Amusement park ride vehicle including a chassis driven to have heave and sway motions

摘要

A free-ranging ride vehicle for an amusement park ride. The vehicle includes a vehicle base supporting a passenger compartment. The vehicle includes a drive system with a support platform supporting the vehicle base. The drive system imparts a set of motions including translation, cornering, sway, and heave to the support platform and, in turn, to the vehicle base and passenger compartment. The drive system includes first, second, and third leg assemblies each with a rigid leg pivotally coupled at an inner end to the support platform and supporting a wheel at an outer end. Drive motors are mounted on the legs above the wheels to, independently and concurrently, rotate the wheels and change the directional offset angle of each wheel.

主权项

1. A ride vehicle for an amusement park ride using free-ranging vehicles, comprising:
a passenger compartment for receiving one or more passengers; a vehicle base supporting the passenger compartment; and a drive system with a support platform supporting the vehicle base, wherein the drive system is operable to selectively impart a set of motions to the vehicle base by imparting motions to the support platform, wherein the set of motions includes translational and cornering motions, wherein the drive system comprises first, second, and third leg assemblies each comprising a rigid, elongated leg pivotally coupled at an inner end to the support platform and supporting a wheel at an outer end, wherein the wheel is adapted for rotation about a vertical axis, and wherein the drive system further includes in each of the leg assemblies a drive motor for rotating the wheel about a vertical axis to define the translational and cornering motions.