Apparatus and method for locking and unlocking a pointing device mounted on a car of an amusement park ride

Abstract

A pointer for mounting on an amusement park ride, the pointer having a grip adapted to be held by at least one hand of a user, a grip detection device integrated into the grip for detecting when the grip is held by the user, and a pivot unit pivotably coupling the grip to the amusement park ride, the pivot unit operable between an uninhibited state, in which the pivot unit permits the grip to freely pivot in at least a first direction and a second direction, and an inhibited state, in which the pivot unit inhibits the grip from pivoting in at least the second direction, wherein the pivot unit may transition to the uninhibited state when the grip detection device detects the grip is held by the user and the pivot unit may return to the inhibited state when the grip detection device detects the grip is released.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.