Image Number 12 for United States Patent #5564984.
A vehicle that provides safe and stable transportation of passengers, yet allows passengers, including wheelchair-bound passengers, to quickly enter and exit the vehicle without climbing up or down and without stepping on the seats has been provided. The preferred embodiment of the vehicle of the present invention, which is towed by an underwater cable system, has a double hull construction with a fixed outer hull and a moveable inner hull or seating platform, which may be raised or lowered. In the ride dispatch area, the inner hull is raised so that the floor of the inner hull is even with that of the vehicle gunwales and the dispatch floor level. During the ride, the hull is lowered so that the floor of the inner hull is below the level of the vehicle gunwales, and thus the vehicle forms a secure and stable seating compartment configuration for the duration of the ride. The vehicle is further equipped to secure wheelchair-bound guests to the inner hull quickly and easily.
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