US3496843A - Preparing snow surface for skiing and other snow sports - Google Patents

Preparing snow surface for skiing and other snow sports Download PDF

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Publication number
US3496843A
US3496843A US725060A US3496843DA US3496843A US 3496843 A US3496843 A US 3496843A US 725060 A US725060 A US 725060A US 3496843D A US3496843D A US 3496843DA US 3496843 A US3496843 A US 3496843A
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United States
Prior art keywords
snow
roll
draw
skiing
axis
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Expired - Lifetime
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US725060A
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English (en)
Inventor
Otto H Wallingford
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VALLEY ENGR Inc
VALLEY ENG Inc
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VALLEY ENGR Inc
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    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
    • E01H—STREET CLEANING; CLEANING OF PERMANENT WAYS; CLEANING BEACHES; DISPERSING OR PREVENTING FOG IN GENERAL CLEANING STREET OR RAILWAY FURNITURE OR TUNNEL WALLS
    • E01H4/00—Working on surfaces of snow or ice in order to make them suitable for traffic or sporting purposes, e.g. by compacting snow
    • E01H4/02—Working on surfaces of snow or ice in order to make them suitable for traffic or sporting purposes, e.g. by compacting snow for sporting purposes, e.g. preparation of ski trails; Construction of artificial surfacings for snow or ice sports ; Trails specially adapted for on-the-snow vehicles, e.g. devices adapted for ski-trails
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
    • E01H—STREET CLEANING; CLEANING OF PERMANENT WAYS; CLEANING BEACHES; DISPERSING OR PREVENTING FOG IN GENERAL CLEANING STREET OR RAILWAY FURNITURE OR TUNNEL WALLS
    • E01H5/00—Removing snow or ice from roads or like surfaces; Grading or roughening snow or ice
    • E01H5/12—Apparatus or implements specially adapted for breaking, disintegrating, or loosening layers of ice or hard snow with or without clearing or removing ; Roughening ice or hard snow by means of tools

Definitions

  • two foraminous drums are hinged together and disposed with equal leading and trailing angles relative to the axis of draw.
  • Each drum i of expanded metal, forming strips which provide a multiplicity of scraping edges over the associated envelope.
  • the drums By being drawn at an angle, the drums tend to shear and scrape the snow-covered surface. Since the drums rotate and are apertured, they sift the scraped particles of snow and deposit a powdery layer that is suitable for skiing.
  • This invention relates to the conditioning of snowcovered surfaces, and, more particularly, to the rendering of such surfaces more suitable for skiing and winter sports.
  • the surface cover In the case of many winter sports, such as skiing, it is desirable for the surface cover to be in a form known as powder. This is the condition that commonly prevails after an ordinary snow fall.
  • Snowmaking machinery In an attempt to maintain a snow-covered sporting surface in suitable condition, in the absence of the assistance from Mother Nature, it is common practice to use Snowmaking machinery. In addition, other machinery is used to smooth the snow in order to eliminate ruts and cover barespots. Snowmaking machinery is not only costly to acquire and often difficult to use, it operates over a restricted temperature range. The machinery used to smooth the snow does not provide the desired powder cover and is unsatisfactory where glazing has occurred.
  • a related object is to render snow-covered surfaces more suitable for skiing.
  • a further object of the invention is to compensate for the compacting of a snow-covered surface as a result of extensive use.
  • a related object is to compensate for compacting as a result of extensive skiing.
  • Still another object of the invention is to treat a snowcovered surface which has become glazed.
  • An associated object is to render a glazed surface more suitable for skiing.
  • Another object of the invention is to achieve the suitable conditioning of snow-covered surfaces without the need for equipment that is of limited effectiveness, limited operating range and often requires special training for use.
  • the invention provides for scraping a snow-covered surface to produce particles which are sifted and deposited to form a powdery layer that is suitable for winter sports such as skiing.
  • an apertured roll is employed that is drawn over the surface in a direction which forms an oblique angle relative to the rotational axis of the roll. Consequently, the thrust which draws the roll resolves itself into two components, one component along the axis of rotation to drag the roll and the other component tangential to the axis of rotation to bring about rotation.
  • the axial component of thrust roduces a scraping effect, while the rotation draws the scraped particles up into the roll where they are sifted and deposited as the desired powder cover.
  • the mechanism used to provide the proper orientation of the apertured roll with respect to the axis of draw is in the form of an adjustable connector which extends to a hitch for a prime mover.
  • the roll is accompanied by a second roll of similar construction and disposed to have a trailing oblique angle of the same magnitude as the leading oblique angle of the first roll.
  • This is illustratively achieved by hinging one end of a roll support mechanism for the first roll to a corresponding mechanism for the second roll and interconnecting the opposite ends of the support mechanisms by an adjustable link.
  • each apertured roll is formed by an expanded metal drum with a plurality of scraping edges.
  • FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a surface conditioning machine in accordance with the invention.
  • FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1;
  • FIGURES 3A thru 3B are views illustrating details of adjustable connectors for the machine of FIGURES 1 and 2;
  • FIGURE 4 is a partial perspective view of an expanded metal drum for the machine of FIGURES 1 and 2.
  • FIGURE 1 shows a machine 10 for conditioning a snow-covered surface in accordance with the invention.
  • the machine 10 is illustratively eonstituted of two foraminous rolls or drums and 30' which are apertured and desirably have a multiplicity of scrapping edges as discussed in detail below.
  • the rolls 30 and 30 are rotatably mounted in standard fashion in respective frames and 40'.
  • the frames, and hence the rolls, are disposed at pre-assigned angles with respect to an axis of draw D for the machine 10.
  • the frame 40 is pivotally attached to two draw bars 42 and 44 of unequal length.
  • One of the bars for example the bar 42, is adjustable to permit variations in the angle of draw.
  • the forward ends of the draw bars 42 and 44 meet at a loop 45. The latter permits connection of the machine 10 to a prime mover, such as a selfpropelled vehicle 47, using a hitch of conventional design.
  • the desired angular orientation is illustratively obtained by hinging its frame 40' to the forward frame 40 and by having the opposite ends of the frames interconnected by an adjustable link 46.
  • the adjustable draw bar 42 is set so that the axis of rotation R of the forward roll 30 forms an acute leading angle 4: relative to the axis of draw D.
  • the adjustable frame link 46 is set so that the axis of rotation R of the rearward roll 30' forms an acute trailing angle relative to the axis of draw D.
  • the leading and trailing angles 11 and are of equal magnitude, and the leading angle of the rearward roll is the supplement of its trailing angle i.e., the magnitude in degrees of the leading angle 0' is ISO- t.
  • the rolls 30 and 30' may be disposed angularly in a variety of ways, the symmetric configuration of FIG. 2 achieves balanced operation. As the conditioning machine is moved forwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow, thrusts are applied to the rolls 30 and 30', as represented by the vectors a and a in the vector diagrams associated with FIG. 2.
  • the thrust vector a for the forward roll 30 resolves itself into two component vectors b and c, which are respectively axial and tangential for the roll 30.
  • the tangential vector c tends to produce rotation and move the roll 30 away from the axis of draw D. This effect is counterbalanced by the axial drag of the axial vector b.
  • angles 1: and 5' are desirably less than 45 in order to produce appreciable axial thrusts b and b.
  • angles 5 and 5 are greater than 45 and less than 90.
  • FIGS. 3A and 3B Details of a suitable link 46 for adjusting the leading and trailing angles and 5 relative to each other are shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
  • the link 46 is pivotally held by pins 41 and 41 in connectors 42 and 42' that are welded to the respective frames 40 and 40'.
  • Forming the link 46 is a box member 46-1 which telescopically receives a channel member 46-2.
  • the box member 46-1 is provided with a series of holes 46-a and the channel has corresponding registration holes 46-b.
  • a removable pin 46c holds the box and channel members together at the desired distance of separation of the frames 40 and 40',
  • the removable pin 46c is held in place by a cotter pin 46-d.
  • the adjustable draw bar 42 may be patterned after the adjustable link 46 of FIGS. 3A and 3B.
  • the bar 42 can be formed by a rod which is telescopically received by a pipe and held in position by a pin passing through holes of the pipe and the rod.
  • each is advantageously formed by a drum of expanded metal, as shown by the partial perspective view of FIG. 4 for the forward roll 30*.
  • Such a drum is fabricated by slitting a piece of sheet steel and drawing the ends apart so as to form metallic strips in an elongated hexagonal pattern with outer edges 31 that are capable of scraping the surface to be conditioned.
  • the apertures that are incident to the hexagonal strip pattern are appropriate for sifting the particles of snow that are scraped by the edges.
  • the roll 30 is supported internally by spoked rims, e.g., the rim 32 of FIG. 4, whose hubs are attached to the shaft 33 on the axis of roll rotation.
  • the method of preparing a snow surface for skiing and other snow sports which comprises the step of drawing a rotatable roll having a surface formed by an open network of strips of rigid material over a snow surface in a direction forming an oblique angle relative to the axis of rotation of said roll, whereby the edges around the openings of the network scrape the snow surface to produce particles of snow, scraped particles of snow are passed into the roll through openings of said network, and said particles of snow are then passed outwardly through openings of said network and deposited from the roll upon the scraped snow surface.
  • the method of preparing a snow surface for skiing and other snow sports which comprises the step of simultaneously drawing at least two rotatable rolls each having surfaces formed by an open network of strips of rigid material over a snow surface in a direction forming oblique angles relative to the axes of rotation of said rolls, the second roll being located behind the first roll in the direction of draw with its axis of rotation diverging from the axis of rotation of the first roll when viewed from the top, whereby the edges around the openings of said network successively scrape the snow surface to produce particles of snow, scraped particles of snow are passed into the rolls through openings of said network, and said particles of snow are then passed outwardly through openings of said network and deposited from the first and second rolls upon the scraped snow surface.
  • An apparatus for preparing a snow surface for skiing and other snow sports which comprises a roll which comprises a surface formed by an open network of strips of rigid material, and
  • said mounting means comprises means for adjusting the magnitude of the oblique angle between the axis of the roll and the direction of draw.
  • said mounting means comprises a frame, a first draw bar connected to one end of said frame and a second, adjustable draw bar connecting the other end of said frame with said first draw bar at a tow point.
  • An apparatus for preparing a snow surface for skiing and other snow sports which comprises a first roll which comprises a surface formed by an open network of strips of rigid material,
  • a second roll which comprises a surface formed by an open network of strands of rigid material
  • said mounting means comprises means for adjusting the magnitude of the oblique angle between the axis of the first roll and the direction of draw and means for adjusting the magnitude of the oblique angle between the axis of the second roll and the direction of draw.
  • said mounting means for the first roll comprises a frame, a first draw bar connected to one end of said frame and a second, adjustable draw bar connecting the other end of said frame with said first draw bar at a tow point.
  • each roll is formed of expanded metal having metallic strips arranged in an elongated hexagonal pattern.
  • said means for rotatably mounting said first roll comprises a first frame and said means for rotatably mounting said second roll comprises a second frame having one end hinged to one end of said first frame and its other end connected to the other end of said first frame by an adjustable link.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Architecture (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Road Paving Structures (AREA)
  • Soil Working Implements (AREA)
US725060A 1968-04-29 1968-04-29 Preparing snow surface for skiing and other snow sports Expired - Lifetime US3496843A (en)

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US72506068A 1968-04-29 1968-04-29

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US (1) US3496843A (de)
AT (1) AT300008B (de)
CH (1) CH490099A (de)
DE (1) DE1909464A1 (de)
FR (1) FR2007153A1 (de)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3768583A (en) * 1969-09-22 1973-10-30 Valley Engineering Load transferring hitch for steering a vehicle
US4145823A (en) * 1978-03-15 1979-03-27 Lucas Paul A Snow removing device
US4244662A (en) * 1979-06-07 1981-01-13 Olson James L Snow groomer
US20030056402A1 (en) * 2001-09-25 2003-03-27 Lela Gary J. Snow trail grooming accessory and method
US20030155739A1 (en) * 2002-02-21 2003-08-21 Regis Morin Small cross-country ski path tracer attachment for ATV

Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US639829A (en) * 1898-09-03 1899-12-26 John Carl Schaffer Combined land-roller and harrow.
US1211811A (en) * 1914-04-11 1917-01-09 James G Bailey Roller.
US1724363A (en) * 1926-07-19 1929-08-13 Vett S Reed Road scarifier
US1830218A (en) * 1929-03-02 1931-11-03 Curry B V Single tandem disk harrow
US1839000A (en) * 1930-03-28 1931-12-29 Phan-Quang Phuong Agricultural machine
US1895831A (en) * 1930-03-19 1933-01-31 Raymond L West Hitch for offset tandem disk harrows and the like
US2151918A (en) * 1936-12-14 1939-03-28 Arthur B Ingram Agricultural implement
US3033295A (en) * 1960-06-01 1962-05-08 Allis Chalmers Mfg Co Disk harrow
US3119314A (en) * 1960-05-31 1964-01-28 Jr Gottlieb Schiel Concrete roller-tamper
US3220369A (en) * 1964-10-27 1965-11-30 Gandy Co Row wheel for agricultural implements

Patent Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US639829A (en) * 1898-09-03 1899-12-26 John Carl Schaffer Combined land-roller and harrow.
US1211811A (en) * 1914-04-11 1917-01-09 James G Bailey Roller.
US1724363A (en) * 1926-07-19 1929-08-13 Vett S Reed Road scarifier
US1830218A (en) * 1929-03-02 1931-11-03 Curry B V Single tandem disk harrow
US1895831A (en) * 1930-03-19 1933-01-31 Raymond L West Hitch for offset tandem disk harrows and the like
US1839000A (en) * 1930-03-28 1931-12-29 Phan-Quang Phuong Agricultural machine
US2151918A (en) * 1936-12-14 1939-03-28 Arthur B Ingram Agricultural implement
US3119314A (en) * 1960-05-31 1964-01-28 Jr Gottlieb Schiel Concrete roller-tamper
US3033295A (en) * 1960-06-01 1962-05-08 Allis Chalmers Mfg Co Disk harrow
US3220369A (en) * 1964-10-27 1965-11-30 Gandy Co Row wheel for agricultural implements

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3768583A (en) * 1969-09-22 1973-10-30 Valley Engineering Load transferring hitch for steering a vehicle
US4145823A (en) * 1978-03-15 1979-03-27 Lucas Paul A Snow removing device
US4244662A (en) * 1979-06-07 1981-01-13 Olson James L Snow groomer
US20030056402A1 (en) * 2001-09-25 2003-03-27 Lela Gary J. Snow trail grooming accessory and method
US6698111B2 (en) * 2001-09-25 2004-03-02 Gary J. Lela Snow trail grooming accessory and method
US20030155739A1 (en) * 2002-02-21 2003-08-21 Regis Morin Small cross-country ski path tracer attachment for ATV

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AT300008B (de) 1972-07-10
FR2007153A1 (de) 1970-01-02
CH490099A (fr) 1970-05-15
DE1909464A1 (de) 1969-11-13

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