Amusement ride

An amusement ride has an endless path defined by a rail from which the vehicle is suspended by a strut which, at its upper end, is swingable in a deformable frame on a yoke which is likewise pivotal on this frame and carries stirrups by which brackets are pivotally mounted in the carriage. The brackets carry the running and guide rollers. A pair of air springs in the form of bellows cylinders is braced between the strut and the yoke.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
My present invention relates to an amusement ride and, more particularly, 
an amusement ride of the type in which the individual or rider is seated 
in an elongated car which is carried along a path with various loops, 
turns, dips and rises defined at least in part by a track. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is known to provide amusement rides with a doubly looped, figure-eight 
or other closed track configuration, from which the car carrying the 
people can be suspended and even to provide a carriage on such a track 
from which the car is suspended swingably or floatingly and can rock back 
and forth relative to the carriage. 
The car can carry a number of persons in individual seats or can have 
benchlike seats one behind the other with each seat carrying two or more 
people. 
Dampers are provided between the car and the track or the rails thereof so 
as to minimize vibration and to prevent excessive movement from being 
transmitted to the rider. 
In recent years such rides have become increasingly complex as the desire 
for excitement in the rider has increased and it is thus desirable at 
relatively low cost, even with simple track configurations, to provide a 
maximum of enjoyment by generating appropriate movement of the vehicle 
relative to the carriages and relative to the track. However, this should 
be done with due consideration to preventing nonenjoyable movements or 
perturbations and, certainly, without creating danger. 
In German patent No. 861,369, for example, a ride is provided with gondolas 
of aircraft configuration pendulously suspended from the track. This 
system does not concern itself with problems which arise to the carriages 
and the track and thus may be satisfactory as far as it goes. 
However, in practical realizations of these systems, problems have been 
encountered precisely at the points where the carriage is mounted on track 
and where the vehicle is suspended from the carriage. 
German open application No. 23 06 385 shows a rider carrier fixed to two 
upright support arms which are suspended pendulously via running rollers 
and guide rollers. Here the running rollers are guided in channels which 
are disposed opposite to one another and are rigidly connected. A ball 
joint is provided for the arms supporting the rider carrier and means is 
provided to drive the assembly along a track. Over curved stretches, as a 
result of centrifugal force, the channels are inclined and lateral forces 
must be taken up by guide rollers. This system is not equipped to be used 
for curved tracks which also are inclined. 
When the vehicle enters the curve, centrifugal forces are suddently 
generated and tend to swing the riders outwardly. The restoring force 
tends to swing the riders inwardly when the centrifugal force diminishes. 
The riders and the rider carrier thus swing back and forth past an 
equilibrium position. When the carrier leaves the curve, such swinging 
action can continue and resonance can develop to sustain the swinging 
action or even pose a danger to the rider. 
German patent No. 2,329,423 attempts to relieve this problem by providing a 
rigid vehicle frame in which guide wheels with fixed axes are provided 
while the running wheels are journaled to the vehicle via a counterweight 
system. 
The track is formed from four tubes forming the rails and these tubes are 
always horizontally disposed even on curves. Friction dampening elements 
are used to prevent a build-up of the pendulous oscillations and have a 
damping characteristic which is proportional to the angular offset from 
the equilibrium position. This friction damping element can be formed as a 
telescoping unit pivotally connected between the approximate vertical arm 
supporting the rider carrier and the vehicle chassis so that it describes 
a smaller radius than its pivot point on the carrying arm. 
The forces effective at the pivot point on the chassis generate a torque on 
the latter which urges two of the wheels on a side of the vehicle chassis 
against the rails. The rocking wheels are additionally pressed against at 
the rails which can effectively brake them. 
In practice, therefore, these earlier devices could not fully avoid 
undesired pendulous movements or stresses upon the ride carrier support 
and elements connected thereto which can lead to dangerous conditions. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an amusement 
ride of the type described, namely having a closed-loop track, at least 
one carriage rolling along this track and a rider carriage suspended 
pendulously from the track carriage, whereby the disadvantages of the 
earlier systems described are obviated, stresses can be reduced and 
undesirable pendulous movements can be eliminated. 
Another object of this invention is to provide an amusement ride which 
extends the principles of German patent No. 2,329,423. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement which 
reduces undesirable pendulous movement of the rider carrier suspended from 
a closed loop track in an amusement ride. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are 
attained, in accordance with the invention, in an amusement ride which 
comprises a closed loop track, preferably a double loop or figure-eight 
configuration formed by a rail system, at least one carriage rollingly 
displaceable on the rail system, at least one rider carrier suspended from 
this carriage, and at least one but preferably two swingable arms 
pendulously connecting the carriage to each carrier at locations spaced 
therealong in the direction of displacement of the carriage. 
According to this invention, running and guide rollers are provided in the 
carriage and engage the rails of the rail system. The running and guide 
rollers form groups which are swingably arranged in the carriage to pivot 
about axes perpendicular to the direction of travel while damping elements 
are provided in the form of air springs or air dash pots which can be 
disposed in the form of bellows cylinders between the carrying arm and a 
yoke of the carriage. The bellows cylinders can be braced between these 
arms and the yoke. 
With this construction, the invention permits the lateral oscillatory 
movements of the rider carrier to be taken up by air springs in the form 
of the bellows cylinders and further permits the resulting supporting 
forces to be transmitted as uniformly as possible to groups of running and 
guide rollers whose journals define mutually orthogonal or crossing axes 
of the carriage. 
As a consequence, there is a force branching which ensures that portions of 
the carriage are not overloaded and hence the carriage structure will not 
be unduly strained. 
While in the prior art a portion of the oscillation energy is eliminated by 
generating friction work, in the system of the invention the damping of 
the oscillation energy is effected mainly by deformation of the bellows 
and at the same time by an effect on the restoring force so that smooth 
and safe travel of the vehicle can be ensured even at high velocities over 
curves with small radius of curvature and curve paths with rapid curvature 
direction change. 
According to a feature of the invention, the yoke is journaled in a frame 
about an axis transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle and the 
frame itself can be composed of mutually articulated longitudinal and 
transverse beams. The longitudinal beams can be composed of inwardly open 
profiles, e.g. channels of U-cross sections. 
According to another feature of the invention, each two neighboring running 
and guide rollers are journaled in a common trestle member (bracket) of 
angular configuration and this bracket is pivotally supported on a stirrup 
for movement with respect to an axis transverse to the direction of 
travel. The stirrup, in turn, is swingable about a vertical axis and is 
supported in the longitudinal beam of the frame. 
According to still another feature of the invention, the vertical axis lies 
at the crossing between the vertical median plane of the carriage and the 
longitudinal axis of the stirrup which is directly transverse thereto. 
Advantageously, the yoke serves as a journal for a shaft extending in the 
vertical plane of the carriage and projecting beyond the yoke an opposite 
sides. Within the yoke, this shaft carries the main pivot for the 
suspending bar or strut by which the passenger compartment hangs from the 
carriage. On the two ends of the shaft, vertical pivot axes are defined 
for journaling the stirrup. One end of the shaft can be flattened and 
traversed by a pivot pin with a self-aligning bearing which cooperates 
with the member of the stirrup which engages with play in the shaft end. 
The eye of the suspending bar or strut is connected with the shaft via a 
self-aligning bearing while the yoke itself has a boxlike construction and 
is provided with a passage for the suspending bar and its eye. 
The stirrup can be guided by means of rollers in the longitudinal beam, and 
the support strut and the yoke can have formations (bosses) extending 
traversely to the direction of travel between which the bellows cylinders 
are braced. 
According to another aspect of the invention, the amusement ride which can 
have a figure-eight loop, is formed with an endless rail or track 
arrangement from which the vehicles are suspended from struts so as to be 
able to swing from side to side the struts being supported pendulously by 
a carriage and having their oscillations damped by damping members. 
According to this aspect of the invention, the rail system comprises a 
tubular rail including horizontally extending prismatic track members on 
opposite sides of the rail, and a downwardly projecting guide track 
against which the guide-running rollers lie. According to the centrifugal 
force, the orientation of these preferably flat prismatic track members 
which extend from the rail can be correspondingly inclined. 
At the junction of the sections of the track, the rail may be provided with 
a flange to enable the rail sections to be connected together and to be 
joined to supports, the prismatic members projecting outwardly from the 
rail beyond the projection of this flange. 
Fishplates or like members may be welded to the prismatic members and the 
rail, or triangular reinforcement plates may be spaced along the rail and 
welded to both the rail and the track member so as to stiffen the 
assembly. The tracks extend outwardly beyond such reinforcements. 
It has been found to be advantageous, moreover, to support the rail below 
an arm which can overhang the rail and on the outside of the vehicle, a 
downwardly open channel extending in the direction of travel of the 
vehicle can be provided to receive entraining elements by which the 
vehicle can be drawn along those portions of the path for which tractive 
force may be necessary. 
It should be apparent that this system provides a relatively versatile 
construction of the carriage, the rail and track arrangement and the 
dampening system, greatly simplifying the construction of the amusement 
ride and providing a more satisfying sensation in the use thereof. The 
track construction is more stable although of smaller size than earlier 
track constructions and contributes to a more esthetic appearance for the 
overall system.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION 
In the description of the best mode embodiment of the invention below, it 
will be apparent that the drawing is highly diagrammatic and may not be to 
scale in some portions. Thus, details of the shafts on which the rollers 
are journaled, fastening members, journal bearings and the like, which 
would be self-understood by the ordinary skilled worker in the art, have 
been omitted. In addition, the suspending strut has been shown with a 
plain configuration whereas in general it has a streamlined cross section 
tapering rearwardly; other details which contribute to the esthetics of 
the amusement ride have also been omitted so as not to obscure those 
concepts which are essential to the present invention. 
Thus in FIG. 1, I have shown highly schematically a vehicle 1 which can 
seat at least five persons (hereinafter "riders") and if in appropriate 
width can seat two or more riders at each of the stations 1a, 1b, etc. of 
this vehicle. 
The vehicle has fixed thereto a pair of suspending struts 2 which are shown 
to be inclined somewhat rearwardly, the direction of travel being 
represented in FIG. 1 by the arm A. Each of these struts 2 is pendulously 
supported at a respective horizontal pivot 3 on a respective carriage 4, 
the carriages being spaced apart parallel to the direction of arrow A. 
The carriages ride on a track structure 9, 10, 11 which forms part of a 
closed-path track which can have the configuration of a figure-eight or 
any other closed pattern designed to provide a number of curves, turns and 
direction changes. Naturally, there can be upward and downward slides, 
dips and straight or horizontal sections which can follow one another in 
close succession in combination with curves which change direction rapidly 
so as to provide high velocity stretches followed by slow stretches and 
vice versa, all with the aim of affording the rider a most satisfying and 
exciting ride. 
Since each of the struts 2 is swingably suspended from a main pivot 3 from 
a respective carriage 4, the two struts may be interconnected by a common 
bar 40 which is articulated at 40a and 40b to the two struts so as to 
allow the vehicle to swing on the two pivots 3 back and forth slightly as 
represented by the arrows B. 
As the carriages pass around a curved section of the track, significant 
centrifugal force can be generated which tends to swing the vehicle 1 
outwardly and hence to swing the strut 2 in one or another of the 
directions represented by the double-headed arrow C in FIG. 3. An 
oscillation in this sense can be developed which is damped as will be 
described in greater detail below. 
Each of the carriages 4 is provided with a number of supporting and guide 
roller assemblies 7 and in the embodiment shown, two such assemblies 7 
have been illustrated for each carriage. 
Each of the assemblies 7 comprises four pairs of running rollers 5 and two 
pairs of guide rollers 6. The running rollers include one roller of each 
pair which carries the weight of the vehicle and another roller of the 
same pair opposed to the first so that the two rollers of each pair pinch 
a portion of the track between them. Each pair of rollers thus engages on 
opposite sides of a track portion 9 or 11 of rectangular cross section and 
welded to the tubular rail 10. On curved structures these track portions 9 
and 11 are inclined to correspond to the centrifugal force application and 
permit tilt of the vehicle to the corresponding side. The tubular member 
10, of course, has its axis following the theoretical track axis and is 
correspondingly curved to define the curved stretches. 
According to the invention, the forces assisting the pendulous movement of 
the struts 2 and generated by damping these oscillations are distributed 
uniformly to the rollers 5 and 6 to avoid overstressing any part of the 
carriage. To this end, each of the roller assemblies 7 is pivotally 
suspended in the carriage 4 utilizing a pivot arrangement whose axis has 
been represented at 8 in FIG. 1. This pivot axis extends transversely to 
the direction of displacement A of the vehicle and has been shown only 
symbolically since it runs perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 
1. Further details of this pivot will be apparent from FIG. 2. 
The carriage 4 shown in FIG. 2 comprises basically a frame 12 formed from 
longitudinal beams 13 straddling the rail and transverse beams 14 
connected at opposite ends to the longitudinal beams by pivots 15. The 
pivotal connections at the four corners of this frame are designed to 
permit forces which are applied to the frame to distort the latter from 
the rectangular orientation shown into some other parallelogrammatic 
configuration. 
In the middle of carriage 4, I provide a yoke 16 which is formed as a 
hollow box-like structure which is pivotally connected at its ends by 
bearings 17 with the longitudinal beams 13. These bearings, which can be 
formed as slide bearings preferably allow a certain amount of axial play 
so that the aforementioned distortion of the pivotally jointed frame does 
not cause detrimental stresses to arise where this track is joined to the 
frame. 
The yoke 16 is traversed by a shaft 18 which is journaled in this yoke for 
rotation about a longitudinal axis lying in the vertical median plane P of 
the carriage and extending in the direction of displacement of the 
carriage represented at 37 in FIG. 2. 
This direction corresponds to the direction A shown in FIG. 1. 
The ends of the shaft 18 are provided with flattened stubs 29 in which 
pivots 22 with vertical pivot axes are provided. The function of the 
pivots 22 will be developed below with respect to FIG. 4. 
Within the box-shaped yoke 16, on the shaft 18, I provide a self-aligning 
bearing 19 to receive the eye 20 of the strut 2 and thus the main pivot 3 
(compare FIG. 1). To allow a certain degree of mobility of the eye 20 or 
the strut 2, the upper and lower wall of the yoke 16 are provided with 
correspondingly enlarged windows 21 (see FIG. 2). The struts 2 can thus 
swing about the axis defined by the shaft 18 transverse to the direction 
37 of travel. 
The angular oscillation thus generated is damped by the system shown in 
greater detail in FIG. 3 with the resultant forces applied to the track 16 
in the form of torque about the axis of rotation of the shaft 18. As has 
already been seen from FIG. 1, groups of running rollers 5 and guide 
rollers 6 are coupled together and pivotally suspended in the carriage 4 
from the frame 14. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the rollers 5, 6 of each 
set are journaled in a common angle bracket 25 (see also FIG. 4) which in 
turn is pivotal about the aforementioned axis 8 on a stirrup 23 so that 
each stirrup carries two roller groups in a U-configuration as is also 
shown in FIG. 4. The stirrup 23, in turn, is pivotally mounted at 22 on 
the stub 29 of the shaft at 8. Rollers 24 ride in tracks formed by the 
longitudinal beams 13 so that relative movement of the stirrup and the 
frame is permitted as the stirrup pivots at 22. 
As the carriage 4 enters a curved stretch of track, the stirrup 23 will 
rotate about the vertical axis of pivot 22, thereby changing the angle 
between the stirrup and the frame, a motion which is not impeded because 
of the movement of the rollers 24 in the longitudinal beams 13. The latter 
are formed as inwardly open channels (U-profiles) to constitute rails to 
receive these rollers. 
The pivots 22 are also in the form of self-aligning bearings 30 (FIG. 4) 
which allow swinging movement, so that the stirrup 23 can automatically 
adjust itself as the vehicle passes the inflection point. The rotary 
journaling of the shaft 18 in the yoke 16 provides a further degree of 
freedom which permits the track to be tilted in the region of the 
inflection points without applying stresses to the rollers 5 and 6 or 
their bearings. 
In an extreme case, the articulated frame 12 can distort at the pivots as 
well. 
In FIG. 3, the yoke 16 has been shown in section. It will be apparent that 
both the strut 2 and the yoke 16 have bosses 26 and 27 which extend toward 
one another and between which bellows cylinders 28 forming air cushions 
are provided. These air springs 28 are conventional air springs as have 
been used heretofore in the suspensions of heavy trucks and railway 
vehicles. 
The angular oscillations about the axis defined at 3, 19, 20, deform the 
air springs 28 and by compressing one and extending another, the 
compressed air spring generates a restoring force. The air springs can be 
provided with valves which can be connected to a compressed air source to 
generate a predetermined air pressure within the springs 28 and to 
maintain this pressure. 
The number of air springs and their pressurization should be selected to 
generate the necessary restoring force and damping action. If a restoring 
force is to be completely eliminated, the spaces within the two opposing 
air springs can be connected by a fluid-communicating conduit. 
The damping of the oscillation of the strut 2 by the air springs 28 
generates a torque on the yoke 16 about the axis 3. This torque is 
transmitted via the bearing 17 to the longitudinal beams 13 of the frame 
12 and because of the pivotal mounting of the roller groups 7, uniformly 
to the rollers of these groups. 
Since the rollers 5 and 6 bear over their full width on the tracks 9 and 
11, the forces are uniformly distributed and breakage can be avoided. 
As can be seen from FIG. 4, the shaft 18 has its flattened portions 29 
located between a pair of spaced-apart webs 39 of the stirrup 23. A pivot 
pin 31 is fixed in these webs 39 and carries a ball 30 forming a 
self-aligning bearing on which is engaged the pin 31 located between the 
webs 39 and forming the pivot for the stirrup 23. 
The shaft 18 is thus able to angularly move about its axis in spite of the 
attachment to the stirrup illustrated. The other stirrup need not have 
such a self-aligning bearing. 
FIG. 4 also illustrates the running and guide tracks 9 and 11 of the rail 
10 which is a tube, these tracks being stiffened in their junction to the 
rail by fillet plates 33, the rails, plates and tracks being welded 
together. 
The running surfaces for the rolls 5 and 6 are disposed, of course, 
outwardly of the reinforcing plates 33. 
Many rail sections can be connected together by flanges 32 which can have a 
diameter such that the running surfaces of the rails 9 and 11 are 
unaffected (see the dot-dash lines in FIG. 4). In other words, the tracks 
project outwardly beyond the flanges as well. The tracks can be suspended 
on arms 38, which can be bolted to the flanges also without adversely 
affecting the movment of the rolls 5 and 6. In the side view of FIG. 5, 
the pivot 8 for the sets of rollers are shown in greater detail, the angle 
brackets 25 being pivotable therearound. 
While the tracks 9 have been illustrated in FIG. 5 as having flattened 
surfaces, the tracks can also have concave or convex surfaces, in which 
case the rolls 5 and 6 can have complementary curvature to form-fittingly 
engage the tracks. 
From FIG. 6 it should also be clear that the individual vehicles 1 on their 
undersides have a channel 35 which is open downwardly and extends in the 
direction of travel and which is internally provided, as shown 
diagrammatically by dot-dash lines, with entraining means 36 which enable 
engagement by a tractive element for propelling the vehicle over at least 
a portion of the path. In the usual way, the tractive element, e.g. a 
chain, can carry the vehicle to the high point of the path and the vehicle 
can be released to travel freely over the remaining dips, rises and turns 
using the potential energy thus delivered. This also differs from 
conventional systems which generally drive the carriage above the 
suspended vehicle. 
Since the carriage is highly flexible, its distance from the vehicle can be 
considerable and any braking device can likewise be considerably removed 
from the carriage. At 34 running boards have been illustrated to assist 
the rider in stepping into the vehicle.