Electrical contact coupling and middle buffer coupling for a rail vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical contact coupling for a rail vehicle middle buffer coupling, having a contact carrier that is longitudinally displaceable against a coupling impact direction and that has electrical contacts aligned on the end face against the coupling impact direction; having a protective flap that can be pivoted about an axis of rotation between a covering position, in which it covers the electrical contacts, and a release position, in which it releases the electrical contacts; having a drive for longitudinally displacing the contact carrier from a retracted position to an advanced position. The electrical contact coupling according to the invention is characterised in that the drive is formed by a drive connection between the protective flap and the contact carrier, via which the protective flap, when pivoted from the cover position to the release position, displaces the contact carrier from the retracted position to the advanced position by transmitting a driving force.

Description

[0001] Voith Patent GmbH 25733 WO / SKK

[0002] 1

[0003] Electrical contact coupling and central buffer coupling for a rail vehicle

[0004] The present invention relates to an electrical contact coupling for a rail vehicle center buffer coupling, as well as a center buffer coupling for a rail vehicle with such an electrical contact coupling.

[0005] Conventional electrical contact couplings for central buffer couplings of a rail vehicle are usually arranged adjacent to a mechanical contact coupling of the central buffer coupling. With a mechanical contact coupling, such as a Scharfenberg coupling, two rail vehicles can be mechanically coupled together, allowing traction and compression forces to be transferred between the two rail vehicles via the mechanical contact coupling. Electrical contact couplings, on the other hand, are used to electrically connect the on-board electrical systems of the two rail vehicles and, if necessary, to electrically couple the signal lines of both rail vehicles.

[0006] When two identical mechanical contact couplings are coupled during the coupling process between two rail vehicles, the corresponding electrical contact couplings are also mechanically and electrically coupled, usually at the same time. To protect the electrical contacts of the electrical contact couplings from environmental influences when uncoupled, the electrical contact couplings have a protective cover that can be adjusted between a covering position, in which it covers the electrical contacts, and a release position, in which it exposes the electrical contacts.Protective flaps are known that open automatically when the rail vehicles are coupled. The protective flaps of the associated, opposing electrical contact couplings are moved toward each other. Due to the design of the facing front sides of the protective flaps, a torque is exerted on the protective flaps, causing the protective flaps to pivot about a rotational axis from their covering position to their release position. Such an electrical contact coupling is disclosed, for example, in WO 2021 / 110660 A1 and DE 811 360 A. Furthermore, electrical contact couplings with protective flaps are known that are pivoted via a drive of the electrical contact coupling when the central buffer couplings to be coupled move toward each other.Such electrical contact couplings also have a longitudinally displaceable contact carrier, which comprises electrical contacts aligned on the end face opposite to a coupling thrust direction. During the active longitudinal displacement of the contact carrier from a retracted position to an advanced position, the protective flap is simultaneously actuated to release the electrical contacts. Such a generic electrical contact coupling is disclosed in EP 1 102 696 B1. The features known therefrom are summarized in the preamble of claim 1.

[0007] The first-mentioned self-actuated protective flaps, which open automatically simply through mutual contact, have disadvantages when it comes to the mutual centering of the two associated contact carriers. The centering pins usually provided on the electrical contact couplings must only engage very late in the corresponding centering openings of the other electrical contact coupling, since the coupling heads of the corresponding mechanical contact couplings must first be pre-centered relative to each other. This results in comparatively high wear on both the electrical contacts and the centering pins. If the centering pins are relatively long, they come into contact with the associated centering bushings on the other electrical contact coupling too early and can easily break off.Short centering pins, on the other hand, have a flat cone at their tip, so that large forces are exerted during centering, which in turn leads to excessive wear on the centering pins.

[0008] This problem is avoided with the aforementioned electrical contact couplings with a longitudinally displaceable contact carrier because the drive of the longitudinally displaceable contact carrier can be operated separately, so that the contact carrier is only advanced once the mechanical coupling process of the associated mechanical contact coupling has already been completed and the mechanical contact couplings are thus centered relative to each other. However, such a separately actuated drive, for example with actuating cylinders, as described in EP 1 102 696 B1, results in additional costs for the manufacture and maintenance of the electrical contact coupling.

[0009] The present invention is therefore based on the object of specifying an electrical contact coupling for a rail vehicle center buffer coupling, wherein the electrical contact coupling avoids both the excessive wear mentioned above and the additional costs for a separately actuated drive.

[0010] The object of the invention is achieved by an electrical contact coupling having the features of claim 1. The dependent claims describe advantageous and particularly useful embodiments of the electrical contact coupling according to the invention. Furthermore, a central buffer coupling designed according to the invention with an electrical contact coupling according to the invention is specified.

[0011] When an electrical contact coupling, central buffer coupling, or mechanical contact coupling is described here, this term refers to the coupling components arranged at one axial end of a first rail vehicle, which are connected to correspondingly oppositely designed coupling components at the axial end of a second rail vehicle that is to be coupled to the first rail vehicle in order to establish a mechanical and / or electrical coupling between the two rail vehicles. In this sense, the respective coupling could also be considered the coupling half of a coupling arranged between two coupled rail vehicles.

[0012] The electrical contact coupling according to the invention for a central buffer coupling of a rail vehicle comprises a contact carrier that is longitudinally displaceable counter to a coupling thrust direction and has electrical contacts on the end face oriented counter to the coupling thrust direction. The electrical contacts are designed for mechanical and electrical coupling with matching electrical contacts of a mating electrical contact coupling, which can be identical to the electrical contact coupling according to the invention or at least similar to it.

[0013] The electrical contact coupling according to the invention has a protective flap which can be pivoted about a rotation axis between a covering position in which it covers the electrical contacts and a release position in which it releases the electrical contacts.

[0014] Furthermore, a drive, in particular a purely mechanical drive, is provided to longitudinally displace the contact carrier from a retracted position to an advanced position. In the advanced position, the electrical contacts are displaced correspondingly further forward toward a mating electrical contact coupling compared to the retracted position.

[0015] According to the invention, the drive of the contact carrier is formed by a drive connection between the protective flap and the contact carrier, wherein the protective flap moves the contact carrier from the retracted position to the advanced position by transmitting a drive force during pivoting from the covering position to the release position via this drive connection.

[0016] The invention thus enables the contact carrier with the electrical contacts to be moved from the retracted position to the advanced position during the coupling process without the use of a separately operated drive. The drive can be formed solely by the drive connection between the protective flap and the contact carrier, so that the protective flap actuates the contact carrier to move it. The protective flap thus acts as an actuator for the contact carrier to move it. The contact carrier can be formed by a housing that, for example, also includes connections for electrical and / or signal-carrying supply lines and / or drain lines, in particular in the form of one or more cables. Thus, the entire housing can be moved accordingly by the drive. This creates a simple and robust design.According to an alternative embodiment, a contact carrier that can be moved within a housing is moved by the drive, while the housing is fixedly mounted, for example, on a coupling plate. This allows the displacement mechanism to be better protected from environmental influences. Other alternative designs are possible.

[0017] The protective flap preferably has a rear side facing the electrical contacts in the covering position and a front side arranged opposite thereto, and the front side is aligned with a contact surface for a protective flap of a mating coupling at an angle or eccentric to the axis of rotation such that a compressive force acting on the contact surface causes the protective flap to pivot from the covering position into the release position. This allows the automatic opening of the protective flap, i.e., the automatic pivoting of the protective flap from the covering position into the release position, to be effected when the protective flap of a matching electrical contact coupling abuts the contact surface of the protective flap on its face. Due to the arrangement of the protective flap or its contact surface, the compressive force results in a torque for pivoting the protective flap about the axis of rotation.

[0018] The contact surface can be integrated directly into the flat front side of the protective flap, but can also form only part of the front side. Furthermore, the contact surface can be offset longitudinally and / or transversely on the front side relative to other flat areas of the front side.

[0019] Particularly preferably, at least one elastic return element is provided in the electrical contact coupling, which engages the protective flap to apply a force to pivot it from the release position to the cover position. This allows automatic closing of the protective flap when two opposing electrical contact couplings are moved apart, thus eliminating the force that opens or holds the protective flaps open.

[0020] Particularly preferably, a delay element is provided in the drive connection between the protective flap and the contact carrier, which delays the longitudinal displacement of the contact carrier from the retracted position to the advanced position relative to the beginning of the pivoting of the protective flap from the covering position to the release position. This ensures that the electrical contacts and, if applicable, at least one provided centering pin come into contact with at least one correspondingly provided centering bushing of two opposing electrical contact couplings to be coupled together, when the mechanical coupling process of an associated mechanical contact coupling is at least largely completed and the mechanical contact couplings of the central buffer coupling are at least pre-centered or fully centered relative to one another.The centering of the electrical contact couplings can be carried out later by the contact of the at least one centering pin with the at least one centering bushing, which reduces wear.

[0021] According to a robust and reliable embodiment, the delay element comprises a cam arranged on the rotational axis of the protective flap, which is coupled to the protective flap in a rotationally fixed manner and only transmits the rotational movement of the protective flap in the form of a longitudinal movement in the drive connection between the protective flap and the contact carrier in the direction of the contact carrier when it rotates together with the protective flap by a predetermined minimum angle, for example, more than 5°, 10°, or 15°. For example, the cam is directly connected to the protective flap in a rotationally fixed manner or is formed integrally with it. An elastically springy support can be provided in the drive connection, via which the driving force is transmitted from the protective flap to the contact carrier.This allows the electrical contact coupling to be spring-mounted in any position of the protective cover and the contact carrier, allowing it to follow the movements of a coupling head in the mechanical contact coupling of the center buffer coupling, for example, while driving. With such an elastically spring-loaded support, the contact carrier can be supported against a stationary counterbearing. Thus, the driving force can also act on the elastic support and push the contact carrier away from the counterbearing by supporting it on the counterbearing.

[0022] In particular, the cam acts, preferably directly, on the elastically springy support.

[0023] Particularly preferably, the electrical contact coupling comprises an elastic return device that applies a spring force to the contact carrier, which acts to move the contact carrier from the advanced position to the retracted position. This allows the contact carrier to be automatically moved to the retracted position when the drive via the protective flap is terminated, i.e., when the driving force exerted by the protective flap on the contact carrier is reduced or eliminated.

[0024] In particular, the electrical contact coupling has a support unit that can be fixedly arranged on the rail vehicle or on the center buffer coupling, wherein the electrical contact coupling is longitudinally displaceable relative to the support unit. The contact carrier can then be supported against the support unit via the elastically resilient support, and in particular also via the elastic return device. The support unit thus forms the aforementioned counterbearing. This allows the advantageous resilient mounting to be achieved. A center buffer coupling according to the invention for a rail vehicle, in particular an automatic center buffer coupling, has a mechanical contact coupling, which is designed in particular as a Scharfenberg coupling.The mechanical contact coupling comprises a mechanical coupling lock in order to mechanically lock two opposing central buffer couplings together, so that in addition to compressive forces, tensile forces can also be transmitted between the rail vehicles coupled together with the central buffer coupling.

[0025] Furthermore, an electrical contact coupling, as shown here, is integrated into the central buffer coupling.

[0026] Preferably, the mechanical contact coupling has a vertically aligned coupling plate which comprises a coupling funnel and a coupling cone, wherein the electrical contact coupling is mounted indirectly or directly, in particular above the coupling funnel and the coupling cone, on the coupling plate.

[0027] The invention will be described below using an exemplary embodiment and the figures.

[0028] They show:

[0029] Figure 1 shows a central buffer coupling with a mechanical contact coupling and an electrical contact coupling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 shows the electrical contact coupling from Figure 1 with the protective flap in the covering position;

[0031] Figure 3 shows the electrical contact coupling from Figure 1 with the protective flap in the release position; Figure 4 schematically shows the longitudinal displacement of the contact carrier by sole drive with the protective flap.

[0032] Figure 1 shows the front view, i.e., a view in the coupling direction, of a center buffer coupling for a rail vehicle. The center buffer coupling has a mechanical contact coupling 14 with a vertically aligned coupling plate 10 that encloses a coupling funnel 11 and a coupling cone 12. The mechanical contact coupling 14 further has a guide horn 15, which, together with a matching guide horn 15 of a matching mechanical contact coupling 14, pre-centers the two mechanical contact couplings 14 with each other. Fine centering is then achieved via the coupling funnel 11 and the coupling cone 12, which cooperate with matching components of the mating coupling (not shown).

[0033] Support struts 16 are connected to the top of the coupling plate 10, which support the electrical contact coupling 1. However, the electrical contact coupling 1 could also be connected to the mechanical contact coupling 14 in a different way.

[0034] The components, each forming a coupling funnel 11 and a coupling cone 12, form a coupling lock 17 to mechanically lock the two couplings together with corresponding components of the mating coupling so that tensile forces can be transmitted between the two couplings. In the locked state, compressive forces can be transmitted via correspondingly adjacent coupling plates 10.

[0035] Details of the electrical contact coupling 1 are shown in Figures 2 to 4. The electrical contact coupling 1 comprises a longitudinally displaceable contact carrier 2, which carries electrical contacts 3 on its end face facing the mating coupling. In the illustrated embodiment, in addition to the electrical contacts 3, at least one centering pin 18 and at least one centering bushing 19 are provided in the end face in order to align the two contact carriers 2 to be coupled together and thus their electrical contacts 3. However, such a centering device is not absolutely necessary or could also be provided outside the end face shown here.

[0036] The contact carrier 2 is advantageously formed by a housing that is longitudinally displaceable as a whole. The housing, at the rear end facing away from the front end with the electrical contacts 3, is provided with connections for one or more electrical cables and / or signal cables, for example. However, other embodiments are possible.

[0037] As shown here, the end face advantageously has a circumferential seal 20 along its outer circumference, so that in the coupled state with a counter-identical electrical contact coupling 1, the electrical contacts 3 coupled to one another are protected from environmental influences.

[0038] The electrical contacts 3 preferably have sockets and pins, as shown.

[0039] In order to optionally cover the end face with the electrical contacts 3 in the uncoupled state and to release it for the coupling process, a protective flap 4 is provided, the rear side 4.1 of which faces the electrical contacts 3 in the covering position of the protective flap 4 and the front side 4.2 of which faces forward in the covering position of the protective flap 4. The protective flap 4 can be pivoted about the rotation axis D from the covering position into the release position. The pivoting occurs automatically when two protective flaps 4 corresponding to mutually assigned electrical contact couplings 1 touch each other at the front sides 4.2, wherein the contact surface of the front sides 4.2, at which the contact occurs, is arranged eccentrically or obliquely to the rotation axis D in such a way that the continued movement of the two electrical contact couplings 1 to be coupled together generates a torque that moves the protective flap 4 into the release position.Accordingly, the protective flap 4 has webs 4.3 which extend in the radial direction to the axis of rotation D in order to establish the desired distance between the front side 4.2 of the protective flap 4 and the axis of rotation D.

[0040] Elastic return elements 6, here in the form of two spiral springs, for automatically moving the protective flap 4 into the covering position generate a torque in the sense of pivoting the protective flap 4 about the rotation axis D from the release position into the covering position.

[0041] As can be seen from Figure 4, a drive connection is provided between the protective flap 4 and the longitudinally displaceable contact carrier 2, which forms a drive 5 for longitudinally displacing the contact carrier 2 from the retracted position to the advanced position. The retracted position of the contact carrier 2 is shown at the top of Figure 4, and the advanced position of the contact carrier 2 is shown at the bottom of Figure 4. The stroke during this displacement is designated H.

[0042] The drive 5 is designed in such a way that merely pivoting the protective flap 4 from the covering position into the release position causes the contact carrier 2 to move from the retracted position into the advanced position.

[0043] In the embodiment shown, the drive 5 is designed purely mechanically.

[0044] In detail, the drive 5 preferably has a delay element which delays the longitudinal displacement of the contact carrier 2 from the retracted position to the advanced position relative to the start of the pivoting of the protective flap 4 from the covering position to the release position. Here, the delay element is formed by a cam 7 arranged on the protective flap 4, which is connected to the protective flap 4 in a rotationally fixed manner. Due to the design of the cam 7, the cam 7 converts a rotational movement of the protective flap 4 into a longitudinal movement of the contact carrier 2, wherein the longitudinal movement only begins when the cam 7, starting from its zero position in the covering position of the protective flap 4, has rotated by a predetermined minimum angle, in particular of more than 5°, 10° or 15°, during the rotational movement of the protective flap 4.

[0045] The cam 7 engages an elastically resilient support 8 of the contact carrier 2 on a support unit 13, relative to which the contact carrier 2 is longitudinally displaceable. This elastically resilient support 8 acts both in the covering position and in the release position of the protective flap 4 and enables the electrical contact coupling 1 to follow the movements of the mechanical contact coupling 14 during travel. When the protective flap 4 moves from the covering position to the release position, the cam 7 generates a compressive force on the elastically resilient support 8, which, however, resists this compressive force in such a way that the axis of rotation D of the cam 7 and the protective flap 14, together with the contact carrier 2, moves away from the elastically resilient support 8.

[0046] To ensure a corresponding return of the contact carrier 2 to its zero position when the cam 7 is rotated back, an elastic return device 9 is also provided, which, like the elastically resilient support 8, also comprises a compression spring between the contact carrier 2 and the support unit 13. The two compression springs could also be designed as a single compression spring.

[0047] List of reference symbols

[0048] 1 electrical contact coupling

[0049] 2 contact carriers

[0050] 3 Electrical contact

[0051] 4 protective flap

[0052] 4.1 Back

[0053] 4.2 Front

[0054] 4.3 Bridge

[0055] 5 Drive

[0056] 6 elastic return element

[0057] 7 cams

[0058] 8 elastic spring support

[0059] 9 elastic return device

[0060] 10 Clutch plate

[0061] 11 coupling funnel

[0062] 12 clutch cones

[0063] 13 Support unit

[0064] 14 mechanical contact coupling

[0065] 15 Guide horn

[0066] 16 supporting strut

[0067] 17 Coupling lock

[0068] 18 Centering pin

[0069] 19 Centering bushing

[0070] 20 Sealing

[0071] D axis of rotation

[0072] H Hub

Claims

Claims: Electrical contact coupling (1) for a railway vehicle intermediate buffer coupling, comprising a contact carrier (2) that is longitudinally displaceable against a coupling joint direction and that has electrical contacts (3) oriented on its end face against the coupling joint direction; comprising a protective flap (4) that is pivotable about a pivot axis (D) between a covering position, in which it covers the electrical contacts (3), and a release position, in which it releases the electrical contacts (3); comprising a drive (5) for longitudinally displacing the contact carrier (2) from a retracted position to a forward position; characterized in that the drive (5) is formed by a drive connection between the protective flap (4) and the contact carrier (2).by means of which the protective flap (4), when pivoting from the covered position to the released position, displaces the contact carrier (2) from the retracted position to the advanced position by transmitting a driving force. Electrical contact coupling (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective flap (4) has a rear side (4.1) opposite the electrical contacts (3) in the covered position and a front side (4.2) arranged opposite thereto, and the front side (4.2) with a contact surface for a protective flap (4) of a mating coupling is oriented obliquely or eccentrically to the axis of rotation (D) such that a pressure force on the contact surface causes the protective flap (4) to pivot from the covered position to the released position. Electrical contact coupling (1) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that at least one elastic return element (6) is provided and engages the protective flap (4),to apply a force to pivot them from the release position into the covering position. An electrical contact coupling (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a delay element is provided in the drive connection, which delays the longitudinal displacement of the contact carrier (2) from the retracted position to the advanced position relative to the commencement of the pivoting of the protective flap (4) from the covered position to the release position. An electrical contact coupling (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the delay element comprises a cam (7) arranged on the axis of rotation (D) of the protective flap (4), which is rotationally fixed to the protective flap (4) and only when it rotates together with the protective flap (4) by a predetermined minimum angle, in particular more than 5°, more than 10° or more than 15°, transmits the rotational movement of the protective flap (4) as a longitudinal movement in the drive connection in the direction of the contact carrier (2).An electrical contact coupling (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that an elastically resilient support (8) is provided in the drive connection, via which the drive force is transmitted from the protective flap (4) to the contact carrier (2). An electrical contact coupling (1) according to claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the cam (7) acts on the elastically resilient support (8). An electrical contact coupling (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that an elastic return mechanism (9) is provided, which applies a spring force to the contact carrier (2) that displaces the contact carrier (2) from the extended position to the retracted position. An electrical contact coupling (1) according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the electrical contact coupling (1) comprises a support unit (13) relative to which the contact carrier (2) is longitudinally displaceable, wherein the contact carrier (2) is supported against the support unit (13) via the elastically resilient support (8) and, in particular, via the elastic return mechanism (9). A central buffer coupling for a rail vehicle, with a mechanical contact coupling (14), in particular a Scharfenberg coupling, comprising a mechanical coupling lock (17), characterized by an electrical contact coupling (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9.Central buffer coupling according to claim 10, characterized in that the mechanical contact coupling (14) comprises a vertically oriented coupling plate (10) which has a coupling funnel (11) and a coupling cone (12), wherein the electrical contact coupling (1) is mounted on the coupling plate (10) indirectly or directly, in particular above the coupling funnel (11) and coupling cone (12).

Images