Ferris wheels are large, non-building structures that rotate about a central axis. Seats are attached to the outer rim of the wheel and always hang downwards. This is because as the Ferris wheel spins the seats, or gondolas, can freely rotate at the support where they are connected to the wheel. The Ferris wheel spins upwards with the help of gears and motors, while gravity pulls the wheel back down again. This cycle continues for the duration of the ride.
The interesting part comes into play when you realize that you feel lighter at the top of the Ferris wheel, and heavier when you are at the bottom. But how can that be? After all your mass never changes at different points during the revolution; that is where centripetal acceleration comes into play.
Today Sinorides, as a professional
amusement park rides manufacturer, will help you learn how do Ferris wheels work.
The working principle of Ferris wheels is different due to the different driving type of the turntable. The driving type of the turntable include wire rope friction drive, friction wheel drive, pin gear drive and hydraulic motor drive. The first driving type is now rarely used. Now let’s introduce the working principle of the latter three driving types.
(1)
Mechanical Movement Principle of Friction Wheel Drive Mode. The motor drives the belt pulley, and the V-belt drives the tire to rotate. The tire is pressed by the spring to press on the raceway of the turntable. The tire rotates to drive the raceway to rotate, and the raceway drives the entire turntable to rotate. There are two forms of contact between the tire and the raceway plate: one is up and down, the other is left and right.
(2)
Mechanical Movement Principle of Pin Gear Drive Mode. The motor drives the belt pulley, and the pulley is connected with the reducer. The reducer drives the pin gear, and the gear meshes with the rack to drive the turntable to rotate.
(3)
Mechanical Movement Principle of Hydraulic Motor Drive Mode. This type is mainly used on the cantilever Ferris wheel, which drives the pinion through the hydraulic motor. Then the pinion meshes with the large gear to drive the turntable to rotate.
