The invention concerns an amusement ride, with at least one travel path for cars provided with at least one seat and with at least one screen arranged adjacent to the travel path,
Amusement rides are known that have tracks on which cars provided with seats for passengers are traveling. The cars are moved past stationary screens on which movies are shown. The movies are preferably designed such that the passengers by means of appropriate gaming devices such as light guns can shoot at objects on the shown image in order to collect points in this way. Since the screens are however stationarily arranged next to the tracks, the visual impression for the traveling passengers is not optimal.
The invention has the object to design an amusement ride of the aforementioned kind in such a way that the passengers in the car have an optimal game experience.
This object is solved for the amusement ride of the aforementioned kind in accordance with the present invention in that the screen follows the car at least over a section of its travel path.
In the amusement ride according to the invention, the screens are not arranged stationarily but they follow the car with the passengers at least over a section of its travel path. In this way, the passengers in the car have a long-lasting visual contact with the screen or the movie being shown on it. In this way, the passengers have a very realistic impression of the movie action happening on the screen.
The invention will be explained in more detail with the embodiment illustrated in the drawings. It is shown in:
The amusement ride comprises e.g. tracks as a travel path 1. Also conceivable is a driverless transport system (DTS). On the travel path 1 a car 2 is movable that has several seats 3 for persons. While traveling on the travel path 1, the car 2 can be rotated in a controlled fashion on the travel path 1 about an axis that is perpendicular to the travel path.
The car 2 is oriented on the travel path 1 always in such a way that the persons seated on the seats 3 view a screen 4 that is movable by a carriage 5 on a travel path 6 that is formed for example by tracks. Instead of the carriage 5 any other type of transport element can be used. For example, it can be moved along a rail. The transport element can be arranged so as to be suspended from a rail, for example. The movement of the carriage 5 along the travel path 6 is advantageously matched to the movement of the car 2 on the travel path 1 such that the viewers in the car 2 always have the same viewing angle relative to the screen 4. The screen 4 is for this purpose advantageously adjustable about three axes. The carriage 5 has a pivot axis 7 that is positioned perpendicularly to the travel path 6 and by means of which a support 8 can be rotated. An arm 9 projects from the support and has at its free end a pivot axis 10 that is perpendicular to the pivot axis 7. A support arm 11 is fixedly mounted on the axis and a screen 4 is pivotably connected with its back to the support arm. At the free end of the support arm 11 there is a further pivot axis 12 that is positioned parallel to the pivot axis 10 and about which the screen 4 can be pivoted relative to the support arm 11. The pivot axes 7, 10, 12 are controlled axes that can be actuated by a control unit (not illustrated).
On the carriage 5 additional screens 4 can be provided that are advantageously adjustable independent from one another in the described way.
On the opposite side of the travel path 1 there is a further travel path 13 on which a carriage 14 is movable. The travel path 13 is also formed by tracks, rails and the like. The carriage 14 can be any suitable transport element that, for example, is suspended from a rail. On the carriage 14 a projecting device 15 is supported with which a movie is projected onto the screen 4. The projecting device 15 can be moved advantageously also about three axes relative to the carriage 14 so that the projecting device 15 is always oriented in a direction perpendicular to the screen 4. The carriage 14 has a support 16 that is pivotable about an axis 17 that is perpendicular to the travel direction of the carriage 14. The pivot axis 17 is positioned parallel to the axis 7 of the carriage 5. An arm 18 projects transversely from the support 16 and has at its free end a pivot axis 19 that is perpendicular to the pivot axis 17. A support arm 20 is fixedly connected to this axis and the projecting device 15 is pivotably connected to the free end of this support arm. It can be pivoted about a pivot axis 21 positioned parallel to the axis 19 relative to the support arm 20.
The pivot axes 17, 19, 20 are controlled axes that can be actuated by the control unit (not illustrated). By means of the control unit also the rotation of the car 2 is realized. The movements of projecting device 15, screen 4 and car 2 are matched relative to one another by the control unit in such a way that the passengers seated in the car 2 always have a proper viewing angle relative to the screen 4 so that they can optimally view the action happening on the screen.
The screen 4 is a large format screen so that the action on the screen can be watched easily by the viewers.
The carriage 14 can have at least one further projecting device 15 in particular when the carriage 5 has a matching number of screens 4.
In the illustrated embodiment the image is projected in front projection onto the screen 4. Of course, also rear projection is possible. In this case, the projecting device 15 is arranged on the carriage 5. The travel path 13 is thus not required.
It is advantageous when the spacing of the screen 4 to the car 2 can be changed. This distance change is, for example, possible in that the arm 9 is slidably supported on the support 8. In the same way, the arm 18 can be slidable on the support 16 of the carriage 14.
The control-technological connection between the two carriages 5, 14 can be realized by means of cables. In principle, it is however also possible to make this connection wireless.
While the car 2 moves on the travel path 1, the screen 4 is always tracked in such a way that the viewers in the car 2 have visual contact with the screen 4. The car and carriages 2, 5, 14 in the position shown to
It is however advantageous when the screen 4 upon returning with the next car will cooperate on the travel path 1 in the described way. The screen 4 and the projecting device 15 upon returning are always adjusted to the car 2 on the travel path 1 in such a way that the viewers seated in the car 2 can view the screen 4. This is possible because the screen 4 as well as the projecting device 15 are pivotable about the different axes and optionally also are adjustable in the described way by a translatory movement. The car 2, the screen 4, and the projecting device 15 are adjusted by the control unit in such a way that during travel of the car 2 in the area of the travel paths 6, 13 the viewers in the car 2 always have visual contact with the screen 4.
When comparing
When the car 2 has reached the position III, it is aligned such that the viewers look onto a stationary screen 22. In this area, the travel path 1 is parallel to the screen 22 and the car 2 is rotated such that the viewers have visual contact with the stationary screen 22.
When it reaches the level of the leading end of the stationary screen 22 in the travel direction, the car 2 is rotated in clockwise direction so that the viewers have visual contact with the screen 4 provided in front of them (position IV).
Depending on the course of the travel path 1 the video devices can be arranged at different positions. The arrangement shown in
Opposite the travel paths 6, as has been disclosed in connection with
Depending on the movies that are shown on the screens 4, the orientation of the car 2 and of the screens 4 and projecting devices 15 can be programmed freely.
The cars 2 can be provided with operating elements in order to provide the viewers on the seats 3 with the possibility of actively engaging in the action shown on the screens 4. For example, the viewers must shoot with laser guns or the like at targets on the screens 4 that are attacking. Such games are known and therefore require no further explanation. The car 2 or the seats 3 for this purpose are provided with corresponding game interfaces.
It is also possible that viewers seated in the car 2 are in competition with viewers waiting in front of the amusement ride. A prerequisite for this is that on the screens 4 a corresponding game is shown. The game is shown on a screen to the persons waiting in front of the amusement ride. With corresponding game interfaces, the viewers in the car 2 can play against those waiting in front of the amusement ride.
Furthermore, there is the possibility that the viewers in the car 2 play against a gaming computer whose games are transmitted to the screens 4. Such video games are known. There is the possibility that the video game has different levels that must be reached by the viewers in the car 2. Once a gaming level has been reached, this can be rewarded in that the car 2 is moved onto the next section of the amusement ride where the viewers in the car 2 have access to the next level of the game. When this level has been reached, it is possible, for example, to move the car 2 onto the next travel path section. In this way, depending on the number of gaming levels, the car 2 can be advanced onto different travel path sections. Of course, other rewards are also possible when the gaming level has been reached.
In the shown embodiment, the cars 2 and the screens 4 as well as the projecting devices 15 are rotated. It is also possible to rotate the travel paths 6, 13 about an axis that is perpendicular to the travel direction of the carriages 5, 14.
The specification incorporates by reference the entire disclosure of German priority document 10 2007 048 012.3 having a filing date of Sep. 27, 2007.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2007 048 012 | Sep 2007 | DE | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1890137 | Traver | Dec 1932 | A |
5716281 | Dote | Feb 1998 | A |
5785592 | Jacobsen | Jul 1998 | A |
6462769 | Trowbridge et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6463859 | Ikezawa et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6796908 | Weston | Sep 2004 | B2 |
20060293110 | Mendelsohn | Dec 2006 | A1 |
20100062866 | Schnuckle | Mar 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20090084285 A1 | Apr 2009 | US |