Patent Application
20240082744
The present invention relates to the field of amusement rides, and particularly the field of flying theatres. Flying theaters are typically comprised of multiple rows of passengers seat, with the rows stacked vertically during the show portion of the ride. The passenger seat rows typically are capable of some degree of vertical movement during the show, to simulate a sensation of flying that coordinates with a video presentation shown to the riders.
The present invention in particular represents an improvement in flying theatre rides as it provides for additional degrees of movement, lighter weight, and a greater sensation of movement imparted to passengers.
Related art exists in the form of the Soarin' rides operated at Disney theme parks. U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,954 to Sumner, is assigned to Disney Enterprises, Inc., and describes a ride similar to the Soarin' rides. As seen in that patent, the passenger seat rows are attached to a rigid members connected by hinges that move the passenger seat rows in a generally circular path from the loading configuration to show configuration. U.S. Pat. No. 9,254,040 to Foster, et al., describes another flying theater in which the passenger seat rows are suspended from overhead arms or platforms. U.S. Pat. No. 9,463,391 describes yet another flying theater configuration, in which multiple passenger seat rows are mounted on a platform, which serves as a floor during loading; the platform is then pivoted into a vertical position for the show portion of the ride. These and other related inventions all suffer drawbacks, such as limited motion, excess weight, or limited passenger capacity.
The present invention relates to the field of amusement rides, and particularly the field of flying theatres. Flying theaters are typically comprised of multiple rows of passengers seat, with the rows stacked vertically during the show portion of the ride. The passenger seat rows typically are capable of some degree of vertical movement during the show, to simulate a sensation of flying that coordinates with a video presentation shown to the riders. The present invention in particular represents an improvement in flying theatre rides as it provides for additional degrees of movement, lighter weight, and a greater sensation of movement imparted to passengers.
Flying theaters often are relegated to a more casual experience, having to increase range of motion to offset low acceleration or vice versa. The present invention aims to provide an experience that can cover all ranges of flying theater needs allowing ride operators to get the most out of the ride.
The present invention improves on previous flying theaters because it provides guests greater motion, and additional types of motion accomplished in unique ways. The performance parameters of the theater give it the unique ability to not only smoothly replicate the motion of a light flying experience but also simulate motions that are more aggressive than in existing flying theater rides. Guests experience turbulence and more exciting experiences that would otherwise be sacrificed due to limitations in the range of motion or quality of experience of existing rides that would take the rider out of the experience.
The present invention is intended to replicate the motion of a non-specific flying machine, having the ability to replicate motions that are more aggressive than the traditional floating or gliding experience. The degrees of motion can be broken down into five types: the takeoff and media reveal, primary heave, secondary heave, roll, and finally pitch.
In one embodiment, the invention comprises one or more rows of passenger seats or cabins, each cabin associated with a carriage and a transport, supported by a superstructure. Each transport has one or more sets of wheel assemblies or bogies adapted to guide the transport (and by extension the carriage, and cabin) along a set of rails. Each rail exhibits a compound curvature along its length and comprises three sections: a loading section, a transition section, and a show section. During loading, the cabins are disposed generally below the superstructure, transport, and carriage in a hanging arrangement. After loading, the transports are moved into the show position through the operation of a set of drums and cables attached to one or more of the transports. As the cables are retracted by the drums, the riders first move forward, then forward and up along a second curvature in the rail, and then finally in a predominantly upward direction along the final portion of the rails. In the vertical or show position, each cabin is capable of being moved up and down (secondary heave), pitching up or down, and rolling.
In another embodiment, the invention comprises one or more rows of passenger seats or cabins, each cabin associated with a carriage and a transport, supported by a superstructure. Each transport has one or more sets of wheel assemblies or bogies adapted to guide the transport (and by extension the carriage, and cabin) along a set of rails. Each rail exhibits a compound curvature along its length and comprises three sections: a loading section, a transition section, and a show section. During loading, the cabins are disposed generally above the superstructure, transport, and carriage, with the transport and carriage acting as a floor during loading. After loading, the transports are moved into the show position through the operation of a set of drums and cables attached to one or more of the transports. As the cables are released by the drums, the riders first move forward, then forward and down along a second curvature in the rail, and then finally in a predominantly downward direction along the final portion of the rails. In the vertical or show position, each cabin is capable of being moved up and down (secondary heave), pitching up or down, and rolling.
A person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, or components thereof, described herein. These and other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in combination with the accompanying drawings and by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
Example embodiments will be described and explained with additional specify and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings.
While certain embodiments have been provided and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments described herein may be employed, and are part of the invention described herein.
The present invention relates to the field of amusement rides, and particularly the field of flying theatres. Flying theaters are typically comprised of multiple rows of passengers seat, with the rows stacked vertically during the show portion of the ride. The passenger seat rows typically are capable of some degree of vertical movement during the show, to simulate a sensation of flying that coordinates with a video presentation shown to the riders. The present invention in particular represents an improvement in flying theatre rides as it provides for additional degrees of movement, lighter weight, and a greater sensation of movement imparted to passengers.
Flying theaters often are relegated to a more casual experience, having to increase range of motion to offset low acceleration or vice versa. The present invention aims to provide an experience that can cover all ranges of flying theater needs allowing ride operators to get the most out of the ride.
The present invention improves on previous flying theaters because it provides guests greater motion, and additional types of motion accomplished in unique ways. The performance parameters of the theater give it the unique ability to not only smoothly replicate the motion of a light flying experience but also simulate motions that are more aggressive than in existing flying theater rides. Guests experience turbulence and more exciting experiences that would otherwise be sacrificed due to limitations in the range of motion or quality of experience of existing rides that would take the rider out of the experience.
The present invention is intended to replicate the motion of a non-specific flying machine, having the ability to replicate motions that are more aggressive than the traditional floating or gliding experience. The degrees of motion can be broken down into five types: the takeoff and media reveal, primary heave, secondary heave, roll, and finally pitch.
The carriage 130 contains the mechanism that allows the cabin 110 to experience additional types of movement described below. The carriage 130 is movably attached to the transport 120 via two or more support gimbal assemblies that allow the carriage to rotate and slide up, down, and side to side relative to the transport when in the show stage of the ride. The support gimbal assemblies utilize linear slides for guiding of motion, and a turntable style bearing to allow for rotation. In a preferred embodiment, two gimbal assemblies are used. Where two or more gimbal assemblies are used, it is preferred that one of the assemblies does not allow side to side lateral motion in order to constrain the carriage 130 and cabin 110. The gimbal assembly aspect of the invention is described in more detail with respect to
Together, the passenger cabin 110, transport 120, and carriage 130 are referred to as the “ride vehicle” 105.
A viewing screen (not pictured) is located to the left side of the superstructure 190 in the view shown in
During the loading stage, the carriage 130 is disposed below each transport 120. As described below, the carriages 130 include mechanisms that allow the cabin to roll and pitch while in operation. The cabin 110 is attached in a pivotable manner to the carriage 130. As shown in
In this embodiment, the flying theater 100 has two rails 150 along which the transport 120 moves during operation. The flying theater 100 of this embodiment uses a drum 141 and cable 142 to accomplish movement of the ride vehicle 105. This embodiment in particular uses two drum 141 and cable 142 sets, one located on each side of the flying theater 100. Together, the drum 141 and cable 142 are sometimes referred to as a “heave system” 140. Movement of the ride vehicle 105 along the rails is referred to as “heave.” A primary heave is used for major flight motion ranges (e.g., from loading to show positions), while secondary heave can be used in combination with primary heave for additional motion at the ends of the primary heave range or to add smoothness and/or additional accelerations in directional changes for the primary heave. Secondary heave is explained in more detail below. In a preferred embodiment, more than one heave system is used, both for redundancy and for load sharing that will ensure repeatability.
In an alternative embodiment, the heave system may be comprised of a rack and pinion assembly, a pivoting screw drive system, a linear actuator system, or an actuated linkage system could also be utilized. For example, a motor attached to the wheels of the bogies could work as well as a “pinch drive” where gas springs, coil springs, or compressed rubber pads would be compressed to provide the friction force for the drive wheels to not slip along the path.
When the cable 142 is taken in or wound around the drum 141, the ride vehicle 105 will begin to move with a forward surge along the first rail segment 151, or to the left in the side view of
As the ride vehicle 105 reaches the end of the first segment of the rail 151, it moves into a composite curve, comprising at least a first and second rail segment. As the ride vehicle 105 moves to the second rail segment 152, the ride vehicle 105 will accelerate more rapidly upward. The second rail segment 152 in this embodiment has a greater radius of curvature than the first segment 151, thus simulating an abrupt launch into the air. The portion of travel that takes place along the second rail segment 153 is often referred to as “media reveal” as it is typically during this portion of the ride that the riders are first able to see the images being displayed on the view screen. Movement along the tight radius has the added benefit of providing additional G forces in the cabin seat pan such that when the guest enters the third rail section 153, the guest experiences a sensation of weightlessness.
As the drum 141 continues to take in the cable 142, the ride vehicle 105 will move to the third rail section 153 that is substantially vertical and has a lesser radius of curvature than the second rail segment 152, as shown in
With the ride vehicle 105 in show position, the rider can experience three types of movement. One type of movement is “secondary heave,” which is vertical movement of the cabin due to the activation of actuators in the carriage and/or from activation of the heave system 140.
Preferably, the carriage will include at least two heave actuators 135 distributed along the length of the carriage 130 to facilitate secondary heave during the ride. The heave system 140 can optionally be engaged in tandem with the heave actuator 135 to increase the travel distance and/or speed of the cabin during the secondary heave motion.
The secondary heave utilizes two actuators 135 to support the guest compartment as well as provide additional heave with a travel of around 10.13 inches. The maximum speed preferably would not exceed 1 ft/s with a maximum acceleration of 0.1 G. The relatively low G forces experienced by the secondary heave is because the secondary heave is intended to act as a support for providing the sensation of additional range of motion, or smaller bumps for turbulence or similar types of motion encountered.
Another type of movement capable with the present invention is pitch, illustrated in
A third type of movement made possible by the invention is roll.
In
In the embodiment shown in
In alternative embodiments, the ride vehicle 105 may comprise more than two heave actuators. For example, a third actuator may be situated at approximately the lateral midpoint of the ride vehicle 105, etc. Similar methods could be employed to perform a roll maneuver in this variation. For example, a roll could be effected by having all three actuators lift, but to different degrees. Alternatively, the left side actuator could lift the left end of the cabin, the middle actuator could remain in a neutral position, and the right side actuator could drop the right end of the cabin to simulate a roll toward the right side. A person of skill in the art will understand that various combinations of activation may be effected according to this invention.
In a preferred embodiment, the range of motion for the roll is slight as the roll is meant to accentuate any rolling camera work in the media being presented to the guests. In a preferred embodiment, the carriage can roll a maximum of +/−2 degrees (roll left and roll right) for a full range of 4 degrees, at a maximum speed of 2 deg/s and a maximum acceleration of 6 deg/s{circumflex over ( )}2.
Having the two free pivot points allows the center of rotation to be moved such that the cabin bench can rotate about a variable location rather than a fixed central pivot point.
This freedom of motion is important as it enables the ride to simulate an airplane banking maneuvers in which the plane rolls left or right while turning. True banking in an airplane (and in animal movement) involves roll and yaw (rotation about the vertical axis) to accomplish a turn. However, yaw is not an practical form of motion in flying theaters, as it adds to the cost with little additional enjoyment added to the guest experience. Thus, the flying theater makes use of the movements described herein to simulate more motion than is actually occurring.
In a preferred embodiment the invention makes use of one or more gimbal assemblies to facilitate movement of the cabin.
Referring again to
As the rider's right side of the cabin 110 dips down during the roll maneuver, the rider's left side rises. A rigid cabin is subjected to stress during this maneuver. By employing the shown gimbal assemblies, the cabin is allowed to slide up and down, assisted by the vertical guide rails 123, 186. In order to relieve stress on the cabin during the maneuver, it is necessary to also cause one end of the cabin to move side to side to some degree. That is, at least one end of the cabin is allowed to travel in an arcuate path to relieve stress. This is accomplished by having the cabin attached to the slewing rings 184, 187 on each gimbal assembly 181, 185, and by having a horizontal guide rail on the gimbal assembly 181 on one end. In this embodiment, gimbal assembly 181 with the horizontal guide rail 183 is located on the rider's left side. The terms “vertical guide rail” and “horizontal guide rails” are used because the motion along these rails is predominantly vertical and horizontal, respectively, and because when in the neutral position, the guide rails will be aligned vertically and horizontally, respectively. As described below, during the ride maneuver, the rotation of the gimbal assembly means that travel along the vertical guide rail will also include a small horizontal component and travel along the horizontal guide rail will also include a small vertical component.
As the rider's left side rises (as shown in
The amount of horizontal travel along the horizontal guide rail 183 during a roll maneuver is typically so short that it would be imperceptible to the rider. Because of this it is not necessary to have a horizontal guide rail on the gimbal assembly on each end of the ride vehicle. In a preferred embodiment, the gimbal assembly on one end will not have a horizontal guide rail. By omitting the horizontal guide rail on the gimbal assembly on one end of the ride vehicle, there is an added benefit of security, as it will prevent excess horizontal sliding during the roll maneuver.
The embodiment described above and shown in
Another embodiment of the invention is depicted in
A viewing screen (not pictured) is located to the left side of the superstructure 1190 in the view shown in
During the loading stage, the carriage 1130 is disposed above each transport 1120. The carriages 1130 include mechanisms that allow the cabin to roll and pitch while in operation. The cabin 1110 is attached in a pivotable manner to the carriage 1130.
The pivot allows the cabin 1110 to pivot from a position above the carriage 1130 during loading to a hanging position substantially parallel to the carriage 1130 during the show portion of the ride (see
In this embodiment, the flying theater 1100 has two rails 1150 along which the transport 1120 moves during operation. The flying theater 1100 of this embodiment uses a drum 1141 and cable 1142 to accomplish movement of the ride vehicle 1105, in a similar manner as in
A length of cable 1142 is let out or taken in to the drum 1141 to move the ride vehicle 1105 along the rail 1150. The side view more clearly shows the compound curvature of the rail 1150. During loading, the transport 1120 is located along a substantially horizontal portion 1151 of the rail. The cable 1142 is attached to an attachment point (not shown) located on the transport 1120. In this embodiment, the cable is attached to an attachment point 1160 on the front transport 1120.
When the cable 1142 is let out or unwound around the drum 1141, the ride vehicle 1105 will begin to move with a forward surge along the first rail segment 1151, or to the left in the side view of
As the ride vehicle 1105 reaches the end of the first segment of the rail 1151, it moves into a composite curve, comprising at least a first and second rail segment. As the ride vehicle 1105 moves to the second rail segment 1152, the ride vehicle 1105 will accelerate more rapidly downward. The second rail segment 1152 in this embodiment has a greater radius of curvature than the first segment 1151, thus simulating an abrupt dive. The portion of travel that takes place along the second rail segment 1152 is often referred to as “media reveal” as it is typically during this portion of the ride that the riders are first able to see the images being displayed on the view screen. Movement along the tight radius has the added benefit of simulating a free fall with lessened G forces in the cabin seat pan such that when the guest enters the third rail section 1153 and comes to a stop, the guest experiences increased G forces.
As the drum 1141 continues to let out the cable 1142, the ride vehicle 1105 will move to the third rail section 1153 that is substantially vertical and has a lesser radius of curvature than the second rail segment 1152, as shown in
With the ride vehicle 1105 in show position, the rider can experience three types of movement. One type of movement is “secondary heave,” which is vertical movement of the cabin due to the activation of actuators in the carriage and/or from activation of the heave system 1140. The description of secondary heave and pitch shown in
As with the bottom-loading embodiment shown in
In another aspect of the invention, a primary heave is used for major flight motion ranges (e.g., from loading to show positions), while secondary heave can be used in combination with primary heave for additional motion at the ends of the primary heave range or to add smoothness and/or additional accelerations in directional changes for the primary heave.
In another aspect of the invention, when the ride comes to an end, the ride vehicle 105 is lowered along the guide rails 150 into a series of permanent magnetic brakes (not pictured) such that in the event of a fully catastrophic failure of the heave system 140, the ride would come to a safe stop.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “hereunder,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the word “or” is used in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list.
The above descriptions of illustrated embodiments of the system, methods, or devices are not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the system, methods, or devices are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the system, methods, or devices, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. The teachings of the system, methods, or devices provided herein can be applied to other processing systems, methods, or devices, not only for the systems, methods, or devices described.
The elements and acts of the various embodiments described can be combined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made to the system in light of the above detailed description.
In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the system, methods, or devices to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all processing systems that operate under the claims. Accordingly, the system, methods, and devices are not limited by the disclosure, but instead the scope of the system, methods, or devices are to be determined entirely by the claims.
While certain aspects of the system, methods, or devices are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the system, methods, or devices in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventors reserve the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the system, methods, or devices.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that methods and structures within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.
