Power supply system for an overhead contact line

• US 20170088015A1
• Filed: 09/29/2016
• Published: 03/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alstom Transport Technologies
• Original Assignee: Alstom Transport Technologies
• Inventors: Authie, Pierre, Flamanc, Emmanuel
• Granted Patent: US 10,086,719 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 1/18 Section insulators; Section switches
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 1/22 Separate lines from which power lines are suspended, e.g. catenary lines, supporting-lines under tension
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 3/00 Feeding power to supply lines in contact with collector on vehicles; Arrangements for consuming regenerative power controlling rail vehicles by varying voltage of power fed to vehicle B60L; power distribution in general H02J
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/54 Testing for continuity
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/58 Testing of lines, cables or conductors testing of electric windings G01R31/72
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 11/01 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 9/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 7/00 Overhead installations of electric lines or cables installations of bus-bars H02G5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/54 Systems for transmission via power distribution lines

Abstract

This system for powering an overhead contact line, which includes a contact wire consisting of a plurality of conductive sections separated by insulating sections, includes power supply sub-stations, each conductive section being connected, on the side of an upstream end, to an upstream sub-station via an upstream controlled switch and, on the side of a downstream end, to a downstream sub-station via a downstream controlled switch. This system includes a detection device, associated with a conductive section, to be monitored, which includes a means for transmitting a characteristic signal to an upstream or downstream end of said conductive section and a receiving means able to receive the characteristic signal at the other end, the receiving means modifying the value of a state signal applied to a control circuit for actuating the opening of the downstream switch and/or of the upstream switch.

Claims

1. A system for powering an overhead contact line, said overhead contact line including at least one contact wire consisting of a plurality of conductive sections separated from each other by insulating sections, the system including a plurality of sub-stations for supplying electric power, each conductive section being connected, on the side of an upstream end of said conductive section, to an upstream sub-station via an upstream controlled switch and, on the side of a downstream end of said conductive section, to a downstream sub-station via a downstream controlled switch, each controlled switch being actuated by a corresponding control circuit,

wherein the system further includes a detection device associated with a conductive section to be monitored and including a transmission means to apply a characteristic signal to an end from among the upstream end and the downstream end of said conductive section and a receiving means to receive the characteristic signal at the other end of said conductive section, the receiving means modifying the value of a state signal and applying it at least to a circuit for controlling the actuation of the opening of the downstream switch and/or of the upstream switch,

wherein the detection device of an associated conductive section includes an upstream transceiver module coupled with the upstream end and a downstream transceiver module coupled with the downstream end of said conductive section,

the upstream transceiver module including an upstream transmission means to apply a characteristic signal to the upstream end,

the downstream transceiver module including a downstream transmission means to apply a characteristic signal to the downstream end,

the upstream transceiver module including an upstream receiving means to receive the characteristic signal of the downstream transceiver module and to modify the value of an upstream state signal applied to an upstream control circuit for actuating the opening of the upstream switch,

the downstream transceiver module including a downstream receiving means to receive the characteristic signal of the upstream transceiver module and to modify the value of a downstream state signal applied to a downstream control circuit for actuating the opening of the downstream switch,

and wherein the system further includes a controlled switch for circumventing a sub-station allowing, in the closed state, the connection together of two successive conductive sections, the state signal modified by at least one of the downstream or upstream transceiver modules associated with a first conductive section being transmitted to a control circuit of a switch for connecting the second conductive section to another sub-station.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the upstream transceiver module applies the state signal to the downstream control circuit to which it is connected through an adapted control link, and in that the downstream transceiver applies the state to the upstream control circuit to which it is connected through the adapted control link.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said characteristic signal applied by said transceiver modules is a current, the downstream and upstream transceiver modules being coupled with the conductive section to be monitored via a capacitor so as to superpose said characteristic signal to the power supply current of said conductive section.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein each characteristic signal is frequency-modulated at a characteristic frequency.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the receiving means of each of the downstream and upstream transceiver modules includes a band pass filter centered on the characteristic frequency.

6. The system according to claim 1, including a control central unit able to collect the state signals applied to the different upstream and downstream control circuits of the power supply system in order to keep updated a representation of said system.

7. The system according to claim 1, for an overhead contact line including first and second contact wires, two conductive sections respectively belonging to the first and second wires and positioned parallel to each other, being connected in parallel between an output terminal of an upstream sub-station and an output terminal of a downstream sub-station, the system including a detection device for each of said two conductive sections.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein an upstream, respectively downstream end of each of said two conductive sections, are connected to a common upstream controlled switch, respectively to a common downstream controlled switch.