Product category:
Seals
News Release from: Freudenberg Simrit LP | Subject: Simrit special seals
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 28 June 2002
Special seals make Free Fall safer
The "Free Fall" is a theme park attraction that uses the world's largest portable pneumatic cylinder to whip a cage full of thrill-seekers to a height of 36m within seconds.
Hurtling towards the earth in free fall from a height of 36 meters is not everyone's cup of tea Yet this special kind of adrenaline rush is exactly what thrill-seekers want when they pay to take a ride on the latest attraction to hit fun fairs and theme parks around the world
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 18 Feb 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Simrit special seals ensure that these attractions operate safely every time.
Complex guide and sealing systems have been developed for the enormous pneumatic cylinders needed to power this attraction.
The "Free Fall" is a theme park attraction that uses the world's largest portable pneumatic cylinder to whip a cage full of thrill-seekers to a height of 36m within seconds.
The brakes are applied at the very last moment and then - free fall back down again.
The basic structure of the "Free Fall" is straightforward: a 50m high lattice tower.
The passenger cage, which can carry 24 people at once, is positioned on the outside of the tower.
It is also attached to two wire ropes that are turned around at the end of the piston rod at the top of the tower.
This pulley block ensures that the passenger cage is accelerated vertically upwards at twice the speed of the pneumatic piston of up to 15m per second (54km/h).
The downward journey is virtually a free fall, whereby the downward motion of the cylinder is assisted by compressed air.
To guarantee the safety of the passengers, a complex hydraulic braking system has been fitted to the top and bottom of the passenger cage.
This system is not used during regular operation.
The pneumatic cylinder's piston rod is made up of nine individual elements and is hollow, while the cylinder itself comprises four pipes.
A guide and sealing system that is made up of several components is required.
Achieving imperviousness for this construction required considerable technical development.
The primary seals, which are made of a PTFE/Ekonol compound, are piston rings comprising layered face segments that are compressed by spiral pressure and flat strip spiral springs.
Having passed all necessary technical tests, this Simrit guide and sealing system is now used for all "Freefall" amusement rides around the world.
This means that a uniformly high standard of safety is guaranteed for passengers in all four corners of the globe.
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