Importance

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Abstract

A system for propelling a vehicle along an elevated, pneumatic power tube carried by exterior support structure above ground. First and second angles define tracks for the vehicle and extend parallel to the power tube. Undercarriages secured to the vehicle including vehicle support and guidance wheels which are rotatable about axes inclined relative to legs of the angle tracks have a periphery that engages the legs of the angle tracks so that the weight of the vehicle is supported by the tracks and the support structure only. A pneumatic propulsion unit is movably disposed inside the power tube and is guided along rails on the inside of the power tube. A magnetic coupler having first and second cooperating magnetic elements is attached to the vehicle and the propulsion unit in operative alignment with each other. A portion of the power tube located between the magnetic elements is constructed of a non-magnetic and non-conductive material and extends over the length of the power tube. The propulsion unit has a thrust carriage with a thrust valve that forms a collapsible, frusto-conically shaped wall formed by a multiplicity of overlapping, angularly inclined blades that are concentrically disposed in the power tube. An actuator is coupled to the blades for selectively increasing an angle of the blades until free ends thereof contact an interior surface of the power tube, to thereby prevent the flow of air through the tube past the wall, and for retracting the blades so that the free ends thereof are spaced apart from the interior surface of the power tube, the valve generating a force acting in the longitudinal direction of the power tube when the free ends of the valve blades engage the interior surface.

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First Claim