Abstract: The bistable electromechanical actuator comprises an actuator shaft (7) arranged in a house (1), said shaft being movable along its longitudinal direction, a base member (11) attached to the actuator shaft (7), said base member being slidably attached to a guiding element (3, 3?,3?) through a stud (15), said guiding element being secured to the house and having two locking notches (2a, 2b) with a predetermined distance therebetween and further having a straight or substantially straight guiding section (2c) formed between said two locking notches in a plane parallel to the longitudinal direction of said shaft (7), wherein at least one permanent magnet is fixed to the base member (11) so that the magnetic axis of each permanent magnet is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said shaft (7), and wherein at least one electromagnetic coil (13) is arranged within said house (1) so that in an idle state of the actuator, one end of each coil (13) is arranged to be adjacent to

Abstract: A point switching device that is disposed at a diverging point on tracks on which a movable body travels is provided. This point switching device includes: a point that rotates around a support point on one end, and can move between a first position and a second position; a first coil that generates an induction field to drive the point to the first position; a second coil that generates an induction field to drive the point to the second position; and an excitation control unit that selectively supplies an intermittent exciting current to the first coil or the second coil.

Abstract: A linear induction rail switch mechanism having at least one linear induction motor (LIM) for transversely thrusting a switch track from a first position to a second position. To reduce the frictional forces during transverse movement, the switch mechanism can be levitated from the underlying structures. The switch can have at least one controllable power supply which may supply electric power to an individual LIM or groups of LIMs, which may be three-phase motors. The switch may include a vital controller which is connected to at least one controllable power supply. The vital controller responds to at least one of a feedback signal from a controllable power supply, a feedback signal from a LIM, a feedback signal from a switch track, and a remote signal. The LIM may include a primary inductor which is affixed substantially rigidly to the ground and a secondary which is affixed to the switch track. In some embodiments, the secondary may be a ladder secondary.

Abstract: A switching arrangement for model trains includes tracks arranged in multiple closed paths which have at least one track section in common. The various paths are interconnected by remote controlled track switches. In order to assure that the train traverses the tracks in a random fashion, a signaling device activated by the passage of the train, is located in the common track section. The speed of the train, and hence its residence time over the signaling device, determines the length of the signal produced by this device. This signal drives a motor for its duration, which motor moves a selection arm that passes contacts wired to the tracks switches. The location of the track switching contacts are randomly spaced over the path of the selection arm. Since the train may move at various speeds and the contacts are randomly spaced, the positions of the track switches that are operated by each passage of the train over the common section of track are randomly selected.