Bumper cars

Bumper cars or Autodrome (other names see parlance ) refers to a ride that is found on many popular festivals and amusement parks. In the basic structure, small electric cars that are powered by electricity customers, be freely controlled an area, where the vehicles are protected against bumps with a wide round rubber ring. At the same time can ride on the running surface up to 30 vehicles.

Construction and transport

The mobile ride can be accommodated two to three truck.

The bumper cars be characterized by the number of roof-supporting pillars. Most of today's scooters are two-column scooter and have housed all the important parts on a so-called middle trailer. Opened hydraulically, it represents the Scooter Hall and must be decorated only by light and decorative elements. These elements are, just like the chaises (vehicles), vans transported in specially. Previously, usually six or eight columns scooters on the road, which were very expensive in construction since complete the Scooter Hall piece by piece of heavy parts had to be assembled.

In the early days of travelers bumper cars the scooter halls of wood passed with few iron parts. These scooters usually had 16 roof -supporting posts. This results in today's parlance:

• Post Scooter - timber.
• Six-, eight -, ten -column Scooter - steel construction, which must be built of many individual parts by hand.
• Two-pillar Scooter - lightweight steel construction on a center trailer, which is folded apart.

The first Zweisäuler had only the roof on the middle trailer. The complete base was transported in separate van and had to be built by hand from individual parts. In modern two- Säulern scooters is located up on the chaises, light and sound equipment all on the middle trailer.

The construction time of a modern car with scooter is two to three people about eight to ten hours. For the degradation of about half of the time is required.

Power supply

The ride of a car Scooters requires an area of ​​about 15 × 30 meters for the driving surface. This consists of a steel surface can cause the current needs. In about three meters above the running surface is a current-conducting grid that serves as a catenary. The drive works thus comparable to that of a tram or a trolleybus. Driving surface and grid are connected to a DC circuit that is grounded via the driving surface. The voltage is up to 110 volts, the amperage up to 1,000 amperes. The electric cars include two sliding contacts the circuit between driving surface and lattice. For this, the current collector bars are at the rear of the vehicles.

2007 went to the Oktoberfest in Munich, the first bumper cars, which operates three of its vehicles through a photovoltaic system.

Rolling stock

The vehicles, also known as " chaises ", usually have seats for two people. In the interior of the vehicles, the steering wheel and a pedal is ( actually just a switch ) in the foot of the left or right seat. In countries with left-hand traffic it is mounted as in the example in the foot of the right seat. The control of the car via the steering wheel, which is mounted in the middle, so that the two occupant can direct alternately. A bumper car has only one front wheel, also in center of the car. This is actually the drive motor in which a specific feature of the rotor (s ) is fixed, hence the stator ( outside) rotates around which a wider tire is fixed and so is the drive. In addition, the steering geometry is such that the engine - which is always in one direction - with this endless wheel can rotate about its horizontal mounting axis. Depending on the position of the steering wheel, the car travels, therefore, not only the left or right, but is by design, at 180 ° position relative to the motor axle of the vehicle, even unpowered. If you turn the steering wheel on the vehicle (or while turning forward again, etc.) begins logically about to reverse. By this construction, so you control over the steering wheel, steering, stopping, and also the direction of travel.

May take longer time to reverse, however, interfere with the remaining operation. Therefore, there are more and more vehicles that are equipped with a " steering lock " here can not be rotated endlessly thereby reversing the steering wheel is no longer possible.

Since all electric cars in the same level have a full perimeter rubber buffers are relatively safe at low speeds the car accidents such as head-on collisions or rear-end collisions. The vehicles have yet to safety belts for each seat, head restraints, a rubber steering wheel with air bags as well as padding on the dashboard and entrances. For children, the use of seat belts is compulsory.

The typical vehicles weigh about 200 kilograms and consist of a steel frame and plastic body. The dimensions are approximately 2 meters in length at 1.2 meters in width. You can reach a speed of between 6 and 10 km / h Many vehicles are modeled after real cars, that is typical trademarks and design elements ( for example the radiator grille form) were taken.

Manufacturers of such systems, for example, the Italian company Bertazzon. The manufacturer Reverchon (France, since 2008) and " Brothers Ihle Bruchsal " ( Germany, since 2000) no longer exist.

Operation

By inserting a before departure at the checkout to buying driving chips in the corresponding slot in the car this made ​​ready to start. The slot is located generally on the hood of the vehicle, or the right of the steering wheel. When turned on the running business of power for the next round, the trip can be started. The electric motor is activated by the pedal in the footwell. Reversing can be reached by repeated turning of the steering wheel. The start enable is notified by a beep.

Until well into the 60s of the last century, money or tickets for most bumper car plants were collected even by hand. But the mid-50s of last century acquired the bumper cars pioneer Bruno ink from Krefeld with a French showman the patent rights for the in Germany still unknown automatic scooter, so chip box with driving chips and propulsion system.

Together with his sons, Peter and Edward, as well as the company Parganasch the technology and chip machines were developed to keep accounted henceforth collect the money or tickets by hand. Benefits were personal savings, and faster and shorter trips.

The company Bruno ink and sons Krefeld thus doing so for a long time Germany's first automatic scooter.

After switching off the traction current by the operator, the vehicles roll out and stay on the driving surface are. Now a new chip can be inserted or held a driver change. No longer occupied vehicles are pushed by the staff at the edge of the driving surface and parked there.

The staff used to operate the so-called bumper cars drive key that can be removed after the end of the ride. The driving chip customers, however, the fall after driving into a collection container in the vehicle, which can accommodate up to 100 chips or 1 kg. Ejection of the chips is accomplished by a reversal of the power supply. For a fraction of a second, the road is the positive pole and the negative pole of the power - thus activates a magnetic coil which ejects the chip by means of bolts from the machine.

A single ride for two people costs typically 1.50 to 2, - Euro. If you purchase multiple driving chips, there are often discounts. Try it again and again passengers trick the system. The most common case, a driving chip is provided with a cord or other extension, so that it can be pulled out again after the movement or not falls into the collection container. This works very rare, since the staff pays close attention to abnormalities of this kind.

History

In Germany bumper cars first appeared on the show Great Exhibition Dusseldorf 1926 " GeSoLei 1926 in Dusseldorf. 60 percent of the fairgrounds presented themselves as fairground.

The development began in the American amusement park Coney Iceland. In the first two decades of the 20th century, the automobile attracted great attention; one wanted to make this " rich man's toy " normal citizens accessible. One of the first rides of this kind was in 1906 Neville 's Automobile Railroad ( " Neville's car -Bahn " ), on which the individual cars were still performed similarly to the mechanical horse race of a rail. However, the development was soon back to free-moving vehicles. When Gadabout and the Dodge'em they hung since 1919 to a net-like upper management, as it is known today by the bumper cars ago. Others were equipped with batteries and later by internal combustion engines, which led in 1930 to the development of the go -kart track. On Coney Iceland both versions still exist today, but they are not unusual anymore dar.

There are also known from the fair or the Wiesenfest or festival bumper cars that work with a chip in amusement parks such as Schloss Thurn also in another version: The structure resembles that of the "people's hard - scooter ", but when entering the park once paid for all attractions and rides, which allows a change of the scooter as opposed to popular or Wiesenfest, without another chip " start " must.

Jugendtreff

The bumper car driving is accompanied with (usually very loud ) music. It is mainly played Techno, Dance and Disco Music. The operator or Rekommandeur makes between now and then prompts. A lighting system, more recently, from LED lamps, ensures disco effects. Fog Machines cases the driving surface briefly in white mist. The entire entertainment system is computer controlled with modern bumper cars.

At public festivals the bumper cars are also because of the music program and the disco atmosphere popular attraction and meeting place for young people to " hang out ".

Usage

The term dodgems / bumper car has been generally accepted as a proper naming the ride operator in Germany. He shall enter the first still widely popular German -born mention largely displaced as Selbst-Fahrer/Selbstfahrer.

The concept of Car Scooter was formed from the word Automatic Scooter and does not come about from the car -like chaises. This is because once the tickets ( chips) were collected before each ride. Gradually, the chaises were then fitted with driving machines.

In the southwest of Germany continue to bumper car or Knuppauto are the predominant variant in Austria is called the ride Autodrome. In Tyrol there is still the variant Puffauto / Buffauto, and Switzerland coup car, rare there also ajar name as Putschiauto / Tutschiauto / Iidütschbahn.

The custom case bumper cars is actually correct spelling, but more rarely. The word scooter called in English a children's scooter or motor scooter in the German scooter / Scooter can also be a boat with runners call that is intended for sailing on the water and on ice.

Comparable rides

Following the same principle, there are also rides electric boats in water basins. These are protected from collisions by a rubber ring.

There are bumper cars -like rides, which is operated with battery-powered cars and motorcycles on a circuit that can be made ​​arbitrarily, for example, in a parking lot or other concrete surfaces using old car tires, mobile or fixed install. These vehicles are also equipped with circumferential rubber rings to protect against fender benders.

Records

The bumper cars with the world's largest running surface is called super scooter and heard the showman family Meyer from Neuwied ( Germany ). Its running surface is 21 m × 31 m ( 651 m²) and its base ( Overall dimensions ) 30 m × 40 m ( 1200 square meters ) in size.

The world's largest bumper car in an amusement park called Rue Le Dodge and is the amusement park Six Flags Great America in Illinois. He was put into operation in 1976 and has a running surface of 600 square meters ( 15.8 m × 38.0 m).