AU1864000A

AU1864000A - Current collector for electrically operated rail-mounted vehicles

Info

Publication number: AU1864000A
Application number: AU18640/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Werner Brand; Johannes Kremlacek; Wolfgang Waldi; Hans-Jurgen Weidemann
Original assignee: DaimlerChrysler Rail Systems GmbH
Current assignee: Alstom Transportation Germany GmbH
Priority date: 1998-12-03
Filing date: 1999-11-26
Publication date: 2000-06-19
Also published as: DE19856636A1; CN1329549A; JP2002532041A; EP1140550A1; CA2352790A1; WO2000032437A1; PL347930A1; KR20010086069A; DE19856636C2

Description

Description The invention concerns a current collector for electrically operated railbound vehicles with a streamlined rocker body carrying a collector bar system, having 5 horns and constructed as a housing, that is rigidly fastened on the insulating flange of an insulator. It is known that the maximum speed, achievable by high-speed vehicles, in particular by railbound vehicles, is determined to a considerable extent by the 10 current collection from the overhead contact wire by the current collector that is pressed against the overhead contact wire. A contact force occurs between the overhead contact wire and the current collector that can considerably vary due to the dynamic interaction between the overhead contact wire and the current collector. 15 The magnitude of this contact force is considerably influenced by the friction between the collector bar and the overhead contact wire, rigidity of the overhead line, the local or temporary changes in the geometry due to the various heights of the overhead contact wire, zig-zagging layout of the overhead contact wire, wear 20 of the collector bar and of the overhead contact wire, varying aerodynamic influences due to the changing direction of travel and vehicle shapes, wind and vehicle speeds, oscillating behaviour of the current collector and of the overhead contact wire as well as the change in the flow velocity in tunnels during oncoming traffic. 25 These complex influences lead to large fluctuations of the contact forces, particularly at high speeds, and consequently result in interruptions of the supply of electric energy. 30 The teaching according to DE-A 28 30 027 attempts to solve these problems by that those parts of the current collector which are exposed to the air flow are provided with flow-stabilising coating, whereby the current collector head is enveloped by flow-stabilising coating manufactured from a lightweight insulating material, constructed like an airplane wing, from which the collector bars of the current collector protrude. From JP-A 274304-1995 a collector shoe carrier system for current collectors of 5 railway motor cars is known, that comprises a collector shoe with elliptic or spherical cross-section with its longitudinal axis is in the direction of travel, a collector part mounted on top of the collector shoe that contacts the overhead contact wire, a pressing device that presses the collector part against the overhead contact wire, a support spring that provides the resilience to the region 10 of the axle of rotation of the collector shoe and a damper that dampens the movements of the region of the axle of rotation of the collector shoe. By attaching an airflow stabilising plate at the rear of the collector shoe the contact point to the overhead contact wire is moved behind the axis of rotation of the collector shoe and the centre of the airflow of the collector shoe behind the contact point with 15 the overhead contact wire. To arrange the collector part of a current collector in the current collector head either rigidly or vertically directly spring-biased in the current collector head is also known (EP-A 0 635 392, JP-A 7123508, EP-A 0 697 304, DE-A 195 40 914). 20 Common to all these known current collectors is the disadvantage that they require a relatively large space for their construction, are material intensive and have high sound emission. The rigid arrangement of the collector bar in the current collector head can only conditionally absorb high frequency oscillations of the overhead contact wire. In the case of high speeds the great mass of the 25 collector part carrier leads to great wear on the one hand and, due to the high uplift to the danger of jumping off the overhead contact wire on the other, leading to electric arcing which can results in the damaging of the collector part. Considering this state-of-the-art the object of the invention is to distinctly reduce 30 the space required for the construction of the current collector head while simultaneously reducing the noise emission and the wear of the collector bar. This objective is achieved by a device of the generic type mentioned in the introduction having the characterising features of claim 1.

Advantageous developments become apparent from the sub-claims. The device according to the invention makes it feasible to accommodate the rocker with all components in the streamlined housing of the rocker body in a 5 compact manner in the least possible space. This assures simultaneously a distinctly reduced noise emission. An essential advantage of the invention is that due to the considerably smaller mass of the current collector the collector bar is exposed to a considerably reduced wear and is in the position to compensate for high-frequency oscillations of the overhead contact wire without breaking down. 10 A further advantage can be seen in that the current collector according to the invention can be equally used in high and low speed ranges, so that a cost effective retrofitting is feasible for current collectors already in use without great modifications. 15 The invention is explained in the following in detail on an embodiment based on the drawings. They show in: 20 Fig.1 - a perspective view of the rocker body with the collector bar and insulator, Fig.2 - a side view of the rocker with the collector bar, 25 Fig.3 - a top view according to Fig.2, and Fig.4 - a section through the rocker body according to line A-A of Fig.3. As it is indicated in Figs.1 and 2, on the roof of a high-speed vehicle an insulator 30 1 is rigidly fastened on an insulator carrier 2. The insulator flange 3 carries a rocker 4 with a streamlined rocker body 5, in which the collector bar 6 is mounted. Between the collector bar 6 and the insulation flange 3 there is a spring/damper unit 7 (see Figs.3 and 4). This spring/damper unit 7 is made up from two onepiece angle levers 10, each having two strap-like lever arms 8 and 9 joined with and at right angle to one another, which are at a distance, corresponding approximately to the width of the collector bar 6, from one another. Both lever arms 8 and 9 can rotate together about a fixed centre of rotation Dp, while the 5 lever arm 8, that is somewhat longer than the lever arm 9, with its slightly angled end is pivotably hinged on the collector bar system 11. The other end of the shorter lever arm 9 is fastened to a tension spring 12 that is fastened on the insulator flange 3 in an adjustable manner. Between the two parallel angle levers 10 a hydraulic rotary damper 13 is fastened, the actuating member 14 of which 10 engages a slot 15 machined in the angle lever 10. When a force acts on the collector bar 6, the tension spring 12 causes a rotary movement of the angle lever 10, so that the slightly angled lever arm 8 carries out a pivoting or a rotating movement in the direction of the collector bar arrangement 11. This rotating movement is durably absorbed by the rotary damper 13 and damped. The rigidity 15 of the tension springs 12 is very low. This spring/damper unit 7 makes an exclusively vertical spring deflection feasible. The rigid fastening of the rocker body 5 on the insulator 1 assures that the wind load is absorbed by the streamlined rocker body with the exception of only a very small aerodynamic portion of the collector bar. 20 The rocker 4 has horns 16 (Fig.1) that can be adjusted by a pneumatic drive 17 mounted in the rocker body 5 to suit various rocker widths, e.g. 1950 mm and 1600 mm. 25 List of reference numerals 1 Insulator 2 Insulator carrier 5 3 Insulator flange 4 Rocker 5 Rocker body 6 Collector bar 7 Spring/damper unit 10 8 Long leverarm 9 Short lever arm 10 Angle lever 11 Collector bar mounting 12 Tension spring 15 13 Rotary damper 14 Actuating member 15 Slot 16 Horn 17 Pneumatic drive 20 Dp Centre of rotation

Claims

1. A current collector for electrically operated railbound vehicles with a rocker body carrying a collector bar system, having horns and constructed as a 5 housing, that is rigidly fastened on the insulating body and is arranged in a housing, characterised in that the rocker (4) is made up from at least two angle levers (10) that are aligned parallel to the overhead contact wire and are formed by one-piece lever arms (8; 9) of different lengths that enclose an angle with one another and are at right angle to one another, the rockers 10 pivotably arranged about a common fixed centre of rotation (Dp) against a tension spring (12) of low rigidity each which engage the shorter lever (9), while the longer lever arm (8) abuts pressed directly against the collector bar system (11) and during raising and lowering moves it almost vertically on a circular path with a very large diameter, and that between the angle levers (10) 15 a hydraulic rotary damper (13) is provided that is effectively joined with the angle levers (10).

2. A device according to claim 1, characterised in that in the longer lever arms (8) of the angle lever (10) slots (15) aligned with one another are formed. 20

3. A device according to claim 1 and 2, characterised in that the effective joining between the rotary damper (13) and the angle levers (10) comprises an actuating member (14) that engages the slots (15) in a crank-like manner. 25

4. A device according to claim 1 to 3, characterised in that the end of the longer lever arm (9) is angled relative the collector bar mounting.

5. A device according to claim I to 3, characterised in that the angle levers (10) are made from stamped out sheet metal. 30

6. A device according to claim 1 to 5, characterised in that instead of the hydraulic rotary damper (13) a mechanical rotary damper is provided, comprising lever arms that are so provided that on the one hand they can pivot vertically about a common centre of rotation (Dp) on the shorter lever arm (9) about a further fixed centre of rotation and on the collector bar mounting below the hinging point of the longer lever arm (8) on the other.

7. A device according to claim 1 to 6, characterised in that the tension springs 5 (12) are fastened on the insulation flange (3) in an adjustable manner.

8. A device according to one or several of the preceding claims, characterised in that the housing of the rocker body is made from glass fibre reinforced plastic or compound chemical fibre reinforced plastic materials. 10