Ride hardware: boat capture/launch system for water rides (pre-grant).
A system adapted for stopping and launching boats. The system includes a boat, in moving water, with an interaction member extending outward from its hull. The system includes a boat capture and launch assembly that includes: (a) a body; (b) a drive mechanism rotating the body; (c) a capture arm with a first contact surface on the body; and (d) a launch arm with a second contact surface on the body. When the body is rotated into a first position, the capture arm extends outward into the water to catch the interaction member and stop the boat. When the body is rotated through a range of second positions, the interaction member abuts the second contact surface and a launch force is applied to accelerate the boat in the direction of travel of the boat and water.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to, and, more particularly, to amusement and theme park rides that are water-based attractions (“water rides”) in which a passenger boat (e.g., any watercraft carrying one or more passengers) floats in an untethered or free-floating manner in a water channel. More particularly, the present description relates to a system or assembly that is adapted to stop and/or capture a boat, such as at the end of a water ride for unloading and loading of passengers, and then launch or catapult the boat along the direction of travel in the channel at a desired velocity.2. Relevant Background
Water rides have long been a staple of theme and amusement parks, and it is highly likely that the demand for these rides will continue to grow in coming years. Many water ride designs call for boats filled with passengers to travel along a channel or flume with the boats floating in the water in the channel, and the boats often will be free-floating or untethered in such water rides such that the boats generally move at the same rate as the water and in the same direction of travel as the flowing water.
In one specific example, log flumes are amusement rides including a water flume and boats that are often shaped to simulate hollow logs, and a set of guide wheels or bumpers may be provided on the boat's hull below the water line (and extend outward from the sides of the boat) to facilitate guiding of t
1. A system for stopping and launching a boat, comprising: a boat including a hull adapted to move in a direction of travel, wherein the boat further comprises an interaction member extending outward from an outer surface of the hull; and a boat capture and launch assembly comprising: a body; a drive mechanism operable to rotate the body about a rotation axis; a capture arm with a first contact surface provided on the body; and a launch arm with a second contact surface provided on the body, wherein when the body is rotated into a first position the capture arm extends outward whereby the interaction member of the boat contacts the first contact surface when the boat travels adjacent the boat capture and launch assembly, and wherein when the body is rotated out of the first position through a range of second positions a second contact surface of the launch arm abuts the interaction member and a launch force is applied to the hull via the interaction member to accelerate the boat to travel in the direction of travel.
11. A method for stopping and launching boats, comprising: in water flowing a direction of flow, providing a boat with a hull and an interaction member extending outward from the hull; positioning in the water an assembly comprising a support structure; rotating the support structure about a rotation axis, wherein the support structure includes a capture arm with a first contact surface extending from the support structure and further includes a launch arm with a second contact surface extending from the support structure, first rotating the support structure to a first position to cause the first contact surface of the capture arm to extend outward a distance whereby the first contact surface abuts and captures the interaction member when the boat travels proximate to the support structure, and second rotating the support structure from the first position through a range of second positions causing the second contact surface of the launch arm to contact the interaction device and apply a launch or acceleration force upon the boat that is along the direction of flow of the water.
18. A system for stopping and launching passenger boats, comprising: a capture arm with a first contact surface; a launch arm with a second contact surface meeting with the first contact surface to form a single continuous surface and to define an angle that is greater than 80 degrees; a body supporting the capture arm and the launch arm; and a drive mechanism first operating to rotate the body to a first position with the first contact surface of the capture arm extending outward and second operating to rotate the body from the first position through a series of second positions, wherein, after the first operating when a boat travels in a direction of travel in water adjacent the body and during the second operating and after the capture arm has captured the interaction member, the interaction member moves from the first contact surface to the second contact surface, whereby the launch arm applies a force on the interaction member that propels the boat to travel in the direction of travel in the water at a velocity within a predefined range of velocities.