초록 ▼

A system for very high speed ground transportation employing vehicles running in tunnels. The interior surface of the tunnels is a helical thread, and the wheels of the vehicle are helical gears meshing with the helical interior surface of the tunnel so as to provide positive traction. The vehicles

A system for very high speed ground transportation employing vehicles running in tunnels. The interior surface of the tunnels is a helical thread, and the wheels of the vehicle are helical gears meshing with the helical interior surface of the tunnel so as to provide positive traction. The vehicles have top traction wheels as well as bottom traction wheels in order to provide dynamic stability at very high vehicular speeds. Each vehicle carries an inner compartment coupled to the vehicle so that the compartment may be continually positioned relative to the vehicle in order to provide passenger comfort and/or cargo safety as the vehicle moves down the tunnel when the longitudinal axis of the tunnel has curvature.

대표청구항 ▼

A very high speed ground transportation system comprising one or more vehicles moving in a tunnel, wherein: (a) said tunnel has an interior helical surface with a helix axis colinear with the longitudinal axis of the tunnel; (b) each said vehicle is propelled by traction wheels mounted at each end o

A very high speed ground transportation system comprising one or more vehicles moving in a tunnel, wherein: (a) said tunnel has an interior helical surface with a helix axis colinear with the longitudinal axis of the tunnel; (b) each said vehicle is propelled by traction wheels mounted at each end of said vehicle spaced around the perimeter of said vehicle at a plurality of angular positions; (c) each said traction wheel is a helical gear meshing with said interior helical surface of said tunnel; (d) each said traction wheel is steerable; (e) each said traction wheel is split into a plurality of parallel planar traction wheel disks, each disk of said split wheel being rotatable relative to the other disk)s) about their common axis of spin; and (f) each vehicle supports a passenger/cargo compartment rotatable about all three body axes relative to said vehicle.