A vehicle receives electrical power from a system comprising a first track 210 including a first conducting portion having a first end and carrying a current with a first phase configuration, a second track 220 including a second conducting portion having a second end, proximate the first end, and carrying a current with a second phase configuration, and a connector 205 between the conducting portions. A trolley (Figure 3A) moves sequentially along the first and second tracks and comprises a contact 15 in electrical communication with the conducive portions of each track. When it engages the connector, the contact is conditioned to receive current having the second phase configuration before it engages the second conducting portion. Each conducting portion comprises a plurality of electrical conductors. A switch device is also disclosed having an actuator that moves track portions relative to each other to form a continuous path. The connectors may be formed from an electrically non-conductive material. The conducting portions may each comprise first, second and third conductors (202-204, Figure 12), each engaged by first, second and third contacts on the trolley. Individual connectors may be positioned between phase-mismatched conductors of the first and second tracks.
Overhead power grid for mobile mining machines
2016-12-14
Patent
Electronic Resource
English