Road to rail hybrid vehicles using a transition span and passive junctions

Abstract

Described is a hybrid transportation system with hybrid vehicles (H-vehicles) that can travel on pavement (or off-road), then transition to railroad track travel, and then later transition back onto pavement without stopping or requiring an operator to exit the vehicle. At static rail junctions (with no moving switch parts) the H-vehicle selects its outgoing track. Turns at passive junctions are made by applying lateral force which may be applied using multiple methods including side roller diverters and steering. Separate road wheels and rail wheels may be employed on an H-vehicle, or a combination wheel can be used with concentric road and rail wheel components. Combination wheels may be locked together or unlocked with relative rotational angular velocities. Transition between road and rail travel is facilitated using transition spans which connect roads to rails. Improved rail-only vehicles (R-) vehicles and junctions are also described.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.