Motor vehicles – Surface effect vehicles
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-09
2003-03-11
Zeender, F. (Department: 3627)
Motor vehicles
Surface effect vehicles
C180S121000, C180S122000, C104S023200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06530444
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention pertains to a controlled levitation vehicle that is designed so that the vehicle levitation and stop times can be shortened.
BACKGROUND ART
Vehicles that are levitated on air include rope shuttles where the vehicle is towed by a rope, and linear shuttles where the vehicle is driven by a linear motor.
A rope shuttle, as shown in
FIGS. 8
a
and
8
b,
is furnished with levitation apparatus
2
a
on the bottom part of shuttle vehicle
1
. Levitation apparatus
2
a
comprises blower
4
that is driven by a motor
3
, many air pads
8
, duct
5
and a hose
6
that connect the air pads
8
and a blower
4
. It is constituted so that vehicle
1
is made to levitate above track or roadway
9
by supplying air from blower
4
to air pads
8
.
Tow device
10
that moves vehicle
1
is furnished with winch
11
and pulleys
12
and
13
in one tow section and is equipped with pulleys
14
and
15
and a weight
18
in the other. Wire rope
16
runs endlessly on cable wheel
11
a,
pulleys
12
,
14
, and
13
, and cable wheel
11
a
of winch
11
in that order. The other end of wire rope
17
that is connected to pulley
14
is connected to weight (or hydraulic system)
18
via pulley
15
. Tension is applied to pulley
14
in the direction of pulley
15
by the force of weight
18
, and rope
16
is attached to wire rope attachment arm
19
furnished for wire rope
16
and vehicle
1
.
When vehicle
1
is moved, the vehicle is made to levitate above track
9
by levitation apparatus
2
a.
Winch
11
is driven while vehicle
1
is levitated, vehicle
1
is towed by rope
16
, and vehicle
1
is moved without any frictional resistance between vehicle
1
and track
9
.
A linear shuttle levitation apparatus, as shown in
FIG. 2
, comprises air pads
8
attached to chassis
7
of vehicle
1
. Chassis
7
is used as an air distribution duct to air pads
8
so that air is supplied to air pads
8
via duct
5
and chassis
7
from blower
4
.
The linear induction motor of a linear shuttle, as shown in
FIGS. 1
a
and
1
b,
is constituted with the primary side (primary core and primary coil)
21
of the linear induction motor being furnished on the bottom part of vehicle
1
and secondary side (conductor)
22
being placed on track
9
.
When the vehicle is moved, vehicle
1
is made to levitate by levitation apparatus
2
. While vehicle
1
is levitated, a three-phase power source is connected to the linear motor, a moving magnetic field is generated on primary side
21
, and vehicle
1
is moved by means of the electromagnetic force resulting when a secondary current is generated by this magnetic field on the secondary side, producing thrust. When vehicle
1
is moved in two directions, the phase sequence of the three-phase power source input to the linear induction motor can be reversed.
With a rope shuttle, the vehicle is coupled to a rope, so by operating a brake attached to the winch the vehicle can be held in place and stopped at a station while the vehicle remains levitated. However, in the case of a linear shuttle, the linear motor that drives the vehicle is self-propelled and mounted to the vehicle, so the vehicle cannot be held still while it remains levitated. This can be solved by furnishing a separate brake apparatus, but as the number of components increases, the rate of breakdowns also rises.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, the shuttle brake comprises brake skid
23
, furnished on the bottom of the vehicle that touches the surface of track
9
when levitation ceases, thereby stopping vehicle
1
by the friction between brake skid
23
and track
9
. In this arrangement, the vehicle drops and the brake skid engages due to the cutting off of the air sent to the air pads of the levitation apparatus.
In the past, motor
3
of blower
4
would have been turned on and off to shut off air to air pads
8
, so the blower rotation when stopped at the station would be zero. Time would therefore be required to restart the blower, and as a result, passengers would have to wait, and the number of operation cycles (headway frequency) could not be increased.
This invention was devised with the aforementioned problems of linear shuttles in mind. Its purpose is to provide a controlled levitation vehicle that will permit the vehicle to re-levitate rapidly after the vehicle has stopped levitation and has been held on the track by the brake skid.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the present invention, a levitation vehicle is equipped with a levitation apparatus that has a blower driven by a motor, multiple air pads are furnished for a chassis that also serves as a duct connected to the blower, and damper valves are furnished for the discharge side of the blower and for the chassis, and a brake skid is attached to the undersurface of the chassis. The vehicle is further equipped with an inverter that operates the blower motor, a means that makes the blower discharge damper valve close when starting and that also regulates the output of the inverter to the standby output, a means that makes the chassis damper valve close when there is an instruction to levitate and that also regulates the output of the inverter to the levitation output, and a means that returns the output of the inverter to the standby state when there is an instruction to land and that also makes the blower discharge damper valve open. Time required for the vehicle to levitate and to stop will be shortened.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3648799 (1972-03-01), Young et al.
patent: 3653458 (1972-04-01), Donlon
patent: 3768588 (1973-10-01), Vaughen
patent: 3791477 (1974-02-01), Burdick
patent: 4529054 (1985-07-01), Tattersall
patent: 4607715 (1986-08-01), Michels et al.
patent: 5655616 (1997-08-01), Witt et al.
patent: 6202782 (2001-03-01), Hatanaka
patent: 2160487 (1985-12-01), None
Kiyomoto Koji
Miyazawa Kazuhiro
Otis Elevator Company
Zeender F.
LandOfFree
Controlled levitation vehicle does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Controlled levitation vehicle, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Controlled levitation vehicle will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3006668