GB2117337A

GB2117337A - Connectors for conductor rails

Info

Publication number: GB2117337A
Application number: GB08303748A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Heinz Pfannkuche
Original assignee: Mannesmann AG
Current assignee: Vodafone GmbH
Priority date: 1982-03-31
Filing date: 1983-02-10
Publication date: 1983-10-12
Also published as: FR2524402A1; IT8320127A0; GB2117337B; FR2524402B1; DE3211923C2; GB8303748D0; DE3211923A1; IT1160733B

Abstract

A connector 2 for conductor rails 1 has a portion 3 of increased diameter, along which the current collector shoe travels as it passes from one rail section to the other. The connector may be hollow with a slot 4 extending throughout its length, the slot being widened at 8 to permit the insertion of a power conductor. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in conductor rails Trackway vehicle systems are known in which electricity is drawn from hollow conductor rails consisting of interconnected rail sections. It has hitherto been proposed to interconnect the sections by means of simple pins, each end of which penetrates into the end of a respective section. It has been usual to deburr the ends of the rail sections to prevent premature wear of the current collectors which slide on the rails and consist of carbon blocks. The deburring of hollow rail sections which may have a length of 7 m is a very expensive operation, since the sections are difficult to handle both on account of their length and flexibility.

To overcome this problem, it is opposed herein that adjacent ends of rail sections should be interconnected by a connector which has a portion of increased cross-sectional dimension disposed between the ends of the two sections. The portion of increased cross-sectional dimension ensures that the current collectors slide easily from one rail section to the other without risk of abrasion caused by burrs at the ends of the sections.

Consequently, the rail sections may be left unfinished, thereby ensuring a substantial saving in manufacturing cost. The risk of wear to the current collectors may be reduced still further by making the cross-sectional dimension of said portion of the connector greater than that of the rail sections, so that the current collector is lifted away from the rail as it passes from one section to the other. In general, the rails will be of circular cross-section, as will the connector. Nevertheless, rail sections of some other cross-section may be connected in accordance with the present proposal. In any event, the cross-section of the portion of the connector need not be increased in all directions, a bulge on the side followed by the current collector may be sufficient.

Although the connector may be of solid construction, it is preferably hollow with a wall thickness approximately one-tenth of its external transverse dimension. Conveniently, a slot extends throughout all or part of the length of the connector to give it a degree of resilience. A connector having this construction may easily be produced by rolling a blank which has been shaped to enable the finished blank to shave the portion of increased cross-sectional dimension.

Conductor rails of the type in question are sometimes partially housed in plastics insulators which define channels opening to the rail in order to enable the current collector to make contact.

The coefficients of expansion of the rail and the insulator differ, so that when heated the insulator tends to expand more than the rail sections.

Desirably, the length of the portion of increased cross-section is made substantially equal to the differential expansion which is likely to take place between an ambient temperature of, say, 200C and a maximum operating temperature of, say, 600C. During expansion, the insulator then slides over the portion of increased cross-sectional dimension. Assuming that the rail includes sections made of copper, the portion desirably has a length of substantially 4% of the length of one of the rail sections. The insulator and the rail section inserted therein can now be cut to accurate lengths in one operation. With other arrangements of the conductor rail, the portion may have a length substantially equal to twice the thickness of the material from which the connector is formed.

The portion may then be a simple, easily produced beading.

It is an advantage for the portion of increased cross-sectional dimension to be located asymmetrically relative to the length of the connector, so that the ends of the connector which penetrate into the rail sections are of different lengths. In the event that a number of conductor rails are arranged side by side, the connectors are all similarly oriented with their longer ends faciny in the same direction.

Consequently, when the rail installation is separated by pulling the sections apart, only the shorter ends of the connectors are pulled out from the rail sections since they are subject to reduced frictional resistance. The longer ends of the connectors remain firmly seated.

The longer end of the connector preferably has a pilot portion of reduced cross-sectional dimension to enable a number of connectors to be inserted simultaneously. Insertion is further facilitated by giving the end of the pilot portion and, indeed, the other end of the connector, a tapered tip.

The connector may be used as a means of supplying electricity to the conductor rail and, for this purpose, the connector may have an opening for the insertion of a power conductor. Provided that the connector is made with a slot as.

described above, the opening may be constituted by a widening of the slot in the portion of increased cross-section, and thus in the region between the two conductor rail sections.

It will thus be appreciated that a connector in accordance with the various refinements of the present proposal has a number of advantages.

First and foremost, it reduces wear to which the current collectors are subjected, it is easy to install and facilitates dismantling of the rail, it allows the use of rail sections in plastics insulators of defined lengths, and it improves the manner of supplying electricity to the rail.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a first embodiment of rail connector in accordance with the present proposal, Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a second embodiment, Figure 3 is an end view of the connector in accordance with either embodiment, Figure 4 is an end view of a plurality of rail sections housed in an insulator, and Figure 5 shows the rails in place within an installation.

Referring first to Figure 5, a trackway for suspended vehicles is assembled from hollow sections 1 2 which are bolted end to end. The sections 12 define an open-bottomed channel within which a current collector trolley may travel.

Conductor rails are supported in grooved insulators 10 in the upper part of the channel. The trolley supports carbon current collector blocks which enter the grooves in the insulator and run on the undersides of the rails.

Each of the conductor rails is assembled from hollow rail sections, and each of the channel sections 1 2 supports five such rail sections in a common insulator. The rail sections of one channel section 12 are connected to those of the other channel section by connectors 2 shown in longitudinal section in Figure 1. The rail sections are indicated in chain lines at 1 and the insulators in chain lines at 10. The connector is formed by rolling a copper or other conductive metal blank into a tube having a slot 4 extending throughout its length. Before rolling, the blank is profiled such that the finished connector has a portion 3 of larger diameter asymmetrically spaced from the ends of the connector. The portion 3 may have a length of about 1 5 mm, being about 4% of the length of one of the rail sections 1.The ends 5a and 5b of the connector fit within the rail sections, and to facilitate insertion, the longer end 5a has a pilot extension 6. The shorter end 5b and the pilot extension terminate in tapered tips 7. During assembly, the shorter ends 5b may be individually introduced into the rail sections of one of the channel sections 12. When both channel sections are brought together, the other rail sections slide easily over the tapered tips 7 and pilot extensions 6 of the ends 5a.

The slot 4 is widened at 8 to form an opening into which a power conductor 9 is inserted as shown in Figure 5. As also shown in this figure, a joint connector 11 surrounds the insulator 10 in the region of the joint.

As discussed above, a connector having the construction shown in Figure 1 has advantages in connection with rail sections mounted in insulators and subjected to differentiai thermal expansion. If this problem does not arise, a connector may be used as shown in Figure 2. This connector is simpler to make, since the portion of increased diameter 3 is in the form of a simple beading.

In operation, the current collector shoe rides over the portion 3 as it passes from one section to the other. Consequently, the collector shoe is prevented from dropping into the space between two sections and being abraded by the unfinished ends of the sections. The diameter of the portion 3 is at least equal to the diameter of the section 1 and preferably very slightly exceeds the diameter of the section 1. During dismantling of the installation, the channel sections 12 are unbolted and pulled apart. The longer ends 5a of the connectors remain fast within the rail sections of one of the channel sections 12, whereas the shorter ends 5b withdraw easily from the rail sections of the other channel section.

Claims

1. A hollow conductor rail wherein adjacent ends of two rail sections are interconnected by a connector penetrating into the ends of the sections, the connector having a portion of increased cross-sectional dimension disposed between the ends of the two rail sections.

2. A rail according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section of the said portion is such that it projects radially beyond the outer surfaces of the rail sections.

3. A rail according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the connector is hollow and has a wall thickness approximately one-tenth of its transverse dimension, the wall of the connector having a longitudinally extending slot.

4. A rail according to any preceding claim, wherein the connector has an opening into which penetrates a power conductor.

5. A rail according to claim 3 and claim 4, wherein the opening is located in the portion of increased cross-sectional dimension and communicates with the slot.

6. A rail according to any preceding claim, wherein the length of said portion of increased cross-sectional dimension is substantially equal to 4% of the length of one of the rail sections.

7. A rail according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the length of the portion of increased cross-sectional dimension is substantially equal to twice the thickness of the wall of the connector.

8. A rail according to any preceding claim, including an insulator partially surrounding each ol the rail sections and capable of extending over the connector.

9. A rail according to any preceding claim, wherein end portions of the connector received within the rail sections are of respectively different lengths.

10. A rail according to claim 9, wherein the end portion of greater length has a centring extension, the cross-sectional dimension of which is smaller than the internal cross-section of the end of the rail section in which it is received.

1 A rail according to claim 10, wherein the centring extension and the other end portion of the connector each have a tapered tip.

12. A rail assembly including a plurality of rails as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11, wherein the connector end portions of shorter length are all oriented in the same direction.

13. A connector for a conductor rail comprising a hollow member of substantially cylindrical crosssection with portions of reduced cross-sectional diameter at each end thereof, the wall of the connector having a slot extending at least partially the length of the connector, one of the end portions of reduced cross-sectional diameter being shorter than the other.

14. A connector substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the drawings.