Railways – Switches – Having flexible element
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-16
2001-04-24
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways
Switches
Having flexible element
C104S106000, C104S119000, C104S130080, C104S139000, C104S288000, C104S290000, C104S096000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220173
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention concerns a trolley—switch point configuration.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Railway vehicles of any kind, particularly passenger trains, freight trains, electric trolleys for transportation inside of closed spaces such as production halls, sorting stations or high shelf storage, whether suspended or on the ground, must be routed in the desired travel direction via rail tracks that are branched by means of switch points.
Switch points that are equipped with moveable rail parts are known; they can be inserted into a gap in one or the other railway direction for deflecting or shifting. The power required to move the rail parts is considerable. Beyond that, wear in conjunction with the effect of weather and contamination are a disadvantage. Such mechanical, i.e. active switch points require intensive maintenance. Their use in explosion-proof and wet spaces is almost impossible and is not permitted in most areas.
So-called turntables are also known, in which the railway vehicles or individual railway cars are turned around with the turntable until a seamless transfer is established to the desired connecting track direction. In this case the fairly considerable power requirement is also a disadvantage. The danger of a switch point jam must also be considered. Railway vehicles or trolleys which closely follow each other can jam at the branch sections, since the operation of the turntables, as well as the above-cited deflecting switch points, require a long time for each vehicle. The trolleys must stop or at least slow down in any event. This very much restricts the passage of trolleys, i.e. the traffic density.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to improve a trolley-switch point configuration in regard to power consumption, maintenance requirement, trolley passage and wear as well as contamination. It must further be endeavored to provide unrestricted access to explosion-proof and wet spaces.
The invention achieves this object by a trolley for rail tracks that are branched by means of switch points, wherein the trolley has moveable hooks, and the switch points are designed as passive switches without any moveable parts, where the hooks can engage the guide rails of the passive switches in accordance with the desired travel direction. The basic idea of the invention is to interchange the fixed and moveable components of the trolley and the switch points needed to pass through the branches. This provides the possibility of creating constructions which are characterized by very little power consumption, smooth passage through the branches without any stopping or braking phase, and low wear as well as a significant decrease in the required maintenance.
The invention also illustrates constructions that have advantageous further developments of the basic idea for an electric ground trolley (EBB) and an electric suspended trolley (EHB). In that case the passive switches are designed as a slotted hollow profile and provided with the guide rails, while the hook discussed above is designed as a rocker both ends of which are able to alternatively engage one of the two guide rails. The guide rail and the rocker may be located inside the hollow profile. This produces an effective protection against mechanical damage and contaminative as well as environmental influences. Such electric trolleys (EBB and EHB) are especially designed for use in workshops. However, their use for passenger and freight traffic is also conceivable. This allows the omission of heated active switches and their expensive control devices, which must comply with high safety standards. It is only necessary for the electric or diesel locomotive to have a device that engages a passive switch guide rail in a way so that the locomotive and all of its coupled cars are forced into the desired direction. However the following configurations refer only to the electric ground trolley and the electric suspended trolley for industrial applications, while their exemplary nature is emphasized.
Configurations are also illustrated for electric suspended trolleys that have advantageous designs which are characterized by good stability and friction properties. The guide rod or the holding device can pass through the longitudinal slot in an almost contactless manner.
It is preferred to control the position of the rocker by means of contactless inductive power transfer heads. This gives an advantageous smoothness to the rocker movements. The power demand of the electric ground trolley or the electric suspended trolley is also covered in a contactless manner by the inductive power transmission.
The travel direction can be established by controlling the switch points, as is the case with conventional switches. However no moving parts are required within the switch point. The moving part is the rocker, which is a component of the electric ground trolley or the electric suspended trolley.
Trolleys with a preprogrammed travel destination can establish the travel direction immediately before a branch. This variation is especially advantageous with trolleys following closely behind each other, which do not travel in accordance with a time schedule, but detect advancing trolleys by means of distance sensors for example, and autonomously compute the optimum routes for reaching a predetermined target point by means of an intelligent logic. Such systems are very flexible and can be used to advantage for example in assembly lines which process large lot sizes.
The free ends of the rocker can be provided with guide wheels to enable quiet and low friction shunting at branch points. In that case the guide wheels are used as quasi-hooks.
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Alcatel
Jules Frantz F.
Morano S. Joseph
Ware Fressola Van der Sluys & Adolphson LLP
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