Guideway switch apparatus for magnetically levitated vehicles

Abstract

A switch is used, at the divergent zone, to cause the vehicle bogie to follow one path or the other in the guideway. This is accomplished by substituting an attracting magnetic array on the side that the vehicle bogie is desired to follow. The switch may operate without moving parts, so there is no inertial penalty to limit operational frequency. The switch is designed to fail gracefully in the absence of activation power or control signals. Further, the switch is designed to ensure that there would be no derailment or dropping of a vehicle.

1 . A switch apparatus for directing a vehicle bogie in the networked guideway transit system at a divergent portion of a guideway, the switch comprising:
 an electromagnet component for directing a vehicle bogie to a desired direction in the guideway;   a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle attached to the vehicle bogie; and   an electrodynamic repulsion component for passively centering the vehicle bogie.   
   
   
       2 . The switch apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle bogie is directed to the desired direction by the polarity of the electromagnet component. 
   
   
       3 . The switch apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the polarity of the electromagnet component is changed by reversing the electrical current through the electromagnet component. 
   
   
       4 . The switch apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the electromagnet component includes a first electromagnet arrays and second electromagnet arrays which are vertically polarized homopolar electromagnetic arrays. 
   
   
       5 . The switch apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the first electromagnet arrays and second electromagnet arrays are arranged laterally opposite to each other. 
   
   
       6 . The switch apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the first electromagnet arrays are energized in the direction that attracts a permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie. 
   
   
       7 . The switch apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the second electromagnet arrays are energized in the direction that repels the permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie. 
   
   
       8 . The switch apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the divergent portion is a portion of the guideway where the guideway begins to split into two separate guideways. 
   
   
       9 . A networked guideway transit system that utilizes permanent magnets levitation and electrodynamic repulsion, the networked guideway system comprising:
 a vehicle bogie that comprises a set of bogie segments, each bogie segment including a bogie levitation component for providing lifting forces and a bogie propulsion component for providing propulsion forces on the vehicle bogie, wherein the vehicle bogie supports a vehicle in the networked guideway transit system; and   a guideway that comprises a first portion and a second portion, each portion including a set of modular guideway blocks,   wherein each modular guideway block in the first portion includes a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle, a guideway propulsion component for moving the vehicle bogie, and a electrodynamic repulsion component for centering the vehicle bogie and each modular guideway block in the second portion includes an electromagnet component for directing the vehicle bogie, a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle, and an electrodynamic repulsion component for centering the vehicle bogie.   
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the polarity of the electromagnet component is reversed based on the desired direction of the vehicle bogie. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the polarity of the electromagnet component is reversed by changing the electrical current through the electromagnet component. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the bogie levitation component includes a first permanent magnet for providing forces for lifting the vehicle and a second permanent magnet for providing forces for clamping the vehicle. 
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the set of bogie segments is nested in the set of modular guideway blocks. 
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the second portion is a divergent portion of the guideway where the two sides of the guideway are spaced progressively apart. 
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first portion is a non-divergent portion of the guideway. 
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the electrodynamic repulsion component includes guideway propulsion coils and the bogie propulsion magnet component is positioned at the center with the guideway propulsion coils. 
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the bogie levitation component includes a first permanent magnet component and a second permanent magnet component placed in a linear arrangement, the first permanent magnet component providing forces for lifting the vehicle and a second permanent magnet providing forces for clamping the vehicle. 
   
   
       18 . A method for implementing a switch for directing a vehicle bogie in the networked guideway transit system at a divergent portion of a guideway, wherein the switch comprises an electromagnet component for directing a vehicle bogie to a desired direction in the guideway, the electromagnet component comprising a first electromagnet arrays and second electromagnet arrays, a guideway levitation component for lifting the vehicle attached to the vehicle bogie and an electrodynamic repulsion component for passively centering the vehicle bogie, the method comprising:
 determining a desired direction for the vehicle bogie;   determining the first electromagnet arrays that corresponds to the desired direction;   energizing the first electromagnet arrays in the direction that attracts permanent magnet components of the vehicle bogie; and   energizing the second electromagnet arrays in the direction that repels the permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie.   
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first electromagnet arrays are energized with the same polarity as the permanent magnet components of the vehicle bogie while the second electromagnet arrays are energized with the opposite polarity as the permanent magnet components of the vehicle bogie. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the polarity of the first electromagnet arrays and the polarity of the second electromagnet arrays is changed by reversing the electrical current through the electromagnet component. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first electromagnet arrays and second electromagnet arrays are arranged in laterally opposite to each other. 
   
   
       22 . A method for conveying a vehicle bogie along either of two guideway paths that converge to a single path within a networked guideway transit system, wherein the guideways include guideway levitation components for lifting the vehicle attached to the vehicle bogie, electrodynamic repulsion components for passively centering the vehicle bogie and electromagnet guidance components for directing a vehicle bogie along its incoming pathway until the two pathways merge to one, the electromagnet guidance components comprising first electromagnet arrays and second electromagnet arrays, the method comprising:
 detecting the vehicle bogie approaching the convergent portion of a guideway; and   energizing the first electromagnet arrays in the direction that attracts the permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie and energizing the second electromagnet arrays in the direction that repels the permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie.   
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the first electromagnet arrays and the second electromagnet arrays are replaced with permanent magnet arrays with the same polarity as the permanent magnet components of the vehicle bogie. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 detecting the vehicle bogie moving in a backward direction;   determining a pathway for the vehicle bogie to follow; and   energizing the first electromagnet arrays in the direction that attracts the permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie and energizing the second electromagnet arrays in the direction that repels the permanent magnet component of the vehicle bogie,   wherein the first electromagnet arrays corresponds to the intended guideway path.   
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the first permanent magnet array has the same polarity as the permanent magnet components of the vehicle bogie and the second permanent magnet array has the opposite polarity as the permanent magnet components of the vehicle bogie such that the vehicle bogie moving in the backward direction is to follow the determined pathway.