Patent ID: 6374971
Filing Date: 2002-04-23
Classification: B60L

Abstract:
A current pickup device for a self-insulated power line, comprising:a supporting structure fittable to an electric vehicle for co-operating with said power line; magnetic attracting means carried by said supporting structure; and at least one current pickup member carried by said supporting structure and in a predetermined position with respect to said magnetic attracting means; said self-insulated power line comprising a number of conducting elements arranged in a traveling direction of the electric vehicle and electrically separated from one another; said conducting elements being supplied with power successively as said electric vehicle travels along said power line; said self-insulated power line having ferromagnetic reference elements extending along the power line and in a predetermined position with respect to said conducting elements; said magnetic attracting means interacting magnetically with said ferromagnetic reference elements to automatically position said supporting structure in a self-centered position in which field lines generated by said magnetic attracting means at least partly enter said ferromagnetic reference elements along a minimum path; said current pickup member mating with at least one said conducting element in said self-centered position.