CA1120561A - Overhead electric traction systems - Google Patents

Overhead electric traction systems

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Publication number
CA1120561A
CA1120561A CA000375278A CA375278A CA1120561A CA 1120561 A CA1120561 A CA 1120561A CA 000375278 A CA000375278 A CA 000375278A CA 375278 A CA375278 A CA 375278A CA 1120561 A CA1120561 A CA 1120561A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
elongate
metal member
runners
insulator
elongate metal
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000375278A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Alan E. Seddon
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Balfour Beatty PLC
Original Assignee
BICC PLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from CA000309943A external-priority patent/CA1116707A/en
Application filed by BICC PLC filed Critical BICC PLC
Priority to CA000375278A priority Critical patent/CA1120561A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1120561A publication Critical patent/CA1120561A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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  • Current-Collector Devices For Electrically Propelled Vehicles (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT
In lightweight fabricated equipment of an overhead electric traction system, (e.g. section insulators and neutral sections), comprising at least one tension insulator mechanically connected between and electrically insulating from one another two elongate metal members, in at least one mechanical con-nection between the tension insulator and elongate metal member, an insulating end part of the tension insulator and an end part of the elongate metal member are in substantial alignment and have a supplementary connecting member con-nected to them by separate securing bolts. The undersurfaces of the end parts of the tension insulator and elongate metal member and the undersurface of the supplementary connecting member constitute a smooth running surface.

Description

Tllis invention relates to overhead electric traction systems in which current is collected Erom an overhead contact wire by means of a collector of the kind comprising a shoe or bar which extends transversely of the contact wire and is, in its operative position, pressed upwards into contact with the underside of the contact wire, usually, but not in all cases, by mounting it on a spring loaded pantograph mechanism mounted on the roof of a vehicle.
In section insulators, neutral sections and other fabricated equipment of overhead electric traction systems in which two lengths of contact wire are directly or indirectly mechanically connected together but electrically insulated from one another by at least one tension insulator whose undersurface may serve as a running surface for a collector, it is the general practice to connect an end of the tension insulator to an end of a contact wire, or of an elongate metal run-ner connected to a contact wire, by means of at least one separately formed metal fitting. Where, as is now customary, a tension insulator comprises a rod of resin bonded glass fibre, it is common practice to secure one end of a metal fitting to an end oE the resin bonded glass fibre rod by a compression joint and to connect the other end of the metal fitting to a second metal fitting secured to one end of a contact wire or of an elongate metal runner. The use o:E soveral such metal ~it-tings in such fabricatcd equipment of an overhead electric traction system substan-tially increases the overall weight of the equipment and it is an object of thepresent invention to provide, in fabricated equipment of an overhead electric trac-tion system, a mechanical connection between a tension insulator and an elongate ~metal member that is substantially lighter in weight than other forms of mechan-ical connection hitherto proposed for this purpose.

i ` In fabricated equipment according to the invention, the tension insula-;~ tor is an elongate member of electrically insulating material and, in at least one of the mechanical connections between the tension insulator and an elongate metal member, an insulating end part of the elongate insulating member and an end ., . ,: , .
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part of the elongate metal member are in substantial alignment and have a supplementary connecting member overlapping and connected to each of them by sep-arate securing means, the undersurfaces of said end parts of the elongate insu-lating member and elongate metal member and the undersurface of the supplementary connecting member consti~uting a smooth running surface for a collector travel-ling beneath and in contact with the mechanical connection.
The insulating end part of the elongate insulating member and the end part of the elongate metal member may substantially abut or may be spaced apart.
Preferably, in all cases those surfaces of the end parts of the elon-gate insulating member and elongate metal member that are in contact with the supplementary connecting member are of substantially planar form and preferably lie in substantially vertical planes. Preferably, also, the end parts are con-nected to the supplementary connecting member by at least two longitudinally spaced bolts.
The mechanical connection as hereinbefore described is especially, but not exclusively, suitable for use in the fabrication of a section insulator o the kind in which the contact wires of two neighbouring sec~ioTls Oe an overhead electric traction system are mechanically connected together but electrically insulated from one another by ~t leas~ two runners, each col~prising a ~ension insulator and at least one elongate metal member mechanically connected together as hereinbefore described, which runners are attached at each of their ends to the end of a contact wire and are so disposed that the metal member, or one of the metal members, of one runner or a supplementary connecting member mechan-ically and electrically connected thereto, overlies the metal member, or one of the metal members of a second runner, or a supplementary connecting member mechanically and electrically connected thereto, which lies at the opposite end of the tension insulator, at least two of the runners being held in spaced , ~
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horizontal relationship on opposite sides of the longitudinal centre line of the section insulator by at least one insulating or insulated elongate member which extends transversely of the longitudinal centre line.
Preferably, at each end of the section insulator end parts sf the runners overlap and are interconnected by separate securing means.
In a preferred embodiment of the aforesaid section insulator, the section insulator consists of a single pair of runners, each runner being bowed outwards in a horizontal plane over a central portion of its length, the runners being held in spaced horizontal relationship by a single transversely extending insulating or insulated elongate member positioned approximately midway between the ends of the section insulator.
For the purpose of electrically separating two adjacent sec~ions of an overhead electric traction system which are to be supplied with alternating or direct current from different substations, usually from different phases of the main supply system, a neutral section is inserted between these sections.
The mechanical COnnectiOTl as hereinbefore described is also espe-cially, but not exclusively, suitable for use in the fabricatioll o~ a neutral sectlon in which the contact wires of two adjacer~t sections o~ an overhead electric traction system are mechanically conn~cted together but electrically separated by at least one runner comprising a tension insulator connected to the contact wire of one of said two sections, a second tension insulator connected to the contact wire of the other of said two sections, and an elongate metal member which separates and is connected to the other ends of said tension insu-lators and which may be electrically connected to earth, the undersurfaces of the contact wires, said tension insulators and the elongate metal member lying in a substantially common plane, wherein the mechanical connection between the elongate metal member and at least one of the tension insulators of the runner _ 3 :

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or of at least one of the runners is as hereinbefore described and, wherein, at each of a plurality of spaced positions along the length of the neutral section, the neutral section is or is adapted to be suspended from a supporting catenary wire or other supporting means by at least one dropper wire.
In one preferred embodiment of the aforesaid neutral section, the neutral section consists o a single pair of runners, the runners diverging out-wards in a horizontal plane at each end portion of the neutral section and, over a central portion of its length, extending substantially parallel to one another and the runners being held in spaced hori7-ontal relationship by transversely extending elongate members positioned at spaced positions along the length of the neutral section.
Where a supplementary connecting member is provided at the mechanical connection between the end parts of the or a tension insulator and the elongate metal member of the or each runner, it may also serve as the means to which the or a transversely extending insulating or insulated elongate member is secured and may carry at least one suitably shaped arcing horn. The supplementary con-necting members may also serve as the means to which are connected dropper wir~s by which the fabricated equipment is suspended from an overhead catenary wire.
The or each transversely extending insulating or insulated elongate member may take any convenient form but it preferably comprises an elongate member of plastics insulating material having sheds at mutually spaced positions along its length.
The or each tension insulator of the fabricated equipment preferably comprises an elongate body of resin bonded glass fibre which is completely en-capsulated in an abrasion-resistant resin, e.g. a cycloaliphatic resin or poly-tetrafluorethylene, and which preferably is of substantially rectangular cross-section. Preferably the undersurface of each tension insulator is serrated to 6~

reduce the risk of -formation of a continuous carbon track along this surface.
To facilitate effecting the mechanical connection with an end part o an elon-gate metal member, preferably each end part of the tension insulator has one or more than one hole in which is housed a metal bushing; preferably, also, the or each bushing protrudes from the hole in which it is housed to reduce the risk o crushîng of the end part of the tension insulator when a supplementaTy connec-ting member is bolted thereto.
The invention is further illustrated by a description, by way of ex-ample, of a preferred 25 kV neutral section with reference to the accompanying drawings9 in which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the preferred neutral section, and Figure 2 is fragmental detailed view of the mechanical connectionbetween ends of a tension insulator and elongate metal member of the neutral section shown in Figure 1.
In the 25 kV neutral section shown in Figures 1 and 2, the contact wires 41, 51 of two adjacent sections of an overhead electric traction system are mechanically connected together but electrically separated by a single pair of runners 45,45' which diverge outwards in a horizontal plEme at each end portion of the neu~ral section and, over a central portion of its length, extend substant:ially parallel to one another, the runners being held in sp~ced hori-zontal relationship by three transversely extending elongate metal members 49 at spaced positions along the central portion of the neutral section. The :~ neutral section is suspended by dropper wires 44 from an overhead metal rod 43 ; which is mechanically connected to but electrically insulated from overhead cat-enary wires 40, 50 of the system by electric insulators 42.
Each runner 45,45' comprises a tension insulator 46,46' connected to contact wire 41, a tension insulator 48,48' connected to contact wire 51 and an . ~}: - 5 -:

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elongate metal mcmb0r 47,47' which separates and is mechanically cannccted a~
each of its ends to the tension insulators in accordance with the present inven-tion. Each tension insulator 46,46'; 48,4~' is an elongate member of substan-tially rectangular cross-section made of resin bonded glass fibre and wholly encapsulated in cycloaliphatic resin and each metal member 47,47' is also of substantially rectangular cross-section and is made of copper-based alloy. At each mechanical connection between a tension insulator 46,~6'; 48,48' and a metal member 47,~7', neighbouring ends of the tension insulator and metal member ; abut and two supplementary connecting plates 52 positioned on opposite sides of and overlapping the butt joint are mechanically connected to the tension insu-lator and metal member by four longitudinally spaced bolts 53, the undersurfaces of the tension insulator, metal member and supplementary connecting members pro-viding a smooth running surface.
At each end of the neutral section~ ends of the tension insulators 46, ~6'; 48,48' are connected to the contact wire 41, 51 by metal terminal fittings 54, and the metal terminal fittings and neighbouring traversely extending metal member 49' carry suitably shaped arcing horns 55.
The invention of the present application has the important advantago that the fabricated equipment has an insignificant change in stiffTIess along its length and consequently there is little rlsk of deflect:ion of a pantograph oc-curring as it travels through the equipment. In addition, a section insulator or neutral section can be made substantially shorter in length than the section insulators and neutral sections hitherto proposed and each has a weight more closely approaching that of the length of conventional contact wire that it re-places than any other section insulator or neutral section hitherto proposed.

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Claims (8)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Fabricated equipment of an overhead electric traction system comprising at least one tension insulator mechanically connected between and electrically in-sulating from one another two elongate metal members, wherein the tension insulator is an elongate member of electrically insulating material and wherein, in at least one of the mechanical connections between the tension insulator and an elongate metal member, an insulating end part of the elongate insulating member and an end part of the elongate metal member are in substantial alignment and have a supple-mentary connecting member overlapping and connected to each of them by separate securing means, the undersurfaces of said end parts of the elongate insulating member and elongate metal member and the undersurface of the supplementary connec-ting member constituting a smooth running surface for a current collector travel-ing beneath and in contact with the mechanical connection.
2. Fabricated equipment of an overhead electric traction system in the form of a section insulator in which the contact wires of two neighbouring sections of the system are mechanically connected together but electrically insulated from one another by at least two runners, each comprising a tension insulator and at least one elongate metal member mechanically connected together, which runners are at-tached at each of their ends to the end of a contact wire and are so disposed that the metal member of one runner overlies the metal member of a second runner, which lies at the opposite end of the section insulator, at least two of the runners being held in spaced horizontal relationship on opposite sides of the longitudinal centre line of the section insulator and being insulated from one another by at least one elongate member which extends transversely of the longitudinal centre line, wherein each tension insulator is an elongate member of electrically insu-lating material and wherein, in the or each mechanical connection between the ten-sion insulator of each runner and the elongate metal member or one of the elongate metal members, an insulating end part of the elongate insulating member and an end part of the elongate metal member are in substantial alignment and have a supplementary connecting member overlapping and connected to each of them by separate securing means, the undersurfaces of said end parts of the elongate insulating member and elongate metal member and the undersurface of the supple-mentary connecting member constituting a smooth running surface for a current collector travelling beneath and in contact with the mechanical connection.
3. Fabricated equipment as claimed in claim 2 in which said runners con-sist of a single pair of runners, wherein each runner is bowed outwards in a horizontal plane over a central portion of its length, the runners being held in spaced horizontal relationship and being separated one from the other by a single transversely extending elongate member positioned approximately mid-way between the ends of the section insulator.
4. Fabricated equipment as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein at each end of the section insulator, end parts of the runners overlap and are intercon-nected by separate securing means.
5. Fabricated equipment of an overhead electric traction system in the form of a neutral section in which the contact wires of two adjacent sections of the system are mechanically connected together but electrically separated by at least one runner comprising a tension insulator connected to the contact wire of one of said two sections, a second tension insulator connected to the contact wire of the other of said two sections, and an elongate metal member which sep-arates and is connected to the other ends of said tension insulators, the under-surfaces of the contact wires, said tension insulators and the elongate metal member lying in a substantially common plane, wherein each tension insulator is an elongate member of electrically insulating material, wherein, in the mechan-ical connection between the elongate metal member and at least one of the ten-sion insulators of the runner or of at least one of the runners, an end part of the elongate metal member and an insulating end part of the elongate insulating member are in substantial alignment and have a supplementary connecting member overlapping and connected to each of them by separate securing means, the under-surfaces of said end parts of the elongate insulating member and elongate metal member and the undersurface of the supplementary connecting member constituting a smooth running surface for a current collector travelling beneath and in con-tact with the mechanical connection, and wherein, at each of a plurality of spaced positions along the length of the neutral section, the neutral section is adapted to be suspended from a supporting catenary wire by at least one drop-per wire.
6. Fabricated equipment as claimed in claim 5, wherein the contact wires of said two adjacent sections of the system are mechanically connected together but electrically separated by a single pair of runners, the runners diverging outwards in a horizontal plane at each end portion of the neutral section and, over a central portion of its length, extending substantially parallel to one another and the runners being held in spaced horizontal relationship by trans-versely extending elongate members positioned at spaced positions along the length of the neutral section.
7. Fabricated equipment as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein said end parts of the elongate insulating member and elongate metal member connected by the supplementary connecting member substantially abut.
8. Fabricated equipment as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 5, wherein the end parts of the elongate insulating member and elongate metal member are connected to the supplementary connecting member by at least two longitudinally spaced bolts.
CA000375278A 1977-08-30 1981-04-10 Overhead electric traction systems Expired CA1120561A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000375278A CA1120561A (en) 1977-08-30 1981-04-10 Overhead electric traction systems

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB3615077 1977-08-30
GB36150/77 1977-08-30
GB19845/78 1978-05-16
GB1984578 1978-05-16
CA000309943A CA1116707A (en) 1977-08-30 1978-08-24 Overhead electric traction systems
CA000375278A CA1120561A (en) 1977-08-30 1981-04-10 Overhead electric traction systems

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1120561A true CA1120561A (en) 1982-03-23

Family

ID=27426100

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000375278A Expired CA1120561A (en) 1977-08-30 1981-04-10 Overhead electric traction systems

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1120561A (en)

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