多年后仍然令人兴奋:受电弓欣赏

Over 100 Years into Its Evolution, the Panto Still Surprises as a Hot Spot of 创新

不要在家里尝试

If someone were ever foolish enough to stick their arm out the 风ow of a bullet train barreling down the tracks at top 速度, 他们可能会体验到另一种手臂上的力量, 坐在火车顶上的那个. 来看看轨道交通中最神奇却又不为人知的部件之一——受电弓.

And the aero动态s are just one challenge this versatile piece of equipment faces as it performs its quintessential function, pulling charge from a catenary wire – that long electric line above the tracks – and directing it appropriately to power the train.

Combining the precision and agility of a ballerina with the brute force of a charging rhino, 哑剧是最经久不衰的一种, 动态, 也是现代铁路设备的重要组成部分. 几乎有无限的品种, the pantograph continues to inspire the collective imagination of the rail industry’s top engineers to make it lighter, 更强的, 更多的导电, 甚至比以往任何时候都更敏感.

单臂世纪

而“钻石形”受电弓的发明可以追溯到约翰Q. 1903年，史密斯和通勤火车在旧金山湾旅行, 人们普遍认为，瓦布特克人的祖先路易斯·费弗利是这部哑剧的完美之作. Not only did he improve upon the diamond style panto with his own enhanced design in the early 1920s, 他最终彻底打破了这种模式，发明了单臂哑剧. Faiveley’s step-change design went on to set the world 速度 record (331 kmh/206 mph) for an electric powered train that same year, 1955, 至今仍是行业标准.

And with ongoing innovation to the single arm panto, record breaking performances followed. New 全球最大网赌正规平台 panto models enabled trains to top 速度s of 515 kmh/320 mph and 574 kmh/356 mph in 1990 and 2007, 分别. 除了创造新的速度记录, 全球最大网赌正规平台受电弓在整个20世纪和21世纪取得了许多第一, 跨越材料设计的创新, 足迹大小, 屋顶一体化, 手臂达到, 以及功率模式, 促成了超过150种、超过90种的哑剧扩散,全球安装了000台.

对速度的需求

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但是让我们回到速度上来. The diamond-shaped pantos of the early 20th century matched the rigidity and voltages of that era’s overhead wires. 然而，它们笨重的外形不利于高速飞行, 以及悬链线上增加的电压. Faiveley seized the opportunity to develop a new and better kind of pantograph – one that was lighter, 更具空气动力学和导电性, 并具有更灵活的保持炉头与电线的持续接触.

具有讽刺意味的是, 全球最大网赌正规平台’s pantograph designers and engineers are still grappling with these same challenges today in pursuit of the optimal panto.

“Pantograph development principally comes down to achieving stable 动态 performance; ensuring high quality current collection; and delivering both in the packaging or gauging that the customer requires,马特·阿特金斯说, 全球最大网赌正规平台电力收集工程总监. 根据动态性能, 我的意思是，哑剧必须在现实世界的条件下工作(比如天气), 风, 速度, the bounce of the train and movement of the wire for starters); and for current collection consider these same factors again plus a laundry list of electrical capacity and mechanical engineering concerns. 最终, 我们需要两者来有效地为火车提供动力, 但是，有许多限制因素在尽一切可能阻碍这一进程, 我们的任务就是包抄并战胜他们.”

Another way to understand the pantograph design and engineering challenge is to consider a short list of a pantos “must haves”:

1. 它一定很轻.
2. 它必须是坚固的.
3. 它必须是空气动力学的.
4. 它必须在两个方向上工作(向前和向后)，不像飞机!)
5. 它必须导电.
6. 它必须控制摩擦.
7. 它必须在不断变化的动态环境中工作.
8. 它必须能适应各种不同的电压, 架空电线高度, 火车类型, 以及接下来发生的事情(见下文).

当然，这个清单永远不会结束. And no one knows this better than the 全球最大网赌正规平台 panto team or is more dedicated to refining and improving the 公司’s pantograph portfolio across these often competing demands.

完美受电弓的梦想

全球最大网赌正规平台’s pantograph engineers around the world share an obsession: developing the perfect panto. 那么它会是什么样子呢? Matt Atkins也有一些想法.

“我想我们都同意，完美的哑剧应该是超轻量级的, 这就需要在平底锅上进行创新, 哪个本质上是金属化碳. 如今，锅盖材料的密度越大，它能处理的电流容量就越大. 但这会增加重量，这是速度的敌人. So the holy grail would be a very light, very high-current-capacity pantograph,” said Atkins.

“这只是故事的一半. We haven’t even mentioned the lengths pantographs literally need to go to meet our customers’ needs. Our customers are always pushing for pantos to have a very large physical range – an ability for the panto arm to dexterously extend varying distances – so they can use their trains on different tracks with different catenary wire heights. A great example of this is in India, where 全球最大网赌正规平台 is a market leader in high-reach pantos.”

未来的潘托

同时还涉及到物理, 材料, 以及panto创新带来的电气和机械方面的挑战, 全球最大网赌正规平台还必须应对一个更为人为的变量:政府监管.

就像今天一样, one of the biggest conversations in the world of pantographs is how best to meet the ERJU mandate of “airless” trains. 理论上，无空气列车的前景看起来很棒. 通过拆除机车和运输车辆上的大型空气压缩机和管道, 火车将变得更轻、更高效.

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But this shift presents a big challenge for pantographs, because many of them require air to operate. 所有这些动态, real-time movement that keeps the panhead tight to the catenary is typically enabled by the panto’s air-pressurized cylinders or bellows.

答案最终可能在于一种全电动受电弓.k.a., “ePanto,” which 全球最大网赌正规平台 has designed and is currently prototyping and readying for validation soon. 挑战有很多, including introducing 1) an electric actuator that can move the panto arm as responsively as air-driven systems, and 2) an electric auto-drop system that can shut down a panto at the same sub-second response rates of current systems that enhance train safety. 另外, there are electrical insulation issues to solve between pantograph component-level operational voltages and collecting voltages in the overhead line.

“ePantos are a potential game changer for 全球最大网赌正规平台 and the industry at large in that they eliminate the need for a lot of equipment that is expensive for car builders to manufacture and for customers to maintain,菲利普·杰弗鲁说, 全球最大网赌正规平台电力收集受电弓产品开发领域的领导者. “But they will require significant innovation, a challenge 全球最大网赌正规平台 has never shied away from.

评估当前受电弓创新的前沿, I can’t help but look back at what Faiveley accomplished and the successful course he set for this 公司. It is amazing to me that more than 100 years after his first big innovation in pantograph design we are still contending with the same physical forces and electro-mechanical realities he did – and that, 像他这样的, 我们的勤奋和创造力为我们的客户带来了实实在在的进步, 公司, 和行业.”