Railway Contact Wire Crossing With Spacer-Controlled Interruption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for carrying contact wires above railroad switches and catenary junctions require a higher number of supporting structures due to the convexity of catenaries, which negatively impacts track guiding and increases mechanical stress, especially during thermal agitation.
Innovation Solution
A system where the first contact wire and second contact wire cross or merge through an interruption above a railway junction, using a supporting beam with a spacer to maintain a minimum interruption length and reduce mechanical stress, and adjustable elements to facilitate easy installation and alignment, while minimizing the need for additional supporting structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional catenary systems are used with convexity to guide tracks through railroad switches, then track guiding is maintained, but the number of supporting structures increases and mechanical stress increases during thermal agitation
Solution Approach 1:
The first contact wire is segmented into two separate sections that run parallel to each other through the railroad switch, rather than forming a single convex catenary. This segmentation eliminates the need for additional supporting structures while maintaining reliable track guiding for both railroad tracks.
Solution Approach 2:
A spacer element is introduced as an intermediary component between the two parallel contact wire sections. This spacer maintains the required distance between the sections and prevents mechanical stress transfer during thermal agitation, resolving the contradiction between simplified structure and reliability.
2Ease of operation
If the interruption length of the first contact wire is reduced to minimize unevenness for pantographs, then smoothness for pantographs is improved, but mechanical stress is introduced into the second contact wire during thermal agitation
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer acts as a mediator that maintains a controlled interruption length in the first contact wire. This controlled spacing smooths the transition for pantographs while simultaneously preventing mechanical stress from being transferred to the second contact wire during thermal expansion and contraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The interruption length is optimized to a specific parameter range that balances two competing requirements: short enough to minimize unevenness for pantographs, but long enough to prevent mechanical stress in the second contact wire during thermal agitation.
3Device complexity
If the catenary junction is embodied as a cross configuration, then the number of supporting structures is reduced, but installation and alignment complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer element is designed with rotatable mounting capability, allowing it to be dynamically adjusted during installation. This enables easy alignment of the crossing catenaries while maintaining the simplified cross configuration that reduces the number of supporting structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The crossing angle of the two catenaries can be adjusted by rotating the spacer element, allowing optimization of installation parameters without requiring additional supporting structures. This makes the cross configuration practically implementable despite initial alignment challenges.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a system (32) for carrying a first contact wire (19) and a second contact wire (19') crossing or merging the first contact wire (19) through an interruption (33) above a railway junction (3), comprising - a supporting beam (28), - a first carrying element (34) that is connected to the supporting beam (28) at a first position and adapted to carry the first contact wire (19), - a second carrying element (35) that is connected to the supporting beam (28) at a second position position and adapted to carry the first contact wire (19), and - a spacer (36) that is connected to the supporting beam (28) at a third position position between the first position and the second position and adapted to secure a predefined minimum length (37) for the interruption of the first contact wire (19) seen in a course direction of the first contact wire (19).