Pivotable Hip Bar and Adjustable Belt for Roller Coaster Seats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing amusement device seat assemblies, such as those in roller coasters, often compromise the sense of excitement and freedom for passengers due to obstructive hip bar constructions and restrictive belt systems, which hinder views and arm movements, and are inconvenient for boarding and disembarking.
Innovation Solution
A seat assembly design featuring a pivotable hip bar construction with integral pivot arms that can be raised for easy entry and lowered to secure passengers, combined with an adjustable belt system with shoulder straps connected to the hip bar, allowing for secure positioning without obstructing views or arm movement, and accommodating various passenger sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pivotable hip bar construction is lowered to secure the passenger, then safety is improved, but the view and arm movements are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The bar construction is designed to be dynamically adjustable between a raised position (allowing free movement and unobstructed view) and a lowered position (providing security). This dynamic reconfiguration resolves the contradiction by allowing the system to adapt its state based on operational requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The bar construction is segmented into multiple components (hip bar, pivot arms, shoulder straps) that can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows the safety features to be distributed and optimized without creating a single obstructive mass, thereby maintaining both safety and freedom of movement.
2Reliability
If the bar construction is lowered to extend across the passenger's lap, then security is improved, but boarding and disembarking becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The bar construction's ability to pivot between raised and lowered positions enables easy boarding when raised and secure restraint when lowered, resolving the contradiction between security and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The bar construction is preliminarily positioned in the raised state during boarding to facilitate easy entry, then subsequently lowered after the passenger is seated and secured, optimizing both boarding ease and security at the appropriate times.
3Device complexity
If fixed length shoulder straps are used, then the structure is simpler, but they cannot accommodate different passenger sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The shoulder straps incorporate adjustable length mechanisms that allow the parameters (length) to be changed to suit different passenger sizes, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and adaptability.
4Reliability
If the pivot arms are positioned in front of the passenger's head, then the cage effect is achieved for safety, but the sense of excitement is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The pivot arms are positioned asymmetrically behind the back support rather than in front of the head, creating a different spatial relationship that maintains safety through the belt and shoulder strap system while eliminating the cage effect that reduces excitement.
Data Source
AI summary
An amusement device has an elongated track along which one or more amusement device seat assemblies adapted to carry the one or more passengers are moveable. Each seat assembly has a seat with a seating surface and a back support with a back support surface. The seat assembly further includes a bar construction attached to a pivot mechanism. This bar construction has a hip bar and one or more pivot arms integral with the hip bar, which bar construction 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. No part of the bar construction takes away the view of the person and limits the movements of the arms of the person, allowing the passenger to experience a great sense of freedom.