Amusement devices – Occupant support translatable along vertical path
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-01
2004-06-08
Nguyen, Kien (Department: 3712)
Amusement devices
Occupant support translatable along vertical path
Reexamination Certificate
active
06746335
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to amusement rides and, more particularly, to a rapid-winding winch for launching and/or braking a passenger carriage of an amusement ride.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Amusement rides of a variety of types have provided great thrills to many people over the years. Well known rides include roller coasters, parachute and elevator drops, bungee jumps and free fall rides, vertical accelerator rides, dragster rides, and so forth. Many of these amusement rides include energy storage mechanisms for launching a carriage carrying one or more passengers along a track or through the air. Many of these energy storage mechanisms include bungee cords for storing a charge and then discharging to launch the carriage.
In the use of such energy storage mechanisms, however, the connections at the ends of the bungee cords weaken due to the mechanical stresses and strains caused by the frequent stretching of the bungee cords. If left unchecked, these connections and/or the bungee cords themselves will eventually fail. If there were such a failure while the ride was in use, the result could be serious injury to the passengers in the carriage. In order to maintain the safety of the ride, the operator of the ride must regularly change out the bungee cords and/or the end connections of the bungee cords. This can be a costly and time-consuming procedure in materials and labor. Furthermore, because of the potential for injury or even death to passengers, some people consider all amusement rides with bungee cords to be inherently unsafe, even though a particular ride may be properly maintained.
Accordingly, what is needed but not found in the prior art is an energy storage mechanism that launches a carriage of an amusement ride to a high velocity in a short period of time, but that does not use bungee cords. There is also a need for an energy storage mechanism that provides an automatic braking action on the carriage, without using bungee cords. Additionally, there is a need for new amusement rides that utilize the benefits of such an energy storage mechanism. Furthermore, there is a need for such an energy storage mechanism that is safe, reliable, and cost-effective to make and use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a rapid-winding winch for an amusement ride that launches a carriage of the amusement ride to a high velocity in a short period of time, without the deficiencies of the prior art. The winch can be used in conjunction with a variety of types of amusement rides, including roller coasters, dragster rides, vertical accelerator rides, parachute and elevator drops, bungee jumps and free fall rides, merry-go-rounds, rocket launcher rides, and so forth.
Generally described, the winch comprises an energy storage mechanism having one or more elastic members such as springs, one or more tethers coupled to the elastic members, an axle with the tethers windable and unwindable about the surface of the axle, and drums coupled to the axle with the cables windable and unwindable about the surface of the drums. One or more actuators such as hydraulic cylinders operate to compress, tension, torque, or otherwise deform and thereby charge and store energy in the elastic members. A releasable brake such as a hydraulic, pneumatic, or mechanical friction brake secures the carriage in place while the carriage is loaded with passengers and while the elastic members are charged. Also, the elastic members can be connected between attachment members, with the tethers coupled to one attachment member and the actuators coupled to another one.
In one aspect of the invention, the drum has a diameter that is greater than a diameter of the axle, thereby providing a mechanical advantage when winding and unwinding the cables to move the carriage. When the brake is released, the tethers are pulled rapidly upward with great force by the charged elastic members, thereby unwinding the tethers from the axle and causing the axle to rotate. When the axle rotates, the drums also rotate because they are connected together. As the drums rotate, they wind in the cables from around the pulleys, thereby launching the carriage. Because of the fractional ratio of the axle diameter to the drum diameters, one revolution of the drums winds in a much greater length of cable than the length of tether that is wound out in one revolution of the axle. In this manner, the carriage can be launched with great acceleration in response to the winch axle rotating only a few revolutions, or only a part of one revolution.
In another aspect of the invention, the winch may be used as a dampening apparatus, with the force of the carriage pulling and unwinding the cables from the drum which in turn winds in the tethers onto the axle and charges the energy storage mechanism. In this embodiment, the winch may be provided without the actuators and the bark/lock. Accordingly, the winch may be provided as a launching apparatus, a dampening apparatus, or both a launching apparatus and a dampening apparatus.
In a further aspect of the invention, the energy storage mechanism includes telescopic spring devices with the elastic members provided by concentric coil springs. The coil springs are positioned within concentric sleeves having flanges that engage the ends of the coil springs to compress the springs when the actuators are operated. In this manner, the energy storage mechanism is charged by the compression of the springs and, therefore, even if a spring were to fail, the cable would not be able to rapidly and uncontrollably unwind. This provides for enhanced safety and eliminates the possibility of catastrophic failure of the ride.
The springs can be provided by a first catch spring, a second catch spring, and a launch spring, with the launch spring stronger than the second catch spring which is stronger than the first catch spring. The size and strength of the springs can be selected so that the launch spring is used to launch the carriage and the catch springs are used to dampen the motion of the carriage so it is gently slowed without jerking about the passengers more than is desired.
In another form of the invention, the elastic member is provided by a spring that is spiraled and mounted onto the axle. The spring can be provided by a torsion, flat spiral, power, clock, or main spring. In this way, the springs are charged and discharged as the axle is rotated, so that the tethers are not needed.
As mentioned, the winch may be used with a wide variety of amusement rides. For example, the winch can be used with a roller coaster ride that has a support structure having one or more towers with pulleys mounted on them, a track such as an open or closed loop mounted to the support structure, a passenger carriage supported and guided by the track, and a cable routed around the pulleys and connected between the carriage and the winch. The winch has a rapid-winding capability for launching the carriage with great acceleration to achieve the desired thrill of the ride. Because of the rapid-winding capability of the winch, the cables can be connected directly to and between the carriage and the winch, without intermediate cord sections having bungee cords or springs. Because the launching force is provided by the winch and because there are no cable sections or connections requiring frequent replacement, the stigma of unsafety is avoided.
In another aspect of the invention, the height, shape, and position of the towers, the number, length, and strength of the elastic members, and the travel and power of the actuators are selected to provide a wide variety of roller coaster rides. For example, the track shapes can include open or closed loops with configurations such as generally oval-shaped, diamond-shaped, oval with a larger radius at the top than at the bottom and with an angled midsection, an inverted triangle-shape, triangle-shaped standing on one of its corners, asymmetrically twisting to produce lateral carriage motion as well as vertical carriag
Kleimeyer Mark
Mehrman Michael J.
Kleimeyer Mark
Mehrman Michael J.
Mehrman Law Offices PC
Nguyen Kien
LandOfFree
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