摘要 |
A monorail system for passenger and light freight transportation provides a support structure (14) with an essentially planar top surface (12) and a stabilizer guide rail (18) having a vertical web portion (22) supporting a head portion (24). The head (24) guides a vehicle along the top surface (12) while conductors (76) secured to the web portion (22) transmit electrical current to the vehicle (30) through a current collector (78) secured to the vehicle (30). A portion of the stabilizer guide rail (300) may be flexible providing a simple, inexpensive device for switching the vehicle (30) between a plurality of tracks. The system operates equally well with a variety of vehicle propulsions and suspension systems including electro-mechanical, magnetic levitation or linear electric motors. In a preferred embodiment, the width of the support structure's top surface (12) is approximately half the width of the vehicle (30), and the side of the web portion (22) opposite the side having the conductor (76) includes control conduits (90) that transmit command signals to the vehicle (30) through a communications connector (92) secured to the vehicle (30). |