1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to structure of bifurcation and crossover sites of a guideway in a guided vehicle transportation system in which a vehicle supported by traveling wheels such as rubber-tired wheels for example travels on a guideway, the vehicle being equipped with an automatic steering mechanism and a fail-safe mechanism for coping with a case malfunction has occurred in the automatic steering mechanism or strong external lateral force due to a gust of cross wind, etc. exerts on the vehicle.
2. Technical Background
In a new transit system, a vehicle which travels by rotating rubber-tired wheels is generally provided with guide wheels which are guided along a guide rail laid down on a guideway along the guideway so that the vehicle is steered to travels along the guideway, and the vehicle is usually steered mechanically.
The mechanical guide mechanism is superior in point of view of safety and reliability, however, structure of bogies to which the wheels and driving mechanism thereof are mounted becomes complicated inevitably, is increased in weight, and results in increased running costs. Further, it is necessary to lay down the guard rail having enough strength to support the guide wheels all along the guideway with high accuracy, which results in increased construction costs of the guideway.
In order to eliminate the problems mentioned above, a steering system not requiring a guide rail is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-351544(patent literature 1).
The steering system of a guided vehicle disclosed in the patent literature 1 is composed such that a plurality of on-ground devices which memorize and send out information necessary for the operation of the vehicle are laid down along the whole length of the track on which the vehicle travels, the control device installed on the vehicle emits signals based on the information sent out from the on-ground devices when the vehicle travels along the track, and the vehicle is steered by the steering device installed on the vehicle in accordance with the signals. With the steering system, a guide rail for steering the vehicle is not required, construction and maintenance costs can be reduced, and also vibration and noise are reduced.
The steering system of the patent literature 1 will be explained referring to
The steering system includes on-ground devices 02, a transmitter 09, a receiver 09, a control device 010, and a steering device 020. The vehicle is steered by turning the wheels 05. A plurality of non-exited on-ground devices 02 are laid down on the track 01 along whole length thereof at a predetermined spacing. Specific information is memorized in each of the on-ground devices. The specific information includes the discrimination number, position information, track information, and control information of the concerned on-ground device.
Position information(geographic site information) is information concerning the position of each on-ground device 02 such as the absolute coordinate point and distance from a reference point. Further, track information expressing conditions of the track at the site of each on-ground device such as the gradient, curvature, cant, ramification of the track are memorized in each of the on-ground device as necessary(the information is collectively referred to as operation information hereafter).
Although each of the on-ground devices 02 is not exited, i.e. has not been provided with power sources, it emits signals of the information memorized upon receiving electric power. The on-ground device 02 has for example an electronic circuit including ROM for memorizing operation information.
The transmitter 08 is a device for feeding electric power by means of a radio wave. The receiver 09 is a device for receiving the operation information emitted from the on-ground device 02 when the device 02 has received the radio wave. The control device 010 is a device for performing prescribed processing based on the operation information the receiver 09 received and transmitting directive signal of speed and steering of the vehicle to the drive motor 06 and actuator 07.
The steering device 020 is a device for turning the wheel 05 under the steering directive and comprises an electric or hydraulic or pneumatic actuator 07 connected to an end of an arm 011 of which the other end is supported for rotation by a pin 012 fixed to the bogie 04, a connecting rod 059, levers 056a and 056b for left and right wheel 05 respectively, and a tie rod 057 for connecting the levers.
When the actuator 07 is actuated by the steering directive from the control device 010, the arm 011 is rotated about the pin 012 and the levers 056a, 056b are turned via the connecting rod 059 and the tie rod 057 to turn the wheels 05 to the right or left.
According to the automatic steering system, the vehicle 03 is steered based on the operation information memorized in the on-ground devices 02 without using a guide rail, etc. Therefore, construction cost of the track 01 is decreased to a large extent because the guide rail, etc. is not needed. Further, as wear-out parts such as guide wheels are not used, maintenance cost is decreased, and also occurrence of vibration and noise which will occur when the guide rail and guide wheels are provided due to the contact between them can be reduced.
However, according to the automatic steering system disclosed in the patent literature 1, mechanical steering by means of the guide rail and guide wheels is not performed, and a problem of securing safety of vehicle traveling against runaway and running out of track when malfunction occurs in the steering system and under abnormal circumstances caused by strong wind, rainfall, snowfall, etc. has not been solved.
The applicant of this patent application proposed such a fail-safe mechanism in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-175962 (patent literature 2) that can secure safety when malfunction occurs in the steering system with simple and light-in-weight construction.
The fail-safe mechanism is composed such that a guard groove is formed along the guideway of a guard rail havin a groove is laid down on a guideway along the guideway, and the vehicle is provided with guard wheels under the front and rear bogies supporting the vehicle body so that the vehicle travels with the guard wheels received in the groove of the guard rail. An ample clearance is secured between the periphery of the guard wheel and both side walls of the groove of the guard rail, the clearance being smaller than permissible limit clearance so that running out of the guide wheels from the groove does not occur.
When the automatic steering system functions normally, the vehicle travels with the guard wheels not contacting the side walls of the groove, however, when malfunction occurs in the automatic steering system or external force exerts on the vehicle due to a gust of cross wind for example, the guard wheels contact the side wall of the groove and running out of the guide wheels from the groove is prevented.
However, in the guided vehicle transportation system provided with the fail-safe mechanism as mentioned above, there are inevitably bifurcation site or crossover site such as Y-shaped fork roads or X-shaped fork roads, where guard rail diverges into two or more guard rails.
As the width of the groove of the guard rail is larger than the diameter of the guard wheel so that a permissible clearance is secured between the periphery of the guard wheel and side walls of the groove, for example, when the diameter of the guard wheel is 150 mm, the width of the groove of the guard rail is determined to be about 250˜300 mm. At apart where the guard rail crosses a roadbed on which the traveling wheels of the vehicle travel, the traveling wheels must cross over the opening of the groove of the guard rail. When the width of the opening of the groove of the guard rail is wide as mentioned above, tires of the traveling wheels may fall into the groove or be bitten into the opening of the groove when passing over the guide rail, suffer injury, and vibration occurs which deteriorate ride quality. Further, there is a possibility that the guard rail is damaged.
The present invention was made in light of the background as mentioned above, and the object of the invention is to secure smooth travel of the vehicle at a bifurcation or crossover site of the guideway by eliminating the problems mentioned above that occurs when the vehicle passes the portion where the guard rail crosses the roadbed and to secure smooth switching of connection of the groove of the guard rail to an intended groove of the guard rail at a branching part thereof in a guided vehicle transportation system in which a fail-safe mechanism is constituted by the automatic steering mechanisms provided to the vehicle, guard wheels supported underside the vehicle, and guard rail laid down on the guideway.
To attain the object, the present invention proposes structure of a bifurcation site and crossover site of a guideway in a guided vehicle transportation system in which a vehicle travels on a pre-established guideway; the guideway being consisted of left and right roadbeds on which left and right traveling wheels of the vehicle travel, a depression formed between the roadbeds, and a guard rail made of a channel-steel having a U-shaped groove laid down on the surface of the depression along the center line between the roadbeds so that the top of the guard rail is level with the surfaces of the roadbeds; the vehicle being provided with automatic steering systems for steering front wheels and rear wheels respectively by means of actuators each being provided for steering the front and rear wheels; the vehicle being provided with guard wheels in its underside rotatably in a lateral plane; the guard wheels being received in the groove of the guard rail with an ample clearance(clearances) between the periphery of the guard wheel and the side wall(walls) of the groove of the guard rail being laid down along the center line of the guideway; a fail-safe mechanism being constituted by the guard wheels and the guard rail; wherein
a movable guard plate and driving means thereof are provided to switch connection of the groove of the guard rail at a branching part thereof, and groove width Wmin of each of the branching guard rails at a part thereof crossing a roadbed is narrow than groove width W in regions other than the crossing part and larger than guard wheel diameter G.
Specifically, groove width Wmin of each of the branching guard rails at a part thereof crossing a roadbed is determined to be narrow than groove width W in regions other than the crossing part and larger than guard wheel diameter G such that W>Wmin>G+2 c, where c≈1 mm.
According to the first invention, connection of a groove of guard rail to a branched groove is done by means of the movable guard plate so that the guard wheels can transfer smoothly to an intended groove of guard rail at a branching part of the guard rail, and as the width of the opening of the groove of the guard rail is narrowed at the crossing part where the guard rail crosses the road bed so that W >Wmin>G+2 c as mentioned above, the traveling wheels can pass over the opening of the groove of the guard rail smoothly without the tires of the traveling wheels being bitten into the opening.
As long as malfunction does not occur in the automatic steering mechanisms or any external force exerts on the vehicle, the vehicle travels automatically steered and the guard wheels pass the bifurcation of the guard rail without contacting the side walls of the guard rail, the movable guard plate, and other devices at the bifurcation.
In the first invention, the crossing part where the guard rail crosses the roadbed is composed simply by narrowing the opening of the groove of the guard rail, the crossing part can be constructed compactly without wearing parts and at low cost, and also maintenance work thereof is easy.
The present invention proposes as a second invention structure of a bifurcation site and crossover site of a guideway in a guided vehicle transportation system in which a vehicle travels on a pre-established guideway; the guideway being consisted of left and right roadbeds on which left and right traveling wheels of the vehicle travel, a depression formed between the roadbeds, and a guard rail made of a channel-steel having a U-shaped groove laid down on the surface of the depression along the center line between the roadbeds so that the top of the guard rail is level with the surfaces of the roadbeds; the vehicle being provided with automatic steering systems for steering front wheels and rear wheels respectively by means of actuators each being provided for steering the front and rear wheels; the vehicle being provided with guard wheels in its underside rotatably in a lateral plane; the guard wheels being received in the groove of the guard rail with an ample clearance(clearances) between the periphery of the guard wheel and the side wall(walls) of the groove of the guard rail being laid down along the center line of the guideway; a fail-safe mechanism being constituted by the guard wheels and the guard rail; wherein
a movable guard plate and driving means thereof are provided to switch connection of the groove of the guard rail at a bifurcation thereof, and
a movable plate and driving means thereof are provided to be able to plug or cover each of openings of grooves of guard rails in a region where the guard rail crosses a roadbed so that the movable plate is moved to plug or cover the groove thereby preparing a flat surface level with the roadbed.
In the second invention, that the movable guard plate and driving means thereof are provided to switch connection of the groove of the guard rail at a bifurcation thereof is the same as the first invention. In the second invention, a movable plate and driving means thereof are provided to be able to be moved to plug or cover each of openings of grooves of guard rails in a region where the guard rail crosses a roadbed, thereby preparing a flat surface level with the roadbed, by which the traveling wheels of the vehicle can pass over the groove of the guard rail at the crossing part where the guard rail crosses the roadbed more smoothly as compared with the case of the first invention.
In the first and second inventions, by composing such that said movable guard plate is a guard plate laterally swingable about a pivot at an end thereof, whereby connection of the groove of the guard rail at the crossover site can be switched by swinging the guard plate by the drive means; or such that said movable guard plate is a right triangular prism-shaped guard member laterally slidable, whereby connection of the groove of the guard rail at the crossover site can be switched by sliding the guard plate by the driving means; switching of the groove of the guard rail can be performed by relatively compact construction.
In the second invention, by composing such that said movable plate is a plate provided in the groove of the guard rail so that the plate can be moved up until the upper surface thereof is level with the top of the guard rail and moved down to open the opening of the groove of the guard rail and further to secure a space for the guard wheels received in the groove to be able to proceed without interfering with the plate by means of the drive means, the opening of the groove of the guard rail can be closed and opened with the movable plate provided in the groove without using space outside the guard rail.
In the second invention, it is also suitable to compose such that said movable plate is a plate laterally slidable provided on the roadbed so that the upper surface thereof is level with the surface of the roadbed so that the plate can be slid by the drive means to cover the guard rail. With the composition, the opening of the groove of the guard rail can be closed or opened without using inside space of the groove of the guard rail, and drive means of the movable plate can be constructed compactly.
In the second invention, said movable guard plate and said movable plate are controlled in association with each other by a controller located in a ground station in accordance with position of the traveling vehicle on the guideway.
According to the first invention, a movable guard plate is provided at the bifurcation of the guard rail having a U-shaped groove in which guard wheels supported underside of the vehicle laterally rotatably are received so that connection of groove of the guardrail is switched by moving the movable guard plate by means of a drive device thereof, and the width of the groove of the guard rail is narrowed at a crossing part where the guard rail crosses the roadbed on which the traveling wheels of the vehicle travels, the vehicle can pass over the opening of the groove of the guard rail smoothly without the tires of the traveling wheel being bitten into the opening of the groove and without occurrence of vibration.
Further, the construction is compact, highly reliable, and easy in maintenance.
According to the second invention, a movable guard plate is provided at the bifurcation of the guard rail having a U-shaped groove in which guard wheels supported underside of the vehicle laterally rotatably are received so that connection of groove of the guard rail is switched by moving the movable guard plate by means of a drive device thereof, and a movable plate is provided to be able to be moved to plug or cover each of openings of grooves of guard rails in a region where the guard rail crosses a roadbed, thereby preparing a flat surface level with the roadbed, by which the traveling wheels of the vehicle can pass over the groove of the guard rail at the crossing part where the guard rail crosses the roadbed more smoothly as compared with the case of the first invention.
In the first and second invention, the vehicle can travel without the guard wheels of the vehicle contacting the side walls of the groove of the guard rail and devices provided at the bifurcation of the guard rail by automatic steering, so occurrence of troubles at the bifurcation can be reduced.
In the first and second invention, it is preferable that the guard rail is made of a channel steel having a U-shaped groove with flange parts formed at the top of each of the side walls of the groove to extend laterally toward the groove.
a is a plan view of the bifurcation area of guideway showing a laterally swingable guard plate in the first embodiment, and
a is a plan view of a usual joint part of the roadbed, and
a is a side elevational view showing the drive mechanism for driving the tread plate in the second embodiment, and
a is a plan view of yet another example of structure of an X-shaped crossover part of the guard rail provided with a swivel block, and
a is a schematic side elevation of a vehicle provided with the conventional steering system,
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be detailed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is intended, however, that unless particularly specified, dimensions, materials, relative positions and so forth of the constituent parts in the embodiments shall be interpreted as illustrative only not as limitative of the scope of the present invention.
A plan view of a guided vehicle transportation system is shown schematically in
As shown in
The guideway 01 consists of left and right roadbeds on which left and right traveling wheels 18b and 18a of the vehicle 12 travel, a depression formed between the roadbeds, and a guard rail 14 made of a channel-steel having a U-shaped groove laid down on the surface of the depression along the center line between the roadbeds so that the top of the guard rail is level with the surfaces of the roadbeds. It is preferable that a flange part 14b is formed at the top of each of the side walls of the groove to extend laterally toward the groove, although the flanges 14b are not indispensable in the transportation system.
The body of the vehicle 12 is suspended on a front bogie 16 and a rear bogie (not shown). To the front bogie 16 are attached right and left axles supported by means of king pins to be steerable to right and left, to the axels being attached front wheels 18 equipped with rubber tires of core type 20. To the right bogie are attached right and left axles supported by means of king pins to be steerable to right and left, to the axels being attached rear wheels 22 equipped with rubber tires of core type.
Next, a steering mechanism 26(see
As shown in
An end of a movable rod 38 of an actuator 36 is connected to the forward end part of the front steering arm 28a via a spherical joint 34 for rotation. The actuator 36 is attached to the front bogie 16. The actuator 36 is composed of an electric motor and ball screw feed mechanism, it is also suitable to adopt a pneumatic or hydraulic servo cylinder or linear motor.
A so-called Ackermann-Junt type link mechanism is composed by the tie rod 32, rear steering arms 30a and 30b, and angle of traverse of the right wheel and left wheel can be controlled adequately when turning.
Next, guard wheels 40 will be explained. Each of the guard wheels 40 is of a cylindrical shape and supported rotatably by a supporting arm 42 at the underside of the forward and rearward end parts thereof respectively. The guard wheels 40 are received in the U-shaped groove of the guard rail 14 so that their peripheries face the side walls of the groove. The guard rail 14 is preferably formed such that a flange 14b extends laterally toward the groove from both side walls of the guard rail 14 at the top thereof respectively as can be seen in
The guard wheel 40 is preferably made of material having high vibration absorption property and high wear resistant property such as urethane rubber or material containing steel belt used in rubber tires.
Between the periphery of the guard wheel and the side walls of the groove of the guard rail 14 is provided a clearance respectively smaller than a permissible clearance (about 50 mm or smaller) so that deviation of the vehicle 12 to right or left is restricted in a limited value. In a normal state, the guard wheel 40 does not contact the side wall of the groove of the guard rail 14. Usually a total clearance of about 80 mm˜100 mm is secured between the periphery of the guard wheel and the side walls of the guard rail.
The supporting arm 42 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is supported at its center by the bogie via a support shaft rotatably about the support shaft below the axels 44 of the front wheels 18.
The guard rail 14 be laid down on the surface of the guideway 15 as shown in
A connecting rod 46 connects the forward end of the front steering arm 28a and a point near the forward end of the supporting arm 42 so that the supporting arm 42 are directed in the same direction of the steered front wheels 20.
The steering mechanism 26 is comprised of the actuator 36, movable rod 38, front steering arm 28a, and rear steering arms 30a, 30b. An interlocking mechanism 48 is comprised of the forward supporting arm 42 and connecting rod 46.
The spherical joint 34 provided at the forward end of the front steering arm 28a is composed as a twin spherical joint 50 as shown in
Usually the actuator 36 is actuated on a steering directive signal from a control means 60 to apply steering force to the left front wheel 18a, and the steering force is transmitted from the front steering arm 28a to the right front wheel 18b via the rear steering arm 30a and tie rod 32. The steering force of the actuator 36 is also transmitted to the supporting arm 42 via the twin spherical joint 50 and connecting rod 46, and the supporting arm 42 is turned in accordance with the actuation of the actuator 36 so that the supporting arm 42 is turned to the same direction of the front wheels 18, that is, the center line connecting the centers of the both guard wheels 40 is brought to be directed in the same direction of the front wheels 18. Therefore, the vehicle 18 travels along the tramway with the guard wheels 40 not contacting the side walls of the guard rail 14.
Next, vehicle operation control will be explained referring to
As shown in a block diagram of a control system of
The geographic site signal(geographic site information) is position information sent from non-excited on-ground devices 02 which are laid down at a subscribed spacing on the ground along all over the track 10 as explained in the description of the related art. The information sent from the on-ground devices 02 includes discrimination number of each on-ground device, its position information, track information, and control information. In the position information are included the absolute coordinate point of each on-ground device and distance form a reference point. It is suitable to use transponders as on-ground devices.
The position information of vehicle is a signal having information where the vehicle is positioned, the position of the vehicle being calculated using distance between the on-ground device 02 obtained by GPS(Global Positioning System), pulse signals of rotation numbers of the wheels, pulse signals of rotation numbers of the drive motor, etc. It is suitable to send position information of the vehicle from a monitoring center, commanding center, etc. by a radio signal.
The contact detection signal is a signal sent when a limit sensor attached to the supporting arm 42 or pulse sensors of rotation of the guard wheels or a steering force sensor provided on the steering mechanism 26, etc. detect that the guard wheels 40 contact the side wall 14a of the groove of the guard rail 14.
The control means 60 includes a track information judging means 62, a normal traveling control means 64 for controlling the steering mechanism 26 when the track information judging means 62 judges that the vehicle is traveling on a usual linear straight area or curved area of the guideway, a fail-safe means 66 for performing fail-safe control when the steering mechanism 26, etc. has experienced trouble, and a vehicle attitude redressing means 68 for redressing the attitude of the vehicle when the track information judging means judges that the vehicle is on a station area or bifurcation area of the guideway.
The control means 60 may be provided on the vehicle or in an off-vehicle space such as the monitoring center or commanding center thereby establishing a control system for collective controlling.
Next, control process will be explained referring a flowchart of
When it is judged by the track information judging means 62 that the vehicle is traveling on a usual straight or curved part, control of the vehicle is performed by the normal traveling control means 64.
The normal traveling control means 64 detects where the vehicle is traveling and decide a steering pattern based on the current position of the vehicle and the track data memorized beforehand in a memory of the control means 60, (S3). Then automatic steering is switched on, (S5) to send automatic steering directive signal to the actuator 36 to commence automatic steering according to the steering pattern, (S7). Then the front wheels 18 are steered by means of the actuator 36 to guide the vehicle.
Whether the guard wheels 40 contact the guard rail 14 or not is judged based on the contact detecting signal during the vehicle is traveling under the automatic steering pattern, (S9). When a trouble happens to the steering mechanism 26, for example when the vehicle 12 is in danger of running off the guideway 01, the guard wheels 40 contact the guard rail 14 and a contact detection signal is sent out. YES or NO of reception of the contact detection signal is detected, and when YES, the steering mechanism is judged to be in trouble and control by the fail-safe means 66, and when NO, the steering mechanism is judged to be in normal operation and the automatic steering according to the steering pattern is continued, (S10).
The control by the fail-safe means 66 is performed such that, first the automatic steering is switched off to cancel the steering by the actuator 36 and the steering mechanism 26 is put in a free state. Then the front wheels 18 are steered by the movement of the supporting arm 42, which movement is restricted by the contact of the guard wheels 40 with the side wall 14a of the groove of the guard rail 14. That is, the vehicle 12 is guided by a mechanical feedback of the contact of the guard wheels 40 and guard rail 14, (S13). Then the steering command is reset, (S15).
In this way, safe traveling of the vehicle is guaranteed by providing the fail-safe means 66 even when trouble happens in the steering mechanism 26 of the vehicle 12, and safety and reliability of passenger transportation can be secured.
When it is judged by the track information judging means 62 that the vehicle is at a station or ramification point, or the vehicle is nearing the station or ramification point, control by the vehicle attitude redressing means 68 is performed.
The control by the vehicle attitude redressing means 68 is performed such that, first the automatic steering is switched off, (S17). Then, as shown in
Then, when it is judged that the vehicle 12 passed the vehicle attitude redressing section 72 by a geographical site signal from the on-ground device 02, (S23), a steering pattern is newly determined based on the vehicle position information, (S25).
Then the automatic steering is switched on, (S27), and an automatic steering command according to the newly determined steering command is sent to the actuator 36 to commence automatic steering, (S28).
The width between the both side walls of the guard rail in the vehicle attitude redressing section 72 determined for the guard wheels 40 to contact the walls, concretively the width is determined to be larger by 1 mm˜5 mm than the diameter of the guard wheel. The longitudinal length of the vehicle attitude redressing section 72 along the guard rail 14 is determined to be at least longer than the length of the vehicle, preferably 1-3 times the length of the vehicle.
Therefore, when the vehicle 12 passes the vehicle attitude redressing section 72, the guard wheels 40 contact the attitude adjusting members 70 provided to the side walls of the guard rail 14, as a result the direction of the supporting arm is redressed so that the guard wheels 40 can travel along the guard rail 14 without contacting the side walls of the guard rail 14. Therefore, when drifting to right or left or yawing of the vehicle occurs due to various disturbances, the attitude of the vehicle is redressed by the vehicle attitude redressing means 68 to the initial original attitude or desired attitude.
The vehicle attitude redressing sections 72 are preferably provided at a site just near a station in order to keep a correct clearance between the vehicle and the platform of the station and at a site just near a bifurcation and near a curved part of the guideway.
As has been described above, which of a straight area, curved area, station area, or bifurcation area of the guideway the vehicle traveling is judged by the track information judging means 62, and traveling of the vehicle is controlled by the normal traveling control means 64, vehicle attitude redressing means 68, or fail-safe means 66 is selected in accordance with the judgment, so safety and reliability of automatic steered traveling of the vehicle can be increased, and efficient and high speed traveling is made possible.
When malfunction occurs in the steering mechanism 26, the guard wheels 40 contact the side walls of the groove of the guard rail 14 and the vehicle 12 is guided by the guard rail 14, so safety and reliability of traveling of the vehicle can be secured even when malfunction occurs in the steering mechanism 26.
As the steering mechanism is composed such that traveling wheels of both the of right and left sides are turned to direct the same direction at the same time by the combination of the tie rod 32, front steering arms 28, rear steering arm 30, connecting rod 46, actuator 36, steering of wheels is performed with certainty.
Structure of bifurcation of the guideway of a first embodiment will be explained referring to
Referring to
As shown in
In
Back to
In
In
In
In the case of
According to the embodiment, by providing the swingable guard plate 86 at the branching part of the guard rail 14 in the bifurcation area 80, the guard wheels 40 can proceed to the groove of either one of the branched guard rail 82 or 84 selected by swinging the swingable guard plate 86 and vice versa with certainty. This is achieved with certainty also when malfunction occurs in the steering mechanism 26 or any external force exerts on the vehicle when the vehicle passes the bifurcation area 80. Although operation of the steering mechanism is switched off when the vehicle 12 approaches the bifurcation area 80 as described previously, the vehicle may be allowed to pass the bifurcation area 80 with the steering mechanism switched on.
When the vehicle 12 travels with the automatic steering systems switched on, the guard wheels do not contact the side walls of the groove of the guard rail and the swingable guard rail, the vehicle can pass the bifurcation of the guard rail smoothly and occurrence of troubles is reduced.
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be explained referring to
Construction of the tread plate 120 including its drive mechanism is shown in
Preferably a stopper is provided so that the tread plate is supported by the stopper at a position the kinks 124 is rotated a little short of vertical position so that the load from the traveling wheel does not exert on the electric cylinder 128 directly.
When the vehicle comes to the bifurcation 80 of the guideway and the swingable guard plate 86 is driven to allow the guard wheels to proceed to the groove of the guard rail 82, the tread plate 120 is retained in the descended position and the tread plate 122 moved up so that the upper surface thereof is level with the surface of the roadbed 92. Thus, the laterally swingable guard plate 86, and the tread plates 120, 122 are controlled in association with one another. The vehicle 12 travels with the guard wheels 40 received in the groove of the guard rail 82, the left traveling wheels traveling on the roadbed 98 and right traveling wheels traveling on the roadbed 92. As the tread plate 122 is level with the surface of the roadbed 122 at the crossing part 116 where the guard rail 84 crosses the roadbed 92, the right traveling wheels can pass the crossing part 116 smoothly.
According to the embodiment, the vehicle 12 can enter the scheduled branching road with the guard wheels guided by the swingable guard rail 86, and further the traveling wheels can travel smoothly on the roadbeds by providing tread plate 120 and 122 which can plug the opening of the groove of the guard rail 82 or 84 crossing the roadbed 100 or 92 at the crossing part 114 or 116 on which the traveling wheels of left or right side proceed at the crossing part 114 or 116, and the vehicle 12 can pass the bifurcation area 80 of the guideway very smoothly.
Next, a third embodiment of the invention will be explained referring to
The laterally slidable plates 140 and 142 are provided so that the upper surfaces thereof are level with the surfaces of the roadbed 100 and 92 respectively, and two actuating rods 144, 145, and 146, 146 are attached to one side of each of the laterally slidable plates respectively. These actuating rods are connected to drive means such as electric cylinders not shown in the drawing so that the laterally slidable plates 140 and 142 can be moved by pushing or pulling them by the actuating rods.
In the embodiment, also the controller 130 is provided to control the laterally swingable guard plate 86 and the laterally slidable plates 140 and 142 in association with one another when the approach of the vehicle 12 to the bifurcation 80 is detected as shown in
With the composition of the third embodiment, when the vehicle 12 approaches the bifurcation 80, the laterally swingable guard plate 86 and laterally slidable plates 140, 142 are controlled in association with one another by the controller 130 so that the opening of the groove of the guard rail 82 or 84 at the crossing part 114 or 116 is covered by the laterally slidable plate 140 or 142, and the vehicle 12 can pass the bifurcation area 80 of the guideway very smoothly.
Next, a fourth embodiment of the invention will be explained referring to
With the composition, the guard wheels of the vehicle can proceed either one of the branched guard rail 82 or 84 branching from the guard rail 14 by sliding the slidable guard member in directions indicated by an arrow in the drawings. As can be seen in
In the embodiment, also the tread plates 120 and 122 shown in
Next, other examples of configuration and structure of the branching part and crossover part of the groove of the guard rail applicable to the invention in guided vehicle transportation system and steering of the vehicle when the vehicle passes the branching part of the guard rail will be explained.
By steering the vehicle as mentioned above at a Y-shaped bifurcation formed to have the side recession D, the vehicle can travel in its intended direction at the bifurcation only by means of the automatic steering mechanism and fail-safe mechanism without necessity of providing switching apparatuses such as the lateral sliding plate 86 and driving mechanism thereof.
Next, another example of structure of the branching part of the guard rail will be explained referring to
With the bifurcation device of this composition, the guard plate 251 can be driven easily and accurately with simple construction.
A crossover site shown in
Next, another structure of an X-shaped crossover part of the guard rail will be explained referring to
With the structure of the crossover part of the guard rail, each of the two swingable guard plates 260 and 261 can be swung individually to shut or open two among four openings of the groove of the guard rails 203a facing the crossover site selectively, the vehicle can be steered to select its course easily. Shutting opening of opening of the groove of the guard rail facing the X-shaped crossover site can be performed easily with simple construction.
Yet another structure of an X-shaped crossover part of the guard rail will be explained referring to
The casing 270 is installed in the ground so that the top thereof is level with the upper surface of the guard rail 203a. A swivel block 271 having a central shaft part 272 is received in the casing 270. A groove 273 of the same shape as the groove of the guard rail 203 is formed on the swivel block 271, the center line of the groove 273 intersecting the rotation center of the swivel block.
A bracket 274 is attached to the swivel block at a part of the periphery of the swivel block, and the bracket 275 penetrates a laterally extending opening formed at a part of the periphery of larger diameter of the casing 270.
An electric cylinder 275 is provided near the casing 270, and a connecting rod 276 connected to a cylinder rod of the electric cylinder 275 is connected to the bracket 274 via a pivot 277.
When the vehicle 12 approaches the X-shaped crossover site in the direction h and intends to pass the crossover site straight ahead, the swivel block 271 is rotated by means of the connecting rod 276 by actuating the electric cylinder 275 so that the groove 273 of the swivel block 271 coincides with the groove of the guard rail 203a along which the vehicle is approaching the crossover site. By this, the vehicle 12 can travel straight ahead passing the crossover site. When the vehicle 12 intends to turn to left or right, the swivel block 271 is rotated so that the groove of the swivel block 271 coincides with the groove of the guard rail crossing the guard rail along which the vehicle is approaching the crossover site.
With this switching device, selection of course at the X-shaped crossover part of the guard rail can be performed only by turning the swivel block 271, construction of the switching device can be simplified.
Another example of structure of the branching part of the guar rail will be explained referring to
In the drawing, reference numeral 280 is a guard plate swingable about a pivot 281. Catch members 282 and 283 are provided to receive the extremity of the swingable guard plate 280. Reference numeral 284 is a public known railroad switch. The guard plate 280 can be swung by the switch 284 having a rack-pinion mechanism 285. The guard plate 280 can be locked in a state its extremity is received by the catch member 282 or 283 by means of a locking mechanism (not shown) provided to the rack-pinion mechanism 285 of the switch 284.
As the switching device is composed to swing the guard plate 280 by adopting the public known railroad switch 284, the device can be provided at low cost.
Yet another example of structure of the branching part of the guard rail will be explained referring to
With the switching device of this construction, selection of course can be performed only by sliding the guard plate 290 by means of the public known switch 292, so switching can be performed more easily as compared with the case of swinging a guard plate, and the device can be provided at low cost.
Another example of structure of the branching part of the guard rail will be explained referring to
The guard plates 300 and 301 are slid by means of a switch 304 via a slide mechanism 305. As a mechanism of sliding the guard plates, a differential gear is adopted for example. Reference numerals 302 and 303 are catch members for receiving the extremity of the guard plate 300 when the guard plate 300 shuts the groove of the guard rail 203 and when the guard plate 301 shuts the groove of branched guard rail 203a respectively.
According to the switching device of this construction, the guard rails 301 and 302 ate provided to cross each other and driven by means of one switch 304, so the device can be provided at low cost. As the guard plates driven to slide, the device can be composed more simply as compared with a case the guard plate is swung.
The supporting arm 42 is supported by the bogie of the vehicle rotatably about the support shaft 45, and the guard wheels 40a and 40b are supported under the supporting arm 42 at places sandwiching the support shaft 45.
In
In this way, the vehicle 12 advancing along the guard rail 203 is guided to advance along the branched guard rail 203a safely without the guard wheels derailed.
According to the invention, at bifurcation or crossover sites of the guideway, smooth traveling of the vehicle provided with automatic steering mechanisms and a fail-safe mechanism consisting of a guard rail and guard wheels in the guided vehicle transportation system is made possible, eliminating problems that the tire of traveling wheel may be bitten into the opening of the groove of the guard rail at a part where the guard rail crosses the roadbed at bifurcation or crossover sites of the guideway.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2006-306037 | Nov 2006 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2007/072053 | 11/7/2007 | WO | 00 | 2/2/2009 |