I'd like to know if anybody is aware of a tram/LRT system that can operate on and off the rails.  I developed a special wheel/tire/track that would allow for ebuses to drive with steel wheels on rails, then drive on tires on the road, at will.  I want to make sure there isn't a system already operating with the feature.  If there is I would like to study it in depth.

8 hours ago, Steve Ostrowski said:

I'd like to know if anybody is aware of a tram/LRT system that can operate on and off the rails.  I developed a special wheel/tire/track that would allow for ebuses to drive with steel wheels on rails, then drive on tires on the road, at will.  I want to make sure there isn't a system already operating with the feature.  If there is I would like to study it in depth.

There is such a system in Nancy (France). It's a mix between a rubber Tram and a Rail guided Trolleybus. I Invite you to check it out. There was a similar system in Caen (France again) but was discontinued in 2017 to be replaced by a regular tram/streetcar system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caen_Guided_Light_Transit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Guided_Light_Transit

Caen:

Nancy:

There's also another exemple of rubber tired Trams developped by Translohr a sub company of Alstom (French technology AGAIN) *you really wonder after a while why the french love rubber tired trains so much*. These trams operate in France but also China and Italy. However these can't leave the road like the Nancy and former Caen tram could.

Clermont-Ferrand:

:


Paris:

Edited November 21, 20205 yr by Matth69000

Thank you for the feedback.  I am aware of those systems.  They operate on tires and the rail is for guidance.  The system I'm talking about drives on tires when it wants to, say to go in area where tracks are a disturbance like a town square or in major intersections, then drives on rails, with no tire contact, when it's on the mainline between stops.  That way the efficiency and durability of an LRT is freed of the drawbacks of not being able to pass another LRT or the cost of switches, or the interference of rails in downtown cores with tight turns and major pedestrian crossing traffic.  If nobody knows of this type of system I'm hopeful I'll be successful with my on/off rail technology patent.  But I don't want to spend a ton on a search for prior art, just to find out the technology exists somewhere else.   The image below shows bigger diameter tires rotating without contact as the smaller diameter wheel is on the rail.  When the driver turns the steering wheel, the tires grab the rails and climbs out of the 'trough' onto the road.  So one vehicle drives around on tires on the road, and on wheels on the track, and can drive on and off tracks at will.  Is anybody aware of this type of system?

Cool.  I'm pretty much finished validating this on/off technology is patentable.  My provisional is already in place so I have IP protection.  With nobody having any input from this website and others like it, I'm good to go!

Best.