Amusement Slide Contact Surface

Abstract

An amusement slide member with a rider sled that has a contact surface comprised of protrusions perpendicular to the sled bottom. This contact surface in combination with a low coefficient of friction slide surface makes for a low coefficient of friction between the rider sled and the slide.

Claims

1. A sled for an amusement slide comprising a substantially horizontally flat sled with a bottom, top, and sides with a functional contact material on the bottom of the sled comprised of a substantially horizontal plane parallel and attached to the sled bottom, with protrusions extending away from the horizontal plane.

2. A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material on any of the sides of the sled where the protrusions would be generally perpendicular from the side of the sled.

3. A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material with protrusions extending away from the horizontal plane selected from the group consisting of loop protrusions, hooks from hook and loop fasteners, loops from hook and loop fasteners, straight protrusions, straight protrusions with the bulbous ends.

4. A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material with protrusions extending away from the horizontal plane selected from the group consisting of a material with low stiffness, high stiffness, low toughness, high toughness, low hardness, or high hardness.

5. A sled as in claim one further comprised of functional contact material with the density of protrusions being at least 5 per square inch.

6. A slide for an amusement ride comprising a downward sloping plane comprising a functional material with protrusions extending generally perpendicular away from the sloping plane.

7. A functional contact material between a rider and a slide in a slid amusement ride selected from the group consisting of loop protrusions, hooks from hook and loop fasteners, loops from hook and loop fasteners, straight protrusions, straight protrusions with the bulbous ends.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of one embodiment of a sliding sled.

[0016] FIG. 2. is a bottom view of one embodiment of the sled.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a top-perspective view of the sled.

[0018] FIG. 4 is the front view of the sled

[0019] FIG. 5 is a close-up view of the material that makes up the functional contact material of the sled.

[0020] FIG. 6 shows a side view of the functional contact material.

[0021] FIG. 7 shows two of the common configurations of the bottom functional contact material.

[0022] FIG. 8 shows the sled on a slide surface.

[0023] FIG. 9 shows one configuration of the functional contact material.

[0024] FIG. 10 shows a configuration with the functional contact material on the side of the sled.

[0025] FIG. 11 shows a sled without the functional contact material and instead the smooth slide surface.

[0026] FIG. 12 shows a sled on a slide with the functional contact material on the slide face.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the present invention.

[0028] The overall invention is the amusement slide-sled combination and specifically the material on the sled bottom 12, the functional contact material, in combination with the material on the slide surface 17, and any geometrical configuration with the sled-slide interaction.

[0029] A rider is positioned on the top of the sled 11 which has a functional contact material 12 on the bottom. The functional contact material 12 is comprised of material that has individual extensions generally perpendicular to the horizontal of the material plane, and therefore perpendicular to the slide surface, not unlike a hook and loop fastener material. It should be noted that this is different than a carpet or a rug surface because the protrusions in this invention have a higher stiffness than what is found in a carpet or rug. These extensions 15 can be loops 15, hooks 16, or straight bristle-like structures 18. The bristle-like structures may have a bulbous end 19, or they may just be straight bristles. FIG. 5 shows a close-up of a loop configuration.

[0030] Extensions 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 can be made of any material, including but not limited to nylon, polyurethane, Teflon, Acrylic, Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS). steel, aluminum, or any metal.

[0031] The sliding surface 17 may also be any material including but not limited to nylon, polyurethane, Teflon, Acrylic, Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS). steel, aluminum, or any metal.

[0032] The functional contact material 12 and the slide surface 17 create a low coefficient of friction, reducing the resistance to the sled traversing the slide. This lower resistance creates a faster slide experience. One advantage to this increased speed is a lower overall height and a lower angle to achieve the same sliding speed.

[0033] In one embodiment the slide surface is comprised of the functional contact material 12 and the sled bottom then has the slide surface 17. FIGS. 11 and 12 show this configuration.

[0034] In another embodiment, the sides of the sled have the functional contact material 12, this then is a contact surface if the sled touches the side of the slide or if the sled is directed through a channel.

[0035] In another embodiment the sled has a geometry that fits into a channel on the slide surface, this geometry is covered with the functional contact material 12.

[0036] In one embodiment the functional contact material has very short and wide protrusions creating very stiff protrusions.

[0037] The protrusions 15 are connected to the base horizontal material 12 through any connecting means, including but not limited to woven, shared, or laminated.

[0038] The functional contact material may include a backing layer having a first surface with an array of upstanding stems (protrusions). The protrusions may be of any density per square inch.