Collector Definition and 69 Threads

Electric current collectors are used by trolleybuses, trams, electric locomotives or EMUs to carry electrical power from overhead lines or electrical third rails to the electrical equipment of the vehicles. Those for overhead wires are roof-mounted devices, those for third rails are mounted on the bogies. Current collectors are also electric bridging components that collect electrical current generated at the electrodes of electrochemical devices, such as lithium-class battery cells, and connect with external circuits.
Typically, they have one or more spring-loaded arms that press a collector or contact shoe against the rail or overhead wire. As the vehicle moves, the contact shoe slides along the wire or rail to draw the electricity needed to run the vehicle's motor.
The current collector arms are electrically conductive but mounted insulated on the vehicle's roof, side or base. An insulated cable connects the collector with the switch, transformer or motor. The steel rails of the tracks act as the electrical return.
Electric vehicles that collect their current from an overhead line system use different forms of one- or two-arm pantograph collectors, bow collectors or trolley poles. The current collection device presses against the underside of the lowest wire of an overhead line system, which is called a contact wire.
Most overhead supply systems are either DC or single phase AC, using a single wire with return through the grounded running rails. Three phase AC systems use a pair of overhead wires, and paired trolley poles.

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  1. B

    Common collector vs Common drain amplifier

    I was wondering what's the main advantage of choosing one over the other, besides common drain having to suffer body effect. How do we determine if a CC is better or a CD is better to use as a buffer?
  2. L

    BJT common emitter collector to emitter reverse bias confusion

    Iam sorry if it is a very basic question but iam unable to understand this if u take a common emitter configuration of npn transistor the emitter is common to both the input and output terminals and to operate in the active region 1. the emitter to base should be forward biased i.e n and p...
  3. K

    Common emitter vs. common collector power amplification

    Hello everybody! I was studying stuff about transistor and i got stuck somewhere. In lecture they said that The common emitter is the more likely configuration used to amplify signals because it produces more power than other configurations. But when i tried to understand it clearly if found...
  4. G

    Building a Solar Collector: Linking Theory to Practice

    also, i am unsure about the units...are the above ones ok? as in the website had these units [ KWh/m^2/ hello everyone! i know that solar collectors are commonplace in many parts of the world (tho not mine) so this might sound a bit stupid... anyway, i wanted to make (actually build) a solar...
  5. B

    Engineering Solve Open Collector Circuit Problem | R1, R2, R3 Values

    HI, I have his problem on open collector and I don't know how to deal with it: In the figure attached, the first transistor is driven by an output of the MCU, with the goal of turning the LEDs(several in parallel) on and off. Compute the values of R1,R2,R3 required to make the circuit work...
  6. turbo

    New solar collector from 12-year-old

    According to this article, a 12 year old kid has designed a solar cell constructed from nanotubes that greatly exceeds the efficiency of photovoltaic panels. http://www.goodcleantech.com/2008/09/a_12yearolds_solar_cell_may_re.php
  7. O

    Solar collector design and simulation considerations

    http://a11news.com/231/raw-solar/ First, isn't this dangerous for birds? Secondly, if someone doesn't aim it just right, could it burn down a nearby house/barn?
  8. J

    What is the efficiency of a solar collector made of an aluminium canister?

    Hi there, As part of my A2 physics coursework investigation, i want to calculate the efficiency of an aluminium canister modeled as a solar collector. The basic set up of the apparatus is: - Lamp (40W light bulb) at a fixed distance of 5cm away from the aluminium canister (which is...
  9. S

    Understanding NPN Transistors: Emitter, Collector, and Capacitor

    Hey guys, was just wondering if you could clear up a fact about NPN transistors. 1. Is this emmiter current slightly larger than the collector current? 2. The reason why the emmiter current is slightly larger is because the emitter current is a combination of the collector current plus the...
  10. lisab

    Bizarre Aptitude Test Results: Magician & Garbage Collector?

    I just talked to my sister-in-law in Texas. Her son took an aptitude test recently...his top two jobs (I swear, I couldn't make this up!): 1. Magician, 2. Feng shui designer. I told this to my daughter, for a laugh. She said, "OMG (she is 15, after all)! I think we took the same test...
  11. cepheid

    Open Collector Vs. Totem Pole Outputs

    Hi, I have an electrically-actuated shutter that can be either in the "closed" or "open" positions. I want to use optoelectronic switches (slotted switches with an infrared LED source and photodiode detector) at either end that will detect whether the shutter is closed or open. The opto...
  12. R

    Doppler effect sensitive parabolic sound collector

    Using a highly sensitive parabolic sound collector, Tom records the frequency of a tuning fork as it drops into the Grand Canyon. He drops the vibrating tuning fork from rest at t=0. He records a frequency of 1887.0 Hz at t=7.880 s. What is the natural frequency of the tuning fork? Use...
  13. D

    How Large Should Your Solar Panel Be to Power Your Home?

    Homework Statement Your house requires 2000 kWh of energy per month and you want to power it using sunlight which has an average daylight intensity of 1 kW/m2. Assuming that sunlight is available 8 hours per day, 25 days per month (only 5 – 6 cloudy days per months!) and that you have a way...
  14. D

    Project to detect open collector/ high impedance signals

    I am trying to come up with a way to monitor a device that alarms. The signal is open collector: high impedance when not alarm. I would also like to be able to connect this to a computer and monitor and log the alarms when they happen. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
  15. N

    Solar energy collector formula

    I'm stuck on a formula I'm using to design a solar water heater at uni (and no, I'm not a physics student, otherwise I'd probably be kicking myself its such a stupid question) and I understand the theory behind it, I just can't work out what the Qs stands for. ^T=Qs / mC where ^T= change...
  16. S

    Sunlight Collector: Aligning for Optimal Power

    Does anyone have any suggestions of how to make a device follow the sun acrossed the sky? It will be a solar panel mounted on a satellite dish acting as a large sunlight collector, but it needs to be aligned with the sun for optimal power. Thanks for any input.
  17. E

    Base collector voltage problem

    Please justify this phenomenon: In an active mode for a transistor, ideally it is assumed that collector current is independent of the base collector reverse bias, whereas, the collector is slightly dependent on the base collector voltage. Thanks ~Eternallove
  18. A

    Collector Current Explained: What is it & How to Calculate

    Could someone explain in layman's terms what collector current is? How do you calculate it?
  19. C

    Calculating Emitter, Base and Collector Currents in an NPN Transistor

    The emitter current in a certian npn transitor is 8 mA. If .8% of the minority carrier injected into the base recombing with the holes, find the base current , collector current and the exact value of alpha i am not sure how to get this started thanks joe
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