Abstract:
A transit system has an elevated controlled roadway system, a plurality of powered transport vehicles with steerable front wheels having a common width dimension, and both manual controls and an on-board computer (OBC) system for control on the elevated roadway, a master computer system communicating with the OBCs, enabled thereby to determine location of transport vehicles and to control velocity of the transport vehicles, and outwardly-angled guide curbs along opposite sides of the roadway surface, and spaced apart at a dimension larger than the common width dimension. The front wheels of the transport vehicles, by virtue of the angle of the guide curbs, provide a region of contact to vehicle wheels only at a relatively thin line near the outside diameter of each wheel, and wherein the guide curbs or the front wheels at the region of contact, or both, are surfaced with a low-friction material.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present invention is a continuation of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/747,436, filed May 11, 2007, and is related to Ser. No. 13/398,485, filed Feb. 16, 2012 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,231,302 on Jul. 31, 2012. Ser. No. 11/747,436 is a continuation-in-part (CIP) to a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/560,981, filed on Nov. 17, 2006 and entitled: “Intelligent Public Transit System Using Dual Mode Vehicles”. All of the disclosure of the prior applications are incorporated herein at least by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention is in the field of mass transit and pertains particularly to methods and apparatus for low friction safety in case of personal vehicle contact with a guideway side curb. 
         [0004]    2. Discussion of the State of the Art 
         [0005]    In the field of mass transit there are a variety of proposed mass transit system architectures, some developed and some not yet realized. Several such systems are described with reference to the co-pending application listed in the cross-reference section of this specification. 
         [0006]    The inventor is aware of a computerized system for guiding activity in a current construction project is provided, comprising digital memory storing information about completed and current construction projects, at least one input mechanism for a user to provide information to the digital memory concerning the current construction project, a processor system for accessing information in the digital memory, processing said information, and providing output available to a user of the computerized system, and software guiding the processor in its accessing information, processing the information, and in providing the output. Considering a current project, the software accesses information regarding one or more completed projects as well as information concerning the current project, processes the information, and provides output specifying one or more actions to be taken in the current project. 
         [0007]    In the system known to the inventor, in one aspect, the projects concern building computer-managed personal transport systems, wherein wheeled vehicles are guided in dedicated guideways by a computerized guidance system. In this aspect the inventor is aware of a personal transport system that includes a master computer, a controlled guideway comprising travel lanes and entrance and exit ramps, and dual-mode wheeled vehicles each having an on-board computer coupled to the master computer system, the dual-mode vehicles capable of accessing the guideway via the entrance ramps, travel on the guideway, exiting the guideway via the exit ramps, and of being driven on surface streets. At individual entrance ramps, dual mode vehicles attempting to access an entrance ramp are evaluated by equipment coupled to the master computer for suitability to travel on the controlled guideway, and vehicles failing one or more tests may be prevented from accessing the controlled guideway. 
         [0008]    In the system described above and in more detail in the referenced co-pending application, personal vehicles (PVs) travel on specially constructed guideways having a vehicle transit lane bordered by guide curbs. In one aspect, the vehicles drive on special vehicle tracks and the distance between the guideway curbs is constraining such that the vehicle having a specific width dimension from edge of one tire on one vehicle side to the outside edge of the opposing tire must stay on the vehicle tracks. 
         [0009]    In the co-pending specification, it is described that in some preferred embodiments the tires for PVs are constructed to have a special low-friction sidewall material such as Teflon™ or other low friction material to reduce friction between the tires and side curbs and guide surfaces as much as possible. Also in some cases the side curb surfaces may also be constructed to have low-friction material for the same reasons, and in some embodiments the tires are other than inflatable, to reduce the hazard of flat tires on the personal transit system (PTS) guideway. It has occurred to the inventor that there are a variety of materials and methods for implementing a system to protect vehicle tires and guideway curbs from frictional heat development and wear in case of contact between a personal vehicle&#39;s tires and a guideway curb. 
         [0010]    Therefore, what is clearly needed in a personal transit system where PVs travel on dedicated guideways defined by guideway curbs is a system for protecting the vehicle tires and the guideway curbs from wear and abrasions and for reducing or eliminating any heat generated from occasional contact between tires and curbs. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    In one embodiment of the invention a transit system is provided, comprising a controlled roadway system having a roadway surface substantially elevated above surface streets with on and off ramps communicating with the surface streets, a plurality of internally powered transport vehicles, each individual vehicle having a set of steerable front wheels having a common width dimension, and both manual controls enabling a user to operate the vehicle on the surface streets and an on-board computer (OBC) system enabling software control of at least vehicle steering and velocity while on the controlled roadway, a master computer system communicating with OBCs of individual ones of the transport vehicles while on the controlled roadway system, the master computer system enabled thereby to determine location of transport vehicles on the controlled roadway system, and to control velocity of the transport vehicles, and guide curbs along opposite sides of the roadway surface, the guide curbs each angled outwardly and spaced apart at a dimension larger than the common width dimension across the front wheels such that the transport vehicles may move freely between the guide curbs, and provide a secondary guidance for vehicles. The front wheels of the transport vehicles, by virtue of the angle of the guide curbs, provide a region of contact to vehicle wheels only at a relatively thin line near the outside diameter of each wheel, and wherein the guide curbs or the front wheels at the region of contact, or both, are surfaced with a low-friction material. 
         [0012]    In one embodiment the guide curbs present a continuous guide to the front wheels of the vehicles in both linear and curved motion moving forward, and a continuous guide to the back wheels when moving in reverse. Also in one embodiment the low friction surface comprises polytetrafluoroethylene. In another the low-friction surface comprises a polytetrafluoroethylene-ceramic hybrid. In some cases it is a ceramic metallic hybrid, and in some cases a sprayed coating. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a partial cross-section of an elevated guideway of a personal transit system including a friction reducing safety system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is an elevation view of a tire of a personal vehicle including a friction reducing sidewall according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a top view of a friction reducing safety panel for a guideway curb according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a cross-section of the panel of  FIG. 3  viewed along section line AA. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    The inventor provides a system to guide vehicles in a controlled fashion in guideways, with minimum wear and friction between guideways and the vehicle&#39;s tires, in systems with vehicles traveling on a mass transit guideway such as described in co-pending application Ser. No. 11/560,981. The system of the invention may also apply to other existing transit systems that involve wheeled vehicles in close proximity to a track or guideway curb without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention is described in enabling detail below. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a partial cross-section of an elevated guideway construction  23  of a personal transit system including a friction reducing safety system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This example of a mass transit guideway construction is analogous to the example of  FIG. 2A  of the cross-referenced specification. Some of the elements are the same in both examples and shall retain their same element numbers and descriptions. Some element numbers and elements of  FIG. 2A  of the co-pending specification are omitted in this example for the purpose of clarity. 
         [0019]    In this example, a personal vehicle (PV)  15  is illustrated riding on raised tracks  46 . In this example, cross members  23 , support tube  19 , upright pillar  21  and I beam support member  31  support guideway surface  29  in a fashion such that the guideway is elevated above the ground. In one embodiment, some or all of the architecture may support an on ground guideway as well. Tracks  46  are spaced apart approximately to the width dimensioning of the wheelbase of PV  15  so that the vehicle is constrained to riding on the elevated tracks. System  13  has walkways  39  that also include guideway curbs  34  and  36 . Curbs  34  and  36  define the maximum width of the guideway. 
         [0020]    In this example, the guideway-facing sides of each curb  34  and  36  are angled slightly outward relative to the width of the guideway defining a relative narrow base width that becomes wider with elevation. The exact angle may be between 3 and 7 degrees, but may be grater than 7 degrees in some embodiments. Tracks  46  are located immediately adjacent to each curb. The minimum width from curb to curb at the top surface tracks  46  is just several inches greater that the overall width of the wheelbase of PV  15 . This enables PV  15  to ride on tracks  46  without touching the guideway curbs and also constrained PV  15  to ride on tracks  46 . Even with one or more state-of-the-art guidance systems operating to keep vehicle  15  from contacting guideway curbs, it is still possible that contact between the curbs and the PV may occur. The system of the present invention ensures that such contact causes no damage to the guideway curbs or to the personal vehicle. In some cases the system of the invention may be the primary, or even the only guidance system for vehicles. The angling of the curbs is done partly to ensure that contact with vehicle tires will occur only at an outer periphery of the tires. 
         [0021]    In this example PV  15  has wheels  500 , which may be tires in one embodiment. Wheels  500  are equipped, in this example, with low-friction material sidewalls  501 . In one embodiment sidewalls  501  are molded contiguously with each tire or wheel and are coated with Teflon™ to reduce friction. In another embodiment, sidewalls  501  are separate durable parts that may be installed on wheels  500  by epoxy, stitching, or some other method. 
         [0022]    In this embodiment, sidewalls  501  may be durable polymers or even metallic parts coated with a ceramic based industrial coating to reduce both friction and heat generation. High temperature and low friction industrial coatings such as Teflon PTFE™ and Teflon FEP™ can be used. In one embodiment ceramic/ metal hybrid coatings might be used like Xylan™ 1010 or Xylar™ 2. There are also Teflon/ceramic hybrid coatings available. Such coatings use Teflon for low friction and ceramic for abrasion and wear resistance. Many of these industrial coatings also have Ultraviolet Light (UV) resistant properties and salt resistant properties, which may be important depending on the geographic location of the personal transit guideway. Such coatings are available to the inventor from industrial sources like Coating Solutions Inc located in Saint Paul Minn. www.coatingsolutions.com. 
         [0023]    The coatings described above may have some differences in how they are best applied, what temperatures are used to cure them, and how many layers are required to successfully coat a product. In the case of high temperature curing, sidewalls  501  may be provided as separate parts that would be installed to wheels after they are coated. 
         [0024]    The guideway in this example is fitted with low-friction side curbs  502  running the length of the guideway. Side curbs  502  are strategically located at the top surface of tracks  46  and extend in height up the surface of the adjacent curb to which the curb is installed. The height of curb  502  is sufficient to engage sidewalls  501  at the bottom half of the wheel. Curbs  502 , when installed on curbs  34  and  36 , conform to the angle of the curb surface so that they are angled out slightly from the substantially vertical profile of the sidewall further reducing the possible area of surface contact between the sidewalls and the curbs should contact occur. 
         [0025]    Curbs  501  may be manufactured of a durable metal, fiberglass, or polymer that is treated or coated with a low friction, abrasion and wear-resistant, industrial coating such as one of those coatings previously described above. Provision of sidewalls  501  and curb curbs  502  enables incidental contact between PV  15  and either curbs  36  or  34  without generating frictional heat or causing any excessive wear or abrasion to wheels or curb walls. Moreover, provision of modular parts enables timely maintenance where curbs  502  and sidewalls  501  may be periodically inspected and if needed re-coated or replaced with new parts. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is an elevation view of a PV wheel  500  with sidewall  501  installed according to an embodiment of the present invention. Wheel  500  includes a wheel hub  503 . Sidewall  501  has a special low friction coating of any of the types described above. Sidewall  501  may be formed with wheel  500  in one embodiment. For example, wheel  500  may be an inflatable tire manufactured with sidewall  501  and wherein coating of sidewall  501  may occur after manufacture. In this embodiment, sidewall  501  may simply comprise the coating and otherwise is of the same underlying rubber composite material as the tire. 
         [0027]    In one embodiment, sidewall  501  is a separate piece that is first coated and then installed to tire or wheel  500 . In this embodiment, sidewall  501  may be manufactured of a durable hard material that is coated. The sidewall may be installed to the wheel or tire by epoxy or may be molded in with the tire during manufacture of the tire. Other methods of installing sidewall  501  to tire  500  may be provided without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Stitching, gluing, and molding are just some possible methods. In the case of a durable polymer wheel, sidewall  501  may be manufactured separately from the rest of the wheel and may be installed to the wheel by press fit, bolt on, or snap-on method. There are many possibilities. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is a top view of curb  502  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Curb  502  may be manufactured of a durable but flexible material such as a high temperature polymer or of a sheet metal base sheet of some predicable length. Some flexibility is required for conforming to possible curves in the guideway curb it is installed to. The base sheet, illustrated later in  FIG. 4  as base sheet  504  may be one contiguous material or two or more sheets laminated together to form a desired thickness. In this example, curb  502  has opposing installation flanges  506  formed thereon with a plurality installation bolt openings  507  provided through the flanges in a linear pattern along the length of the curb. Curb  502  is coated on the top surface, which in this example is elevated above the flanges. 
         [0029]    In order to provide a continuous installation of curbs along the length of a guideway, the ends of each curb may have tongue and groove connections similar to some wood floor products so that they may be installed together without producing a gap between them. In this example, a groove  509  and a tongue  508  are illustrated but are considered optional features as other methods for ensuring flush end-to-end installation are possible. Additionally, the thickness dimension of each curb may be tightly controlled to eliminate steps along the installation. In some cases, portions of the guideway curb may be surfaced at the location where curbs meet to help ensure a smooth surface transition between curbs. Further, due to differences in expansion coefficients between different portions of the roadway, expansion joints may be provided. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is a cross-section of curb  502  of  FIG. 3  taken along the section line AA. Curb  502  includes base sheet  504 , flange  506  and industrial top coating  505 . Base sheet  504  may be provided in the form of a single polymer or metallic sheet or of more than one layer laminated together. Some flexibility is desired so that the curb may conform to natural curves in the guideway. Optional tongue and groove features  508  and  509  described above in  FIG. 3  are visible in this example. 
         [0031]    Among the coating properties available in the coatings described further above, is a non-combustion property that may be desired in addition to low friction and wear or abrasion resistance properties. The coatings that enable the system are available to the inventor as described above. The exact coating selected for application may depend in part of the average speed of personal vehicles traveling on the guideway and on the geographic region of the guideway. For example, if the guideway is in an area that gets an abundance of snow for example, a corrosion resistance property would be included in the coating selected in addition to the more static properties of low friction and wear resistance. In areas where there is an abundance of sun and heat a UV resistance property would be included in the coating selected in addition to the static properties of low friction and wear resistance. 
         [0032]    It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the low friction safety system of the invention may be provided using some or all of the mentioned features and components without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, in one embodiment only the coated sidewalls of the invention are used to reduce friction and wear against a guideway curb otherwise not coated. In another embodiment, only the curbs may be provided to reduce friction and wear against the wheels of a PV. Also in some embodiments low-friction coatings may be sprayed on, either on side curbs or tires, or both. In the case of spray-on coatings on tires of a vehicle, a station near an entrance to a guideway may be enabled to ascertain a time period since a last spray-on coating was applied for a certain vehicle, and the spray may be applied only if the ascertained time period is longer than a pre-set threshold. In some embodiments the guiding system described above may be the primary guidance system for the guideway, in other cases the computerized system may be the sole guiding system, and in some cases both may be used. In still another variation to the embodiments described above, low-friction studs or rods may be molded into a vehicle&#39;s tires in manufacture, such that the studs or rods will contact the curbs. Also in some cases no anti-friction material may be needed. 
         [0033]    It will also be apparent to the skilled artisan that the embodiments described above are exemplary of inventions that may have far greater scope than any of the singular descriptions. There may be many alterations made in the descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The spirit and scope of the invention is limited only by the following claims.