ACCELERATION SECTION FOR A WATER SLIDE

Abstract

An acceleration section for a water slide, comprising: —a sliding trail in which a person can slide, —a pusher inside the sliding trail, the pusher being configured to accelerate the person inside the sliding trail, —an accelerator track outside of the sliding trail, —an accelerator car miming on the accelerator track and configured to be accelerated along the accelerator track, and —a coupling unit mechanically coupling the pusher and the accelerator car.

Claims

1. An acceleration section for a water slide, comprising: a sliding trail in which a person can slide, a pusher inside the sliding trail, the pusher being configured to accelerate the person inside the sliding trail, an accelerator track outside of the sliding trail, an accelerator car running on the accelerator track and configured to be accelerated along the accelerator track, and a coupling unit mechanically coupling the pusher and the accelerator car.

2. The acceleration section of claim 1, wherein the accelerator track is parallel to the sliding trail.

3. The acceleration section of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a drive system configured to accelerate the accelerator car along the accelerator track.

4. The acceleration section of claim 3, wherein the drive system is configured to accelerate the accelerator car in two opposing directions.

5. The acceleration section of claim 3, further comprising a control unit for controlling the drive system and an input unit for inputting commands to the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to control the acceleration caused by the drive system according to user input of the person to be accelerated.

6. The acceleration section of claim 1, wherein the pusher includes a tongue supporting the person and being guided on the sliding trail.

7. The acceleration section of claim 1, wherein the pusher further comprises a passenger cabin limiting freedom of movement of the person during the acceleration.

8. The acceleration section of claim 1, wherein the sliding trail has a U-shaped cross section.

9. The acceleration section of claim 1, further comprising a feeding section configured to move the person into the sliding trail.

10. The acceleration section of claim 9, wherein the feeding section comprises a carriage configured to laterally move the person into the sliding trail.

11. The acceleration section of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional sliding trail parallel to the sliding trail, an additional pusher in each additional sliding trail, and an additional coupling unit for each additional pusher, wherein each additional coupling unit mechanically couples the additional pusher to the accelerator car.

12. The acceleration section of claim 1, wherein the pusher comprises at least one shoulder contact member for contacting a shoulder of the person in the sliding trail.

13. The acceleration section of claim 1, wherein the person resides in a raft and the pusher has a surface which forms a form fit with at least a part of the raft or the pusher has a surface for contacting the raft, the surface being inclined towards a bottom of the sliding trail.

14. The acceleration section of claim 1, further comprising a raising mechanism for raising the pusher out of the sliding trail.

15. (canceled)

16. The acceleration section of claim 2, further comprising a drive system configured to accelerate the accelerator car along the accelerator track.

17. The acceleration section of claim 4, further comprising a control unit for controlling the drive system and an input unit for inputting commands to the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to control the acceleration caused by the drive system according to user input of the person to be accelerated.

18. A water slide, comprising: an acceleration section, the acceleration section comprising: a sliding trail in which a person can slide; a pusher inside the sliding trail, the pusher being configured to accelerate the person inside the sliding trail; an accelerator track outside of the sliding trail; an accelerator car running on the accelerator track and configured to be accelerated along the accelerator track; and a coupling unit mechanically coupling the pusher and the accelerator car.

19. The water slide of claim 18, further comprising a drive system configured to accelerate the accelerator car along the accelerator track.

20. A method, comprising: providing an acceleration section, the acceleration section comprising: a sliding trail in which a person can slide; a pusher inside the sliding trail, the pusher being configured to accelerate the person inside the sliding trail; an accelerator track outside of the sliding trail; an accelerator car running on the accelerator track and configured to be accelerated along the accelerator track; and a coupling unit mechanically coupling the pusher and the accelerator car.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising providing a water slide comprising the acceleration section.

Description

[0046] In the following, the invention is described with reference to the enclosed figures which represent preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is not however limited to the specific features disclosed in the figures, which show

[0047] FIG. 1 a three-dimensional view of an acceleration section,

[0048] FIG. 2 a top view onto the acceleration section of FIG. 1,

[0049] FIG. 3 a cross-sectional view of the acceleration section of FIG. 1,

[0050] FIG. 4 a detail of the acceleration section of FIG. 1,

[0051] FIG. 5 another detail of the acceleration section of FIG. 1,

[0052] FIG. 6 a cross-sectional side view of an acceleration section,

[0053] FIG. 7 a cross-sectional side view of the acceleration section of FIG. 6 with the pusher engaging the raft,

[0054] FIG. 8 pushers with tongues for supporting the raft,

[0055] FIG. 9 pushers with two shoulder contact members,

[0056] FIG. 10 a three-dimensional view of a mechanism for raising the pusher,

[0057] FIG. 11 a cross-sectional frontal view of the mechanism of FIG. 10,

[0058] FIG. 12 a cross-sectional side view of the mechanism of FIG. 10,

[0059] FIG. 13 a feeding section for feeding a raft from below,

[0060] FIG. 14 a feeding section for feeding a raft from the side in a first state,

[0061] FIG. 15 the feeding section of FIG. 14 in a second state and

[0062] FIG. 16 a functional block diagram of the acceleration section.

[0063] FIG. 1 shows a schematic three-dimensional view of an acceleration section 1 for a water slide. The embodiments described subsequently show an acceleration section 1 for simultaneously accelerating two rafts, wherein each raft can carry one or more persons. In the drawings, the persons are omitted for simplifying the illustrations.

[0064] The twin arrangement shown in the drawings increases capacity of the acceleration section 1 and also has the advantage of a symmetric design which can make the structure of the acceleration section more simple. However, the present invention equally applies to an acceleration section for accelerating a single raft or more than two rafts simultaneously. Each of the rafts accelerated simultaneously is accelerated in a separate sliding trail 2 by an associated pusher 3. In addition, instead of a raft, a person directly lying, sitting, kneeling or standing in a sliding trail 2 can be accelerated.

[0065] The acceleration section 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises two sliding trails 2 which are parallel to each other and have a basically U-shaped cross-section formed by a bottom and two side walls. A pusher 3 is arranged inside each sliding trail 2, wherein each pusher 3 is configured to accelerate a raft 5 inside the sliding trail.

[0066] An accelerator track 4 is arranged inbetween the two sliding trails 2, and thus outside of all sliding trails. The accelerator track 4 carries an accelerator car 6 which is accelerated along the accelerator track 4 using a drive system 8. In the present example, the drive system 8 uses electromagnetic stators along the accelerator track 4 which interact with permanent magnets or a magnetizable element in the accelerator car 6. It shall be noted that any other suitable drive system other than the electromagnetic drive system shown in the drawings can be used for accelerating the accelerator car 6 along the accelerator track 4.

[0067] The two pushers 3 are connected to the accelerator car 6 via coupling units 7. First ends of the coupling units 7 are attached to the accelerator car 6. The coupling units 7 reach over the inner side walls of the sliding trails 2, while the pushers 3 are attached to the coupling units 7 at or near second ends of the coupling units 7, such that the pushers 3 extend into the sliding trails 2. The second ends of the coupling units 7 are opposite to the first ends of the coupling unit 7. An inner side wall of a sliding trail 2 is the side wall closer to the accelerator track 4 than the other side wall.

[0068] The accelerator track 4 has a rear extension 4a which is not parallel to the sliding trails 2, but raises upwards. The extension 4a of the accelerator track 4 optionally comprises a holding brake 9 for holding the accelerator car 6 on the extension 4a.

[0069] In this document, the expressions “rear” or “rear end” indicate the end of the acceleration section 1 at which the acceleration starts and the expression “front” or “front end” means the end of the acceleration section 1 at which subsequent sliding trails 10 into which the rafts are accelerated connect to the acceleration section 1.

[0070] At the rear ends of the sliding trail 2, waiting areas 2a are connected to the sliding trails 2. The waiting areas 2a can hold one or more rafts waiting to be accelerated.

[0071] FIG. 1 shows the acceleration section 1 in a state ready for accelerating two rafts 5. In the state shown in FIG. 1, the two pushers 3 are in contact with the backrests of the rafts 5. Upon operation of the acceleration section 1, the drive system 4 accelerates the accelerator car 6 along the accelerator track 4 in a direction from the rear end to the front end of the acceleration section 1. This acceleration of the accelerator car 6 is transmitted to the rafts 5 via the coupling units 7 and the pushers 3. At the end of the acceleration process, the accelerator car 6 is braked, such that the rafts 5 disengage from the contact with the pushers 3 due to their inertia. The rafts 5 then continue their movement into the subsequent sliding trails 10.

[0072] The accelerator car 6 is then moved backwards towards the rear end of the acceleration section 1. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the accelerator car is moved backwards beyond the starting point of the acceleration and onto the extension 4a of the accelerator track 4, where it is held by the holding brake 9. In this state, a new raft 5 waiting in the waiting area 2a behind each of the sliding trails 2 is moved forwards, passing under the raised pushers 3, to the start position shown in FIG. 1. The holding brake 9 stops holding the accelerator car 6 and the accelerator car 6 is slowly moved forwards until the pushers 3 are in contact with the rafts 5 which are ready for acceleration.

[0073] When the accelerator car 6 moves backwards and up the extension 4a of the accelerator track 4, the pushers 3 are lifted out of the sliding trails 2, such that the waiting rafts 4 can move forward beneath the raised pushers 3.

[0074] Towards the front of the acceleration section, the accelerator car 6 is braked as explained above. This braking process is for example performed by the drive system 8.

[0075] In an embodiment not shown in the drawings, the accelerator track 4 has an additional front extension similar to the extension 4a at the rear end of the acceleration section 1. This additional front extension is also raised upwards, thus braking the accelerator car 6 using gravity. At the front extension, the accelerator car 6 moves upwards, thus slowing down. At the top dead center, the direction of travel of the accelerator car 6 changes, such that the car moves back downwards and towards the rear end of the acceleration section 1.

[0076] FIG. 2 shows a top view of the acceleration section 1 of FIG. 1. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the accelerator track 4 is located in the middle between the two sliding trails 2. This has the advantage of a potential symmetric design of the accelerator car 6, the coupling units 7 and the pushers 3, thus reducing stress on the accelerator car 6 and the accelerator track 4. However, the arrangement does not have to be symmetric, for example depending on the location where the acceleration section is to be installed.

[0077] FIG. 3 shows a frontal cross-sectional view along the line A-A indicated in FIG. 2. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the coupling units 7 reach over the inner side walls of the sliding trails 2. The accelerator track 4 in the present embodiment is a two-pipe track as it is known from rollercoasters, for example. The two pipes are connected to each other via a set of ties. The accelerator track 4 rests on a number of supports.

[0078] The accelerator car 6 has an appropriate number of bogies, such that the accelerator car 6 can move on the accelerator track 4. The bogies at least comprise running wheels running on top of the accelerator track 4 and supporting the weight of the accelerator car 6, the coupling units 7 and the pushers 3. The bogies can further comprise up-stop wheels and/or side wheels as desired. Side wheels guide the accelerator car 6 laterally on the accelerator track 4. Up-stop wheels prevent the accelerator car 6 from vertically lifting off of the accelerator track 4.

[0079] As can also be seen from FIG. 3, a raft 5 comprises a raft body 5a and a backrest 5b. The body 5a glides on a water film in the sliding trail 2. The lateral width of the raft body 5a is identical or slightly lower, such as by 1, 2, 5 or 10%, than the inner lateral width of the sliding trail 2. This guides the raft 5 inside the sliding trail and prevents a lateral motion during acceleration.

[0080] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the rear part of the acceleration section 1 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 shows the running wheels of the accelerator car 6 as well as the pushers 3 in more detail. It further shows that the rear extension 4a of the accelerator track 4 has a straight part carrying the brakes 9 and a bent part connecting the straight part to the accelerator track 4.

[0081] FIG. 5 shows the acceleration section of FIG. 1 in a state before the pushers 3 contact the backrests 5b of the rafts 5. As can be seen from FIG. 5, a pusher 3 of the present embodiment has a part in the shape of a frustum. The backrest 5b of a raft 5 has a recess having the inverse shape of this frustum. There is thus a form fit between the pusher 3 and the raft 5.

[0082] A frustum has two flat, parallel surface areas. In the present embodiment, the normal vector being orthogonal to those two flat surface areas is inclined towards the bottom of the sliding trails 2 compared to the direction of movement of the accelerator car 6 along the accelerator track 4. This results in a force pushing the rafts 5 towards the bottom of the sliding trails 2, thus preventing the rafts 5 from lifting off.

[0083] FIGS. 6 and 7 show cross-sectional views along the line B-B shown in FIG. 2. They show the pushers 3 before and after contacting the backrests 5b of the rafts 5, respectively. The frustum shape of a part of the pusher 3 in combination with corresponding recess in the backrest 5b of the raft 5 has the effect that that the pusher 3 is self-centering in the recess in the backrest 5b.

[0084] In FIGS. 6 and 7, the raft 5 is in its start position for the acceleration. Between the states shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively, the accelerator car 6 is slowly moved forwards towards the raft 5 until the pusher 3 is in contact with the raft 5. The accelerator car 6 can then accelerate the raft 5 without stopping or could rest in the contact position shown in FIG. 7 for a while before the acceleration starts.

[0085] FIG. 8 shows an accelerator car 6 with two coupling units 7 and two pushers 3 for use in a raft slide. Each pusher 3 comprises a tongue 11 for supporting a raft 5. During acceleration, the raft 5 remains on the tongue 11 and does thus not glide on a water film in the sliding trail 2. This prevents a lateral motion of the raft 5 during the acceleration. At the end of the acceleration, the accelerator car 6, and thus the pusher 3 having the tongue 11, is braked, which means that the raft 5 slides off of the tongue 11 due to its inertia. This state is shown in FIG. 8.

[0086] FIG. 9 shows an accelerator car 6 with two coupling units 7 and two pushers 3 for use in a body slide. The pushers 3 each comprise two shoulder contact members 12 pushing against the slider's shoulders to accelerate him in the acceleration section 1. Between the shoulder contact members 12, there is a recess for conveniently accommodating the slider's head during the acceleration.

[0087] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the slider lies on a tongue 11 for supporting the slider during the acceleration. The slider rests on the tongue 11 during the acceleration and further contacts the shoulder contact members 12 with his shoulders to prevent undesired backwards motion of the slider on the tongue 11. However, the tongue 11 can be omitted, such that the slider glides on a water film in the sliding trail 2.

[0088] In the embodiment shown with regards to FIGS. 1 to 7, the pushers 3 are lifted out of the sliding trail 2 due to an upwards movement of the accelerator car 6 on the extension 4a of the accelerator track. In an alternative embodiment, there is no extension 4a raising upwards. In this alternative, the pusher 3 is moved relative to the accelerator car 6, for example via a lever mechanism.

[0089] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, there is an axis of rotation between the accelerator car 6 and the pusher 3. The axis of rotation is for example parallel to the direction of movement of the accelerator car 6 along the accelerator track 4. The axis of rotation can be located at the connection between the accelerator car 6 and the coupling unit 7, within the coupling unit 7, at the connection of the coupling unit 7 and the pusher 3 or a combination thereof. The pusher 3 is lifted out of the sliding trail 2 by a rotation about this axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is implemented using a joint or hinge 7a. In the present embodiment, the joints or hinges 7a are provided between the accelerator car 6 and the coupling units 7.

[0090] This rotation can be caused by a dedicated drive system, such as a winch, an electric motor, a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder.

[0091] The embodiment of FIGS. 10 to 12 shows another example in which a part of the coupling unit 7 glides on a gliding surface 13. FIG. 10 is a three-dimensional view of the raising mechanism, FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional frontal view and FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional lateral view.

[0092] This gliding surface 13 raises in a direction from the front end to the rear end of the acceleration section 1, such that the pusher 3 is lifted out of the sliding trail 2 if the accelerator car 6 moves backwards in an area where the gliding surface 13 is provided. The gliding surface 13 can be a part of the inner side wall of the sliding trail 2 or be provided separate therefrom.

[0093] FIGS. 10 to 12 show the coupling units 7 and the pushers 3 in three different states. In the first state, in which the coupling units 7 and the pushers 3 are shown in solid lines, the pushers 3 rest inside the sliding trails 2. In the second state, the accelerator car 6 is moved backwards compared to the first state and the coupling units 7 are halfway on a rising part of the gliding surface 13, such that they are partly lifted. In the third state, the accelerator car 6 is moved backwards even further, such that the pushers 3 are fully lifted. In the second and third states, the coupling units 7 and the pushers 3 are drawn in chain dotted lines.

[0094] In the third state, but also in the second state, the pushers 3 are lifted out of the sliding trails 2 such that rafts 5 can move forwards inside the sliding trails 2 without interfering with the pushers 3.

[0095] In the embodiment shown with regards to FIGS. 1 to 7, the waiting area 2a is a rearwards extension of the sliding trail 2. This does, however, require to lift the pusher 3 out of the sliding trail 2. FIGS. 13 and 14 show alternative feeding sections for bringing a raft 5 into a start position for the acceleration.

[0096] FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a feeding section moving the raft 5 into the start position in the sliding trail 2 from below. A ramp 14 is provided with a conveyor belt 14a which moves the raft 5 up the ramp 14 until it reaches the starting position. A plurality of rafts 5 are waiting in the waiting area 2a and are moved into the start position one after the other. The accelerator car 6 is waiting behind the ramp 14 while a raft 5 is moved up the ramp 14 such that it does not interfere with the movement of the raft 5. The accelerator car 6 is moved forwards along the accelerator track 4 once the raft 5 is in the start position until it is in contact with the raft 5. Instead of a ramp 14 having a conveyor belt, a vertical lift could be used.

[0097] FIGS. 14 and 15 show top views of an alternative feeding section using carriages 15 which move the rafts 5 horizontally into the sliding trails 2. The carriages 15 each carry a part of a sliding trail 2. The carriages 15 move between a first position shown in FIG. 14 and a second position shown in FIG. 15.

[0098] In the first state of the feeding section as shown in FIG. 14, the carriages 15 are in their first positions. In those first positions, the parts of the sliding trails 2 carried by the carriages 15 each connect to two other sections of the sliding trails 2. In this state, the accelerator car 6 can move backwards behind the part of the sliding trails 2 carried by the carriages 15 within the sliding trail 2. Rafts 5 are waiting in waiting areas 2a of the acceleration section 1.

[0099] In the second state of the feeding section as shown in FIG. 15, the carriages 15 are in their second position. In those second positions, the parts of the sliding trails 2 carried by the carriages 15 connect to the waiting areas 2a, respectively. In this state, the rafts 5 waiting in the waiting areas 2a can move into the parts of the sliding trails 2 carried by the carriages 15. The carriages 15 can then move into their first positions. The accelerator car 6 can then move forward such that the pushers 3 contact the rafts 5 in preparation of the acceleration.

[0100] The embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is particularly useful if the acceleration section 1 can accelerate rafts 5 in both directions, because the sliding trails 2 can be closed in the complete acceleration section 1.

[0101] FIG. 16 shows a schematic block diagram of the electric and electronic components of the acceleration section 1. A control unit 17 is operatively coupled to the drive system 8 and an input unit 18. The input unit 18 allows a slider to input data into the control unit 17. The control unit 17 controls the drive system 8, either by directly controlling drive units of the drive system 8 or by providing control data to an internal control system of the drive system 8.

[0102] The input unit 18 can be any suitable kind of input unit, such as keypad, a set of buttons or a touchscreen.

[0103] Using the input unit 18 and the control unit 17, the slider can configure the acceleration when using the acceleration section 1. The slider can for example input the end speed at the end of the acceleration. The slider could also input or select an acceleration profile which determines the amount of acceleration over time during the acceleration process. The control unit preferably limits the end speed and/or the maximum acceleration to predetermined maximum values.

[0104] The slider might choose one out of a set of predetermined acceleration profiles, such as a constant acceleration, a constantly increasing acceleration or a variable acceleration, such as an acceleration profile having multiple local maxima and/or minima. The slider could also select a random acceleration profile. Still further, the slider could draw his own acceleration profile as a graph.

[0105] The input unit 18 can be provided inside the raft 5 such that the slider can input data while being in the raft, for example while waiting for the acceleration process.

[0106] In another embodiment, the control unit 17 might also control lighting equipment and/or sound equipment which creates a light show or plays sound, respectively, during the acceleration process or the whole sliding experience. The slider might also select a lighting scheme and/or a sound scheme using the input unit 18.

[0107] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the acceleration section 1 accelerates the rafts 5 into two tube-like water slides. Those two water slides might be identical, mirrored or designed individually. In addition, the water slides might have different profiles, like a closed tube or an open raft.

[0108] The subsequent sliding trail 10 might end in a landing area, but also in a sliding trail 2 of an acceleration section 1. In one embodiment, the subsequent sliding trail 10 ends in the same sliding trail 2 in which the raft was accelerated into the subsequent sliding trail 10. However, the subsequent sliding trail 10 could end in another sliding trail 2, such that the raft can slide on multiple subsequent sliding trails 10 without the slider having to leave the raft 5. This results in a moebius-like water slide which can have any number of acceleration sections.

[0109] In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the acceleration section 1 can accelerate the raft or slider in one direction only. This requires the accelerator car 6 to return to the start position of the acceleration before the next raft or slider can be accelerated. However, subsequent sliding trails 10 can be provided at both ends of each sliding trail 2 and the acceleration section 1 can accelerate one raft or slider into one subsequent sliding trail 10 and another raft or slider into another subsequent sliding trail 10 in the opposite direction. This er increases the capacity of the acceleration section 1 and can also provide different slide experiences depending on the characteristics of subsequent sliding trails 10.