Ferris Wheel Patents
Listed below are links to observation wheel and Ferris wheel patents. Playground scale or occupant propelled rides are excluded. The links provide access to Google patents and the content is provided by USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office).
| Patent Number | Date Issued | Patent Description | Inventor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 169797 | 11/1875 | Rotary swing/Improvement in rotary swings | Forrester | |
| 336696 | 3/1886 | Vertical rotary swing | Campi | |
| 489238 | 1/1893 | Ferris wheel amusement ride | Somers | |
| 506828 | 10/1893 | Observation wheel | Murrey | |
| 512429 | 1/1894 | Observation roundabout | Wyand | |
| 535362 | 3/1895 | Vertical rotary swing | DeVore | |
| 544866 | 8/1895 | Ferris wheel with observation tower | Schnitzler | |
| 583121 | 5/1897 | Amusement wheel | Pattee | |
| 669621 | 3/1905 | Portable Ferris wheel patent | Conderman | |
| 678670 | 7/1901 | Multiple Ferris wheel ride | Kling | |
| 741964 | 10/1903 | Ferris wheel variation | Harlan | |
| 774209 | 11/1904 | Pleasure wheel | Stubbs | |
| 793183 | 6/1905 | Ferris wheel based thrill ride | De Vore | |
| 796772 | 8/1905 | Ferris wheel carriage | Sullivan | |
| 816435 | 3/1906 | Ferris wheel variation | Connelly | |
| 809937 | 1/1906 | Ferris wheel variation | Friede/Carter | |
| 832965 | 10/1906 | Portable Ferris wheel for children | Gottlieb | |
| 841783 | 1/1907 | Ferris wheel based thrill ride | Jones (American Novel Machine) | |
| 852248 | 4/1907 | Ferris wheel based thrill ride | Watson | |
| 853155 | 5/1907 | Ferris wheel based thrill ride | Boardman | |
| 855132 | 5/1907 | Ferris wheel device | Pulman/Leatherland | |
| 858768 | 7/1907 | Ferris wheel concept | Thomas (National Concessions) | |
| 867187 | 9/1907 | Elongated Ferris wheel concept | Chubbuck | |
| 871722 | 11/1907 | Ferris wheel device | Millican | |
| 881095 | 3/1908 | Non-circular Ferris wheel | Chubbock | |
| 899286 | 9/1908 | Car for observation wheels | Biavati | |
| 900820 | 10/1908 | Multiple Ferris wheel ride | Becker | |
| 928716 | 7/1909 | Ferris wheel coaster (eccentric) | Valentine | |
| 1050567 | 1/1913 | Ferris wheel passenger carrier | Saunders | |
| 1057919 | 4/1913 | Observation wheel car | Biavati | |
| 1149513 | 8/1915 | Ferris wheel thrill ride | Hermann | |
| 1262687 | 4/1918 | Ferris wheel on wheels | H. L. Miller/Parker | |
| 1354436 | 9/1920 | Eccentric Ferris wheel (Wonder Wheel) | Hermann | |
| 1379454 | 5/1921 | Amusement ride device | Lindamood | |
| 1418999 | 6/1922 | Amusement ride device | Wilson | |
| 1510355 | 9/1924 | Mechanical Ferris wheel | Tymkow | |
| 1539094 | 5/1925 | Ferris wheel structure | Miller | |
| 1555488 | 9/1925 | Ferris wheel concept | Siebert | |
| 1568424 | 1/1926 | Tobboggan Slide Ferris Wheel | Smith | |
| 1599014 | 9/1926 | Passenger-powered ferris wheel | Hunter | |
| 1599075 | 9/1926 | Ferris wheel thrill ride | Burris | |
| 1605198 | 11/1926 | Amusement apparatus | Ashcroft | |
| 1718167 | 7/1929 | Multiple ferris wheels on one axle | McLaughlin | |
| 1867996 | 7/1932 | Portable ferris wheel | Baer | |
| 1911915 | 5/1/1933 | Amusement apparatus | McLaughlin | |
| 2082287 | 6/1/1937 | Amusement apparatus | Hermann | |
| 2109539 | 3/1/1938 | Amusement device | Kornsweet | |
| 2201993 | 5/1/1940 | Amusement ride (ferris wheel with illusion),Dyke | ||
| 2203971 | 6/1/1940 | Amusement device | Shepherd | |
| 2229966 | 1/1/1941 | Amusement machine | Eyerly | |
| 2249076 | 7/1/1941 | Amusement apparatus [Sky Wheel] | Courtney/ Velare & Courtney | |
| 2384237 | 9/1/1945 | Amusement machine | Clark | |
| 2397857 | 4/1/1946 | Amusement device | Hall | |
| 2403593 | 7/1/1946 | Amusement device [passenger powered] | Franklin | |
| 2423283 | 7/1/1947 | Amusement device | Austin | |
| 2576477 | 11/1/1951 | Ferris wheel | Powell | |
| 2590934 | 4/1/1952 | Portable ferris wheel | Catlett | |
| 2689126 | 9/1/1954 | Gear-driven control for ferris wheel cars [Rock-O-Plane] | Eyerly | |
| 2800328 | 7/1/1957 | Plural horizontal axes roundabout [Sky Wheel improvement] | Courtney | |
| 2828128 | 3/1/1958 | Amusement ride device | Castille | |
| 2847216 | 8/1/1958 | Amusement ride apparatus | Courtney | |
| 2864614 | 12/1/1958 | Ferris wheel type amusement ride | Castille | |
| 2907568 | 10/1/1959 | Portable ferris wheels [Double Sky Wheel or Space Wheel] | Velare & Velare | |
| 2934341 | 4/1/1960 | Passenger amusement ride | Shepherd | |
| 3002753 | 10/1/1961 | Foldable and portable ferris wheel | Garbrick | |
| 3176983 | 4/1/1965 | Amusement ride [Raven or Radar] | Barber | |
| 3222061 | 12/1/1965 | Portable Amusement ride | Eyerly & Johnson/ Eyerly | |
| 3226113 | 12/1/1965 | Collapsible wheel structure for rotary amusement devices | Mercer et al | |
| 3243184 | 3/1/1966 | Planetary amusement ride | Robinson et al | |
| 3321203 | 5/1/1967 | Automatically controlled amusement ride [requiring no attendant] | Hansen | |
| 3456943 | 7/1/1969 | Amusement ride apparatus and method [Skydiver] | Brown/ Chance | |
| 3495823 | 2/1/1970 | Amusement ride [Turbo] | Barber | |
| 3529816 | 9/1/1970 | Vehicle | especially for an amusement ride or the like [Turbo] | Barber |
| 3552747 | 1/1/1971 | Portable folding ferris wheel | Deem/ Eli Bridge | |
| 3612517 | 10/1/1971 | Ferris wheel | Schwarzkopf | |
| 3707282 | 12/1/1972 | Planetary amusement ride | Robinson | |
| 3837706 | 9/1/1974 | Amusement ride seat and safety guard [hair guard for ferris wheel] | Suttles/ Eli Bridge | |
| 4815728 | 3/1/1989 | Amusement ride | O'Keefe | |
| 4960275 | 10/1/1990 | Water immersion amusement apparatus [ferris wheel] | Magon | |
| 4988089 | 1/1/1991 | Fairground attraction | Knijpstra | |
| 5319897 | 6/1/1994 | Amusement park ride | Royer | |
| D400616 | 11/1/1998 | Panoramic wheel | Gnezdilov | |
| 6328658 | 12/1/2001 | Amusement ride [Sky Restaurant] | Gnezdilov | |
| 6402624 | 6/1/2002 | Amusement ride without hubs and spokes [Cyclotron or floorless Super Loops; also floorless coaster and hubless ferris wheel] | Larson & Novatny/ Versa | |
| 6634952 | 10/1/2003 | Ferris wheel (construction for large portable wheel) | Kroon & Kroon/ Cobra Beheer | |
| 6994629 | 2/1/2006 | Attraction [Giant Motion Track (hubless ferris wheel)] | Bussink | |
| 7854661 | 12/1/2010 | Giant wheel | Chu | |
| 7931539 | 4/1/2011 | Elevating mechanism and Ferris wheel using the same | Chen | |
| 7988562 | 8/1/2011 | Midair and pseudo-underwater observation apparatus | Kojiro | |
| 8216077 | 7/1/2012 | Observation wheel type ride | Bussink et al | |
| 8337317 | 12/1/2012 | Free swing Ferris wheel | Crawford & Nemeth/ Disney |
Last revised: 5/21/2013