Abstract:
A recreational ride employs a suspended tensioned static cable that allows the user to gravitationally ride, harnessed to a rolling device attached to the cable, from an upper cable support structure to a lower cable support structure at a speed that is preset, based on the difference in elevation between the upper and lower cable support structures, and that is not controlled by the user during the ride. An additional static safety cable and a terminal braking system provide an extra measure of safety for the rider in the event of failure of a primary brake contained within the rolling device or of failure of the riding cable itself.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application incorporates the subject matter of and claims priority from U.S. provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/328,149 filed Oct. 10, 2001. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to suspended cable systems employed for a variety of purposes and, more particularly, to a recreational or amusement ride employing a suspended tensioned static cable system and a rolling device coupled thereto for gravitationally carrying a user along a span of the cable system between two cable support structures.  
           [0003]    Suspended cable systems of various types are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,277 to Smith et al. describes a system for rescuing persons stranded on aerial transportation systems that employ a wire rope or cable as the primary drive and support mechanism, such as ski lifts, oil derrick escape mechanisms, gondolas, aerial tramways, etc.  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,425 to Remington is directed to a cable skydiving apparatus in which a rider on a pulley block car descends a mountainside along a catenary cable and generally comes to a stop as the result of frictional forces, before hitting the lower cable support point.  
           [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,113 to Lehotsky describes an aerial cable support system that includes a moving cable and that allows snow skiers to jump from cliffs and other elevated surfaces while eliminating a high impact landing.  
           [0006]    As applicant is presently informed, there is no prior art teaching of a recreational ride employing a suspended tensioned static cable that allows the user to gravitationally ride, harnessed to a rolling device attached to the cable, from an upper cable support structure to a lower cable support structure at a speed that is preset, based on the difference in elevation between the upper and lower cable support structures, and that is not controlled by the user during the ride. An additional static safety cable and a terminal braking system provide an extra measure of safety for the rider in the event of failure of a primary brake contained within the rolling device or of failure of the riding cable itself.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram illustrating upper and lower cable support structures, tensioned static riding and safety cables spanning the support structures, and the general position of a rider at the departure and terminal points of the span.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating typical terrain between the upper and lower support structures of FIG. 1, a straight line approximation of the position of a tensioned cable spanning the two structures, and the actual position of the cable resulting from slight cable sag.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a front pictorial diagram of a rolling device that is attached to the static riding cable of FIG. 1 for supporting a rider harnessed to the rolling device during a ride.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the rolling device of FIG. 3.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relative positions of a brake arm of the rolling device and the tensioned static riding cable of FIGS. 3 and 4, with and without the weight of the rider applied to the brake arm.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 is a more detailed diagram of a portion of the rolling device of FIGS. 3 and 4, illustrating the rearward portion of the brake arm and a brake assembly attached thereto.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 is a pictorial diagram of a terminal brake positioned at the terminal end of the riding cable of FIG. 1.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 8 is a detailed diagram illustrating a terminal brake acceptor portion of the terminal brake of FIG. 7 and the way in which an approaching rolling device engages the terminal brake acceptor.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 9 is a pictorial diagram showing the riding and safety cables of FIG. 1 in cross section proximate the lower support structure, along with horizontal and vertical dampeners connected between the two cables and the lower support structure.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]    Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical cable span of the amusement ride of the present invention, including upper and lower cable support structures  10 ,  12 , a static riding cable  14  suspended therebetween, and a parallel safety cable  16 . Additional parallel riding and safety cables  14 ,  16  may be installed between upper and lower cable support structures  10 ,  12  in order to accommodate more riders. Additional support structures may be linked to either or both of the upper and lower cable support structures  10 ,  12  to provide additional cable spans for a user&#39;s riding enjoyment. A typical terrain gradient between upper and lower cable support structures  10 ,  12  and the associated slightly sagging position of riding and safety cables  14 ,  16  are illustrated in FIG. 2. A terrain gradient from a minimum of 2% to more than 25% can be safely accommodated by the present invention. Support structures  10 ,  12  may include decks with operator platforms to facilitate the mounting and dismounting of riders by operators stationed on each deck. Conventional voice communication lines may also be provided between the upper and lower support structures  10 ,  12  to permit communication between operators  102 ,  120  stationed thereon. Control gates may be provided at the upper support structure  10  adjacent each of the riding cables  14  that are controlled to open when the operators  102 ,  120  are in agreement that a particular one of the riding cables  14  is clear for receiving the next rider.  
         [0017]    Referring now additionally to FIGS.  3 - 6 , there is shown a rolling device  18  that engages riding cable  14 . Rolling device  18  includes a wheel assembly  19  having a cable wheel  20  positioned over riding cable  14 , a brake arm  22 , and a brake assembly  24 . A bumper  26  is mounted at the leading end of brake arm  22 , while brake assembly  24  is mounted to the rearward end thereof A track guide  28  is attached to one of a plurality of brake setting holes  30  provided along the central section of brake arm  22 . A spreader bar  32  that is part of a rider harness is adapted for removable attachment to a snap hook that depends from track guide  28  such that spreader bar  32  hangs from track guide  28  in a position that is perpendicular to both rolling device  18  and riding cable  14 . The positioning of track guide  28  in a particular one of the brake setting holes  30  determines the amount of braking applied to riding cable  14  by brake assembly  24 , as a function of the difference in elevation between the upper and lower support structures  10 ,  12 , independent of the weight of the rider. Thus, once the proper one of brake setting holes  30  has been chosen for a particular cable span, by means of an iterative process employing sand bags of known weight, the chosen brake setting hole is used for all riders, regardless of weight. The desired braking action is chosen such that a rider&#39;s terminal speed, when entering a terminal brake  50  at the lower end of riding cable  14 , will be approximately ten miles per hour.  
         [0018]    Cable wheel  20  preferably includes pressed sealed bearings. A cable guide  34  is mounted to wheel assembly  19  and over riding cable  14  to prevent separation of riding cable  14  from wheel assembly  19 .  
         [0019]    Brake assembly  24  includes a generally cylindrical body that contains a cylindrical brake pad  36  fabricated of conventional brake material. The brake pad  36  may be inserted into or removed from brake assembly  24  through a frontal opening in the cylindrical body thereof by first removing wheel assembly  19  therefrom. A brake pad stop  38  is provided at the rear end of the cylindrical body of brake assembly  24  to retain brake pad  36  within brake assembly  24  when in use. The cylindrical body of brake assembly  24  includes a longitudinal slot  39  therein, through which rolling device  18  is attached to and removed from riding cable  14 . Brake pad  36  includes a similar longitudinal cable slot  40  formed therein for engaging riding cable  14 . A brake pad locking pin  42  is threaded into brake pad  36  through a brake pad locking guide  44  provided in the cylindrical body of brake pad assembly  24 . Brake pad locking pin  42  controls rotational movement of brake pad  36  within the cylindrical body of brake pad assembly  24 . A pair of brake pad plunger pins  41 , coupled together by a grab bar  43 , are located on the wall of the cylindrical body of brake pad assembly  24  forward of locking pin  42 . Brake pad plunger pins  41  fit into aligned holes provided in the brake pad  36  when the brake pad locking pin  42  is in its downward locked position in the horizontal portion of locking guide  44 . When brake pad plunger pins  41  are so positioned, they serve to securely lock brake pad  36  in place. In this locked position, riding cable  14  is, of course, fully encased within the cylindrical body of brake assembly  24  with the slot  40  in brake pad  36  facing upwardly and engaging riding cable  14 . The weight of a rider  100 , suspended from spreader bar  32  near the leading end of brake arm  22 , produces, through a pivot point provided by wheel assembly  19 , an upward force at brake assembly  24 , resulting in brake pad  36  being urged upwardly against riding cable  14  to produce the desired normal braking action during the course of a ride. In order to remove rolling device  18  from riding cable  14  at the end of a ride, the bottom operator  120  must manually pull grab bar  43  to remove brake pad plunger pins  41  from their holes in brake pad  36 , while at the same time moving locking pin  42  from its locked position in locking guide  44  to its unlocked position shown in FIG. 6 at the top of the vertical portion of locking guide  44 . In this unlocked position, the slot  39  in the cylindrical body of brake assembly  24  is aligned with the slot  40  in brake pad  36 , thereby permitting the rolling device  18  to be removed from or attached over riding cable  14 .  
         [0020]    Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, there is shown a terminal brake  50  that includes a dampening system  52  and a terminal brake acceptor  54 . Terminal brake  50  is positioned concentrically over riding cable  14  proximate a fixed cable hanger  56  at the lower cable support structure  12  of FIG. 1. Dampening system  52  includes a series of alternating springs  58  and weights  60 , which are attached to each other and which move as a unit over the terminal end of riding cable  14 . Terminal brake acceptor  54  is attached to dampening system  52  at the uphill end thereof and includes a downwardly extending inverted V-shaped member that receives bumper  26  at the leading end of brake arm  22  as the rider approaches the terminal end of riding cable  14 . As brake arm  22  enters terminal brake acceptor  54 , brake arm  22  is forced downwardly, which increasingly forces brake pad  36  upwardly against riding cable  14  to further decrease the speed of the rider. Springs  58  and weights  60  are chosen through conventional computations to have a compressive strength and weight, respectively, such that they safely serve to decelerate a 300-pound runaway rider without the added braking assistance provided by brake arm  22  entering terminal brake acceptor  54 . Under normal operating conditions, the combination of dampening system  52  and terminal brake acceptor  54  will smoothly decelerate a rider over approximately a fifteen-foot distance.  
         [0021]    Referring to FIG. 9, there are shown a plurality of horizontal and vertical cable dampeners  64  and  66 , respectively, each of which may comprise a commercially available shock absorber, for example. Horizontal and vertical cable dampeners  64 ,  66  are connected between tubes  68 , that are concentrically positioned over a short length of each of the riding and safety cables  14 ,  16 , and the lower cable support structure  12  Each of the tubes  68  is typically six feet in length. Cable dampeners  64 ,  66  serve to dampen any oscillation that may develop, as the result of wind, for example, in either riding cables  14  or safety cables  16 .  
         [0022]    In preparation for a ride, a rider  100  is fitted into a harness that may comprise a conventional climbing harness, for example, and that includes a pair of conventional chest lanyards  104 ,  106  that are coupled to spreader bar  32 . The climbing harness also includes primary and secondary safety lanyards  108 ,  110 . Rider  100  is also issued a rolling device  18 . An upper operator  102  stationed on upper cable support structure  10  attaches the rolling device  18  to riding cable  14 , clips the primary and secondary safety lanyards  108 ,  110  to riding and safety cables  14 ,  16 , and also clips spreader bar  32  to the snap hook that depends from track guide  28  of rolling device  18 . During the course of a ride, safety lanyards  108 ,  110  trail rolling device  18 . Safety lanyards  108 ,  110  become tensioned only in the event of a complete failure of rolling device  18  or riding cable  14  to prevent the rider from falling to the ground. When the ride is completed, a lower operator  120 , stationed on lower cable support structure  12 , unclips the spreader bar  32  from track guide  28 , unclips primary and secondary safety lanyards  108 ,  110 , and removes rolling device  18  from riding cable  14 , so that the rider is free to disembark the lower cable support structure  12 .