Pantograph Contact Strip Lifting Speed Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current collectors for electric and hybrid-electric road vehicles experience operational wear, particularly mechanical wear from contact with overhead contact wires, leading to reduced service life and increased maintenance costs due to frequent disconnection and reconnection processes.
Innovation Solution
A current collector with a controllable lifting device that reduces the lifting speed of contact strips as they approach the contact position, combined with a determination device for measuring height differences and a braking mechanism to prevent hard contact, minimizing impact-related wear and extending the service life of the contact strips.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the lifting device operates at high speed to reduce wiring time, then productivity is improved, but the contact strips suffer from impact-related spalling and reduced service life
Solution Approach 1:
The lifting device operates with variable speed rather than constant high speed. The control unit adjusts the lifting speed dynamically: high speed during the approach phase to minimize wiring time, and reduced speed during the final contact phase to prevent impact damage. This dynamic speed adjustment resolves the contradiction between productivity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The lifting process is divided into distinct phases with different speed characteristics. The first phase (approach) uses higher speed, while the second phase (contact) uses reduced speed. This periodic variation in operating conditions allows the system to achieve both fast wiring and gentle contact, resolving the contradiction between productivity and contact strip durability.
2Reliability
If the contact strips are pressed hard against the contact wires to ensure good electrical contact, then electrical conductivity is improved, but mechanical wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of contact force by controlling the lifting speed. By reducing the lifting speed during the final approach, the contact force is applied more gradually and gently, reducing impact-related mechanical wear while still achieving adequate electrical contact. This parameter change resolves the contradiction between electrical contact quality and mechanical wear.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a pantograph (3) for an electrically or hybrid-electrically powered road vehicle (1) for supplying traction energy from a two-pole overhead contact line system, each contact pole having a contact wire (4). It comprises an erectable support frame (6) with a vehicle-side end at which a base joint (10) for articulated support on the road vehicle (1) is arranged, and with a contact wire-side end at which it carries at least one contact strip (14) for each contact pole for electrically contacting a contact wire (4). It further comprises a lifting device (15) for erecting the support frame (6), by means of which the contact strips (14) can be lifted from a lower rest position to an upper contact position.By designing the lifting device (15) for erecting the support frame (6) with a controllable lifting speed (V), whereby the lifting speed (V) of the contact strips (14) is reduced when the contact position is reached, a current collector (3) can be provided which enables fast and low-wear wire-connecting operations.