ES1312223U - System for connecting vehicle traffic lanes. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

System for connecting vehicle circulation lanes, characterised in that it comprises: - a fixed structure (1) delimiting a circular gap (11) and accessed in a radial direction by circulation lanes (y), to be selectively connected, arranged coplanarly and defining between them an angle that is a multiple of an angle (a); - a circular ring (2) arranged in a plane parallel to the circulation lanes (y), mounted on the fixed structure (1) with the possibility of rotation with respect to an axis (Z) perpendicular to said circular ring, and coupled to rotary drive means; said circular crown (2) comprising on an upper face a first and a second group of rolling paths (21, 22) provided with outer ends that define between them an angle that is a multiple of the angle (a) and are designed to selectively face different circulation paths (V) and inner ends, close to the inner contour of said circular crown and, - a circular plate (3) mounted inside said circular crown (2) and comprising: a diametral axis (X) of rotation between two extreme positions coplanar with the circular crown; {2.} System according to claim 1, wherein the circular ring (2) is mounted on the fixed structure (1) by means of rolling elements (24), and the rotary drive means of the circular ring (2) comprise a toothed ring (23) fixed to the circular ring (2) and coupled to a pinion (41) driven by a servomotor (4). 3. System according to any preceding claim, wherein the circular ring (2) and the circular plate (3) have an outer contour and an inner contour provided with at least one recess (25) and a motorized pin (34) which in the extreme rotation positions of the circular plate (3) is housed in the corresponding recess (25), immobilizing the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular ring (2). 4. System according to at least one of the preceding claims; wherein the means for driving the rotational movement of the circular plate (3) comprise at least one pinion (51) driven by a servomotor (5) and meshed with a pinion (33) arranged at one of the ends of the diametrical axis (X) of the circular plate (3). 5. System according to any of claims 1 to 4; wherein the diametral axis (X) is oriented in a fixed direction with respect to the circular ring (2), and prevents the relative rotation of the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular ring (2) on the axis (Z). 6. System according to claim 5, wherein the rolling paths (31, 32) are arranged in certain positions on the opposite faces of the circular plate (3), so that in each of the extreme rotation positions of said circular plate (3) on the diametral axis (X), one of said rolling paths (31, 32) is arranged facing the respective pairs of rotation paths (21, 22) of the circular ring (2) to be connected. 7. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the circulation lanes (V) and the raceways (21, 22, 31, 32) comprise two parallel guides (61) and a central raceway (62) coplanar with the upper surface of said guides (61). 8. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer ends of the pairs of the first group of raceways (21) of the circular annulus (2), connected by the first group of raceways (31) of the face (A) of the circular plate (3), define angles of 180°, 150°, 120° and 90° between them. 9. System according to any preceding claim, wherein the pairs of the second group of raceways (22) of the circular ring (2), connected by the second group of raceways (32) of the face (B) of the circular plate (3), define between them angles of 165°, 135°, 105° and 90°. 10. System according to claims 1 to 4; wherein the diametral axis (X) of rotation of the circular plate (3) and the means for driving the rotational movement of said circular plate (3) are mounted on the circular ring (2) with the possibility of rotation with respect to the axis (Z) and coupled to means for driving said rotary movement. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

System for connecting vehicle traffic lanes

Technical sector.

The present invention falls within the technical sector relating to systems for the interconnection of different vehicle circulation routes at intersections or confluence areas, and in particular of routes provided with rails, raceways or guides for the circulation of vehicles.

State of the prior art.

In utility model ES 1 128 605 U of the same holder of the present invention, a crossing crown for guidance systems in public transport is described, which comprises a circular rotating plate that has on at least one of its faces one or more rolling paths, and which is mounted on a support comprising: one or more driving devices mechanically connected to the rotating plate and capable of transmitting a rotation movement to the rotating plate; one or more devices for guiding the rotating plate; one or more devices for interlocking the rotating plate at will; one or more devices for controlling the driving devices; one or more devices for positioning the rotating plate, and one or more devices for actuating the interlocking device.

This crossing crown allows two or more traffic lanes or guidance systems to be connected simultaneously, conveniently orienting the turntable so that the raceways fixed to it face the ends of the traffic lanes to be connected.

This turning ring connects several traffic lanes simultaneously, allowing several vehicles to circulate on the same lane without crossing paths. To achieve this objective, it is necessary that the raceways arranged on the turntable do not cross and are kept sufficiently far apart to avoid contact between vehicles circulating on adjacent raceways; this obviously limits the number of raceways that can be arranged on the turntable floor and the operating capacity of the turning ring.

Explanation of the invention.

The system for connecting vehicle traffic lanes, object of this invention, has technical characteristics whose objective is to significantly increase the capacity of connecting traffic lanes of the aforementioned antecedent, without the need to expand the surface occupied by it.

The solution proposed in this invention to achieve the proposed objective consists of combining a circular crown, provided on its upper face with a first and a second group of rolling paths, with a circular plate arranged within said circular crown and comprising on two opposite faces a first and a second group of rolling paths with different trajectories, said circular plate being mounted with respect to the circular crown, with the possibility of rotation between two extreme positions in which the first or the second group of rolling paths face the first and the second group of circulation paths of the circular crown.

The aforementioned circular crown is enabled to rotate on an axis (Z) perpendicular to it, in order to face the outer ends of said rolling paths with different fixed circulation paths, oriented in a radial direction with respect to said circular crown, giving continuity to the guidelines of the sections of the circulation paths and to the rolling paths of the circular crown and the circular plate.

The combination of the circular ring with the aforementioned circular plate allows doubling the connection possibilities between the fixed tracks, rotating the circular plate towards one of the extreme positions and rotating the set of the circular ring and the circular plate, with respect to a fixed external structure, to face the operational raceways of the circular ring and the circular plate with the fixed tracks to be connected.

The characteristics of the invention, included in the appended claims, will be more easily understood in view of the exemplary embodiments of the figures.

Brief description of the content of the drawings.

To complement the description being made and in order to facilitate understanding of the characteristics of the invention, a set of drawings is attached to this descriptive report in which, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented:

- Figure 1 shows a plan view of an exemplary embodiment of the system for connecting vehicle circulation paths, according to the invention, in which the external structure has been partially represented, and the circular plate has been represented in one of the extreme rotation positions, with its face (A) in the operative position. In this figure, the first group of raceways on the face (A) of the circular plate, facing the first group of raceways on the circular ring, has been represented with a solid line, and the second group of raceways corresponding to its face (B), has been represented with a broken line.

- Figure 2 shows a plan view of the system for connecting vehicle circulation paths, similar to Figure 1, with the circular plate rotated by 180° and with its face B in the operative position. In this figure, the second group of raceways on the face (B) of the circular plate, facing the second group of raceways on the circular annulus, is represented with a solid line, and the first group of raceways corresponding to its face (A) is represented with a dashed line.

- Figure 3 shows a schematic elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of the system for connecting vehicle circulation lanes, sectioned by a vertical plane, and in which the following can be observed: the axis of rotation of the circular plate with respect to the circular ring, the pins for immobilizing the circular plate in one of the extreme rotation positions, and the rotary drive means of the circular ring with respect to the fixed structure that delimits a circular gap and which is accessed in a radial direction by circulation lanes to be selectively connected.

- Figure 4 shows a schematic plan view of the circular ring and the circular plate with the respective drive means.

- Figure 5 shows an enlarged elevation detail of one of the ends of the circular plate and its diametrical axis of rotation, coupled to the means for driving the rotational movement; in this case the circular plate is unable to rotate relative to the circular ring.

- Figure 6 shows the cross section corresponding to the circulation paths and the raceways of the circular ring and the circular plate.

Detailed exposition of embodiments of the invention.

As can be seen in figures 1 to 3, this system for connecting vehicle circulation lanes comprises: a fixed structure (1) which delimits a circular gap (11) and which is accessed in a radial direction by circulation lanes (V), to be selectively connected, arranged coplanarly and defining between them an angle that is a multiple of an angle (a); a circular ring (2) arranged in a plane parallel to the circulation lanes (V), mounted on the fixed structure (1) with the possibility of rotation with respect to an axis (Z) perpendicular to said circular ring, and coupled to rotary drive means.

In figures 1 and 2 the angle (a) defined between the successive traffic lanes (V) is 15 degrees, and to facilitate understanding of the explanation below, the angular position occupied by each of said traffic lanes (V) has been represented in degrees.

The circular ring (2) comprises on an upper face, which is always visible, a first and a second group of rolling paths (21, 22) provided with outer ends that define between them an angle that is a multiple of the angle (a) defined by the circulation paths (V) and designed to selectively face different circulation paths (V), and inner ends close to the inner contour of said circular ring (2).

The circular plate (3), mounted inside said circular crown (2), comprises: a diametral axis (X) of rotation between two extreme positions, shown in figures 1 and 2, coplanar with the circular crown (2) and means of actuating the rotational movement.

Said circular plate (3) comprises two opposite faces (A, B) carrying respectively: a first group of rolling paths (31) and a second group of rolling paths (32).

In a first extreme rotation position of the circular plate (3), shown in figure 1, the face (A) of the circular plate (3) is oriented upwards and the rolling paths (31) of said face (A) connect pairs of rolling paths (21) of the circular ring (2) that form different angles with each other.

In said figure 1 the first group of raceways (21) of the circular ring (2) is formed by four pairs of raceways, connected by the first group of raceways (31) of the face (A) of the circular plate (3). The outer ends of said pairs of raceways (21) define between them fixed angles of 180°, 150°, 120° and 90°.

By means of the joint rotation of the circular crown (2) and the circular plate (3) with respect to the Z axis, the system allows connecting the circulation paths (V) that successively face the first group of rolling paths (21) of the circular crown (2) and that define between them the aforementioned angles of 180°, 150°, 120° and 90°.

At the 0° position of the circular ring (2) and the circular plate (3), shown in Figure 1, the system connects the pairs of circulation paths (V) that occupy the following angular positions: 0°-180°; 15°-165°; 30°-150° and 45°-135°

By turning the circular ring (2) and the circular plate (3) together 15 degrees clockwise, the pairs of circulation paths (V) are connected, occupying the following angular positions: 15°-195°; 30°-180°, 45°-165° and 60°-150°, and so on for the following 15-degree turns.

In a second extreme rotation position of the circular plate (3), shown in figure 2, the face (B) of the circular plate (3) is arranged facing upwards and the second group of rolling paths (32), arranged on said face (B) of the circular plate (3), connect pairs of rolling paths (22) that form different angles with each other.

In said figure 2, the second group of raceways of the circular crown (2) is formed by four pairs of raceways (22), connected by the second group of raceways (32) of the face (B) of the circular plate (3), and the outer ends of said pairs of raceways (22) define angles of 165°, 135°, 105° and 90° between them.

By means of the joint rotation of the circular crown (2) and the circular plate (3) with respect to the Z axis, the system allows connecting the circulation paths (V) that successively face the second group of rolling paths (22) of the circular crown (2) and that define between them the aforementioned angles of 180°, 150°, 120° and 90°.

At the 0° position of the circular ring (2) and the circular plate (3), shown in figure 2, the system connects the pairs of circulation paths (V) that occupy the following angular positions: 75°-240°; 90°-225°; 105°-210° and 255°-345°

By turning the circular ring (2) and the circular plate (3) 15 degrees clockwise, the pairs of circulation paths (V) are connected which occupy the following angular positions: 90°-255°; 105°-240°, 120°-225° and 270°-0°, and so on for the following 15 turns.

As shown in figure 3, the circular ring (2) is mounted on the fixed structure (1) by means of rolling elements (24), and the rotary drive means of the circular ring (2) comprise a toothed ring (23) fixed to the circular ring (2) and coupled to a pinion (41) driven by a servomotor (4). The aforementioned servomotor (4) allows the circular ring (2) to rotate precisely so that the rolling paths associated with it face those fixed circulation paths (V) to be connected in each case.

The circular crown (2) and the circular plate (3) have an outer contour and an inner contour, facing each other, provided with at least one recess (25) and a motorized pin (34), referenced in figures 3 and 4, which in the extreme rotation positions of the circular plate (3) is housed in the corresponding recess (25), immobilizing the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular crown (2).

In Figure 5 the means for driving the rotational movement of the circular plate (3) comprise at least one pinion (51) driven by a servomotor (5) and meshed with a pinion (33) arranged at one of the ends of the diametrical axis (X) of rotation of the circular plate (3). The use of a servomotor (5) to perform the rotation of the circular plate (3) allows the angle of rotation of said circular plate to be controlled and to arrange it exactly in any of the two extreme rotation positions, that is, with the face (A) or the face (B) facing upwards and in an operative position.

In the embodiment shown in said figure 5, the diametrical axis (X) of rotation of the circular plate (3) is oriented in a fixed direction with respect to the circular crown (2), the circular plate (3) rotating together with the circular crown (2) with respect to the axis (Z).

In this embodiment, the rolling paths (31, 32) are arranged in certain positions on the opposite faces of the circular plate (3), as shown in figures 1 and 2, so that in each of the extreme rotation positions of the circular plate (3), one of said rolling paths (31, 32) is arranged facing the respective pairs of rolling paths (21, 22) of the circular ring (2) to be connected.

However, in an alternative embodiment to that shown in Figure 5, in which the axis of rotation (X) of the circular plate (3) is unable to rotate with respect to the circular ring (2), it has been provided that the diametrical axis (X) of rotation of the circular plate (3) and the means for driving the rotational movement of said circular plate (3) can be mounted on the circular ring (2) with the possibility of rotation with respect to the axis (Z) and coupled to means for driving said rotary movement; in this case it is necessary to conveniently rotate the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular ring (2) to align the first or second rolling paths (31, 32) of the circular plate (3) with the first and second paths (21, 22) of the circular ring (2), and to lock the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular ring (2) before rotating them together to connect the selected circulation paths (V).

Figure 6 shows a section of an exemplary embodiment of the circulation paths (V) and the rolling paths (21, 22, 31, 32) comprising two parallel guides (61) and a central rolling track (62), coplanar with the upper surface of said guides (61).

Once the nature of the invention has been sufficiently described, as well as an example of a preferred embodiment, it is stated for appropriate purposes that the materials, shape, size and arrangement of the elements described may be modified, provided that this does not entail an alteration of the essential characteristics of the invention claimed below.

Claims (10)

1. System for connecting vehicle traffic lanes; characterized in that it comprises: - a fixed structure (1) that delimits a circular gap (11) and which is accessed in a radial direction by circulation paths (V), to be selectively connected, arranged coplanarly and defining between them an angle that is a multiple of an angle (a); - a circular ring (2) arranged in a plane parallel to the circulation lanes (V), mounted on the fixed structure (1) with the possibility of rotation with respect to an axis (Z) perpendicular to said circular ring, and coupled to rotary drive means; said circular ring (2) comprising on an upper face a first and a second group of raceways (21, 22) provided with outer ends defining between them an angle multiple of the angle (a) and intended to selectively face different circulation lanes (V) and inner ends, close to the inner contour of said circular ring and, - a circular plate (3) mounted inside said circular ring (2) and comprising: a diametrical axis (X) of rotation between two extreme positions coplanar with the circular ring; means for driving the rotational movement, and two opposite faces (A, B) carrying respectively: a first group of raceways (31) which, in a first extreme rotation position of the circular plate, connect pairs of raceways (21) of the rotating ring forming different angles with each other, and a second group of raceways (32) which, in a second extreme rotation position of the circular plate (3), connect pairs of raceways (22) forming different angles with each other. 2. System according to claim 1, in which the circular ring (2) is mounted on the fixed structure (1) by means of rolling elements (24), and the rotary drive means of the circular ring (2) comprise a toothed ring (23) fixed to the circular ring (2) and coupled to a pinion (41) driven by a servomotor (4). 3. System according to any preceding claim, in which the circular crown (2) and the circular plate (3) have an outer contour and an inner contour provided with at least one recess (25) and a motorized pin (34) which in the extreme rotation positions of the circular plate (3) is housed in the corresponding recess (25), immobilizing the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular crown (2). 4. System according to at least one of the preceding claims; wherein the means for driving the rotational movement of the circular plate (3) comprise at least one pinion (51) driven by a servomotor (5) and meshed with a pinion (33) arranged at one of the ends of the diametrical axis (X) of the circular plate (3). 5. System according to any of claims 1 to 4; wherein the diametral axis (X) is oriented in a fixed direction with respect to the circular ring (2), and prevents relative rotation of the circular plate (3) with respect to the circular ring (2) on the axis (Z). 6. System according to claim 5, in which the rolling paths (31, 32) are arranged in certain positions on the opposite faces of the circular plate (3), so that in each of the extreme rotation positions of said circular plate (3) on the diametral axis (X), one of said rolling paths (31, 32) is arranged facing the respective pairs of rotation paths (21, 22) of the circular ring (2) to be connected. 7. System according to any preceding claim, wherein the circulation lanes (V) and the rolling paths (21, 22, 31, 32) comprise two parallel guides (61) and a central rolling track (62), coplanar with the upper surface of said guides (61). 8. System according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer ends of the pairs of the first group of raceways (21) of the circular ring (2), connected by the first group of raceways (31) of the face (A) of the circular plate (3), define angles of 180°, 150°, 120° and 90° between them. 9. System according to any preceding claim, wherein the pairs of the second group of raceways (22) of the circular ring (2), connected by the second group of raceways (32) of the face (B) of the circular plate (3), define between them angles of 165°, 135°, 105° and 90°. 10. System according to claims 1 to 4, wherein the diametrical axis (X) of rotation of the circular plate (3) and the means for driving the rotational movement of said circular plate (3) are mounted on the circular ring (2) with the possibility of rotation with respect to the axis (Z) and coupled to means for driving said rotary movement.