Drive for polygonal Ferris wheel

Abstract

An amusement ride comprising a wheel frame having one or more straight sections in a circumferential direction, one or more rotary drive units configured to rotate the wheel frame around a rotational axis, wherein, during rotation of the wheel frame, the one or more rotary drive units are maintaining a contact engagement with the one or more straight sections of the wheel frame.

1 . An amusement ride comprising
 a wheel frame having one or more straight sections in a circumferential direction,   one or more rotary drive units configured to rotate the wheel frame around a rotational axis,   wherein, during rotation of the wheel frame, the one or more rotary drive units are maintaining a contact engagement with the one or more straight sections of the wheel frame.   
     
     
         2 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , further comprising an actuator configured to actuate the one or more rotary drive units in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis. 
     
     
         3 . The amusement ride according to  claim 2 , wherein the actuator comprises hinged supports and/or hydraulic actuators, in particular a hydraulic cylinder. 
     
     
         4 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more rotary drive units comprise a drive wheels, in particular a set of drive tyres. 
     
     
         5 . The amusement ride according to  claim 4 , wherein the drive wheels are attached to each other over a pivot connection (P 1 ) and configured to tilt around a pivot axis thereof for maintaining a contact engagement with the one or more straight sections of the wheel frame. 
     
     
         6 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein one or more rotary drive units are maintaining a contact engagement with the one or more straight sections at an outer circumferential ring of the wheel frame. 
     
     
         7 . The amusement ride according to  claim 6 , wherein the contact engagement is with a bottom peripheral surface of the outer circumferential ring. 
     
     
         8 . The amusement ride according to  claim 6 , where the one or more rotary drive units are arranged on opposite sides of the outer circumferential ring, wherein the opposite sides are spaced apart from each other along the rotational axis. 
     
     
         9 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more rotary drive units are arranged on a base frame. 
     
     
         10 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more rotary drive units comprise a first rotary drive unit and second rotary drive unit arranged on opposite sides of the base platform. 
     
     
         11 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , further comprising a control unit connected to the one or more rotary drive units, wherein the control unit is arranged to control the rotation of the wheel frame by controlling one or more operational parameters associated with the one or more rotary drive units. 
     
     
         12 . The amusement ride according to  claim 11 , wherein the one or more operational parameters comprises an actuation of the one or more rotary drive units in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis. 
     
     
         13 . The amusement ride according to  claim 11 , wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise a speed and/or direction control parameters. 
     
     
         14 . The amusement ride according to  claim 13 , wherein the speed and/or direction control parameters comprise a pre-determined profile associated with the speed and/or direction along one or more straights sections of the wheel frame. 
     
     
         15 . The amusement ride according to  claim 14 , wherein the pre-determined profile is repeated at consecutive ones of the one or more straight sections during rotation of the wheel frame. 
     
     
         16 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more straight sections comprise linear modular beams. 
     
     
         17 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein a width d of the wheel frame is at least 20 m. 
     
     
         18 . The amusement ride according to  claim 1 , wherein the amusement ride is a transportable Ferris wheel. 
     
     
         19 . A method for operating an amusement ride, comprising
 rotating, by one or more rotary drive units, a wheel frame having one or more straight sections in a circumferential direction around a rotational axis; and   maintaining, by the one or more rotary drive units, a contact engagement with the one or more straight sections of the wheel frame during the rotation of the wheel frame.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , further comprising controlling, by a control unit connected to the one or more rotary drive units, the rotation of the wheel frame by controlling one or more operational parameters associated with the one or more rotary drive units, wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise a speed and/or direction control parameters comprising a pre-determined profile associated with the speed and/or direction along one or more straights sections of the wheel frame. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 20 , further comprising calculating, by the control unit, the pre-determined profile based on an input parameter associated with a width w of the wheel frame and/or a number and length of one or more straight sections of the wheel frame. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 20 , further comprising controlling, by the control unit, the rotation of the wheel frame by repeating the pre-determined profile at consecutive ones of the one or more straight sections of the wheel frame during rotation of the wheel frame.