Current Collector Alignment Assist for Power Rail Contact Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Establishing and maintaining a reliable electrical connection between a freely steerable current collector and a power rail is challenging due to terrain variations and positional deviations, leading to disconnections and arcing issues in heavy work machines.
Innovation Solution
An alignment assist assembly using a camera and display system to provide real-time visual feedback, allowing operators to adjust the work machine's direction to maintain proper alignment with the power rail, ensuring consistent electrical contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If increased adhesion between the current collector and the rail is used to decrease disconnections, then connection stability is improved, but drag on the arm increases and wear on the current collector accelerates
Solution Approach 1:
The trailing arm assembly is designed with pivotable joints at both the boom distal end and the current collector, creating a dynamic linkage system that can adapt its configuration. This dynamic structure allows the current collector to maintain contact with the rail through geometric adaptation rather than increased adhesion forces, thereby reducing drag and wear while preserving connection stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the geometric parameters of the trailing arm assembly through pivotal movements at the boom distal end and current collector. By varying the arm configuration in response to rail deviations, the system maintains optimal contact conditions without requiring increased adhesion, thus avoiding the harmful effects of drag and wear.
2Reliability
If the current collector is made to follow uneven, twisted, or curved rail surfaces, then contact continuity is improved, but mechanical stress and wear on the current collector increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pivotable trailing arm assembly dynamically adjusts its geometry to accommodate rail surface variations. This dynamic adaptation allows the current collector to follow uneven, twisted, or curved rail surfaces while distributing mechanical stresses through the articulated linkage, reducing concentrated stress and wear on the collector itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The trailing arm assembly is segmented into multiple pivotable sections: one joint at the boom distal end and another at the current collector. This segmentation allows each section to independently absorb and adapt to different types of rail deviations, maintaining contact continuity while protecting the current collector from excessive mechanical stress.
3Device complexity
If a fixed-geometry trailing arm assembly is used, then the structure is simpler, but the current collector cannot accommodate positional deviations between the work machine and the power rail
Solution Approach 1:
The trailing arm assembly transitions from a fixed-geometry design to a dynamic, pivotable structure. The pivot joints at the boom distal end and current collector enable the assembly to adapt its geometry in real-time, accommodating positional deviations between the work machine and power rail while maintaining relatively simple construction.
4Ease of operation
If the work machine is freely steerable to navigate varying terrain, then mobility is improved, but maintaining alignment with the power rail becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The pivotable trailing arm assembly provides dynamic alignment compensation that works in conjunction with free steering. As the operator steers the work machine to navigate varying terrain, the articulated trailing arm automatically adjusts to maintain current collector contact with the power rail, preserving both mobility and alignment reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An alignment assist assembly for a work machine includes a camera supported to a lateral side of the work machine and at an elevation above at least one power rail, the camera being oriented toward the haul route and configured to capture an image field and generate an image signal indicative of the image field. A display is operably connected to the camera and disposed in the cab, the display configured to generate a displayed image based on the image signal from the camera. The display further is configured to display an alignment overlay indicative of a range of distances between the frame and the at least one power rail that permit the current collector to engage the surface of the at least one power rail.