EP0576319B1 - Device for change of direction for a vehicle which is mechanically forced to follow a track - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a direction change device for a vehicle mechanically subject to follow a path. Although this device can be used in numerous applications, the present invention will be specially described below in the case of a network for the circulation on its own site of an automatic passenger transport vehicle, and more particularly in the case of '' a network comprising tangent circulation loops.

Various designs of change of direction devices are known (see in particular US-A-3,593,668), also called exchangers or switches, which have been used since the creation of the networks for the circulation of vehicles mechanically subject to follow a path materialized by a track made in the form of rails, cables, etc.

All the devices have the disadvantage of being active devices which are associated with the channel proper and which are most often controlled from a central system.

In addition, none of these devices allows the simultaneous passage of two vehicles or two convoys in an exchanger or a switch allowing the lane change between two tangential routes. This is the case, for example, of switches for railways of the double junction type with crossing.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks.

To this end, the invention relates to a device for changing direction for a vehicle mechanically subject to follow a path, device which comprises a vehicle steering member cooperating with the side walls of a guide profile which embodies a track followed by the vehicle, characterized in that said device comprises an inlet section whose side walls extend over a height equal to twice the height of the guide portion of the steering member which cooperates with the side walls, and which is divided into a first intermediate section whose side walls extend at a first level over a height equal to that of said guide portion and in a second intermediate section whose side walls extend at a second level over a height equal to that of said guide portion, in that the steering member is mounted vertically movable between a first and a second position in which the guide portion is located respectively at the first level or at the second level, and in that there are provided means for controlling the displacements nts vertical of the governing body to select the engagement of the guide portion in the first or the second of the two intermediate sections.

Thus, the change of direction device according to the invention only comprises fixed or passive members with which a mobile selection member cooperates linked to the vehicle and the movement control of which makes it possible to select the path that the vehicle will follow at the exit of the exchanger.

Preferably, each of the two intermediate sections is extended by an outlet section whose side walls extend over a height equal to twice that of said guide portion.

Thus, a vehicle can circulate in the exchanger in the two directions of circulation, and this regardless of the vertical position in which the member is located director upon entering the change of direction system.

Preferably, said first intermediate section extends the inlet section and the second intermediate section extends laterally in deviation from the direction common to the inlet section and to the first intermediate section.

Thus, the selection of said first position for the governing body corresponds to keeping the vehicle on its original track without it having to undergo a change of direction, or even lateral displacement during its crossing of the device.

In order to ensure a function equivalent to that of a double junction with crossing, the direction change device comprises two inlet sections which are each divided into two intermediate sections, the two second intermediate sections cross and the device comprises two outlet sections, each of which is common to one of said first intermediate sections and to one of said second intermediate sections.

This design is particularly suitable for a circulation network in tangent loops for which each of the two track sections, materialized by an inlet section and by said intermediate section which extends it, belongs to one of the two traffic loops.

According to a preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention, the guide profile is a guide groove and the guide portion of the steering member is a roller mounted to rotate about a vertical axis and which is arranged in the vicinity from the lower end of a rod of the governing body.

This design is particularly advantageous in that it makes it possible to produce the guide portion in the form of a rotary element which is received with a slight transverse play in the groove so as to cooperate with one or the other of the walls. lateral of the latter as a function in particular of the curvature to the left or to the right of the sections considered.

This design also has the advantage of allowing the realization of a direction change device whose free upper face is free and in particular of allowing its adaptation to all types of rolling means for vehicles.

The different sections of grooves can be machined in a single piece.

It is also possible to produce the device in the form of a vertical stacking of several layers in one or more pieces, each of the pieces then having particularly simple shapes to make.

Due to the possibility of obtaining an upper face of the change of direction device which is free, the invention makes it possible to provide means for supplying electrical energy to the vehicle propulsion means on the upper face of the change of direction device. direction above which the vehicle is traveling. These electrical supply means can be produced in particular so that they do not cause power cuts in the crossing and connection areas of the sections.

The invention also relates to a network for the circulation of a vehicle, in particular for the circulation on its own site of an automatic passenger transport vehicle, characterized in that it comprises at least one direction change device produced in accordance with the invention, the network comprising for example at least two tangent circulation loops connected together by a direction change device.

The figures of the appended drawings will make it clear how the invention can be implemented. In these figures, identical references designate similar elements.

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a network of the type comprising two tangent circulation loops connected together by a direction change device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the device according to the invention illustrated in FIG. 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view, on a larger scale and with a partial cutaway, of the device according to the invention illustrated in Figure 1 and which is formed as a single piece.

Figure 4 is a perspective view along arrow F of Figure 3 illustrating the cooperation of the governing bodies of vehicles with the grooves formed in the direction change device.

FIG. 5 is a section view on a larger scale along the line V-V of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an end view along arrow F ′ of one of the branches of the device illustrated in FIG. 2.

Figures 7 and 8 are views similar to those of Figures 5 and 6 and which illustrate a second mode of realization in multiple layers of the device according to the invention.

FIGS. 9 to 12 are top views of the four superimposed layers constituting the device according to the invention illustrated in section in FIG. 7.

The network 10 illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 1 is of the type comprising two tangent loops 12 and 14 on which can circulate, for example in the direction indicated by the arrows C, passenger transport vehicles and for example automatic taxis for urban use circulating in its own site.

In order to allow the passage of vehicles from one loop to another, the network 10 includes a direction change device or exchanger 16 whose function is equivalent to that of a double junction with crossing used in the field of railways. iron.

The exchanger 16 has a design symmetry with respect to a median longitudinal plane PL.

The vehicles 18 illustrated schematically in Figure 4 can be of any design such that they are mechanically subject to follow a determined path, for example along a circulation loop.

In the embodiments illustrated in the figures, each vehicle 18 comprises at least one steering member 20, for example constituted by a rod 22 which extends in a vertical direction and which carries at its end a cylindrical guide roller 24, mounted rotating around a vertical axis.

Each steering member 20 is capable of moving vertically relative to the body of the vehicle 18 between a first position, illustrated for the vehicle on the left in FIG. 4, in which the roller 24 is located at a first low level N1, and a second position, illustrated for the vehicle on the right in FIG. 4, in which the steering roller 24 is located at a second high level N2.

The difference in altitude between the two levels represented by the mixed lines N1 and N2 corresponds substantially to the height h of the guide roller 24.

The track followed by a vehicle 18 is materialized by a guide groove with a profile complementary to that of the guide roller 24.

The cross-sectional profile of the guide grooves is for example illustrated in FIG. 5 in which it can be seen, considering for example the central groove, that it essentially consists of two side walls 26 which extend in parallel vertical planes which are spaced from each other by a transverse distance slightly greater than the diameter of the guide roller 24.

The profile of the groove is completed at its upper part by a parallel longitudinal groove 28 of smaller section, which allows the passage of the guide rod 22, the groove 28 opening for this purpose vertically upwards.

The different sections of grooves formed in the body of the exchanger 16 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 will now be described in detail.

Considering the direction of circulation C indicated in the figures, the exchanger 16 comprises two inlet sections TE and two outlet sections TS.

The height H of the guide grooves constituting the inlet TE and outlet TS sections is, as can be seen in particular in FIGS. 4 and 6, substantially equal to twice the height h of the guide rollers.

A vehicle 18 can therefore travel in the sections TE and TS, whatever the vertical position occupied by its guide roller 24.

It is also possible to make a change in the vertical position of the guide rollers 24 in the TE inlet and TS outlet sections.

Each inlet section TE is extended in the direction of the associated outlet section TS by a first intermediate section TI1 so as to constitute a section of continuous curve and without inflection point which extends the curvature of the associated circulation loop.

The height of the groove of each of the first intermediate sections TI1 is substantially equal to the height h of a guide roller 24 and the grooves constituting the sections TI1 are located at the first low level N1.

It is therefore understood that a roller 24 occupying its first low position, corresponding to the vehicle 18 on the left in FIG. 4, is guided in its movements successively by the aligned sections TE, TI1 and TS.

Each of the TE entry sections is also extended by a second intermediate section TI2, also called crossing section, which extends laterally in derivation with respect to the general direction common to the associated sections TE and TI1.

According to the invention, the height of the grooves constituting the second intermediate sections TI2 is substantially equal to the height h of a roller 24 and these grooves are located at the high level N2, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 5.

It is therefore understood that a vehicle 18, which enters the entry section TE with its roller 24 in the high position, corresponding to the vehicle in the right part of FIG. 4, is then guided laterally by the second associated intermediate section TI2 which then causes the change of direction of the vehicle 18, that is to say the change of circulation loop, since each intermediate section TI2 is extended in the direction of the exit section associated with the other circulation loop.

The change of lane or bifurcation therefore occurs substantially at the point B of connection between an entry section TE and the two intermediate sections TI1 and TI2 which are associated with it and this as a function of the low or high position occupied by the roller guide 24 of the vehicle entering the TE entry section.

It emerges from the explanations which have just been given that the exchanger 16 also has a design symmetry with respect to the median transverse plane PT and that it can therefore be used interchangeably for two directions of movement of vehicles on each loop.

Each vehicle 18 comprises control means 34 (for example with cylinders or electromagnets) for the vertical movements of the steering members 20.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the exchanger 16 is produced in the form of an element monobloc as far as the different sections of grooves are machined.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 12, the exchanger 16 is produced in the form of four superimposed layers C1 to C4 which are stacked and connected together by threaded connections (not shown) which pass through connection holes 30 formed in alignment in the different layers.

The first layer or upper layer C1 (illustrated in FIG. 9) is produced in several parts which delimit between them the grooves 28 of reduced width corresponding to the different guide sections.

The second layer C2 (see FIG. 10) is also produced in several pieces which delimit between them, on the one hand, sections of narrow grooves 28 and sections of guide grooves corresponding to the second intermediate sections TI2 situated at level N2 and to the parts upper sections of the TE and TS sections.

The third layer C3 (see FIG. 11) is produced in three parts which delimit between them guide grooves situated at level N1 and corresponding to the lower part of the grooves of the sections TE and TS as well as to the first intermediate sections TI1.

The lower layer C4 (illustrated in FIG. 12) is produced in the form of a single piece constituting the connecting sole allowing the stacking of the pieces of the different layers and also constituting the bottom of the sections of grooves located at level N1.

According to another aspect of the invention, the exchanger 16, whether it is produced in the form of a one-piece element or in several layers, may comprise at its upper face 32 means (not shown in detail) for supplying electrical energy to vehicles.

These means can for example be constituted by conductive tracks which can be arranged so as to guarantee that there is no cut in the supply of vehicles with electric energy whatever the path followed by them in the exchanger .

Furthermore, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4, each vehicle 18 may comprise several guide rollers 24 arranged longitudinally one behind the other so as to constitute a train of rollers which are moved simultaneously between one or the other vertical positions and which are arranged such that they are always engaged in the guide grooves, even at the intersections of the sections.

Claims (11)

1. Direction-change device (16) for a vehicle (18) constrained mechanically to follow a path, which device includes a member (22) for steering the vehicle, interacting with the lateral walls (26) of a guide section piece which physically represents a trackway followed by the vehicle, characterized in that the said device (16) includes an entry portion (TE), the lateral walls (26) of which extend over a height (H) equal to twice the height (h) of the guide portion (24) of the steering member (20) which interacts with the lateral walls (26) and which splits into a first intermediate portion (TI1), the lateral walls of which extend to a first level (N1) over a height (h) equal to that of the said guide portion (24), and into a second intermediate portion (TI2), the lateral walls of which extend to a second level (N2) over a height (h) equal to that of the said guide portion (24), in that the steering member (20) is mounted so that it can move vertically between a first position and a second position in which positions the guide portion (24) is situated respectively at the first level (N1) or at the second level (N2), and in that means (34) are provided for controlling the vertical movements of the steering member (20) in order to select engagement of the guide portion (24) in the first (TI1) or second (TI2) of the two intermediate portions.
2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that each of the two intermediate portions (TI1, TI2) is extended by an exit portion (TS), the lateral walls of which extend over a height (H) equal to twice that (h) of the said guide portion (24).
3. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the said first intermediate portion (TI1) extends the entry portion (TE) and in that the second intermediate portion (TI2) extends laterally as a branch-off with respect to the direction common to the entry portion (TE) and to the first intermediate portion (TI1).
4. Device according to Claim 3, characterized in that it includes two entry portions (TE) which each split into two intermediate portions (TI1, TI2), in that the two intermediate portions (TI2) intersect, and in that it includes two exit portions (TS), each of which is common to one of the said first intermediate portions (TI1) and to one of the said second intermediate portions (TI2).
5. Device according to Claim 4, characterized in that each of the two trackway sections represented physically by an entry section (TE) and by the said first intermediate portion (TI1) which extends it, belongs to one running loop (12, 14).
6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guide section piece is a guide slot (26) and in that the guide portion of the steering member (20) is a roller (24) mounted so that it can rotate about a vertical axis and which is arranged close to the lower end of a rod (22) of the steering member (20).
7. Device according to Claim 6, characterized in that it is produced in the form of a single-piece element in which various portions of slot are machined.
8. Device according to Claim 6, characterized in that it is produced in the form of a vertical stack of several layers (C1-C4) in one or more pieces.
9. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upper face (32) over which the vehicle (18) runs includes means for supplying with electrical energy the means for propelling the vehicle.
10. Network (10) for the running of a vehicle (18), particularly for the running of an automatic passenger transport vehicle in its own dedicated area, characterized in that it includes at least one direction-change device (16) produced in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.
11. Network according to Claim 10 taken in conjunction with Claim 5, characterized in that it includes at least two tangential running loops (12, 14) joined together by a direction-change device (16).

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