Personal road-rail vehicles
The invention transforms conventional vehicles into Personal Road-Rail Vehicles (PRRVs) that have revolutionary dual mode of travel capabilities that permits their being driving as both conventional vehicles on conventional roads and as revolutionary high speed PRRVs on compact Road-Rail Highway Systems (RRHSs) (somewhat vaguely similar to a one car, high speed passenger train). it is envisioned these PRRVs and RRHSs will permit cost effectively upgrading and modernizing the national transportation system and infrastructure by: significantly reducing traffic congestion at major cities and highways by cost-effective adding additional multi-stacked, compact RRHS' lanes on existing real estate; expediting the transition to all electric PRRVs and the construction of electric power grids nationwide to support the embedded power grids in the RRHSs; and lastly by providing automated PRRV travel on RRHSs that will support evolving to fully automatic PRRV travel thus reducing the need for high speed passenger trains.
Not Applicable
STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIXNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is Special Purpose Vehicles. The invention defines a “process of creation” that transforms conventional vehicles (defined: cars, vans, SUVs, hybrids, pickups, etc.) into revolutionary dual mode of travel personal road-rail vehicles (PRRVs) that have the convenience of driving as conventional vehicles on conventional roads and the luxury of automated smart-phone assisted driving as revolutionary high speed, PRRVs traveling on compact, electric hybrid, Road-Rail Highway Systems (RRHSs) (somewhat vaguely similar to a one car, high speed passenger train). These revolutionary PRRVs and RRHSs will permit cost effectively upgrading and modernizing the national transportation system. No similar vehicle functionality is known to exist anywhere in the world. Applicable U.S. patent classification definition closest to this invention is Special Purpose Vehicles which includes mono rail, and car.
2. Prior Art
Conventional automobiles and especially high speed passenger trains are close to achieving their maximum travel energy efficiencies and functionality growth capabilities. The invention creates Personal Road-Rail Vehicles (PRRVs) that have revolutionary dual mode of travel capability that permits their being driving as both conventional vehicles on conventional roads and as revolutionary high speed PRRVs on compact Road-Rail Highway Systems (RRHSs) (somewhat vaguely similar to a one car, high speed passenger train). It is envisioned these PRRVs and RRHSs will permit cost effectively upgrading and modernizing the national transportation system and infrastructure by: significantly reducing traffic congestion at major cities and highways by cost-effective adding additional multi-stacked, compact, high speed RRHS's lanes on existing real estate; expediting the rapid transition to energy efficient, all electric PRRVs and the construction of electric power grids nationwide to support the embedded power grids in the RRHSs thus reducing oil import needs; and lastly by providing revolutionary automated, high speed PRRV travel on compact, electric hybrid, RRHSs that will support evolving to fully automatic PRRV travel thus greatly expanding the transportation functionality while appreciably reducing the need for conventional high speed passenger trains.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention defines a process that transforms conventional vehicles into revolutionary dual mode of travel Personal Road-Rail Vehicles (PRRVs) that have the convenience of driving as conventional vehicles on conventional roads and the luxury of automated smart-phone assisted driving as revolutionary high speed PRRVs traveling on compact, electric hybrid, Road-Rail Highway Systems (RRHSs) (somewhat vaguely similar to a one car, high speed passenger train). In the automated driving mode, all operator PRRV control functions, except steering, continue to be performed by the operator in the same way as for the conventional vehicle, except now the vehicle steering is performed by rail-wheel latching/ steering units that are attached to each of the vehicle's wheel assemblies. These units securely attach and steer the vehicle's wheels to the RRHS's two Guide Rail Assemblies (GRAs) in such a way that they ensures the vehicles are securely constrained to the RRHS's narrow roadway located below and between the two GRAs. AC electric energy for powering the electric PRRVs' travel and “top-off battery charging” is also provided via the two GRAs. It is envisioned these PRRVs and RRHSs will permit cost effectively upgrading and modernizing the national transportation system and infrastructure by: significantly reducing traffic congestion at major cities and highways by cost-effective adding additional multi-stacked, compact, high speed RRHSs' lanes on existing real estate; expediting the rapid transition to energy efficient, all electric PRRVs and the construction of smart electric power grids nationwide to support the embedded power grids in the RRHSs' GRAs and thus reducing oil import needs; and lastly by providing revolutionary automated, high speed PRRV travel on compact, electric hybrid, RRHSs that will support evolving to fully automatic PRRV travel thus greatly expanding the transportation functionality while appreciably reducing the need for conventional high speed passenger trains. The invention is envisioned to continue the American love affair with both the evolving energy efficient hybrid automobiles and the “personal hybrid trains” well beyond the 21st century.
Seven drawings are used for the description of the process of creation.
The invention “defines a process” that transforms conventional vehicles into revolutionary dual mode of travel Personal Road-Rail Vehicles (PRRVs) that have the convenience of driving as conventional vehicles on conventional roads and the luxury of automated smart-phone assisted driving as revolutionary high speed PRRVs traveling on compact, electric hybrid, Road-Rail Highway Systems (RRHSs) (somewhat vaguely similar to a one car, high speed passenger train). In the automated driving mode, all operator PRRV control functions, except steering, continue to be performed by the operator in the same way as for the conventional vehicle, except now the vehicle steering is performed by Rail-Wheel Latching/ Steering Units (RWLSUs) that are attached to each of the PRRV's wheel assemblies. These units securely attach and steer the PRRV's wheels to the
RRHS's two Guide Rail Assemblies (GRAs) in such a way that they ensures the vehicles are securely constrained to the RRHS's narrow roadway located below and between the two GRAs. AC electric energy for powering electric PRRVs' travel and “top-off battery charging” is also provided via the two GRAs.
It is envisioned these PRRVs and RRHSs will permit cost effectively upgrading and modernizing the national transportation system and infrastructure by: significantly reducing traffic congestion at major cities and highways by cost-effective adding additional multi-stacked, compact, high speed RRHSs' lanes on existing real estate; expediting the rapid transition to energy efficient, all electric PRRVs and the construction of smart electric power grids nationwide to support the embedded power grids in the RRHS GRAs and thus reducing oil import needs; and lastly by providing revolutionary automated, high speed PRRV travel on compact, electric hybrid, RRHSs that will support evolving to fully automatic PRRV travel thus greatly expanding the transportation functionality while appreciably reducing the need for conventional high speed passenger trains. The invention is envisioned to continue the American love affair with the evolving energy efficient hybrid automobiles and “personal hybrid trains” well beyond the 21st century.
Detailed description of the PRRV (defined: cars, vans, SUVs, hybrids, pickups, etc.) and the RRHS invention is presented using seven drawings. There is an old saying that basically states “Everything is obvious once you are told the answer”. That saying clearly applies here as once the unique concept of the invention is revealed that enables manufacturing the revolutionary dual-mode of travel vehicles, numerous variations will emerge from necessity as the implementation itself needs to be tailored somewhat for each vehicle type and class to permits its implementation in the hundreds of vehicle models currently available and emerging annually. Hence the detailed description and drawings presented herein are intended to describe the invention's “process of creation” comprising the revolutionary dual-mode of travel PRRVs functionality and not be limited to just the specific hardware creation version presented herein.
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For electric powered vehicles, the driver may also instruct the smart-phone control unit to task the RWLSUs to extend/ engage an Electric Interface Unit (EIU) to extract AC electric power from the guide rail's AC electric tracks, located inside the GRAs, to power the electric vehicle (addressed in
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(FIG.) #5 shows a front inside view of a customized planetary gear assembly. The vehicle's drive shaft (
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The following information is provided for invention completeness. Numerous safety, physical, electrical and automation/ automatic standards comprising the PRRV/RRHS revolutionary travel capability are necessary to be established by the PRRV/RRHS developers and manufactures and approved by the Federal government to ensure safety and automated operational compatibility. These standards will cover numerous essential requirements and features not addressed herein such as: PRRV tires must be of the bullet proof, flat-less Rhino type to maintain PRRV's height when encountering puncturing debris; PRRV doors must be of the van sliding door type or equivalent to permit opening and passenger's exiting from the RRHS without encountering blockage by the jersey barriers; RRHS safety walkways and disembark provisions need to be provided for passengers to exit disabled PRRVs; various RRHS intersection status, alert, warning indicators need to inform PRRVs of their locations relative to the road-rail highway intersections; and lastly numerous smart-phone applications to enhance automation and the driving experience are needed. In conclusion, this invention is envisioned to continue the American love affair with both revolutionary hybrid automobiles and hybrid trains well beyond the 21st century, as the invention's automated driving capabilities is believed to be the forerunner of fully automatic transportation capabilities with features so great they cannot even be fully envisioned at this time.
Claims
1. What is claimed is a process of creation that transforms conventional vehicles into revolutionary dual mode of travel Personal Road-Rail Vehicle (PRRV) that have the convenience of driving as conventional vehicles on conventional roads and the luxury of automated smart-phone assisted driving as revolutionary, high speed PRRVs traveling on compact, electric hybrid, Road-Rail Highway Systems (RRHSs), and this process of creation comprises creation of functionally equivalent to the PRRV's Rail-Wheel Latching/Steering Unit (RWLSU) and its companion RRHSs Guide Rail Assembly(GRA) that in accordance with PRRV's smart-phone high-level tasking instructions:
- (a) latches and steers each of the PRRV's wheels via their wheel suspension assemblies to the RRHS's GRA in a manner that securely confines and steers the PRRVs via their wheels to the RRHS's compact roadway for high speed travel and for such operations as entering and exiting RRHSs and performing left/right/straight junction operations by properly sequencing the RWLSU's latching and steering operations; and
- (b) extracts AC electric energy from the RRHS GRA's AC electric tracks for electric PRRVs to power their travel needs.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 27, 2011
Publication Date: May 2, 2013
Inventor: Fredrick John Lebert (Pasadena, MD)
Application Number: 13/317,741
International Classification: B61F 13/00 (20060101);