Vehicle guidance and switching via magnetic forces

A system for guidance and switching of a vehicle, comprising

• a first guideway,
• a second guideway that diverges from the first guideway,
• a guide plate for moving along any of the first and second guideways,
• a magnetic field source for inducing a magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of any of the first and second guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by a respective one of the first and second guideways in which the guide plate is in the vicinity, even in the absence of relative motion by the guide plate in the direction of motion established by the guideway, and
• the guide plate adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof.

A system for conveyance, comprising

• a vehicle with a steering mechanism that determines a direction of motion of the vehicle,
• a guideway,
• a guide plate for moving along the guideway,
• a magnetic field source for inducing a magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of the guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of relative motion by the guide plate in the direction of motion established by the guideway, and
• the guide plate being coupled to the steering mechanism to direct motion of the vehicle as a function of motion of the guide plate along the guideway.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate that moves along the guideway and that is adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof,
• the guide plate and guideway having poles that are disposed in opposing physical relationship to one another and that are of opposing magnet polarities to one another, and
• the opposing poles of the guide plate and guideway giving rise to a magnetic force the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of relative motion by the guide plate in the direction of motion established by the guideway.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate that moves along the guideway and that is adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof,
• each of the guideway and the guide plate comprising a pair of poles of opposing magnetic polarities to one another,
• each of the poles of the guide plate being disposed in opposing physical relationship to a corresponding pole of the pair of poles of the guideway and being of opposite polarity to that corresponding pole,
• the opposing poles of the guide plate and guideway giving rise to magnetic forces that have at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of relative motion by the guide plate in the direction of motion established by the guideway.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate that moves along the guideway and that is adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof,
• each of the guideway and the guide plate comprising a pair of poles of opposing magnetic polarities to one another,
• the guide plate comprising a pair of magnetic field sources, one pole of each of which comprises a pole of the guide plate,
• each of the poles of the guide plate being disposed in opposing physical relationship to a corresponding pole of the pair of poles of the guideway and being of opposite polarity to that corresponding pole,
• the opposing poles of the guide plate and guideway giving rise to magnetic forces that have at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of relative motion by the guide plate in the direction of motion established by the guideway.

A system for guidance of a object, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate for moving along the guideway,
• a magnetic field source for inducing an attractive magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of the guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion, and
• the guide plate adapted to be coupled to the object for guiding a path of motion thereof.

A flywheel system comprising,

• a guideway defining a substantially circular path,
• a flywheel having mounted thereon a guide plate for moving along the guideway,
• a magnetic field source for inducing an attractive magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of the guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of relative motion by the guide plate in the direction of motion established by the guideway.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate for moving along the guideway,
• a magnetic field source for inducing an attractive magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of the guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate, the magnetic field source comprising a permanent magnet,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion, and
• the guide plate adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof.

A system for guidance and switching of a vehicle, comprising

• a first guideway,
• a second guideway that diverges from the first guideway,
• a guide plate for moving along any of the first and second guideways,
• a magnetic field source for inducing a magnetic force between the guide plate and
• at least a portion of any of the first and second guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate, the magnetic field source comprising a permanent magnet,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by a respective one of the first and second guideways in which the guide plate is in the vicinity, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to that guideway in the direction of motion established thereby, and
• the guide plate adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof.

A system for conveyance, comprising

• a guideway,
• a vehicle having
• a guide plate for moving along the guideway,
• one or more castors on which the vehicle moves,
• a magnetic field source for inducing a magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of the guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate that moves along the guideway and that is adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof,
• at least one of the guideway and the guideplate comprising a permanent magnet,
• the guide plate and guideway having poles that are disposed in opposing physical relationship to one another and that are of opposing magnet polarities to one another, and
• the opposing poles of the guide plate and guideway giving rise to a magnetic force the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate that moves along the guideway and that is adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof,
• at least one of the guideway and guide plate comprising a permanent magnet,
• each of the guideway and the guide plate comprising a pair of poles of opposing magnetic polarities to one another,
• each of the poles of the guide plate being disposed in opposing physical relationship to a corresponding pole of the pair of poles of the guideway and being of opposite polarity to that corresponding pole,
• the opposing poles of the guide plate and guideway giving rise to magnetic forces that have at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion.

A system for guidance of a vehicle, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate that moves along the guideway and that is adapted to be coupled to the vehicle for guiding a path of motion thereof,
• each of the guideway and the guide plate comprising a pair of poles of opposing magnetic polarities to one another,
• the guide plate comprising a pair of magnetic field sources, one pole of each of which comprises a pole of the guide plate, at least one of the magnetic field sources comprising a permanent magnet,
• each of the poles of the guide plate being disposed in opposing physical relationship to a corresponding pole of the pair of poles of the guideway and being of opposite polarity to that corresponding pole, and
• the opposing poles of the guide plate and guideway giving rise to magnetic forces that have at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion.

An object guidance system, comprising

• a guideway,
• a guide plate for moving along the guideway,
• a magnetic field source for inducing an attractive magnetic force between the guide plate and at least a portion of the guideway in a vicinity of the guide plate, the magnetic field source comprising a permanent magnet,
• the magnetic force having at least a passive component that opposes lateral deviation of the guide plate from a direction of motion established by the guideway, even in the absence of motion by the guide plate relative to the guideway in that direction of motion, and
• the guide plate being coupled to the object for guiding a path of motion thereof.