Patent Publication Number: US-7722470-B2

Title: Flying arrangement

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/528,886, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,465,236 entitled FLYING ARRANGEMENT and filed Mar. 23, 2005 as a national stage entry of international application number PCT/EP2003/010659, having international filing date Sep. 25, 2003, which was not published in English, and which claims priority to German patent application No. DE102 45 351.9, filed Sep. 27, 2002, and the entireties of these priority applications as hereby incorporated by reference and the priority and benefit of which are claimed. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates to amusement rides and more particularly to flying arrangement amusement park rides. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Amusement park rides that give the participant a feeling of being airborne or of flying are known as carnival attractions. The known flying arrangements, however, are constructed in such a manner that the participant or user does not have the opportunity to be actively involved while he uses such amusement park rides. Instead, he is forced to sit in a seat which is forcibly controlled and follows a fixed path, e.g., on rails as on a roller coaster, on a vertical column or on rods. Thus, the participant can only take a ride but he cannot determine the course of the event on his own. He cannot actively influence the trajectory path or the airborne process. 
   The problem to be solved by the present invention is to make available a flying arrangement that allows the participant to actively participate in the flying or airborne experience. This includes not only amusement park arrangements but, in particular, also arrangements for training motor and mental abilities that are essential so as to be able to master flying arrangements. 
   SUMMARY 
   To solve this problem, a flying arrangement is proposed. The flying arrangement thus comprises a hall and a minimum of one free-flying unit that is preferably able to accommodate one but possibly also two or even more persons, which can start vertically and which can then fly freely around the hall. 
   The hall is designed so that its boundaries prevent a flying unit from leaving the hall while flying. This can be implemented by providing the hall with closed walls and a closed ceiling. It is, however, not absolutely necessary that the boundaries be solidly closed. The boundaries can also be defined by a wire lattice so that the hall so-to-speak forms a cage for the flying units. It is not even necessary for the boundaries to be defined by mechanical means. To prevent a flying unit from leaving a circumscribed area, even a remote control could be used. Thus, upon approaching, e.g., this type of a vertical boundary, a flying unit could be forcibly turned aside or lowered. 
   The term “hall” includes structures of the most varied geometries as long as they can suitably accommodate the free-flying units. The simplest and economically most advantageous shape is that of a structure that is convex on all sides, in particular of a structure in the shape of a rectangle with flat rectangular side faces; boundary areas that are not flat, e.g., round, upright boundary areas are, however, possible as well. 
   The structures need not be convex on all sides. One possibility under consideration is that of a flying tunnel design, in particular with self-looping flying tunnels in which the flying units can fly within closed paths. 
   It is also possible to combine a number of halls of different types. 
   To ensure that the feeling of free flight is sufficiently pronounced, the flying units and the hall must have a certain size ratio relative to one another so that the flying units are sufficiently mobile and do not approach the boundaries too soon. For example, a hall in the shape of a rectangle can be dimensioned so that it is twenty or thirty-times longer and higher than one single flying unit alone. The horizontal dimensions of the hall will frequently be limited not only by the economically feasible size, but also by the space available for such a hall in an amusement park or a similar facility. 
   The flying units will be primarily designed to accommodate one person. To maintain the correct size ratio with respect to a practically implementable hall, they should not be excessively large, i.e., they should not have the size of a small airplane. Flying units of this type are known from the prior art. Thus, for example, during the opening of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a pilot with a rocket-powered flying unit floated into the stadium. How close such flying units are to being commercially implemented is apparent from an article entitled “Push the button and lift off” that was published in the weekly magazine “WELT am SONNTAG,” No. 33, Aug. 18, 2002. 
   The present invention is suitable not only as an attraction for an amusement park or a carnival with the purpose of selling rides, but also as a permanently stationary installation similar to that of a go-cart track. Furthermore, the invention does not have only an amusement or entertainment value, but can also be used as a tool for flight training with flying units of the type related to sports or professional purposes. 
   The flying unit can be designed in the form of a flying disk with a platform, in the center of which space for the person is provided and which also has a lifting unit assembly. Such a platform can have a diameter of approximately 3-5 m so as to be able to accommodate a sufficiently powerful lifting unit assembly on it. 
   The lifting unit assembly could comprise a plurality of separate lifting units distributed around the center and able to trigger a lifting effect that is distributed uniformly around the center. 
   A uniform lifting effect is necessary to hold the platform in the horizontal plane. The uniform lifting effect is achieved by means of a suitable control. 
   In the preferred practical example of the invention, the lifting units, when in operation, are vertically downward operating blowers that, in the practical example, can be electrically driven, for example, in such a manner that the power for the drive is supplied by detection loops in the hall. 
   To drive the lifting units, the alternate practical example provides for fuel-burning motors to be included and disposed on the platform. Another alternative is that the lifting units are designed in the form of rocket boosters. 
   An important feature of the invention is that at least one flying unit has a position-detection device so that the position inside the hall can be determined at any time. 
   This is a prerequisite so as to ensure that the flying unit can be controlled by means of a remote control device, either to avoid a collision of the flying unit with other flying units or with a boundary of the hall, regardless of its design, or to be able, if necessary, to return certain flying units to the ground. 
   The hall can comprise a minimum of two zones, and flying with a flying unit can be restricted to one zone or to specific zones, for example, for beginners, to a low zone near the ground level. 
   It is recommended that, to exclude the risk of collisions, at least one flying unit be equipped with distance sensors that are connected to the remote control device. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings, practical examples of the flying unit according to the present invention are shown as diagrammatic representations. 
       FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  show the contours of the types of halls to be considered; 
       FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of one single flying unit; 
       FIG. 3  shows a sectioned front view of the hall according to  FIG. 1   a  approximately along line III-III in  FIG. 1   a;    
       FIG. 4  shows a lateral view of the hall according to  FIG. 1   a  in the direction of arrow IV in  FIG. 1   a ; and 
       FIG. 5  shows a perspective sectioned view of a model of a flying tunnel assembly. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The hall, which in its entirety is designated by  100  in  FIG. 1   a , has a rectangle shape with a ground  1 , a ceiling  2 , two shorter rectangular side faces  3  and  4  and two longer side faces  5  and  6 . Side faces  2  to  6  form boundaries that can be designed as closed walls, thus preventing the flying units  10  ( FIG. 2 ) flying inside said hall from leaving hall  100 , or as “electronic walls” that interact with the control of flying unit  10 , so as to prevent said flying unit from leaving the rectangular space. 
   The rectangular shape is only one specific practical example.  FIG. 1   b  shows an alternative practical example  200  of a hall that has the shape of an upright cylinder section,  FIG. 5  shows hall  300  that is designed in the form of a flying tunnel assembly  40 . 
     FIG. 2  shows one single flying unit  10  which, in this particular practical example, is designed in the form of a flying disk and comprises a platform  7  with a circular cross section, in the center of which a cupola  8  made of a transparent material, such as Plexiglas, is located, which cupola, during operation of flying unit  10 , accommodates the person. Uniformly distributed on a circular area all around the cupola  8  are nine lifting units  10 ′ in the form of lifting blowers  9  with downwardly directed nozzles  11  from which the lifting air jets—shown as arrows  12 —exit. By means of a suitable automatic control, it can be ensured that the lifting effect of lifting blowers  9  is distributed uniformly throughout the circumference so that during the flight, platform  7  remains substantially horizontal. When platform  7  has a diameter of approximately 3 m, it is possible, in the assembly shown, to accommodate lifting blowers  9  that have enough power to lift and to allow at least one person in cupola  8  to fly. The circular cross section of platform  7  and the number of nine lifting blowers  9  are simply features of the practical example but are not compulsory. 
   The person in cupola  8  has available a hand-operated control device  13 , indicated by the broken lines  FIG. 2 , so as to control the power output of the blowers  9  and thus the rising and lowering of the flying unit. The person can also determine the direction of travel, either by suitably influencing the lifting blowers  9  or by additional horizontally effective nozzles (not shown in the drawing). 
   If the lifting units  10 ′ of flying unit  10  are lifting blowers  9 , these lifting blowers can be electrically driven, with the current being supplied by suitable detection loops in hall  100 , 200 , 300  so that the free mobility of flying unit  10  within hall  100 , 200 , 300  is maintained. 
   The lifting blowers  9  can, however, also be driven by means of fuel-burning motors, which decreases the constructional volume. It is also possible to use some type of rocket booster instead of the lifting blowers  9 . 
   Details of the technical design of flying unit  10  are intended only as practical examples. What is important is the idea to allow such flying units  10  to fly freely around a hall  100 , 200 , 300 , such as is suggested for hall  100  in  FIG. 3 . 
   In the free inside space  20  of hall  100 , several flying units  10  can fly around freely. In  FIGS. 3 and 4 , flying units  10  are shown in simplified form in contrast to their representation in  FIG. 2 . 
   Hall  100  has the boundaries shown in  FIG. 1   a , which may be made of, e.g., of a metal wire lattice so as to allow the flying person a view of the outside and thus provide a better flying sensation. 
   On the inside, hall  100  is divided into three zones  23 , 24 , 25  by means of additional boundaries  21 , 22 . The lowermost zone  23  is close to the ground and intended for beginners. Each flying unit  10  has a position-detection device that interacts with a remote control device  26  that is able to identify the various flying units  10  and monitor the presence in the intended zone  23 ,  24  or  25 . If the boundary of the zone for that permission is given is crossed or if technical problems arise, any flying unit can be returned to the ground by means of the remote control device  26 , which has priority over the hand-controlled device  13  ( FIG. 2 ). 
   In addition to the control via the remote control device  26 , distance sensors  27  ( FIG. 2 ) can be disposed on the individual flying units so as to avoid collisions with other flying units  10  or with the boundaries  3 , 4 , 5 , 6  of the hall. 
   Boundaries  21 , 22  that separate zones  23 , 24 , 25  on the inside  20  of hall  100  from one another can be “electronic walls.” But if boundaries  21 , 22  are mechanical boundaries in the form of wire lattice walls, access to zones  24 , 25  is provided by an elevator  28  that transports a flying unit  10  into one of the higher-lying zones  24 , 25  and places it into the desired zone. It is, however, also possible for flying units  10  to be first hoisted to the higher-lying zones  24 , 25  by means of a cable and to release the connection only once the flying unit involved is airborne. Such a cable connection also makes it possible to secure flying unit  10  during the start-up phase and to avoid a crash if the necessary lifting power were not available. 
   While halls  100 , 200  have a convex shape on all sides, “hall”  300  in  FIG. 5  is one that comprises an assembly  40  of flying tunnels  30 . Flying tunnels  30  are tubular structures, the walls of which can be formed by closed physical boundaries similar to those of hall  100  by, e.g., wire lattice or plastic panels. But it is also possible to use “electronic walls” for flying tunnels  30 . The inside cross section of flying tunnels  30  is predominantly convex and of a size that allows the flying units  10  to fly free from obstructions. To avoid a collision with the boundaries, the inside diameter of a flying tunnel  30  should be approximately five- to twenty-times larger in all directions than the diameter of the flying unit  10 . 
   The simplest embodiment of a flying tunnel assembly is a straight, horizontal flying tunnel that can be traversed in flight on a straight path, for example, inside a relatively large rectangular hall  100  or from such a hall into another such hall  100 . 
   The next stage would be a flying tunnel in the form of a ring that allows the flying unit  10  to follow a closed self-looping path. 
     FIG. 5  shows a considerably more complex flying tunnel assembly  40  that also includes upward slopes and that allows travel on an extensive and highly varied route. In zone  31 , three segments of flying tunnel  30  operate on several levels one on top of the other. In zone  32 , flying tunnel  30  forms a helical path from that flying tunnel  30  turns into a type of cupola  33  forming a “hall” that is convex on all sides. In zone  34 , flying tunnel  30  takes a considerable upward slope of approximately 45°. 
   The flying tunnel assembly  40  is supported by portal-like supporting structures  35 . Although it is spatially relatively large, it can be easily implemented since the flying tunnel assembly  40  has only a boundary function and does not need to support anything other than its own weight.