US 5,704,295 AGranted

Arm for automatically guiding a road vehicle along a guide rail

AssigneeLohr Industrie

InventorRobert Lohr

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Abstract

An improved automatic guiding arm having a deformable hinged frame like construction controlled by an actuator. The actuator raises and lowers the end of the frame like construction which supports a pair of guide wheels in a "V" shaped arrangement for engaging a guide rail. The axially supported wheels may be mutually pivotable about a transaxial shaft and controlled by an angle control member hinged to the actuator. Through the angle control member the actuator can automatically control the transaxial pivoting and angle of the wheels as well as the tilt of the angle control member during raising and lowering operations of the guide arm. The guide arm is useful for automatically steering public transportation vehicles.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A lifting guide am for automatically guiding a road vehicle along a guide rail, said lifting guide arm comprising:

a movable support having a guide portion and a control portion, said control portion being articulably supportable by a vehicle via an articulated joint, said articulated joint having a vertical directional axle and a horizontal rocker axle, and said articulated joint being mechanically controlled by a directional control mechanism;
an actuator being attached between said articulated joint and said guide portion of said movable support for adjustably positioning said movable support;
a first guide wheel support and a second guide wheel support respectively supporting a first guide wheel and a second guide wheel, said first and second guide wheels being arranged in a V-shaped configuration with each of said first and second guide wheels having a circumferential groove formed therein for engaging a portion of said guide rail, and both of said guide wheel supports being mounted on said guide portion;
wherein at least one of said guide wheel supports is pivotally mounted to said guide portion, via a guide wheel support pivot, to allow relative movement between said first and second guide wheels and facilitate engagement and disengagement of said first and second guide wheels with a portion of said guide rail.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.