Restraints

This may be a dumb question, but how exactly does restraint systems work? Also, what keeps them from opening mid ride?

Well, it depends. All rides other than TTD, Millenium, and Wiked Twister have a notched restraint. It's somewhat like a ratchet wrench...how it only goes one way and won't go the other, allowing you to tighten the bolt. These are fairly simple. When the ride is over, a switch releases this.

The Intamin rides listed above use hydraulic restraints. The hydraulic holds the restraint in place. These are much more precise than the notched ones. Sometimes on a notched restraint, your size is between two notches. So, the bar will either seem painfully tight, or a bit loose. The hydraulic ones provide a perfect fit.

The Cedar Creek Mine ride is a little different. Each car has a "one spot fits all" lap bar. The three bars for each row are all connected. So, the larger riders (including me, I'm six-two with big thighs) will be in some pain.

Thanks for the info, but what if something goes wrong, is there a saftey that don't allow them to be released, mid ride?

http://www.pointbuzz.com/ttdtech.htm

This help in understanding the hydraulic restraints...

Well, the notched ones are all mechanical. They won't come unlocked until the foot pedals are hit on some of the Arrow rides or they are released with a special tool. There is nothing electric that holds these restraints in place.

As for the hydraulics...I believe a valve is closed in a way that it is unable to open without electric assistance. For the three rides, they have portable battery boxes that they hook up to the trains to release the restraints.

And, I see this question coming about Millenium and Raptor. They have escape vehicles that can go up and down the lift hill to get passengers off in case of an emergency.

In a nutshell, every ride is different.

Would you like to be more specific?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Thanks everyone, I better understand. I always wondered what would happen if (example) Raptors otsr opened during the ride. That belt is'nt gonna keep you in. Has this ever occured on any ride?

do you see any rides permanently closed? No? Theres your answer.

cappy said:
Thanks everyone, I better understand. I always wondered what would happen if (example) Raptors otsr opened during the ride. That belt is'nt gonna keep you in. Has this ever occured on any ride?

Yes, but that belt is there to keep it from raising all the way up. As soon as it comes loose, if you haven't unbuckled the belt, that belt will become taut at a certain point and won't let the bar go any further. Even if it came loose, with the help of the belt you'd be able to hold it against you.

Fry- But with some certain Intamins the restraints don't even need to open for people to come out.

Like Matt said, the seatbelt would hold the restraint from coming completly open.

After reading tons of news articles about ride accidents, never once have I read about a restraint popping open. (I might be wrong through) Like John said, people have somehow been able to slip out from the restrant while still being locked (Superman, 2004). I find it to be sort of a common sense thing. When I'm on a ride I check my restrant and know if it will hold me in or not. If I feel uncomfortable I talk to a rideop (I've done this on Raptor when the restrant locked while being a foot away from me).

maXair also uses hydraulic restrants too. They're weird though, right before the ride starts up the restrants tighten. Is there a purpose for that?
*** Edited 5/22/2005 9:00:26 AM UTC by Gomez***
*** Edited 5/22/2005 9:01:58 AM UTC by Gomez***

Actualy, the restraints on maXair are mechanical, with some help from an air pressure system. If I remember correctly, air is used to push them down slightly to make sure that the locking pins are engaged, then the air system is vented. The reason for doing that is that the air pressure is mostly used to open the locking pins...so there isn't any pressure in the system while the ride is running.

As for failures...a few weeks ago I was riding *ahem* one of the park's coasters and partway through the ride the lap bar opened up and locked open for the rest of the ride. So it does occasionally happen. That's the first time in more than 30 years that it has happened to me, though, so the odds of it happening are extremely small.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Last year on Power Tower a restraint would come open once in a great white. The seatbelt would hold it, however. That's what its designed to do.

The only ride that I'm sort of scared about is Corkscrew, because it doesn't have any backup system.

When I was little the restraint popped while going up the lifthill. It felt like it would have totally flew open if I wouldn't have pulled it down with all of my strength and held on for dear life. Now I suspect that it only popped up "one click" but it didn't feel like that at the time... scariest moment I've ever had on a coaster.

I had the same thing happen last year on Corkscrew. I woory about those restraints. Like Vortex at PKI, and also flat ride Chaos. I think there is way to much play in those. Last year at Indiana Beach, on Chaos, I could have easily slipped out, but the ride op, said its fine. I'm 6' 185 lbs.

Unless they've changed it, Corkscrew actually has at least two, possibly four locking systems. The bar is attached to a hydraulic cylinder that works much like the hydraulics on the Intamin rides, except that on the Arrow system, the rod on the cylinder piston goes all the way through both ends of the cylinder, so there is no accumulator. The bottom end of the rod engages a mechanical locking pawl.

I haven't seen the Corkscrew system opened up, but I'm pretty sure that's what's in there.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

My experience on corkscrew, I heard a pop, and the otsr, became loose, not all the way, but enough to make me feel unsafe the whole ride. My other question is why don't they have the adjustable belts, if memory is correct, dropzone at PKI has otsr, w/ the adjustable belt. You can get real tight, that way if something did happen, the otsr would'nt move

What probably happened to you on Corkscrew is that the restraint was not full engaged at the setting you had. In other words, the ratchet was almost between two points, but engaged enough to hold a little. During the ride, the force of the ride made it pop up to the next point, where it was fully engaged.