Railways – Switches – Having flexible element
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-22
2003-11-11
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways
Switches
Having flexible element
C104S130040, C104S140000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644208
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a track guided vehicle system equipped with a track guided vehicle having a traveling wheel and a traveling rail having a diverging part, more paticularly to the traveling performance improvement of the track guided vehicle in the diverging part.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The track guided vehicle system which makes a vehicle provided with the traveling wheel travel on a track having the diverging part is existed from the past. The following overhead vehicle is known as an example of such a track guided vehicle.
The track is laid on a ceiling such that the cross section is formed inverted U-shape and an opening part is located down below, and the traveling wheel of the vehicle is arranged to travel on the traveling rail which is exited from the lower end of the opening side to the inside of the track in an extended condition. Each pair of the traveling wheels is provided back and forth and at lease one of a total of four traveling wheels is acted as a driving wheel. An interval is formed between the right and left traveling rails served as a pair, and a slit is formed along a laying direction of the track.
Meanwhile, the vehicle is composed of a traveling vehicle body in the upper part and an article support part in the lower part, and the traveling vehicle body is located in the track and the article support part is located below the track.
The traveling wheel is provided in the traveling vehicle body and the article support part is arranged to retain articles. Moreover, the width only for the vehicle to pass is provided in the slit and the vehicle can travel along the track.
A pair of diverging rollers is provided in the upper part of the vehicle, and a guide groove which can contact with the diverging roller is formed in the track. The vehicle is arranged to guide to one side of the diverging route by contacting with one diverging roller in the diverging part.
A traveling wheel provided in a traveling vehicle body crosses a slit when the vehicle is passed through a diverging part. A driving wheel is run off from a traveling rail then and the vehicle becomes the state of falling into the slit temporarily.
If a rotating sensor equipped with an encoder is provided in a drive shaft of the driving wheel for controlling the position of the vehicle, the detection value of the encoder becomes incorrect by spinning free of the driving wheel. Thus, the detection value of the encoder is changed every time passing the diverging part and the position of the vehicle cannot be controlled correctly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object to be solved by the present invention is described above, and next, the means for solving the object will be described.
More precisely, the vehicle is traveled on a track served as a groove or a slit between traveling rails in a track guided vehicle system having right and left traveling rails and a diverging part on the way, wherein the vehicle is traveled on the traveling rail such that a part of the traveling wheel supporting the vehicle blocks the groove or the slit in the diverging part and the vehicle is driven to travel by pressing the top or bottom driving wheel energized to either one side to the traveling face formed along the track.
The track including the traveling rail and the traveling face is shaped like a long tube as one.
The vehicle has a diverging roller likewise, and the traveling direction of the vehicle is arranged to switch in the diverging part by that the diverging roller is contacted with a plurality of guide grooves formed along the track selectively.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3628462 (1971-12-01), Holt
patent: 3702590 (1972-11-01), Corey
patent: 3712238 (1973-01-01), Colovas et al.
patent: 3830163 (1974-08-01), Wright et al.
patent: 4000700 (1977-01-01), Hannover et al.
patent: 4671185 (1987-06-01), Anderson et al.
patent: 4893566 (1990-01-01), Fukuda
patent: 5454328 (1995-10-01), Matsuzaki et al.
patent: 6-29141 (1994-08-01), None
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP.
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
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