1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to roller coasters and other amusement park rides, and, more particularly, to vehicle and track designs and systems to provide passengers ride experiences with flying corners similar to those experienced in bobsledding in a controlled and safe environment.
2. Relevant Background
Amusement parks continue to be popular worldwide with hundreds of millions of people visiting the parks each year. Park operators continuously seek new designs for thrill rides because these rides attract large numbers of people to their parks each year. Roller coasters and other thrill rides provide numerous twists, turns, drops, and loops at high speeds that many park goers demand. These rides may be gravity driven as is the case with many roller coasters or powered to provide a desired user experience with a particular track configuration. One thrilling portion of these rides is the high speed banking experience as a car or vehicle goes rapidly around a banked corner or bend such as at a portion of the track that is not flat but is instead angled or sloped such that the vehicle is tipped, which forces the passengers to lean or shift to the left or right. Passengers find this exciting because it is an experience they typically cannot obtain in their own vehicles, e.g., with highways typically having relatively low speed limits on any banked curves such as freeway entrance and exit ramps.
The banking sensation is heightened further with amusement park rides that attempt to provide “flying corners.” These rides simulate bobsleds with a track that is U-shaped or arcuate in cross section, and wheeled vehicles ride within the track-defined chute or dry flume. In such rides, the cornering is considered a flying corner as the car or vehicle is able to travel transversely relative to the primary direction of travel without mechanical guides or rigid tracking. A well-designed bobsled-type ride may provide flying corners with a unique banking and overall ride experience.
Flying corner rides, however, have not been widely adopted or utilized in amusement parks due to a number of serious limitations. Existing tracks have typically been formed of wood and are very difficult and expensive to fabricate. The tracks generally are very large and deep because escape from the channel is prevented by the depth of the channel (or height of the edges). FIG. 1 illustrates a representative flying corner ride 100 in which an arcuate track 110 is supported by structural members 112. A passenger or guest 130 sits in a seat 128 of a car or vehicle 120 that contacts the inner surface of the track 110 with wheels 124. As the center of gravity, CG, of the car 120 changes such as during a banked corner, the car 120 is able to move transverse to the direction of travel (or the longitudinal axis of the track 110) as shown with arrows 142, 144. The car 120 is prevented from exiting the track 110 by the depth of the channel or flume.
Design of the ride 100 is troubling from a safety viewpoint due to tipping issues and pinch points. Tipping generally has to be addressed with a combination of the design of the car 120 and the size and shape of the track 110, but with no physical restraint, there remains a danger that the car may overturn or tip in the channel. Pinch points are shown in FIG. 1 at locations where the rider 130 may reach outside the car 120 and contact a track or other surface or pinch their fingers or other body parts between the car 120 and track 110 or other surfaces. In existing rides 100, pinch points are minimized by using a relatively large vehicle combined with a larger diameter channel or flume, but this adds to material and other fabrication costs and reduces the intimacy of the ride for the passenger 130.
As a result of these concerns of safety and cost, flying corner rides are not provided at most amusement parks. There remains a need for a method of providing park guests with a thrill ride that provides the sensations associated with a flying corner similar to a bobsled.