Railways – Car stops – Special track
Patent
1998-07-16
1999-09-07
Le, Mark T.
Railways
Car stops
Special track
104249, 104252, 188 821, B61K 700
Patent
active
059470305
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to an amusement facility in the form of a roller-coaster, monorail or the like, in which at least one vehicle guided on rails is preferably movable by its own momentum over uphill and downhill sections, wherein a recoil blocking device, which usually comprises at least one catch mounted rotatably at the vehicle and a countercatch designed as a toothed rack and extends stationarily along the rail in the plane of movement of the catch, is provided at least in the area of uphill sections. The teeth are designed such that the catch slides dragging over the toothed rack during forward travel and it lockingly engages the toothed rack during stopping or reverse movement of the vehicle, thus blocking the movement of the vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Such arrangements, quite generally called recoil blocking devices, are specified as obligatory devices for roller-coasters, monorails or the like. They are to come into action when a vehicle moving upward is unable to clear the uphill section for whatever reason and seeks to stop travel backward after stopping. The same device is advantageously used when a vehicle that has come to a standstill must be prevented from moving accidentally backward in the area of a railroad station.
In prior-art recoil blocking devices, the catches are pressed by means of a spring against the toothed rack in a rotationally engaged manner. It shall thus be achieved that the catch will automatically engage the teeth as a consequence of the spring torque if the vehicle should move backward. The drawback of such arrangements is that when an uphill section has been cleared, unpleasant ratchet noises are generated by the fact that the nose of the catch continually comes into contact with the teeth of the toothed rack and is temporarily deflected by same against the spring action.
This drawback is eliminated by the teaching of DE-OS 25 40 547, in which electromagnetic means keep the catch disengaged from the toothed rack depending on a speedometer. However, this suggestion presupposes stationary guides, which bring the catches into contact with the electromagnetic means during the travel of the vehicle past them.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of the present invention is to show a better recoil blocking device, which requires no guides and does not generate ratchet noise.
According to the invention, an amusement facility in the form of a roller-coaster, monorail or the like is provided in which at least one vehicle is guided on a said rail or the like and can be moved over uphill and downhill sections. A recoil blocking device with at least one rotatably mounted catch and a countercatch designed as a toothed rack are provided at least in the area of uphill sections. The catch lockingly engages the countercatch blocking the movement of the vehicle under an electromagnetic effect during stopping or reverse movement of the vehicle. The recoil blocking device has a catch drive, which is preferably designed as an eddy current drive. The catch drive removes the catch from the countercatch when the vehicle is moving forward and allows the catch to engage when the vehicle has stopped or is moving backward.
The recoil blocking device according to the present invention operates just as reliably as the prior-art design and also avoids the unpleasant ratchet noises. A catch drive, which removes the catch from the countercatch and lifts it off in a noise-reducing manner during forward travel, is provided for this purpose. During the stopping or reverse travel of the vehicle, the catch drive allows the catch to engage again and to assume its blocking function.
The catch drive may have any desired design and different designs. An eddy current drive is provided in the preferred embodiment. This drive has the advantage that it does not need any external energy, such as battery current or the like, but it takes its energy from the movement of the vehicle. In addition, the eddy current drive is a self-controlling drive and
REFERENCES:
patent: 1613118 (1927-01-01), Miller
Saiko Alfons
Spieldiener Patrick
Spieldiener Reinhold
Spieldiener Robert
LandOfFree
Amusement device in the form of a roller coaster, a monorail or does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Amusement device in the form of a roller coaster, a monorail or , we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Amusement device in the form of a roller coaster, a monorail or will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1792891