Monorail Guided Electric Airplane

Abstract

A transportation system combining the use of both a monorail and an airborne vehicle powered by electric motors from an electric power source located along the monorail. Rigid universally movable struts interconnect the vehicle with the monorail with electric cables housed by the struts for supplying electric current from a power source to the motors. Landing-loading platforms are located along designated locations at which the vehicle may be landed for the pick-up and discharge of passengers.

Description

This invention relates generally to a novel high-speed transportation system and, more particularly, to such a system which makes use of an airborne vehicle tethered to a monorail system having designated areas for both landing the vehicle and for serving as passenger loading and discharge stations.

A wide variety of systems have and are currently in the process of consideration relating to more rapid and economical means of transportation of both cargo and passengers for both short and long journeys in either interurban and/or intercity travel. Among these are ground surface systems which include the monorail wherein a high-speed train of cars is elevated for movement above grade level, the various sub-surface systems, public bus and railroad transportation systems. Also, several of the airborne transportation systems which have met with limited success include the use of helicopters, vertical take-off and landing craft and other more conventional aircraft. Of these various systems, the subway, bus and train systems lend themselves most readily to the transportation of a high volume of passengers between points within the city and its suburbs. Although each of these enumerated systems is designed for an assortment of transportation needs, many of them are limited in their use for wide-spread service needs because they are either too costly, or not sufficiently high-speed nor sufficiently capable of transporting increased numbers of passengers at low cost. In highly-populated areas air pollution from an increased use of our public transportation systems has become a significant factor in preferring one over the other. Also, extensive use of elevated highways or bulky monorail structures has been discouraged oftentimes because of the attendant noise pollution problems and because of their unsightly presence in urban or suburban communities. It is, therefore, the underlying object of the present invention to provide a rapid high density transportation system offering not only high speed but low noise level, reliability, economy and a cleaner operating system by combining the advantages of an electrically powered airborne vehicle transportation concept and the monorail system of transporting.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a transportation system which employs the advantages of the advanced rotary winged aircraft and the many benefits achievable with electric power.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a transportation system which uses an airborne vehicle tethered to a movable carriage mounted for rolling along a monorail as part of a system which includes a number of landing-loading platforms as passenger stations in several designated areas.

A still further object of the instant invention is to provide such a system wherein the airborne vehicle is interconnected to a movable carriage by means of struts which are mounted for universal movement of the vehicle.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a transportation system wherein electric conductor cables are located along the monorail within the carriage and cable means are provided which electrically interconnect the conductor cables with electric motors provided for the airborne vehicle.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the high-speed transportation system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the carriage, monorail and a portion of the airborne vehicle showing the interconnection between the two;

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the monorail and the attached carriage taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2; and,

FIG. 4, is an end view showing the aircraft, in part, tethered to the monorail system for universal movement.

Turning now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 an airborne vehicle 10 powered by electric motors 11 for driving both rotary blades 12 and propellers 13 which obviously rotate about vertical and horizontal axes, respectively. The airborne vehicle is tethered to a monorail which comprises substantially a T-beam construction 14 conveniently secured along a plurality of spaced columns 15. The T-beam monorail may be of any well-known reinforced or prestressed concrete construction and the columns 15 may also be of a concrete construction or may be of steel, if desired. A platform structure 16 forms a part of the present transportation system and is shown in FIG. 1 as one of several stations which is to be located in the vicinity of the monorail in as many locations therealong as necessary. This construction may serve as both a waiting station for passengers and as a loading platform for the airborne vehicle which may conveniently land thereon for admitting and discharging passengers and/or cargo at the station. In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the airborne vehicle 10 is interconnected with the monorail through a carriage 17 which surrounds the upper portion of the monorail and which is mounted for rolling movement therealong by means of rollers 18, which engage the top side of each horizontal flange of the T-beam, and by means of rollers 19 which engage the bottom side of the horizontal flange. As shown in FIG. 3, pairs of these upper end lower rollers 18, 19 snugly embrace opposite sides of the T-beam flanges so as to lend stability to the moving carriage. Also, rollers 21 are provided in rolling contact with the vertical stem portion of the T-beam so as to further insure stability of the carriage during its rolling along the monorail.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, a pair of struts 22 are provided for structurally interconnecting the airborne vehicle with the carriage 17 surrounding the monorail. The struts are secured to the underside of the airborne vehicle in any convenient manner preferably at the center of gravity for the vehicle, each strut being pivotally connected as at 23 to the vehicle connector bar 24 for movement by each strut at 23 about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of both the airborne vehicle and the monorail. Each strut is interconnected at its other end with a roller axle 26 of one of the rollers 18 through a bar 25. Each bar is pivotally connected to the axle 26 at one end for movement about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the T-beam and is interconnected with the strut 22 at its other end as at 27 for movement about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the T-beam. Also, the upper end of each strut is interconnected with connector 24 by means of a short bar 34 for pivotal movement as at 35 about an axis also transverse to the monorail longitudinal axis. With such an arrangement, it can be seen that the airborne vehicle 10 is capable of substantially universal movement with respect to the carriage while it is being pulled by the airborne vehicle along the T-beam.

The electric motors 13 of the airborne vehicle are powered through means of electric conductor cables 28 which are disposed within the carriage 17 parallel with the longitudinal axis of the T-beam and beneath the lower surface of the T-beam flanges. These cables are arranged and function in a manner similar to the well-known trolley car and railroad engine conductor cables. Here, the conductor cables 28 are designed to supply electric current to the electric motors 13 through conducting cables 29 which are each secured at one end to the carriage 17 to a rod member 31 and at their other ends to the electrical system of the aircraft. since each of the struts 22 may be designed as hollow tubes, a portion of the cables 29 is housed by each strut as the cable passes therethrough. At the rod 31 end of the cables, it can be seen that a contact plate 32 is mounted at one end of each rod for sliding contact with each of the conductor cables 28. Also, each of the conductor cables may be completely shielded from the weather elements by means of an elongated angle iron 33 secured to the underside of the T-beam flanges.

In operation, the airborne vehicle 10 simply takes off from the top of the platform structure 16 as electric current is supplied from the electric conductor cables 28 to the electric motors 11 which drive the forward propellers 13 for forward speed and which also drive the rotor blades 12 during take-off and landing and during the low speed regimes. All power is fed into the rotor for take-off and touch-down and, during the transition to forward flight, the power is phased out of the rotor system and is fed into the forward propellers. This transition is accomplished when the rotor is in auto-rotation so that all the power may be used for driving the forward propellers. During initial take-off, landing and slow speed flight the rotor carries all the vehicle weight. During high-speed flight, the wing will carry substantially all weight. Between these extremes the transition is smooth and automatic. Between stations 16, which may be conveniently located at designated areas for either interurban or intercity travel, and which may be provided at ground level elevations if desired, the airborne vehicle is confined to an air space surrounding the monorail which is defined by the length of struts 22. Also, the struts and the cables 29 may be separable by means of an explosive separator or other type device (not shown) so as to permit the vehicle to smoothly land unimpeded through autorotation during an emergency.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that an extensive route network is possible with the present design comparable to those electric distribution systems used to power electric locomotives and electric trolley cars with the added distinct advantages of increased travel speed, reliability and economy in both construction of the monorail system and due to the availability of the high capacity rotary winged aircraft. With the use of electric motors for powering the airborne vehicle, it can be seen that the noise level and the air pollution during operation may be held to an absolute minimum while transporting large numbers of passengers quickly and frequently as part of a scheduled service. Because the monorail system does not serve to structurally support the transportation vehicle as it does in conventional support the transportation vehicle as it does in conventional monorail systems, the T-beam and its supporting columns may be of a light and simple construction thereby greatly reducing costs while at the same time raising the vehicular track above the ground so as to reduce interface problems with ground transportation, with natural obstacles and with planned roadways. Also, the light and simple structural requirements of the T-beam monorail greatly reduces real estate purchasing costs otherwise necessary with the use of freeways, railways and interstate highways and reduces right-of-way maintenance costs and real estate taxes which are a continual burden for the railroad companies. The speed capability of the present transportation system greatly exceeds that of existing ground transportation systems and the highly reliable electric motors, proven through many years of operation, offer a virtually unfailing power source which therefore places safety first among all current modes of transportation. Other appealing characteristics of this high-speed transportation system are that refueling is not required yet the airborne vehicle is completely reliable and requires only minimal maintenance. Also, those weather conditions which would normally tend to interrupt service of many of the existing transportation systems will produce no adverse effect on the smooth and efficient operation of the present transportation system. Most importantly, the low noise level characteristic of electrical power is taken advantage of by the present invention with little or no concern of air pollutants being emitted along the system networks. Any air pollution is concentrated at the power stations where they may be more readily controlled.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings.

It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A transportation system comprising an airborne vehicle in combination with a monorail system, said vehicle being a rotary wing aircraft propelled by rotor blades rotating about a vertical axis for take-off and landing and further propelled by rotor blades rotating about a horizontal axis for forward flight, said vehicle having electric motors for turning said rotor blades, said monorail system comprising a T-beam mounted along longitudinally spaced support columns, said monorail system further including loading-landing platforms located in the immediate vicinity of said T-beam, a carriage mounted for rolling movement along the length of said T-beam, first electric conductor cables located within said carriage and parallel to said beam, rigid universally movable strut means interconnecting said vehicle to said carriage, said strut means including a first and second pivotal connection respectively at said vehicle and at said carriage for movement about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said T-beam and further including a third and fourth pivotal connection respectively at said vehicle and said carriage for movement about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of said T-beam, and conducting cable means electrically connecting said vehicle motors with said first conductor cables for the transmission of electric current to said motors.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein said carriage surrounds the upper portion of said T-beam and is provided with rollers in rolling contact with opposite sides of the T-beam horizontal flanges and with opposite sides of the T-beam vertical stem portion.

3. The system according to claim 2 wherein said conducting cable means includes a contact plate mounted for sliding contact with each of said first conductor cables and further includes a second conductor cable connected to each said contact plate.

4. The system according to claim 2 wherein a pair of said first electric conductor cables is provided, each being located on opposite sides of said T-beam vertical portion, and wherein said strut means further includes a pair of struts each being associated with one of said second cables and each being pivotally interconnected with said carriage at a respective one of said rollers in contact with said T-beam flanges for movement about an axis transverse to said T-beam longitudinal axis.