Railways – Amusement
Patent
1984-10-01
1987-07-28
Reeves, Robert B.
Railways
Amusement
104 95, 104109, 104 63, 104246, 105154, 1051992, B61B 300, B61F 538
Patent
active
046825479
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an amusement ride with a figure-eight track configuration having passenger cars movable in a suspended state along a closed-track system. The cars are swingably suspended, via support rods, from carriages provided with running- and guide rollers and are braced against the carriages by means of a damping arrangement.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Compared to figure-eight tracks of the common configuration, amusement-park businesses can expect an increase in the attraction of the ride combined with a cost-advantageous construction, with improvements in such rides. Up to now, however, the course of the development has not led to an installation capable of operating in an unobjectionable manner.
In the amusement ride proposed in German Patent 861 369 with gondolas in the shape of airplanes swingably suspended from a track, there was still no concept regarding the construction of the track system and the chassis. To the contrary, German open application 23 06 385 puts forward a basic concept wherein two vertical support arms are stationarily mounted to the passenger carrier and swingably suspended over running rollers and guide rollers, each to one carriage. Here the running rollers are guided in channels which are disposed opposite to one another and are rigidly connected. Between these channels the chassis is provided with a ball-and-socket joint for the swingable suspension of the support arms for the passenger carriers. Over curved stretches the channels are inclined correspondingly to the expected centrifugal force. Lateral forces are supposed to be absorbed by spring-equipped guide rollers. In this system the fact that suspended passenger cars can be subjected to pendulously swinging motions even when the curved tracks were inclined, was ignored.
On traveling over a curve, the suddenly acting centrifugal force causes the pasenger car to swing outwardly past the equilibrium position and then again, to swing back past the original vertical position. The passenger car also swings around the equilibrium position. Upon leaving the curve, the passenger car can continue to swing, and resonances can result. The safety of the passenger cannot be guaranteed.
German Patent 23 29 423 attempts to relieve this problem in the case of a similarly known amusement ride by proposing that in a rigid carriage the lateral guide wheels be rigidly guided and the running wheels be journaled via a rocker. The tracks, consisting of four tubes, are always disposed horizontally, even on curved stretches. The thereby increased pendulous oscillations are absorbed by friction damping members, the damping action thereof being proportional to the angular offset of the passenger car. These friction-damping elements are telescopically mounted between an almost vertical support rod holding the passenger car and the carriage pivotally mounted in such a way as to describe a smaller radius than that of their pivot point on the support rod. The forces acting upon the pivot point on the carriage generate a torque in the latter which causes the undercarriage to press against the rails with two of the guide wheels on one side. Also the running wheels are pressed against the upper rails, which can lead to the undesired braking of the running wheels.
In practice, this known arrangement does not avoid the feared pendulous swinging, but rather increase the susceptibility to breakage of the parts of the carriage and even of the supporting structure of the passenger car.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the invention to provide an amusement ride of the described type, wherein the pendulous oscillations transverse to the riding direction can be effectively reduced or avoided, without exposing parts of the construction to stresses which can lead to breakage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, each carriage has a stable carriage frame, which absorbs all of the centrifugal and damping forces originating from the pasenger car and transmits them distributively to the rail over
REFERENCES:
patent: 555921 (1896-03-01), Boyle
patent: 640050 (1899-12-01), von Thal et al.
patent: 687370 (1901-11-01), Douglass
patent: 779896 (1905-01-01), Wood, Jr.
patent: 1470931 (1923-10-01), Perkins
patent: 1796619 (1931-03-01), Phare
patent: 2474471 (1949-03-01), Dolan, II
patent: 2642005 (1953-06-01), Cooper
patent: 3081711 (1963-03-01), Davino
patent: 3090326 (1963-05-01), Goodell et al.
patent: 3457876 (1969-07-01), Holden
patent: 3720172 (1973-03-01), Dehne
patent: 3941060 (1976-03-01), Morsbach
patent: 4270748 (1981-06-01), Ray
Dubno Herbert
Firma Schwarzkopf GmbH
Intamin Corporation
Reeves Robert B.
Ross Karl F.
LandOfFree
Amusement ride with vehicles supported by universally hinged whe 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 ride with vehicles supported by universally hinged whe, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Amusement ride with vehicles supported by universally hinged whe will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2029563