Electromagnetic suspension and guide system for suspended vehicles adapted to switch tracks

Claim 2

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, each of the electromagnets of each of said electromagnet arrangements being paired with an electromagnet thereof in the other subrow, said electromagnet arrangements being formed with energizing coils common to the electromagnets of each pair.

Claim 3

The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein the electromagnet of each pair comprises codirectionally extending U-profile magnetic cores receiving the respective coil between the shanks thereof.

Claim 4

The improvement defined in claim 2 wherein said armature rails are of U-cross-section and have shanks reaching toward the shanks of said cores.

Claim 5

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, said electromagnets having cores and coils, said armature rails and said cores being of oppositely open U-section configuration with respective shanks of the rails reaching toward the shanks of the cores, said vehicle is provided with supports for said electromagnet arrangements beyond horizontal planes defining the outline of a vehicle body thereof, said supports including uprights, said cores being disposed on horizontal lateral sides of said uprights and being upwardly open, said coils extending around said uprights.

Claim 6

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, said electromagnets having cores and coils, said armature rails and said cores being of oppositely open U-section configuration with respective shanks of the rails reaching toward the shanks of the cores, said vehicle is provided with supports for said electromagnet arrangements beyond horizontal planes defining the outline of a vehicle body thereof, said supports including uprights, said cores being disposed on horizontal lateral sides of said uprights and being upwardly open, said coils extending around said uprights.

Claim 7

The improvement defined in claim 2 wherein alternate cores along each of said subrows are laterally offset from the othEr cores of each subrow whereby energization of said coil provides a combined vertical suspending and laterally guiding force between said electromagnet arrangements and the respective rails.

Claim 8

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, said system being provided with at least one branching region provided with another armature rail associated with one of said electromagnet arrangements and overlapping in the direction of travel of the vehicle with the first-mentioned armature rail of said one of said arrangements and reaching into magnetic cooperation with the other electromagnet subrow thereof from that cooperating with said first rail, the pole surfaces of the overlapping rails in said branching region progressively receding from the electromagnets of the respective subrows toward the ends of the overlapping rails.

Claim 9

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, said system being provided with at least one branching region provided with another armature rail associated with one of said electromagnet arrangements and overlapping in the direction of travel of the vehicle with the first-mentioned armature rail of said one of said arrangements and reaching into magnetic cooperation with the other electromagnet subrow thereof from that cooperating with said first rail, the pole surfaces of the overlapping rails in said branching region progressively receding from the electromagnets of the respective subrows toward the ends of the overlapping rails.

Claim 10

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, said system being provided with at least one branching region provided with another armature rail associated with one of said electromagnet arrangements and overlapping in the direction of travel of the vehicle with the first-mentioned armature rail of said one of said arrangements and reaching into magnetic cooperation with the other electromagnet subrow thereof from that cooperating with said first rail, each of the armature rails associated with said one of said electromagnetic arrangements being provided in said region with a respective coil excitable to counteract the flux of the electromagnets of the respective subrow to maintain the magnetic effectiveness of said one of said arrangements substantially constant through said region.

Claim 11

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with force-transmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track; and armature rails mounted on said track and cooperating with each of said electromagnet arrangements respectively, the armature rail associated with each electromagnet arrangement selectively entering the field of the electromagnets of each subrow on different sides of a respectively vertical plane through the electromagnet arrangement, said system being provided with at least one branching region provided with another armature rail associated with one of said electromagnet arrangements and overlapping in the direction of travel of the vehicle with the first-mentioned armature rail of said one of said arrangements and reaching into magnetic cooperation with the other electromagnet subrow thereof from that cooperating with said first rail, each of the armature rails associated with said one of said electromagnetic arrangements being provided in said region with a respective coil excitable to counteract the flux of the electromagnets of the respective subrow to maintain the magnetic effectiveness of said one of said arrangements substantially constant through said region.

Claim 12

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with forcetransmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises armature rails extending along and mounted on said track and further comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track, each of said armature rails normally cooperating magnetically with only one of said subrows of electromagnets, the other one of the subrows of each electromagnet arrangement cooperating magnetically with an overlapping one of said armature rails at a branching.

Claim 13

In a suspended-vehicle system comprising a track and a vehicle adapted to travel along said track and provided with forcetransmitting electromagnetic means between said vehicle and said track, the improvement wherein said electromagnetic means comprises armature rails extending along and mounted on said track and further comprises at least two electromagnet arrangements extending along and fixed to said vehicle, each of said electromagnet arrangements including two subrows of electromagnets extending in the direction of vehicle travel along said track, each of said armature rails normally cooperating magnetically with only one of said subrows of electromagnets, the other one of the subrows of each electromagnet arrangement cooperating magnetically with an overlapping one of said armature rails at a branching.