Claims
- 1. A rail vehicle operable between a lower tractive rail and an upper stabilizing rail of a rail system comprising;
- a vehicle body;
- wheel means supporting the body for rotatable movement on the lower tractive rail;
- an upper stabilizing wheel on said body and being vertically positioned for rotatable contact with the upper stabilizing rail; and
- means movably laterally positioning the upper stabilizing wheel relative to said body whereby the body may be laterally shifted relative to the upper rail and thereby vertically align the body with the resultant of centrifugal and gravitational forces acting thereon during movement along the rail system.
- 2. The rail vehicle of claim 1 wherein the means laterally positioning the upper stabilizing wheel relative to the body comprises a servomechanism including carriage means laterally positioning the upper wheel relative to the body and a controller positioning the carriage means in accordance with conditions encountered during movement along the rail system.
- 3. The rail vehicle of claim 1 wherein the wheel means supporting the body on the lower tractive rail includes a plurality of running gear assemblies, each comprising:
- a suspension means;
- a main drive wheel having independently rotatable flanges rotatably carried by the suspension means;
- an electric drive motor; and
- belt drive means powered by the electric drive motor to effect rotation of the main drive wheel and thereby move the vehicle along the rail system.
- 4. The rail vehicle of claim 1 wherein the upper stabilizing wheel includes a pair of independently rotatable wheel flanges.
- 5. The rail vehicle of claim 1 further comprising an emergency brake assembly attached to the body and operable to clamp the lower tractive rail during braking.
- 6. The rail vehicle of claim 1 wherein the wheel means comprises front and back wheels, each having a pair of independently rotatable wheel flanges.
- 7. The rail vehicle of claim 1 further comprising a drive motor and belt means powered by the drive motor means for driving the wheel means to effect movement of the vehicle along the rail system.
- 8. A rail vehicle operable between a lower tractive rail and an upper stabilizing rail of a rail system comprising:
- a vehicle body
- wheel means supporting the body for rotatable movement on the lower tractive rail;
- an upper stabilizing wheel on said body and being movably positioned for rotatable contact with the upper stabilizing rail; and
- means movably vertically positioning said upper stabilizing wheel relative to said wheel means supporting the body for varying frictional engagement between the wheel means supporting said body and the lower tractive rail in accordance with traction requirements along the rail system.
- 9. The rail vehicle of claim 8 wherein the means vertically positioning the upper stabilizing wheel relative to said wheel means supporting the body comprises a servomechanism including carriage means vertically positioning the upper wheel relative to the body and a controller positioning the carriage means in accordance with conditions encountered during movement along the rail system.
- 10. For use in an elevated electric rail system including a lower tractive rail and an upper stabilizing rail having a plurality of electric contacts carried thereby, an electrically powered rail vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body having a chassis;
- a plurality of running gear assemblies supporting the body by its chasis for movement along the lower tractive rail;
- an upper stabilizing wheel supported on the body for rotatable contact with the upper stabilizing rail;
- an electrical pickup assembly carried by said body including a plurality of electrical pickup contacts matable with the electrical contacts on the upper stabilizing rail;
- an emergency brake assembly attached to the body and operable to clamp the lower tractive rail during braking; and
- a lateral control servomechanism including a carrier means operable to movably laterally position the upper stabilizing wheel relative to the body in accordance with vehicle speed and rail curvature to thereby laterally tilt the body relative to the lower tractive rail to direct centrifugal forces thereon downwardly relative to the body during movement along the rail system and to maintain an effective relationship between the body and brake assembly.
- 11. The rail vehicle of claim 10 further comprising:
- a vertical servomechanism including a carriage means operable to movably vertically position the upper stabilizing wheel relative to the running gear assemblies whereby the frictional engagement between the running gear assemblies supporting the body and the lower traction rail may be varied in accordance with traction requirements along the rail system.
- 12. The rail vehicle of claim 11 wherein
- said lateral servomechanism includes a lateral guideway and a carriage movable thereover; and
- said vertical servomechanism is carried on said carriage and includes a vertically extendable piston, a yoke supported on the piston, and the upper stabilizing wheel rotatably supported by the yoke.
- 13. The rail vehicle of claim 10 wherein each of said running gear assemblies comprises:
- an electric drive motor carried by the body chassis and energizable through the electric pickup contracts by the electrical contacts on the upper stabilizing rail;
- a reduction gear box driven by the drive motor and having an upper drive axle;
- pulley means on said drive axle;
- an air spring disposed beneath the body chassis;
- a suspension framing member having one end pivotally attached to the reduction gear box and another end abutting the air spring;
- a main drive wheel having independently rotatable flanges;
- a main axle rotatably supported by the suspension framing member and having the main drive wheel thereon;
- another pulley means on the main axle; and
- belt drive means interconnecting the respective pulley means of the drive axle and the main axle.
- 14. The rail vehicle of claim 10 wherein said emergency brake assembly comprises:
- a brake shoe having a brake pad thereon;
- a saddle member having a clamping lip thereon;
- a hydraulic cylinder having a fluid actuable piston interconnecting the brake shoe and saddle member for relative movement therebetween in accordance with actuation of said piston during braking to thereby clamp the lower tractive rail between the brake pad and saddle lip;
- roller assembly means pivotally attached to the brake shoe for rollably moving same along the lower tractive rail.
- 15. A rapid transit system comprising:
- a vertical rail system including a lower tractive rail and shroud means;
- said shroud means including an upper stabilizing rail parallel to said lower tractive rail, electrical contact means adjacent to said upper rail; and a hood encompassing the upper rail and electrical contact means in supporting and weather protective relation,
- a rail vehicle disposed between said lower and upper rails including a vehicle body and wheel means having a plurality of lower wheels rollable on the lower rail and an upper stabilizing wheel rollable along the upper rail;
- means for driving the vehicle including an electric motor energized through the electrical contact means; and
- means for moving the upper wheel relative to the vehicle body and wheel means to compensate for conditions encountered during movement of the rail vehicle.
- 16. The rapid transit system of claim 15 wherein the hood includes a ceiling portion having the upper rail and electrical contacts affixed thereunder and a pair of opposed sidewalls depending from the ceiling portion.
- 17. The rapid transit system of claim 15 wherein the means for moving the upper wheel relative to the vehicle body comprises a servomechanism including a carriage laterally positioning the upper wheel relative to the vehicle body in response to the effect of centrifugal force exerted on the vehicle body during movement thereof.
- 18. The rapid transit system of claim 17 wherein the means for moving the upper wheel relative to the vehicle body further comprises a servomechanism including a vertically movable carriage positioning the upper wheel relative to the vehicle body in response to diverse rail conditions encountered during movement of the rail vehicle.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part application of parent application Ser. No. 670,603 filed Mar. 26, 1976, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (29)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
670603 |
Mar 1976 |
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