Vehicle and high-speed transport system having rotating alternating

Abstract

A vehicle has a rotary magnetic field member which is rotatably supported at a position near the surface of a roadway along which the vehicle runs and rotatingly driven by a driving device. The rotary magnetic field member has magnetic poles of different polarities alternately arranged around its circumference. The vehicle also has an electrical power collector for receiving electrical power from an electrical power supply associated with the roadway. The received electrical power is supplied under the control of a controller to the driving device thereby rotatably driving the rotary magnetic field member. The rotary magnetic field member when rotated relative to the roadway made of an electrically conductive non-magnetic material, forms a varying magnetic field in cooperation with the roadway, thereby generating propulsion force for propelling the vehicle and force for suspending the vehicle, so that the vehicle is propelled in a floating state. It is therefore possible to reduce friction between wheels of the vehicle and the roadway and, hence, to suppress wear of the wheels. In a high-speed transportation system of the invention, the electrical power collector picks up electrical power from the electrical power supply and the rotary magnetic field member is rotatingly driven by the power picked up by the electrical power collector.