Ride vehicle elevator and motion actuation
AssigneeUniversal City Studios LLC
InventorsMichael Keith Brister, Clarisse Marie Vamos, Michael Joseph Tresaugue
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An attraction system includes an elevator assembly having an elevator path that intersects a ride path of the attraction system, an elevator car having a support and configured to travel along the elevator path, a ride vehicle having a cabin coupled to a bogie, and a cabin projection of the cabin. The ride vehicle is configured to travel along the ride path via the bogie, in which the bogie is configured to travel into the elevator car via the ride path, and the support is configured to capture the cabin projection on at least two sides when the ride vehicle is in a loaded position.
Claims20
An attraction system, comprising:
- an elevator assembly comprising an elevator path, wherein the elevator path intersects a ride path of the attraction system;
- an elevator car comprising a support, wherein the elevator car is configured to travel along the elevator path;
- a ride vehicle comprising a cabin coupled to a bogie, wherein the ride vehicle is configured to travel along the ride path via the bogie, wherein the bogie is configured to travel into the elevator car via the ride path;
- and
- a cabin projection of the cabin, wherein the support is configured to capture the cabin projection on at least two sides when the ride vehicle is in a loaded position.
A method of operating an attraction system, comprising:
- actuating, via a motion base, a cabin of a ride vehicle relative to a bogie of the ride vehicle, wherein the motion base is disposed between the cabin and the bogie, and wherein the cabin comprises a cabin projection and the bogie comprises a bogie projection;
- directing the bogie along a ride path of the attraction system to engage the bogie projection with guides of an elevator car;
- and
- actuating, via the motion base, the cabin to engage the cabin projection with a support of the elevator car, wherein the ride vehicle is in a loaded position while the support captures the cabin projection on at least two sides.
A controller of an attraction system comprises a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a processor to:
- actuate, via a motion base, a cabin of a ride vehicle relative to a bogie of the ride vehicle, wherein the motion base is disposed between the cabin and the bogie, and wherein the cabin comprises a cabin projection and the bogie comprises a bogie projection;
- direct the bogie along a ride path of the attraction system to engage the bogie projection with guides of an elevator car;
- and
- actuate, via the motion base, the cabin to engage the cabin projection with a support of the elevator car, wherein the ride vehicle is in a loaded position while the support captures the cabin projection on at least two sides.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.