Patent ID: 8622352

Claim:
A guideway switching mechanism comprising: an elongated section of flexible guideway having a first end and a second end, the first end operable to be coupled to a first elongated guideway; a support substrate providing substantially continuous support of the elongated section of flexible guideway from the first end to the second end, an upper surface of the support substrate having a convex shape that creates a banking angle from the first end to the second end of the elongated section of flexible guideway; and a switch plate coupled to the flexible guideway proximate the second end and operable to bend the flexible guideway to selectively couple the second end to two or more second elongated guideways such that an automated transport vehicle may be guided by the elongated section from the first elongated guideway to either of the two or more second elongated guideways, wherein the switch plate is disposed in a horizontally oriented arc-shaped cavity formed in the support substrate and the switch plate moves within the horizontally oriented arc shaped cavity to selectively bend the flexible guideway while maintaining the properties of the flexible guideway.