Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited

Kosuke Katahira

Katsuaki Morita

Masahiro Yamaguchi

Shunji Morichika

Hiroyuki Kono

Hiroshi Yamashita

Hiroyuki Mochidome

Yasuhiro Nagamichi

A guided vehicle transportation system is described in the application. The system includes guard wheels and a guard rail positioned along a center line of a guide track. The guard rail has a groove in which the guard wheels are received with a predetermined clearance between the periphery of the guard wheels and side walls of the groove. The guard rail has a flange extending toward the groove at the top of each side wall. The vehicle has first arms extending in longitudinal direction and being attached rotatably at a central part of an axle provided for suspending each pair of front wheels and rear wheels, and the guard wheels are attached rotatably and directly to the both end parts of the first arms or attached rotatably to both end parts of second arms each of which is attached to a corresponding end part of the first arms.

Guided vehicle transportation system

The essential feature of the present invention is the provision of a track transportation system in which a vehicle runs on a predetermined track, being automatically steered, having a simplified and lightweight structure so as to surely ensure a safety, and to be capable of carrying out efficient and high-speed operation. The track transportation system according to the present invention incorporates a steering mechanism for automatic steering by means of an M actuator, a protection guide rail laid on the track, protection guide wheels which travel together with the vehicle along the protection guide rail without making contact with the latter, and a control means for controlling automatic steering in accordance with a result of determination by a track data determining means for determining a straight portion, a curved portion, a turnout portion or the like of the track in view of vehicle position data, and steering caused by the protection wheels making contact with the protection guide rail.

Track transportation system

The present invention provides the structure of a bogie for a vehicle in a track type transportation system in which the vehicle runs along a predetermined track, which can be simplified, and lightweight and which can be run at a high speed with the maintainability therefor being enhanced, comprising a guide raillaid on the track, guide wheelscapable of traveling being made into contact with the guide rail, a guide armattached thereto with the guide wheels, and a guide wheel support bracketfor supporting the guide armarranged underneath an axleof the vehicle so that the guide armis pivotable around a pivotal vertical support shat, left and right of the vehicle, and the guide arm, the guide wheelsand the guide wheel support bracketconstitute a unit structure which is attached to the axleor a bogie frameof the vehicle.

Bogie structure for a track vehicle

A tramway transit system for allowing a vehicle to travel along a track while automatically steered is proposed, in which the vehicle is provided with guard wheels and the track is provided with a protection track, and simplification in construction and weight saving of the automatic steering mechanism provided to the vehicle and space saving for the installation of the mechanism, can be attained. The vehicle () is provided with a steering mechanism () for steering the front and rear wheels () by means of electrically driven oil hydraulic actuators, the protection track () is laid down on the road surface () of the track (), the vehicle () is provided with guard wheels (), and the interlocking mechanism () for connecting the guard wheels to the right or left wheels, the actuator () comprising the hydraulic cylinder (), the two-way discharge pump (), the variable speed, reversible rotation motor (), and the closed circuit () provided with relief valves ().

Tramway transit system

Structure of a bifurcation site and crossover site of a guideway in a guided vehicle transportation system; in which the guideway consists of left and right roadbeds, a depression between the roadbeds, and a guard rail having a U-shaped groove laid down on the depression; and a fail-safe mechanism is constituted by the guard rail and guard wheels attached to the vehicle; is proposed. The vehicle is equipped with automatic steering mechanisms for steering front and rear wheels and guard wheels supported laterally rotatably by front and rear supporting arms which are supported laterally rotatably underside the vehicle. The guard wheels are received in the groove of the guard rail. A movable guard plate and driving means thereof are provided to switch connection of the groove of the guard rail at a bifurcation thereof, and a movable plate and driving means thereof are provided to be able to plug or cover each of openings of grooves of guard rails in a region where the guard rail crosses a roadbed so that the movable plate is moved to plug or cover the groove thereby preparing a flat surface level with the roadbed.

Growing community of inventors

Mihara, Japan

Kosuke Katahira