GB2305645A - Overhead monorail - lowers carriage to load/unload passengers or goods - Google Patents

Abstract

Cars are suspended from an elevated rail, and carry mechanisms to lower and raise themselves to and from street level. The cars may be lowered on cables, or by a telescopic ram, or by scissor jacks. The jacks may be driven by hydraulic rams, or by a ball screw. The car may start to descend before it stops (fig. 2). Potential energy may be stored, e.g. in a spring, when each car is lowered. A multiple unit train may be formed (fig. 2). Various safety interlocks are described.

Description

Title MONORAIL Description Purpose : A mass-transit / public transport system.

ie. a system for moving large numbers of people between fixed point stations in the center of a large city.

( Whilst the primiary function is to transport people, the design does not exclude other uses).

The existing solutions: Diesel Bus: The investment is stuck in trartlc.

Electric Bus: As above without local pollution.

Tram (Manchester): A scheme to close t cit cent to traffic. Major disruption to install.

Automatic Bus ( Lille, Miami ): Requires a dedicated track or road in order to avoid collisions.

Underground rail : Very expensive to construct and maintain tunnels and escalators.

Elevated rail: As above without cost or tunnels, but still requires escalators.

The invention : Elevating Monorail Start with an elevated rail from which the car hangs down (Wuppertal). But the car also carries a mechanism to raise and lower the car to street level When the car reaches a station, the car stops tnen descends to street level to allow passengers to embark and disembark. The car then rises and continues tne journey.

The control of the car could be entirely automatic and it would travel above tne street at a height to clear all obstructions. it wouc: se a iow speed short distance system. Capacity would De increseo by putting more cars onto the line.

The track could be fabricated or--slte. Tne only street level real estate required is a fenced otf rectangle, the size of the car, at each station. Ail the machinery required to get the passenger to the railway is carried on the car. The system does not discriminate in favour of passengers with legs, and can be used by people in wheelchairs and baby-buggies.

Unlike a simple travelling crane the machine is required to restrain the movement of the car in 5 axes ( 2 directions and 3 rotations ), and provide a controlled up and down movement.

A futher possibility is to make trie car tilt in a controlled manner, as it acceierates ana oecceierates, - so that the resultant acceleration vector gravity plus acceleration ) of the car is perpendicular to the floor and the passengers feel no sideways acceleration.

This would allow larger translational accelerations than are possible with other public transport systems.

Another development is to connect a number of cars together to form a train. Connecting doors could be fitted. Some cars could remain elevated whilst one car descended at a station to load/unload passengers. This is a form of self loading monorail.

But there are problems if the doors faii ! to operate, or the number of people wanting to emcark/cisempark at one station is greater than the capacity ot one car.

Parts of this system could aiso se usec where the principal function is as a The system may also stop for passengers at an elevated station , this provides 3 ve ra as access/interchange to other elevated rail/monorail/Dus systems.

Design Details Raise / lower mechanism and stabilisation.

The achievement of a controlled raise anc owe .movemen- may be accomplished by a variety of means. sàome of hich are described below.

One method is to use cables, some (stronget) cables would provide lifting function, ana anotner set of diagonal cables in two planes would provide stabilisation. These cables could De wound around a driven drum on the carrier, a non-circular profile could accomadate the diagonal cross brace cables. Means for maintaining tension, es. springs and pulleys could be provided. Another method is to use independent drums for each cable, driven by an electronically controlled servo motor.

Another method is to use a scissors lift mechanism. This could be driven by a hydraulic ram, or a screw and nut, or by other means.

Another method is to use a hinged arm driven by hydraulic rams, one of the hydraulic rams could provide a controlled tilt to the car. The hydraulic control system should incorparate a closed loop control with rotary encoders on the points of the arm.

Another method is to use vertically oriented linear actuators directy, for example hydraulic rams or linear electric motors.

Any of the above, and other, mechanisams could be combined, for example a hinged arm for stabilisation with cables for lifting.

However the design must be safe. In particular no no one component should be in a position where its failure would cause a failure of the whole system, hence hydraulics would probably require a doubly redundant system.

Power: Separate electric motors for lift and translation could be used. Alternatively one motor with a system of clutches and brakes. Electric power could be supplied to the car by a conducting rail alongside or inside the track. Typically 500-1000 V DC . Regeneration (power returnted to track ) is possible when deccelerating or lowering the car. Alternitavely this energy (kinetic and gravitational) could be stored on the carrier in a device , for example a flywheel, a spring or a vessel containing a compressible fluid.

The electric supply may be used to pressurise a fluid to operate any of the functions of the machine.

Power from the track could be carried rrom the carrier to the car by a flexible sable. Electrical power on the car could drive heating,ventilation, air conditioning, door actuation and lightin.

Signalling and communications.

The following four elements in tne system may all need to communicate with each other: cars , a central controller, trackside equipment call request buttons and annunciators ), ano tracK.

The track could be equipped with sensors, communications and data processorgs), so tnat It would be aware of cars and signal its occupancy to adjacent track sections.

Passengers inside the car may also neea to communicate with a central control to indicate an emergency or other problem. Provision could be made for monitoring the inside and outside ef the car with electronic cameras.

Communications could be achived by radio, wire, optical link (in air) and fiber optic. Typically trackside equipment would communicate with track, and track communicate with central control via wire, and cars would communicate with track via radio eg. a 'leaky feeder' installed inside a box section track).

Cars could sense their position, and also the location of stations, by markers along tne trac (eg. bar codes) and by counting wheel rotations.

This position could be transmitteo to tne track and thence to other cars for collision avoidance.

Alternitavely the car could sense the distance to an adjacent car, with a system (like radar) tnat measured the round trip time for a radio or optical sigll.

Annunciators providing information to users could be in the form of electronic or other dispiays. Passengers inside the car could be informed of the name of the next station, and provided with a stop request button. Passengers waiting for a car could be informed of the arrival time of the next car and provided with a stop request button.

The outside of the car could also carry route and direction information.

Fares and Ticketing: Turnstile(s) and accomodation for a revenue collecting/inspecting official might be provided inside the car or at street level at the station.

Intersections, (crossovers), switches, (points?: Intersection, there could be provision for tracks to cross over each other (at the same levei ).

Note that this restricts proJections from the top of the car/carrier. Signalling could be provided by systems in the track, on a first come -first served basis, so that only one car can occupy the crossover.

Switches (points) to control direction can be by a moving section of track, or by a guide k slide or roller ) fitted to both ends of all bogies, which is pushed to one side as the junction is approached, and once in the desired guide slot, pulls the bogie around the bend.

Saftey: The following electrical and mechanical interiors could be provided: sl Mechanical thingy mounted on tract at statlon,/to remove brake from drum so that car can be lowered.

s2 Mechanical and optical sensors under car so that it will not lower itself onto an obstructlon.

s3 Sensor detects that car is on ground before doors can open s4 Doors have edge sensors ( eg pneumatic tube) so that they do not close with people in the way.

s5 Doors have deformable edges that close with a slight gap so that nothing can be gripped by 3 closing door.

s6 Doors must be closed before car can rise s7 Car must be locked to carrier before translational movement starts.

s8 Carrier is fitted with load sensors so that lt will not pick up the car if it is too heavy.

s9 Wheels on bogies may be provided with brakes, to hold the carrier at stations, and to control descents ot gradients on track.

s10 v Cable drum is equipped with speeed sensing brake.

sll Seating is along sides of car to limit the out of balance load that might occur if a large group of people decided to stand far to one side of the car.

s12 Provision for emergency door release and escape from an elevated car, by means aboard the car, or a specially equipped road vehicle.

Drawings: Sheet 1 Shows general arrangement.

Sheet 2 Shows details of track, lifting gear and variants on the design.

Sheet 3 Shows nomenclature, axes, possible caDie layouts, and acceleration vectors in a tilting oar.

Sheet 8 Shows details of track construction ant now a bogie may steer the car through a switch.

Sheet 5 Shows a flow diagram for the operation ot the macnine.

Sheet 6 Shows general arrangement in perspective.

Claims (1)

1. Claims:

   claim 1 A transportation system comprising a macnine running on an elevated track, in which the loaa carrying part lowered from the track, by a mechanism on tne machine, to ground level in order to pick up or discarge load, and then raised to function as transportation.

   claim 2 As claiml where load means passengers.

   claim 3 As all above, where tne load carrying comparment (car ) is restrained in its movement about 5 axes, and controlled in verticai movement.

   claim 4 As all the above where the car is lowered on cables.

   claim 5 As claim 4 where the cables are nd wound around 4 on the machine. Parts of the drum are not ot constar, radius, so that diagonai cables are always under tension.

   claim 5 As claim 4 where movement of tne cables is contrôle by servo motors so that ail cables a:- maintained in tension.

   claim 7 As claims 1,2,3 where the car 5 lowered by a seissors jack mechanism, drive by a chamber containing a fluid under pressure.

   claim S As claims 1,2,3 where the car is towered by a scissors jack mechanism, driven by a mecnanical screw and nut.

   claim 9 As claims 1,2,3 where the car is lowered by a arm of one or more sections, controlled b ydraulics.

   claim 10 As claims 1,2,3 where the car is lowered br cylinders acting directly, driven by a fluid under pressure.

   claim 11 All the above claims except that the car begins to descend before translational movement stop and translational movement begins whilst the car is ascending.

   claim 12 All the above except claim 3, and the car is tilten in a controlled way whilst the car accelerates or decellerates so that the resultant acceleration vector of the car is t approximately ) perpendicular to floor of the car.

   claim 13 All the above claims and the energy of the machine that is lost in lowering or decellerating is stored in the machine, to be used again in raising or acceleration.

   claim 14 As claim 13 where the energy is stored in a coil spring.

   claim 15 As all the above where the car moves in translation with other cars to form a train.

   claim 16 As claim 15 with the provision or connection aoors that are closed when one of the cars descends to the ground claim 17 A monorail system substantially as described herein with reference to sheets 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.