Cable-Drawn Vehicle Level Control via Guide Track Geometry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transport systems, such as rack railways and funicular railways, face challenges in adjusting the level of vehicles to accommodate varying gradients, often relying on complex and costly devices like spindle lifting or hydraulic units.
Innovation Solution
A rail-guided transport system with a guide track and guide rollers or skids allows for mechanical level control, ensuring the vehicle remains horizontal across different gradients with low manufacturing and maintenance costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If sophisticated controlled devices such as screw jacks or hydraulic units are used for level adjustment, then the vehicle level can be adjusted to varying gradients, but the device complexity and manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces sophisticated controlled devices (screw jacks, hydraulic units) with a purely mechanical guide track and guide roller system. The guide track is positioned at a distance from the rail, creating a mechanical linkage that automatically adjusts the vehicle level through the geometry of the guide roller's interaction with the guide track, eliminating the need for complex control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide track system is designed to automatically adjust the vehicle level without external control. As the vehicle moves along the track with varying gradients, the guide roller's contact with the guide track self-adjusts the vehicle orientation through the mechanical geometry of the system, requiring no active control or power input.
2Adaptability or versatility
If sophisticated controlled devices such as screw jacks or hydraulic units are used for level adjustment, then the vehicle level can be adjusted to varying gradients, but the manufacturing and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs simple, inexpensive mechanical components (guide track, guide rollers) instead of expensive sophisticated controlled devices. These simple mechanical elements are easier and cheaper to manufacture, and while they may require replacement over time, their initial manufacturing cost is significantly lower than hydraulic or screw jack systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a guide track with varying distance from the rail is used, then the vehicle level is automatically adjusted to different gradients, but the track design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new spatial dimension by positioning the guide track at a distance from the rail rather than directly adjacent to it. This lateral offset creates a mechanical lever arm that converts the longitudinal movement along the track into vertical level adjustment, automatically compensating for gradient variations through geometric relationships in the horizontal plane.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively maintains a horizontal orientation of the vehicle across varying gradients, ensuring reliability and simplicity, while reducing operational expenses.
Implementation Method 1
A guide track 12 runs along the rails 4 on at least one side of the track 3... The guide roller 13 runs on the guide rail 12... the distance of the guide track 12 from the rail(s) 4... differs between the two sections 3a and 3b
Implementation Method 2
The guide roller 13 is mounted at one end of a lever 17, which is mounted in its central region on the chassis 15 via a pivot bearing 18
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a transport system having at least one cable-drawn or rail-bound vehicle (7), which has a transport means (14), for example a car, and a bogie (15), by means of which the vehicle (7) can be moved along a track (3). The transport means (14) is mounted on the bogie (15) so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The track (3) has at least two sections (3a to 3d) having a different slope, and a guide track extends along the track (3) and, in the sections (3a, 3b), is at a different distance from the track (3). A guide device is guided along the guide track, and the transport means (14) is connected to the guide device for level control.