System for automated transport of passenger cabins, automobile platforms and other load-carriers

• US 6,237,500 B1
• Filed: 01/29/1999
• Issued: 05/29/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Autran Corp.
• Original Assignee: Autran Corp.
• Inventors: Lund, VanMetre
• Primary Examiner(s): Morano, S. Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCarry, Jr., Robert J.
• Application Number:
  US09/240,187
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• Field of Search: 104/88.01, 104/88.02, 104/88.04, 104/130.01
• US Class Current: 104/88.01
• CPC Class Codes: B61B 13/00 Other railway systems
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/002 Control or safety means for heart-points and crossings of aerial railways, funicular rack-railway
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/005 Automatic control or safety means for points for operator-less railway, e.g. transportation systems
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/04 Automatic systems, e.g. controlled by train; Change-over to manual control
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/225 using separate conductors along the route
• CPC Class Codes: E01B 25/08 Tracks for mono-rails with centre of gravity of vehicle above the load-bearing rail
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 30/00 Transportation of goods or passengers via railways, e.g. energy recovery or reducing air resistance

Abstract

A system is provided that uses small carrier vehicles that operate along electrified guideways and use standardized connections to automatically carry load-carriers to desired destinations. The load-carriers may be passenger cabins, freight loads or automobile platforms and in each case are loaded and unloaded at separate loading and loading regions. Loading regions are preceded by queue portions of branch paths and may include a group of regions which may be a series of cabin loading regions along a branch path or may be automobile loading regions in side-by-side lanes. Passenger station arrangements are provided for rapid and efficient movement of passengers and for transfer operations when desired. Platform constructions and loading arrangements are provided for rapid loading and unloading and safe transport of automobiles.

Claims

1. A transportation system, comprising a plurality of load-carriers, a plurality of vehicles for carrying said load-carriers, and guideways defining paths for movement of said vehicles to position said vehicles at loading regions for loading of loads on said load-carriers and at unloading regions for unloading of loads from said load-carriers, characterized in that said paths include a main path for movement of said vehicles at high speed therealong and branch paths that extend along said main path between divergent and convergent Y sections which allow movement of said vehicles off of said main path and to stop points in said branch paths and then back to enter said main path at merge points at the ends of said convergent Y sections, said loading regions being located at stop points in certain of said branch paths and said unloading regions being located at stop points in others of said branch paths, each of said vehicles being controllable to move from said main path and onto one of said certain branch paths to stop at one of said loading regions for rapid loading of a load-carrier thereat and being controllable to thereafter automatically move from said one of said certain branch paths and through said main path at high speed and through one or more of said others of said branch paths to stop at one or more of said unloading regions for unloading of a load from a load-carrier at each such unloading region.

2. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein said certain branch paths include queue portions that immediately precede loading regions of said certain branch paths and that facilitate rapid movement of said vehicles and said load-carriers to said loading regions of said certain branch paths, said queue portions having sizes sufficient for containing at least several load-carriers awaiting entry into said loading regions of said certain branch paths.

3. A transportation system as defined in claim 2, wherein certain of said loading regions are arranged into groups, each group following a queue portion of one branch path, and the loading regions of each group being usable for loading of loads at the same time.

4. A transportation system as defined in claim 3, wherein the loading regions of certain of said groups of loading regions are located seriatim along branch path portions of substantial length and are usable for loading of passengers into a plurality passenger cabins at the same time.

5. A transportation system as defined in claim 3, wherein loading regions of certain of said groups of loading regions are selectively usable, wherein first guideway means are provided for allowing selective movement of load-carriers from a queue portion of a branch path to said selectively usable loading regions of said certain of said groups, and wherein second guideway means are provided to allow movement of loaded load-carriers from said selectively usable loading regions of said certain of said groups and to an end portion of said branch path.

6. A transportation system as defined in claim 5, wherein certain of said load-carriers are automobile-carriers that are arranged to support automobiles thereon, and wherein said selectively usable loading regions are for loading of automobiles onto said automobile-carriers.

7. A transportation system as defined in claim 5, including load-supply means for supporting loads in regions above said first guideway means and on rearward sides of said selectively usable loading regions for movement of said loads forwardly from said load-supply means and onto load-carriers in said selectively usable loading regions.

8. A transportation system as defined in claim 7, wherein said load-supply means and load-carriers in said selectively usable loading regions are relatively positionable in a first condition in which forward ends of said load-supply means and rearward ends of said load-carriers are at substantially the same level and are also relatively positionable in a second condition in which movement of load-carriers is allowed from said queue portions and under said load-supply means to said selectively usable loading regions, means for placing said load-supply means and load-carriers in said first condition for transfer of loads from said load-supply means to said load carriers, and means for placing said load-supply means and said load-carriers in said second condition for movement of load-carriers from said queue and under said load-supply means to said loading regions.

9. A transportation system as defined in claim 8, wherein certain of said load-carriers are automobile-carriers that are arranged to support automobiles thereon and wherein said load-supply means allow automobiles to be driven thereon and to be driven therefrom onto said automobile-carriers.

10. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein certain of said load-carriers are automobile-carriers that are arranged to support automobiles thereon and wherein certain of said loading and unloading regions are usable for loading and unloading of automobiles onto and from said automobile-carriers.

11. A transportation system as defined in claim 10, wherein others of said load-carriers are passenger cabins and wherein others of said loading and unloading regions are usable for loading and unloading of passengers into and from said passenger cabins.

12. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one station is provided having loading regions and unloading regions at different loading and unloading levels and in adjacent relation to portions of associated branch paths that are located one above the other.

13. A transportation system as defined in claim 12, wherein certain of said loading regions are passenger loading regions for loading of passengers onto passenger cabins and certain of said unloading regions are passenger unloading regions for unloading of passengers from passenger cabins.

14. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein certain of said loading regions are passenger loading regions for loading of passengers onto passenger cabins and certain of said unloading regions are passenger unloading regions for unloading of passengers from passenger cabins, wherein a plurality of passengers may enter a passenger cabin together at each of said passenger loading regions and select one or more of said passenger unloading regions as destinations, and wherein said vehicles are controllable to stop each passenger cabin loaded with one or more passengers only at passenger unloading regions selected by passengers who have entered together at one of said passenger loading regions.

15. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein certain of said loading regions are passenger loading regions for loading of passengers onto passenger cabins and certain of said unloading regions are passenger unloading regions for unloading of passengers from passenger cabins, and wherein at least one station is provided having a passenger loading region and a passenger unloading region at different levels that are both above ground level and in adjacent relation to portions of associated branch paths that are located one above the other, said station including an up escalator for moving departing passengers from said ground level to said passenger loading region and a down escalator for moving passengers from said unloading region to said ground level.

16. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein a pair of main paths guideway paths are provided in adjacent parallel relation for vehicles moving in opposite directions, wherein a pair of branch paths extend along said pair of main paths and allow movement of vehicles off of said main paths and to stop points and then back onto said main paths, wherein certain of said load-carriers are passenger cabins, and wherein a passenger loading station is provided along one of said pair of branch paths and a passenger unloading station is provided along the other of said pair of branch paths.

17. A transportation system as defined in claim 16, means providing an interconnecting path for movement of passengers between said passenger loading and unloading stations to allow passengers exiting from a passenger cabin at said passenger unloading station to move to said passenger loading station.

20. A transportation system as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said vehicles comprises:

direction control means for control of the direction of movement through said divergent Y sections to control between continuing movement on a main path and moving on a branch path to a stop point therealong, and means for obtaining direction control data during movement along said guideway paths for control of said direction control means to cause said vehicle to move along a main path until reaching a divergent Y section that leads to a destination stop point.

21. A transportation system as defined in claim 20, wherein monitoring and control means are provided along said main and branch paths for sending speed command data to passing vehicles, and wherein each of said vehicles includes means responsive to said speed command data to control its speed of movement.

22. A transportation system as defined in claim 21, wherein said speed command data control the speeds of vehicles moving on main and branch paths toward each convergent Y section to allow vehicles moving from said branch path to safely merge between vehicles moving on said main path.

23. A transportation system as defined in claim 20, wherein monitoring and control means are provided at intervals along said guideway paths, wherein each of said vehicles includes means for sending destination data to said monitoring and control units, and wherein each of said monitoring and control means includes means for receiving destination data from a passing vehicle and sending corresponding control data to a passing vehicle.

24. A transportation system as defined in claim 23, wherein each of said monitoring and control means includes means for sending instruction data to a passing vehicle, and wherein each of said vehicles includes means for receiving said instruction data and for supplying corresponding instructions to an occupant of a load carried by the vehicle.

25. A transportation system as defined in claim 23, wherein each of said monitoring and control means obtains speed data as to the speed of passing vehicles and passes said speed data in a rearward direction to other monitoring and control means, wherein each of said monitoring and control means processes speed data passed from monitoring and control means ahead and determines and sends speed command data to any passing vehicle, and wherein each of said vehicles includes means responsive to received speed command data for controlling its speed of movement.

26. A transportation system as defined in claim 25, wherein said speed command data control the speeds of vehicles moving on main and branch paths toward said merge points to allow vehicles moving from said branch path to reach said merge points between vehicles moving on said main path.

27. A transportation system as defined in claim 26, wherein phantom vehicle data are supplied to monitoring and control means along said main path to be passed rearwardly and to have the effect of causing vehicles moving therealong to see phantom vehicles ahead that will reach merge points at the same times as vehicles entering from branch paths.

18. A transportation system, comprising a plurality of load-carriers, a plurality of vehicles for carrying said load-carriers, and guideways defining paths for movement of said vehicles to position said vehicles at loading and unloading regions for loading of loads on said load-carriers and for unloading of loads from said load-carriers, characterized in that said paths include a main path and branch paths that extend along said main path between divergent and convergent Y sections which allow movement of vehicles off of said main path and to stop points and then back to enter said main path at merge points at the ends of said convergent Y sections, said loading and unloading regions being located at stop points in said branch paths, each of said vehicles being controllable to move from said main path and onto one of said branch paths to stop at one of said loading regions for loading of a load-carrier thereat and being controllable to thereafter automatically move through said main path and through one or more of said others of said branch paths to stop at one or more of said unloading regions for unloading of a load from a load-carrier at each such unloading region, wherein monitoring and control means are provided at intervals along said main and branch paths, and wherein said vehicles move past said monitoring and control means during movement along said main and branch paths, said vehicles including data communication means for receiving data from and sending data to load-carriers carried by said vehicles and for receiving data from and sending data to said monitoring and control means while passing thereby, whereby data communication links are provided between said monitoring and control units and said load-carriers through said data communication means of passing vehicles.

19. A transportation system as defined in claim 18, wherein certain of said load-carriers are passenger cabins each of which may carry a number of passengers and each of which includes data entry and display means for each passenger, said data communication means being usable for communicating data that indicate the desires of passengers to said monitoring and control units and being usable for communicating instructions from said monitoring and control units to said passengers.

28. A transportation system comprising a plurality of load-carriers, a plurality of vehicles for carrying said load-carriers, and guideways defining paths for movement of said vehicles to position said vehicles at stop regions that include regions for loading and unloading of loads on and from said load-carriers, said paths including first and second paths in side-by-side relation for movement of said vehicles in parallel but opposite first and second directions, third and fourth paths that cross said first and second paths in a crossing region and that are in side-by-side relation for movement of said vehicles in parallel but opposite third and fourth directions, a first branch path extending from said first path and in said first direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said fourth direction away from said crossing region to join said fourth path, and a second branch path extending from said first path and in said first direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said third direction away from said crossing region and to then join said third path, portions of said first and paths that are in said crossing region being at a first level, portions of said third and fourth paths that are in said crossing region being at a second level that is different from said first level, and a portion of said second branch path that is in said crossing region being at a third level that is different from said first and second levels, thereby avoiding interference between paths in said crossing region.

29. A transportation system as defined in claim 28, wherein said guideways are supported in regions that are above intersecting first and second streets with said first and second paths being above middle portions of said first street and said third and fourth paths being above middle portions of said third and fourth streets, initial portions of said first and second branch paths being above one side portion of said first street, and final portions of said first and second branch paths being above opposite side portions of said second street.

30. A transportation system as defined in claim 28, wherein said paths further include a third branch path extending from said third path and in said third direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said first direction away from said crossing region to then join said first path, and a fourth branch path extending from said third path and in said third direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said second direction away from said crossing region and to then join said second path, said fourth branch path being at a fourth level that is different from said first, second and third levels.

31. A transportation system as defined in claim 30, wherein said paths further include a fifth branch path extending from said second path and in said second direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said third direction away from said crossing region to then join said third path, and a sixth branch path extending from said second path and in said second direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said fourth direction away from said crossing region and to then join said fourth path, said sixth branch path being at said third level.

32. A transportation system as defined in claim 31, wherein said paths further include a seventh branch path extending from said fourth path and in said fourth direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said second direction away from said crossing region to then join said second path, and an eighth branch path extending from said fourth path and in said fourth direction toward said crossing region and then turning to extend in said first direction away from said crossing region and to then join said first path, said eighth branch path being at said fourth level.

33. A transportation system, comprising:

loading and unloading stations, a plurality of load-carriers in the form of automobile platforms, a plurality of carrier vehicles for carrying said platforms, guideway means defining paths of movement of said vehicles, said platforms being movable along said guideway means and in loaded conditions from loading positions at said loading stations to unloading positions at said unloading stations and being movable alone said guideway means in an unloaded condition from said unloading positions at said unloading stations to said loading positions at said loading stations, forward and rearward lock means operable to project upwardly from said platforms for engagement with forwardly and rearwardly facing portions of automobiles to limit movement of said automobiles relative to said platforms, and means for placing both of said rearward and forward lock means in lowered positions during movements of said platforms when in an unloaded condition, for keeping said rearward lock means at a lowered position at said loading stations while moving automobiles in a forward direction and onto platforms in loading positions thereat, for operating both of said rearward and forward lock means to said upwardly protecting positions to lock an automobile thereto during movements of said platforms in loaded conditions, and for lowering said forward lock means at said unloading stations while moving automobiles in a forward direction and off of platforms in unloading positions thereat.

34. A transportation system as defined in claim 33, control gate means at said loading and unloading stations for control of movements of automobiles onto and off of said platforms.

35. A transportation system as defined in claim 33, wherein said loading stations include load-supply means for supporting automobiles in positions to be moved in said forward direction and onto platforms in loading positions thereat, and wherein said unloading stations include load-receiving means for supporting automobiles moved in said forward direction and off of platforms in unloading positions thereat, said paths of movement being such that said platforms are moved under said load-supply means to reach said loading positions and being such that said platforms are moved under said load-receiving means after being unloaded at said unloading positions, and wherein first positioning means are provided for positioning forward ends of said load-supply means at the same level as rearward ends of platforms in said loading positions, and second positioning means are provided for positioning rearward ends of said load-receiving means at the same level as forward ends of said platforms in said unloading positions.

36. A transportation system as defined in claim 35, wherein said load-supply means are pivotally supported for movement about horizontal axes at rearward ends thereof, and wherein said load-receiving means are pivotally supported for movement about horizontal axes at forward ends thereof, said first positioning means comprising means for elevating forward ends of said load-supply means while moving platforms under said load-supply means and to said loading positions and lowering said forward ends of said load-supply means to the level of said rearward ends of said platforms in said loading positions, and said second positioning means comprising means for lowering said rearward ends of said load-receiving means to the level of said forward ends of said platforms in said unloading positions and for elevating rearward ends of said load-receiving means while moving platforms under said load-receiving means and from said unloading positions.

37. A transportation system as defined in claim 35, including means for lowering both of said forward and rearward lock means during movements of said platforms to said loading positions at said loading stations and also during movements of said platforms from said unloading positions at said unloading stations.

38. A transportation system as defined in claim 35, wherein said loading stations and unloading stations, said loading and unloading positions thereof, guideway paths adjacent thereto and said load-supply and load-receiving means thereof are all elevated above ground level, upwardly inclined ramp means for use in driving automobiles from ground level to said load-supply means, and downwardly inclined means for use in driving automobiles from said load-receiving means to ground level.

39. A transportation system as defined in claim 33, wherein buffer means are provided in said loading stations that include buffer elements engageable by the front bumpers of automobiles being moved onto platforms in said loading positions and that resiliently limit forward movements of automobiles and absorb energy, said buffer means being movable out of the paths of forward movement of platforms after loading of automobiles thereon.

40. A transportation system as defined in claim 39, display means carried by said buffer means for displaying instructions to drivers of automobiles.

41. A transportation system as defined in claim 39, means operable before said automobiles are moved onto platforms in said loading positions for effecting measurements of dimensions of said automobiles and for controlling positioning of said buffer means to properly position said automobiles on said platforms when front bumpers thereof engage said buffer elements.

42. A transportation system as defined in claim 33, wherein lock control means are provided at said loading stations that operate after loading of automobiles on said platforms to move said forward and rearward lock means upwardly from folded positions and then rearwardly and forwardly into engagement with front and rear bumpers of the automobiles, and wherein lock control means are provided at said unloading stations to move said forward and rearward lock means forwardly and rearwardly and then downwardly to said folded positions.

43. A transportation system as defined in claim 42, wherein protective elements are provided at the sides of said platforms that are controlled by said lock control means to be moved upwardly from lower folded positions to upwardly projecting protective positions alongside automobiles on said platforms.

44. Apparatus for use in moving automobiles, comprising:

platforms for supporting said automobiles, forward and rearward lock means movable from lowered folded positions to upwardly projecting unfolded positions, actuating means for moving said forward lock means rearwardly while in said unfolded positions to engage forwardly facing portions of automobiles and for moving said rearward lock means forwardly while in said unfolded positions to engage rearwardly facing portions of automobiles so as to limit forward and rearward movements of said automobiles relative to said platforms, said actuating means being operable for lowering said rearward lock means to folded positions when moving automobiles in a forward direction and onto said platform, and said actuating means being operable for lowering said forward lock means to folded positions when moving automobiles in a forward direction and off of said platform.

45. Apparatus as defined in claim 44, said actuating means including first operating elements operable when loading automobiles onto platforms to initially move said forward and rearward lock means from said lowered folded positions to said upwardly projecting unfolded positions and second and third operating elements operable to then move said forward lock means in rearward directions and said rearward lock means in forward directions and into engagement with said portions of automobiles, said second and third operating elements being initially operable when unloading automobiles from platforms to move said forward and rearward lock means in forward and rearward directions away from said portions of said automobiles and said first operating elements being then operable to move both of said forward and rearward lock means downwardly to said lowered folded positions.

46. Apparatus as defined in claim 45, wherein said forward and rearward lock means are engageable with front and rear bumpers of automobiles and are supported at the forward and rearward ends of first and second support members and that are rotatable about longitudinal axes parallel to the direction of movement of said automobiles onto and off of said platforms, said first operating elements being connected to said support members to rotate said support members about said axes when moving said lock means between folded and unfolded conditions, and said second and third operating elements being connected to said support members to move said support members in longitudinal directions when moving said lock means toward and away from said bumpers.

47. Apparatus as defined in claim 46, wherein rack and pinion means are provided for moving said support members in said longitudinal directions, said rack and pinion means including pinions connected to said second and third operating elements and racks connected to said support members.

48. Apparatus as defined in claim 45, wherein separate loading and unloading positions are provided for loading and unloading of said platforms, said actuating means including loading control elements positioned for operative engagement with said first, second and third operating elements when said platforms are in said loading positions and including unloading control elements positioned for operative engagement with said first, second and third operating elements when said platforms are in said unloading positions.