The next time you find yourself at an amusement park, you might be surprised to know that you will be surrounded by potentially dozens of slip rings. Whether it be powering lights, motors, or sensors, United Equipment Accessories (UEA) manufactures custom slip rings to ensure a thrilling experience on any themed attraction.
The most common function of a slip ring in a themed attraction is to provide power to lights. Think of all the lights that you see at theme parks at night. Slip rings play a role in this function by allowing power to pass from the stationary portion of the ride to the rotating part. Carousels and Ferris wheels are examples of attractions that use slip rings for powering lights.
Other slip ring uses in rides include powering motors. Rides that require additional motion after a rotation use slip rings in this way. Rides like the Orbiter, Evolution, or Scrambler are examples of rides like this type of rotation.
Modern rides may also be using slip rings to pass data being collected from sensors. UEA can design and manufacture a slip ring that allows power and data transfer in one unit. Some slip ring designs for the entertainment industry also include an encoder, providing information about the position of the slip ring and ride.
Amusement park slip rings can have slightly different specifications compared to other applications. Rotations in the slip ring can vary from low rotations per minute to up to around 100 rotations per minute. These slip rings typically have a higher circuit count as well. Slip rings may also be paired with pneumatic, air, or water swivels to allow other ride features.
A trip to the amusement park can quickly become an exploration in slip rings. Please get in touch with us to talk to one of our slip rings experts for your next design project.