Roller Coaster Patents: Epic Universe’s Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness Has a Patent on it!

I was walking through Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia and they had a great display about patents that actually highlighted the patent on the Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness ride. This roller coaster has a unique design with hidden lower vertical track and a “boom” arm to create the illusion of jumps, movement over rough terrain and fast track switches. However, Universal is far from the only company to protect their work with parents as with a quick search you will find patents from companies like RMC, Disney and many more.

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A Combination Spinning Flat Ride and Centrifugal Birthing Machine?

Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force
Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force

Years ago I took a class on patents and was shown some examples of crazy patents to demonstrate that not all inventions have to work or be useful in real life in order to be granted a patent. One of these was US Patent #3,216,423 “Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force”. This was brought to mind again as Hashem Al-Ghaili recently released a video of the potential device in action that was mind blowing. To summarize the invention, it’s essentially a spinning table that literally helps pull the baby out with the same centrifugal forces you’d feel on your favorite theme park ride.

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