Hybrid wheel and hybrid roadway

A hybrid roadway system that is adapted to enable operation of a vehicle equipped with a hybrid wheel system in combination with said hybrid roadway system to enable an efficient and flexible transportation system,

• where said hybrid wheel system includes a compliant wheel that significantly deforms under load and conforms to road surfaces, and a rigid wheel that deforms very little under load,
• where said hybrid roadway system includes conventional roads and a paved road having a generally planar, paved surface, and a railed road of at least one rail that is a rigid strip attached to said paved road, where said rail is formed to provide a narrow, rigid surface at a prescribed height above said paved road, with a tapered height transition shape that begins at each edge of said rail at a height close to said paved road and blends smoothly to said prescribed height to form a crown on said rail that runs parallel to vehicle travel direction,
• where a total of radius of said rigid wheel and said prescribed height is approximately equal to functional radius of said compliant wheel that is measured vertically from axis of said compliant wheel to said paved road,
• where said vehicle is adapted to enable approximately conventional operation on chosen said conventional roads such that said compliant wheel is utilized for load carrying purposes, and said rigid wheel is held above surfaces of said conventional roads at a height that avoids contact between said rigid wheel and said conventional roads,
• where said vehicle is adapted to enable operation on said railed road, including that said vehicle is equipped with steering apparatus that enables engaging of said rigid wheel on said rigid rail such that said rigid wheel is utilized for load carrying purposes, and said compliant wheel is held at a height to minimize contact force on said paved road.

A transportation system that enables efficient and flexible operation of vehicles that includes a hybrid wheel system adapted to operate in combination with a hybrid roadway system,

• where said hybrid wheel system includes a compliant wheel that significantly deforms under load and conforms to road surfaces, and a rigid wheel that deforms very little under load,
• where said hybrid roadway system includes conventional roads and a paved road having a generally planar, paved surface, and a railed road of at least one rail that is a rigid strip attached to said paved road, where said rail is formed to provide a narrow, rigid surface at a prescribed height above said paved road, with a tapered height transition shape that begins at each edge of said rail at a height close to said paved road and blends smoothly to said prescribed height to form a crown on said rail that runs parallel to vehicle travel direction,
• where a total of radius of said rigid wheel and said prescribed height is approximately equal to functional radius of said compliant wheel that is measured vertically from axis of said compliant wheel to said paved road,
• where said vehicle is adapted to enable approximately conventional operation on chosen said conventional roads such that said compliant wheel is utilized for load carrying purposes, and said rigid wheel is held above surfaces of said conventional roads at a height that avoids contact between said rigid wheel and said conventional roads, and
• where said vehicle is adapted to enable operation on said railed road, where such operation is enabled by inclusion of steering apparatus that enables engaging of said rigid wheel on said rigid rail such that said rigid wheel is utilized for load carrying purposes, and said compliant wheel is held at a height to minimize contact force on said paved road.