US0093.76023B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 9,376,023 B2 Messerschmidt (45) Date of Patent: Jun. 28, 2016 (54) SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY (56) References Cited CONNECTING AND A DISCONNECTING CATENARY VEHICLE TO AND FROM THE U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS OVERHEAD LINE DURING TRAVEL 6,557.476 B2 * 5/2003 Batisse ......................... 104,289 8.324,858 B2 * 12/2012 Hill et al. ...................... 320,109 (75) Inventor: Jan Messerschmidt, Saarbrücken (DE) (Continued) (73) Assignee: DaLOGIKa Gesellschaft fir angewandte Informatik mbH, FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS Saarbrücken (DE) CH 596O11 A5 2, 1978 CN 101746284 6, 2010 (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 (Continued) U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. OTHER PUBLICATIONS (21) Appl. No.: 13/990,422 Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Nov. (22) PCT Filed: Nov. 24, 2011 26, 2012 for corresponding PCT/DE2011/002058. (Continued) (86). PCT No.: PCT/DE2O11AOO2O58 S371 (c)(1), Primary Examiner — Hussein A. Elchanti (2), (4) Date: May 29, 2013 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Lempia Summerfield Katz (87) PCT Pub. No.: WO2012/072067 LLC PCT Pub. Date: Jun. 7, 2012 (57) ABSTRACT (65) Prior Publication Data A method and device for automatically connecting and dis US 2013/0245876A1 Sep. 19, 2013 connecting a current collector of a vehicle which is designed for operating with an overheadline. The invention specifies a (30) Foreign Application Priority Data device and a method for automatically connecting and dis connecting at least one current collector (3) of a vehicle which Nov.30, 2010 (DE) ......................... 10 2010 O53 528 is designed for operation with at least one overhead line (1). The device comprises at least one actuator (9), which moves (51) Int. Cl. the current collector (3), and at least one image-capturing and B60L 9/00 (2006.01) image-evaluation unit (6 and 7), which controls the actuator B60L 5/04 (2006.01) (9) in such a way that the current collector (3) is connected or B60L 5/16 (2006.01) disconnected to or from the overheadline (1). The invention (52) U.S. Cl. provides the advantage that current collectors of a vehicle can CPC. B60L 5/04 (2013.01); B60L 5/045 (2013.01); be reliably and securely connected and disconnected to and B60L 5/16 (2013.01); B60L 2200/26 (2013.01) from an overhead line in an automatic fashion. (58) Field of Classification Search USPC ............................................................ 701/22 See application file for complete search history. 18 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets US 9,376,023 B2 Page 2 (56) References Cited JP 20021393.05 5, 2002 JP 2005094952 4/2005 U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS RU 56283 U1 9, 2006 8,564.253 B2 * 10/2013 Gong et al. ................... 320, 167 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 2006/0267748 A1 : 11/2006 Knoop et al. 340/.435 International Search Report dated Nov. 26, 2012 for corresponding 2010/0270983 A1* 10/2010 Gong et al. ................... 320, 167 PCT, DE2011/OO2O58. German translation of Chinese Office Action for Chinese Application FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS No. 201180057711.7, with English machine translation. DE 24 60 843 A1 7, 1976 starter's past Arts DE 30 15784 A1 10, 1981 translation 44 9. RE g i 9. A. 238, German translation of Russian Office Action for Russian Application FR 2506 234 A1 11, 1982 No. 2013 129872/11, with English machine translation. JP 53 OO6065 A 1, 1978 JP 54 022610 A 2, 1979 * cited by examiner U.S. Patent Jun. 28, 2016 Sheet 1 of 3 US 9,376,023 B2 U.S. Patent Jun. 28, 2016 Sheet 2 of 3 US 9,376,023 B2 U.S. Patent Jun. 28, 2016 Sheet 3 of 3 US 9,376,023 B2 US 9,376,023 B2 1. 2 SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY line networks from being installed in historical town centers CONNECTING AND A DISCONNECTING or in representational areas, for example, it is desirable to CATENARY VEHICLE TO AND FROM THE operate the vehicle off-wire over more or less short distances. OVERHEAD LINE DURING TRAVEL An additional autonomous Supply of energy is to be pro vided in the vehicle (e.g., via batteries, capacitors, a combus The present patent document is a S371 nationalization of tion engine with a generator, fuel cells or a flywheel), and a PCT Application Serial Number PCT/DE2011/002058, filed current collector system that is able to automatically discon Nov. 24, 2011, designating the United States, which is hereby nect from and, in particular, reconnect to the wires quickly incorporated by reference. This patent document also claims and reliably is to be provided. Various developments exist that the benefit of DE 10 2010 053528.1, filed on Nov.30, 2010, 10 address the question of the provision of power in the vehicle which is also hereby incorporated by reference. (e.g., dual-mode vehicles that feature a diesel generator on board, or the flywheel energy storage device described in DE BACKGROUND 3015754C enabling the generation of powerfor autonomous The present embodiments relate to a system that automati- 15 operation). cally connects and disconnects current collectors to/from Suggested Solutions have also been published on the prob overhead contact lines during travel. lem of automatic reconnection (e.g., the controlled guidance Electrically powered vehicles offer many advantages as of the current collector to the wires). In DE 2460843, it is compared to vehicles that obtain their primary source of Suggested that an engagement aid, or "lug', be vertically energy from combustion engines. Since the efficiency of 20 installed on either side of the collector shoes running parallel power storage or the clean generation of power using fuel to the direction of travel. The engagement aid is configured to cells is commonly considered to still be insufficient, power facilitate engagement and upon the contact being established, Supply via overhead or other contact lines or via power rails is folded away in a downwards direction. The disadvantages provides an alternative. In rail bound vehicles Such as trains or of this system are that automatic connection using this device streetcars, the prior artis Sufficiently practical in practice and 25 may only be made when the vehicle is stopped because the widespread. In non-railbound vehicles (e.g., trolleybuses), lug, when flipped out, projects into the area of the overhead the limitations of the prior art are so sizable that in many wire Suspension. Guiding the lug to the overhead wire cities, existing systems have been removed and replaced with requires manual interaction. diesel-powered buses. The key limitation of existing trolley The proposal made in FR 2506234 provides an attempt to bus methods lies in their insufficient flexibility (e.g., lacking 30 automate the process and thus reduce the measurement and capability that may be achieved only with substantial effort control effort by affixing both of the current collector shoes to and expense) to also operate the trolleybus without power a common Support. from the overhead line for a brief period of time. The submitted solution of DE 10054766 solves the prob Electric buses (e.g., trolleybuses and catenary buses) are lem of the unreliable parallel positioning of the two overhead supplied with power via trolley poles primarily via dual-pole 35 wires. wire systems in the form of overhead lines. The lines are The related patent application of DE 100 12039 C poses installed at a defined height, generally in the center above the the additional disadvantage that an entirely new and more designated lane. In so doing, the lines are not really parallel to complex technology and configuration of the overhead wire one another on account of the manner in which the lines are positioning and Suspension is presupposed. affixed (e.g., a distance between the lines may be 60 cm and 40 may vary within a range of ten centimeters or more). The SUMMARY AND DESCRIPTION height at which the lines are affixed is also subject to a sizable tolerance, ranging between 5 and 6 meters. An even larger The implementation of FR 2506 234 fails in that the tolerance is present with regard to the offset in relation to the overhead wires are not positioned in an exact predictable middle of the lane, which may amount to as much as 4.5 m for 45 distance from one another. The submitted solution of DE 100 6.2 m long poles. All of these factors pose an impediment to 54766 only reduces the control effort for guiding the collec automatic connection to the overheadline, which is a prereq tor shoes to the overheadline without providing a solution for uisite for a series of other application scenarios that may the situation in which the overheadline is not precisely posi advance the desired electrical mobility essentially enabled tioned in the middle of the lane or in a narrow corridor above with a trolleybus (e.g., in inner-city areas). 50 the vehicle or for the situation in which the overhead line The current collectors may be featured as U-shaped col begins or ends while the vehicle is traveling. lector shoes with swivel action around a vertical and a hori What all of the systems of propulsion described above have Zontal axis and located at a tip of each of the two pole current in common is that it is assumed that the position of the collectors. The collector shoes are pressed via the poles collector poles may be captured in relation to the vehicle and against the overheadlines via a vertically acting upward force 55 the overhead contact line and that this may be transformed so that electrical contact is continuous during the connection into movement control without having provided Suggestions phase.