Patent ID: 7624685

Claim:
A guideway and chassis system of wheel-based, rail running vehicles for passenger transportation, comprising a) a guideway system including substantially horizontal bases, two parallel rails, and mainly vertical guide rails extending along both sides of the rails, with mainly horizontal inward flanges at a vertical distance above the bases, and b) a chassis for a vehicle, said chassis including a set of main wheels arranged to run on said rails and a set of guide wheels arranged to bear against the guide rails to ensure the lateral position of the vehicle, and a set of switching wheels at both sides of the guide rails, said switching wheels being operable between a passive position where no switching wheel is in contact with any guide rail and an active position where the switching wheel at one side of the chassis bears against an exterior side of a corresponding guide rail, said flanges being localized closely above a top side of at least one of said guide wheels so as to restrict ability to upward vertical movement of the guide wheel, a width of the flanges being sufficiently small so as to not interfere with the main wheels, which extend vertically beyond the horizontal flanges, and said switching wheels being activated in a region or at a point of the guideway where at least a top part of each guide rail extending to a point of engagement for the switching wheels is thinner than a corresponding top part of the guide rail is at the switching points of the guideway.