Amusement Ride Restraint with Articulated Leg Shields
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional passenger restraint systems in amusement park rides with upright, straddle-type seating face challenges in providing effective leg containment while maintaining an open vehicle design, facilitating fast loading and unloading, and accommodating tight longitudinal envelopes.
Innovation Solution
A passenger restraint system featuring a lap bar assembly with integral U-shaped leg shields, shallow footwells, and behind-the-knee pins that slide rearward for loading, providing lateral and rearward leg containment without obstructing the passenger's path, and an articulating leg shield mechanism for floorless vehicles to ensure safety and ease of access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid leg constraints and deep footwells are used to provide leg containment and safety, then passenger safety is improved, but loading and unloading time increases and vehicle design becomes bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The leg containment system transitions from fixed rigid constraints to dynamic movable shields. The leg shields are positioned to contain legs during the ride but can be moved out of the way during loading and unloading, allowing the system to adapt between safety mode and access mode. This resolves the contradiction by making the containment structure dynamic rather than static.
Solution Approach 2:
The containment system is divided into separate functional components: leg shields for lateral containment, footwells for longitudinal containment, and movable barriers that can be independently positioned. This segmentation allows different parts to serve different functions at different times, enabling quick access during loading while maintaining safety during operation.
2Reliability
If rigid leg constraints and fixed behind-the-knee pins are used to limit backward movement, then passenger safety is improved, but these create obstacles that slow loading and make it more awkward
Solution Approach 1:
The behind-the-knee constraint transitions from a fixed pin to a movable barrier that can be positioned behind the passenger's knee during loading to prevent backward movement, then repositioned or removed to allow easy access. This dynamic positioning eliminates the obstacle problem while maintaining the safety function.
Solution Approach 2:
A movable barrier acts as an intermediary element between the passenger and the seat during loading, providing temporary guidance and constraint. Once loading is complete, this intermediary can be repositioned or removed, allowing the passenger to move freely without obstruction while still maintaining safety constraints during operation.
3Reliability
If fixed pins and deep footwells are used to capture footwear and limit movement, then passenger safety is improved, but these features make the ride vehicle more difficult to load and unload
Solution Approach 1:
The footwell design incorporates movable barriers and shields that can be positioned to create containment during operation but can be opened or repositioned to facilitate easy access during loading and unloading. This dynamic configuration allows the same structure to serve both safety and accessibility requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg containment system serves multiple functions: it provides lateral containment during operation, facilitates quick access during loading, and captures footwear when needed. By integrating these functions into a single multi-functional system with movable components, the design achieves safety without sacrificing accessibility or requiring separate dedicated structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle for use in an amusement park ride with upright passenger seating. The vehicle includes a vehicle body and a seat assembly including a seat pan provided in the vehicle body between a front end and a rear end of the vehicle body. The vehicle further includes a passenger restraint system with: (a) a lap bar assembly; (b) a lap bar mount pivotally supporting the lap bar assembly within the vehicle body to pivot about a lap bar rotation axis passing between the seat pan and the front end of the vehicle body; (c) a side leg shield; and (d) a shield articulating assembly concurrently pivoting the side leg shield about a shield rotation axis from an open to a closed position with a pivoting of the lap bar assembly about the lap bar rotation axis from a disengage to an engaged position.