Rectangular Elastomeric Support for Ground Electric Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing underfloor power supply systems for land vehicles face challenges in integration into roadways due to complex installation requirements, such as needing specific concrete bases, which complicate the process and increase costs.
Innovation Solution
A rail segment with a rectangular cross-section made of electrically insulating elastomeric material, allowing for direct placement and fixation in a trench with a complementary rectangular cross-section, simplified by milling the pavement, and secured using a bituminous joint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a support with a V-shaped lower surface is used, then the support can be secured to the roadway, but the integration into the pavement becomes complex requiring a concrete base with a complementary V-shaped upper surface
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional approach by making the support itself a rectangular prism with a flat lower surface, and instead shaping the trench in the roadway to have a complementary rectangular cross-section. This reversal of the shaping operation from the support to the trench simplifies the support structure and eliminates the need for complex concrete bases.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the complex V-shaped geometry from the support structure and relocates it to the trench configuration in the roadway. This separation allows the support to be a simple rectangular prism that can be easily manufactured and installed, while the roadway is milled to provide the complementary shape for secure fitting.
2Reliability
If a support with a V-shaped lower surface is used, then the support can be secured to the roadway, but the installation process increases costs
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting the design approach and shaping the trench rather than the support, the invention reduces manufacturing complexity and installation costs. The rectangular prism support is simpler and cheaper to manufacture, and the trench can be efficiently created using standard milling machines on the roadway surface.
3Ease of manufacture
If the support is made thin with power supply and connection surfaces forming long sides, then the milling depth is reduced, but the structural integrity must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses composite construction by embedding conductive tracks within grooves in the elastomeric material of the support. This allows the support to be thin while maintaining structural integrity, as the conductive tracks are integrated into the structure rather than being surface elements that would require additional thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductive tracks are nested within grooves in the support structure, allowing the functional elements to be integrated within the thin profile of the support. This nesting approach maintains structural integrity while keeping the overall thickness minimal for shallow milling installation.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Support (16) for one or more electrically conductive tracks (11, 12, 13) of a ground-based electrical power supply system (10) for a motor vehicle (1) in the form of a strip made of an electrically insulating elastomeric material, comprising a substantially flat electrical power supply surface for the land vehicle (15), provided with one or more longitudinal grooves (14), each groove being intended to receive a conductive track (11, 12, 13), and a surface for securing it to a road surface (18), opposite the electrical power supply surface (15). The support (16) has a rectangular cross-section (S) and the electrical power supply surface (15) and the securing surface (18) form the long sides of said rectangle.