Patent Application
20050011399
Conventional Automated People Mover (APM), People Mover and monorail system designs are known to have several drawbacks. Firstly, these conventional designs typically require rubber tires for the suspension, guidance and propulsion sub-systems, which creates restrictions in both high-speed and extreme-temperature applications where excessive tire rotational speeds and dynamic vibrations would normally cause high tire wear and premature suspension failure. Furthermore, the use of rubber tires creates the need for guideway heating in cold weather (i.e. snow and ice conditions), such that the conventional designs are often neither suitable nor economical for all weather operations.
The conventional APM and monorail systems are typically supported and guided by a guideway beam surface and, due to vehicle weight and limited tire load ratings, often have restrictions for passenger capacity and high speed applications. In addition, the fact that mid-support/propulsion tires occupy the inner vehicle floor space of most monorail vehicles results in limited passenger space and prevents passenger movement (walk-through) between coupled cars, which is necessary for emergency evacuation. In the past, economical designs of monorail vehicles have not been classed as APMs, since the cars have great difficulty in meeting certain structural and operational safety-regulated specifications.
Several different designs of monorail vehicles have been introduced in the market in the past few years; however, all of these prior art designs are restricted in passenger carrying capacity, safety limitations, operating speeds and all-weather operating capabilities. Furthermore, inter-car walk-through capabilities are typically neither present nor possible in the existing designs. Those monorail designs that have the walk-through capability require the floor of the vehicle to be located above the tires. This creates a vehicle which sits higher above the beam, decreasing stability to lateral loads and preventing the achievement of the typical, attractive low-profile look of most monorails, which is quite important to many monorail purchasers.
A further drawback of the conventional APM and monorail vehicles is their inherent requirement to use switches that move the complete beam. This type of switch is necessary because it is the beam that guides and, in some instances, even carries the load of the vehicle. Obviously, these switches are not standard and are more expensive and slower to operate than standard switches used for conventional rail vehicles.
Thus, due to current propulsion and technology arrangements, existing APM and monorail system designs are neither economical nor suitable for high-speed, all-weather operations where improved ride and noise comfort at reduced supply and operating costs are necessary requirements.
In light of the foregoing, a need clearly exists in the industry for an improved APM monorail system.
In a first broad aspect, the present invention provides a bogie assembly for supporting and guiding a vehicle car body on a monorail track, the monorail track having a guideway portion and a narrower guideway beam extending upwardly from the guideway portion. The guideway portion includes a pair of rails, while the guideway beam defines a top surface and a pair of side surfaces. The bogie assembly includes a frame operative to support the vehicle car body above the guideway beam, where this frame includes an upper surface adapted to be pivotably mounted to the underside of the vehicle car body and a pair of side members extending downwardly from the upper surface. Each side member of the frame has an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface of each side member adapted to be positioned adjacent a respective one of the side surfaces of the guideway beam. The bogie assembly also includes a pair of load wheels, each load wheel being mounted to a respective one of the side members of the frame and being operative to engage a respective one of the rails of the guideway portion. Each load wheel is characterized by a flange portion capable to engage the respective rail for assisting in the guidance of the vehicle car body as it travels along the monorail track.
Advantageously, the use of flanged load wheels allows the monorail vehicle to switch between different monorail tracks using conventional switches and trackwork elements.
In a second broad aspect, the invention provides a vehicle for travelling on a monorail track, the monorail track having a guideway portion and a narrower guideway beam extending upwardly from the guideway portion. The guideway portion includes a pair of rails, while the guideway beam defines a top surface and a pair of side surfaces. The vehicle has at least one pair of load wheels, each load wheel being operative to engage a respective one of the rails of the guideway portion. Each load wheel is characterized by a flange portion capable to engage the respective rail for assisting in the guidance of the vehicle car body along the monorail track.
In a third broad aspect, the invention provides a transportation system including a monorail track and at least one vehicle adapted to travel on the monorail track. The monorail track includes a guideway portion and a narrower guideway beam extending upwardly from the guideway portion, the guideway beam defining a top surface and a pair of side surfaces. The monorail track also includes a pair of rails mounted on the guideway portion. The vehicle includes a car body and a pair of load wheels, each load wheel being operative to engage a respective one of the rails of the monorail track. Each load wheel is characterized by a flange portion capable to engage the respective rail for assisting in the guidance of the vehicle car body along the monorail track.
A detailed description of examples of implementation of the present invention is provided hereinbelow with reference to the following drawings, in which:
In the drawings, embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purposes of illustration and as an aid to understanding, and are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention.
The Automated People Mover (APM) monorail system shown in
The APM monorail vehicle 100 includes various operational sub-systems (not shown), such as the propulsion sub-system, the braking sub-system and the power sub-system, among many others. These sub-systems all work together to drive and control the motion of the vehicle 100 along the monorail track 110. Since the functionality and various possible implementations of these sub-systems are well known to those skilled in the art, and are not critical to the present invention, they will not be described in further detail.
In the example shown in
Although in
With reference to
A pair of rails 218 are mounted on the guideway portion 200 of the monorail track 110. In a specific example, each of rails 218 is a conventional AREA (American Railway Engineering Association) steel rail. However, various different types of rails 218 may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. The trackwork system and fasteners are supported and fixed by structural extensions, such as concrete re-enforced cord belts, extending near the bottom surfaces of the guideway beam 210.
In a specific, non-limiting example, the APM monorail vehicle 100 incorporates a low-profile Linear Induction Motor (LIM) propulsion sub-system, instead of a conventional propulsion system using electric motors driving rubber tires, the latter being restricted by tire friction and environmental/surface conditions. Accordingly, a LIM propulsion unit is installed at each end of the vehicle 100 (not shown in
With reference to
The wheels 320 engage and run along rails 218, for providing at least in part the suspension interface between the car body 300 and the guideway beam 210. Thus, the wheels 320 in combination with the rails 218 provide a suspension sub-system that is able to support a greater load, being more load resistant. Furthermore, in the case of steel wheels 320 on steel AREA rails 218, the suspension sub-system is quieter in motion than the conventional rubber wheels on concrete.
A pair of guide wheels 324 are mounted to the inner surface 326 of the bogie frame 312 at each end of the car 120, one guide wheel 324 per side of the frame 312. Each guide wheel 324 runs along a respective side surface 214, 216 of the guideway beam 210, for stabilizing the car body 300. In a variant, two or more guide wheels 324 may be provided on each side of the frame 312, at each end of the car 120.
Advantageously, the use of bogie assemblies 310 for supporting the car bodies 300 on the guideway beam 210 and for interfacing between the car bodies 300 and the wheels 320 provides a double suspension system. More specifically, a primary suspension is provided between each bogie frame 312 and the respective wheels 320, while a secondary suspension is provided between each bogie frame 312 and the respective car body 300 supported on the bogie frame 312. According, fewer vibrations are transmitted to the car body 300 than in existing designs, making for a smoother and quieter ride for passengers. Furthermore, the APM monorail system described herein is suitable for all-weather operation and meets the requirements of existing APM design and safety regulated specifications.
As seen in
Advantageously, the flanges 328 of the steel wheels 320 allow the vehicle 100 to switch between monorail tracks 110 using conventional switch elements. More specifically, and with reference to
Note that, in between switches 400, the guide wheels 324 are used to center the ATM monorail vehicle 100 on the monorail track 110. As a result, the flanges 328 of the wheels 320 do not come into contact with the rails 218, thereby decreasing the noise level and helping in high-speed stability. The wheel flanges 328 only provide guidance to the vehicle 100 when the vehicle 100 is travelling through a switch 400.
In a preferred embodiment, both the flanged guide wheels 320 and the rails 218 are made of steel, forming a dual steel rail interface just below the lower skirt edge of the car body 300. By integrating this dual steel rail interface with a 1435 mm standard track gauge, conventional and existing AREA switch and trackwork elements can be used as part of the monorail track 110 installation. Furthermore, the design and location of such a steel wheel interface permits ATM monorail vehicles to be manufactured, tested, and maintained on existing AREA compliant transit trackwork facilities and associated track infrastructures, presently in use with conventional rail transit manufacturing companies.
Typically, the front and rear cars 130 of the ATM monorail vehicle 100 are configured to guide and tunnel compressed moving air along the guideway beam 210, in order to assist in cooling undercar propulsion equipment and to increase the operating efficiency thereof. In a variant example of implementation of the present invention, the suspension/guidance sub-system of the ATM monorail vehicle 100 may incorporate acoustic damping extension skirts (not shown) mounted adjacent to the wheels 320. Such acoustic damping extension skirts serve to reduce wheel/rail noise emissions generated at the interface between the wheels 320 and the rails 218, and also to assist in containing the tunnel air effect.
Although various embodiments have been illustrated herein above, this was for the purpose of describing, but not limiting, the present invention. Various modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art and are within the scope of this invention, which is defined more particularly by the attached claims.
This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/469,420, filed on May 12, 2003.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60469420 | May 2003 | US |
