US 4,250,982 AGranted

Section insulator for catenary systems

AssigneeHarvey Hubbell Incorporated

InventorJohn W. Senften

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Abstract

A section insulator for insulating adjacent sections of contact wire of overhead power supply systems for electrified railway lines and the like is disclosed. The section insulator is interposed between separated ends of adjacent sections of contact wire. Rigid strain plates are secured to the opposed ends of the sections and a strain insulator is secured to the strain plates above the level of the contact wires to maintain the required tension in the contact wires. Spaced runners supported by the strain insulator extend between the contact wires, there being air gaps between the ends of the contact wires and the runners. A pair of diverging glider arms is secured to each contact wire section adjacent its end. The glider arms extend toward each other beyond the ends of the contact wire sections and overlap the ends of the runners, there being transverse air gaps between the diverging glider arms and the runners. The section insulator thus provides a smooth underrun from one section of contact wire around the diverging glider arms to the runners, then to the other pair of diverging glider arms and to the other section of contact wire. The insulator is supported by means of members extending vertically upwardly from the strain plates to a messenger wire. The section insulators disclosed herein are particularly adapted for use in compound catenary systems and may be adapted for use as phase breaks for alternating current systems.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A section insulator assembly for mounting between spaced aligned ends of two contact wires of an overhead power supply of an electrified transportation system, there being a supporting cable above said contact wires, said assembly comprising main strain insulator means extending between the ends of the two contact wires at a level above the level of the contact wires, rigid means secured to each contact wire and to the adjacent ends of the strain insulator means, the strain insulator means being secured to the rigid means at a level above the level of the contact wires, thereby to maintain tension in the contact wires, a runner disposed between the ends of the contact wires and supported by and disposed at a level lower than said strain insulator means, a tension member secured to each of said rigid means at a level above the level at which the strain insulator means is secured to said rigid means, said tension member extending from said rigid means in a direction opposite from said strain insulator means, whereby said tension members resist the turning moments imposed on the rigid means by reason of the offset between the axes of the contact wire and the strain insulator means, means extending downwardly from said supporting cable adjacent each end of said strain insulator means and secured to and supporting said rigid means, and a pair of glider arms mounted at the ends of the contact wires, the glider arms in each pair extending laterally outwardly from the adjacent contact wire and extending longitudinally to overlap the ends of said runner, there being lateral air gaps between said runner and said glider arms.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.