Rapid transit system
First Claim
1. A rapid transit system comprising:
- a plurality of stations;
tunnels extending underground between adjacent stations of said system, each of said tunnels between said stations comprising two sloping reaches separated by one horizontal reach;
means for evacuating and maintaining vacuum in said tunnels;
a ferromagnetic suspension rail of high resistivity extending lengthwise along the tunnel;
a vehicle in the tunnel;
a plurality of electromagnets on the vehicle for suspending the vehicle from the ferromagnetic rail by magnetic attraction so that no part of the vehicle is in physical contact with any part of the tunnel when it is coasting between stations;
said vehicle being propelled essentially by gravity when moving from one station to another station at equal elevations where acceleration propulsion is obtained by moving down one sloping reach of the vacuum tunnel, thereby converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy, and where deceleration is obtained by moving up another sloping reach of the tunnel, thereby converting kinetic energy back into gravitational potential energy to be used later for making the next trip;
magnetic means for roll stabilizing the vehicle about its longitudinal axis;
means for starting and stopping said vehicle in the immediate vicinity of each station; and
at least one air lock at each station for connection between the interior of the vehicle and the station to allow passage between such a station and the interior of the vehicle when stopped at the station without removing the vacuum environment from the tunnel surrounding the vehicle at the station.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rapid transit system in which a vehicle, typically consisting of a train of detachably coupled cars, is suspended in a vacuum tunnel with at least two sloping reaches from a ferromagnetic monorail of high resistivity by magnetic attraction and propelled by gravity. Servo-controlled electromagnets allow the vehicle to be suspended from the rail without actually being in contact with it or any other part of the tunnel. Propulsion by gravity from one station to the next is accomplished by allowing the vehicle to coast frictionlessly down one sloping reach of the tunnel during which time it is automatically accelerated, leveling off at the horizontal reach at some cruising depth where it coasts along at an essentially constant maximum speed, and then moving up the next sloping reach toward the second station during which time it is automatically decelerated, and finally stopping at the station where the original elevation is reached. When moving from one station to another station at a lower elevation, the excess kinetic energy is recovered by regenerative braking and stored in flywheel alternator-motor energy storage units to be used later in electric motors that enable the vehicle to move from one station to another station at a higher elevation, eventually returning to the original elevation.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A rapid transit system comprising:
-
a plurality of stations; tunnels extending underground between adjacent stations of said system, each of said tunnels between said stations comprising two sloping reaches separated by one horizontal reach; means for evacuating and maintaining vacuum in said tunnels; a ferromagnetic suspension rail of high resistivity extending lengthwise along the tunnel; a vehicle in the tunnel; a plurality of electromagnets on the vehicle for suspending the vehicle from the ferromagnetic rail by magnetic attraction so that no part of the vehicle is in physical contact with any part of the tunnel when it is coasting between stations; said vehicle being propelled essentially by gravity when moving from one station to another station at equal elevations where acceleration propulsion is obtained by moving down one sloping reach of the vacuum tunnel, thereby converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy, and where deceleration is obtained by moving up another sloping reach of the tunnel, thereby converting kinetic energy back into gravitational potential energy to be used later for making the next trip; magnetic means for roll stabilizing the vehicle about its longitudinal axis; means for starting and stopping said vehicle in the immediate vicinity of each station; and at least one air lock at each station for connection between the interior of the vehicle and the station to allow passage between such a station and the interior of the vehicle when stopped at the station without removing the vacuum environment from the tunnel surrounding the vehicle at the station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of operating a rapid transit system having a tunnel extending between a pair of stations comprising the steps of:
-
maintaining a hard vacuum in the tunnel; suspending a vehicle in the tunnel by attractive magnetic levitation so that no portion of the vehicle physically contacts any portion of the tunnel; gravitationally accelerating the suspended vehicle down a descending portion of the tunnel whereby the vehicle'"'"'s gravitational potential energy is converted to vehicle kinetic energy; gravitationally decelerating the vehicle in an ascending portion of the tunnel whereby the vehicle'"'"'s kinetic energy is converted to gravitational potential energy; and establishing a plurality of air locks at each station through the vacuum tunnel to allow passage between a station and the interior of the vehicle when stopped at the station without removing the vehicle from the vacuum of the tunnel. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification