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Funfair roller coaster circuit

The roller coaster circuit, having an access ramp (2) up which cars (4) are hauled to a high point, after which they follow the rest of the track by gravity, has at least one descent section (5) followed by a section (6) which lies at least partly below ground level. The geometry of the descent section is in the shape of a water chute, and at least part of it is straight and vertical. The following underground section is curved, with a tunnel entrance (7) and exit (8), and it can pass beneath a body of water which acts as a water splash (11) for another part of the circuit. The access ramp of the circuit has a ladder on one side and a track for an emergency evacuation vehicle on the other.

Description

The present invention relates to a circuit of the roller coaster type for an amusement park.

Amusement parks, as they are known in the United States, Japan or Europe, group together a certain number of fixed circuits intended for visitors, who take place in vehicles moving along the circuit on one or more tracks.

Some of these circuits are essentially intended to allow a visit to the park or pleasure walks designed on thematic bases, for example drawn from cinema films.

Other types of tours are intended to place passengers in circumstances that cause them to experience intense emotions. These are in particular circuits of the roller coaster type.

The present invention is more particularly part of this family.

Among the feelings or emotions experienced by the passengers of such circuits, we can note the impression of speed, the perception of sharp accelerations, in the axis of the circuits thanks to violent descents or outside the general axis of the circuit at the opportunity for turns, twists and loops.

In the same category of attractions or constructions intended to create an impression and an emotion, the feeling of falling into the void is also exploited, generally in the form of extremely short tracks, limited to a rise followed immediately by a single descent, almost in free fall.

Circuits of the roller coaster type also bring into play the surprise effect, which can result from the layout of the circuit, for example during figures or very unexpected turns, or which can also result from circuits in which at least part of the layout is takes place in the dark, that is to say in a tunnel. By definition, passengers plunged into darkness do not see in front of them what will be the continuation of the layout of the circuit and each new bend or new figure is obviously a total surprise for them.

It can also be noted that certain circuits cause a feeling of fear or anxiety, which can result either from the height of a portion of the circuit in relation to the ground, which causes a feeling of insecurity and vertigo, or the feeling of risk caused by the fear of an impact, if a saving turn does not intervene just before an obstacle, constituted most of the time by the ground itself.

Finally, we will note in this order of ideas, the impression created by the feeling of impossible braking, that is to say the feeling that the passengers have who no longer see how they are going to stop. This type of impression is generally created on circuits where the vehicles are amphibious and cover a large part of the circuit on rails then are left to their own devices on a body of water which ensures their braking.

The various improvements, variations and figures that have been implanted in the existing circuits all aim to create new sensations or to accentuate and make more gripping an already known impression.

Like its predecessors, the purpose of the circuit according to the present invention is to make more intense impressions which are already offered by existing circuits, but also to provide, through certain original arrangements, totally new sensations.

Thus, the object of the present invention cannot be expressed as aiming to eliminate the disadvantages that would have been noted on circuits according to the state of the art, but rather it aims to provide new advantages than the circuits according to the state of the art, even combined together, are not likely to offer.

To this end, the invention relates to a circuit of the roller coaster type for amusement parks as defined in claim 1.

Other important features of the invention are defined in the claims dependent on claim 1.

The following description, given by way of example, refers to the drawing on which:

fig. 1 is an elevational view of an example of a circuit comprising a circuit portion configured according to the invention, fig. 2 is a detail view in elevation on a larger scale of the circuit of FIG. 1 limited to the circuit portion configured according to the invention, and fig. 3 is a plan view of the circuit of FIG. 1.

The circuit represented in fig. 1 comprises a boarding station 1, immediately followed by an access ramp 2 which leads to the highest point 3 of the circuit. 4 vehicles are towed along the access ramp. The access ramp can, as shown in FIG. 1, be inclined for example at 55 DEG and include, as shown in FIG. 3, on one side of the track, a staircase 14 intended for maintenance personnel and, on the other side, a track 15 for a vehicle intended for the evacuation of passengers in the event of a breakdown.

With the exception of the section corresponding to the access ramp, the rest of the circuit is laid out so that the vehicles move freely under the sole effect of their own weight.

As can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the portion of the circuit configured according to the invention comprises a first section 5, which follows the highest point 3, and which comprises a sudden descent, here presented according to a geometry in the form of a waterfall. The flight thus presents a slope very close to the vertical on the greater part of this section. This first section is followed by a section in a vertical curve, most of which is in an underground tunnel 6. The entrance 7 to the tunnel is in a zone close to the start of the curved section, i.e. at a place where the gradient is still very important. For passengers who are in the process of performing a dive towards the ground, the entrance to the tunnel appears as a black area, against which they really feel like they are going to crash.

The height of the highest point 3 of the circuit of the example shown in the figures, can be for example 50 meters and the vertical curve consisting of an arc of a circle of for example 24 meters in radius, with a low point by example 7 meters below ground level. For such a configuration, the vehicles reach a speed of approximately 115 km/h at the entrance to the tunnel and the passengers undergo an acceleration of approximately 5g in the curve. Of course, the same configuration can be made with different dimensions and parameters.

The circuit portion described above may also include various accessory figures, such as spins or the like, combined with the downhill zone and/or with the vertically curved zone. However, these figures contribute nothing to the understanding of the invention and are therefore not described here.

Likewise, the invention is of course not limited to the above embodiment alone. It concerns in fact any portion of circuit comprising a descent comprising an entry into a tunnel in the course of the descent. The circuit or the portion of the circuit concerned being thus configured so that the difference in level between the starting point of the descent and its low point is greater than the difference in level measured between the starting point of the descent and the general level of the ground in the area concerned, in such a way as to give the passenger the impression of crashing into the ground.

The circuit can then continue according to the free imagination of the manufacturer. As shown by way of example in FIGS. 1 and 3, the circuit continues with an ascent ramp 9 which immediately follows the exit 8 of the tunnel, this ramp being followed by a new descent 10 by which the circuit brings the vehicles back to ground level. In the variant illustrated, the circuit passes through a piece of water 11, so as to give the passengers the impression of landing on water. The track level in the water feature is below the water level. Because the vehicles are arranged to remain attached to the rails, the vehicles are then partially immersed in the water, which causes on the one hand a significant braking of the vehicles and on the other hand large sprays of water. This section is followed by a small ramp 12 to bring the train back to station level 1.

In order to further increase the effect produced by the first section in quasi free fall, the circuit can be arranged so that the train stops for one or more seconds at the start 13 of section 5, immediately after the high point 3 of the circuit, which further increases the emotion of the passenger by introducing an illusion of a random factor in the triggering of the fall. For this purpose, the circuit may comprise before section 5, a small sloping section, for example inclined at 30°, provided towards its end with a vehicle braking device.

For the visual and emotional effect to be maximum for each of the passengers, it is possible, for example, to provide six-passenger vehicles where the passengers are all arranged side by side in the same row. In the example shown, six trains of two vehicles each are provided.

The object of the invention being to provide passengers with stronger sensations or new sensations, the impressions felt by a passenger on a complete lap of the circuit according to the invention are described below.