United States Patent 7,921,781
Baker , et al. April 12, 2011
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Amusement park ride with vehicles pivoting about a common chassis to provide racing and other effects
Abstract
A ride system is provided that allows selective relative positioning of vehicles in an amusement or theme park ride to simulate racing or other effects. The ride system includes a chassis that is adapted to be supported by and to travel on or along a length of track of a particular ride. A support is attached to the chassis and moves with the chassis during operation of the ride. The ride system includes first and second passenger vehicles that are spaced apart on and supported by the support. A drive assembly is linked to the support and configured to rotate the support about its central axis. During support rotation, the first and second vehicles are moved concurrently relative to the track to alter their relative positioning. The vehicles are each rotated about an axis that extends parallel to the rotation axis, and the rotation may be independent or concurrent.
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Inventors: Baker; Paul E. (Porter Ranch, CA), Sumner; Mark W. (Saugus, CA), Howard; Derek (Pasadena, CA), Durham; David A. (Northridge, CA), Rose; Christopher J. (Canyon Country, CA), Crawford; David W. (Long Beach, CA)
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc. (Burbank, CA)
Appl. No.: 12/871,399
Filed: August 30, 2010
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Amusement parks continue to be popular worldwide with hundreds of millions of people visiting the parks each year. Park operators continuously seek new designs for thrill rides because these rides attract large numbers of people to their parks each year. Racing rides are a genre or type of ride that is very popular with guests. In theme and other parks, in addition to high-speed or thrill portions of rides, many rides incorporate a slower portion or segment to their rides to allow them to provide a "show" in which animation, movies, three-dimensional (3D) effects and displays, audio, and other effects are presented as vehicles proceed through such show portions. The show portions of rides are often run or started upon sensing the presence of a vehicle and are typically designed to be most effective when vehicles travel through the show portion at a particular speed.
As a result, it is desirable to provide a racing ride in which the speed, location, and orientation (e.g., face the riders toward a show or other display) of the vehicles can be controlled or guided, which generally rules out rider-controlled racing such as provided by go-karts and similar vehicles where the riders control their speed and location on a course. Guided or controlled vehicles are also desirable in many amusement park settings because they can be operated more safely to ensure that the vehicles do not collide with each other or structure adjacent to the track. Further, guided or controlled vehicles are also useful for providing a high guest throughput for a ride as there is less likelihood that a vehicle will be stopped on a track blocking additional vehicles from proceeding along the ride track or course.
To provide a racing simulation, ride designers have often implemented two sets of side-by-side tracks such as with racing or dueling roller coaster trains. Roller coasters normally have a predefined track loop, and riders load and unload at a platform or station such as at a low elevation when compared to the rest of the track. At the beginning of each ride cycle, a roller coaster car or a train of cars is towed up a relatively steep incline of an initial track section to the highest point on the track. The train of cars is then released from the high point and gains kinetic energy that causes the train to travel around the track circuit or loop without further energy being added and return back to the loading/unloading station. The roller coaster track typically includes various loops, turns, inversions, corkscrews, and other configurations intended to thrill the riders. Racing or dueling roller coasters typically have two side-by-side endless track loops, with the tracks parallel to each other. In this way, a roller coaster train on the first track can race with a roller coaster train on the second track. The racing feature provides added thrills and excitement for the riders as they compete with the nearby passengers of the other train.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the above problems by providing racing ride systems in which a vehicle support such as an arm or span beam is provided on a common chassis that rides on a track. Two or more vehicles are mounted upon the support, and the support is rotated (e.g., about its central axis) to change the relative position of the vehicles such as to allow one vehicle to pass the other as the chassis travels on the track. To provide a desired orientation of the vehicles, each of the vehicles may be mounted such that it can be rotated or pivoted on the support. In some cases, a drive assembly is provided in or on the support that responds to driving forces to rotate the support and to also rotate the vehicles. The rotation of the support and vehicles may be performed concurrently and also be similar in magnitude and rate. In this manner, racing vehicles may continue to face forward or in the direction of travel even though the support is rotating, e.g., to better simulate racing cars or the like as the passengers/guests continue to face forward.
More particularly, a ride system is provided that allows selective relative positioning of vehicles in an amusement or theme park ride such as to simulate racing or other desired effects such as to enhance a show portion of a ride. The ride system includes a chassis that is adapted to be supported by and to travel on or along a length of track of a particular ride. A support is attached to the chassis so as to move with the chassis during operation of the ride. The ride system also includes at least first and second passenger vehicles (or bodies) (e.g., some rides have 2, 3, 4, or more vehicles) that are spaced apart on and supported by the support. A drive assembly is linked to the support and configured to rotate the support about a rotation axis such as a central axis of the support. During such support rotation, the first and second vehicles are moved concurrently relative to the track to alter their relative positioning. The first and second vehicles may be positioned on the support such that the rotation axis extends between them and, in some embodiments, the vehicles are each rotated about an axis that extends parallel to the rotation axis such as by having a mounting element rotated by the drive assembly. The vehicle rotation may be independent but in some cases is concurrent or partially concurrent, e.g., with each other and/or with the rotation of the support. In some cases, the vehicles share a common orientation relative to a direction of travel along the track and the drive assembly is configured to maintain this common orientation during the rotation of the vehicles about their individual rotation axes.
