Vehicle and track system

A vehicle for use in a vehicle and track system having an elongated track and rotating drive shaft extending along and parallel to the track, comprising:

• a vehicle body,
• support wheel means on the bottom side of said vehicle body constructed and arranged to ride on said track and support said vehicle thereon,
• drive wheel means including
• a drive wheel mounted on the side of said vehicle body and extending therefrom into driving contact with said rotating drive shaft,
• means mounting said drive wheel for movement about a horizontal axis between a drive position in which said vehicle is driven along said track at a high speed and a vehicle accumulation position in which said vehicle is maintained in a stopped position in contact with another vehicle means on said track, and
• vehicle speed control means including means for actuating said drive wheel between said two positions thereof,
• said drive wheel actuating means comprising a first control member projecting forwardly from the front end of said vehicle body when said drive wheel is in said drive position, a second control member projecting rearwardly from the rear end of said vehicle body when said drive wheel is in said position, and means operatively connected to said first and second control members and to said drive wheel and movable in response to the inward movement of either of said control members for moving said drive wheel between said drive position and said vehicle accumulation position,
• said means mounting said drive wheel including a pivot shaft mounted for rotation about a horizontally extending axis, and said means operatively connected to said first and second control members and to said drive wheel including a control arm connected to said pivot shaft and to one of said control members.

A vehicle for use in a vehicle and track system having an elongated track and a rotating drive shaft extending along and parallel to the track, comprising:

• a vehicle body,
• support wheel means on the bottom side of said vehicle body constructed and arranged to ride on said track and support said vehicle thereon,
• drive wheel means including
• a drive wheel mounted on the side of said vehicle body and extending therefrom into driving contact with said rotating drive shaft,
• means mounting said drive wheel for movement about a horizontal axis between a drive position in which said vehicle is driven along said track at a high speed and a vehicle accumulation position in which said vehicle is maintained in a stopped position in contact with anther vehicle means on said track, and
• vehicle speed control means including means for actuating said drive wheel between said two positions
• the track system comprising a pair of spaced apart parallel tracks,
• said support wheel means comprising four pairs of cooperating wheels including four support wheels mounted to ride on the upper surfaces of said pair of tracks to support the vehicle thereon and four retaining wheels mounted to ride on the underside of the tracks for restraining the vehicle thereon,
• each pair of said cooperating pairs of wheels being carried on a block mounted on the underside of the vehicle body, two of said blocks being fixedly secured to the underside of the body adjacent one of said pair of tracks and the other two of said blocks being mounted for sliding movement laterally of the vehicle body toward and away from the other of said tracks whereby the vehicle is removable from said tracks.