Patent ID: 11881653
Assignee: CATERPILLAR INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  B | IPC B  H

Claim 14:
15. A method, comprising:
providing pressurized air from a compressor within a work machine to a conductor rod on the work machine, the work machine to be energized by electrical power, the conductor rod to provide the electrical power from outside the work machine; and
causing a piston, slidingly engaged within a pneumatic cylinder of the conductor rod, to extend along a longitudinal axis from the pneumatic cylinder in an open-loop mode, the pneumatic cylinder including cylinder tubes concentrically positioned around a central passageway, the piston including piston tubes concentrically positioned around the central passageway and radially offset from the cylinder tubes, the causing the piston to extend comprising:
feeding the pressurized air into an annular retraction cavity of the conductor rod, the annular retraction cavity being positioned between an inner wall of the pneumatic cylinder and an outer wall of the piston, and
pneumatically coupling an annular cylinder cavity to the pressurized air, the annular cylinder cavity being positioned near a base of the conductive rod proximate the work machine and being bounded in the pneumatic cylinder by successive cylinder tubes and a piston tube slidably mated between the successive cylinder tubes, wherein an extension area around a first radial surface in the annular cylinder cavity is larger than a retraction area around a second radial surface in the annular retraction cavity.