Autran Corp. was founded in 1995 and is solely owned by Van Metre Lund. Van is the President and Secretary of Autran Corp. also its PR department and is responsible for this web site.
Van grew up in Kingsley, a small town in northwest Iowa, 30 miles from Sioux City. He attended Iowa State College in Ames, now Iowa State University, and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1944. He then spent two years in the U.S. Navy, as a student and then as an instructor in a Navy Radar School. This was followed by working for two years as an electrical engineer in Chicago and for two years as an Examiner in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. He then worked full time for a patent law firm in Chicago while attending the John Marshall Law School at night, graduating in 1954. He was then admitted to the Illinois Bar, starting a 40 year career as a Chicago patent lawyer.
While growing up and during his career in engineering and in patents, Van was a witness to and involved in the huge advances made in technology since the 1930's. He specialized in electronics and computers, but was also exposed to mechanical, manufacturing and other technologies. He had many ideas of his own but pursuing them could conflict with his work as a patent lawyer. However, in working with two engineers of one client, he did become a co-inventor of a invention on which a patent was issued in 1970. Claims of that patent cover instruments that were later used widely in performing echo-cardiograms but not until after the patent had expired. The invention was too far ahead of its time. Van did not otherwise pursue ideas of his own. He had been frustrated. In the early 1990's he decided to retire from his law practice and work as an inventor.
Upon retirement, Van initially worked on ideas he had relating to spread spectrum communications. He built operative prototypes and obtained three U.S. patents but, for lack of resources, did not achieve commercial success. However, he learned a lot that later proved to be valuable.
In June of 1995, Van filed three patent applications on his transportation ideas. Since then he has filed seven additional applications. At this time, eight U.S. Patents have been issued on his transportion ideas, two applications are pending and additional applications are in process.
The present design of Autways is basically the same as the design of 1995. It uses small automated carriers moving on elevated and electrified guideways to transport cars, people and freight and it incorporates many improvements that have been made in over fifteen years of work.
One important improvement relates to a simplified construction of carriers and to a corresponding simplified construction of guideways. In prior designs, the carriers had four support wheels that rolled on two parallel rails of guideways. In a new design, each carrier has a single main wheel which rolls on a single main rail of a guideway and which is used for both support and drive purposes. Auxiliary wheels engage the main rail and a pair auxiliary side rails to guide the carrier, to steer the carrier through Y-junctions, to limit tilting of the carrier, to increase traction between the main wheel and main rail and to control balance about the axis of the main wheel. Both the main wheel and the main rail are preferably of steel to minimize losses in energy in driving the carrier. The auxiliary wheels and rails are also of steel. To maximize traction, the center of gravity of a car-carrying platform or other load to be carried is positioned directly above the main wheel. With these features, the construction of both the carriers and the guideways are simplified. Costs are minimized while increasing performance. No differential gearing is required. Turns of very short radius are possible.
The design of the Autways should maximize revenue and financial viability. For example, car-carrying Autways are designed to allow cars to be quickly loaded onto and unloaded from platforms. Passenger carrying Autways are designed to allow many passengers to enter and exit cabins during rush hours.
Another important improvement relates to safe and reliable control. See Autway Control System. As was the case in the 1995 system, each carrier is always under control of one of a series of MCUs (monitoring and control units) that are assigned to contiguous regions along guideways. Each carrier is slowed down to maintain a safe following distance behind a carrier ahead or to avoid collision with another carrier when approaching a merge point of a convergent Y-junction. Control is distributed throughout a network. A complete failure of an entire network is not possible. A network can start with one or more systems that are of relatively small size and that can be expanded and interconnected as desirable. In the new design, the accuracy and reliability of control are increased. Important features relate to the counting of speed pulses sent to the MCU's from carriers and to of arrival data related to the speed and times of arrival of two carriers at a merge point. Provisions are made for the sending of data from carriers to MCUs to allow use of carriers of different lengths and to allow use and control of various types of loads.
Van's vision is that a wide-scale network will be capable of serving a number of different purposes and that it will be built in an evolutionary process of building and connecting of roadways. Van's vision is that there will be many participants in rapidly building and thereafter operating the network. To facilitate cooperation with participants, the dimensions and relative positions of rails of guideways and of wheels of carriers allow for use of carriers and guidways of different weight-carrying capacities. Carriers of any capacity can move on any guideways having the same or a higher capacity. The carriers can carry different types of loads. Loads may be transferred between carriers and between carriers and storage and servicing locations. These features have important advantages. For example, low capacity carriers and guideways may be provided for carrying of three or four passenger PRT cabins but any low-capacity carrier can be allowed to move on guideways of higher capacities, including roadways initially built to carry cars on platforms. The initial building of roadways that carry cars can thereby facilitate the later inclusion of PRT and GRT systems for carrying of passengers as well as systems for carrying of freight.
