Trolley for rail tracks that are branched by means of switch points

The invention concerns a trolley for rail tracks (3) that are branched by means of switch points. To avoid a switch point jam, while simultaneously saving power and maintenance effort, the trolley is equipped with moveable hooks and the switch points are designed as passive switches without any moveable parts, where the hooks can engage the guide rails (12) of the passive switch points in accordance with the desired travel direction.

TECHNICAL FIELD
 The invention concerns a trolley--switch point configuration.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Railway vehicles of any kind, particularly passenger trains, freight
 trains, electric trolleys for transportation inside of closed spaces such
 as production halls, sorting stations or high shelf storage, whether
 suspended or on the ground, must be routed in the desired travel direction
 via rail tracks that are branched by means of switch points.
 Switch points that are equipped with moveable rail parts are known; they
 can be inserted into a gap in one or the other railway direction for
 deflecting or shifting. The power required to move the rail parts is
 considerable. Beyond that, wear in conjunction with the effect of weather
 and contamination are a disadvantage. Such mechanical, i.e. active switch
 points require intensive maintenance. Their use in explosion-proof and wet
 spaces is almost impossible and is not permitted in most areas.
 So-called turntables are also known, in which the railway vehicles or
 individual railway cars are turned around with the turntable until a
 seamless transfer is established to the desired connecting track
 direction. In this case the fairly considerable power requirement is also
 a disadvantage. The danger of a switch point jam must also be considered.
 Railway vehicles or trolleys which closely follow each other can jam at
 the branch sections, since the operation of the turntables, as well as the
 above-cited deflecting switch points, require a long time for each
 vehicle. The trolleys must stop or at least slow down in any event. This
 very much restricts the passage of trolleys, i.e. the traffic density.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The object of the invention is to improve a trolley-switch point
 configuration in regard to power consumption, maintenance requirement,
 trolley passage and wear as well as contamination. It must further be
 endeavored to provide unrestricted access to explosion-proof and wet
 spaces.
 The invention achieves this object by a trolley for rail tracks that are
 branched by means of switch points, wherein the trolley has moveable
 hooks, and the switch points are designed as passive switches without any
 moveable parts, where the hooks can engage the guide rails of the passive
 switches in accordance with the desired travel direction. The basic idea
 of the invention is to interchange the fixed and moveable components of
 the trolley and the switch points needed to pass through the branches.
 This provides the possibility of creating constructions which are
 characterized by very little power consumption, smooth passage through the
 branches without any stopping or braking phase, and low wear as well as a
 significant decrease in the required maintenance.
 The invention also illustrates constructions that have advantageous further
 developments of the basic idea for an electric ground trolley (EBB) and an
 electric suspended trolley (EHB). In that case the passive switches are
 designed as a slotted hollow profile and provided with the guide rails,
 while the hook discussed above is designed as a rocker both ends of which
 are able to alternatively engage one of the two guide rails. The guide
 rail and the rocker may be located inside the hollow profile. This
 produces an effective protection against mechanical damage and
 contaminative as well as environmental influences. Such electric trolleys
 (EBB and EHB) are especially designed for use in workshops. However, their
 use for passenger and freight traffic is also conceivable. This allows the
 omission of heated active switches and their expensive control devices,
 which must comply with high safety standards. It is only necessary for the
 electric or diesel locomotive to have a device that engages a passive
 switch guide rail in a way so that the locomotive and all of its coupled
 cars are forced into the desired direction. However the following
 configurations refer only to the electric ground trolley and the electric
 suspended trolley for industrial applications, while their exemplary
 nature is emphasized.
 Configurations are also illustrated for electric suspended trolleys that
 have advantageous designs which are characterized by good stability and
 friction properties. The guide rod or the holding device can pass through
 the longitudinal slot in an almost contactless manner.
 It is preferred to control the position of the rocker by means of
 contactless inductive power transfer heads. This gives an advantageous
 smoothness to the rocker movements. The power demand of the electric
 ground trolley or the electric suspended trolley is also covered in a
 contactless manner by the inductive power transmission.
 The travel direction can be established by controlling the switch points,
 as is the case with conventional switches. However no moving parts are
 required within the switch point. The moving part is the rocker, which is
 a component of the electric ground trolley or the electric suspended
 trolley.
 Trolleys with a preprogrammed travel destination can establish the travel
 direction immediately before a branch. This variation is especially
 advantageous with trolleys following closely behind each other, which do
 not travel in accordance with a time schedule, but detect advancing
 trolleys by means of distance sensors for example, and autonomously
 compute the optimum routes for reaching a predetermined target point by
 means of an intelligent logic. Such systems are very flexible and can be
 used to advantage for example in assembly lines which process large lot
 sizes.
 The free ends of the rocker can be provided with guide wheels to enable
 quiet and low friction shunting at branch points. In that case the guide
 wheels are used as quasi-hooks.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
 FIG. 1a illustrates the lower part of an electric ground trolley EBB 1
 interacting with a branch area 2 of a rail track arrangement 3 (See FIG.
 1b). The rail track arrangement 3 is essentially designed as a hollow
 profile 4 with a longitudinal slot 5 on top. A guide rod 6 of the EBB 1
 penetrates into the longitudinal slot 5, and is connected on the top to an
 undercarriage axle 7, and on the bottom to a support bearing 8 and a
 rocker 13. The undercarriage axle 7 connects two drive wheels 9 to each
 other, which are able to move on both sides of the longitudinal slot 5 on
 the top 10 of the hollow profile 4, and cause the EBB 1 to move forward.
 The support bearing 8, for example a ball bearing, interacts with the
 inside 11 of two guide rails 12 of the hollow profile 4. The guide rails
 12 penetrate into the hollow profile 4 on both sides of the longitudinal
 slot 5. Under the guide rails and the support bearing unit 12/8, the
 rocker 13 is located above an axis of rotation 14 which is connected to
 the guide rod 6. The free ends 15 and 16 of the rocker 13 have upwards
 facing guide wheels 17 and 18 installed on them. They are able to engage
 the guide rails 12, depending on the position of the rocker 13. In the
 position illustrated in FIG. 1 the right guide wheel 18 is engaged, which
 causes the EBB 1 to veer to the right. In the other rocker position, where
 the left guide wheel 17 on the free left end 15 is engaged, the EBB 1 in
 FIG. 1b would continue to travel straight on the rail track arrangement 3.
 The rocker 13 is controlled by two mirror-symmetrical inductive power
 transfer heads 20, which are located in the lower part of the hollow
 profile 4 opposite the free ends 15 and 16 of the rocker 13. Depending on
 the electrification of the two power transfer heads 20, either the left
 free end 15 or the right free end 16 of the rocker 13 is attracted, so
 that the respective other free end with the corresponding guide wheel 17
 or 18 engages one of the guide rails 12. on the outside 19 of the two
 guide rails 12. Additionally, the inductive power transfer heads (20) can
 be controlled by an intelligent logic 30 which is integrated in the
 trolley and which is able to compute an optimum trajectory.
 The same rocker principle is provided for the electric suspended trolley
 EHB 21 illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b. It can be seen that in the
 illustrated position of the rocker 13, the EHB 21 is driven to the right
 and thus into a right turn. A modified hollow profile 22 is attached to a
 ceiling structure 23. In addition to the rocker 13 and the inductive power
 transfer heads 20, the hollow profile 22 also contains the drive wheels 9
 of the EHB 21. The top of the undercarriage axle 7 is connected to the
 axis of rotation 14 of the rocker 13, and the bottom to a holding device
 24 which penetrates into the longitudinal slot 5, for a not illustrated
 cargo to be transported. In the same manner as the guide rod 6 of EBB 1,
 the holding device 24 of EHB 22 is equipped with a support bearing 25,
 which contacts a neck-shaped extension of the longitudinal slot 5.
 The invention is not limited to the embodiments indicated above. Rather a
 member of variations can be envisioned in which other basically different
 configurations utilize the features of the invention.