Snow blower tire chains

A tire-pressure gauge is a pressure gauge used to measure the pressure of tires on a vehicle.

Most owner’s manuals recommend checking tire “gauge” pressure (cold inflation pressure) at least once a week at vehicle start but most owners only check their tire pressure when they realize that their tire is nearly flat, which can negatively affect ride quality, fuel consumption and car safety.

Environmental conditions can introduce a 13% to 15% variability in pressure due to temperature (0 °C to 40 °C), and additional changes can result due to altitude. Most car owner manuals do not state rated pressure as a function of temperature or altitude and leave it to the user to make appropriate measurements.

Since tires are rated for specific loads at certain pressure, it is important to keep the pressure of the tire at the optimal amount. Tires are rated for their optimal pressure when cold, meaning before the tire has been driven on for the day and allowed to heat up, which ultimately changes the internal pressure of the tire due to the expansion of gasses. The accuracy of a typical mechanical gauge as shown is +/- 3 PSI. Higher accuracy gauges with +/- 1 PSI accuracy can also be obtained.

Built in tire pressure sensors

Many modern cars such as the Cadillac SRX and Jeep Liberty now come with built in tire pressure sensors that allow all four tire pressures to be read simultaneously from inside the car.

As of 2005, most on-board TPMS utilized indirect pressure monitoring. The anti-lock brake sensors detect one tire pulling more than the rest and indicate a low tire pressure to the driver.

Regulations on tire pressure

By September 2007 all new automobiles below 10,000 pounds sold in the United States will be required to incorporate a direct pressure measurement for each tire. The driver must be notified if any tire is underflated by 25% or more than the rated placard[1] tire pressure.

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Mark Snow (born Martin Fulterman on 26 August 1946 in New York City) is a prolific composer for film and television.

He is brother-in-law of actress Tyne Daly and actor Tim Daly.

Snow graduated from the Juilliard School in New York City. He was a co-founder of the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble.

One of his most famous compositions is the theme music for sci-fi show The X-Files, which reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, but Snow also wrote the music for Chris Carter’s Millennium, and the background music scores for both shows, a total of 12 seasons’ worth. The X-Files typically used more instrumental music score than most hour-long dramas.

He also composes the scoring for Smallville. He has even composed music for video games, such as Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Giants: Citizen Kabuto.

He has been nominated for 12 Emmy Awards and won 18 ASCAP awards.

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Tire load sensitivity describes the behaviour of tires under load. Conventional pneumatic tires do not behave as classical friction theory would suggest. Friction theory says that the maximum horizontal force developed should be proportional to the vertical load on the tire. In practice, the maximum horizontal force Fy that can be generated is proportional, roughly, to the vertical load Fz raised to the power of somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9, typically.

Production car tires typically develop this maximum lateral force at a slip angle of 6-10 degrees, although this angle increases as the vertical load on the tire increases. Milliken, W.F., Milliken, D.L., 1995, “Race Car Vehicle Dynamics”, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Warrendale, PA. page 27. Formula 1 car tires may reach a peak sideforce at 3 degrees Wright P., 2001, “Formula 1 Technology”, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Warrendale, PA.

Example

As an example, here is data extracted from Milliken and Milliken’s “Race Car Vehicle Dynamics”, figure 2.9:

The same sensitivity is typically seen in the longitudinal forces, and combined lateral and longitudinal slip.

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The snow line is the point above which, or poleward of which, snow and ice cover the ground throughout the year.

The interplay of altitude and latitude affect the precise placement of the snow line at a particular location. At or near the equator, it is typically situated at approximately 4,500 meters (or about 15,000 feet) above sea level. As one moves towards the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, the parameter at first increases: in the Himalayas the permanent snow line can be as high as 5,700 metres (18,700 feet). Beyond the Tropics the snow line becomes progressively lower as the latitude increases, falling all the way to sea level itself near the poles.

In addition, the relative location of a mountain to the nearest coastline can be a factor in how high the snow line would be; a peak near a coast — especially the west coast — of a continent might have a lower snow line than one of the same height and at the same latitude situated in a landmass interior, because the average summer temperature of the surrounding lowlands would be warmer in the latter spot than in the former, thus making a higher altitude necessary to keep the snow from melting in the summer.

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Subnivean (or subniveal) refers to a zone that is in or under the snow layer.

Subnivean animals include small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, and lemmings that must rely on winter snow cover for survival. These mammals move under the snow for protection from heat loss and predators. In winter regions that do not have permafrost, the subnivean zone maintains a temperature of close to 32F (0C) regardless of the temperature above the snow cover, once the snow cover has reached a depth of six inches. The sinuous tunnels left by these small mammals can be seen when the snow melts to the final inch or so.

Winter predators such as foxes and large owls can hear their prey through the snow and pounce from above. Snowmobiles and ATVs can collapse the subnivean space, as can skis, snow shoes and bicycles.

Larger animals also utilize subnivean space. In the Arctic, ringed seals have closed spaces under the snow and above openings in the ice. In addition to resting and sleeping there, the female seals give birth to their pups on the ice. Female polar bears also den in snow caves to give birth to their young. Both types of dens are protected from exterior temperatures.

Winter World by Bernd Heinrich (2003) is an excellent resource on the ingenuity of animal survival in the seasonal cold weather of a Maine winter.

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A snow gauge is a type of instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of solid precipitation (as opposed to liquid precipitation that is measured by a rain gauge) over a set period of time.

The snow gauge consists of two parts, a copper catchment container and the funnel shaped gauge itself. The actual gauge is mounted on a pipe outdoors and is approximately 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) high, while the container is 51.5 cm (201/4 in) long.

When snow has fallen the container is removed and replaced with a spare. The snow is then melted, while still in the container, and poured into a glass measuring graduate. While the depth of snow is normally measured in centimetres, the measurement of melted snow (water equivalent) is in millimetres. An estimate of the snow depth can be obtained by multiplying the water equivalent by ten.

The snow gauge suffers from the same problem as that of the rain gauge when conditions are windy. If the wind is strong enough, then the snow may be blown across the wind gauge and the amount of snow fallen will be under-reported. However, due to the shape and size of the funnel this is a minor problem.

If the wind is very strong and a blizzard occurs then extra snow may be blown into the gauge and the amount of snow fallen will be over-reported. In this case the observer must judge how much of the water is from snow blown into the container and how much is fallen snow.

Another problem that occurs, is when both snow and rain fall before the observer has time to change the gauge. In all of these cases the observer must judge how much of the water is snow and how much is rain.

Remote reading gauges, such as used by weather stations, work similarly to rain gauges. They have a large catch area (such as a drum sawn in half, top to bottom) which collects snow until a given weight is collected. When this critical weight is reached, it tips and empties the snow catch. This dumping trips a switch, sending a signal. The collection then repeats. If the catch container has a heater in it, it measures the snow weight accurately. It is also possible to tip based on volume instead of weight, with appropriate fill sensing.

Another snow sensor called a snow pillow looks like a round bag laying on the ground. Inside the pillow is a liquid such as an environmentally safe antifreeze. Usually the snow pillow will be connected to a manometer. The manometer reading will vary based on how much snow is sitting on the pillow. This type of sensor works well for many locations but is more difficult to use in areas of hard blowing snow.

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The wrong kind of snow is a phrase coined by the British media in 1991 after severe weather caused disruption to many of British Rail’s services. People who did not realise that there are different kinds of snow saw the reference as nonsensical and the phrase became a byword for euphemistic excuses.

Background

The phrase originated in a comment by British Rail’s Director of Operations Terry Worrall on 11 February 1991 that “we are having particular problems with the type of snow”. The cold snap had been forecast and British Rail had claimed to be ready for the coming snow. However, the snow was unusually soft and powdery, finding its way into electrical systems and causing short circuits and traction motor damage. For traction motors with integral cooling fans and air intakes pointing downwards—the type that is still common on British electric multiple units—the problem was made worse as the air intakes sucked up the loose snow. In addition, low temperatures resulted in problems with pick-up from the third rail and caused sliding doors and couplings to freeze.

Many electric services had to be substituted with diesel haulage and emergency timetables were introduced. Long delays were commonplace—up to eight hours in some cases.

Ironically, the snow was not deep enough for snowploughs or snow blowers to be effective.

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The Light and the Dark is the fourth novel in C.P. Snow’s Strangers and Brothers series. Set in England in the lead-up to and during World War II, it portrays Lewis Eliot’s friendship with the gifted scholar and remarkable individual Roy Calvert, and Calvert’s inner turmoil and quest for meaning in life. Calvert was based on Snow’s friend, Coptic scholar, Charles Allberry. Their relationship is developed further in The Masters.

The novel portrays the tensions surrounding the build up to war and the sense of catastrophe so widespread in the 1930s.

Footnotes

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Big O Tires, Inc. is North America’s largest franchiser of tire retailers. It is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, and has more than 540 franchises in 21 U.S. states and Canada. It sells its own Big O private brand tires and other brands. In addition to selling and servicing tires, wheels, and alignments, Big O Tires provides basic maintenance and replacement services such as oil changes, battery replacement, struts installation, and brake service. Because Big O Tires is a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation, its franchisees are located in markets that not served by the corporately-owned Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire chains.

History

The company was founded in 1962, when it split from OK Tires. In 1996, it was acquired by TBC Corporation, which also owns Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire.”TBC to Buy Outstanding Shares of Big O Tires” The New York Times. 1996-05-03. URL retrieved 2006-12-02 In 2006, TBC was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation of America”Sumitomo Corporation of America Completes Acquisition of TBC Corporation”. Business Wire. 2005-11-17. URL retrieved 2006-12-02.. Big O Tires remains a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation.

In a landmark case in 1977, Big O Tires was awarded $19.6 million from Goodyear over Goodyear’s use of the name “bigfoot” tires. The amount equaled 25% of Goodyear’s advertising budget in the states where Big O operated. The amount was cut on appeal and later settled.Doan, Amy. “Xbox Name May Cost Microsoft”. Forbes. 2001-02-05. URL last retrieved 2006-12-02.

References

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The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり Sapporo Yuki-matsuri ) is a famous yearly festival held in Sapporo, Japan over seven days in February. In 2007 it was held from February 6 to February 12.

It is one of the largest winter events in Japan. Teams from outside Japan come to participate, and the festival is thought to be an opportunity for promoting international relations. About two million people come to see the enormous beautiful snow statues on display in Odori Park in central Sapporo, which is the main site of the festival.

The subject of the statues vary and often feature an event or famous person from the past year. For example, in 2004 there were statues of Hideki Matsui, the famous baseball player who plays for the New York Yankees. There are also long ice chutes on which people are encouraged to slide.

The Snow Festival began in 1950 when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955, the Japan Self-Defense Forces from the nearby Makomanai base joined in and built the first massive snow sculpture, for which the Snow Festival has now become famous. In years when the accumulated snowfall is low, the Self-Defense Force, for whom participation is considered a training exercise, brings in snow from outside Sapporo. The Makomanai base, one of three main sites, hosts the largest sculptures, with an emphasis on providing play space for children. The third site is the night life district of Susukino, which hosts the ice carvings.

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