Patent ID: 8096890

Claim:
An amusement ride assembly comprising: a rotatable endless loop cable spanning with a catenary between end stations and the loop cable configured and operating in use as both a ride cable upon which a passenger carrier free-rolls under gravity and as a retrieval means for returning the passenger carrier to an end station after a ride via rotation of the loop cable; a drive system operable by control signals to rotate the loop cable; a passenger carrier suspended from the loop cable by a roller mechanism having roller wheels that are rotatably engaged with the loop cable to enable the passenger carrier to free-roll along the loop cable under gravity and the passenger carrier further comprising a clamping mechanism that is actuatable by control signals between a closed position in which the clamping mechanism is clamped to the loop cable to fix the passenger carrier to the loop cable and an open position in which the clamping mechanism is unclamped from the loop cable to allow the passenger carrier to free-roll along the loop cable under gravity via the roller mechanism; and an electronic control system that is in signal communication with the drive system and the clamping mechanism of the passenger carrier, and which is configured to send control signals to actuate the clamping mechanism into the open position during a ride to allow the passenger carrier to free-roll along the loop cable under gravity via the roller mechanism from or toward one of the end stations toward or from another of the end stations and to subsequently actuate the clamping mechanism into a closed position to fix the passenger carrier to the loop cable at a position between the end stations for retrieval of the fixed passenger carrier toward one of the end stations via rotation of the loop cable by the drive system, the electronic control system being configured to operate automatically according to preset programming or being manually operable by an operator remote from the passenger carrier.