ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,233,349, issued on Feb. 25, was assigned to Universal City Studios LLC (Universal City, Calif.).
"Overhung ride assembly" was invented by Sandor Kernacs (Gambrills, Md.), Derek Morris (Perry, Utah), Trent Bitton (Farr West, Utah), Trent Deem (Ogden, Utah), Raleigh Cornwell (Ogden, Utah), Greg Rude (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and John Stapleton (London, Canada).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A ride system includes a track and an overhung ride assembly. The overhung ride assembly includes a transport platform coupled to the track, a ride vehicle, and a heave system extending between the transport platform and the ride vehicle. The heave syste...