Browsing by Author "Timm, Anthony Rex"

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    Continuous gauging of electric traction contact wire
    (1975) Timm, Anthony Rex; Besseling, Johann L N; Van Nierop, J H
    In this system the electric traction overhead contact wire wear is continuously measured. A GaAs LED and lens combination produces a collimated beam of light along the pantograph pan. The beam, through which the contact wire slides, is monitored by a vertical array of phototransistors spaced at equal intervals. The number of phototransistors in shadow at any instant is proportional to the contact wire thickness. A fibre-optic data link conveys the encoded information from the pan at high tension to the locomotive at ground potential.