WO1998042421A1

WO1998042421A1 - Funfair ride with swing arm

Info

Publication number: WO1998042421A1
Application number: PCT/IT1997/000282
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alberto Fabbri
Original assignee: Fabbri Amusement Manufacturing
Priority date: 1997-03-21
Filing date: 1997-11-17
Publication date: 1998-10-01
Also published as: IT1292695B1; AU5134398A; ITMO970048A1; DE29802133U1

Abstract

A ride (1) destined in particular for use in amusement parks, comprises a bearing structure (2) which is composed of four legs (3) and which has a swing arm (6) pivoted thereto. The swing arm (6), when commanded by a motor (6), can perfom a pendular swing oscillation motion about a horizontal rotation axis. A gondola (7) for transport of passengers is mounted to an end of the swing arm (6). The motor (9) is made solid to the swing arm (6) in its pendular oscillation motion.

Description

Funfair Ride with Swing Arm

Technical Field

The invention relates to a ride with a swing arm, destined in particular for use in amusement parks. Background Art

The prior art teaches a small car or gondola for transporting passengers which is commanded to make swinging movements. The gondola is mounted at an end of an arm which is pivoted at an opposite end to a bearing structure. The arm swings with its oscillation axis horizontal and above the ground. The swinging movement of the arm and gondola is commanded by means of a rubberised and motorised wheel, friction-coupled to a track which is solidly constrained on the gondola. The track is as long as the bottom of the gondola; the wheel is arranged below the gondola and is externally tangential to the gondola. The swinging movement is impressed on the gondola through the friction force transmitted in the contact between wheel and track. A drawback of is ride is that the thrusting action of the motorized wheel on the gondola can be exerted for only a limited arc of oscillation of the gondola. The arc of action of the wheel is limited by a geometric factor: when the oscillation exceeds the above-mentioned limit there is loss of contact between the motorised wheel and the track, and the wheel can no longer impress any thrust on the gondola. A further drawback is represented by the fact that the thrust force which can be transmitted through friction contact between the wheel and the track is relatively small; the force depends, among other things, on the friction coefficient between the wheel (made of rubber) and the track (made of steel).

A main aim of the present invention is to realize a ride which obviates the above- mentioned limits and drawbacks in the prior art. An advantage of the present invention is mat it provides a constructionally simple and economical ride.

A further advantage is that it is balanced and functions in equilibrium.

These aims and advantages and others besides are all achieved by the ride in question, as it is characterised in the claims mat follow, in which an arm is constrained to a bearing structure, which arm can on motorized command perform a swinging movement, the motor commanding such movement being solidly constrained on the arm. A passenger-carrying gondola is associated to the arm.

Disclosure of Invention Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will better emerge from the detailed description that follows of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment of the invention, illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying figures of the drawings, in which: figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a ride with a swing arm made according to the present invention; figure 2 is a partially-sectioned schematic view in vertical elevation of a detail of figure 1; figure 3 is a schematic lateral view of a second embodiment of the ride; figures from 4 to 6 show three different arrangements of seats for passengers on board the gondola of the invention.

With reference to above-mentioned figures 1 and 2, 1 denotes in its entirety a ride, especially for use in amusement parks, comprising a bearing structure 2 which elevates vertically and is provided with four legs 3 for resting on the ground. The bearing structure could also rest on a platform moved by a means for self-propulsion.

The legs 3 superiorly bear a cylindrical pivot 4, with horizontal axis, set at a predetermined distance from the ground. The cylindrical pivot 4 is rotatably coupled, with possibility of rotation about the axis of the pivot, with a sleeve- shaped tubular element 5, to which an arm 6 is solidly connected, said arm developing radially with respect to the rotation axis of the tubular element 5. A gondola 7 is mounted to an end of the arm 6, for transporting passengers. The arm 6 and the gondola 7 can on command perform a swinging-oscillating movement about the pivot 4 axis according to a vertical swinging plane. Two fixed cogged wheels 8 are solidly mounted, which wheels are coaxial to the pivot 4 and situated on opposite sides with respect to the tubular element 5, which therefore is comprised between the wheels 8. An electric motor 9 is predisposed at an end of the swing arm 6 opposite to the end bearing the gondola 7. The motor 9 is mounted on the tubular element 5 and rotates solidly therewith about the pivot 4. The motor 9 commands the rotation of a pair of reciprocally coaxial cogged rotatable wheels 10. The rotation axis of the rotatable wheels 10 is mobile and made solid with the arm 6 in its swinging movements. The rotatable wheels 10 are situated on opposite sides of the swinging plane of the arm 6. The motor 9 is connected to the wheels 10 by means of motion transmission organs, genetically denoted by 11. The rotatable wheels 10 are connected with the fixed wheels 8, which have a greater diameter than that of the rotatable wheels 10. The motion transmission organs 11 are predisposed such that the rotation of the rotatable wheels 10 is the same. The group formed by the motor 9, the rotatable wheels 8 and the fixed wheels 10 and the transmission organs 10 is substantially symmetrical with respect to the vertical swinging plane of the arm 6.

During functioning the motor 9 commands the equal rotation of the rotatable wheels 10 which engage with me fixed wheels 8; mis leads to the rotation of the arm 6 (and with it the gondola 7) about the pivot 4. By specially programming the motor 9 activation the desired oscillation motion of the arm 6 can be obtained. According to the invention the motor 9 for commanding the arm 6 motion is made solid to the arm 6 itself and acts on the rotatable wheels 10. In substance, the group formed by a rotatable wheel 10, the corresponding fixed wheel 8 and the swing arm 6 gives rise in its entirety to a mechanism which can be described schematically as a sort of epicycloid mechanism in which the fixed wheel 8 functions as a frame, while the mobile wheel 10 and the arm 6 represent respectively the planetary gear and the spider.

The ride 1 drive can effect its thrust action on the arm 6 whatever the oscillation arc of the arm itself. The coupling between the rotatable wheels 10 and the fixed wheels 8 is possible for any rotation excursion of the arm 6, even up to 360°.

The fact that the motor is located on the swinging part of the ride, instead of on the fixed part, means mat the motor and relative transmission organs are set on the arm 6 swinging plane, thus reducing the lateral masses and realizing a balanced structure in equilibrium during functioning. The swing axis of the arm 6 can be horizontal, as in the described examples, or inclined.

In other embodiments of the invention, a single fixed wheel could be used (similar to fixed wheels 8), or even three or four fixed wheels, side by side, instead of two, as in the described embodiment. The motor 9 could be positioned, with respect to the arm 6, in different positions from those shown in figures 1 and 2, in which the motor is substantially aligned with the arm; the motor could, for example, be located by the side of the arm 6, parallel or transversal to the arm 6 swing plane.

The swing arm 6 activating motor can comprise two or more motors which swing solidly with the arm 6. Each fixed wheel could be coupled to a plurality of rotatable wheels. The motor, which in the described embodiment is electric, might be of another type, for example hydraulic.

In the example illustrated in figures 1 and 2, the arm 6 support legs 3 are four in number, though it would be possible to have a bearing structure provided with a different number of support legs. In a second embodiment, schematically illustrated in figure 3, a swing arm 6', bearing at an end thereof a gondola 7, is mounted projectingly on a bearing structure 2' provided with a single support 3' upright. In this case, too, the motor 9' is mounted on the mobile arm 6'. The gondola can be rotatably mounted on the mobile arm 6', and thus be rotatable about a rotation axis which preferably coincides with the longitudinal axis of the arm 6' itself, thus enabling a special combination of movements to be realised, all to increase the fun quotient for passengers.

Figures from 4 to 6 schematically show some possible arrangements of the passenger seats 12a, 12b, 12c on a gondola 7. The seats can be arranged so that the passengers face inwards, that is, can be facing the swing arm 6 (figure 4), or can face outwards (figure 5). The gondola 7 can be made in such a way that the passengers on board the gondola 7 have their legs suspended in the air during functioning (see figure 6).

Claims

αaims.

1). A ride with a swing arm, of a type comprising a bearing structure (2) to which a swing arm (6) is constrained, which swing arm (6) can perform a swinging motion on command of a motor (9); said swing arm (6) bearing at an end thereof a gondola (7) for transporting passengers, wherein said motor (9) is solidly constrained on said swing arm (6) during pendular movements thereof.

2) The ride of claim 1, wherein said motor (9) is predisposed at an end of said swing arm (6) which end is opposite to the end thereof bearing the gondola (7).

3) The ride of claim 1 or 2, wherein said motor (9) is associated to at least one rotatable wheel (10), a rotation axis of said rotatable wheel (10) being constrained to the swing arm (6), the rotatable wheel (10) being connected to a fixed wheel (8) constrained to the bearing structure (2).

4) The ride of claim 3, comprising two rotatable wheels (10) situated on opposite sides of a swing plane of the swing arm (6), each of said two rotatable wheels (10) being connected to a respective fixed wheel (8). 5) The ride of claim 4, wherein said rotatable wheels (10) are reciprocally coaxial and rotate in a same direction.

6) The ride of any one of claims from 3 to 6, wherein the motor (9) is mounted on a tubular element (5) which is made solid to said swing arm (6) and which is rotatably coupled to a pivot (4) of the bearing structure (2), said fixed wheel (8) being made solid to and being coaxial to said pivot (4).

7) The ride of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gondola (7) is rotatable with respect to the arm (6).