GB2415176A

GB2415176A - Conductor rail for holding a contact wire

Info

Publication number: GB2415176A
Application number: GB0418121A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Beat Furrer; Felix Nuenlist
Original assignee: Furrer & Frey AG Ingenieurburo
Current assignee: Furrer & Frey AG Ingenieurburo
Priority date: 2004-06-16
Filing date: 2004-08-13
Publication date: 2005-12-21
Anticipated expiration: 2024-08-13
Also published as: BRMU8402372Y1; SE0402308D0; HK1083085A1; BRMU8402372U; NO326794B1; CH697948B1; AT9826U1; SE0402308L; DE202004009420U1; CN2744553Y; NO20044110D0; GB2415176B; NL1027142C1; GB0418121D0; NO20044110L; KR200374780Y1; ITMI20040435U1; SE527438C2

Abstract

The conductor rail is an elongate, one-piece profiled member which is slotted in the longitudinal direction and which has a transverse support (3) and two tensioning arms (4, 5) which project from the said transverse support (3) substantially at right angles. The tensioning arms (4, 5) are connected in each case to a respective clamping arm (7, 8) which extends at an acute angle to an axis of symmetry (6). In addition, the tensioning arms (4, 5) and/or the clamping arms (7, 8) are made spring-resilient, the contact wire (2) being held exclusively by the spring force of the tensioning arms (4, 5) and/or the clamping arms (7, 8). On end-face locations of the joints of successive conductor rails, at least one joint plate (15, 16) is provided which bridges the location of the joint (35). The joint plate is held on the tensioning arms (4, 5) with positive locking by way of grooves (27-30) and projections (23-26).

Description

Conductor Rail

Description

The invention relates to a conductor rail for rail-mounted vehicles. Railmounted vehicles, such as for example electrically driven railway vehicles, are supplied with current by way of a contact-line unit. In most cases the contact-line unit comprises contact wires which are suspended on bearer cables and are held by way of bearer units.

The transmission of current from the contact wire, also known as the overhead line, takes place by means of a current collector which is mounted on the vehicle and which is referred to as a bow contact or a pantograph. Although the bearer cable is highly tensioned, it is not possible to prevent it from sagging between the individual suspension points, so that the height of the bearer cable above the rail constantly fluctuates, and this has to be compensated by movements of the pantograph. As a result, however, the contact forces between the pantograph and the contact wire also vary, and this can lead to oscillations, irregular contact resistance and sparking.

It has therefore also already been proposed in DE 2436 640 to provide the suspension of the overhead lines on fastening points of different intervals and an irregular sequence, in order to achieve a wave propagation of the oscillations of different wavelength and to avoid resonances. For high-speed sections of line which are to be travelled at 240 km/in and above, however, this step is still not sufficient.

In addition, rigid conductor rails are also used as wearing conductors in order to transmit current, conductor rails being used as an overhead line predominantly only in tunnels since they require less space. Conductor rails of this type are known from DE 201 00 960 U1, DE 201 01 581 U1, DE 42 07 622 C2, DE 195 48 103 C1 and AT 409 904 B. Conductor rails, in which a copper contact wire is clamped and thus held between holding arms, are also known from US 918,761, FR 2 470 020 and US 4 230 209. In this case a so-called grooved-contact wire is used, i.e. a copper wire with V-shaped grooves into which clamping arms of the conductor rail engage with positive locking, in order to hold the contact wire. The contact wire, over which the pantograph brushes and which is thus subject to wear, can therefore be replaced.

The grooved-contact wire is clamped in a fixed manner as a result of the fact that the two tensioning arms opposite each other in a mirrorsymmetrical manner are bolted to each other (US 4,230,209, FR 2 470 020, DE 43 33 446 At, DE 195 48 103 C1) or riveted to each other (US 918 761) above the grooved-contact wire.

The assembly of the grooved-contact wire to the conductor rail, whether during the initial equipment or during the subsequent replacement of a worn-out contact wire, is therefore very time-consuming and laborious, since bolt or rivet connexions have to be made in close spatial distances.

In practice, the individual elements of the conductor rails have a length of substan- tially 10 m to 12 m. The consequent problem then arises at the locations of the joints of two adjacent conductor rails that, for an orientation of the conductor rails which is in as precise a straight line as possible, the said conductor rails have to be fastened to a bearer unit or the ceiling of a tunnel on both sides of the location of the joint, and this likewise requires a considerable outlay. If for example each conductor rail is in fact fastened only in its middle to a bearer unit or a tunnel wall, then the two ends of the conductor rail can sag on account of their natural weight, so that kinks perceptible at the locations of the joints occur with respect to the axis of the rail, which stress the contact wire mechanically and lead to fluctuations in the current collection.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a conductor rail which will hold a grooved-contact wire in a secure manner and is simple to assemble and in which the contact wire can be replaced in a simple manner and which ensures an extension of the contact wire in as straight a line as possible, namely also at locations of the joints of adjacent conductor-rail elements.

This object is attained by the features set out in Claim 1. Advantageous arrangements and further developments of the invention are set out in the Sub-Claims.

The basic principle of the invention is to design the conductor rail in the form of an elongate, one-piece profiled member which is slotted in the longitudinal direction and which has a flat transverse support and two tensioning arms which project from the said transverse support substantially at right angles. The tensioning arms are connected in each case to a respective clamping arm which extends at an acute angle to an axis of symmetry. The tensioning arms and/or the clamping arms are made spring-resilient, so that the contact wire is held exclusively by the spring force of the tensioning arms and/or the clamping arms. Bolting in order to clamp the contact wire in a fixed manner is thus no longer necessary. What is produced, in fact, is a closed box section which is interrupted only by a longitudinal slot and which has a high degree of flexural rigidity and holds the contact wire in a straight-line axis, so as to ensure an absolutely constant distance of the contact wire from the rail. The insertion and replacement of the contact wire can be carried out very simply and rapidly. In accordance with a further develop- ment of the invention, the transverse support is wider than the distance of the tensioning arms transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conductor rail, so that the trans- verse support thus projects beyond the tensioning arms on both sides. As a result, the geometrical moment of inertia and thus the rigidity of the conductor rail are increased.

In accordance with a further development of the invention, in the transition region from the tensioning arms to the clamping arms, laterally projecting cantilever arms are provided, of which the top side directed towards the transverse support is flat and the underside directed towards the contact wire has a groove. The said cantilever arms are used on the one hand for holding and guiding a wire-insertion device which spreads the two tensioning arms apart in order to insert or remove the contact wire. This device can run along the top side of the cantilever arms and can engage in the grooves provided on the underside in order to spread apart the tensioning arms. In addition, the said cantilever arms are also used to increase the geometrical moment of inertia and thus to improve the flexural rigidity of the conductor rail.

In accordance with a further development of the invention, the inside of the tensioning arms directed towards the other tensioning arm in each case has at least one, and preferably two projections which extend over the entire length of the conductor rail.

As a result of the said projections, the geometrical moment of inertia and thus the rigidity of the conductor rail are likewise increased. The said projections have a rectangular, trapezoidal or triangular profile, the trapezoidal profile being the embodi- ment which is particularly preferred.

In addition, in accordance with a further development of the invention, on end-face locations of the joints of successive conductor rails the said projections are used as the tongue of a tongue-and-groove joint between the tensioning arms and joint plates which bridge the location of the joint. The joint plates have grooves corresponding to the projections and are fastened on both sides of the location of the joint to the tensioning arms by only one or two bolts in each case. To this end the tensioning arms have a bore and the joint plates have a threaded bore. As a result of this tongue-and-groove joint a precise, straight-line orientation of the contact wire is achieved at locations of the joints of adjacent conductor rails and kinks no longer occur at the locations of the joints. In this way, the said conductor rails can also be used for high speeds of up to 250 km/in and above. Two joint plates, which are connected to one of the two tensioning arms in each case, are preferably used per location of a joint.

In accordance with a further development of the invention, at least one, and pre- ferably two contact blade strips, which improve the electrical connexion between the joint plates and the tensioning arms of adjacent conductor rails, can be arranged between the respective joint plate and the associated tensioning arm. For an absolute fixing and improved assembly of the contact blade strips, the joint plates for receiving and holding the contact blade strips can have a depression with undercuts on both sides.

In accordance with another development of the invention, a web, which extends over the entire length of the conductor rail and which projects at a right angle from the surface of the transverse support, can be provided on the top side of the transverse support. It is also possible for a plurality of such webs to be used in parallel adjacent to one another.

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to embodiments in conjunction with the drawing, in which Fig. l is a cross-section through a conductor rail in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 shows a conductor rail in accordance with a second embodiment of the inven- tion; Fig. 3 is a cross-section through a conductor rail in accordance with a third embodi- ment of the invention; Fig. 4 is a side view of the conductor rail of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a cross-section through a joint plate; Fig. 6 is an enlarged illustration of the cut-away portion A of Fig. 6, and Fig. 7 is a side view of the joint plate of Fig. 6 with contact blades fitted.

Fig. 1 shows a conductor rail 1 which has a longitudinally slotted profiled member into which a contact wire 2 is inserted and is held there with positive locking. The conductor rail l has a plate-shaped transverse support 3 with a flat surface, from which two tensioning arms 4 and 5, which are arranged mirror-symmetrically with respect to an axis of symmetry 6, project substantially at a right angle. Starting from the trans- verse support, the tensioning arms 4 and 5 are formed converging in a slightly pointed manner, the angle between the inner and outer face of the tensioning arms amounting to approximately 1 5 . Clamping arms 7 and 8, which project at an acute angle from the tensioning arms and extend towards each other, are attached to the free ends of the tensioning arms 4 and 5 in each case, the clamping arms each having a respective point which engages in a correspondingly shaped groove 9 and 10 respectively of the contact wire 2. The said points and the grooves 9 and 10 have an angle of 78 for example. In this case, the grooves 9 and to are situated above a plane extending through a central axis of the contact wire.

Lateral cantilever arms ll and 12 respectively, which extend from the axis of symmetry, are attached to the transition region between the tensioning arms 4 and 5 respectively and the clamping arms 7 and 8 respectively, the top side of the said cantilever arms 11 and 12 which is directed towards the transverse support 3 being flat and the underside of the said cantilever arms 11 and 12 which extends away from the transverse support 3 having a recess or groove 13 and 14 respectively which is used as a guide for a movable contact-wire insertion device which spreads the tensioning and clamping arms apart in order to insert the contact wire.

The transverse support 3 projects laterally beyond the tensioning arms 4 and 5 on both sides and is thickened by way of sloping portions in the transition region to the tensioning arms.

The conductor rail 1 described above as a whole is constructed in the form of a one- piece profiled member which can be produced in the extrusion drawing process. The material used is aluminium or an aluminium alloy for example, which has a good electrical conductivity, so that the current supply to the contact wire 2 can also take place by way of the conductor rail 1.

As a whole, the conductor rail 1 forms a box-type profiled member which is closed to the greatest possible extent and is interrupted only by a longitudinal slot for receiving the contact wire 2 and which holds the contact wire 2 only by spring forces of the tensioning and clamping arms. The profiled member as a whole is bending- and torsion-resistant to a considerable degree, it being possible for the tensioning and clamping arms to be moved in a reciprocating manner to a slight extent in a resilient manner with respect to the axis of symmetry 6, in order to insert or replace the contact wire. On the other hand, this possibility of movement is also restricted by the shape, dimensioning and nature of the materials in such a way that the contact wire 2 is held securely and is held securely even in the case of mechanical loading by the current collector of a vehicle.

On grounds of transportation, handling and assembly, conductor rails on a section of line have a length of from 10 m to 12 m at most. For one section of line a plurality of conductor rails are then connected to one another in an abutting manner at their end faces, and this takes place by joint plates 15, 16 which are inserted into the interior of the conductorrail profiled member and which bridge the location of the joint between two adjacent conductor rails (cf Fig. 4).

Fig. 1 shows two joint plates 15, 16 of this type which generally are rectangular in section and which are fastened in each case to the inside of an associated tensioning arm 4 and 5 respectively. The length of the joint plates 15, 16 is in the order of magnitude of 40 cm. The joint plates are used both for the electrical connexion between two adjacent conductor-rail profiled members and for the transmission of mechanical forces.

The joint plates 15, 16 are fastened by bolts 17, 18 which project through bores 19, 20 in the tensioning arms 4, 5 and which are screwed in threaded bores 21, 22 in the joint plates 15, 16. Only two to four bolts, which are screwed onto adjacent conductor rails on both sides of a conductor-rail joint, are required per joint plate.

On account of an internal clearance of the bores 19, 20, a small, but nevertheless disadvantageous, deviation of the axes of the conductor rails could take place, as a result of which a kink can occur at the location of the joint. A kink of this type has a detrimental effect upon the current collection, since the current collector is deflected there, and thus cannot brush over the contact wire 2 in a continuous manner, and so the contact forces between the current collector and the contact wire increase and decrease, as a result of which there is a risk that the current collector may jump off the profiled member, lose the contact force and thus also the current supply. These mechanical / geometrical and electrical drawbacks cannot be accepted for a high-speed overhead conductor rail. For this purpose, as well as the bolt connexion, a positively locking con- nexion is additionally made between the conductor rails and the joint plates, namely in principle with a tongue-and-groove joint.

For this purpose, projections 23, 24 and 25, 26 respectively, which project inwards into the interior of the conductor-rail profiled member, are formed on the inner sides of the tensioning arms 4 and 5. The projections extend over the entire length of a conductor rail, since an extruded section is involved. The distance between the projections 23 and 24 or 25 and 26 respectively is selected to be as great as possible, i.e. the respective projections are situated as close as possible to the two ends the tensioning arms 4 and 5 respectively.

The joint plates 15 and 16 have corresponding grooves 27, 28 and 29, 30 into which the associated projections 23 to 26 engage. As a result of this tongue-and-groove joint with positive locking, a possible internal clearance in the bores 19 and 20 no longer has any effect and, even if the tongue-and-groove joint should have a slight amount of clearance, because of the length of the joint plates and thus the length of the tongue-andgroove joint a deviation or a kink between adjacent conductor rails is in fact almost zero. In this way, the overhead conductor rail can be laid practically exactly in one axis and no discontinuities occur, so that the current collection is improved and high speeds of up to 250 km/in and above are also possible. Any possible deformation is distributed in a continuous manner over the entire conductor-rail unit. Deviations in the vertical direction no longer occur at the locations of the joints.

In addition, an additional reinforcement of the conductor-rail profiled member is made possible by the projections 23, 24 and 25, 26 respectively.

In the embodiment as shown in Fig. 1 the projections 23 to 26 have a trapezoidal profile in cross-section, preferably the profile of an isosceles trapezium. In a corre- sponding manner, the grooves 27 to 30 likewise have a trapezoidal profile, the depth of which is slightly greater than the height of the projections 23 to 26. This results in a wedge effect, which ensures that there is always a firmly seated connexion of the tongue-and-groove joint, even if a certain amount of clearance is present during the production of the projections and/or the grooves. As a result, a defined mechanical connexion is always achieved and, at the same time, a trouble-free electrical contact. In addition, it should be mentioned that the bolts 17, 18 need not absorb any (vertical) transverse forces, so that altogether four to eight bolts are required per conductor-rail joint, namely two in each case per joint plate. It should be further mentioned that the front edges of the projections and the front edges of the grooves can have a bevel or rounding in order to facilitate the insertion of the joint plates.

In order to achieve an improved electrical connexion between the joint plates and the tensioning arms, in accordance with a further development of the invention it can be additionally provided that one or two contact blade strips 31, 32, 33, 34 is or are arranged in each case between the outside of the joint plates 15 and 16 and the inside of the tensioning arms 4 and 5, and this is described in greater detail in conjunction with Figs. 5, 6 and 7. This ensures that the electrical connexion is formed not only in the region of the tongue-and-groove joint, but also between the vertical surfaces of greater area of the joint plates and the tensioning arms.

In the embodiment of Fig. 2 the projections 23 to 26 and the grooves 27 to 30 are rectangular, which has resulted in an improved transmission of force in tests. The fact that the depth of the grooves 27 to 30 is greater than the height of the projections 23 to 26 always ensures that the vertical, mutually opposite faces of the joint plates and of the tensioning arms come into contact with one another. It is therefore not absolutely necessary to provide the contact blade strips 31 to 34. Nevertheless, these can, of course, be provided in order to improve the transition resistance.

In addition, in the embodiment as shown in Fig. 2, a web 37, which projects at a right angle from the transverse support 3 and which extends over the entire length of the conductor rail, is provided on the top of the said transverse support 3 so as further to reinforce the conductor-rail profiled member. This web is arranged centrally in the embodiment of Fig. 2. It is also possible for a plurality of webs of this type to be provided, which then extend parallel at a distance from one another.

At this point it should be mentioned that webs of this type can also be provided on the conductor rails in accordance with the other embodiments, i.e. in particular in accordance with Figs. l and 3 to 7.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 3, the grooves 27 to 30 and the projections 23 to 26 are triangular in cross-section. In this case, too, a suitable dimensioning of the projections and/or the grooves can ensure that the vertical faces of the joint plates and of the tensioning arms always touch one another, so that in this case, too, it is possible for the contact blade strips to be omitted.

Fig. 4 shows a side view of a location of a joint 35 of two adjacent conductor rails I and la which follow one after the other at the location of the joint 35, shown as an enlarged gap here for the sake of clarity, and are bridged by the joint plates 15 and 16 (not visible in Fig. 4). In practice, the gap is kept as small as possible and is pre- determined by the distance of the bores 19 and 20 from the end face 36 and 36a of the conductor rail 1 and la respectively on the one hand and by the distance of the threaded bores 21 and 22 on the respective joint plate 15 and 16. In practice, with a length of the joint plates of approximately 400 mm the distance of the threaded bores on a joint plate will be around 200 mm, and the said bores should be arranged symmetrically to the middle of the joint plate.

Fig. 5 shows a cross-section through a joint plate in accordance with Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 shows an enlarged cut-away view of the detail A. In order to fasten the contact blade strips, a depression 37, which has undercuts 38 and 39 at the edges, is provided on the vertical face 36 which is opposite the tensioning arm in the assembled state. A contact blade strip can be inserted into the said depression 37 and can be held by the undercuts 38 and 39. The undercuts have a radius in their base in each case. The contact blade strips extend over the entire length of the joint plates, as may be seen in Fig. 7. Contact blade strips of this type are available commercially. They consist of good electrically conductive material, such as for example copper or aluminium, and have a plurality of flexible blades. In practice, the depth of the depression 37 is around 0 5 mm, whereas the width of the depressions is in the order of magnitude of from 13 to 14 mm. The angle of the undercut 38 is in the order of magnitude of 30 .

As may be seen in Fig. 5, the joint plate has in each case two depressions 37 and 37a which are preferably arranged symmetrically with respect to the central axis of the threaded bore 22.

Fig. 7 shows a side view of a joint plate with the contact blade strips 31 and 32 inserted and the two threaded bores 19.

By means of the invention, highly stable and simple-to-assemble conductor rails are obtained in the form of longitudinally slotted hollow profiled members which have no deviations in the vertical direction and are thus suitable for high-speed sections of line.

By means of a positively locking connexion of two longitudinally slotted hollow profiled members a good electrical connexion is obtained which can be further improved by contact blade strips. On account of the special shape of the conductor rails the insertion and also the subsequent replacement of a contact wire is possible without difficulty and also in an automated manner.

Claims

Claims: 1. A conductor rail for holding a contact wire by two tensioning

arms, between which the contact wire is held, characterized in that the conductor rail comprises an elongate, one-piece profiled member which is slotted in the longitudinal direction and which has a transverse support and the two tensioning arms which project from the said transverse support substantially at right angles, the tensioning arms are connected in each case to a respective clamping arm which extends at an acute angle to an axis of symmetry, the tensioning arms and/or the clamping arms are made spring-resilient, and the contact wire is held exclusively by the spring force of the tensioning arms and/or the clamping arms.
2. A conductor rail according to Claim 1, characterized in that the transverse support is wider than the distance of the tensioning arms transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conductor rail.
3. A conductor rail according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the transition region from the tensioning arms to the clamping arms, laterally projecting cantilever arms are provided, of which the top side directed towards the transverse support is flat and the underside directed towards the contact wire has a groove.
4. A conductor rail according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the inside of the tensioning arms directed towards the other tensioning arm in each case has at least one projection which extends over the entire length of the conductor rail.
5. A conductor rail according to Claim 4, characterized in that each tensioning arm has two projections which are arranged close to the two ends of the respective tensioning arm.
6. A conductor rail according to Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the projections have a rectangular, trapezoidal or triangular profile in cross-section.
7. A conductor rail according to one of Claims 4 to 6, characterized in that on end- face locations of the joints of successive conductor rails at least one joint plate is provided which bridges the location of the joint, the joint plate has grooves corresponding to the projections, and on both sides of the location of the joint the joint plate has one respective threaded bore by way of which the joint plate is boilable to the ends of two successive conductor rails.
8. A conductor rail according to Claim 7, characterized in that two joint plates, which are connectable to one of the two tensioning arms in each case, are provided per location of a joint.
9. A conductor rail according to Claim 7 or 8, characterized in that at least one contact blade strip is arranged between the joint plate and the associated tensioning arm.
lo. A conductor rail according to Claim 9, characterized in that two parallel contact blade strips are associated with each joint plate.
11. A conductor rail according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the joint plate for receiving and holding the contact blade strips has a depression with undercuts on both sides.
12. A conductor rail according to one or Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that at least one web, which projects upwards at a right angle and which extends over the entire length of the conductor rail, is provided on the top side of the transverse support.