Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63G—MERRY-GO-ROUNDS; SWINGS; ROCKING-HORSES; CHUTES; SWITCHBACKS; SIMILAR DEVICES FOR PUBLIC AMUSEMENT
  • A63G3/00—Water roundabouts, e.g. freely floating

Definitions

• This invention relates to a revolving loading platform and in particular to a platform that operates in combination with an endless track conveyer to transport vehicles against the revolving platform for convenient loading.
• the amusement ride rail system of Bacon utilizes a rotating platform with a deformable peripheral bumper that frictionally engages the side of a passenger vehicle with wheels that engage a stationary arcuate rail to urge or maintain the vehicle against the platform bumper.
• the complex rail system of Bacon requires special engagement means on the vehicles which may interfere with the preferred means of the conveyance of the vehicle during the ride sequence.
• the floating boats of Bacon incongruosly include wheels.
• the loading system proposed by Bacon is not suitable for certain varieties and configurations of vehicles such as circular, free-floating rafts.
• the amusement ride loading terminal of this invention is primarliy devised for use with a circular floating raft.
• the design of a modern raft ride for an amusement park attempts to duplicate natural settings.
• the waterway is therefore designed with rapids, twists and turns to simulate a natural river.
• the raft is free-floating, buoyant and preferably circular to provide all occupants with an equal thrill as the raft freely floats down the water course. In each new run, the raft does not have the same orientation or exact course as in prior runs.
• a unique loading terminal was devised.
• the loading terminal combines a circular revolving passenger platform with an arcuate conveyer, vertically disposed and displaced from the outer edge of the platform.
• the floatation vehicle or raft floats on a water course to the platform and conveyer where it becomes wedged between them and transported against the platform for a portion of a platform revolution.
• the outer periphery of the raft is deformable, preferably a pneumatic, annular floatation device.
• To prevent the circular raft from rolling against the platform the arcuate portion of the conveyer in contact with the raft is operated at a linear speed equal to the equivalent extended diameter of the platform were it at the location of the arcuate contact portion of the conveyer.
• the platform, raft, and contact portion of the conveyer all have the same angular velocity.
• Passengers wishing to board a raft first step onto the stationary center of the platform.
• the passengers therefore steps on a very slow running area with relative safety.
• the relative speed of the passenger and raft are essentially the same.
• the raft is steadied by its frictional engagement with the periphery of the platform and contact segment of the conveyer, yet retains sufficient characteristics of an independent floatation vehicle to impress the boarding passenger with the realistic nature of the impending ride.
• the vehicle has specific or limited boarding avenues. For example, where a circular raft has one zone of its periphery dedicated for boarding or egress, this zone must be oriented against the revolving platform during the boarding or unloading process.
• a short, vertically disposed conveyer segment is independently operated at a speed having an angular equivalent different than the revolving platform. In this manner a roll is deliberately applied to the circular raft to cause it to orient the boarding zone against the platform. Once this orientation is achieved, the conveyer segment is operated at the proper speed to maintain the desired raft orientation as it is transported around with the revolving platform.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the passenger loading terminal of this invention.
• FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the terminal of FIG. 1.
• FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the conveyer in FIG. 1.
• FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the main conveyer drive mechanism.
• FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the orienting conveyer.
• a passenger loading terminal designated generally by the reference numeral 10 is shown.
• the loading terminal is particularly designed and constructed for continuous loading of amusement park passengers into independent floatation vehicles or rafts 12 for a simulated river raft ride.
• a raft 12 is engaged by a conventional belt conveyer 18 which carries the raft up an incline 20 and over a barrier wall 22 into an upper level waterway 24 where passengers are unloaded and loaded.
• Passengers approach the terminal on a walkway 26 and walk over a bridge 28 to a stationary center area 30 around which revolves a concentric platform 32.
• the platform 32 revolves at a relatively slow rate, particularly at the interface with the center area 30.
• Passengers can easily step onto the platform and walk to the outer peripheral edge 34 without any loss of balance.
• the rafts 12 Cooperating with the platform 32 to move the rafts 12 is an arcuate conveyer 36 which is displaced from the outer peripheral edge 34 of the platform 32.
• the rafts 12 have an outer pneumatic annulus 40 with an outside diameter greater than the displacement distance between the peripheral edge of the platform and an inner arcuate contact portion 42 of the conveyer.
• On engagement with the platform edge 34 and contact portion 42 the rafts become wedged therebetween and conveyed in conjunction with the revolving platform.
• the inner arcuate contact portion of the conveyer 36 is operated at a speed equivalent to the extended diameter speed of the platform were it coincident with this portion of the conveyer. In this manner the rafts have the same angular velocity as the platform relative to the rotational axis of the platform and do not roll along the platforms edge 34.
• the rafts 12 are selectively oriented by a short orientation conveyer 46 at the start of their transport in the upper level waterway 24.
• the orientation conveyer 46 By operating the orientation conveyer 46 faster or slower than the effective extended diameter velocity of the platform 32, the raft can be included to roll against the peripheral edge of the platform and be oriented as desired.
• the annular platform 32 has a series of inner and outer tracking wheels 48 for supporting the platform on rail 50 mounted on concentric stationary supports 51.
• the platform 32 is rotated around the center area 30 by four circumferentially spaced variable speed electrical drive motors 52 with a friction wheel 54 that engages a circular friction plate 56 on the underside of the platform.
• a number of horizental guide wheels 55 mounted on the inner edge structure 57 of the rotating platform run against a stationery, circular guide rail 59 embedded in the upper edge of the circular center concrete structure 61 as shown in FIG. 2.
• the bridge 28 provides an elevated walkway over the platform to allow passengers on the platform to walk or be carried under the bridge without interference.
• the peripheral edge 34 of the platform 32 has a contact perimeter of vertically mounted wooded slats or continuous steel plates 58 which cooperate with a series of vertically disposal wooden slats 60 on the conveyer 36 to oppositely engage the raft 12 wedged therebetween.
• the raft 12 is fabricated with an outer pneumatic floatation bladder 64, that emcompasses a plastic shell 68.
• the shell 68 has a plurality of seats 70 for a designated number of passengers, here six.
• the wooden slats or steel plates on the platform and wood slats on the conveyer provide a suitable contact surface for the pneumatic bladder, compressing the bladder slightly to generate the necessary traction for transport of the raft.
• the raft is thereby transported by the joint action of both the conveyer and platform.
• the slats 60 on the arcuate conveyer are mounted to upped and lower drive chains 62 shown in greater detail in FIG. 3.
• a typical chain support stanchion 72 is shown.
• a plurality of stanchions 72 are uniformly spaced around the length of the arcuate conveyer for support of curved upper and lower guide channels, 74 and 76, and, the contact portion 78 and return portion 80 of the moving conveyer track 82.
• the stanchion 72 is constructed with a base plate 84 for mounting the stanchion to the bed of the upper
• the base plate 84 has a vertical post 88 mounted thereto which supports upper and lower cross brackets 90 and 92 to which the guide channels 74 and 76 are attached.
• the guide channels are fabricated from sections of elongated curved L-beams, 94 and 96, which are welded together at their ends to provide the continuous arcuate conveyer configuration shown in FIG. 1.
• the inner and outer L-beams, 94 and 96, are jointly bolted to the cross brackets 90 and 92 by bolts 98.
• the moving conveyer track 82 is constructed with an upper link chain 100 that is arranged within the upper guide channel 74 and a lower link chain 102, that is arranged within the lower guide channel 76.
• Chain 102 is transported on a low friction slide bearing 104 attached to the lower guide channel 76 by anchor bolts 106.
• the upper and lower link chains are interconnected by the vertical wooden slats 60 which are bolted by carriage bolts 108 to angle iron brackets 110 that connect to the journal pins 112 of the link chain rollers 114. In this manner the displacement of the upper and lower link chains 100 & 102 maintained by the slats 60. As schematically illustrated in FIG.
• each end of the conveyer 36 includes a sprocket mechanism 122 to reverse the direction of the moving track 82.
• One end for example the raft entry end, has a drive motor 142 connected to the sprocket mechanism 122.
• the sprocket mechanism including the drive motor is shown in FIG. 4.
• a socket 124 is mounted to the bed 86 of the upper waterway 24.
• a support post 126 is inserted in the socket and, for the main conveyer, is secured from rotation in the socket by a set screw 128.
• the support post 126 has two horizontal support arms 130 connected to a journal casing 132 in which a journal 134 is vertically mounted.
• the journal has a sprocket 136 at each end which engages the upper and lower link chains, 100 and 102.
• a drive spindle 138 Extending from the journal at the top sprocket is a drive spindle 138 which is keyed to the rotor 140 of the variable speed electric motor 142.
• the motor 142 is supported on a bracket 144 connected to a top mounting plate 146 on the support post 126 by a shock mount 148.
• Operation of the drive motor 142 for the conveyer is regulated by conventional control systems to coordinate conveyer speed with the speed of the contact portion 78 of the revolving platform to prevent roll of the rafts along the conveyer and platform.
• conveyer speed is accordingly adjusted.
• engaged vehicles will roll against the platform and reorient themselves for convenient loading or unloading. Preferable the orientation is accomplished by a separate mechanism described hereafter.
• the short orientation conveyer 46 includes a sprocket mechanism 122 at each similar to that shown in FIG. 4. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the orientation conveyer 46 includes a hydraulic or pheumatic activation mechanism 150 mounted at one end to the bed 86 of the upper waterway 24 and at the other end to the conveyer 46 to pivot the conveyer 46 about the axis of the support post 152. In this manner the conveyer can be swung across the waterway to shunt selected rafts into a spur waterway 154 for removal from service. In such a system, the sprocket mechanism 122 at the swinging end is not supported in a socket but includes a support roller at its bottom end (not shown).
• the support post 152 at the pivotal end is 149a and 149b of an interconnecting support structure 151, is not pinned by a set screw to its support socket, but is free to pivot therein.
• the orientation conveyer 46 is employed to roll the raft by a differential in the effective angular speed of the conveyer relative to the platform by variations in the speed of a variable speed drive motor 153.
• the orientation conveyer 46 has a vertically disposed conveying surface 155 with a contact portion 157 displaced from the peripheral edge or circular periphery 34 of the platform.
• a raft 12 becomes engaged between the orientation conveyer and the platform and is rotated by an effective differential arcuate speed between the contact portion 157 of the conveyer 46 and the periphery 34 of the platform produced by a variable speed drive motor 159.
• the conveyer 46 is slowed or stopped until a strategically mounted detectable plate 156 is detected adjacent the platform by an elongated bed-mounted, sensor plate 158.
• the approporated compatible speed of the orientation conveyer to the platform is resumed, thus maintaining the selected proper positioning of the raft for unloading and loading.

Landscapes

• Escalators And Moving Walkways (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22174871

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 1983
  • 1983-03-09 DE DE8383901849T patent/DE3377784D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1983-03-09 WO PCT/US1983/000311 patent/WO1984003477A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1983-03-09 EP EP83901849A patent/EP0137780B1/de not_active Expired
  • 1983-03-09 AT AT83901849T patent/ATE36680T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (3)

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