AU690378B2

AU690378B2 - Pneumatic transport system

Info

Publication number: AU690378B2
Application number: AU40217/95A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Kenneth John Hutter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-02-06
Filing date: 1995-12-04
Publication date: 1998-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 2015-12-04
Also published as: AU4021795A

Description

1

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 KE NNETH JOHN RlUTTER

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Pneumatic Transport System a.

a a 0* a. a aa *.a.aa a Invention Title: The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- 2 This invention relates to a pneumatic transport system that may be adapted to transport persons and various cargoes such as messages, money, ores and other large products and materials.

Pneumatic transport systems have a history extending back to the 1800's. For instance, in the 1850's London's Electric Telegraph Company installed a pneumatic tube system to transport original, paper messages from branch stations to central telegraph stations to avoid mistakes in the recoding of the messages which was otherwise necessary. This system involved blowing or sucking cylinders made from gutta-percha and covered with felt or leather through closed, lead-lined pipes and was operated successfully until 1962 when the advent of telephones and telex machines made the system redundant. Similar systems are, however, still in use today in hospitals for moving samples around and in large department stores for removing money from the store counters to the back-room offices.

However, a problem with the pneumatic transport systems of the prior art is that the cylinders may only be blown or sucked for a limited distance, i.e. to the end of the tube. This is a hindrance to the use of pneumatic :°oooo transport systems and consequently, a system wherein the ee 3 cylinders could be efficiently and automatically passed S.i S 25 from one tube to another could greatly increase the potential uses for pneumatic transport systems.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pneumatic transport system wherein the transport cylinders or carriages may be readily passed a. *o from one tube, or one partitioned section of a tube, to another.

Thus, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a pneumatic transport system comprising: a substantially air-tight tube defining an internal, 35 longitudinal pathway; at least one carriage means contained within said tube and capable of movement within said tube along said longitudinal pathway; at least one partitioning means to divide said tube and longitudinal pathway into substantially air-tight sections, the partitioning means being readily removable and replaceable; and controllable vent means located at, at least, each end of each tube section for removing and/or introducing gas or air to/from said tube section, wherein the carriage means has shape and dimension such that gas or air within the tube is substantially obstructed from passing from one side of the carriage means along the tube to the other side of the carriage means thereby enabling, by removal and/or introduction of gas or air through said vent means, the generation of relatively high and low gas or air pressures on either side of said carriage means sufficient to cause movement of the carriage means along the pathway in the direction of the relatively lower gas or air pressure, the arrangement being such that when the carriage means reaches a predetermined distance from the partitioning means the gas or air pressures on either side of the eee.i S" carriage means are substantially equilibrated and, 25 thereafter, the partitioning means removed to enable the carriage means to proceed io the next tube section.

600. The pneumatic transport system according to the invention therefore enables the carijage means to be passed efficiently and safely from one section of the tube to the next by removing the differential gas/air pressure, once the carriage means approaches the end of the tube 0e section. In systems wherein gas or air is being extracted from the tube section in front of the carriage, it will be appreciated that constant extraction would greatly hinder e" 35 the passage of the carriage means to the next tube section. section.

4 It is preferred that the vent means generate (i.e.

by gas or air removal), a very low gas or air pressure in the tube section in front of the carriage means since this will effectively reduce aerodynamic drag thus making the system significantly more efficient. That is, it is preferred that gas or air is extracted from the tube section in front of the carriage means.

The pneumatic transport system and the carriage means may be adapted to carry various small cargoes such as messages and money or, on a larger scale, persons and large products and materials such as ores. The carriage means may comprise a number of discrete units or cars articulated or coupled by conventional means, for example, tow bars attached via pivots to each unit. The carriage means are preferably constructed so as to enclose and isolate the persons or cargoes from the differential gas/air pressures. The carriage means are also preferably provided with a number of wheels, which may be adapted to run on rails provided within the tube. Wheels are also preferably provided on the side walls of the carriage means in order to maintain the desired clearance between the carriage means and the tube walls during cornering.

Alternatively, the carriage means may run on an electromagnetic rail system such as is known in the art.

25 To enable the generation of differential gas/air p pressure the carriage means must provide an obstruction to gas or air within the tube from passing from one side of the carriage to the other. This may be achieved by ensuring that at least some part of the carriage means occupies greater than 70%, preferably greater than 90%, of the internal cross-sectional space of the tube. The carriage means might then comprise a first unit having a front wall or windscreen occupying, for example, 90% of the internal cross-sectional space of the tube, coupled to 35 a second unit (possibly containing all or the bulk of the persons or cargo) which occupies, say, only 50% of the internal cross-sectional space of the tube.

As indicated above, each tube section is provided with controllable vent means at, at least, each end.

Preferably, however, each tube section is provided with numerous controllable vent means spaced at intervals, preferably equidistant, along the length of the tube.

By controllable vent means, we mean vent means which may be readily opened and closed as required. The vent means may include fans or other means to introduce or extract gas or air to/from the tube section. In order to generate the required differential gas or air pressure, at least one of the vent means located at the tube section ends must be capable of actively introducing by blowing) or extracting gas or air in a controllable manner.

The controllable vent means may be controlled by computer microprocessor) controlling systems.

In the most preferred embodiment, air within the tube section in front of the carriage means is continually extracted (until the predetermined distance from the partitioning means is reached), from a vent means located at the tube section end. The spaced vent means are preferably in communication with the atmosphere. The 25 spaced vent means are, in this case, kept in the closed .r position and opened, sequentially, as the carriage means moves along the tube. That is, each spaced vent means is preferably opened once the carriage means has passed that particular vent. This arrangement ensures that a higher S' 30 air pressure aft of the carriage means is maintained as the carriage means moves along the tube.

Once the gas or air pressure on either side of the S" carriage means has been substantially equilibrated, the partitioning means being approached by the carriage means OQ 35 may be opened by an automatic switch) to enable the carriage means to proceed to the next tube section (which, oooo carriage means to proceed to the next tube section (which,

I

preferably, at the time the carriage means enters, has a gas or air pressure substantially equal to the equilibrated gas/air pressure of the tube section from which the carriage means has just departed). Depending on the distance prior to the partitioning means at which the gas or air pressure is equilibrated, as well as any incline/decline of the tube section between that point and the partitioning means, may determine whether the carriage means will come to a stop prior to the partitioning means.

In such cases, where the carriage means does stop prior to the partitioning means, it is preferred to provide the carriage means with a motor, preferably electric, which may be activated so as to move the carriage means past the partitioning means to the next section. Alternatively, at a distance before or at the point where the carriage means would ordinarily be expected to stop, a decline in the tube section may be introduced to enable the carriage means to "free-wheel" past the partitioning means to the next tube section.

Alternatively, it may be preferred to bring the carriage means to a stop adjacent to the partitioning means and then open the partitioning means to enable the carriage means to pass into the next tube section. In such a system, the partitioning means may comprise first 25 and second doors sliding doors) separated by a distance greater than the length of the carriage means, S.wherein the end-located controllable vent means is located between the first and second doors. The carriage would be S"pushed or pulled towards the second door (the first door 30 being in the open position), stopped adjacent the second door at which time the first door may be closed aft of the carriage and subsequently (or simultaneously), the first door may be opened. The carriage is then effectively passed to the next tube section.

The actual distance before the partitioning means at which the gas or air pressures are equilibrated will be influenced by a number of factors such as the speed and weight of the carriage means, safety considerations etc.

However, it would be well within the skill of persons skilled in the art to determine a suitable distance for particular systems.

The speed of the carriage means moving along the pathway may be controlled by controlling the difference in the high and low gas/air pressure fore and aft of the carriage means by controlling rate of gas/air extraction/introduction). Once the venting is activated to bring the gas/air pressures to substantial equilibrium, brakes may be used to assist in slowing the carriage means.

Upon approach of the carriage means to the end of the tube section the gas/air pressures may be substantially equilibrated by simply halting the extraction/introduction of gas/air by the controllable vent means. The controllable vent means which is extracting/blowing gas/air may also be reversed to blow/extract) to increase the rate at which equilibrium is reached. In a similar manner, substantial equilibrium of gas/air pressures may be achieved at other times during the carriage mean's movement along the tube section, so as to enable the use of loading point(s) or station(s) at, for example, a location in the middle of the tube section length.

Other features that may be built into the pneumatic transport system of the invention are wind generators adjacent to extraction fans provided in the controllable 30 vent means to generate electricity which can be used to meet some of the power requirements of the system.

Extracted gas/air from an end-located controllable vent means may also be passed by piping to the tube section aft of the carriage for example, via the other controllable vent means in the tube section. In this way, the extracted gas/air serves to increase the gas/air pressure 8 aft of the carriage means and thereby increase the differential gas/air pressure of the system.

Further, the internal tube diameter may be larger at curves so as to permit the passage of longer carriage means.

The pneumatic transport systems can be constructed to any length and may be linear or a continuous loop (in which case, movement of the carriage means need only be in one direction).

As mentioned previously, the pneumatic transport system can be adapted to transport small cargoes such as messages, money and samples etc and, ideally, could be used in department stores and hospitals etc. The pneumatic transport system could also be produced for use as a toy, for example, with components such as the tube and partitioning means constructed from clear perspex or other suitable plastic so that the carriage means can be readily observed.

On a larger scale, the pneumatic transport system could be constructed to transport persons and large cargoes. Such systems could be constructed with tubes of concrete (a cheap and strong building material) and incorporate many of the known methods and techniques of rail transport into the design of the rails and carriages.

The tube for such systems may be built with a horse-shoe shaped cross-section rounded walls apart from the flat base) or of, for instance, substantially square or rectangular cross-sectional shape. Each tube section may be of different length ranging from, for example 1-10 km.

30 The controllable vents may be spaced apart by, for example, distances of 50m-1000m. Gas or air pressures may be equilibrated, for example, 50-300m prior to the partitioning means. Persons or cargoes may be loaded on or off at loading point(s) or station(s) through the length of the system. Such loading point(s) or station(s) are preferably located at the beginning of a tube section.

9 Alternatively, the system could be adapted to provide exit points so that the carriages may be removed from the tube, perhaps by using motorised shunts, to sidings wherein persons or cargoes could be readily loaded on or off. In such an embodiment and also in linear systems, the fore and aft carriages or carriage ends if there is only one carriage, may be provided with a retractable windscreen which, when extended, occupies greater than 90% of the internal cross-sectionional space of the tube. Prior to and after exit from the tube, the fore windscreen may be extended and the aft windscreen retracted. Then, if the carriage(s) is halted so that the aft windscreen remains within the tube, the aft windscreen may be extended (and the fore windscreen retracted, if desired) to enable a low gas or air pressure to be generated within the tube so that the carriage can be pulled back into the system.

Pneumatic transport systems according to the invention for persons or large cargoes are attractive for several reasons. That is, the system: 20 1) Can be built essentially anywhere.

2) Creates little or no air pollution.

3) Creates little noise.

4) Should require little maintenance.

Should be inexpensive to run as compared to existing rail and transport systems.

6) Should not be hazardous to use in adverse weather.

7) Safe and fast.

8) Could be built over existing rail lines.

S"Such systems could be constructed at ground level, 30 underground or supported above the ground level on, for example, pylons.

0*oo Brief description of the drawings: Figure 1 provides a schematic diagram of a continuous loop system according to the invention.

Figure 2 provides a schematic diagram of partitioning means comprising two sliding doors separated by a distance greater than the length of the carriage means.

Figure and provides schematic crosssectional views of carriage means resident within a tube.

A simple continuous loop pneumatic transport system according to the invention is depictPA at Figure i. The depicte, system involves the use of -liding doors (1) which provide an air-tight seal at one end of the tube sections B and The slidirg door when opened slides into a cavity Each tube section is provided with a vent to the atmosphere so as to maintain atmospheric pressure within the tube section aft of the carriage The simple vent in a continuous system as depicted need not be closed at any time. The carriage begins from a position ahead of the simple vent where a loading point (or station) may be located.

Cargo may be loaded -j off-loaded at the loading point(s) through sliding doors in the tube walls. An extraction 00 oS vent is located at the opposite end of the tube 0000 section. Once the extraction vent is activated to begin extraction of air from the interior of the tube section, the air pressure in front of the carriage will be decreased whilst the air pressure aft of the carriage remains at atmospheric. The differential air pressure Fcaused moves the carriage forward towards the extraction vent In tube section B, controllable vents (8) 30 spaced at equidistant intervals are provided in the ceiling of the tube. These are kept in the closed position air-tight position) and are sequentially opened as each is passed by the carriage, to assist in maintaining the air pressure in the tube section aft of the carriage at atmospheric.

The dashed lines in tube sections A, B and C indicate the point in each tube section where the air pressure on either side of the carriage is equilibrated.

This can be achieved by simply opening a further controllable vent to the atmosphere located near the extraction vent, or by reversing the extraction vent to blow air into the tube section. From this point to the end of the tube section, there may be provided a decline to enable the carriage to free-wheel past the subsequently opened sliding door Figure 2 shows a dual-door partitioning means wherein the carriage having passed through tube section A is brought to rest just prior to the closed sliding door The open sliding door (11) is then closed preferably simultaneously wi'h the opening of door An extraction vent (12) located at the end of tube section B can then be used in conjunction with vent to produce a differential air pressure to move the carriage through the length of tube section B.

20 Figure and depict various cross- S• sectional shapes of the tubes and carriages suitable for Gpneumatic transport systems for persons and other large cargoes. Wheels (13) are provided on the bottom and side of the walls. With wheels located on the sides, it may not be necessary to provide rails within the tube. The carriage (14) may have a clear glass or plastic top ""0"portion The carriages depicted occupy approximately 75%-95% of the cross-sectional space within the tube (16).

,o ""The invention will now be further described with a 0etoo 30 reference to the accompanying example.

EXAMPLE

to..

A model of a pneumatic transport system was produced too• using a length of 90mm diameter PVC water pipe, which was sealed at both ends. Air extraction through an orifice was provided at one end of the tube using a 210mm electric fan. An orifice in the tube was also pr, Lded at the opposite end to enable ingress of air into the tube.

The electric fan turning at 1440 rpm produced a wind velocity within the tube of 9km/h. When a 260g carriage having a shape substantially filling the diameter of the tube, was introduced to the tube, air extraction by the fan was able to move the carriage through the tube at a velocity of 3 km/h or 1/3 of the wind velocity.

Similarly, using a 310 mm electric fan turning at 2850 rpm a wind velocity of about 52 km/h was produced which was able to move the 260g carriage through the tube at 16.5 km/h 1/3 of the wind velocity).

On the basis of these results it can be appreciated that scaling this system up 333 times (wherein the tube would have a diameter of 3.0 a generated wind velocity of 9 km/h could move a carriage having a mass of 86.6 kg at a velocity of up to 3 km/h whilst a generated wind velocity of 456 km/h could move a carriage having a mass of about 22,675.5 tonnes at a velocity of up to 152 km/h.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art ""*that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

a ao

Claims

1. A pneumatic transport system comprising: a substantially air-tight tube defining an internal longitudinal pathway; at least one carriage means contained within said tube and capable of movement within said tube along said longitudinal pathway; at least one partitioning means to divide said tube and longitudinal pathway into substantially air-tight sections, the partitioning means being readily removable and replaceable; and controllable vent means located at at least one end of each tube section for removing and/or introducing gas or air to/from said tube section; "wherein the carriage means has shape and dimension such that gas or air o* *within the said tube is substantially obstructed from passing from one side of the o. *carriage means thereby enabling, by continuous active removal of gas/air from 0 15 ahead of the carriage through the said vent means, the generation of relatively high and low gas/air pressures on either side of said carriage means sufficient to cause movement of the carriage means along the pathway in the direction of the relatively lower gas/air pressure, the arrangement being such that when the carriage means reaches a predetermined distance from the partitioning means the gas/air pressure on either side of the carriage means are substantially equilibrated by actively ""increasing the pressure ahead of the carriage, and thereafter the partitioning means removed to enable the carriage means to proceed to the next tube section, and at least one partitioning means to divide said tube and longitudinal pathway into substantially air-tight sections, meaning doors to open or close, that can be sliding doors, up and down doors, push and pull doors, or revolving doors simple to pass through from one section to the next section of tube section when gas/air is equilibrated close to or at atmospheric pressure.

2. A pneumatic transport system according to claim 1 wherein the relatively high and low gas or air pressures sufficient to cause movement of a carriage means are generated by continuously extracting gas or air from the portion of the tube section, within which the carriage means is resident, that is 14 in front of the carriage means, by a controllable vent means located at the end of that tube section.

3. A pneumatic transport system according to claims 1 or 2 wherein at least some part of the carriage means occupies greater than 70% of the internal cross-sectional space of the tube.

4. A pneumatic transport system according to claim 3 wherein at least some part of the carriage means occupies greater than 90% of the internal cross-sectional space of the tube. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the carriage means are constructed so as to enclose the persons .0 and/or cargoes when the carriage means is moving a along the pathway.

6. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding S* claims wherein the carriage means is provided with wheels on its base. 9 9* o 0

7. A pneumatic transport system according to claim 6 wherein the carriage means is provided with wheels on its side walls. 8, A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the partitioning means comprises a sliding door.

9. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the partitioning means comprises first and second doors separated by a distance 1Nr O53 'O greater than the length of the carriage means, wherein controllable vent means is located between first and second doors.

10. A pneumatic transport system according to claim 2 wherein substantial equilibration of the gas or air pressures on either side of the carriage means is achieved by reversing the end-located controllable vent means to actively introduce gas or air into the portion of the tube section in front of the carriage means.

11. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding claims provided with controllable vent means spaced at equidistant intervals along the length of the tube.

12. A pneumatic transport system according to claim 11 wherein air is actively extracted from the portion of the tube section, within which the carriage means is resident, S20 in front of the carriage means by an end-located o or controllable vent means, and said spaced vent means are in communication with the atmosphere and wherein each spaced vent means is, sequentially, opened once it is passed by se. the carriage means.

13. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of e* cc the preceding claims wherein a decline is provided in a tube section adjacent to the partitioning means to enable the carriage means to free-wheel past the partitioning means to a next tube section. too. 00 14. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of ego• 0. the preceding claims wherein the carriage means is provided with a motor to move the carriage means past the partitioning means to a next tube section. 16 A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding claims adapted to carry small cargoes as messages and samples.

16. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of the preceding claims adapted to carry persons or large cargoes such as ores.

17. A pneumatic transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, said system being adapted for use as a toy.

18. A pneumatic transport system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures. DATED this 5Is day of Dece-iev 1995. KENNETH JOHN HUTTER t Attrny for thA 2 2 Applican ST12 Abstract A pneumatic transport system is described comprising: a substantially air-tight tube defining an internal, longitudinal pathway; at least one carriage means contained within said tube and capable of movement within said tube along said longitudinal pathway; at least one partitioning means to divide said tube and longitudinal pathway into substantially air-tight sections, the partitioning means being readily removable and replaceable; and controllable vent means located at, at least, each end of each tube section for removing and/or introducing gas or air to/from said tube section, wherein the carriage means has shape and dimension such that gas or air within the tube is substantially obstructed from passing from one side of the carriage means along the tube to the other side of the carriage means thereby enabling, by removal and/or introduction of gas or air through said vent means, the generation of relatively high and low gas or air pressures on either side of said carriage means sufficient to cause movement of the carriage means along the pathway in the direction of the relatively lower gas or air pressure, the arrangement being such that when the carriage means reaches a predetermined distance from the partitioning means the gas or air pressures on either side of the carriage means are substantially equilibrated and, thereafter, the partitioning means removed to enable the carriage means to proceed to the next tube section. o