Patent ID: 6792872
Filing Date: 2004-09-21
Classification: A63G,B61B,B64B,Y02T

Abstract:
A stable and energy-efficient aerial trolley system for transporting human passengers and other cargo back and forth across land or shallow water bodies between two fixed terminal locations, comprising in combination:a balloon apparatus filled with a lighter-than-air gas, the balloon apparatus having a forward aerodynamically extending outward nose portion; a carriage assembly suspended from the balloon, with said carriage assembly including a portion to house and accommodate said passengers and cargo; adjustable ballast means on said carriage for adjusting net-lift of the combined balloon-carriage assembly; a track system for securing and guiding and propelling the carriage assembly in a stable fashion, the track system including a plurality of vertical masts at regularly spaced intervals with horizontal members at top sections of each mast a drive cable assembly including a continuous cable which is arranged into an endless loop between two fixed end-pulleys at both terminal ends of the track system, with a means for maintaining tension on said cable loop, and with at least one of said end-pulleys being driven by a motor; said drive cable assembly, being oriented down the track centerline, with each of the two strands of cable loop being supported by an independent plurality of horizontally oriented rollers mounted upon the horizontal members of each said track support mast at regularly spaced intervals along length of the track system; a forward extending carriage cable for securing at least one the front end of the carriage to said drive cable, to result in propulsion of the balloon-carriage assembly along the track system; and a forward extending balloon nose cable extended from the nose portion of the balloon, and independently attached to said drive cable, to keep the balloon in constant horizontal position relative to the carriage as the combined balloon-carriage assembly is propelled along said track system, the adjustable ballast means being used for the adjusting of the net-lift of the combined balloon-carriage assembly relative to the track system so as to provide stability to the carriage while the carriage is traveling along the track system.