Patent ID: 6213026
Filing Date: 2001-04-10
Classification: B61B

Abstract:
In a pneumatic transportation system which includes a vehicle guideway having a vehicle support platform, an air duct beneath said support platform, and a pylon guide slot in said support platform, and which further includes a pneumatically propelled vehicle having an undercarriage and at least one wheel carriage rotatably connected to said undercarriage which support the vehicle on the support platform of the vehicle guideway, and wherein a propulsion plate movably positioned beneath the vehicle in the air duct of said vehicle guideway permits the vehicle to be propelled along the guideway in response to controlled air flow states in the air duct, an improved propulsion plate connector system comprisinga vertical pylon for connecting the propulsion plate in the air duct of the vehicle guideway to a wheel carriage of the pneumatically propelled vehicle through the pylon guide slot of the vehicle guideway support platform, said pylon having a top end for connecting to the wheel carriage, a bottom end for connecting to a propulsion plate in the air duct of said vehicle guideway, and a vertical axis,a horizontal stabilizing beam for counteracting torque about said pylon produced by propulsion forces on said propulsion plate, said stabilizing beam having a base end connected to the top end of said pylon and a distal end connected to the vehicle,a pylon joint at said wheel carriage for removably connecting the top end of said pylon to said wheel carriage, said pylon joint fixing the rotational position of said pylon and the propulsion plate connected thereto about the vertical axis of the pylon such that the propulsion plate in the air duct of the vehicle guideway follows rotation of wheel carriage relative to the undercarriage of the vehicle, anda stabilizing beam joint proximate said pylon joint for joining the base end of said stabilizing beam to the top end of said pylon, said stabilizing beam joint providing a horizontal pivot connection between said stabilizing beam and said pylon so as to permit horizontal articulation of the stabilizing beam relative to the vertical axis of said pylon during rotation of the wheel carriage relative to the undercarriage of the vehicle.