Claims:1. A flange assembly (100) for a water slide comprising:
a flange plate (110) having at least two protrusions (120) extended outwards and provided to accommodate a water slide tube (125), wherein the flange plate (110) comprises at least six slots (130) to hold at least six fasteners (135) for coupling with the water slide tube (125), wherein the atleast six slots comprises at least four elliptical slots and at least two circular slots; and
a base plate (140) comprising at least six openings (145) to fasten the flange plate (110) with the base plate (140) using the at least six fasteners, wherein the base plate (140) and the flange plate (110) are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position,
wherein the flange plate (110) and the base plate (140) are bound together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube.
2. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flange plate is provided to accommodate the water slide tube of diameter having a range of 584-3658millimetre.
3. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water slide tube is fabricated from plastic material, polycarbonate material, acrylic material or a combination thereof.
4. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flange plate (110) and the base plate (140) are manufactured with varied thickness by a cold forming process.
5. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flange plate (110) and the base plate (140) is fabricated from a galvanised mild steel material.
6. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein vertical supporting structure comprises at least a vertical pipe, a vertical column, a vertical pillar or a vertical rod.
7. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least six fasteners comprises nuts, bolts, screws, nails or rivets.
8. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined position comprises at least one of an angular position, a higher position, a lower position or a perpendicular position.
9. A method (200) of constructing a flange assembly for a water slide comprising:
providing a flange plate having at least two protrusions extended outwards and accommodates a water slide tube, wherein the flange plate comprises at least six slots to hold at least six fasteners for coupling with the water slide tube (210), wherein the atleast six slots comprises at least four elliptical slots and at least two circular slots;
providing a base plate comprising at least six openings to fasten the flange plate with the base plate using the at least six fasteners, wherein the base plate and the flange plate are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position (220); and
binding the flange plate and the base plate together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube (230).
Dated this 30th day of September 2021
Signature

Harish Naidu
Patent Agent (IN/PA-2896)
Agent for the Applicant
, Description:BACKGROUND
[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an equipment for a water amusement device and more particularly to a flange assembly for a water slide and a method thereof.
[0002] In general, a water slide is a kind of ride that a user boards and slides along with flowing water. The waterslide generally includes an inclined water conveying course having an entry pool at an upper end and an exit pool at a lower end with a flow of water between the entry and the exit water pool landing or sofa landing. The water slide user slides down the course on a conveyance means, such as one or multi seater float or body contact slide, a flexible plastic mat, with the water acting as a lubricant. Generally, the slide course is arranged along a sinuous or serpentine path which enhances the amusement value of the slide. Various designs of waterslide is available in which the water slide is generally formed in a spiral or inclined at various angles, and a supporting device is installed to fix and support it.
[0003] Conventionally, the waterslides which are installed at amusement parks are spiral or inclined at the various angles and requires the supporting device for installation and fixing purpose. However, such conventional supporting device adopts a structure for fixing one side of the water slide to a structure such as a pillar by bolting or welding. Also, the conventional supporting device is supported and fixed without difficulty when receiving a vertical load, but installation errors are difficult and uncomfortable when the coupling position causes errors in front, back, left and right. Moreover, when the water slide and the base do not coincide with each other, a worker is forcibly combined by applying excessive force, and as time goes by, the warping stress or residual stress and deformation of the water slide occur, thereby shortening the durability and service life. Furthermore, such a conventional supporting device needs to be manufactured with different, customised thickness and modified designs of composite FRP or sheet material for providing support for a range of cross section at different location, thereby increases huge demands of inventory in order to cater the needs of several customised designs. In addition, it also makes the manufacturing process complicated because of requirements of several designs.
[0004] Hence, there is a need for an improved flange assembly for a water slide and a method thereof in order to address the aforementioned issues.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0005] In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a flange assembly for a water slide is disclosed. The flange assembly includes a flange plate having at least two protrusions extended outwards and provided to accommodate a water slide tube. The flange plate includes at least six slots to hold at least six fasteners for coupling with the water slide tube, wherein the atleast six slots comprises atleast four elliptical slots and atleast two circular slots. The flange assembly also includes a base plate including at least six openings to fasten the flange plate with the base plate using the at least six fasteners. The base plate and the flange plate are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position. The flange plate and the base plate are bound together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube.
[0006] In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of constructing a flange assembly for a water slide is disclosed. The method includes providing a flange plate having at least two protrusions extended outwards and accommodates a water slide tube, wherein the flange plate comprises at least six slots to hold at least six fasteners for coupling with the water slide tube, wherein the atleast six slots comprises at least atleast four elliptical slots and atleast two circular slots. The method also includes providing a base plate comprising at least six openings to fasten the flange plate with the base plate using the at least six fasteners, wherein the base plate and the flange plate are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position. The method also includes binding the flange plate and the base plate together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube.
[0007] To further clarify the advantages and features of the present disclosure, a more particular description of the disclosure will follow by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended figures. It is to be appreciated that these figures depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting in scope. The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the appended figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying figures in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a flange assembly for a water slide is disclosed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0010] FIG. 2 represents a schematic representation of an embodiment of a flange assembly of FIG.1 supporting a water slide at arm position on a height from 0 to 20 metres in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 3 represents a schematic representation of an embodiment of a flange assembly supporting water slide at angular position in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 4 represents a schematic representation of an embodiment of a flange assembly supporting water slide at lower position in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing the steps involved in a method for construction of a flange assembly for a water slide in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0014] Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the figures by conventional symbols, and the figures may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the figures with details that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the figures and specific language will be used to describe them. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the disclosure as would normally occur to those skilled in the art are to be construed as being within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0016] The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such a process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components preceded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices, sub-systems, elements, structures, components, additional devices, additional sub-systems, additional elements, additional structures or additional components. Appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment", "in another embodiment" and similar language throughout this specification may, but not necessarily do, all refer to the same embodiment.
[0017] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are only illustrative and not intended to be limiting.
[0018] In the following specification and the claims, reference will be made to a number of terms, which shall be defined to have the following meanings. The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[0019] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a flange assembly for a water slide. The flange assembly includes a flange plate having at least two protrusions extended outwards and provided to accommodate a water slide tube. The flange plate includes at least six slots to hold at least six fasteners for coupling with the water slide tube, wherein the atleast six slots comprises atleast four elliptical slots and atleast two circular slots. The flange assembly also includes a base plate including at least six openings to fasten the flange plate with the base plate using the at least six fasteners. The base plate and the flange plate are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position. The flange plate and the base plate are bound together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube.
[0020] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a flange assembly (100) for a water slide in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The flange assembly (100) includes a flange plate (110) having at least two protrusions (120) extended outwards and provided to accommodate a water slide tube. In one embodiment, the flange plate is provided to accommodate the water slide tube of diameter having a range of 584-3658 millimetre (mm). In some embodiment, the water slide tube is fabricated from composite fibre reinforced plastic material, sheet material, metal, plastic material, polycarbonate material, acrylic material or a combination thereof.
[0021] The flange plate (110) includes at least six slots (130) to hold at least six fasteners (135) for coupling with the water slide tube, wherein the atleast six slots comprises atleast four elliptical slots and atleast two circular slots. In one embodiment, the at least six fasteners (135) may include nuts, bolts, screws, nails or rivets. The at least six fasteners extends through the at least four elliptical slots and the atleast two circular slots to fasten the flange plate with the water slide tube. In some embodiment, the at least six fasteners may include threaded fasteners. Flanges are used to mount slides to structures by providing optimum support and using minimum number of parts.
[0022] The flange assembly (100) also includes a base plate (140) including at least six openings (145) to fasten the flange plate (110) with the base plate (140) using the at least six fasteners (135). In a specific embodiment, the flange plate (110) and the base plate (140) are manufactured by a cold forming process. In such embodiment, the base plate (110) and the flange plate (140) are fabricated from a galvanised mild steel material. The flange assembly (100) is manufactured with minimum production time, process, cost and welding length which further provides additional strength to the vertical supporting structure.
[0023] The base plate (140) and the flange plate (110) are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position. In one embodiment, the vertical supporting structure may include at least a vertical pipe, a vertical column, a vertical pillar or a vertical rod. In some embodiment, the predetermined position may include at least one of an angular position, a higher position, a lower position or a perpendicular position. The flange plate (110) and the base plate (140) are bound together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube.
[0024] FIG. 2 represents a schematic representation of an embodiment of a flange assembly (100) of FIG.1 supporting a water slide at an arm position on a height from 0 to 20 metres in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the flange assembly (100) includes a base plate (110) and a flange plate (140). The flange plate (110) having at least two protrusions (120) which is extended outwards and provided to accommodate a water slide tube (125). The at least two protrusions or flanges (120) are important part which connects both the slide and vertical supporting structure (150). The water slide tube (125) which is installed at an amusement park has a diameter of range 584-3658millimetre (mm). The water slide tube (125) is fabricated from plastic material, polycarbonate material, acrylic material or a combination thereof. The flange assembly (100) which is holding the water slide is mounted on the vertical supporting structure (145) at a higher position such as the arm position on a height from 0 to 20 metres. For example, the vertical structure may include a vertical pipe, a vertical column, a vertical pillar or a vertical rod.
[0025] Similarly, FIG. 3 represents a schematic representation of an embodiment of a flange assembly (100) supporting water slide at angular position in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Again, FIG. 4 represents a schematic representation of an embodiment of a flange assembly (100) supporting water slide at lower position in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0026] FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing the steps involved in a method (200) for construction of a flange assembly for a water slide in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure. The method (200) includes providing a flange plate having at least two protrusions extended outwards to accommodate a water slide tube, wherein the flange plate includes at least six slots to hold at least six fasteners for coupling with the water slide tube, wherein the atleast six slots comprises atleast four elliptical slots and atleast two circular slots in step 210. In one embodiment, providing the flange plate having the at least two protrusions extended outwards to accommodate the water slide tube may include providing the flange plate having the at least two protrusions to accommodate the water slide tube of diameter having a range of 584-3658 millimetre (mm). In some embodiment, the water slide tube is fabricated from plastic material, polycarbonate material, acrylic material or a combination thereof.
[0027] The method (200) also includes providing a base plate comprising at least six openings to fasten the flange plate with the base plate using the at least six fasteners, wherein the base plate and the flange plate are integrated to couple with a vertical supporting structure at a predetermined position in step 220. In one embodiment, providing the base plate comprising the at least six openings to fasten the flange plate with the base plate using the at least six fasteners may include fastening the flange plate and the base plate using at least six threaded fasteners which may include, but not limited to, nuts, bolts, screws, nails or rivets. In some embodiment providing the base plate and the flange plate to couple with the vertical supporting structure at the predetermined position may include providing the base plate and the flange plate manufactured by a cold rolling process. In such embodiment, the base plate and the flange plate are fabricated from a galvanised mild steel material.
[0028] The method (200) also includes binding the flange plate and the base plate together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure thereby acting as a cantilever support for the water slide tube in step 230. In one embodiment, binding the flange plate and the base plate together to place the water slide tube at the predefined angle corresponding to the vertical supporting structure may include binding the flange plate and the base plate together to place the water slide tube corresponding to the vertical supporting structure including at least a vertical pipe, a vertical column, a vertical pillar or a vertical rod.
[0029] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provides a flange assembly which has 2 parts namely base plate and flange plate and is used to place the water slide at any angle with respect to vertical pipe and even they can be used as a cantilever support for the slide.
[0030] Moreover, the present disclosed flange assembly is made by cold rolling process and with minimum welding length that adds additional strength to the support.
[0031] Furthermore, the present disclosed flange assembly utilises same support for a range of cross section and at different location without any modification in support that helps to reduce the inventory and gain interchangeability. Also, it makes the manufacturing process simple and time saving.
[0032] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the disclosure and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
[0033] While specific language has been used to describe the disclosure, any limitations arising on account of the same are not intended. As would be apparent to a person skilled in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein.
[0034] The figures and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, the order of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in the order shown; nor do all of the acts need to be necessarily performed. Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performed in parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no means limited by these specific examples