Elastic Section Disconnect Device for Overhead Contact Lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional section disconnect devices for overhead contact lines experience issues with dynamic effects such as pulse loading, vibrations, and sparking due to rigid conductor sections, leading to premature wear and reduced maintenance intervals, especially at high vehicle speeds.
Innovation Solution
The section disconnect device features adjustable contact-wire connecting heads that allow seamless alignment with current collectors, and a rail-less, runner-less line section arrangement made of elastic contact-wire material, with a continuous diverted line section guided around a roller for improved damping and simplified mounting, reducing steps and impacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid conductor sections with rails or runners are used in section disconnect devices, then mechanical stability and structural strength are improved, but dynamic effects such as pulse loading, vibrations, and sparking occur at high vehicle speeds, leading to increased wear and reduced maintenance intervals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state and mechanical properties of the conductor sections by replacing rigid rail-based structures with elastic wire-based line sections. This parameter change from rigid to elastic material properties allows the conductor to absorb dynamic loads through deformation rather than transmitting rigid impacts, thereby reducing pulse loading and vibrations while maintaining mechanical stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flexible wire-based line sections instead of rigid rail structures. These flexible conductors can deform elastically under dynamic loading conditions, absorbing vibrations and reducing impact forces. The flexibility of the wire material allows seamless interaction with moving current collectors, eliminating the harmful dynamic effects associated with rigid structures.
2Strength
If rigid rail-based section disconnect devices are used, then structural strength is improved, but severe dynamic effects occur during interaction with current collectors at high speeds, causing punctiform contact loss, sparking, and additional wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the mechanical parameter of the conductor from rigid to elastic by using wire-based line sections. This parameter change enables the conductor to deform under dynamic loading, maintaining continuous contact with current collectors and preventing punctiform contact loss and sparking that occur with rigid structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic wire-based line sections act as a cushioning element before dynamic impacts occur. The inherent elasticity of the wire material absorbs and dampens impact forces and vibrations in advance, preventing the severe dynamic effects and sparking that would otherwise occur during high-speed interaction with current collectors.
3Reliability
If wire-based line sections are used instead of rigid rails, then elastic damping and reduced vibrations are achieved, but inhomogeneous stepping or transition problems occur in the region of contact-wire connection heads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces adjustable connection heads that can dynamically adapt their position and orientation. This adjustability allows the connection heads to compensate for alignment variations and ensure seamless transitions between line sections, eliminating the inhomogeneous stepping problems that would otherwise occur with fixed rigid connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection heads incorporate adjustable parameters such as position and angle to optimize alignment. By allowing these parameters to be modified during installation and maintenance, the system achieves both the vibration damping benefits of wire-based sections and the alignment precision required to eliminate stepping problems.
4Reliability
If conventional section disconnect devices are used, then electrical insulation and mechanical connection are achieved, but maintenance intervals are short due to severe wear from dynamic effects, requiring frequent interruptions of operating time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from rigid to elastic, using wire-based line sections that inherently dampen dynamic effects. This parameter change dramatically reduces wear on both the conductor and current collectors, extending maintenance intervals from 100,000 to 2,000,000 sliding operations while maintaining electrical insulation through properly positioned insulators.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design significantly reduces wear and vibration, extends maintenance intervals from 100,000 to 2,000,000 sliding operations, and simplifies mounting, enabling maintenance every 6 to 8 years in high-frequency sections, while minimizing downtime and improving operational reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a rail-less, runner-less line section arrangement made of elastic contact-wire material
Implementation Method 2
with a continuous diverted line section guided around a roller for improved damping and simplified mounting, reducing steps and impacts
Data Source
AI summary
A section disconnect device for a contact line assigned in particular to railborne vehicles as overhead line and carrying high voltage, having a single section arrangement (10) with multiple line sections extending, such that it is tensioned or can be tensioned, between two contact-wire connecting heads (12, 14) and provided with insulator means (36, 38), which line section arrangement is constructed such that it can be mounted by means of respective accommodating sections (66) of the contact-wire connecting heads in an electrically and mechanically contacting manner between exposed ends (16, 18) of the contact line, as a result of which at least one of the contact-wire connecting heads (12, 14) has adjustable level equalization means (66, 68, 70) for interacting with a head-side end (20, 24) of the line section arrangement (10), which are constructed in such a manner that, with respect to a current collector contact, in particular a current-collector-contact side of the contact line and/or a current-collector-contact plane, the free end of the contact line can be brought into a common plane with the end of the line section arrangement and/or seamlessly aligned with the same.