Electricity: transmission to vehicles – Conductors – Trolley
Patent
1998-04-13
1999-09-28
Le, Mark T.
Electricity: transmission to vehicles
Conductors
Trolley
B60M 100
Patent
active
059572540
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for coupling elastic and rigid contact line systems. For supplying power to electrically driven vehicles, particularly rail vehicles, contact lines are located in the form of wire arrangements suspended above the rail, wherein these wire arrangements direct electrical energy to the electrically driven vehicles via current collectors. The overhead contact wires are in accordance with European standards and each overhead contact wire is suspended on a catenary wire by means of suspension wires, suspended at short intervals, wherein the support points are located on the catenary wire approximately 30-180 cm higher than the overhead contact wire. The vertical distance from the rail to the support points is called the system height. For economic reasons, the system height must have very small dimensions inside tunnels and in the case of superstructures. Furthermore, the overhead contact wires and the catenary wires are mechanically tensioned at 8-30 kN in order to allow sliding friction contact speeds of up to 500 km/hr via the current collectors. The necessary tensioning devices are complex arrangements that are difficult to assemble, particularly in underground stretches of tunnel, since they require additional space. Furthermore, the current collector presses upward on the overhead contact wire at 70-300 N, which requires more space. For these reasons, for sites with limited space, such as in tunnels or superstructures, rigid contact rails were introduced, thus lowering the system height in particular. However, the transition from the elastic contact line to the rigid contact rail, i.e., the coupling between the contact line in the form of a hanging wire arrangement and the rigid contact rail, presents problems. It is customary to guide the overhead contact wire of the contact lines as a suspended wire arrangement parallel to the rigid contact rail. This, however, makes passage at high speeds more difficult and increases wear on the current collector. Furthermore, there is a danger of the current collector becoming entangled between the overhead contact wires and pulling the same down, which will bring the operation to a standstill.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the task of the present invention to offer a process and an apparatus which remove the above-mentioned disadvantages and, particularly at a low cost, make possible a good coupling between an elastic contact line in the form of a suspended wire arrangement and a rigid contact rail on which the current collector can drive at high speeds, and which has minimal wear and a long service life expectancy.
The basic principle of the invention involves the series connection of the elastic contact line and the rigid contact rail. Specifically, in the longitudinal direction of the contact line system, an elastic transition area is created between the rigid contact rail and the flexible contact line in the form of a suspension wire. This elastic transition or coupling range is realized by means of a specially formed spring pole whose elasticity increases from its end on the rigid contact rail side to the end of the flexible contact line side. In this way, the coupling location between rigid and flexible contact line parts is distributed across a greater distance, whereby the flexural-type stress on the overhead contact wire, brought about as a result of the interaction between current collector and overhead contact wire, is distributed across a greater mechanical length and in this way is more effectively damped. The overhead contact wire is guided in series with respect to the rigid contact rail and the contact line in the form of a suspended wire arrangement, i.e., without lateral offset of the current-conducting path. Due to the elastic coupling, the risk of breaks occurring on the overhead contact wire due to metal fatigue is greatly reduced.
According to a further development of the invention, the spring pole has essentially the same cross-sectional profile as the rigid cont
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patent: 886475 (1908-05-01), Brunberg
patent: 918761 (1909-04-01), Mayer
patent: 2884614 (1959-04-01), Taylor
patent: 3985211 (1976-10-01), Bommart
patent: 4049092 (1977-09-01), Lillard et al.
patent: 4230209 (1980-10-01), Ohura et al.
Furrer & Frey A.G.
Le Mark T.
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