Ride vehicle decoupling control system and method
AssigneeUniversal City Studios LLC
InventorsEric Rae Parr, Eric Allan Vance
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ride system includes a track, a ride vehicle assembly, a coupling, and an actuation assembly. The ride vehicle assembly includes a first ride vehicle configured to move along the track and a second ride vehicle configured to move along the track. The coupling is configured to block a decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle in response to the ride vehicle assembly being in a first interval of the track. The actuation assembly may be configured to actuate the coupling to cause a decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle in response to the ride vehicle assembly being in a second interval of the track, different than the first interval.
Claims22
A ride system, comprising:
- a track;
- a ride vehicle assembly comprising a first ride vehicle configured to move along the track and a second ride vehicle configured to move along the track;
- a coupling between the first ride vehicle and the second ride vehicle, wherein the coupling is configured to block a decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle in response to the ride vehicle assembly being in a first interval of the track, and wherein the coupling is configured to be actuated to cause the decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle in response to at least the ride vehicle assembly being in a second interval of the track different than the first interval;
- and
- an actuation assembly configured to actuate the coupling to cause the decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle in response to at least the ride vehicle assembly being in the second interval of the track different than the first interval such that, upon the decoupling, the first ride vehicle moves in a first direction along the track and the second ride vehicle moves in a second direction along the track, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.
A ride system, comprising:
- a ride path;
- a ride vehicle assembly comprising a first ride vehicle configured to move along the ride path and a second ride vehicle configured to move along the ride path;
- a coupling between the first ride vehicle and the second ride vehicle;
- an actuation assembly configured to actuate the coupling to cause a decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle;
- and
- a controller configured to instruct the actuation assembly to actuate the coupling to cause the decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle in response to a position characteristic of the ride vehicle assembly, a load characteristic of the ride vehicle assembly, or both such that, upon the decoupling, the first ride vehicle moves in a first direction along the ride path and the second ride vehicle moves in a second direction along the ride path, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.
A method of operating a ride system, the method comprising:
- joining, via a coupling, a first ride vehicle and a second ride vehicle of a ride vehicle assembly, wherein the ride vehicle assembly is moveable along a ride path;
- determining, via a controller, a position of the ride vehicle assembly along the ride path;
- determining, via the controller, whether the position of the ride vehicle assembly along the ride path meets a pre-defined relationship with a threshold position of the ride vehicle assembly along the ride path;
- controlling, via the controller and in response to determining that the position meets the pre-defined relationship with the threshold position, an actuation assembly corresponding to the coupling to cause the first ride vehicle to be decoupled from the second ride vehicle;
- causing the first ride vehicle to travel in a first direction along the ride path based on the first ride vehicle decoupling from the second ride vehicle;
- and
- causing the second ride vehicle to travel in a second direction along the ride path based on the first ride vehicle decoupling from the second ride vehicle, wherein the first direction is opposite the second direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.