 5162 PROTECTION CLAIMS 1. Snow and/or ice surface for winter sports, characterised by colouring agents introduced into at least the surface during transport to a piste or after this transport. 2. Snow according to claim 1, characterized in that the dyes are fluorescent in response to certain lighting. 3. Snow according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by low-boiling additives. 4. Slope with snow according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by lamps arranged at the edge of the area used for winter sports, which shine essentially on the snow and/or the ice surface. 5. Runway according to claim 3, characterized in that the lamps are provided with air buoyancy devices and they direct at least part of their light into the area of air buoyancy.