Fixed rail transportation equipment

Abstract

The invention relates to a fixed rail transport device, comprising: two parallel guide rails (2a, 2b) which are separated from one another by a guide rail gap (5); a carriage (1) mounted on the guide rails (2a, 2b), the carriage being operable along the guide rails (2a, 2b), the carriage having at least two wheel sets, each wheel set having wheels (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) independently supported in a common axis of rotation (12a, 12b); and at least one branch (E) comprising an additional guide rail (2c, 2d) built in a pair of guide rails (2a, 2b), and the axes of rotation (12a, 12b) being connected to each other by a support (13) having a fixed console (8) to which at least two guide rollers (6a, 6b) located in the guide rail gap (5) are rotatably connected along the length of the support (13), each wheel (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) of at least one of the wheel sets of the carriage (1) is equipped with a power-adjustable independent drive (14a, 14b), and the transport device is provided with a power control unit.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a fixed track transport device, which has: two parallel rails, which are separated from each other by a rail gap; a carriage mounted on these rails, which can run along these rails, and the carriage has at least two wheel sets, each wheel set has wheels independently supported in a common rotation axis; and at least one branch, which at least one branch contains an additional rail built into the rail pair, and these rotation axes are interconnected by a support with a fixed console.

[0002] Fixed, usually suspended rail transport units are solutions that usually serve between two stations without branching (e.g. ski lifts). In the case of elevated railways, solutions are rarely seen where the vehicle can change its direction, but if there is, this is also achieved through a switching system, when the track intervenes as an active element in the vehicle's traffic, and the vehicle cannot independently decide to change direction. Solutions of the non-fixed track, free choice of direction type are better, because the vehicle can go in the direction of its choice regardless of the road at the intersection, but the price of this freedom is that it cannot be automated under today's systems, because many different traffic situations may arise. This problem can be encountered both in passenger transport and in freight transport, and in the case of goods, it is usually encountered in warehousing.

[0003] For fixed track transport systems (e.g., railway tracks), or even suspended transport systems for goods, the change of direction of the train depends on the position of the switch. Although the conversion can be adjusted independently of the vehicle, in some systems, the switch can be adjusted as needed by electrical or mechanical control equipment arranged on the vehicle, so that the vehicle can choose the direction of travel. Therefore, for such fixed track systems, the switches used are able to mechanically convert the guide rail configuration in the switch area into all possible built-in directions of travel, that is, these switches form a single route in each case by positioning the guide rail elements between the selected track sections before and after the switch. Since the design, installation, operation and maintenance costs of the switch are quite high compared to other sections of the track (this is because the moving parts are also subject to considerable loads), experts have tried to create a system that can achieve direction change without using moving parts built into the track.

[0004] Such a system is disclosed, for example, in the publication KR 20210055292 B1, which describes a suspended transport device in which guide rails branching in different directions are arranged above the branched track sections for controlling the direction of travel of the vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with guide rollers running between the guide rails, and is also equipped with adjustable direction-changing rollers, which can vertically raise the height of the guide rails on the side of the guide rails corresponding to the selected direction. As a result, the vehicle continues to run along the mandatory track corresponding to the direction of the guide rails, while the vehicle is kept on the track by guide rollers resting on the edge of the gap in the center line of the track formed between the guide rails. The suspension element for the cargo attached to the vehicle is also located in the gap. The disadvantage of this scheme is that, on the one hand, a guide rail separated from the track, i.e., an additional track element, is required to change the direction of travel of the vehicle, and on the other hand, the vehicle must be equipped with a direction selection roller that can be mounted on the guide rail and a mechanism for moving the roller.

[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a fixed track transport device in which, in order to change the travel direction of the vehicle, no guide rail separate from the track, i.e. an additional track element, is required, and therefore no direction selection roller that can be attached to the additional track element is required, nor is a complex structure for moving the roller.

[0006] We realized that if the torque acting on the drive wheels of a vehicle running on two guide rails of a track is changed so that the values ​​of the torque are different, the force acting on the guide rollers running in the gap formed in the center line of the track forces the guide rollers to enter the gap of the track branching elements located in the direction of the driven wheels with a smaller torque, and the vehicle continues its journey on the corresponding pair of guide rails.

[0007] We achieve our object by providing a fixed track transport device having: two parallel guide rails, which are separated from each other by a guide rail gap; a carriage mounted on these guide rails, which carriage is capable of running along these guide rails, the carriage having at least two wheel sets, each wheel set having wheels independently supported in a common rotating shaft; and at least one branch, which at least one branch comprises an additional guide rail built into the guide rail pair, and these rotating shafts are interconnected by a support with a fixed control console, at least two guide rollers located in the guide rail gap are rotatably connected to the support along the length of the support, and each wheel of at least one of these wheel sets of the carriage is equipped with an independent drive that can be adjusted by power, and the transport device is provided with a power control unit.

[0008] Wheels, each having an independent drive whose power can be adjusted and forming an additional wheel pair offset to the guide rail, are connected to the fixed control console via bearings.

[0009] The wheels forming the additional wheel set are mounted on the crank arm via bearings, and a biasing device is arranged between the crank arm and the fixed console.

[0010] The drive is arranged on the crank arm.

[0011] The biasing means is a spring.

[0012] The fixed track transportation equipment according to the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings:

[0013] Figure 1 is a perspective view of an advantageous embodiment of a transport device according to the invention,

[0014] Figure 2 A further embodiment of a carrier of a transport device according to the invention is shown in a top view,

[0015] Figure 3 A preferred embodiment of the bracket is shown in side view,

[0016] Figure 4 shows the carriage in a top view before changing direction, and

[0017] Figure 5 The position of the bracket after the change of orientation is shown.

[0018] Figure 1A perspective view of one of the advantageous embodiments of a fixed rail transport device according to the invention is shown. Two parallel rails 2a, 2b separated by a rail gap 5 are arranged in the transport device. On the rails 2a, 2b a carriage 1 is mounted, which is equipped with at least two wheel sets, each wheel set having two wheels 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d independently supported in a common rotation axis 12a, 12b. The transport device is also provided with at least one branch E containing additional rails 2c, 2d. The two axes 12a, 12b are connected by a support 13, which is provided with a cargo securing console 8 of any design and placement, which in this embodiment is a bracket eye 8, to which, for example, a container suitable for transporting objects can be attached / suspended. Along the length of the support 13, at least two running guide rollers 6a, 6b located in the guide gap 5 are rotatably attached to the support 13 in turn, so that during the movement of the carriage 1, the guide rollers 6a, 6b contact the guide rails 2a, 2b and prevent the carriage from leaving the track formed by the guide rails 2a, 2b. The wheels 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d (for example, the wheels 4c, 4d of one of the wheel sets forming the carriage 1) are equipped with independent drive units 14a, 14b, which have individually adjustable power for each wheel 4c, 4d, and these drive units are, for example, motors directly mounted on the rotating shaft 12b. The power supply of the drive units 14a, 14b is provided in a manner known per se, for example, it can be solved by using batteries (not shown in the figure) arranged on the carriage 1 or by using overhead wires. The transport device is also suitable for controlling the performance of the motors 14a, 14b, for example, the transport device is equipped with an electronic control unit, so that the torque acting on the wheels 4c, 4d can be changed.

[0019] If the planned route of the carriage 1 runs in the direction E1 at the branch E shown in the figure, the control unit increases the torque of the drive unit 14b of the wheel 4c before the end C of the branch E, thereby pressing the guide roller 6b against the guide rail 2a. Therefore, during the movement of the carriage 1, the roller 6b remains along the guide rail 2a in the direction E1, enters between the guide rails 2a, 2d, and guides the wheels 4a, 4b on the corresponding guide rails 2a, 2d. At the same time, when the guide roller 6a approaches the end C of the branch E, the control unit increases the torque of the driver 14a of the wheel 4d, thereby pressing the guide roller 6a against the guide rail 2a. Therefore, the guide roller 6a is definitely pushed in the direction E1, completing the change of direction.

[0020] Figure 2Another advantageous embodiment of a carriage 1 of a fixed rail transport device according to the invention is shown in a top view. The carriage 1 rests on the upper surface Ff of a pair of rails 3 consisting of two parallel rails 2a, 2b, having two wheels 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d for each rail 2a, 2b. There is a gap 5 of width S between the rails 2a and 2b, in which gap the free-running guide rollers 6a, 6b of the carriage 1 are located. The diameter Dv of the guide rollers 6a, 6b is smaller than the width S of the rail gap 5, so that the guide rollers 6a, 6b are in contact with the edge of only one of the rail strands 2a, 2b at any given moment. The difference between the diameter Dv and the width S is ideally between 0.1% and 2% of the width S. With Figure 1 Unlike the embodiment shown, the carriage 1 is preferably equipped with one driving wheel 7a, 7b for each of the guide rails 2a, 2b, which is offset to the lower surface Fa of the guide rails 2a, 2b. The driving wheels 7a, 7b, the guide rollers 6a, 6b, and the suspension wheels 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d are attached to the carriage 1. In the embodiment shown, the rotation axis of the guide roller 6a intersects the rotation axis f of the driving wheels 7a, 7b, while the guide roller 6b is positioned at an arbitrary distance T from the rotation axis f of the driving wheels 7a, 7b at a position close to the suspension wheels 4a, 4b in the travel direction I.

[0021] Figure 3 Shown in side view Figure 2 Another preferred embodiment of the carriage 1 shown in FIG. As can be seen from the figure, the drive wheel 7b is arranged on a crank arm 9b in a manner that it can rotate around a pivot point 91, and the crank arm is supported on a suspended console 8 at a pivot point 81. The console 8 is connected to the crank arm 9b by a tension spring 10b, which fastens the drive wheel 7b supported on the bracket 9b to the lower surface Fa of the guide rail 2b. A similar arrangement is formed on the side corresponding to the drive wheel 7a, which is not shown in the figure. The console 8 is connected to a support 13 by at least one suspension rod 11, which connects the suspension wheels 4b and 4c to each other. The drive wheel 7b is connected to a drive 14b fixed to the console 8 by a belt. A similar device is provided on the side corresponding to the drive wheel 7a, wherein the drive wheel 7a is driven by a motor 14a, that is, the drive wheels 7a and 7b of the carriage 1 are provided with independent drives 14a and 14b. The torque of each motor drive 14a and 14b can be controlled by a known built-in control member (not shown in the figure).

[0022] exist Figure 4, the carriage 1 can be seen in a top view before the change of direction. In the branch E of the guide rail pair 3, the guide rails 2c, 2d start from the same common vertex between the guide rails 2a, 2b, and the guide rails 2a, 2b diverge in a curve, wherein the guide rail 2c extends parallel to the guide rail 2b, and the guide rail 2d extends parallel to the guide rail 2a. The width S of the guide gap 5 between the guide rails 2b, 2c and the guide rails 2a, 2d is the same as the width of the guide gap 5 between the guide rails 2a, 2b. Since the drive wheels 7a, 7b of the carriage 1 are equipped with independent drives, they are not shown here but are shown in the figure. Figure 3 The motors 14a, 14b shown in the figure can be controlled independently of each other in a manner known to those skilled in the art, so that the torques acting on the drive wheels 7a, 7b can be different. If the carriage 1 must continue to run on the guide rail pair consisting of the guide rails 2a, 2d in branch E, the ratio of the torque applied by the motor 14a to the torque applied by the motor 14b to the drive wheel 7b is adjusted so that the torque acting on the drive wheel 7b is greater. Therefore, the guide roller 6b located near the suspension wheel 4 rotates around the rotation axis of the guide roller 6b and presses against the guide rail 2a, and runs in the branch E into the guide rail gap 5 between the guide rails 2a, 2d. The guide roller 6a that arrives at the branch E follows the guide roller 6b in the guide rail gap 5, i.e., the direction of the carriage 1 is changed. In order to ensure safe tracking, i.e. so that the guide roller 6a does not accidentally run into the guide rail gap 5 formed by the guide rail fibers 2b, 2c, it is recommended to move the position of the guide roller 6a from the common rotation axis of the drive wheels 7a, 7b in the travel direction I towards the guide roller 6b, because in this case, the torque difference acting on the drive wheels 7a, 7b will also force the roller 6a to the guide rail 2a. Figure 5 The position of the bracket 1 after the direction is changed is shown in FIG.

[0023] In summary, the fixed track transport equipment according to the present invention is provided with: two parallel rails 2a, 2b, which are separated from each other by a rail gap 5; a carriage 1 mounted on the rails 2a, 2b, which can run along the rails 2a, 2b, and which has at least two wheel sets, each wheel set having wheels 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d independently supported in a common rotation axis 12a, 12b; and at least one branch E, which at least one branch contains an additional rail 2c, 2d built into the pair of rails 2a, 2b. The rotation axes 12a, 12b are connected to each other by a support 13 with a fixed control console 8. At least two guide rollers 6a, 6b located in the rail gap 5 are rotatably connected to the support 13 in the length direction of the support, and each wheel 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d of at least one of the wheel sets of the carriage 1 is equipped with a power-adjustable independent drive 14a, 14b. The transport equipment is provided with a power control unit. Each wheel 7a, 7b forms an additional wheel 7a, 7b pair, has a dynamically adjustable independent drive (14a, 14b) and is biased to the guide rail (2a, 2b), these wheels 7a, 7b are connected to the fixed control station 8 via bearings 91. 3. The wheels 7a, 7b forming an additional wheel 7a, 7b pair are mounted on crank arms 9a, 9b via bearings, and a biasing device is provided between the crank arms 9a, 9b and the fixed control station 8. The drive 14a, 14b is preferably arranged on the crank arms 9a, 9b. The biasing device is a spring 10a, 10b.

[0024] The fixed rail transport equipment according to the invention has the advantage over prior art equipment that, in order to change the travel direction of a vehicle traveling in the equipment, neither a guide rail separate from the rail (i.e., an additional rail element) is required, and therefore no direction selection rollers mounted to the additional rail element are required, nor a complex and expensive structure is required to move the rollers. The transport equipment according to the invention can be applied to high-speed railways, freight and passenger rails, and warehouse cargo transport and storage systems without any particular restrictions.

Claims

1. A fixed track transport device, the fixed track transport device comprising: two parallel guide rails (2a, 2b), the two parallel guide rails being separated from each other by a guide rail gap (5); a carriage (1) mounted on the guide rails (2a, 2b), the carriage being capable of running along the guide rails (2a, 2b), the carriage having at least two wheel sets, each of the at least two wheel sets having wheels (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) independently supported in a common rotation axis (12a, 12b); and at least one branch (E), the at least one branch comprising an additional guide rail (2c, 2d) built into the pair of guide rails (2a, 2b), and the rotation axes (12a, 12b) being connected to each other via a support (13) having a fixed control console (8), characterized in that At least two guide rollers (6a, 6b) located in the guide rail gap (5) are rotatably connected to the support (13) along the length of the support, and each wheel (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) of at least one of the wheel sets of the bracket (1) is equipped with an independent drive (14a, 14b) capable of adjusting power, and the transport equipment is provided with a power control unit.

2. The fixed track transportation equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: Wheels (7a, 7b) each having an independent drive (14a, 14b) with adjustable power and forming a pair of additional wheels (7a, 7b) offset to the guide rails (2a, 2b) are connected to the fixed console (8) via bearings (91).

3. The fixed track transportation equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that: The wheels (7a, 7b) forming the additional wheel (7a, 7b) pair are mounted on crank arms (9a, 9b) via bearings, and a biasing device is arranged between the crank arms (9a, 9b) and the fixed console (8).

4. The fixed track transportation equipment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The drive (14a, 14b) is arranged on the crank arm (9a, 9b).

5. The fixed track transportation equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that: The biasing means is a spring (10a, 10b).

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