Vehicle with passenger accommodation which can be swivelled and/or rotated

Abstract

Disclosed is a vehicle for an amusement facility has a chassis, a passenger accommodation and a connecting element in the form a pendulum bar. The lower end of the pendulum bar is rigidly connected to the passenger accommodation; the upper end is connected to the chassis via a joint such that it can be rotated and/or swivelled. The pendulum is connected to the chassis via a joint.

Claims

1. A rail-guided vehicle comprising: a passenger accommodation which has at least one seat with a seating and a seat back for the seated accommodation of a passenger, wherein the intended viewing direction of the seated passenger essentially is oriented perpendicularly to the seat back, wherein the seats are arranged such that the viewing direction is oriented transversely to a direction of travel, wherein the passenger accommodation is arranged such that the passenger accommodation swivels or rotates about an axis that is oriented in the viewing direction in order to generate a pendulum effect, wherein the axis for generating the pendulum effect is arranged above the passengers, and wherein the pendulum effect is generated by a pendulum movement of the passenger accommodation, the pendulum movement being performed in a plane which is arranged perpendicularly to the axis, and the plane of the pendulum movement is laterally offset of the rail.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a chassis, and wherein the swivelling or rotating motion of the passenger accommodation relative to the chassis is generated by at least one of centrifugal forces and gravitational forces acting upon the passenger accommodation during a ride along a rail structure and a shifting link and a motor drive.

3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the propelling force of an internal drive of the vehicle is transferred positively onto a rail structure.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle has at least one of a dampening and a locking element for dampening or blocking the swivelling and rotating motion, respectively.

5. The vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the propelling force of an internal drive of the vehicle is transferred positively onto a rail structure.

6. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle has an automatic or interactive speed control or a speed control which can be operated in an automatic mode or interactive mode for at least one of generating a specific centrifugal force in a specific portion of the track and controlling the rotational or pendulum motion in a specific portion of the track.

7. The vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the propelling force of an internal drive of the vehicle is transferred positively onto a rail structure.

8. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is propelled by gravity, by a cable or chain drive, by a linear motor, by a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, by friction wheels or by an internal drive.

9. The vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the propelling force of an internal drive of the vehicle is transferred positively onto a rail structure.

10. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the propelling force of an internal drive of the vehicle is transferred positively onto a rail structure.

11. An amusement facility comprising: a guiding device for guiding a vehicle, and a vehicle having a passenger accommodation which has at least one seat with a seating and a seat back for the seated accommodation of a passenger, wherein the intended viewing direction of the seated passenger essentially is oriented perpendicularly to the seat back, wherein the seats are arranged such that the viewing direction is oriented transversely to a direction of travel, wherein the passenger accommodation is arranged such that the passenger accommodation swivels or rotates about an axis that is oriented in the viewing direction in order to generate a pendulum effect, wherein the axis for generating the pendulum effect is arranged above the passengers, wherein the pendulum effect is generated by a pendulum movement of the passenger accommodation, the pendulum movement being performed in a plane which is arranged perpendicularly to the axis, and the plane of the pendulum movement is laterally offset of the rail, and wherein the guiding device defines a track portion, in which a chassis of the vehicle essentially is guided in a vertical plane.

12. The amusement facility (1) according to claim 11, wherein the guiding device defines a track section which is shaped as a vertically oriented arc.

13. The amusement facility according to claim 12, wherein the apex of the vertical arc is a highest point.

14. The amusement facility (1) according to claim 11, wherein the amusement facility is designed as an inverted coaster with a connecting element extending downward from the guiding device in the manner of a pendulum, and wherein one end of the connecting element is connected to a chassis and the other end is connected to the passenger accommodation of the vehicle.

15. An amusement facility comprising: a guiding device for guiding a vehicle, and a vehicle having a passenger accommodation which has at least one seat with a seating and a seat back for the seated accommodation of a passenger, wherein the intended viewing direction of the seated passenger essentially is oriented perpendicularly to the seat back, wherein the seats are arranged such that the viewing direction is oriented transversely to a direction of travel, wherein the passenger accommodation is arranged such that the passenger accommodation swivels or rotates about an axis that is oriented in the viewing direction in order to generate a pendulum effect, wherein the axis for generating the pendulum effect is arranged above the passengers, wherein the pendulum effect is generated by a pendulum movement of the passenger accommodation, the pendulum movement being performed in a plane which is arranged perpendicularly to the axis, and the plane of the pendulum movement is laterally offset of the rail, and wherein the guiding device defines a track portion, in which the normal vector of a chassis of the vehicle essentially is guided in a vertical plane.

16. The amusement facility (1) according to claim 15, wherein the guiding device defines a track section which is shaped as a vertically oriented arc.

17. The amusement facility (1) according to claim 15, wherein the amusement facility is designed as an inverted coaster with a connecting element extending downward from the guiding device in the manner of a pendulum, and wherein one end of the connecting element is connected to a chassis and the other end is connected to the passenger accommodation of the vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages and characteristics of the invention are illustrated by the description of preferred exemplary embodiments based on the drawings. The drawings show:

(2) FIG. 1 A schematic representation of a roller-coaster facility according to the invention

(3) FIG. 2 A perspective representation of a vehicle according to the invention

(4) FIG. 3 Another perspective representation of the vehicle of FIG. 2

(5) FIG. 4 A top view of the vehicle of FIG. 3 while passing through a turn.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

(6) The exemplary embodiment described in the following relates to a vehicle according to the invention and to a roller-coaster facility according to the invention comprising such a vehicle.

(7) FIG. 1 shows an amusement facility 1 in the form of a roller-coaster. The facility has a supporting structure 10 and a rail structure 11 for guiding rail-guided vehicles 2. The track design can be any desired routing; in particular, the rail structure can have turns, spirals, bends and the like. In the exemplary embodiment, the track design has a vertical arc 12, the apex S of which is a highest point.

(8) FIGS. 2 and 3 show a vehicle 2 according to the invention, such as can be used in combination with the facility 1 from FIG. 1. The vehicle 2 has a chassis 20, a passenger accommodation 21 and a connecting element 22 in the form a pendulum bar. In this embodiment, one (lower) end of the bar is rigidly connected to the passenger accommodation 21 but could in another embodiment be arranged such that it could be rotated or tilted, that is, it would not be rigid.

(9) The other (upper) end is connected to the chassis 20 via a joint such that it can be rotated and/or tilted. The pendulum 21, 22 is connected to the chassis 20 via a joint 23.

(10) The passenger accommodation 21 has two adjacent seats 21a and 21b. Each of the seats 21a, 21b has a seating/seat cushion 210 and a seat back 211. A vector B, which defines the viewing direction, extends perpendicularly to the front surface of the seat back 211. The chassis 20 has a normal line B which is perpendicular to the direction of travel F and which is equivalent to the viewing direction of the passengers or is parallel to said viewing direction, on the one hand, and forms the rotational axis for the swivelling or rotating motion of the passenger accommodation 21 relative to the chassis 20, on the other hand. This means that the rotational or pendulum motions essentially are generated in a plane which is oriented parallel to the direction of travel F. In another embodiment there may be a tilt of the plane of the pendulum motion relative to the normal vector of the chassis of between 0° and 90°. In particular, a tilt of 90° exists between the normal vector and the plane of the rotational motion, i.e. the viewing direction and rotational axis are parallel to the normal vector of the chassis or coincide with the same.

(11) The normal vector typically is assumed to be oriented in the z-direction, or is defined to be the z-direction. However, the vector can also be oriented in the y-direction (transverse to the direction of travel). In the latter embodiment, the rail in FIG. 3 would be turned by 90° in the horizontal plane and the passenger support would remain unchanged.

(12) However, in one alternative embodiment, not shown here, the direction of travel and the viewing direction could be at an angle of less than 90° to each other. In this case, the passenger accommodation would be arranged transversely, but not perpendicularly, to the direction of travel.

(13) The swivelling/rotating motion preferably is conducted in a plane perpendicular to the viewing direction B, as is illustrated in FIG. 4. The rotational axis B (not labelled in FIG. 4) extends perpendicularly to the picture plane in the centre of the circle suggesting the 360° rotation. The swivelling/rotating motion can be limited, or rotations of 360° can be possible, as is schematically shown in FIG. 4.