Title of Invention

VERTICAL GRAVITY DROP AMUSEMENT RIDE MECHANISM WITH VARYING LOAD COUNTER WEIGHT BRAKE

Abstract

A novel Vertical gravity drop amusement ride mechanism' with varying load counter weight brake technology, wherein a carriage, fitted on to the riding tower is lifted up to the top of the tower by using a motor- winch mechanism, allowed to fall freely and brought to gradual stop at the bottom most position through a varying load counter weight brake system connected to it. The gravitational momentum of the carriage is absorbed by an opposing counter weight, connected directly through a set of steel ropes and a travel reduction pulley block system consisting of a set of movable axis pulleys and stationery axis pulleys, which reduces the distance traversed by the counter weight to one fourth than that traversed by the carriage. The carriage settling at the balancing position is then brought down using a 'pull down winch system5.

Full Text

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION A) Field of Technology This invention in general relates to amusement ride technology. More particularly this invention relates to vertical gravity drop category of amusement rides with unique varying load counter weight brake mechanism. B) Prior Art Disclosure The vertical gravity drop amusement rides equipped with different kinds of braking mechanisms already exists globally. The best known technologies available are magnetic, hydraulic and pneumatic brakes. 1) Magnetic brakes In the magnetic system, braking is achieved by using permanent magnets. When an electrically conductive reaction plate moves through the magnetic field of permanent magnets, there is eddy currents produced on the plate. This eddy current along with the magnetic field produces a force that opposes the velocity on the plate and applies brake on the moving body. This principle is used to achieve the braking of the dropped carriage in the vertical gravity drop rides. The system using magnetic brake technology has the following drawbacks - i) The specified gap between the permanent magnets and reaction plate is very less and moreover maintenance of the same within the limits is very critical, in order to achieve the sufficient braking. Since the reaction plate is very long in actual practice, it is always difficult to maintain this gap in the specified level, throughout its length. ii) There are always chances of loose steel/iron particles getting attracted to the permanent magnets, causing loss of required magnetic gap resulting in the poor magnetic system performance. iii) It should not be placed at an ambient temperature higher than 50°C and also where the surrounding is excessively wet or dry. iv) The technology is only available abroad and import of the same is very expensive. 2) Hydraulic brakes Hydraulic system basically consists of a hydraulic oil circuit, pressurized by a hydraulic pump which is driven by an electric motor. The dropping carriage is normally connected to the piston of a hydraulic actuator which is used to control the motion of the carriage. The actuator receives energy from the hydraulic pump in the form of pressurized oil. The hydraulic system is so designed that in the event of carriage being dropped, the piston of the actuator gets pulled due the gravitational pull from the carriage. In order to counter this pull the hydraulic oil is pumped into the actuator in the reverse direction which applies a controlled brake on the carriage. This technology has various limitations when it is used for rides where human beings are handled. First of all the system can fail to give the required oil pressure in case there is a leakage in the circuit. It can happen because of defects on piping, joints, failure of oil seals etc. Any such a pressure drop will result in the improper braking of the carriage and thus the reliability of the system is being questioned. There is also huge amount of energy consumed in the hydraulic circuit which is used to absorb the momentum built up on the dropping body during its gravity fall. 3) Pneumatic brakes The technology used in the pneumatic system almost resembles to that of the hydraulic system. Instead of hydraulic oil, compressed air is supplied to the controlling actuator. This system also has the risk of air pressure being lost due to defects in piping, connecting joints, control valves etc. In addition, there is also large wastage of energy which is needed to supply compressed air to the pneumatic actuator. C) Brief Description of Invention The "Vertical gravity drop amusement ride mechanism with varying load counter weight brake" is meant for use in amusement parks. The system consists of 60 meter tall tower having facility to accommodate 16 persons at a time on its carriage, for the ride. The carriage is connected to the counter weight brake system through a set of steel ropes, after routing them through a pulley block system and main winch. The height of the tower and the passenger capacity mentioned above is selected based on the specific requirement and the same can either be increased or decreased according to the requirements. However the basic concept of the mechanism remains same even if there are variations in the above said parameters. The carriage originally positioned at the bottom most level and the passengers occupied on its seats, will be pulled to the top and then the carriage is allowed to fall on gravity effect. On the fall, the carriage picks up momentum; gears up to the maximum speed; decelerate and is finally brought to the stop due to the effect of opposing counter weight, which runs over a specially curved counter weight track. The carriage after reaching the bottom rebounds back due to the effect of opposing counter weight; oscillates few times up and down and comes to a halt at balancing point. The pull down winch is now operated to bring down the carriage to the bottom position and the passengers are allowed to get down. D) Objects of Invention a) It is the primary object of the invention to invent a novel vertical gravity drop amusement ride with varying load counter weight brake, which is unique. b) It is another object of the invention to invent a novel ride brake mechanism providing utmost importance to human safety. c) It is another object of the innovation to invent a novel ride brake mechanism which is energy saving and at the same time maintaining the capital investment at a lower level. d) It is another object of the innovation to invent a novel ride brake mechanism which can be installed in excessively wet, dry or hotter ambient conditions. e) It is another object of the innovation to invent a novel counter weight pulling system in which the given mass of counter weight offer more resistance for the purpose of applying brake. The innovation causes for considerable reduction in counter weight mass. f) It is another object of the innovation to invent a novel pull down winch mechanism through which the hassles of lifting and locking of large counter weight mass at its highest position, for loading and unloading of people, is avoided. E) Advantages of the Invention a) The "Vertical gravity drop amusement ride mechanism' offers unchallenged safety for passengers, as the method to brake the ride is through a built-in varying load counter weight mechanism. The carriage carrying passengers is connected directly to the counter weight brake system through a set of steel ropes. During the free fall since the prime mover is detached from the rope path by disengaging the clutch, any malfunctioning of these systems will not hamper the stopping arrangement of the ride. Also the steel ropes are made up of large number of steel wires and hence it cannot break abruptly, as any damage on the rope starts as breakage on its individual strands. Such breaks on the strands can easily be detected in the early stages of its development, during the routine maintenance and can be replaced immediately on its notice. Moreover the carriage is connected to the counterweight through two set of steel ropes, each set having 2 ropes. Since all these ropes are laid in parallel, quadruple safety is ensured in the system compared to that with operating on single rope. b) Considerable amount of energy is saved in the ride for the braking of the carriage, through the use of opposing counter weight mechanism, which otherwise would have been consumed when other methods are used. F) Detailed Description of Invention Brief Description of the Diagrams Figure -1 shows the basic working arrangement of the "Vertical gravity drop amusement ride ". It consists of a 60 metre tall structural steel tower (1) having provision to accommodate 16 persons at a time. The passengers for the ride will be seated on a carriage (2) which will move up and down on the tower, during the riding. The carriage is connected to the main winch (5) and counter weight (9) through a set of steel ropes (Rl), (R2) & (R3). The counter weight runs over the counter weight track (10) during the riding. A moving pulley block (4A) is provided between Rl and R2 set of ropes which will cause for reduction in travel of R2 set of ropes with respect to Rl. The ratio of reduction is 4:1. The pulleys marked (3) and (4) are with stationery axis and movable axis respectively and forms part of pulley block system. It can also be seen from the diagram that the other end (non carriage end) of Rl rope is connected to the pull down winch (11), which is driven by its prime mover (12). The prime mover for the main winch consists of a motor, gear box system (6) with fail safe brake (7) and connected to the main winch through an engaging/disengaging clutch (8). Pulleys marked (13), (14) & (15) are guiding pulleys for ropes Rl, R2 & R3 respectively. Figure 2 shows the configuration of varying load counter weight arrangement which is used for smooth and gradual stopping of vertical gravity drop ride. The counter weight mass weighing 17000 kilograms (9) has been designed to run like a trolley over the counter weight track (10). (R3) is the rope connecting main winch and counter weight and (15) is the guiding pulley for (R3). The position marked (a) of the counter weight corresponds to the start of its motion on the horizontal stretch of the counter weight track, where the carriage is at the topmost position on the tower and ready for undergoing vertical fall. At point (b) the counter weight must have completed its travel in the horizontal stretch and correspondingly the carriage attains maximum speed on its fall. Beyond this point the counter weight starts ascending the vertical stretch of the track as indicated by position (c) and starts applying brake on the carriage. Point (d) indicates the top most position of the counter weight on the track, where the carriage comes to a halt on its free fall motion. Figure 3 shows the special orientation of the pulley (15), which guides the counter weight pulling rope (R3). The counter weight (9) is pulled from the side (not pulled vertically upwards) over the vertical stretch of counter weight track (10). While position (c) indicates the counter weight starts ascending the vertical stretch of the track, position (d) corresponds to the top most position of the counter weight. The braking of the carriage takes place between these two positions of the counter weight. Figure 4 shows the arrangement of pull down winch (11) driven by the prime mover (12). The Rl set of ropes which pulls the carriage, moving on the tower is terminated at the pull down winch, after routing them through the stationery axis (3) and movable axis pulleys (4). (4A) is the pulley block system for travel reduction. Figure 5 shows pulley block system (4A) in which the travel of (Rl) set of ropes is converted into one fourth the distance in (R2) set of ropes. While (Rl) set of ropes are connected to the carriage (R2) set of ropes are connected to the main winch and there after to the counter weight. The pulley block system consists of a set of pulleys (3) with stationery axis and (4) with movable axis. The cycle of riding action of the amusement ride starts with the carriage at the bottom most level of tower. The passengers are allowed to occupy the carriage seats and secured to the carriage by a safety lock system. Now the carriage is gradually taken to the top position by operating the pull down winch first up to balancing point and then to the top by the main winch. While operating the main winch the pulley block (4A) is pulled down causing the carriage to lift up. During this process the counter weight offers minimum resistance and will run down the counter weight track (10) due to its self weight. (Figure 1) The pulley block consists of a set of movable axis pulleys (4) and stationery axis pulleys (3). The (Rl) set of ropes connected to the carriage takes wrap around pulleys (3) and pulleys (4) alternately and gets terminated at pull down winch. As the (R2) set of ropes are pulled by operating the main winch, (Rl) ropes get pulled in the ratio of 1:4 and so also the carriage. Carriage, upon reaching the top, the clutch (8) is disengaged and the carriage is allowed to fall freely under gravity. As the carriage falls down, the (Rl) set of ropes pull up moving pulley block 4(A) which in turn pulls up the counter weight attached to it through the main winch. The counter weight track is so designed that the counter weight on it offers least resistance against the downward motion of the carriage in its first half of travel distance. As the carriage travels beyond the half way distance, the counter weight starts climbing up the vertical portion of the track and starts applying a counter pull on the carriage. By the time the carriage reaches bottom, the counter weight must have climbed up to its maximum height on the track. At this point the resistance from the counter weight is at the maximum and hence the carriage is forced to terminate its further downward fall. Then the carriage rebounds back to almost half the height of the tower due to the gravity pull from the counter weight as it always has a tendency to reach and settle at the balance point of the counter weight track. The balance point for the counter weight will be near to the right angle corner of the counter weight track. This opposite pulling actions from counter weight and carriage will continue for a few times before they settle at their balancing position once for all. The quantum of mass really required to arrest the momentum of the carriage is very high. Since the counter weight is pulled from the side (not pulled vertically upwards), the specified counter weight offers more resistance in the vertical stretch of counter weight track (10) than what it would have been offered if it is pulled vertically. At the balance position, the pulley block (4A) is locked to prevent any further movement of the carriage and the pull down winch (11) is operated to bring down the carriage to its lower most position. At this position the safety locks are released, the passengers are allowed to step down and a fresh set of passengers are loaded for the next cycle of riding. The function of pull down winch is to bring down the carriage from its balance position and lifting of carriage from the bottom to the balance position. During other operations it is firmly held by positive locking. A certain extra length of Rl ropes will be wound on the pull down winch which will be released only when the carriage is required to pull down from its balancing position, for unloading/loading of passengers. The same length of ropes is again wound back on the winch when the carriage is lifted up to the balance point in order to start the next cycle of riding. I claim : - t. An apparatus for vertical gravity drop and fall amusement ride comprising of a carriage fitted to a 60 meter riding tower; a pulley block assembly with a set of movable and stationery axis pulleys connected by steel ropes to the carriage, the main winch and the pull down winch; a varying load counter weight mechanism connected to the carriage to operate as a counter weight brake to the free falling carriage; a counter weight track laid horizontally upto the half way mark and then curving up to a vertical position; a main winch to propel carriage to the top of the riding tower from the balancing position and a pull down winch for lowering of the carriage from the balancing position wherein upon the free fall of the carriage the opposing counter weight, is run with minimum resistance along the counter weight track laid horizontally upto the half way mark and thereafter climbing up vertically so as to offer maximum resistance. 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the varying load counter weight brake mechanism consists of a trolley like counter weight connected to the carriage and a counter weight track laid horizontally in the initial phase and climbing up vertically after the halfway mark so as to offer minimum resistance to the free falling carriage unto the half way mark and thereafter increasing resistance to the maximum. 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pulley block assembly consists of a set of movable and stationery axis pulleys by which the distance traversed by the counter weight is reduced to one fourth with respect to that traversed by the carriage. 4.A method of running a trolley like counter weight over a specially profiled counter weight track laid horizontally in the initial phase and climbing up vertically after the halfway mark wherein the counter weight trolley offers minimum resistance when run through the horizontal stretch and thereafter picks up resistance to the maximum in the vertical stretch. Dated this 13th day of December 2004.

Documents:

1358-che-2004-abstract.pdf

1358-che-2004-assignement.pdf

1358-che-2004-claims.pdf

1358-che-2004-correspondnece-others.pdf

1358-che-2004-correspondnece-po.pdf

1358-che-2004-description(complete).pdf

1358-che-2004-drawings.pdf

1358-che-2004-form 1.pdf

1358-che-2004-form 26.pdf

1358-che-2004-form 3.pdf

1358-che-2004-form 9.pdf