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Guideway switch apparatus for magnetically levitated vehicles

Guideway switch apparatus for magnetically levitated vehicles description/claims

The present application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/870,884, filed Dec. 20, 2006, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention is directed to transportation or transit systems, and more specifically, to networked guideway transit systems designed to enable the movement of large numbers of passengers or parcels in a flexible manner.

Guideway-based transportation systems have been used to transport people or goods. One example is a “Personal Rapid Transit” (PRT) system. In the PRT system, each vehicle carries just one party or small group (or payload) from their origin directly to their destination, starting at a time determined by the party's arrival at its origin. Vehicles are typically piloted by computer and move non-stop along guideways with diverging and merging paths. At origin and destination access points (termed “portals”) vehicles stop on separate siding guideways so they do not impede the progress of other vehicles that are continuing to other destinations.

However, the use of wheels as the primary method of suspending vehicles continues to pose a significant barrier to PRT implementation. In addition, the unavoidable wear accompanying wheels rolling on tracks becomes a significant maintenance problem when a typical system might utilize thousands, or tens of thousands of vehicles. Further, the use of wheels imposes a speed limitation on the vehicles. Small, cheap wheels are generally not capable of even the speed range over which automobiles operate. Wheels capable of that range of speed or higher become expensive and heavy, and their potential failure becomes a serious safety issue. Thus, current PRT systems lack an economical, reliable and lightweight means to carry vehicles in slower speed, tight systems and faster, longer distance systems.

Further, in a PRT system, a switch, that is the piece of guideway that makes possible the splitting or merging of paths, may be one of the most important and valuable technological features. However, it is complicated and costly to construct switches that change the directions of vehicles traveling at any operational speed for the portion of network in which it is located. In some PRT systems, underhanging vehicles are desirable. However, the risk of a vehicle becoming detached and actually falling out of the guideway is an inherent problem of switches conventionally designed for underhanging vehicles. Thus, it is needed to construct switches that prevent the derailment, jamming or falling out of a vehicle under any conditions or circumstances.

The present invention is directed to a method and system for providing a switch that directs moving vehicles to a desired path on guideways of a networked guideway transit system. The networked guideway transit system combines permanent magnet levitation with electrodynamic stabilization and linear motor propulsion. That is, the networked guideway transit system uses the permanent magnets to provide primary lift and uses electrodynamic repulsion to create centering forces at most operational speeds while integrating linear motor functions with the electrodynamic centering function. The switch is used, at a divergent zone, to cause a vehicle bogie that couples a vehicle to the guideway to follow one side or the other of the diverging guideway magnet components. This is accomplished by use of an attracting magnetic array on the side that the vehicle bogie is desired to follow.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a switch apparatus is provided to direct a vehicle bogie in a networked guideway transit system to a desired path at a divergent portion of a guideway. The switch apparatus comprises an electromagnet component for attracting one side of a vehicle bogie in order to direct the vehicle bogie to a particular direction in the guideway. The switch apparatus also comprises a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle attached to the vehicle bogie and an electrodynamic repulsion component for passively centering the vehicle bogie.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a networked guideway transit system that utilizes permanent magnets levitation and electrodynamic repulsion is provided. The networked guideway transit system includes a vehicle bogie that comprises a set of bogie segments, each of which includes a bogie levitation component for providing lifting forces and a bogie propulsion component for providing propulsion forces on the vehicle bogie. The vehicle bogie supports a vehicle in the networked guideway transit system. The networked guideway transit system includes a guideway that comprises a first portion and a second portion, each portion including a set of modular guideway blocks. Each modular guideway block in the first portion includes a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle, a guideway propulsion component, and a electrodynamic repulsion component for passively centering the vehicle bogie. Each modular guideway block in the second portion includes an electromagnet component for directing the vehicle bogie, a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle and an electrodynamic repulsion component for passively centering the vehicle bogie.

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a networked guideway system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the networked guideway system showing an exposed view of modular guideway blocks of the guideway in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views of an exemplary embodiment of a bogie segment used in the networked guideway system;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views of the networked guideway system of FIG. 1A showing an exposed view of bogie segments of the vehicle bogie in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of an exemplary embodiment of the modular guideway block used in the networked guideway system;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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