Swing apparatus with magnetic drive and control
AssigneeWonderland Switzerland AG
InventorsJonathan K. Mountz, Ethan M. Snyder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A swing apparatus includes an arm assembly including a seat, and a frame assembly coupled to the arm assembly. The frame assembly defines a pivot axis about which the arm assembly rotates during operation of the swing apparatus. The swing apparatus also includes an electromagnet disposed on the frame assembly, and a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on the arm assembly and positioned to define an arc centered on the pivot axis. The electromagnet has an angular offset about the pivot axis relative to the plurality of permanent magnets positioned along the arc when the swing apparatus is in a neutral position.
Claims23
A swing apparatus, comprising:
- a magnetic drive including an electromagnet and a plurality of permanent magnets;
- and
- a controller coupled to the electromagnet to activate the electromagnet by applying an activation current having a polarity selectable from a first polarity and a second polarity and thereby initiating a motion of at least a portion of the swing apparatus, the controller being configured to:
- A1) apply the activation current having one of the first polarity and the second polarity;
- A2) determine if at least the portion of the swing apparatus has moved at least a predetermined amount;
- A3) if, after a predetermined time period, at least the portion of the swing apparatus has not moved by at least the predetermined amount, then switch the polarity of the activation current to the other of the first polarity and the second polarity;
- and
- A4) repeat A2) and A3) until it is determined, at A2), that the swing apparatus has moved by at least the predetermined amount.
A swing apparatus, comprising:
- an electromagnet;
- a plurality of permanent magnets positioned proximate to the electromagnet such that, upon electrical activation of the electromagnet, magnetic forces are generated between the electromagnet and each permanent magnet of the plurality of permanent magnets;
- and
- a controller coupled to the electromagnet, to electrically activate the electromagnet and thereby initiate swing motion of the swing apparatus without manual intervention by a user of the swing apparatus,
- wherein in a neutral position, the electromagnet is disposed in a pivot plane that includes a pivot axis, and each permanent magnet of the plurality of permanent magnets is disposed outside the pivot plane.
A swing apparatus, comprising:
- an arm assembly including a seat;
- a frame assembly coupled to the arm assembly and defining a pivot axis about which the arm assembly rotates during operation of the swing apparatus;
- an electromagnet disposed on the frame assembly;
- and
- a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on the arm assembly and positioned to define an arc centered on the pivot axis,
- wherein, when the seat is in a neutral position, the electromagnet has a first angular offset relative to a pivot plane that includes the pivot axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.