Patent Research and CAD

Research

This week our team conducted research on patents of existing designs for the conductor shoe mechanism. We used google scholar to look up these patents and we found numerous designs that are influencing our work. The group decided to include multiple conductor shoes in the mechanism with springs. This will provide a way to overcome imperfections or rail to rail transitions. An image from patent US2013/0213754A1 is shown below that may influence our design.

Figure 1. Multiple conductor shoe with springs. US patent 0213754A1

Further research was done with the power supply. The team decided that we need to provide a and supercapacitor reserve pack so the system can be charged faster. To better understand how the power system is going to be designed, we made an outline shown below in figure 2.

Figure 2. Electrical design sketch. 

Reynaldo made some CAD designs for a rapid prototype of the third rail shown in figure 3 shown below. We are including a safety shield to block anyone from touching the high voltage rail.

Figure 3. Design of small scale track and power rail. 

Problems

We are still working on how to keep the conductor shoe forced onto the rail. Four bar mechanisms with a spring would be the easiest or using a torsional spring to provide downforce on the rail. We are considering some kind of linear actuator or solenoid, but those designs may infer design complications.
Additionally, getting the whole team together at the same time to work on our project has been difficult. Everyone in the team has a different course load and different schedules.