Patent ID: 6230861
Filing Date: 2001-05-15
Classification: B60M

Abstract:
A buried power supply system for an electric vehicle comprising at least one energy collector shoe disposed along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the system comprising:a trough provided in a road surface on which the electric vehicle travels;a plurality of successive conductive segments forming a conductive track for the energy collector shoe of the vehicle, wherein the segments are electrically isolated from one another and are disposed to cover the trough so that the segments are flush with the trough;a power supply link disposed in the trough;a power return link disposed in the trough;a plurality of switching units corresponding to the segments, each of the switching units selectively connecting a corresponding one of the segments to the power return link or the power supply link in accordance with a connection command signal, wherein said switching units are disposed under the corresponding segments in the trough; anda plurality of signal pick-up units corresponding to the segments and the switching units, each of the signal pick-up units receiving a connection control signal transmitted by the vehicle whose energy collector shoe is in contact with a corresponding one of the segments and generating the connection command signal for controlling a corresponding one of the switching units in accordance with the connection control signal, wherein each of the signal pick-up units is interconnected to adjacent ones of signal the pick-up units so that when the connection control signal from the vehicle is received by one of the signal pick-up units, the power supply link is connected to the corresponding segment and to those segments which are immediately adjacent to the corresponding segment.