Abstract:
Methods for controlling admission to amusement park rides include electronically measuring each person&#39;s height (and optionally weight) and comparing the measured data to a database which specifies minimum requirements for each ride in the amusement park. Upon completing the comparison, several optional steps are provided including encoding a data carrier with the person&#39;s measured data and/or a list of rides which are appropriate for the person. The data carrier may be a “swipe card” or other machine readable device which must be presented at the entrance to each ride. The entrance to each ride is provided with an electronic entry control gate which is operated by the data carrier. Optionally, a list of appropriate rides is printed for the person and/or the person&#39;s guardians. Apparatus for performing the methods are also disclosed.

Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/076,346 filed on Mar. 9, 2005 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,739,925. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates broadly to methods and apparatus for controlling admission to rides at an amusement park. More particularly, this invention relates to methods and apparatus for controlling admission based on the height and/or weight (and optionally age) of a prospective rider. 
         [0004]    2. State of the Art 
         [0005]    Every year many children are injured (some killed) because they were riding on an amusement park ride which was inappropriate for their stature. While it is common practice to measure a child&#39;s height prior to admitting the child to a particular ride, the measurement is informal and depends on the judgment of a human attendant. The typical measurement apparatus is simply a mark on a wall against which a child stands and is observed by the ride operator. Often there will be many children crowding around and this will interfere with the ride operator&#39;s correct assessment of the child&#39;s height. The child may take the opportunity of crowded conditions to stand on his or her toes, unnoticed, so that s/he appears taller than s/he actually is. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention provides methods and apparatus for controlling admission to individual rides at an amusement park. 
         [0007]    The present invention provides methods and apparatus which do not rely on human judgment for controlling admission to individual rides. 
         [0008]    The present invention provides automated methods and apparatus for controlling admission to individual rides. 
         [0009]    According to one aspect of the present invention, methods and apparatus are provided for controlling admission to individual rides where a determination is made at once which rides are appropriate and which are inappropriate for a particular person. 
         [0010]    According to another aspect of the invention, methods and apparatus are provided for controlling admission to individual rides whereby a person is prevented from riding inappropriate rides. 
         [0011]    In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, the methods of the invention include measuring a person&#39;s height and/or weight or indications related thereto, and optionally obtaining age information, and encoding a data carrier with information relating to the height and/or weight (and optionally age) of the person or the indications thereof, and reading the data carrier at ride entry points to determine whether the person will be admitted to the ride. The data carrier may be a “swipe card” or other machine readable device which is presented at the entrance to each ride. The entrance to each ride is optionally provided with an electronic entry control gate which is operated by the data carrier. According to other aspects of the invention, after information about the person is obtained, the person&#39;s height and/or weight (and optionally age) or indications related thereto are compared to a database and a printout listing rides to which the person will and/or will not be admitted is generated for the person and/or the person&#39;s guardians. 
         [0012]    According to one aspect of the invention, the apparatus of the invention may include an electronic measuring apparatus, a database, a plurality of data carriers, a data carrier encoder, a printer, and admission control equipment at each ride. The admission control equipment may include an electronic turnstile, a data carrier reader, and means for unlocking the turnstile based on the data read from the data carrier. The measuring apparatus preferably includes sensors to determine whether the person is standing on his/her toes. According to one embodiment, the data carrier is a bar coded bracelet which cannot be removed from the person&#39;s wrist without destroying it. However, the data carrier can be a magnetic stripe card, a bar coded card, an RFID device, etc. 
         [0013]    Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a measurement and data carrier encoding apparatus according to the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the measurement apparatus; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a data reader and electronic gate controller according to the invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a simplified flow chart illustrating a measurement and data carrier encoding method according to the invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a simplified flow chart illustrating an admission control method according to the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]    Turning now to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary apparatus  10  according to the invention includes an LED emitter  12 , a photo detector  14 , a weighing platform  16 , a processor with a database  18 , a keypad  19 , a data carrier encoder  20 , a printer  22 , and a plurality of data carriers  24 . The LED emitter  12  includes a plurality of LEDs arranged in a vertical column spaced apart from each other, e.g. one inch apart. The photo detector  14  includes a plurality of photo detectors arranged in a vertical column corresponding to the LEDs. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a person (e.g., child) C standing between the emitter  12  and detector  14  will block some beams of light B up to his or her height, above which beams of light L will pass and be detected by the detector  14 . By determining which detectors detect light and which do not, the person&#39;s height can be determined. Alternatively, the LED emitter  12  and photo detector  14  may include a plurality of LEDs and photo detectors arranged in vertical columns at predetermined heights (e.g., 36 inches, 40 inches, 48 inches, and 55 inches) which may correspond to different rides specifications for minimum or maximum height for admission to those rides in that park. With such an arrangement, rather than finding a specific height for the person, an indication of height is provided which effectively classifies the person as meeting or not meeting certain height requirements. As another alternative, the LED emitter  12  may be a single emitter which moves up and down to scan the height or an indication of the height of the person. In conjunction with the scanning LED emitter, a single photo detector may be utilized which moves in a corresponding manner, or a plurality of photo detectors at predetermined heights or at desired intervals (e.g., each inch) may be used. 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the weighing platform  16  includes four pressure sensors  16   a - 16   d . In order to operate the device, the person must place the left foot heel on sensor  16   a , the left foot toes on sensor  16   b , the right foot heel on sensor  16   c , and the right foot toes on sensor  16   d . Only when all four sensors detect pressure will the person&#39;s height be measured. This prevents a person from standing on their toes to appear taller. The resulting weight data may be actual weight, or indications of weight which may correspond to different rides specifications for minimum or maximum weight for admission to those rides in that park. 
         [0021]    The PC  18  is coupled to the photo detector array  14  and to the weighing platform  16  including the sensors  16   a - 16   d . Preferably the PC  18  is also coupled to the LED array  12  so that it is only turned on when a person is standing on the weighing platform. The database in the PC  18  includes height and/or weight data or classifications (and optionally age data) for every ride in the amusement park. After the PC  18  is provided with the height (or height indication), weight (or weight indication), and age (via the keypad  19 ) of the person, the attached encoder  20  is used to encode a data carrier  24  with information relating to the height, weight, and age of the child which will be used to control access to individual rides. Optionally, the PC  18  is coupled to a printer  22  which is used to print a list of rides from the database, the list consisting of the rides to which the person will be granted access and/or the rides to which the person will be denied access. The data encoded on the card can be an indication of the person&#39;s height and weight, e.g. inches and pounds, optionally the person&#39;s age, an indication of the rides the person will be admitted to, an indication of the rides the person will not be admitted to, a classification code, or some other data or datum which relates to the person&#39;s height, weight and age and can be used to determine admission to rides. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  illustrates an admission control system  100  for an amusement park ride. The system  100  includes an electronically controlled turnstile  102  coupled to a data reader and controller  104 . The data reader reads the data carrier ( 24  in  FIG. 1 ) and determines from the data encoded therein whether to activate the turnstile and allow the person admission to the ride. It will be appreciated that the exact operation performed by the controller will depend on the data encoded on the carrier  24 . If the data is an indication of the person&#39;s height/weight, the controller will perform a simple comparison of the person&#39;s height/weight to the height/weight requirement for this particular ride which will be stored in the controller. If the data includes an indication of the rides to which the person is permitted admission, the controller will read the list to determine whether this particular ride is contained in the list. A similar function with opposite result will be performed if the data includes an indication of the rides to which the person is denied admission. Still another possibility is to classify the person&#39;s height/weight into one of a plurality of groups and to classify the rides similarly. It will be appreciated that depending on the nature of the data used to determine ride access, the database  18  shown in  FIG. 1  may not be needed to encode the data carrier  24 . 
         [0023]    It will further be appreciated that access to rides may also depend on a person&#39;s age in conjunction with the height and/or weight of the person. In this case, the controller will perform the necessary operation to determine access. Also, access to some rides may depend on whether the person is accompanied by a guardian (e.g., parent). Thus, according to another aspect of the invention, a data carrier for the child&#39;s parent is issued and linked in some way (e.g. via a database entry) to the data carrier of the child. The controller then will determine whether the parent&#39;s data carrier has been presented before admitting the child. 
         [0024]      FIG. 4  illustrates a method of measuring the person and encoding the data carrier according to the invention. Starting at  200 , the apparatus ( 10  in  FIG. 1 ) waits until presence of a person is detected at  202 . The person&#39;s presence can be detected by sensing weight on the weighing platform ( 16  in  FIG. 1 ) or by detecting a break in one of the light beams (B in  FIG. 1 ) if the apparatus is arranged to leave the LEDs ( 12  in  FIG. 1 ) on rather than turn them on only when weight is sensed. At  204  the four foot sensors ( 16   a - 16   d  in  FIG. 1 ) are examined. If it is determined at  204  that fewer than all four sensors detect pressure, an announcement is made at  206 . The announcement may be audible, visual, or both and presents the person with instructions to stand with heels and toes touching the appropriate spots on the weighing platform. In order to assist the person, concentric outlines of different size feet can be painted onto the weighing platform. For an entertaining aesthetic effect, outlines of feet in flashing LEDs can be provided on the weighing platform. 
         [0025]    Once it is determined at  204  that the person is standing in the correct place, the person&#39;s height and weight (or indications thereof) and, optionally, age are measured at  208 . According to the illustrated embodiment, a database lookup is performed at  210  to determine which rides are appropriate for a person of this height/weight. At  212 , a list of rides is printed and a data carrier is encoded. The data carrier and printout are then dispensed at  214 . As discussed above, the database lookup and the printout are not essential to the invention. The method of measuring and encoding could directly encode the person&#39;s height/weight (or a classification indication) onto the data carrier for comparison later at admission control points. 
         [0026]      FIG. 5  illustrates a method of controlling admission to rides using the data carrier which, as discussed above, may be attached to the person&#39;s wrist or other body part. Starting at  300 , the device ( 100  in  FIG. 3 ) waits until a data carrier is detected. Detection may be accomplished when the person holds the data carrier next to a scanner. In the case of and RFID data carrier, detection can be accomplished by an RF detector when the person is adjacent the turnstile ( 102  in  FIG. 3 ). After the data carrier is detected at  302 , its contents are read at  304 . According to the illustrated embodiment, a database lookup is then performed. This lookup could be a simple comparison of the height/weight data read at  304  to a minimum height/weight requirement stored in the data reader and controller ( 104  in  FIG. 3 ) or a simple comparison of a classification indication to permissible rider classifications for that ride. However, if the data carrier were encoded with a list of rides, then that list would constitute the database that is looked up at  306  to determine whether or not the present ride is on the list encoded into the data carrier. In either case, after the lookup or comparison, it is determined at  308  whether the person is eligible to be admitted to this ride. If the person is to be denied admission, an announcement is optionally made at  310  and the process returns to  300 . The announcement may be audible, visual, or both and will advise the person that admission to this ride is denied because of height/weight requirements. Optionally, the announcement may include a suggestion of one or more nearby rides for which the person is qualified. This information would be obtained from the database lookup at  306 . If, on the other hand, the person is to be allowed admission, the turnstile is unlocked at  312 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the turnstile  102  is preferably designed to minimize the likelihood that two people could pass through at the same time. 
         [0027]    There have been described and illustrated herein several embodiments of a method and apparatus for controlling the admission to amusement park rides. While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Thus, while the methods and apparatus have been described for restricting admission to amusement park rides based on height/weight, the methods and apparatus can be used in conjunction with other methods and apparatus. For example, the data carrier and admission control points could also be used for billing. The data carrier can be related to a credit or debit account and that account can be credited/debited every time the person gets on a ride. The data carrier can be encoded with demographic data and used to poll the popularity of different rides among different demographic groups. The data carrier can be encoded with information identifying the person and can be used to locate the person. In addition, while particular types of height and weight measuring apparatus have been disclosed, it will be understood that other apparatus can be used. For example, and not by way of limitation, height could be determined by image analysis of a video image of the person or an electromechanical device could be used. Also, while a turnstile has been disclosed, it will be recognized that other admission control devices could be used. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.