Patent ID: 7914384

Claim:
An amusement device for providing a sense of excitement to one or more passengers using the amusement device, said amusement device comprising a track along which one or more amusement device seat assemblies adapted to carry the one or more passengers are moveable, wherein each seat assembly comprises: (a) a seat adapted to accommodate a passenger, the seat comprising a seating surface and a back support with a back support surface; (b) a frame comprising track engagement means and being adapted for supporting the seat, the frame further comprising a pivot mechanism providing a pivot axis extending behind the back support surface at a distance above the seating surface, which pivot axis is substantially parallel to the back support and substantially parallel to the seating surface; (c) a bar construction attached to the pivot mechanism, the bar construction comprising a hip bar and at least a pivot arm integral with the hip bar, wherein the pivot arm is pivotable about the pivot axis from a raised position in which the hip bar is raised from the seating surface to allow a passenger to sit down in the amusement device seat assembly, to a lowered position, wherein in the lowered position of the bar construction, the hip bar is in the vicinity of the seating surface, so as to extend across the hip over the lap of a passenger, and in the lowered position of the bar construction, the pivot arm has a portion that is attached to the pivot axis, extends downwards from the pivot axis and is located behind an imaginary plane that extends tangent to and substantially parallel with the back support surface, such that the bar construction does not obstruct the view of the passenger and does not restrict movements of the arms of the passenger, thereby allowing the passenger to experience a great sense of freedom, (d) a belt construction comprising at least two shoulder straps of which the lower end is connected to the bar construction, and further comprising an adjustable length mechanism associated with the shoulder straps to allow for adaptation of the length of the shoulder straps to the size of the passenger in the lowered position of the bar construction such that the shoulder straps are in physical contact with the shoulders and upper part of the body of a passenger seated in the amusement device so as to increase the sense of safety of the passenger.