초록 ▼

A magnetically levitated transportation system employs permanent magnet rails along a guideway that interact with permanent magnets on a vehicle. The rails are optimized to reduce magnetic mass and cost of materials, while maximizing lift force. The vehicle is stabilized in the lateral and yaw direc

A magnetically levitated transportation system employs permanent magnet rails along a guideway that interact with permanent magnets on a vehicle. The rails are optimized to reduce magnetic mass and cost of materials, while maximizing lift force. The vehicle is stabilized in the lateral and yaw directions with feedback controlled lateral control coils that interact with the permanent magnet rails on the guideway. A track switching structure employs permanent magnet rails that gradually widen along a segment of track and separate into two identical diverging rails. Feedback controlled lateral control coils in a moving vehicle stabilize that vehicle over one or the other pairs of diverging rails, as directed by a control computer, thereby causing the vehicle to continue along one path or the other, with no moving or active elements required in the track.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A transportation system comprising: at least one original guideway having a length dimension and at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the original guideway length dimension and the at least one original guideway bifurcating into a first and a second guidewa

What is claimed is: 1. A transportation system comprising: at least one original guideway having a length dimension and at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the original guideway length dimension and the at least one original guideway bifurcating into a first and a second guideway at a crossing zone; a vehicle having at least one permanent magnet array arranged to interact with the at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the guideway, the vehicle configured to travel along the length dimension of the at least one guideway; and at least one electromagnetic coil for selecting at least one of the first and second guideways; wherein the crossing zone comprising additional permanent magnets for providing sufficient levitation for the vehicle and wherein, the additional permanent magnets provide greater magnetic force relative to permanent magnets of the original guideway. 2. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the at least one permanent array of permanent magnets is arranged in a Halbach array formation. 3. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the first and second guideways have the same permanent magnet array formation as the original guideway. 4. The transportation system of claim 1, the vehicle further having a magnetic assembly comprising, two electromagnetic coils and one magnet array. 5. The transportation system of claim 4, wherein the magnetic assembly is coupled to the vehicle using at least one rotatable pivot. 6. The transportation system of claim 4, wherein at least two magnetic assemblies are coupled to each other using a structure element, the structure element coupled to the vehicle using at least one rotatable pivot located at the center of the structure element. 7. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the at least one electromagnetic coil is arranged in a series or a parallel formation to produce lateral forces for interaction with the at least one guideway. 8. The transportation system of claim 1, further comprising a controller for controlling a direction and a magnitude of a current in the at least one electromagnetic coil and exerting lateral magnetic force on the at least one guideway to move the vehicle in a direction. 9. The transportation system of claim 8, wherein the controller is for receiving feedback signals related to a lateral position of the vehicle and compensating the lateral position by adjusting the current in the at least one electromagnetic coil for speed and turn radius of the at least one guideway. 10. The transportation system of claim 1, wherein the first and second guideways bifurcate from the original guideway at the crossing zone, the crossing zone comprising additional permanent magnets for providing sufficient levitation for the vehicle and for duplicating the original guideway. 11. The transportation system of claim 10, wherein, the additional permanent magnets are greater in size relative to permanent magnets of the original guideway to provide additional magnetic force. 12. A bifurcating track system for magnetic levitation vehicles comprising: a first track having a length dimension and at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the first track length dimension, the at least one array of permanent magnets for the first track comprising a first magnet in an array center and having generally vertically oriented poles, a second magnet and a third magnet on respectively opposite sides of the first magnet and each having generally horizontally oriented poles; a second and a third track that bifurcate from the first track using a crossing zone, the second and third track each having a track length dimension and at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the second and third track length dimension, the at least one array of permanent magnets for each of the second track and the third track comprising a first magnet in an array center and having generally vertically oriented poles, a second magnet and a third magnet on respectively opposite sides of the first magnet and each having generally horizontally oriented poles; and the crossing zone connecting the first track to each of the second track and the third track and having at least one array of permanent magnets for the crossing zone comprising first and second magnets in a pair at an array center and that have generally horizontally oriented poles, third and fourth magnets on respectively opposite sides of the pair of first and second magnets and having generally vertically oriented poles. 13. The bifurcating track of claim 12 wherein the additional permanent magnets are greater in size than magnets of the first track to provide additional magnetic force. 14. A method of switching tracks for a magnetic levitation vehicle comprising: providing at least one original guideway having a length dimension and at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the original guideway length dimension and the at least one original guideway bifurcating into a first and a second guideway at a crossing zone; providing a vehicle having at least one permanent magnet array arranged to interact with the at least one array of permanent magnets extending along the guideway, the vehicle configured to travel along the length dimension of the at least one guideway; and providing at least one electromagnetic coil for selecting at least one of the first and second guideways; and providing the crossing zone with additional permanent magnets for providing sufficient levitation for the vehicle, wherein the additional permanent magnets are greater in size relative to permanent magnets of the original guideway to provide additional magnetic force. 15. The method of switching tracks of claim 14, further comprising providing a current flow direction in each electromagnetic coil to create a magnetic force sufficient to steer the vehicle in a lateral direction. 16. The method of switching tracks of claim 1, wherein: the original guideway, the first guideway and the second guideway each have at least one array of permanent magnets that includes a first magnet in an array center and having generally vertically oriented poles, a second magnet and a third magnet on respectively opposite sides of the first magnet and each having generally horizontally oriented poles; and the crossing zone has at least one array of permanent magnets that include first and second magnets in a pair at an array center and that have generally horizontally oriented poles, third and fourth magnets on respectively opposite sides of the pair of first and second magnets and having generally vertically oriented poles. 17. The bifurcating track of claim 12, wherein the at least one array of permanent magnets for the crossing zone further comprise fifth and sixth magnets, the fifth magnet arranged on an opposite side of the third magnet relative to the pair of first and second magnets, the sixth magnet arranged on an opposite side of the fourth magnet relative to the pair of first and second magnets, each of the fifth and sixth magnets having generally horizontally oriented poles. 18. The bifurcating track of claim 17, wherein at least one array of permanent magnets for the crossing zone further comprise seventh and eighth magnets, the seventh magnet arranged on an opposite side of the fifth magnet relative to the third magnet, the eighth magnet arranged on an opposite side of the sixth magnet relative to the fourth magnet, each of the seventh and eighth magnets having generally vertically oriented poles. 19. The transportation system of claim 14, wherein: the original guideway, the first guideway and the second guideway each have at least one array of permanent magnets that includes a first magnet in an array center and having generally vertically oriented poles, a second magnet and a third magnet on respectively opposite sides of the first magnet and each having generally horizontally oriented poles; and the crossing zone has at least one array of permanent magnets that include first and second magnets in a pair at an array center and that have generally horizontally oriented poles, third and fourth magnets on respectively opposite sides of the pair of first and second magnets and having generally vertically oriented poles.