VEHICLE PROGRAM CONTROL SYSTEMS

• US 3,805,056 A
• Filed: 05/08/1972
• Issued: 04/16/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Siemens Plessey Control Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Michael S. Birkin
• Inventors: Birkin, Michael S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Forlenza, Gerald M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Libman, George H.
• Application Number:
  US05/250,996
• Time in Patent Office: 708 Days
• Field of Search: 246/182R,182B,182C,187B,63A,2F 180/79.1,98 318/567 179/1.1C,1.2S
• US Class Current: 246/187.00B
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0092 Memory means reproducing during the running of the vehicle or vehicle train, e.g. smart cards

Abstract

A vehicle control system for a vehicle moving along a trackway. The trackway is divided into a plurality of sequential sections, a program means such as a magnetic tape is carried by the vehicle and contains geographical information relating to the trackway and is arranged to transmit the information to control means to control the vehicle in dependence upon said geographical information. Location identifying means are provided at fixed locations in each of said trackway sections to transmit a signal containing the location identity of that section to the vehicle. Means are also provided on said vehicle to ensure that only geographical information corresponding to the particular location identity is passed to the control means.

Claims

1. Vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle moving along a trackway divided into a plurality of sequential sections comprising, program means carried by the vehicle and containing geographical information relating to the trackway, means for selectively transferring said information from said program means to control means to control the vehicle in dependence upon said geographical information, location identifying means being provided at fixed locations in each of said trackway sections to transmit a distinctive signal containing the location identity of that section to said vehicle, and means provided on said vehicle to ensure that only geographical information corresponding to the particular location identity is passed to the control means, said last-named means including comparator means for comparing the signal from said location identifying means with the location identity of the geographical data derived from said program means, said comparator only allowing the data from the program means to pass to said control means if the two location identities are the same.

2. Vehicle control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said location identifying means comprises a transponder, said apparatus further including an interrogating transmitter on said vehicle for actuating said transponder to transmit information identifying its geographical location to a receiver on said vehicle.

3. Vehicle control apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said program means comprises a tape which carries the geographical information in the form of discrete blocks of data each of which includes a part containing the location identity of the block.

4. Vehicle control apparatus as claimed in claim 3 which further includes means for reading each of said data blocks in turn from said tape and for transferring each to a buffer store, and means for subsequently transferring each said data block to a store associated with said control means only if its location identity corresponds to the actual location identified by the location identifying means.

5. Vehicle control apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said control means includes means responsive to said program means for indicating to the driver the appropriate speed at which the vehicle should be travelling.

6. Vehicle control apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said control means includes means for reducing the speed of the vehicle if the driver fails to take the appropriate action to reduce the speed when the vehicle is travelling faster than the appropriate speed.