US 4,543,886 AGranted

Amusement ride including a rotating loading terminal

AssigneeIntamin AG

InventorsRobert Spieldiener, Reinhold Spieldiener, Alfons Saiko

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

An amusement ride loading terminal having a revolving circular platform is provided for continuous loading of passengers into a series of moving circular vehicles. The platform cooperates with an endless track conveyer to keep the vehicles revolving with the platform without individual vehicles spinning or rotating on their own axis. The conveyer has a vertically disposed conveying surface with an arcuate contact portion displaced from and concentric with the periphery of the circular platform. The track conveyer is operated to provide an arcuate velocity to the contact surface equal to the equivalent extended diameter of the circular platform, wherein the vehicles engage the periphery of the platform and the arcuate contact portion of the conveyer and are moved with the platform a portion of a revolution without roll or spin, for convenient loading of passengers into vehicles.

Claims7

Dependent claims

An amusement ride with a loading terminal for passenger loading of independent circular vehicles comprising;

at least one vehicle having an outer peripheral surface that is circular in configuration, and, a loading terminal including a revolving platform with an outer circular periphery, and an endless track conveyor having a vertically disposed conveying surface with a vertically disposed arcuate contact portion displaced from and concentric with the outer circular periphery, wherein said contact portion is operable at an arcuate velocity substantially equal to an arcuate velocity of an equivalent extended diameter of said platform were it extended to said arcuate contact portion of said conveyor, wherein said vehicle is simultaneously engaged by both said conveyor and platform and transported without uncontrolled roll or spin by joint action of both said platform and conveyor around a portion of a revolution of the platform, wherein said platform, vehicle and contact portion of said conveyor all have a same angular velocity.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.