JP2757326B2 - Snowmaking equipment for indoor ski resorts - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided with a cooler for cooling the inside of a closed space constituting an indoor skiing area, and the cooler draws air from a return chamber below the closed space and closes it through a ventilation duct. The present invention relates to a snow making device for an indoor ski resort that blows cool air from a blowing nozzle above a space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to make snow fall in a closed space such as an indoor ski resort, the inside of the closed space is cooled down to a temperature of 0 ° C. or less by a fan type snow machine or a gun type snow machine. Has released water in the form of a mist, producing snow and falling indoors.

[0005] FIG. 5 shows an example of such a case, in which a closed space C such as an indoor ski resort is cooled. In the illustrated example, two coolers 1 are provided, and cool air A is blown from a blow nozzle 3 provided at the tip of the air duct 2, and a return chamber 4 is provided.
To cool indoor C to −2 to −10 ° C. The indoor C is provided with a fan-type snowmaker or a gun-type snowmaker 12 that discharges water in a mist state to
Snow S.

[0004] Both fan-type snowmakers and gun-type snowmakers are known, examples of which are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
Shown in

FIG. 6 shows a fan type snow making machine, in which a fan 14 driven by a motor 15 is disposed inside a nozzle 13, and a water nozzle 16 is provided at the tip of the nozzle 13. Water alone or water and air are sprayed from the water nozzle 16 in the form of mist, and the water is blown forward by the cool air A by the rear fan 14 to produce snow S.

FIG. 7 shows a gun-type snowmaker, and a nozzle 1
7, water w and compressed air a are introduced and mixed to form a mist, which is blown into cold air by the force of air to produce snow S.

The snowmaking system shown in FIG. 5 has the following problems whether a fan-type snowmaker or a gun-type snowmaker is used.

[0008] 1. When a fan-type snow machine is used. A. Since the snow machine is equipped with a fan of 11 to 15 KW, when it is operated in a closed space, electricity is converted to heat and the room is heated. Therefore, the load of air conditioning is increased by the amount of the motor of the fan. B. Since the outer diameter is as large as about φ1000 × L1200, there are problems such as installation space, design, and intimidation to skiers.

[0009] 2. When using a gun-type snow machine. A. The flight distance of snow is as small as 10 to 20 m (15 to 30 m for a fan type snow machine). Therefore, if the space is somewhat large like a ski resort, increase the number of installations,
There are problems such as installation on an indoor ceiling.

Various apparatuses for producing artificial snow are known, and are described in, for example, JP-A-1-179880. However, in such prior art, the artificial snow is created in the growth chamber and emits the snow so produced, which requires a large growth chamber, and therefore also has a low fall height, which considerably reduces the growth chamber. Without moving it, snow could not fall over a wide area, and the snowmaking efficiency was not always good.

[0011] Further, in the snow-conditioning air conditioner for an indoor ski resort disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-144270, the dehumidified air for cooling and air conditioning is simply blown out.
The flight distance and snow quality are not necessarily enough.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-284316 discloses a technique for preventing the snow flowing together with the taken-in air from lowering the air processing capacity when the air in the artificial ski resort is taken in, cooled and supplied. Have been. Therefore, snow quality cannot be improved.

Furthermore, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 3-73781 discloses a technique in which the blowing direction of a snowmaker is made variable, but it does not improve the snow quality or increase the flight distance in an indoor ski resort.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a snow making apparatus for an indoor ski resort which is small and efficient, and which can obtain high quality snowfall over a relatively wide range from a nozzle. The purpose is.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cooler (1) for cooling a closed space (C) constituting an indoor ski resort, and the cooler (1) is provided in the closed space (C). In a snowmaking apparatus for an indoor ski resort, air is sucked in from a return chamber (4) below the air outlet, and cool air (A) is blown out from a blowing nozzle (3) above a closed space (C) through a blowing duct (2). A cool air nozzle (8) is attached to the outlet nozzle (3) via a flexible hose (5), and water (W) is provided at a center of the cool air nozzle (8) by a support (10).
Is water (W) and air (a) mixed with water droplets (W
') Is supported, and a water jet nozzle (9) for jetting
The cool air nozzle (8) is supported by a support arm (11) so as to be able to swivel and descend, and the cool air (A) from the cooler (1) is at -10 ° C to -15 ° C.

[0016]

Therefore, in a closed space constituting an indoor skiing area, indoor air is sucked in from the lower return chamber, cooled by the cooler and blown out from the upper cold air nozzle as in the conventional example. At that time, -1 from the cold air nozzle
Since cold air of 0 ° C. to −15 ° C. is injected into the mixture with water or air from the water injection nozzle, water droplets from the water injection nozzle come into contact with the cool air to become snow and form a closed ski area. Splashes in space. Therefore, air conditioning in the closed space is suitably performed.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the snow-making action is performed in the closed space after the water is injected from the water injection nozzle, efficient design can be performed without wasting energy. In particular, the temperature is low in the vicinity of the blowing nozzle provided above, and high in the vicinity of the lower slope in the closed space, for example (-30 ° C). Therefore, the cooling effect of water droplets is good, and it is a favorable cold for skiers. . According to the present invention, since water droplets are sprayed relatively high from the water injection nozzle so that the water droplets turn into ice before falling from above, it is possible to snowfall on a wide area of the slope with one snowmaker. Can be. Therefore, the number of slopes per area can be reduced. And because the snow has long flight time,
A condition similar to actual snowfall can be created.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS.
A flexible hose 5 is connected to an outlet nozzle 3 provided in an air duct 2 of a cooler 1 for cooling the closed space C, and a snowmaker indicated generally by 6 is attached to the tip of the flexible hose 5. The snowmaker 6 is attached to a movable device 7 and is capable of turning and raising.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show details of the snow making machine, and show a flexible hose 5 attached to the tip of a blower nozzle of a cooling machine.
The cold air nozzle 8 is attached to the
The water jet nozzle 9 is supported by a support plate 10 at the center of the nozzle. The snowmaker 6 is supported by a support arm 11 of a movable device, and turns and descends.

A water droplet W is jetted from the center nozzle 9 of the snowmaking machine while only the water w or the water w and the air a are mixed. Cool air A (−10 ° C. to −15 ° C.) supplied from the blower duct 2 of the cooler around the water injection nozzle 9 is about 10 m /
Released at speed s. Immediately after the injection, the water droplet W injected from the water injection nozzle 9 comes into contact with the cool air A, scatters in the air on the air current of the cool air A, becomes snow, and falls on the floor as snow. Therefore, the snow quality is improved and the flight distance of the snow is improved.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained. (A) Since a relatively high water drop is sprayed into the indoor ski area by the water spray nozzle, the water drop is scattered in the airflow of cold air, and snow is formed during that time, it is possible to make snow fall over a relatively large area. Also, since the snowmaker can be turned and raised, the snowfall area per vehicle is large. Therefore, the entire slope can be used as a freezing zone. (B) Since snow is formed using cold air for cooling an indoor ski resort, cooling efficiency is high. (C) Since the adiabatic expansion when the cool air is injected from the cool air nozzle is used, it is easy to create snow. (D) High quality snow like actual snowfall can be caused to fall on the entire slope. (E) Since air is sucked from below in the closed space and cold air is injected from above with water or air, the snow stays for a long time and air conditioning in the closed space is suitably performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a snowmaking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a nozzle portion.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing details of the snowmaker.

FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional snowmaking system.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a conventional fan-type snowmaker.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a conventional gun-type snowmaker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cooler 2 ... Blow duct 3 ... Blow-off nozzle 4 ... Return chamber 5 ... Flexible hose 6 ... Snowmaker 7 ... Movable device 8 ... Cold air nozzle 9 ... Water injection nozzle 10 ... Support plate 11 ... Support arm

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-144270 (JP, A) JP-A-1-179880 (JP, A) JP-A-3-284316 (JP, A) JP-A-3-284 45875 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model 3-73881 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 2-128072 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F25C 3/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cooling device (1) for cooling the inside of a closed space (C) constituting an indoor skiing area, the cooler (1) being supplied with air from a return chamber (4) below the closed space (C). In a snowmaking apparatus for an indoor ski resort, which sucks air and blows cool air (A) from a blowing nozzle (3) above a closed space (C) through a blowing duct (2), a flexible hose is connected to the blowing nozzle (3). A cool air nozzle (8) is attached via (5), and water (W) is mixed with water (W) and air (a) at the center of the cool air nozzle (8) by the support (10). A water jet nozzle (9) for jetting a water droplet (W ′) is supported, and the cold air nozzle (8) is supported by a support arm (11) so as to be able to pivot and descend,
The cool air (A) from the cooler (1) is from -10 ° C to-
A snowmaking apparatus for an indoor ski resort, wherein the temperature is 15 ° C.