Electric rail vehicle
AssigneeParallel Systems, Inc.
InventorsMatthew Soule, John Howard, Benjamin Stuart Stabler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The electric vehicle can include: a payload interface, a payload suspension, a chassis, a set of bumpers, a sensor suite, a controller, a chassis suspension, and an electric powertrain. The electric vehicle 100 can optionally include a payload adapter, a power source, a cooling subsystem, and/or any other suitable components. The electric vehicle functions to structurally support a payload, such as a cargo container (e.g., intermodal container, ISO container, etc.), and/or to facilitate transportation of a payload via railway infrastructure.
Claims17
An electric rail vehicle comprising:
- a bogie frame defining a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the bogie frame having a stiffness mismatch between the lateral and longitudinal axes;
- a set of bumpers mounted to the bogie frame, the set of bumpers comprising an abutment surface at a maximal extent of the electric rail vehicle along the longitudinal axis;
- a payload interface configured to mount a cargo payload to the electric rail vehicle;
- a bolster bowl rotatably mounting the payload interface to the bogie frame;
- a plurality of suspension elements coupling the payload interface and the bogie frame which are symmetrically distributed relative to a midsagittal plane of the bogie frame;
- an electric powertrain mounted to the bogie frame and comprising a plurality of rail wheels;
- a battery electrically coupled to the electric powertrain;
- a set of sensors mounted to the bogie frame, the set of sensors comprising:
- a bumper feedback sensor and a GPS sensor;
- and
- a vehicle controller mechanically coupled to the bogie frame and configured to autonomously control the electric powertrain based on measurements from the set of sensors.
A rail system for autonomously transporting a cargo container, the rail system comprising:
- a pair of autonomous bogies, each bogie of the pair comprising:
- a payload interface, the cargo container removably mounted to the payload interface;
- a bogie frame defining a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, wherein the bogie frame is more torsionally compliant about the longitudinal axis than about the lateral axis;
- a set of bumpers mounted to the bogie frame, the set of bumpers comprising an outboard bumper comprising an abutment surface at a maximal vehicle extent along the longitudinal axis and extending beyond the cargo container along the longitudinal axis;
- a bolster bowl rotatably mounting the payload interface to the bogie frame;
- a plurality of suspension elements coupling the payload interface and the bogie frame which are symmetrically distributed relative to a midsagittal plane of the bogie frame;
- an electric powertrain mounted to the bogie frame and comprising a plurality of rail wheels;
- a battery electrically coupled to the electric powertrain;
- and
- a bumper feedback sensor coupled to the outboard bumper and configured to measure compressive force at the outboard bumper.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.