METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING FALLING SNOW
First Claim
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1. A method of using an apparatus for making falling snow, including the steps of:
- viii. lowering a surface temperature of an internal surface of a refrigerated drum of an ice flake generating machine to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−
20 degrees Celsius) or below, the refrigerated drum connected to a water supply and a refrigeration means to produce ice flakes on the internal surface;
ix. separating the ice flakes produced on the internal surface by utilizing at least one rotating scraper blade that scrapes the ice flakes off of the internal surface;
x. controlling the at least one rotating scraper blade by varying its rotation speed in order to create the ice flakes of various thicknesses;
xi. dropping the ice flakes into a fan impeller, the fan impeller comprising at least an impeller housing and at least one impeller outlet, impacting the ice flakes with turning blades of the fan impeller so that the ice flakes are reduced in size to form snow crystals;
xii. utilizing a cold flow of air which has travelled through the refrigerated drum to reduce air temperature in the impeller housing before the fan impeller blows a stream of the snow crystals out through the at least one impeller outlet;
xiii. adjusting a speed of rotation of the fan impeller to size and control the stream of snow crystals produced; and
xiv. reversing the rotation direction of the fan impeller in order to size, shape, and control the stream of snow crystals produced.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus to create falling snow for use at ski resorts, theme parks and test and training facilities for use with drones, motor vehicles, autonomous vehicles and aircraft components.
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20 Claims
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1. A method of using an apparatus for making falling snow, including the steps of:
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viii. lowering a surface temperature of an internal surface of a refrigerated drum of an ice flake generating machine to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−
20 degrees Celsius) or below, the refrigerated drum connected to a water supply and a refrigeration means to produce ice flakes on the internal surface;ix. separating the ice flakes produced on the internal surface by utilizing at least one rotating scraper blade that scrapes the ice flakes off of the internal surface; x. controlling the at least one rotating scraper blade by varying its rotation speed in order to create the ice flakes of various thicknesses; xi. dropping the ice flakes into a fan impeller, the fan impeller comprising at least an impeller housing and at least one impeller outlet, impacting the ice flakes with turning blades of the fan impeller so that the ice flakes are reduced in size to form snow crystals; xii. utilizing a cold flow of air which has travelled through the refrigerated drum to reduce air temperature in the impeller housing before the fan impeller blows a stream of the snow crystals out through the at least one impeller outlet; xiii. adjusting a speed of rotation of the fan impeller to size and control the stream of snow crystals produced; and xiv. reversing the rotation direction of the fan impeller in order to size, shape, and control the stream of snow crystals produced. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 18, 19)
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5. A method for using an apparatus for making falling snow, including the steps of:
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ix. combining a plurality of ice flake generating machines together, each ice flake generating machine comprising at least one refrigerated drum, the at least one refrigerated drum connected to a water supply and a refrigeration means to produce ice flakes on an internal surface; x. lowering a surface temperature of the internal surface of the at least one refrigerated drum to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (−
20 degrees Celsius) or below and producing ice flakes on the internal surface;xi. separating the ice flakes from the internal surface of each drum by utilizing at least one rotating scraper blade that scrapes ice flakes off of the internal surface of the refrigerated drum, xii. controlling the at least one rotating scraper blade, varying its rotation speed in order to create the ice flakes of various thicknesses; xiii. dropping the ice flakes into a screw conveyor to store the ice flakes; xiv. moving the ice flakes by operation of the screw conveyor to a storage point within the screw conveyor; xv. connecting an outlet of the screw conveyor to an inlet of a fan impeller in a straight-line configuration, the fan impeller comprising at least an impeller housing and at least one impeller outlet; xvi. operating the screw conveyor and the fan impeller, making snow crystals of various sizes by forcing the ice flakes from the screw conveyor and/or storage point into the fan impeller and impacting the ice flakes with turning blades of the fan impeller so that the ice flakes are reduced in size to form snow crystals. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20)
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Specification