The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 23, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 17, 1998
Michael G Kilbert, Canyon Country, CA (US);
Mark W Sumner, Valencia, CA (US);
Disney Enterprises, Inc., , DE (US);
Abstract
An amusement water ride is provided including a water course for carrying one or more circular water rafts. The water course is provided with at least one downhill section for accelerating the water rafts into a splash point. A spin mechanism is provided near the top of the downhill section for imparting a spin to the water rafts as they move past the spin mechanism. The spin mechanism includes a movement retarding surface along one wall of the water course and a movement expediting surface along an opposite wall of the water course. The movement retarding surface is provided with a high friction coating which retards sliding movement in a downstream direction of the surface of the raft which contacts the movement retarding surface, and induces rotation of the raft and movement towards the opposite wall. As the raft rotates into contact with the movement expediting surface it encounters no frictional resistance, and the spin is accelerated by the force of gravity acting on the mass of the raft as it moves downhill. The spinning raft increases thrill and introduces uncertainty among the passengers regarding who will be in a position to be splashed when the raft hits the splash zone.