Amusement ride with winding component fixedly mounted to the vehicle

Abstract

The present invention relates to an amusement ride (10), comprising a stationary track structure (14) extending along a course trajectory (B) and a vehicle (16, 16') guided movably on the track structure (14) along the course trajectory (B), wherein the vehicle (16, 16') can be driven electrically by a linear motor and the linear motor (18) has the following as motor components (18a, 18b): - at least one winding component (20) which can be energised to produce a temporally and spatially varying magnetic field and has a plurality of energisable windings (22) of at least one electrical conductor and - at least one reaction component (23) which interacts with the magnetic field of the winding component (20) to produce a force acting along the course trajectory (B) between the winding component (10) and the reaction component (23), wherein one motor component (18a, 18b) formed of a winding component (20) and a reaction component (23) is arranged in a stationary fashion on the track structure (14) and the other motor component (18a, 18b) is arranged on the vehicle (16, 16') for joint movement with the vehicle (16, 16'). According to the invention, the winding component (20) is arranged on the vehicle (16, 16') and the reaction component (23) is arranged on the track structure (14).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a ride for public entertainment according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a ride comprises, among other things, a stationary track structure which runs along a track trajectory, a vehicle movably guided along the track structure along the track trajectory, wherein the vehicle can be electrically driven by a linear motor, the linear motor comprising the following motor components: at least one winding component capable of generating a temporally and spatially changing magnetic field, comprising a plurality of windings of at least one electrical conductor capable of generating a magnetic field, and at least one reaction component which interacts with the magnetic field of the at least one winding component to generate a force acting between the winding component and the reaction component along the path trajectory, wherein a motor component consisting of at least one winding component and at least one reaction component is fixedly arranged on the track structure and wherein the other motor component is arranged on the vehicle for joint movement with the vehicle.

[0002] A rail-bound transport device for passenger transport as an amusement ride, comprising all the features of the preamble of claim 1, is known from DE 20 2019 103 340 U1. The passenger transport system of DE 20 2019 103 340 U1 is intended to comprise several vehicles, wherein, in order to achieve a riding experience unlike that of known amusement rides, the speed of each vehicle is determined by the passenger on the rail track. This is technically only possible if the winding component carried in each vehicle is individually supplied with power, i.e., independently of all other vehicles, and this power is converted in the respective vehicle only after the energy coupling device, based on the individual control inputs of the passenger.

[0003] US Patent 2016 / 0038840 A1 discloses an amusement ride with a track-bound vehicle and a linear induction motor, wherein the reaction component is located on the vehicle and the winding component is located on the track. US Patent 2016 / 0038840 A1 also discloses an amusement ride with a track-bound vehicle and a linear synchronous motor. In the disclosed linear synchronous motor, the winding component of the linear motor is located on the vehicle and the reaction component is located on the track structure of the ride. The vehicle then carries an energy source from which the winding component is powered. Consequently, in this configuration, the vehicle must also carry a converter, since the conversion required for the drive can only take place between the energy storage device and the winding component.

[0004] WO 03 / 043865 A1 discloses a public amusement device with a switchable eddy current brake. The eddy current brake comprises a magnetic arrangement and an induction element that interacts with the magnetic arrangement.

[0005] Amusement rides are generally known, for example as roller coasters, ghost trains, water slides, and drop towers. Such rides are known, for example, from the prior art documents EP 1 446 315 A1, EP 2 156 979 A1, EP 2 672 276 A1, and DE 10 2015 226 092 A1, to name just a few. The stationary track structure can comprise a rail arrangement, a water channel, and the like, wherein the rail arrangement and / or water channel is at least partially fixed to the ground via a ground-supported frame. In some sections, the rail arrangement and / or water channel can also be arranged directly on and connected to the ground.

[0006] The linear motor can be a linear synchronous motor. In this case, the reaction element comprises a series of magnets arranged successively along a sequence direction, with successive magnets having opposite polarities along this sequence direction. The magnets of the reaction element are preferably permanent magnets, and the sequence direction is generally parallel to the section of the trajectory on which the reaction element is located at the point where the reaction element is positioned. In the case of a curved section of the trajectory, the parallelism generally applies to a tangent to the trajectory.

[0007] The linear motor can also be a linear asynchronous motor. In this case, the reaction component comprises a plate-shaped electrical conductor in which eddy currents are induced in response to the magnetic field of the winding component. These eddy currents in turn generate a reaction magnetic field, which, in interaction with the magnetic field of the winding component, produces the force acting along the path trajectory.

[0008] The force acting between the winding component and the reaction component along the path of travel can be either an accelerating or a decelerating force, depending on the current flowing through the winding component. In addition to the force acting between the winding component and the reaction component along the path of travel, at least one further force can act between them in a different direction. However, this is not relevant here.

[0009] Typically, the winding components are fixed to the track structure due to the electrical power supply they require, while the reaction component is fixed to the vehicle for movement in conjunction with the vehicle.

[0010] Beyond the aforementioned aspect of simplified energy supply, the familiar distribution of motor components between the structural component and the vehicle also has disadvantages: a reaction component formed by permanent magnets has a large mass, which increases the vehicle mass to be accelerated. Furthermore, permanent magnet reaction components are expensive compared to winding components due to the large number of high-performance permanent magnets required for their construction. This cost difference becomes particularly significant with an increasing number of vehicles operating simultaneously on the same track structure.

[0011] While the significantly simpler reaction components of linear asynchronous motors do not suffer from the weight and cost problems described above for permanent magnet reaction components of linear synchronous motors, they cannot, unlike the permanent magnet reaction components of linear asynchronous motors, inherently form a fail-safe eddy current brake when used with a short-circuited winding component. This represents a safety disadvantage. Therefore, the effort required for additional safety measures is greater when using linear asynchronous motors than when using linear synchronous motors.

[0012] Furthermore, due to the ever-increasing demands on the dynamics of modern rides, the stationary winding components are subjected to considerable thermal stress during their power-up phases, which limits the reduction of cycle times with which vehicles can be accelerated or decelerated one after the other by one and the same winding component.

[0013] The economic viability of a ride, given a specific transport capacity of a vehicle, is largely determined by the achievable cycle times, since the product of the cycle frequency (i.e., the reciprocal of the cycle time) of a vehicle and the transport capacity per trip of the vehicle defines the maximum number of users achievable per unit of time.

[0014] It is therefore an object of the present invention to further develop the aforementioned ride in such a way that, with otherwise identical components of the ride, more economical operation is possible than with the above-mentioned conventional arrangement of the winding component on the track structure and the reaction component on the vehicle, in particular for a ride with more than one vehicle moving simultaneously along the track trajectory.

[0015] This problem is solved by the present invention of a ride of the aforementioned type with the features of claim 1.

[0016] As already disclosed in DE 20 2019 103 340 U1 and US 2016 / 0038840 A1, at least one winding component and at least one reaction component are also arranged on the vehicle of the ride according to the invention.

[0017] The arrangement of the winding component and the reaction component reduces the vehicle mass due to the lower weight of the winding component compared to the cooperating reaction component, thereby reducing the requirements for the linear motor, as well as for the vehicle design and the track structure.

[0018] When multiple vehicles operate on the same track structure with vehicle-mounted winding components and a reaction component fixed to the track structure, the decisive factor for the thermal load on a winding component resulting from operation is no longer the cycle time achievable at a speed-changing section of the track structure, but rather the cycle time of the individual vehicle. Only when the speed of a vehicle is changed by a linear motor is at least one winding component of that vehicle energized and thus heated, while the winding components of other vehicles, whose speed remains unchanged, are not energized and consequently do not heat up. In the case of a conventional track-structure-mounted winding component, it is energized and heated every time the speed of a vehicle changes.

[0019] Naturally, at least one vehicle-mounted winding component also requires electrical energy for its operation.

[0020] To supply the vehicle, and in particular the at least one vehicle-mounted winding component, with electrical energy, the ride according to the present invention has an energy coupling device at least along at least one section of the track structure. The vehicle can have an energy feedback device for mechanical and / or inductive energy-transferring coupling with the energy coupling device.

[0021] The energy coupling device is usually arranged in a track-structure-fixed manner.

[0022] In a specific embodiment of a mechanical energy-transfer coupling, the energy coupling device can have a current conductor and the energy feedback device a sliding contact that makes contact with the current conductor. The current conductor can comprise a rigid busbar and / or a tensioned flexible wire conductor. Alternatively or additionally, in a specific embodiment of an inductive energy-transfer coupling, the energy coupling device can have a primary coil and the energy feedback device a secondary coil, wherein the secondary coil can be inductively coupled to a magnetic field of the primary coil for energy transfer. A known inductive coupling device for the inductive transfer of electrical energy to a moving receiver is, for example, the device with the type designation "vPOWER U015 Pickup" from Paul Vahle GmbH & Co. KG in Kamen (Germany).

[0023] According to the invention, the ride has a stationary inverter for supplying power to the at least one vehicle-mounted winding component, outputting an alternating voltage with a variable frequency. The energy coupling device is electrically connected to the inverter and supplied with the output alternating voltage. The vehicle-mounted energy feedback device, which is mechanically and / or inductively coupled to the first energy coupling device, can then be electrically connected to the at least one winding component.

[0024] Depending on the input power supply to the converter, it can be an inverter, which converts an input DC voltage to a variable output AC voltage. Alternatively, it can be a frequency converter, which converts an input AC voltage to a variable output AC voltage. In both cases, the input AC voltage is typically a fixed-frequency AC voltage, such as the frequency of a public power grid to which the frequency converter is connected. The output AC voltage is, in both cases, a variable-frequency AC voltage, as the vehicle's movement is controlled, among other things, by changing the frequency of the output AC voltage.

[0025] Not only, but also for storing electrical energy during driving, while stationary, or during regenerative braking with a short-circuited winding component, the vehicle can have an energy storage device. The vehicle-integrated energy storage device can be any known type of energy storage device, such as a lithium-ion battery. Due to their excellent power-to-weight ratio and their ability to absorb and release electrical energy relatively quickly, so-called "supercapacitors" or "supercaps" are preferred as vehicle-integrated energy storage devices. "Ultracapacitors" is a synonymous term for supercapacitors. Supercapacitors are a type of electrochemical double-layer capacitor.

[0026] For safety reasons, it is also advantageous if the vehicle carries its own reserves of electrical energy in order to maintain an electrical energy supply for the vehicle, in particular its control device and / or its lighting and / or any media output device carried by the vehicle, for example in sections of the track structure without an energy coupling device.

[0027] Particularly when a vehicle-mounted energy storage system is provided, a vehicle-mounted inverter can also be provided, which can supply power to at least one vehicle-mounted winding component. This enables emergency operation of the vehicle even in the event of a failure of the power supply to the energy coupling device. However, a vehicle-mounted inverter increases the vehicle mass to be moved.

[0028] The ride can have a stationary, i.e., track-structure-independent, control device to control the operation of the ride or at least a part of it. Preferably, a stationary control device controls at least all stationary controllable components of the ride. This includes, in particular, the aforementioned stationary, i.e., track-structure-independent, converter. Additionally or alternatively, the ride can have a vehicle-mounted control device. Although a vehicle-mounted control device can, in principle, control the entire ride, it preferably controls the controllable components of the vehicle on which it is mounted. The vehicle-mounted control device can participate in signal-transmitting communication between the stationary and vehicle-mounted control devices.Thus, when both a stationary and a vehicle-mounted inverter are present, the stationary and vehicle-mounted control devices can negotiate, according to predefined algorithms, whether at least one winding component on the vehicle is energized by the stationary inverter or by the vehicle-mounted inverter.

[0029] The vehicle-mounted control device can also be excluded from controlling controllable components located outside the vehicle in order to avoid a control conflict between several vehicle-mounted control devices, for example, between several vehicles operating simultaneously on the track structure, with respect to one and the same stationary controllable component.

[0030] The ride can include at least one sensor array, preferably a plurality of sensor arrays, to acquire operationally relevant data during operation. For example, the ride can have at least one sensor array for recording the vehicle's position along its track trajectory. In addition to or as an alternative to the vehicle's position, the ride can have at least one sensor array for recording the vehicle's speed. Knowledge of the vehicle's position and speed is extremely helpful, or even essential, for the precise control of a converter that influences the vehicle's movement, such as the aforementioned stationary converter or a vehicle-mounted converter.

[0031] The vehicle can have a hodometer as a sensor arrangement for determining its position along the track trajectory and / or its speed. Other sensor arrangements for determining vehicle position and / or vehicle speed can include both vehicle-mounted and track-structure-mounted components, such as a magnetic strip and a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetic strip, a comb with known dimensions and a light barrier that interacts with the comb in a relative motion, a track-structure-mounted rotary encoder with a wheel and a vehicle-mounted friction surface that engages with the wheel in rolling motion. Likewise, the vehicle position and / or speed can be determined by a laser sensor, a radar sensor, and / or an ultrasonic sensor.

[0032] With regard to the thermal stress on the at least one winding component of the linear motor during operation, as discussed above, the ride, in particular the vehicle, can include at least one temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the at least one winding component. If a vehicle has several winding components, preferably at least one temperature sensor is arranged on each winding component.

[0033] Especially when more than one vehicle is moving along the track trajectory simultaneously, the ride can have a sensor array for vehicle identification. This sensor array can include a vehicle-mounted RFID tag and a track-fixed RFID reader. However, other vehicle-identifying sensor arrays are also conceivable, such as a vehicle-mounted optical and / or magnetic code with a corresponding track-fixed reader.

[0034] Preferably, at least one sensor arrangement is connected to a control device via signal transmission. Preferably, stationary detection devices of sensor arrangements are connected to the stationary control device via signal transmission, and / or preferably, vehicle-mounted detection devices of sensor arrangements are connected to the vehicle-mounted control device via signal transmission, although this is not mandatory. Due to the now technically developed possibilities for wireless signal transmission, vehicle-mounted detection devices can also be directly connected to the stationary control device via signal transmission, and vice versa.

[0035] Because the movement profile of a vehicle can be specifically influenced by energizing at least one winding component of the vehicle, the ride can have at least one input device for users to input data and / or information. Preferably, the input device is connected to one of the aforementioned control devices via signal transmission. The stationary and / or vehicle-mounted control device can then control the movement of the vehicle according to data and information entered by the users. Users of the ride also include legal guardians who are not themselves riding in a vehicle of the ride, but whose dependents are passengers in a vehicle. The input device can be an input / output device designed to output optical and / or acoustic signals to provide feedback to the user.

[0036] To supply the vehicle-mounted control device and / or other vehicle-mounted electrical components, such as the aforementioned energy storage device, at least one of the aforementioned sensor arrangements, or a vehicle-mounted component of a sensor arrangement distributed across the vehicle and the track structure, the aforementioned input device, etc., with electrical current, the aforementioned energy coupling device can be supplied with supply current, and the energy feedback device can be electrically connected to the vehicle-mounted electrical component to be supplied. This is possible, at least, if the at least one winding component is operated solely with electrical energy from the vehicle-mounted energy storage device.

[0037] Since, as a rule, due to the limited storage capacity of mobile electrical energy storage devices, at least one winding component is supplied with electrical energy by the track-fixed inverter via the first energy coupling device, and since the electrical energy supplied by the track-fixed inverter varies at least in frequency depending on the vehicle's operating state, the electrical energy supplied by the track-fixed inverter is not suitable for continuously supplying the vehicle and its components with operating current. Therefore, the ride can have a second track-fixed energy coupling device in addition to the first one mentioned above, at least along at least one section of the track structure, preferably along the entire track trajectory. Preferably, the second energy coupling device is continuously supplied with operating current for the vehicle.In addition to the first energy feedback device mentioned above, the vehicle may also have a second energy feedback device for mechanical and / or inductive energy transfer coupling with the second energy coupling device. The second energy feedback device is then electrically connected to the vehicle's stationary components that require electrical energy supply.

[0038] For targeted electromagnetic deceleration of the vehicle, the ride, in particular the vehicle itself, can have a short-circuit switch connected to at least one winding component for achieving a short circuit. This switch can be switched between a short-circuit state, in which the windings of at least one phase of the at least one winding component are short-circuited, and an open state, in which the windings of at least one phase of the at least one winding component are not short-circuited. Preferably, all phases of the at least one winding component are short-circuited by a short-circuit switch for a braking operation in order to achieve the greatest possible braking effect.

[0039] For safety reasons, the short-circuit switch can be configured to maintain the short-circuit state as its default state until it is switched to the open state electrically, mechanically, and / or magnetically. In the event of a power failure at the short-circuit switch, at least one phase, preferably all phases, of the at least one winding component is short-circuited, so that the vehicle is always braked as a fail-safe measure when it reaches a track section equipped with a permanent magnet reaction component of a linear synchronous motor.

[0040] The short-circuit switch can be supplied with electrical energy, for example with the operating current fed into the second energy coupling device, via the second energy feedback device. Preferably, the power supply to the short-circuit switch can be interrupted by a control device in order to bring the short-circuit switch into its short-circuit state as quickly as possible. This control device can be the vehicle-mounted control device and / or the track-structure-mounted control device and / or an operating control device superior to these control devices, which is also a track-structure-mounted control device.To supply the short-circuit switch with electrical energy independently of all other electrical components and to be able to interrupt this energy supply, the ride can have a third track-structure-fixed energy coupling device in addition to at least one of the aforementioned first and second energy coupling devices. Preferably, the third energy coupling device is continuously supplied with control current for the short-circuit switch, but more preferably, it can be interrupted by a control device. The vehicle can also have a third energy feedback device for mechanical and / or inductive energy-transferring coupling with the third energy coupling device, in addition to at least one of the aforementioned first and second energy coupling devices. The third energy feedback device is then electrically connected to the short-circuit switch.

[0041] The designations "first," "second," and "third" serve only to distinguish the aforementioned energy coupling and feedback devices. The ordinal numbers, used exclusively as names, are not to be understood as an enumeration in the sense that a second or third device can only exist if a first or a first and a second device are also present.

[0042] Because the short-circuit switch is used only rarely as an emergency device on the vehicle-mounted winding component, a contactor or a relay is sufficient as a short-circuit switch. In the track-fixed winding components of the prior art, a short-circuit switch includes a thyristor in addition to a contactor to enable the contactor to be switched without a load. On track-fixed winding components, short-circuit switches frequently serve as switched components in regular operation, in order to energize only those winding components that are interacting with a reaction component at a given operating time. Advantageously, the vehicle-mounted short-circuit switch of the present invention can function without a thyristor.

[0043] The at least one vehicle-mounted winding component can have windings of one, two, three, or more phases, for example, six phases. The winding component can be a known winding component, such as one already used as a stationary winding component on track structures.

[0044] To coordinate the control activity and / or to transmit the results of one or more sensor arrangements, the ride may have a signal transmission device for transmitting signals between the vehicle and at least one stationary component, in particular the stationary control device, of the ride. The signal transmission device may comprise a radio device with at least one transmitter and one receiver, and / or an optical signal transmission device, and / or a leakage wave link.

[0045] Sensory monitoring of the vehicle's operation also enables analysis of the vehicle's operating state. Therefore, the stationary control device and / or the vehicle-mounted control device can determine an efficiency value representing the vehicle's drive energy dissipation, based on a measurement from at least one sensor array and a power parameter representing the amount of power supplied to the vehicle. This allows for the relatively simple determination of the power supplied to at least one winding component of the vehicle during a given operating period. From the vehicle's known mass and the measured vehicle speed, the efficiency value can be calculated to determine how well the vehicle converts the transferred power into motion and the proportion of power dissipated, i.e., not converted into motion.

[0046] As described above, the present invention offers particular advantages when the ride comprises a plurality of vehicles, each of which has at least one winding component. Each of the plurality of vehicles can have one or more of the aforementioned vehicle-mounted components. Some of these advantages are explained in detail below.

[0047] For example, because each vehicle carries its own at least one winding component, individual motion control of the majority of the ride's vehicles is possible. The stationary control device and / or the vehicle-mounted control device can thus, depending on a sensor reading and / or user input, provide different predetermined operating parameters for the operation of the vehicles, stored in a data memory and / or calculated based on sensor readings, and operate the different vehicles according to the operating parameters provided for each vehicle.

[0048] For example, depending on the detected vehicle identification, the stationary control device and / or the vehicle-mounted control device can apply a motion profile stored in a data memory of the respective control device, which is assigned to the identified vehicle. This allows for the simultaneous movement of vehicles along the track trajectory, at least some of which are designed, for example, as locomotives, others as sports cars, and a third as aircraft, each equipped with corresponding identification devices. A different motion profile can be stored for each of these vehicle groups, with different accelerations and / or different final speeds at the end of an acceleration section.Similarly, depending on the vehicle identification, different acoustic and / or optical outputs can be triggered on the vehicles and / or on the track structure, which are assigned to the respective vehicle group in a data storage device.

[0049] Another example is taking into account the temperature of a vehicle's winding component. If this temperature is too high, the vehicle can be accelerated with less power than the same vehicle or other vehicles with a normally tempered winding component, and / or the vehicle can be temporarily stopped in separate sections of the track to cool down. In principle, the stationary control device and / or the vehicle-mounted control device can therefore be designed to propel a vehicle depending on the winding component temperature measured at least one of the vehicle's winding components.

[0050] Additionally or alternatively, the stationary control device and / or the vehicle-mounted control device can take into account the different efficiency characteristics of the individual vehicles during operation, such as different frictional effects of mechanical components, different efficiencies of winding components, and the like, in order to prevent excessively large or / or excessively small gaps between vehicles moving simultaneously along the trajectory. This allows, for example, different wear conditions of vehicles moving simultaneously along the same track structure to be considered during their propulsion.For this purpose, the stationary control device and / or the vehicle-mounted control device can, depending on the result of a comparison of the aforementioned efficiency parameters of several vehicles, provide different operating parameters for the vehicles involved in the comparison and operate the vehicles according to the operating parameters provided for the respective vehicle. A change to already provided operating parameters, carried out depending on the comparison result, to achieve different individual operating parameters for the individual vehicles is also considered a provision of different operating parameters.

[0051] Preferably, the ride is designed so that more than one vehicle moves along the track trajectory simultaneously. Preferably, the vehicles have the same set of components, although the vehicle-mounted identification devices may differ with regard to the identification information they provide.

[0052] To achieve the greatest possible force effect along the path trajectory, at least one winding component is shorter than any interacting reaction component. This allows a winding component to be completely overlapped by the reaction component in a direction orthogonal to its path trajectory during a passage through or past the reaction component, ensuring that every winding of the winding component can interact with the reaction component.

[0053] The track structure can incorporate multiple reaction components spaced apart along the track trajectory to accelerate and / or decelerate a vehicle at different sections of the trajectory. Similarly, the vehicle can be equipped with a winding component assembly comprising multiple winding components. These winding components can be arranged sequentially along the vehicle's path to increase the acceleration and / or deceleration time, or they can be arranged parallel to each other, i.e., side by side, to increase the magnitude of the force achievable between the winding component assembly and a reaction component.A winding component arrangement with a plurality of winding components arranged one behind the other along the movement path of the vehicle can be longer as an arrangement than a track-structure-side cooperating reaction component, wherein preferably each individual winding component of the winding component arrangement is shorter than the reaction component.

[0054] The present invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It illustrates: Fig. 1 shows a rough schematic view of an embodiment of a ride according to the invention of the present application.

[0055] In Figure 1An embodiment of an amusement ride according to the invention of the present application is generally designated by 10. The amusement ride 10 comprises a track structure 14 fixedly arranged on a surface U by a frame 12, for example a truss construction made of steel and / or wood and / or concrete and / or another known building material. In the present case, the track structure 14 is a rail arrangement, for example comprising one rail 14a or two or more parallel rails. However, it can also be a water-filled channel in which floating bodies are guided as vehicles.

[0056] The track structure 14 extends along a track trajectory B. The track trajectory B, from which in Fig. 1 If only one section is shown, it can be a closed curve or it can extend between two endpoints of the track structure 14.

[0057] The ride 10 comprises a vehicle 16 guided movably on the track structure 14, as well as a linear motor 18 to accelerate and / or decelerate the vehicle 16 on the track structure 14 along the track trajectory B.

[0058] The linear motor 18 comprises, as a motor component 18a, a winding component arrangement 19 coupled to the vehicle 16 for joint movement and therefore vehicle-mounted, with, for example, two identical winding components 20. The winding components 20 each comprise a plurality of currentable windings 22, in the illustrated example six windings 22, which are arranged successively along a direction parallel to the path trajectory B.

[0059] The linear motor 18 comprises, as a further motor component 18b, a track-structure-fixed or stationary reaction component 23, which is rigidly connected to the track structure 14 and has a plurality of permanent magnets 24 arranged successively along the track trajectory B with alternating polarization. In the illustrated example, the motor component 18b can also be a magnetic yoke, which comprises two adjacent permanent magnet arrangements, each with a plurality of permanent magnets, forming a movement gap between them. Each of the permanent magnet arrangements of the magnetic yoke has successive permanent magnets with alternating polarization along the track trajectory B, with opposite magnetic poles facing each other orthogonally to the track trajectory B across the movement gap.

[0060] As the vehicle 16 moves along the track trajectory B, the winding component arrangement 19 overlaps with the reaction component 23, so that by energizing the winding components 20 between the winding component arrangement 19 and the reaction component 23 a force acting along the track trajectory B can be generated, which either accelerates or decelerates the vehicle 16 depending on the energization of the winding components 20.

[0061] To supply the winding component assembly 19 with electrical energy, a track-structure-fixed conductor rail assembly 26 is provided as a drive energy coupling device 27, the individual conductor rails of which extend parallel to the track trajectory B. Sections of the conductor rail assembly 26 located behind the vehicle 16 are indicated by dotted lines. In this case, the conductor rail assembly 26 has three conductor rails, one for each of three electrical phases shifted by 120° relative to each other, with which the winding component assembly 19 is supplied.

[0062] The busbar assembly 26 is electrically connected to a track-fixed inverter 28, which outputs an AC voltage of variable frequency to the busbar assembly 26 with three phases offset by 120° from each other. The inverter 28 is controlled by a track-fixed control device 30; that is, the frequency of the output AC voltage of the inverter 28 is determined by the control device 30.

[0063] The converter 28 can be connected as a frequency converter to a public electrical power supply network 31, which supplies an alternating voltage, such as a three-phase alternating current voltage with a predetermined frequency, such as 50 Hz.

[0064] The control device 30, which may include integrated circuits and / or a programmable logic controller and one or more data storage devices, can be connected to a track-structure-fixed transmitter / receiver 32 by means of signal transmission in order to control the operation of the transmitter / receiver 32 on the one hand and to receive data received by the transmitter / receiver 32 on the other.

[0065] Vehicle 16 has a vehicle-mounted pantograph assembly 34 as a drive energy feedback device 35, which in this case, for example, is in electrically conductive contact with the conductor rail assembly 26 as a sliding contact. The pantograph assembly 34 has a number of pantographs corresponding to the number of conductor rails of the conductor rail assembly 26. For each conductor rail of the conductor rail assembly 26, and thus for each supplied electrical phase, the pantograph assembly 34 includes a pantograph that carries the alternating voltage of the respective electrical phase. The individual phases of the pantograph assembly 34 are connected to the windings 22 of the individual electrical phases of the winding components 20. For the sake of clarity, the three electrical phases are shown together in a single line in the area of ​​vehicle 16.

[0066] The individual phases of the winding arrangement 19 can be connected in a star connection or in a delta connection.

[0067] The operational readiness of the winding component assembly 19 is switched by a vehicle-mounted control device 36, which controls a vehicle-mounted short-circuit switch 38. The short-circuit switch 38, which is located in Figure 1 The device, shown in its open state, which can only be adjusted and held in this state with the expenditure of energy, is coupled to its own energy source, namely a track-structure-fixed short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40 in the form of a further supply rail 41, with which a vehicle-mounted pickup 42 is coupled as a short-circuit switch energy feedback device for energy transfer. In the illustrated example, the coupling of the short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40 with the vehicle-mounted pickup 42 can be an inductive coupling.

[0068] If the short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40 is de-energized, or if the vehicle-mounted control device 36 deliberately switches the short-circuit switch 38 into the short-circuit state while the short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40 is energized, the short-circuit switch 38, which may be a contactor, for example, is in the short-circuit state. With the winding component assembly 19 then short-circuited, it cannot be energized by the current collector assembly 34 to generate a magnetic field. Driving the vehicle 16 by the linear motor 18 is then not possible.

[0069] In the case of a short-circuited winding component arrangement 19, a passage of the winding component arrangement 18a past the reaction component 18b also causes an eddy current braking of the vehicle 16.

[0070] The short-circuit switch 38 with the short-circuit state as its default state is therefore a fail-safe device which, in the event of a power supply failure, ensures braking of the vehicle 16 in the area of ​​the permanent magnetic reaction component 18b.

[0071] The short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40 can be supplied with power from a phase of the public electrical power grid 31, i.e., approximately 230 V AC, by a higher-level operating control unit 44. In the event of an exceptional incident on the ride 10, the higher-level operating control unit 44 can interrupt or switch off the power supply to the short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40, thereby preventing the vehicle 16 from being driven and ensuring an emergency braking action of the vehicle 16 in the area of ​​the reaction component 23.

[0072] The higher-level operating control 44 is also connected to the track-structure-fixed control device 30 via signal transmission and can transmit data and / or control commands to the control device 30 and receive data from the control device 30.

[0073] Since the power supply via the busbar arrangement 26 is manipulated by the converter 28 depending on the driving state of the vehicle 16, and since the short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40 can be interrupted by the higher-level operating control 44 depending on the safety requirements of the ride 10, the ride 10 has a further, continuous power supply 46 as an operating current coupling device, which supplies the vehicle-mounted control device 36 and electrical devices on the vehicle 16, such as lighting, an audio output, sensor arrangements described below, signal transmission arrangements and the like, with operating current.

[0074] The continuous power supply 46 is contacted by a vehicle-side current collector 48 as an operating current feedback device. The current collector 48 is designed as a sliding contact 49. The continuous power supply 46 can be a busbar or a tensioned wire.

[0075] The pantograph 48 is connected to a vehicle-side power supply 50, which may include a power supply unit 52 and an electrical energy storage device 54. The power supply unit 52 can transform the alternating voltage supplied by the continuous power supply 46, for example 230 V, to a lower direct voltage, preferably 24 V. The energy storage device 54, preferably a supercapacitor arrangement, can quickly store and release large amounts of electrical energy while maintaining low weight.

[0076] Each of the winding components 20 is equipped with at least one temperature sensor 56, which detects the temperature of the winding component 20 on which it is mounted and outputs it to the vehicle-mounted control device 36.

[0077] As a further sensor arrangement, the vehicle 16 has a position and speed sensor 58 in the exemplary form of an electronic hodometer, which is connected to the vehicle-mounted control device 36 in a signal-transmitting manner.

[0078] Instead of a vehicle-side hodometer 58, a position and / or speed detection device can also be arranged distributed over the vehicle 16 and the track-structure-fixed environment, for example by having the vehicle have a comb of predetermined dimensions which passes through a track-structure-fixed light barrier.

[0079] Additionally or alternatively, a track-structure-fixed position and / or speed detection device 59 can be provided, which is connected to the track-structure-fixed control device 30 via signal transmission. The track-structure-fixed position and / or speed detection device 59 can be a radiation-based detection device, such as a detection device using a laser beam, radar radiation, and / or an ultrasound wave for position and / or speed detection.

[0080] The vehicle-mounted control device 36 controls a vehicle-mounted transmitter / receiver 60, which communicates with the track-structure-fixed transmitter / receiver 32. This allows the vehicle-mounted control device 36 to transmit information to the track-structure-fixed control device 30 about, for example, the position and / or speed of the vehicle 16 relative to the track structure 14, in particular relative to the track trajectory B, and / or about the temperatures of the individual winding components 20.

[0081] Depending on the detected temperature of a winding component 20, the vehicle-mounted control device 36 and / or the track-structure-mounted control device 30 can control the driving operation of the vehicle 16 with the aim of reducing the thermal load on the winding component 20 and / or with the aim of maximizing the possible utilization of the residual thermal load capacity of the winding component 20 indicated by the temperature of the winding component 20.

[0082] A further vehicle 16', indicated only by dashed lines, moves simultaneously on the same track structure 14 along the track trajectory B. This further vehicle 16' is identical in construction to the vehicle 16 discussed above. To distinguish between vehicles 16 and 16', each vehicle has an identification device 62, for example, an RFID tag 64, which can be read by a track-fixed reader 66. The reader 66 is coupled to the track-fixed control device 30, so that the track-fixed control device 30 can uniquely identify the vehicle 16 passing the reader 66 via the reader 66.

[0083] Depending on the identification of the vehicle 16, the control device 30 can apply a motion profile assigned to the vehicle 16 or the vehicle class to which the vehicle 16 belongs by appropriately controlling the inverter 28, according to which the vehicle 16 is to be accelerated or decelerated along the reaction component 23.

[0084] The in Figure 1The configuration of ride 10 shown is a functionally enhanced embodiment of the ride described in the present application. In a particularly simple embodiment, ride 10 operates only with the track structure 14 and the track-fixed control device 30, the inverter 28, the linear motor 18, the drive energy coupling device 27, and with vehicles 16 or 16', which, of the aforementioned components, only include the energy feedback device 35 and a sensor arrangement for detecting the position of the vehicle 16 or 16' relative to the track trajectory B. The sensor arrangement for position detection can additionally or alternatively be arranged on the track structure, such as the sensor arrangement 59.

[0085] In a further expansion stage, the ride 10 can include the short-circuit switch energy coupling device 40, and the vehicles can additionally include the short-circuit switch 38 and the associated vehicle-mounted current collector 42. A vehicle-mounted control device 36 is not strictly necessary for actuating the short-circuit switch 38. This can be done, as described above, by the higher-level operating control unit 44.

Claims

1. Amusement ride (10) comprising a stationary track structure (14) which extends along a path trajectory (B), a vehicle (16, 16') guided on the track structure (14) such that it can move along the path trajectory (B), wherein the vehicle (16, 16') is electrically drivable by a linear motor, wherein the linear motor (18) has as motor components (18a, 18b): - at least one winding component (20) which can be energised to generate a magnetic field that changes over time and spatially, having a plurality of energisable windings (22) of at least one electrical conductor, and - at least one reaction component (23), which interacts with the magnetic field of the at least one winding component (20) to generate a force acting between the winding component (10) and the reaction component (23) along the track trajectory (B), wherein a motor component (18a, 18b) of the at least one winding component (20) and the at least one reaction component (23) is arranged in a fixed position on the track structure (14), and the other respective motor component (18a, 18b) is arranged on the vehicle (16, 16') for joint movement with the vehicle (16, 16'), wherein the at least one winding component (20) is arranged on the vehicle (16, 16') and the at least one reaction component (23) is arranged on the track structure (14), wherein at least one energy coupling device (27, 40, 46) is arranged at least along at least one section of the track structure (14), wherein the vehicle (16, 16') comprises at least one energy counter-coupling device (35, 42, 48) for mechanical and / or inductive energy-transmitting coupling with the energy coupling device (27, 40, 46), characterised in that it comprises a stationary converter (28) for outputting an alternating output voltage with variable frequency, wherein one of the at least one energy coupling devices (27) is supplied with the alternating output voltage.

2. The amusement ride (10) according to claim 1, characterised in that in that one of the at least one energy coupling devices (27, 46) has a power line (26, 46) and one of the at least one energy counter-coupling devices (35, 48) has a sliding contact (34, 48) that makes contact with the power line (26, 46), or in that one of the at least one energy coupling devices (40) has a primary coil and one of the at least one energy counter-coupling devices (42) has a secondary coil, wherein the secondary coil can be inductively coupled to a magnetic field of the primary coil for the transmission of energy.

3. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has a stationary control device (30, 44) and / or a control device (36) fixed to the vehicle.

4. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that in that it has at least one sensor arrangement (56, 58, 59, 66) for detecting the vehicle position along the track trajectory (B) or / and for detecting the vehicle speed or / and for detecting a temperature of a winding component (20) of the at least one winding component (20) or / and for identifying the vehicle (16, 16').

5. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the vehicle (16, 16') has an energy store (54) for storing electrical energy.

6. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has at least one input device for entering data and / or information from users of the amusement ride (10).

7. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the amusement ride (10) has a short-circuit switch (38) which can be switched between a short-circuit state, in which the windings (22) of at least one phase of the at least one winding component (20) are short-circuited, and an open state in which the windings (22) of the at least one phase of the at least one winding component (20) are not short-circuited.

8. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has a signal transmission device (32, 60) for transmitting signals between the vehicle (16, 16') and at least one fixed component (32) of the amusement ride (10).

9. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, including claim 3, characterised in that the stationary control device (30, 44) and / or the vehicle-mounted control device (36) determines, as a function of a detection result of at least one sensor arrangement (56, 58, 59, 66) and as a function of a power variable which represents a power quantity supplied to the vehicle (16, 16'), an efficiency variable which represents the drive energy dissipation of the vehicle (16, 16') is determined for the vehicle (16, 16').

10. The amusement ride (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has a plurality of vehicles (16, 16'), each of which has at least one winding component (20).

11. The amusement ride (10) according to claim 10, incorporating claim 3, characterised in that that the stationary control device (30, 44) and / or the control device (36) fixed to the vehicle provides different operating parameters for the operation of the vehicles (16, 16') for different vehicles (16, 16'), depending on a detection result of at least one sensor arrangement (56, 58, 59, 66) and / or depending on a user input, 6, 16') and operates the different vehicles (16, 16') in accordance with the operating parameters provided for the respective vehicle (16, 16').

12. The amusement ride (10) according to claim 10 or 11, incorporating claim 9, characterised in that that the stationary control device (30, 44) and / or the vehicle-mounted control device (36) provides different operating parameters for the operation of the vehicles (16, 16') for different vehicles (16, 16') depending on the result of a comparison of the efficiency variables of a plurality of vehicles (16, 16') and operates the different vehicles (16, 16') in accordance with the operating parameters provided for the respective vehicle (16, 16').

13. The amusement ride (10) according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterised in that more than one vehicle (16, 16') moves along the trajectory (B) at the same time.

Images