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
- 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 the ride vehicle assembly being in a second interval of the track different than the first interval.
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, wherein the coupling is configured to block a decoupling of the first ride vehicle from the second ride vehicle;
- an actuation assembly configured to actuate the coupling to cause the 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.
A method of operating a ride system, the method comprising:
- blocking, via a coupling, a decoupling of a first ride vehicle from a second ride vehicle of a ride vehicle assembly;
- determining, via a controller, a position of the ride vehicle assembly;
- determining, via the controller, whether the position of the ride vehicle assembly meets a pre-defined relationship with a threshold position of the ride vehicle assembly;
- and
- 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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.