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US 10,471,362 B2Granted
Tower ride
OwnerWilliam J Kitcheninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tower ride is disclosed with suspended cars mounted on rails that that forms track that is a complete double helix path for the car without having to turn the car or switch tracks. The car is suspended from a four truss track, riding on the two bottom rails for stability. Another embodiment is a roller coaster track mounted on a tower.
Claims14
A method of moving persons about an observation tower, comprising:
- providing access to a first passenger station and a second passenger station for the ingress and egress of persons, the first passenger station arranged substantially at a bottom portion of the observation tower, and the second passenger station arranged substantially at a top portion of the observation tower;
- mounting a continuous track on the observation tower, the continuous track connecting the first passenger station and the second passenger station, the continuous track at least partially wrapping around an exterior of the observation tower and substantially arranged in two spiral sections between the bottom portion and the top portion of the observation tower;
- running rider carriages along the continuous track between the first and second passenger stations, each rider carriage having at least two doors, the at least two doors positioned on each lateral side of the rider carriage, the outward-facing orientation of the rider carriages with respect to the observation tower switching by passing through each passenger station;
- and
- placing persons onto and removing persons from the rider carriages at the first and second passenger station via the at least two doors.
2 more elements
An amusement ride comprising:
- a support tower;
- a track mounted on the support tower forming a continuous loop between an upper rider station and a lower rider station of the support tower, the track having an ascending track section and a descending track section, the ascending and descending track sections generally each forming a spiral around an exterior of the support tower between the bottom and top rider stations, the ascending and descending track sections transitioning between each other at the upper and lower rider stations;
- and
- a plurality of gondolas pivotally suspended below the track, each gondola having a mounting section slidably attached to the track, each gondola having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the first and second sides each having at least one door;
- wherein the first side of the gondola is facing radially outward on the ascending track section and the second side of the gondola is facing radially outward on the descending track section, radially outwardly directed views from within the plurality of gondolas are unobstructed by the support tower;
- wherein the track is continuous and does not cross over itself.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.