Patent ID: 8166884

Claim:
A switch assembly for magnetic levitation railways, including: a girder ( 1 ), extending in a travel direction (x) and flexible transversely to the travel direction (x), which girder ( 1 ) is provided with travel way or equipment parts ( 6 , 8 ); a rail ( 17 ) located transversely to the travel direction (x); a rack ( 23 ) located transversely to the travel direction (x); and a load-bearing frame ( 15 ), receiving the girder ( 1 ), that has a rotatably supported carrying wheel ( 16 ) braced on the rail ( 17 ) and a drive mechanism ( 18 ) with a gear wheel ( 20 ) meshing with the rack ( 23 ) and with a motor ( 22 ) intended for driving it, wherein switch adjustment is effected by displacement of the load-bearing frame ( 15 ) along the rail ( 17 ) by means of the drive mechanism ( 18 ) and a thus-effected flexing of the girder ( 1 ), characterized in that the girder ( 1 ), the load-bearing frame ( 15 ), and the drive mechanism ( 18 ) form a solidly joined-together structural unit which as a whole is located displaceably in the travel direction (x) relative to the rail ( 17 ) and to the rack ( 23 ).