Rear-Entry Ride Vehicle Seats for Freedom of Movement
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional amusement park ride vehicles restrict riders' freedom of movement, limiting their interaction with the ride environment.
Innovation Solution
A ride vehicle design featuring rear-entry seats with adjustable restraints that allow passengers to load from the rear, enabling freedom of movement with their arms and upper torso, combined with a motion base capable of six degrees of freedom, allowing for enhanced interaction with the ride environment through augmented or virtual reality experiences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional ride vehicle seats are used with forward entry, then safety restraint is improved, but rider freedom of movement and interaction with ride environment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional seat entry direction from forward to rear entry. This allows riders to load from the back of the seat while still facing forward during the ride, enabling freedom of movement in the front while maintaining safety restraints at the back. The rear entry design lets riders reach forward freely while their backs are secured by the restraint system.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat restraint system is segmented into distinct components: front restraints that allow freedom of movement and rear restraints that provide safety security. This segmentation enables different parts of the rider's body to have different degrees of freedom - the front is free for interaction while the back is secured for safety.
2Adaptability or versatility
If rear-entry seats are implemented, then rider freedom of movement and interaction with ride environment is improved, but loading complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rear restraint is designed to be dynamic rather than static. It automatically transitions between a lowered position during loading and a raised position during the ride. This dynamic behavior simplifies the loading process by being passive during entry, then becomes active for safety once the rider is seated.
Solution Approach 2:
The restraint system is self-activating based on rider positioning. As the rider loads and sits down, the rear restraint automatically rises into position without requiring manual operation by the rider or operator, reducing loading complexity while maintaining safety.
3Reliability
If rear restraint is raised to contact passenger back, then safety is improved, but passenger freedom of movement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The restraint system applies security from the rear rather than the front. By contacting the rider's back, the restraint allows the rider to reach forward freely while the security is applied in the opposite direction, maintaining freedom of movement in the interaction zone while ensuring safety.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the rider's body are treated differently by the restraint system. The rear restraint contacts only the back area to provide security, while leaving the front, arms, and upper torso completely free for movement and interaction with the ride environment.
Data Source
AI summary
A ride vehicle includes a platform including a front portion and a rear portion. The ride vehicle also includes a row of seats disposed on the platform. Each seat of the first row of seats is configured so a passenger loads from the rear and once seated the passenger faces the front portion. The ride vehicle is configured so that each passenger enters the ride vehicle via the rear portion.