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US 3,941,060 AGranted
Monorail system
OwnerPaul Morsbachinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A monorail system for roller coasters comprising suspended track-bound vehicles each of which comprises a pair of distanced roller gears for movement along the track and support arms with a passenger car attached thereon arranged so as to prevent pivoting of the roller gears on the track means but permitting limited or controlled lateral swinging of the car relative to the roller gears.
Claims6
A monorail system comprising track means and at least one vehicle suspended on said track means;
- said vehicle comprising roller gear means on said track means, said track means comprising a substantially rigid structure of four interconnected elongated elements selected from the group consisting of tubes, bars, rods and rails, said structures having a substantially rectangular cross-section with one of said elongated elements arranged at each corner of said rectangular cross-section, car means, and at least one support arm connected with said car means;
- said roller gear means and said track means being operably connected to permit movement of said roller gear means along said track means and to substantially prevent pivoting of said roller gear means about said track means in any direction with respect to said track means;
- said roller gear means including support roller means rotatably arranged on a first set of axes and guide roller means rotatably arranged on a second set of sxes, said first set of axes being substantially perpendicular to said second set of axes;
- said roller gear means being movably connected with said support arm of said vehicle to permit lateral swinging of said car means and said support arm relative to said roller gear means;
- and means for damping said lateral swinging or pivoting of said car means and said support arm.
2 more elements
A monorail system comprising track means and at least one vehicle suspended on said track means;
- said vehicle comprising roller gear means on said track means, car means, and at least one support arm connected with said car means;
- said roller gear means and said track means being operably connected to permit movement of said roller gear means along said track means and to substantially prevent pivoting of said roller gear means on said track means;
- said roller gear means being movably connected with said support arm of said vehicle to permit lateral swinging of said car means and said support arm relative to said roller gear means;
- and means for damping said lateral swinging or pivoting of said car means and said support arm, said means for damping comprising a pair of substantially coaxial elongated components for mutual displacement relative to each other in the direction of the common axis thereof, said axis being displaced from and substantially coplanar with said support arm in a plane perpendicular to direction of swing thereof when said support arm is disposed normal to the plane of said track means, said means for damping havig one end connected with said support arm and the other end thereof connected with said roller gear means, said mutual displacement of said elongated components having a continuous increase of the damping effect per angular unit with increasing angle of the car with respect to the free hanging normal position.
1 more element
A monorail system comprising track means and at least one vehicle suspended on said track means;
- said vehicle comprising roller gear means on said track means, said roller gear means engaging upper, lower, and side surfaces of said track means, car means, and at least one support arm connected with said car means;
- said roller gear means and said track means being operably connected to permit movement of said roller gear means along said track means and to substantially prevent pivoting of said roller gear means about said track means in any direction with respect to said track means;
- said roller gear means including support roller means rotatably arranged on a first set of axes and guide roller means rotatably arranged on a second set oof axes, said first set of axes being substantially perpendicular to said second set of axes;
- said roller gear means being movably connected with said support arm of said vehicle to permit lateral swinging of said car means and said support arm relative to said roller gear means;
- and means for damping said lateral swinging or pivoting of said car means and said support arm.
2 more elements
A monorail system comprising track means and at least one vehicle suspended on said track means;
- said vehicle comprising roller gear means on said track means and car means, said car means having at least one support arm;
- said roller gear means and said track means being operably connected to permit movement of said roller gear means along said track means and to substantially prevent pivoting of said roller gear means on said track means;
- said roller gear means being movably connected with said support arm of said car means to permit lateral swinging of said car means about an axis substantially parallel with respect to said track means;
- and means for damping said lateral swinging or pivoting of said car means;
- said means for damping comprising a pair of elongated components for mutual displacement relative to each other, said movement transforming kinetic energy into heat, said means for damping having one end connected with said car means and the other end thereof with said roller gear means at a predetermined distance from said axis of swinging, said two ends of said damping means being substantially coplanar with said support arm in a normal position of said car means with respect to said track means, the mutual displacement of said two components of said damping means per angular unit of swinging of said car means increasing with the increasing angular distance of said car means from said normal position.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.