More Innovative Braking Systems

When Hypersonic XLC was built and I saw all the brakes they need stop that thing I thought that S&S could've come up w/ a more innovative and quiet braking system for the TA2K coasters. I was thinking about other ideas myself. And I wanted to know your ideas and what you think about mine. My first was an idea using a piston. The train would catch onto a catch dog or something like the launch dog on the ride. And it would basically be the opposite of the launch. I think this would be much quieter and more efficient than conventional fin brakes. Would this work or would it be too much of a painful impact when the train catches the "brake wagon?"

My second idea is similar to the braking system used on aircraft carriers. Somehow the train would catch a wire strung across the track and slow it to a semi-quiet stop. The only problem is that it would need a method to release the wire and return it to the starting position. Again, I'd like to see other opinions of these possible techniques and your ideas.

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SFNE loses its "floor" for 2002! Visit www.geocities.com/sfneguy for info. and pics of SFNE, including the most unique constr. pics of SFNE on the web. Formerly known as srosatsfne.

For the catch dog idea ya would really need to design it good so there isn'ta bump or a jolt when the catch dog latches itself and whatnot. As for the aircraft carrier thing...i doesn't sound like it would work but with that...i don't know. You should talk to an engineer...not a 13 year old :)
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Rollercoasters are my life, I think about them more than I think about....wait, thats all I think about :)

Proud Owner of www.coasterkingdom.cjb.net

I know one thing, Xcelerator is going to need one heck of a braking system!
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2001:The downfall of Disney. The year they stopped asking the mouse for his opinion.

What do you mean by a 13 year old? Are you saying that us teenagers shouldn't add our opinions to this thread? I'd like to see everybody's opinions and ideas here. Not just qualified engineers that reject the unfamiliar. No offense engineers;)
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SFNE loses its "floor" for 2002! Visit www.geocities.com/sfneguy for info. and pics of SFNE, including the most unique constr. pics of SFNE on the web. Formerly known as srosatsfne.

*** This post was edited by SFNE Freak on 2/24/2002. ***

With the wire one, perhaps one end could be fastened securly down and the other could be on a wheel like winch. The wheel could act as a shock absorber. Once the hook from the train grabs the cable the train slows down. The train then (still attached) continues down the track and passes a trigger that somehow releases the hook from the cable and the cable then reels back into place for the next train. Sounds like a good idea but what would happen if the hook misses the wire?
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Off with the trims!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
http://www.woodencoaster.com

But remember about Intamin braking. The faster the train is going the more force is applied to stop it.
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SFNE loses its "floor" for 2002! Visit www.geocities.com/sfneguy for info. and pics of SFNE, including the most unique constr. pics of SFNE on the web. Formerly known as srosatsfne.

No...I was insinuating that most teenagers have no clue as to how to mechanically design a braking system.
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Rollercoasters are my life, I think about them more than I think about....wait, thats all I think about :)

Proud Owner of www.coasterkingdom.cjb.net

bigkirby said:
Sounds like a good idea but what would happen if the hook misses the wire?

That's exactly why its an unproven idea and not put to use right away. Do you think that Intamin didn't have problems with the metal fins getting stuck to the calipers in prototypes of magnetic braking?

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SFNE loses its "floor" for 2002! Visit www.geocities.com/sfneguy for info. and pics of SFNE, including the most unique constr. pics of SFNE on the web. Formerly known as srosatsfne.

ok Glenn, I get what your saying now. But don't forget that most teens on here have a pretty good knowledge of coasters to be posting. I'm pretty sure I do.
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SFNE loses its "floor" for 2002! Visit www.geocities.com/sfneguy for info. and pics of SFNE, including the most unique constr. pics of SFNE on the web. Formerly known as srosatsfne.

*** This post was edited by SFNE Freak on 2/24/2002. ***

lol...I hear that...I get quized by teachers and friends on coasters to test my knowledge and I never fail to deliver a right answer about coasters...that's the only subject I don't fail at :)
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Rollercoasters are my life, I think about them more than I think about....wait, thats all I think about :)

Proud Owner of www.coasterkingdom.cjb.net

I'm interested to see the magnetic braking that is going to be used on Indiana Beach's new CCI. I believe they are using it due to the small area where it needs to stop.
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-Eric
Creator of Indiana Beach Online - http://indianabeach.8k.com/index.html

that sounds odd...magnetic braking on a woodie...wow...CCI rocks!
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Rollercoasters are my life, I think about them more than I think about....wait, thats all I think about :)

Proud Owner of www.coasterkingdom.cjb.net

Magnets improving a woodie? I think i saw an ad for something like that in the back of Popular Mechanics once, right next to the ad for the adult videos...

A catch dog would work, but it's more "stuff" to break down, plus you still have to actually bleed the energy somewhere, which is where the noise comes from. Both these systems have a failure mode which could result in non-braking (chain or cable breaks) which is obviously bad.

Kennywood is adding magnetic to Jackrabbit as well as PR.
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Off with the trims!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
http://www.woodencoaster.com

Magnets are probably going to be it. S&S is using them now. Plus a few woodies are going to have them next year!
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- Peabody

Magnets are so simple and safe there is no reason why they should not be used. No moving arts whatsoever although that S:ROS thing changed some opinions.
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Does CCI know how to make a bad coaster?

The SROS problems had nothing to do with the concept of magnetic braking, just its implementation it that particular design. The same design issues would have caused conventional friction brakes to fail.

S&S new coaster in Japen actually uses it. Plus Collossus the Intamin woodie uses them plus a one or two other Intamin woodies

S&S was demonstrating a magnetic brake caliper at their booth at IAAPA back in November. And Kennywood now has retrofit magnetic brakes on at least three of their coasters (Jack Rabbit and Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, and Mad Mouse at Idlewild). Intamin has shown that magnetic brakes can be used in very high acceleration situations, and I think we're going to see more and more of these kinds of systems on coasters. There are just too many positives to ignore.

As for ideas discussed in this thread...I don't have the exact URL handy at the moment, but if you go to my web page and look at the technology section under patents (click on the wheel assembly to get there) you can examine Lee Eyerly's patent #2,221,215 (11/12/1940), you can see his design for a shot tower using an elastic member. If you look closely at the patent, you can see that he had planned to have the passenger tub free of the launching mechanism, and that when the tub descended back down the tower, it would catch the launch mechanism which would then serve as a brake. It looks to me like this is very much related to the idea that started this thread...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Welcome back, Dave...you were missed;). BTW, I am guessing this is the same Eyerly as the other amusement rides...or a close relative...
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Florida needs an Intamin and/or CCI soon...PLEASE!
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!