Waterslide capsule with sliding door

Abstract

A waterslide capsule assembly is operable to fluidly communicate with a waterslide flume to contain a rider and release the rider into the flume. The waterslide capsule assembly broadly includes a capsule and a sliding access door. The capsule at least partly defines a capsule chamber to receive the rider, with the capsule presenting opposite capsule ends, a longitudinal entry opening, and an exit opening. The access door is slidably mounted relative to the capsule and slidable between a closed position and an open position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A waterslide capsule assembly operable to fluidly communicate with a waterslide flume to contain a rider and release the rider into the flume, said waterslide capsule assembly comprising:
 a capsule that at least partly defines a capsule chamber to receive the rider, with the capsule presenting opposite capsule ends and extending longitudinally therebetween,   said capsule presenting a longitudinal entry opening located between the capsule ends, with the entry opening communicating with the chamber to permit chamber ingress and egress by the rider,   said capsule presenting an exit opening adjacent one of the ends that permits fluid communication between the capsule chamber and the flume when the capsule is operably coupled to the flume; and   a sliding access door slidably mounted relative to the capsule and slidable between a closed position and an open position,   said sliding access door substantially spanning the entry opening in the closed position to prevent chamber ingress and egress through the entry opening by the rider,   said sliding access door exposing the entry opening in the open position to permit chamber ingress and egress through the entry opening by the rider.   
     
     
         2 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 1 ; and
 an access door drive assembly including a powered motor and a door drive,   said door drive attached to the access door and the motor to transmit power from the motor to the access door, with the access door drive assembly operable to slide the access door between the open and closed positions.   
     
     
         3 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 2 ,
 said door drive comprising a rack-and-pinion drive including a driven rack attached to the access door and a drive pinion attached to and powered by the motor.   
     
     
         4 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 3 ,
 said rack-and-pinion drive including a pair of driven pinions drivingly connected to one another and spaced longitudinally from one another,   said driven pinions rotatably mounted relative to and spaced from the drive pinion, with the driven rack drivingly engaging one of the driven pinions so that shifting of the driven rack rotates the pair of driven pinions,   said rack-and-pinion drive including another driven rack spaced from the first-mentioned driven rack,   said another driven rack attached to the access door and drivingly engaged with another one of the pair of driven pinions so that shifting of the first-mentioned driven rack causes shifting of the another driven rack.   
     
     
         5 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 4 ,
 said access door presenting opposite door ends adjacent to corresponding capsule ends,   said driven racks being located adjacent to respective ones of the door ends.   
     
     
         6 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 4 ,
 said driven pinions being mounted on a common drive shaft so as to spin with the drive shaft.   
     
     
         7 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 2 ,
 said access door presenting opposite door ends adjacent to corresponding capsule ends,   said access door drive including upper and lower drive elements attached to the access door adjacent to respective door ends, with at least one of the drive elements being driven by the powered motor.   
     
     
         8 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 7 ,
 both of said drive elements being driven by the powered motor, with the motor being the sole motor to power the drive elements.   
     
     
         9 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 said access door presenting opposite door ends adjacent to corresponding capsule ends,   said access door including opposite roller assemblies attached adjacent respective door ends,   said capsule including opposite door tracks to support the access door while permitting sliding door movement,   said roller assemblies engaging the respective door tracks to permit sliding movement of the access door while restricting movement of the access door along the longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         10 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 9 ,
 said roller assemblies each including a pair of roller assemblies spaced laterally from one another.   
     
     
         11 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 9 ,
 said access door being curved about the longitudinal direction to present a continuous access door radius,   said roller assemblies engaging the respective door tracks to restrict movement of access door along a radial direction defined by the access door.   
     
     
         12 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 11 ,
 each of said roller assemblies including a carrier and a plurality of rollers rotatably mounted on the carrier and in rolling engagement with the respective door tracks,   a first one of said rollers presenting a roller axis substantially parallel to the radial direction so that the first roller engages the respective door track to restrict access door movement along the longitudinal direction,   a second one of said rollers presenting another roller axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction so that the second roller engages the respective door track to restrict access door movement along the radial direction.   
     
     
         13 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 said capsule presenting a longitudinal capsule axis,   said capsule including a rounded back wall presenting a rider support surface that extends longitudinally between the capsule ends and curves about the longitudinal capsule axis.   
     
     
         14 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 13 ; and
 a water sprayer that communicates with the capsule chamber adjacent one of the capsule ends and injects a water mist onto the rider support surface.   
     
     
         15 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 1 ; and
 a release door pivotally mounted relative to the capsule and pivotal between a supporting position and a releasing position,   said release door exposing the exit opening in the releasing position to permit rider egress from the capsule chamber into the flume.   
     
     
         16 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 15 ,
 said sliding entry door substantially spanning the entry opening in the supporting position to prevent rider egress from the capsule chamber into the flume.   
     
     
         17 . The waterslide capsule assembly as claimed in  claim 1 ,
 said access door including a door panel formed of a translucent material.   
     
     
         18 . A method of operating a water ride including a plurality of waterslide flumes and a plurality of waterslide capsules that fluidly communicate with respective waterslide flumes to selectively release riders into the respective waterslide flumes, said method comprising the steps of:
 (a) holding multiple ones of the riders within respective waterslide capsules so that the multiple riders are restricted from entering the waterslide flumes from the respective waterslide capsules; and   (b) activating the waterslide capsules with a controller to release the multiple riders to permit rider egress from the waterslide capsules to the waterslide flumes, with all of the multiple riders being released before having other riders occupy the waterslide capsules.   
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 step (b) including the step of activating the waterslide capsules to release the multiple riders simultaneously.   
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 step (b) including the step of activating the waterslide capsules to release the multiple riders in series such that no two of the multiple riders are released at the same time.   
     
     
         21 . The method as claimed in  claim 20 ,
 step (b) including the step of activating the waterslide capsules to release the multiple riders in a random order.   
     
     
         22 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 step (b) including the step of opening a release door associated with each of the waterslide capsules from a closed door position where the release doors prevent the multiple riders from entering the waterslide flumes from the waterslide capsules.   
     
     
         23 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 ,
 step (b) including the step of having the multiple riders automatically drop from the waterslide capsule to the waterslide flume upon opening of the release door.   
     
     
         24 . The method as claimed in  claim 22 ; and
 (c) returning the release door to the closed door position after the multiple riders have exited the respective waterslide capsules, with all of the release doors being returned to the closed door positions before having other riders occupy the waterslide capsules.   
     
     
         25 . The method as claimed in  claim 24 ; and
 (d) opening an access door associated with each of the waterslide capsules to permit capsule ingress by the multiple ones of the other riders.   
     
     
         26 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ,
 step (b) including the step of activating the waterslide capsules with a single controller that operably communicates with all of the waterslide capsules.   
     
     
         27 . The method as claimed in  claim 18 ; and
 (c) opening an access door associated with each of the waterslide capsules to permit capsule ingress by the multiple riders, with step (c) occurring before step (a).   
     
     
         28 . The method as claimed in  claim 27 ,
 step (a) including the step of closing the access door while the multiple riders occupy respective waterslide capsules and the step of restricting the multiple riders from opening the access door.   
     
     
         29 . The method as claimed in  claim 28 ,
 said restricting step including the step of locking the access door closed.   
     
     
         30 . The method as claimed in  claim 27 ;
 (d) sensing the weight of each of the multiple riders with the controller; and   (e) determining if the sensed weights fall within an accepted weight range using the controller, with step (c) being performed for the access door associated with each of the multiple riders who has a corresponding weight that falls within the weight range.