GB1497684A - Devices for the transmission of electric energy by means of a cable from a stationary installation to a movable vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

1497684 Taking up slack in flexible elements H ASTRUP & CO AS 29 April 1975 [30 April 1974 11 Nov 1974 14 Jan 1975] 17682/75 Heading B8B Electrical energy is transmitted through a flat cable 1 from a stationary supply connection 13 to a movable vehicle 12 through slip rings in a housing 11 on the vehicle, the cable 1 being wound on to and off a torque biased drum 3 on the vehicle as the latter moves around an operating area. The drum 3 is a double drum including a hub for winding the cable 1 and co-axial hub winding a guiding and earthing wire 2, the two hubs being rotatable in mutually opposite directions by a spring or hydraulic motor 9, the drum axis extending vertically up from the vehicle movable over a horizontal surface. The drum is vertically adjustable in the vehicle. The supply 13 is a plug-in connection for the cable 1 and wire 2 and when the wires are changed from one to another plug-in connection, the two drum hubs are locked together by a pin, to remove tension in the cable and wire, this pin normally being stored in a socket in the vehicle to operate an activating switch whereby the vehicle cannot be moved until the pin is back in the pocket. Rollers are provided to guide the cable and wire to and from the drum. Limit switches provide indication to the vehicle driver that the wire or cable are almost fully payed out. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, for an increased area of operation, the cable 1 and wire 2 extend from the vehicle to opposite ends of a trolley 21 rollable along fixed overhead rails 23. A further double drum 25 is journalled at one end of the rails 23, from which drum a cable extends for connection with the cable 1 at one end of the trolley and a wire 29 extends for connection with the wire 2 at the other end of the trolley, the wire 29 first passing around a reversing pulley 30 at the remote end of the rails 23. In the embodiment of Fig. 8, for an even greater area of operation, the cable 1 and wire 2 extend to opposite ends of a trolley 21 rollable along fixed overhead rails 23 which incorporate electrical conductor bars 32 slidably engageable by current collectors 31 on the trolley. In the embodiment of Figs. 10 to 12 (not shown) a single hydraulically driven drum is used for a cable only in an arrangement as shown in Fig. 1. In further embodiments of Figs. 13 to 18 (not shown) the arrangements are as shown in Figs. 5 and 8 but both the cable and wire drums are rotatable in the same direction by hydraulic motors.