Amusement ride, particularly a roller coaster

Abstract

An amusement ride, particularly a roller coaster, comprising a guide track, a number of first vehicles that can move along said guide track and comprise a first person receiving arrangement, a number of second vehicles that can move along the guide track and comprise a second person receiving arrangement differing from said first person receiving arrangement, an in-coupling device, by means of which the first vehicles and/or the second vehicles can be coupled into the guide track, and a launch section by means of which said in-coupled first and second vehicles can be accelerated.

Claims

1. An amusement ride, comprising: a guide track, a first vehicle that moves along the guide track and has a first person receiving arrangement, a second vehicle that moves along the guide track and has a second person receiving arrangement which differs from the first person receiving arrangement, an in-coupling device that couples the first vehicle and the second vehicle into the guide track, wherein the first vehicle, the second vehicle, or a combination thereof, are configured to be removed from the guide track by utilizing the in-coupling device and re-coupled into the guide track after being removed from the guide track, and a launch section that accelerates the first vehicle, the second vehicle, or a combination thereof, that are coupled to the guide track.

2. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the first person receiving arrangement is configured in rows and the second person receiving arrangement is configured in of a circle.

3. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the second person receiving arrangement has at least one degree of freedom more or has a different degree of freedom with respect to mobility from the first person receiving arrangement.

4. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the second person receiving arrangement comprises a number of rotatably mounted plates.

5. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the first person receiving arrangement comprises a number of seats for seated accommodation of people and the second person receiving arrangement comprises a number of personal safety posts for securing people who are standing.

6. The amusement ride according to claim 5, wherein the seats, the personal safety posts, or both the seats and personal safety posts, are rotatably mounted.

7. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the first person receiving arrangement comprises a number of seats for seated accommodation of people and the second person receiving arrangement comprises a number of seats for seated accommodation of people, wherein the seats of the first person receiving arrangement have a different orientation from the seats of the second person receiving arrangement.

8. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the first and second vehicles are configured to be braked by utilizing the launch section.

9. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the launch section extends across a front end and a rear end of the in-coupling device.

10. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the amusement ride detects whether the first vehicle, the second vehicle, or a combination thereof, is coupled into the guide track.

11. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the first person receiving arrangement has at least one degree of freedom more or has a different degree of freedom with respect to mobility from the second person receiving arrangement.

12. The amusement ride according to claim 1, wherein the second person receiving arrangement comprises a number of seats for seated accommodation of people and the first person receiving arrangement comprises a number of personal safety posts for securing people who are standing.

13. A system, comprising: a first vehicle that moves along an amusement ride guide track and has a first person receiving arrangement with a first person receiving arrangement degree of freedom; a second vehicle that moves along the amusement ride guide track and has a second person receiving arrangement with a second person receiving arrangement degree of freedom; an in-coupling device that couples the first vehicle and the second vehicle into the amusement ride guide track, wherein the first vehicle, the second vehicle, or a combination thereof, are configured to be removed from the guide track by utilizing the in-coupling device and re-coupled into the guide track after being removed from the guide track; wherein the first person receiving arrangement differs from the second person receiving arrangement; and wherein the first person receiving arrangement degree of freedom differs from the second person receiving arrangement degree of freedom.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a launch section that accelerates the first vehicle and the second vehicle coupled into the guide track along the amusement ride guide track.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the first person receiving arrangement is configured in rows and the second person receiving arrangement is configured in a circle.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the second person receiving arrangement degree of freedom includes rotational freedom.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the first person receiving arrangement comprises a plurality of rider seats; wherein the second person receiving arrangement comprises a plurality of standing rider safety posts; wherein a rider seat of the plurality of rider seats orientates a seated rider in a first orientation with respect to the amusement ride guide track; wherein a standing rider safety post of the plurality of standing rider safety posts orientates a standing rider in a second orientation with respect to the amusement ride guide track; and wherein the first orientation is different than the second orientation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying figures below. Wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an embodiment of an amusement ride according to the present application which is configured as a roller coaster,

(3) FIG. 2a) shows a schematic top view of the first vehicle,

(4) FIG. 2b) shows a schematic side view of the first vehicle shown in FIG. 2a) with a first exemplary embodiment of a first person receiving arrangement,

(5) FIG. 2c) shows a schematic side view of the first vehicle shown in FIG. 2a) with a second exemplary embodiment of a first person receiving arrangement, and

(6) FIG. 2d) shows a schematic top view of a second vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary embodiment of an amusement ride 10 according to the present disclosure which is configured as a roller coaster 10. The roller coaster 10 includes a guide track 12, which defines a closed course and which includes a number of bends, ascents, descents, loops, and other direction-changing areas. An in-coupling device 14 can be used to couple a first vehicle 16 and a second vehicle 18 into the guide track 12. Withing the in-coupling device 14, the first vehicle 16 is on a first guide track section 20 and the second vehicle 18 is on a second guide track section 22. The first guide track section 20 and the second guide track section 22 can be moved inside the in-coupling device 14 along the directions indicated by the arrow P1 and can thus be introduced laterally into the remaining guide track 12. The first or the second vehicle 18 are then coupled into the guide track 12 when the first guide track section 20 or the second guide track section 22, respectively, is flush with the remaining guide track 12.

(8) Instead of a linear movement, the in-coupling device 14 may also include track switches, particularly dropping and turning switches, to remove the first and second vehicles 16, 18 from the guide track or introduce them back into it.

(9) Furthermore, the first vehicle 16 comprises a first person receiving arrangement 24 and the second vehicle 18 comprises a second person receiving arrangement 26, which differ from one another. This will be explained in greater detail below.

(10) Furthermore, the roller coaster 10 includes a launch section 28, which extends both across a front end 30 of the in-coupling device 14 and across a rear end 32 of the in-coupling device 14. The definition of the front and rear ends 30, 32 of the in-coupling device 14 is based on the direction of travel into which the first and second vehicles 18 are typically moved, and which is shown by the arrow P2. The launch section 28 is used to accelerate the first vehicle 18 and the second vehicle 20, for which purpose the launch section 28 comprises a linear induction motor or a linear synchronous motor not shown in the figure. In the exemplary embodiment of the roller coaster 10 shown, the launch section 28 is also used for braking the first and second vehicles 18s, but this does not inevitably need to be the case.

(11) The roller coaster 10 is operated as follows: Either the first vehicle 16 or the second vehicle 18 is coupled into the guide track 12 by means of the in-coupling device 14. Then the vehicle is accelerated by means of the launch section 28 to a speed at which the first vehicle 16 has a sufficiently high kinetic energy to be able to travel through the entire guide track 12 without any further active acceleration. Based on the position shown in FIG. 1, the first vehicle 16 can either be directly accelerated in the direction of travel via the front end 30 of the in-coupling device 14, or it can first slowly be moved backwards via the rear end 32 of the in-coupling device 14 and then be accelerated in the direction of travel by means of the front end 30.

(12) While the accelerated first vehicle 16 is on the guide track 12 and outside the in-coupling device 14, the second vehicle 18 can be loaded and unloaded. In other words, the people can get off the second vehicle 18 after their ride is completed, and people still waiting for their ride can get into the second vehicle 18.

(13) As soon as the first vehicle 16 has traveled through the guide track and reached the launch section 28 again, it is braked down by the section. Braking down can be performed such that the first vehicle 16 comes to a stop directly in the position shown in FIG. 1 without having crossed the front end 30 of the in-coupling device 14. Alternatively, the braking operation can be performed such that the first vehicle 16 only comes to a stop after having crossed the front end 30, but is still within the launch section 28. The first vehicle 16 is then slowly moved backwards until it has reached the position shown in FIG. 1. Then the first guide track section 20 and thus the first vehicle 16 are moved inside the in-coupling device 14 to the right relative to the representation in FIG. 1 and consequently decoupled from the guide track 12, which is indicated by the dashed lines. At the same time or with a short delay, the second guide track section 22 with the second vehicle 18 are also moved to the right inside the in-coupling device 14 until the second guide track section 22 is flush with the rest of the guide track 12. Then the second vehicle 18 is moved along the guide track 12 in the same manner as described for the first vehicle 16.

(14) While the second vehicle 18 is on the guide track 12 and outside the in-coupling device 14, people can get off the first vehicle 16 and waiting people can get on the first vehicle 16.

(15) The roller coaster 10 further includes detection means 34 which can be used to determine that one of the vehicles 16, 18 is coupled into the guide track 12 and that therefore the launch section 28 can be activated. The detection means 34 can also detect if the first vehicle 18 or the second vehicle 20 is coupled into the guide track 12. The acceleration and braking processes can thus be adjusted to the in-coupled vehicle 18, 20.

(16) FIG. 2a) shows a schematic top view of a first exemplary embodiment of the first vehicle 16. The first vehicle 16 comprises a first person receiving arrangement 24, which is configured in rows. The first person receiving arrangement 24 may comprise a number of seats 36 or personal safety posts 38, which are also shown in schematic side views in FIGS. 2b) and 2c), respectively. While the seats 36 are used for seated transport of people, the people can be transported in standing position by means of the personal safety posts 38. The seats 36 and personal safety posts 38 are mounted for rotation about a first rotational axis R1 which is perpendicular to the guide track 12 in order to rotate these elements accordingly during the ride.

(17) The personal safety posts 38 each include a standing section 40 onto which a passenger must step. This standing section 40 may include fastening means not shown, by means of which a passenger can be secured in the leg region during the ride. The entire standing section 40 can be rotated with the other personal safety posts 38 about said first rotational axis R1 during the ride.

(18) Both the seats 36 and the personal safety posts 38 comprise bracket-like retention means 42 by means of which the passengers can be secured in their upper body region during the ride.

(19) It is visible in FIGS. 2b) and 2c) that the first vehicle 16 comprises a number of rolling devices 44 by means of which the first vehicle 16 is secured to the guide track 12 and can roll along the guide track 12.

(20) FIG. 2d) shows a first exemplary embodiment of a second vehicle 18 with a second person receiving arrangement 26, also in a schematic top view. Unlike the first person receiving arrangement 24 of the first vehicle 16, the second person receiving arrangement 26 has a circular configuration, such that the seats 36 or personal safety posts 38 are facing towards or away from a center point M. The seats 36 and the personal safety posts 38 may also be oriented tangentially to the center point M. In addition, the second person receiving arrangement 26 includes a number of disk-like plates 46, in this example three plates 46, on each of which four seats 36 or personal safety posts 38 are arranged, which match those shown in FIGS. 2b) and 2c). The plates 46 are also mounted for rotation about a second rotational axis R2 which also runs perpendicular to the guide track 12, such that the seats 36 or the personal safety posts 38 can be rotated together with the plates 46 about the second rotational axis R2 during the ride. In addition, the seats 36 or the personal safety posts 38 can also be rotatable about the first rotational axis R1, like the first person receiving arrangement 24.

(21) Like the first vehicle 16, the second vehicle 18 comprises the identical rolling devices 44, not visible in FIG. 2d), by means of which the second vehicle 18 is secured to the guide track 12 and on which it can roll along the guide track 12.

(22) It should be noted here that the vehicles 16, 18, which differ only in the number of seats 36 or personal safety posts 38, have the same person receiving arrangement 24, 26. In addition, multiple first and second vehicles 16, 18 can be coupled into the guide track 12, wherein typically only one vehicle 16, 18 at a given point in time is coupled into the guide track 12 for safety reasons. If the riding time is relatively short compared to the time for gelling on/off, multiple vehicles 16, 18 can be loaded and unloaded while one of the vehicles 16, 18 is coupled into the guide track 12.

(23) If the guide track 12 is sufficiently long and the roller coaster 10 has respective safety means, multiple vehicles 16, 18 can be coupled into the guide track 12 at the same time. Furthermore, the roller coaster 10 may comprise other vehicles in addition to the first and the second vehicle 16, 18, which comprise person receiving arrangements that differ from the first and second person receiving arrangements 24, 26.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(24) 10 Amusement ride, roller coaster 12 Guide track 14 in-coupling device 16 First vehicle 18 Second vehicle 20 First guide track section 22 Second guide track section 24 First person receiving arrangement 26 Second person receiving arrangement 28 Launch section 30 Front end 32 Rear end 34 Detection means 36 Seat 38 Personal safety post 40 Standing section 42 Retention means 44 Rolling device 46 Plates M Center point P1 Arrow P2 Arrow R1 First rotational axis R2 Second rotational axis