Electricity: transmission to vehicles – Collectors – Trolley
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-03
2001-06-05
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3613)
Electricity: transmission to vehicles
Collectors
Trolley
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241065
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the priority of German Patent Application Serial No. 198 13 828.8-32, filed Mar. 20, 1998, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to a current collector device, and more particularly to a current collector vehicle or trolley for traveling in a current contact line having a bottom formed longitudinally with a slot and accommodating longitudinally therein current conductor rails, with the current collector trolley including a base body extending through the slot to the outside and having sliding contacts which are forced into contact with the conductor rails during operative mode and electrically connected outside the current contact line to a multicore collector cable.
German Pat. No. DE 28 31 882 A1 describes a current collector trolley of this type. The trolley is made essentially of a flat base body having rotatably mounted wheels thereon for travel inside a hollow current collector line. The base body includes sliding contacts which are in forced contact with the conductor rails during operation. A multicore current collector cable is secured to the base body and electrically connected to the sliding contacts, with the base body extending outwards through the longitudinal slot formed in the bottom of the contact line.
A drawback of this conventional current collector trolley is the provision of individual, electrically insulated conductors of round cross section for connection of the sliding contacts with the collector cable so that the longitudinal slot in the contact line must exhibit a relatively great width. As a consequence, the protection of the current contact line against accidental touching of the electrical contacts becomes more complicated. Moreover, the round configuration of the current conductors prevents a compact structure of the trolley so that the travel of the trolley is particularly adversely affected when negotiating a curve where trolleys of longer design are typically subject to increased wear.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved current collector trolley, obviating the afore-stated drawbacks.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved current collector trolley which is of compact structure and permits the provision of a narrow longitudinal slot in the current collector line.
These objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter, are attained in accordance with the present invention by providing a base body which is made of plastic material and has embedded therein at least one flat electric conductor extending across the base body from top to bottom and having upper and lower ends, with the upper end of the conductor being positioned in proximity of one of the sliding contacts and electrically connectable thereto, and with the lower end of the conductor extending downwards to project out of the base body for electric connection with a core of the collector cable.
Through the provision of such an electric conductor which is embedded in the base body, the electric connection between the sliding contacts and the collector cable is kept very short so that the trolley can be designed in a very compact fashion. As the conductors can now be made of rectangular cross section, the contact areas can be expanded while the longitudinal slot in the contact line for feedthrough of the trolley to the outside can be of minimal width. Furthermore, the base body is easy to manufacture and requires minimal assembly.
The manufacture of the base body can be further facilitated by so injection molding the base body that plastic material is molded around the conductors. After fabricating the plastic base body, the electric conductors are completely insulated and additionally provide support for securement of connection elements.
According to another feature of the present invention, the upper end of the conductor has a contact area which is accessible from outside, and the sliding contact has a metal lug in flat engagement with the contact area. Thus, assembly of the collector trolley is simplified because for establishing the electrical contact only a single fastening element is needed which merely presses the metal lug onto the contact surface of the conductor. At the same time, a mechanical securement of the sliding contact is realized thereby.
Suitably, the sliding contacts are so configured as to be insertable into the base body and securable to the conductor, thereby further simplifying the assembly.
According to still another feature of the present invention, the lower end of the conductor may be formed e.g. as a plug contact for insertion in a socket of a receptacle mounted to the collector cable. In this manner, a very simple connection of the conductor to the collector cable is ensured. Moreover, replacement of the collector cable is possible in a very simple manner. A particularly compact configuration of the trolley can be realized by designing the plug contacts as flat contacts.
Suitably, the collector cable is secured directly to the plastic base body.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2921146 (1960-01-01), Ericson
patent: 3392244 (1968-07-01), Hillmann
patent: 0 835 699 (1960-05-01), None
patent: 1 347 164 (1974-02-01), None
patent: 1 377 820 (1974-12-01), None
Kohlenberg Thomas
Oemus Klaus-Dieter
Röhr Michael
Schulte Uwe
Feiereisen Henry M.
Mannesmann AG
McCarry, Jr. Robert J.
Morano S. Joseph
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