WO2024254626A1 - Transport system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a cable-supported transport system (1) for persons or goods, comprising a combination of: at least one support cable unit (10), comprising one or more parallel support cables (4) which are supported on a plurality of mutually spaced supports (5); and a vehicle (18) comprising a body (19) for receiving the persons or goods, support surfaces (20) which project laterally from the body (19), and at least one running gear (21) which is guided on the at least one support cable unit (10), wherein the running gear (21) has one or more driven wheels (22) for running on the at least one support cable unit (10) and is designed to produce a permanent contact between each driven wheel (22) and the support cable unit (10) on which the wheel (22) runs.

Description

transport system

The present invention relates to a transport system for persons or goods.

Various means of transport and systems are known for transporting people or goods, e.g. ships, trains, especially trams, cable cars and railways, aircraft and automobiles, especially buses, passenger cars and trucks. For the transport of people or goods at high speed, aircraft and trains - rarely magnetic levitation trains - are mainly used today, and new technologies such as Hyperloop are being planned. Of these, railways and magnetic levitation trains (and Hyperloop) require very complex, continuous, ground-based infrastructure and are slower in comparison, whereas aircraft are more flexible in use but have a worse environmental footprint.

DE 37 09 986 A1 describes a track-bound high-speed railway which is equipped with a large number of supporting surface segments of the same width as the railway, supported one behind the other on struts above the roof of the railway, which are intended to lift the railway off the tracks at high speeds in order to reduce the rolling resistance of its wheels. This railway is driven by additional drive wheels which are aligned almost horizontally and which act from opposite sides on the web of an additional, specially shaped rail with a rectangularly widened rail head, which they grip behind in order to prevent the railway from derailing after it has lifted off. The land-based infrastructure, i.e. track systems, tunnels, etc., is even more complex in this case than with conventional high-speed railways, since the upward force of the railway also has to be safely absorbed.

The document US 3 774 542 B describes a transport system with several parallel tubes with longitudinal slots on their underside, which are suspended from support cables. Sliding elements engage in each of the tubes, which optionally have small bearing rollers for Rolling on the inner walls of the tubes and connected to the roof of a track through slots in the tubes. The track is powered by several jet engines, like an airplane. This track can optionally have wing segments on its underside, the lift of which is intended to compensate for part of the vehicle's weight at higher speeds. Due to the high noise levels and the strong air currents caused by the jet engines, this type of transport system cannot be used near residential areas or close to the ground. Its efficiency is also low due to the high friction of the sliding bodies (or their small bearing rollers), and its environmental impact is even worse than that of airplanes.

The aim of the invention is to create a high-speed transport system that is environmentally friendly, safe and efficient, can also be used in or near residential areas and has manageable infrastructure costs.

This aim is achieved with a cable-supported transport system for people or goods which, according to the invention, is characterized by the combination of at least one supporting cable unit with one or more parallel supporting cables, which is supported on several supports spaced apart from one another, and a vehicle with a fuselage for receiving the people or goods, wings projecting laterally from the fuselage and at least one running gear guided on the at least one supporting cable unit, wherein the running gear has one or more driven wheels for running on the at least one supporting cable unit and is designed to establish permanent contact between each driven wheel and the supporting cable unit on which the wheel runs.

Cable car systems are much easier, quicker and cheaper to build due to the much smaller ground-based infrastructure and have a much smaller impact on the environment than railways; for this reason alone they are more environmentally friendly. The cantilevered wings generate drive and thereby relieve the load on the supporting cable unit, which allows significantly higher vehicle speeds than conventional cable car systems. Because the vehicle is driven by the wheels running on the supporting cable unit(s), the drive is also energy efficient and quiet, as propellers or jet engines are not required. The transport system is more environmentally friendly and, as a result of the vehicle being guided by the supporting cable unit(s), it is also much safer than airplanes.

In a particularly efficient embodiment, each driven wheel is magnetic to establish permanent contact. Each driven wheel therefore ensures its own permanent contact with the respective support cable unit.

Each support cable unit can consist of one or more support cables on which the driven wheels run. In a preferred alternative embodiment, each support cable unit comprises a rail anchored to the support cable(s) which runs parallel to the support cable(s) and on which the driven wheel or wheels of the running gear run. This makes it possible to achieve a particularly high level of rigidity for the support cable unit. Furthermore, the rolling resistance when the wheels run on rails is particularly low and the transport system is therefore particularly efficient.

It is advantageous if each rail has a thickened head and the running gear has one or more guide wheels for each driven wheel, whereby the wheels are distributed radially around the rail head to establish permanent contact - viewed in the longitudinal direction of the rail - in order to engage it with their running surfaces from different sides. In this embodiment, the running gear(s) is/are coupled particularly reliably to the at least one rail and the driven wheel(s) is/are in secure permanent contact with the rail.

In an advantageous variant, the transport system has two parallel support cables for each rail, with each rail being provided with clamps spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the rail. is anchored to the two supporting cables and each clamp between the supporting cables and the rail has a spacer which keeps the rail at a predetermined distance from the supporting cables. In this way, the load of each rail is distributed over two supporting cables, increasing the safety of the transport system and at the same time increasing the rigidity of the supporting cable unit even further. The clamp enables a reliable anchoring of the rail to the supporting cables, which can be released if necessary, and the spacer enables individual adjustment.

It is particularly advantageous if the specified distances are so large that any sagging of the supporting cables between adjacent supports is compensated for by the spacers. This allows a particularly high vehicle speed.

In order to enable a particularly narrow route for the transport system, especially in the area of its supports, even with a larger span of the wings, the rail is preferably anchored to the top of the support cables. This allows the vehicle to drive over the supports with its wings in a space-saving manner and does not have to be guided past the supports below the support cables.

It is also advantageous if the transport system has two parallel support cable units for each direction of travel, with the vehicle having a two-track drive or two single-track drives spaced apart from each other in its transverse direction and each track being guided on a different one of the two support cable units. This leads to a load distribution on the two rails and to a safe and stable two-track guidance of the vehicle on the support cable units.

In a preferred variant, a single-track running gear is mounted on each wing, preferably on the underside of each wing. This saves vehicle weight, since the wings always bear the weight of the fuselage and the people or goods carried therein, without the need for an additional support structure on the fuselage to anchor the running gear. According to an advantageous embodiment, each driven wheel is movable relative to the hull in the transverse and vertical direction of the vehicle and is mounted firmly on the running gear in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. In this way, slight changes in the position of the vehicle as it moves along the supporting cable unit(s) can be compensated for relative to the latter, or the vehicle can be moved slightly in its guidance on the supporting cable units without its propulsion via the driven wheels being impaired. This is particularly convenient if springs and dampers are provided on the running gear for movable mounting.

Although the wheels can be driven by any motor, it is particularly advantageous if each driven wheel is driven by an electric motor. This results in particularly quiet, efficient and environmentally friendly transport. The vehicle can use rechargeable batteries or, for example, carry fuel cells and fuel. In a preferred embodiment, however, the two supporting cable units are live to supply electrical energy to the electric motor-driven wheels.

In order to completely relieve the load on the supporting cable units and the supports, in an advantageous design variant the supporting surfaces are designed to provide a lift corresponding to the weight of the vehicle and the people or goods being transported at a given travel speed. This means that the vehicle can take on a much greater load with equally strong supporting cable units and supports.

In order to achieve a low center of gravity and thus make the transport of people and goods safer and more comfortable, in a cheaper variant the wings are mounted on the fuselage in the manner of a shoulder or high-wing aircraft. At the same time, the fuselage is more usable because it is not penetrated by a wing spar.

In order to be able to guide the running gear and thus the vehicle particularly precisely on the support cable unit(s), A tail unit is preferably mounted on the fuselage or the wings. This means that the vehicle - unlike conventional railways or cable cars - can be actively controlled along the supporting cable unit(s) and a particularly high vehicle speed can be achieved.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a section of a rail or cable strand of a cable-bound transport system according to the invention in a schematic side view; Figs. 2a and 2b show a segment of a supporting cable unit of the rail or cable strand of Fig. 1 in a cross section (Fig. 2a) and in plan view (Fig. 2b); Figs. 3a and 3b show various examples of a vehicle of the cable-bound transport system according to the invention in a front view (Fig. 3a) and a side view (Fig. 3b).

Fig. 4 a running gear of one of the vehicles of Fig. 3a or 3b with the segment of the support cable unit of Fig. 2a and 2b in a schematic front view; and

Fig. 5 shows a further section of the rail or cable strand of the cable-bound transport system according to the invention in a schematic side view.

Fig. 1 shows a rail or rope strand 2 as the first part of a rope-supported transport system 1 for people or goods. In this example, the rail or rope strand 2 comprises at least one rail 3, one or more supporting cables 4 parallel to the rail 3, to which the at least one rail 3 is anchored, and several supports 5, which support the supporting cable 4 or the supporting cables 4 at a distance from the terrain 6. The supports 5 are each anchored in the terrain 6 via a foundation 7; the span S between adjacent supports 5 depends, among other things, on the course of the terrain and is typically between a few meters and a few hundred meters, e.g. around 150 meters. The supporting cables 4 are optionally attached to the ground via ground anchors 8. Terrain 6 anchored, for example every few hundred meters to a few kilometers, e.g. every five to six kilometers.

According to the example shown in Fig. 2a and 2b, the transport system 1 optionally has two parallel support cables 4 for each rail 3. The rail 3 is anchored to the two support cables 4 with clamps 9, thereby creating a support cable unit 10. Between the support cables 4 and the rail 3, each clamp 9 has an optional spacer 11. The spacer 11 holds the rail 3 at a predetermined distance A from the support cables 4. At the same time, the spacer 11 represents a solid base for clamping jaws 12, which (here: with the interposition of support wedges 13) grasp the rail foot 14 on both sides and press it against the spacer 11, as is known from specialist knowledge for railways. The spacer 11 is anchored to the support cables 4, e.g. with press sleeves 15, U-clamps or the like.

In the example of Fig. 2a, the specified distance A is small. Since the distance A can be specified differently from clamp 9 to clamp 9, it can in particular be large enough in each case for the spacers 11 to compensate for sagging of the support cables 4 between adjacent supports 5, so that the rails 3 are straight across several supports 5, as is symbolized in Fig. 1 by the clamps 9 on the support cable(s) 4, which are spaced apart from one another by the distance D. It is understood that the distance A can be specified differently; in particular, when specifying the distance A, the course of the terrain can be taken into account, for example.

The spacer 11 is bevelled towards its flanks 11' on the side facing the support cables 4. In this way, for example, an unequal height of the two support cables 4 can be compensated and/or the rail 3 can be placed at an angle with respect to the support cables 4 by anchoring the spacer 11 decentrally to the support cables 4. In the example shown, the rail 3 is anchored to the top of the support cables 4. Alternatively, the rail 3 could be anchored to the bottom of the support cables 4 and the rail 3 could therefore hang down from the support cables 4. The web 17 connecting the rail foot 14 to the rail head 16 can be straight or curved when viewed in cross-section and/or the rail head 16 can be thickened compared to the web 17 - e.g. spherical or oval in cross-section - as will be explained in more detail below with reference to Fig. 4. Furthermore, each rail 3 could be anchored to just one or more than two support cables 4 or could be omitted altogether, in which case each support cable unit 10 is formed only by one or more optionally interconnected support cables 4.

Figs. 3a and 3b show two slightly different examples of a vehicle 18 as the second part of the transport system 1. The vehicle 18 has a fuselage 19 for accommodating the persons or goods and on each side of the fuselage a wing 20 projecting from the fuselage 19.

Furthermore, the vehicle 18 has at least one (here: a total of four) running gear(s) 21, which is/are guided on the supporting cable unit(s) 10. Each running gear 21 has one or more driven wheels 22, which run on the at least one supporting cable unit 10, i.e. in the example of Fig. 3a on the rail 3 of the supporting cable unit 10 and in the example of the railless supporting cable unit 10 of Fig. 3b directly on the supporting cable 4. Furthermore, each running gear 21 is designed to establish permanent contact between each driven wheel 22 and that supporting cable unit 10 (Fig. 3a: that rail 3 or Fig. 3b: that supporting cable 4) on which the wheel 22 runs, as will be explained in more detail below with reference to Fig. 4.

The wings 20 are mounted on the fuselage 19 in the manner of a shoulder-wing aircraft. Alternatively, the wings 20 can run above the fuselage 19 in the manner of a high-wing aircraft and be mounted on the fuselage 19 via struts, or be mounted on the fuselage 19 in the manner of a mid-wing or low-wing aircraft.

It is understood that vehicles 18 can move along the rail or cable strand 2 of the transport system 1 in one direction of travel F or in the opposite direction of travel F'. If vehicles 18 are to move in both directions of travel F, F' at the same time, the rail or cable strand 2 must be doubled. For example, a rail or cable strand 2 can run on one side of each support 5 for use in one direction of travel F and a rail or cable strand 2 can run on the other side of each support 5 for use in the other direction of travel F', as is known for conventional cable cars. Each rail or cable strand 2 then has one or more support cable units 10 for each direction of travel F, F'.

In the example of Fig. 3a, the transport system 1 has two parallel support cable units 10 for each direction of travel F, F' (here: two parallel rails 3 and two parallel support cables 4 for each rail 3). The vehicle 18 has a two-track running gear 21, which is mounted on the fuselage 19, for example (or alternatively several two-track running gears 21 arranged one behind the other) or, as here, two single-track running gears 21 spaced apart from one another in its transverse direction Q, with each track being guided on a different one of the two support cable units 10 (here: rails 3), i.e. one track on one rail 3 and the other track on the other rail 3, as shown in Fig. 3a.

As shown in Fig. 3b, the vehicle 18 in each embodiment optionally has two (or more) single-track running gears 21 arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction L of the vehicle 18 on each side of its fuselage 19. The running gears 21 can be mounted on the underside of the wing, as here, so that the vehicle 18 is placed from above on the support cable units 10 (in the example of Fig. 3b: on the support cables 4).

Alternatively, the running gears 21 could be mounted on the upper side of the wing, in which case the vehicle 18 grips each support cable unit 10, e.g. from below, in order to support the wheels 22 of the Running gear 21 can run on top of the support cable units 10 or - in reverse of the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 - can be attached to the rail head 16 from below or, in the absence of a rail 3, directly to the support cable 4. This applies equally to single-track or multi-track running gear 21, which can be mounted on the top or bottom of the fuselage 19 or the wings 20. Finally, the transport system 1 could also have more than two parallel support cable units 10 for each direction of travel F.

The wings 20 ensure that, as the speed in the direction of travel F increases, an ever-increasing proportion of the weight of the vehicle 18 and the people or goods transported therein is compensated by the aerodynamic lift. In one embodiment, the wings 20 are designed to provide a lift corresponding to the weight of the vehicle 18 and the people or goods transported therein at a predetermined travel speed, so that the rail(s) 3 and the support cable(s) 4 are not loaded by the vehicle 18. For this purpose, the wings 20 are optionally equipped with lift-enhancing flaps or the like in addition to their lift-generating profile, as is known from the specialist knowledge for aircraft. In order to be able to follow the rail or cable strand 2 better, a tail unit 23 is optionally mounted on the fuselage 19 or on the wings 20, as symbolized in Fig. 3a by a vertical stabilizer 23', whereas the vehicle 18 of Fig. 3b only has lateral winglets 20'.

In order for each driven wheel 22 to have permanent contact with the supporting cable unit 10 on which it runs, in a variant of the transport system 1 each driven wheel 22 is magnetic so that, depending on the design of the supporting cable unit 10, it adheres either to the head 16 of the rail 3 or, if no rail 3 is included, directly to the supporting cable 4.

In an alternative or supplementary embodiment shown schematically in Fig. 4, the head 16 of each rail 3 is thickened and the drive 21 has one or more (here: two) guide wheels 24 for each driven wheel 22. These wheels 22, 24, i.e. the driven wheel 22 and the guide wheels 24, are - viewed in the longitudinal direction of the rail 3 - distributed radially around the rail head 16 and rotatable about axes a tilted relative to each other in order to establish permanent contact between the driven wheel 22 and the rail 3. The wheels 22, 24 engage with their respective running surfaces 25, 26 from different sides on the thickened rail head 16 (here: circular in cross-section). It is understood that in this embodiment of the running gear 21, the wheels 22, 24 can alternatively engage with their respective running surfaces 25, 26 from different sides on the support cable 4 if the support cable unit 10 does not comprise a rail 3.

According to Fig. 4, each driven wheel 22 (as well as the optional guide wheels 24) is optionally movable relative to the hull in the transverse direction Q and in the vertical direction H of the vehicle 18 and is thereby fixedly mounted on the running gear 21 in the longitudinal direction L of the vehicle 18. In the example shown, springs 27 and dampers 28 are provided on the running gear 21 for movable mounting, for example spring-loaded and damped telescopic bearings 29.

Each driven wheel 22 can be driven by a motor of any design and function. In particular, each driven wheel 22 can be driven by an electric motor. The vehicle 18 can have a corresponding energy storage device to supply the electric motor; in the examples shown, the two support cable units 10 are preferably live to supply electrical energy to the electric motor-driven wheel 22 or the electric motor-driven wheels 22.

Fig. 5 shows a further section of the rail or cable strand 2, which comprises a starting section 30, eg in a station of the transport system 1. In the area of the starting section 30, the support cable units 10 are not supported by spaced-apart supports 5, but continuously, eg directly on the ground 6 or by retaining walls or the like, which run along the entire starting section 30, on the ground 6. In this way, In this way, the vehicle 18 can brake to a standstill in this area or accelerate from a standstill to cruising speed without the supporting cable units 10 being bent as a result of its weight and that of the transported persons or goods due to a lack of sufficient lift from the wings 20.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but includes all variants, modifications and combinations thereof that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Patent claims: 1. Cable-supported transport system for people or goods, characterized by the combination of: at least one supporting cable unit (10) with one or more parallel supporting cables (4), which is supported on several spaced-apart supports (5), and a vehicle (18) with a hull (19) for receiving the people or goods, wings (20) projecting laterally from the hull (19), and at least one running gear (21) guided on the at least one supporting cable unit (10), wherein the running gear (21) has one or more driven wheels (22) for running on the at least one supporting cable unit (10) and is designed to establish permanent contact between each driven wheel (22) and the supporting cable unit (10) on which the wheel (22) runs. 2. Transport system according to claim 1, characterized in that each driven wheel (22) is magnetic for establishing the permanent contact. 3. Transport system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each support cable unit (10) comprises a rail (3) anchored to the support cable(s) (4) parallel to which the driven wheel (22) or the driven wheels (22) of the running gear (21) run. 4. Transport system according to claim 3, characterized in that each rail (3) has a thickened head (16) and the running gear (21) has one or more guide wheels (24) for each driven wheel (22), the wheels (22, 24) being distributed radially around the rail head (16) in order to establish permanent contact, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the rail, in order to engage thereon with their running surfaces (25, 26) from different sides. 5. Transport system according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by two parallel support cables (4) for each rail (3), each rail (3) being provided with spaced clamps (9) are anchored to both supporting cables (4) and each clamp (9) has a spacer (11) between the supporting cables (4) and the rail (3), which holds the rail (3) at a predetermined distance (A) from the supporting cables (4). 6. Transport system according to claim 5, characterized in that the said predetermined distances (A) are each so large that sagging of the supporting cables (4) between adjacent supports (5) is compensated by the spacers (11). 7. Transport system according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the rail (3) is anchored to the upper side of the supporting cables (4). 8. Transport system according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by two parallel support cable units (10) for each direction of travel (F), wherein the vehicle (18) has a two-track running gear (21) or two single-track running gears (21) spaced apart from one another in its transverse direction (Q), and each track is guided on a different one of the two support cable units (10). 9. Transport system according to claim 8, characterized in that a single-track drive (21) is mounted on each wing (20), preferably on each wing underside. 10. Transport system according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that each driven wheel (22) is movable relative to the hull (19) in the transverse and vertical directions (Q, H) of the vehicle (18) and is fixedly mounted on the running gear (21) in the longitudinal direction (L) of the vehicle (18). 11. Transport system according to claim 10, characterized in that springs (27) and dampers (28) are provided on the running gear (21) for movable mounting. 12. Transport system according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that each driven wheel (22) is driven by an electric motor. 13. Transport system according to claim 12 in conjunction with claim 8, characterized in that the two support cable units (10) are current-carrying for the electrical energy supply of the electric motor-driven wheels (22). 14. Transport system according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the wings (20) are designed to provide a lift corresponding to the weight of the vehicle (18) and the persons or goods transported at a predetermined travel speed. 15. Transport system according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the wings (20) are mounted on the fuselage (19) in the manner of a shoulder or high-wing aircraft. 16. Transport system according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that a tail unit (23) is also mounted on the fuselage (19) or the wings (20).