Amusement device in the form of a roller coaster, a monorail or the like

A recoil blocking device for vehicles (1) for roller-coasters, monorails or the like. To avoid the ratchet noises occurring in the case of prior-art ratchet-type blocking mechanisms of such recoil blocking devices, the present invention provides a catch drive (21), which is designed as an eddy current drive and spaces the catch (2) from the countercatch (5) when the vehicle (1) is moving forward and allows the catch (2) to engage the countercatch (5) when the vehicle (1) is standing or moving backward. The catch (2) is mounted rotatably at the vehicle, whereas the countercatch (5) is arranged stationarily in the form of a toothed rack in the area of the rail arrangement (4) of an uphill section.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains to an amusement facility in the form of a 
roller-coaster, monorail or the like, in which at least one vehicle guided 
on rails is preferably movable by its own momentum over uphill and 
downhill sections, wherein a recoil blocking device, which usually 
comprises at least one catch mounted rotatably at the vehicle and a 
countercatch designed as a toothed rack and extends stationarily along the 
rail in the plane of movement of the catch, is provided at least in the 
area of uphill sections. The teeth are designed such that the catch slides 
dragging over the toothed rack during forward travel and it lockingly 
engages the toothed rack during stopping or reverse movement of the 
vehicle, thus blocking the movement of the vehicle. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Such arrangements, quite generally called recoil blocking devices, are 
specified as obligatory devices for roller-coasters, monorails or the 
like. They are to come into action when a vehicle moving upward is unable 
to clear the uphill section for whatever reason and seeks to stop travel 
backward after stopping. The same device is advantageously used when a 
vehicle that has come to a standstill must be prevented from moving 
accidentally backward in the area of a railroad station. 
In prior-art recoil blocking devices, the catches are pressed by means of a 
spring against the toothed rack in a rotationally engaged manner. It shall 
thus be achieved that the catch will automatically engage the teeth as a 
consequence of the spring torque if the vehicle should move backward. The 
drawback of such arrangements is that when an uphill section has been 
cleared, unpleasant ratchet noises are generated by the fact that the nose 
of the catch continually comes into contact with the teeth of the toothed 
rack and is temporarily deflected by same against the spring action. 
This drawback is eliminated by the teaching of DE-OS 25 40 547, in which 
electromagnetic means keep the catch disengaged from the toothed rack 
depending on a speedometer. However, this suggestion presupposes 
stationary guides, which bring the catches into contact with the 
electromagnetic means during the travel of the vehicle past them. 
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the present invention is to show a better recoil 
blocking device, which requires no guides and does not generate ratchet 
noise. 
According to the invention, an amusement facility in the form of a 
roller-coaster, monorail or the like is provided in which at least one 
vehicle is guided on a said rail or the like and can be moved over uphill 
and downhill sections. A recoil blocking device with at least one 
rotatably mounted catch and a countercatch designed as a toothed rack are 
provided at least in the area of uphill sections. The catch lockingly 
engages the countercatch blocking the movement of the vehicle under an 
electromagnetic effect during stopping or reverse movement of the vehicle. 
The recoil blocking device has a catch drive, which is preferably designed 
as an eddy current drive. The catch drive removes the catch from the 
countercatch when the vehicle is moving forward and allows the catch to 
engage when the vehicle has stopped or is moving backward. 
The recoil blocking device according to the present invention operates just 
as reliably as the prior-art design and also avoids the unpleasant ratchet 
noises. A catch drive, which removes the catch from the countercatch and 
lifts it off in a noise-reducing manner during forward travel, is provided 
for this purpose. During the stopping or reverse travel of the vehicle, 
the catch drive allows the catch to engage again and to assume its 
blocking function. 
The catch drive may have any desired design and different designs. An eddy 
current drive is provided in the preferred embodiment. This drive has the 
advantage that it does not need any external energy, such as battery 
current or the like, but it takes its energy from the movement of the 
vehicle. In addition, the eddy current drive is a self-controlling drive 
and comes automatically into operation. It is especially reliable and 
trouble-free as a result. 
In a preferred exemplary embodiment, this principle of operation is 
embodied by a strip-like sword being stationarily arranged in parallel to 
the toothed rack as part of an eddy current drive, which sword is made of 
an electrically conductive material, e.g., copper, aluminum or the like, 
and by the catch having a projection provided with magnets, whose magnets 
are guided movably at a short distance from the sword. 
When a vehicle thus equipped is moved on a section where the toothed rack 
and the sword of the eddy current drive are located, a magnetic field, 
which generates a decelerating torque acting on the catch opposite its 
forward movement, is formed due to the relative movement between the 
magnets of the catch and of the catch projection, on the one hand, and the 
sword, on the other hand. This torque causes the catch with its nose to be 
kept out of engagement with the toothed rack. The opening rotary movement 
of the catch can be exercised against its force of gravity or against the 
action of a spring. If the vehicle comes to a standstill, the magnetic 
field disappears and the catch can fall off under its own weight or under 
the action of a spring and engage the toothed rack. This movement always 
takes place only when the vehicle should move backward, because a magnetic 
field generating a torque in the opposite direction is generated, and this 
torque contributes to firmly pressing the catch into engagement with the 
tooth. 
It is recommended that the projection of the catch be designed as a bent 
segment, on the circumference of which, which is preferably circular, the 
magnets are located at spaced locations from one another directed radially 
in relation to the axis of rotation of the catch. It is apparent that the 
circular circumference has its center in the axis of rotation of the 
catch. It is recommended that the magnets be arranged alternatingly with 
their south and north poles. The segment may be connected, especially 
screwed, to the catch as a separate component. 
However, the present invention also comprises the reverse arrangement of 
the components forming the eddy current drive, according to which one or 
more catches with the magnets are mounted rotatably in the area of the 
rail and the sword with the toothed rack is arranged at the vehicle. 
It is recognized from this that the present invention is not limited to the 
exemplary embodiment described in the specification, but also covers all 
the variants that arise for the person skilled in the art in the knowledge 
of the disclosure according to the present invention. 
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are 
pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part 
of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its 
operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference 
is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a 
preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings in particular, the exemplary embodiment according 
to FIG. 1 is based on a prior-art arrangement of a recoil blocking device 
20 at a vehicle 1 of an amusement facility, such as a roller-coaster, 
monorail or the like. The vehicle is therefore not shown completely with 
its wheels and the rails. Reference number 1 symbolically represents a 
vehicle which forms, via a bearing 19, a catch axis of rotation 3, at 
which a catch 2 is rotatably mounted. This catch 2 cooperates with a 
countercatch, which is designed as a toothed rack 5 and extends in the 
area of a rail arrangement 4, along which the vehicle 1 can be moved in 
the usual manner. FIG. 1 also shows that the first rail arrangement 4 is 
an uphill section rising to the left. 
It is common practice in prior-art recoil blocking devices that the catch 2 
with its catch nose 17 ratchets along the teeth 6 of the toothed rack 5 
when the vehicle 1 is moving along an uphill section. The unpleasant noise 
generated by this ratcheting shall be avoided by the present invention. 
A catch drive 21, which moves the catch 2 away from the toothed rack 5 
during normal operation during forward travel and prevents ratchet noises 
as a result, is provided for this purpose. However, if the vehicle 1 comes 
to a standstill in the area of the recoil blocking device 20 or even moves 
backward in a potentially dangerous manner, the catch drive 21 releases 
the catch 2 and allows it to engage the toothed rack 5 in a locking manner 
or it brings it actively into locking engagement. 
The catch drive 21 may have various designs and have, e.g., a motor 
operator or magnetic drive, which receives the current from a battery or a 
dynamo. In the preferred exemplary embodiment, the catch drive 21 is 
designed as an eddy current drive 22, which operates automatically as a 
function of the movement of the vehicle and requires no separate control 
or additional external energy. 
The eddy current drive 22 preferably actuates the movable catch 2 in 
relation to the stationary toothed rack 5. However, the drive association 
and the kinematics may also be reversed. 
A segment 9 is arranged at the catch 2, and a plurality of magnets 10 are 
located on the bent and preferably circular circumference 18 of the 
segment, and the center of the segment is located in the axis of rotation 
3 of the catch. The magnets 10 are arranged in the arc and at laterally 
spaced locations from one another. They are spaced from the axis of 
rotation 3 of the catch and are directed with their longitudinal axis 
radially to the axis of rotation 3 of the catch. The magnets 10 alternate 
with one another concerning the location of their north and south poles. 
The segment 9 is screwed or connected in another way to the catch 2 via 
the connection means 12. 
A strip-like rail 11, which is called a sword and consists of an 
electrically conductive material, e.g., copper, aluminum or the like or 
has a lining consisting of such a material, is located next to the toothed 
rack 5 at a closely spaced location from the range of movement of the 
magnets 10. 
It is assumed in the example according to FIG. 1 that the rail arrangement 
4 is located in an uphill section rising to the left. The vehicle 1 
correspondingly performs an upward movement in the direction of arrow 13. 
Decelerating magnetic forces, which lead to an opening torque according to 
the arrow 14 at the catch 2, are generated by the eddy current field due 
to the relative movement between the magnets 10 and the sword 11. This 
torque 14 acts against the force of gravity of the catch or against the 
action of the torsion spring 8 and causes the catch 2 to remain disengaged 
from the toothed rack 5 during the upward movement of the vehicle 1 
according to the arrow 13. 
However, as soon as the vehicle 1 comes to a standstill or even seeks to 
move backward, the magnetic forces are eliminated, which causes the weight 
of the catch 2 itself or the action of the torsion spring 8 to allow the 
nose 17 of the catch to enter the tooth space 11 of the toothed rack 5. 
One position of the catch 2 is shown in FIG. 2. 
Should the vehicle 1 begin to move in the reverse direction according to 
arrow 15 in FIG. 2, magnetic forces are again generated between the 
magnets 10 and the sword 11, but they now lead to an opposite, closing 
torque according to arrow 16. This torque according to arrow 16 forces the 
nose 17 of the catch to engage the tooth space 7 and thus prevents the 
vehicle 1 from moving backward. 
The present invention is not limited to the situation and arrangement shown 
in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
For example, reversing the arrangement of the parts of the eddy current 
drive is conceivable. For example, the catch 2, of which there may be one 
or several, may be mounted stationarily and rotatably at the rail 
arrangement 4, whereas the toothed rack 5 and the sword 7 may be located 
at the vehicle 1. It is achieved with certainty in this case as well that 
the catch will not generate any ratchet noises during the normal travel of 
the vehicle 1 and that, conversely, the catch 2 will immediately engage 
the toothed rack 5 on stopping or backward travel of the vehicle. 
It is also conceivable that the arrangement of the magnets 10 and the sword 
11 be transposed in terms of their mode of action. The sword 11 may be 
provided, e.g., with a plurality of magnets arranged one behind the other, 
whose poles are likewise arranged alternatingly in relation to one 
another, whereas the segment 9 consists of a conductive material or is 
provided with such a material. 
Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment 
shown, but it also covers all the variants that arise for the person 
skilled in the art. While a specific embodiment of the invention has been 
shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the 
principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may 
be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.