Vehicle train routing apparatus and method
First Claim
1. In apparatus for determining the route of a train including at least one vehicle moving along a roadway track having a known track plan, with said track including a plurality of stations and including at least one switch having a signal gate operative in response to movement of said train through one of said stations, the combination offirst means responsive to the train'"'"'s being positioned at a predetermined location ahead of said one station and established by the movement time of said train to said one station,second means storing available routes determined in accordance with said track plan for said train to move to said one station from a second station positioned ahead of said one station,third means coupled with said first means and coupled with said second means for selecting one of the available routes to said one station and for clearing said one route including the signal gate such that the movement of the train to said one station along said one route from said second station is permitted by said gate.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The movement route of a vehicle operative with a roadway track having a plurality of stations and control signal gates is selected from a storage table of predetermined available routes in accordance with the known track plan and in relation to each station. When the vehicle arrives at each of the stations, the desired available route is established to the next station in relation to occupied track signal blocks, the known direction of train movement and switch gates cleared to permit vehicle travel to that next station. The available route to the next station is cleared in time so the vehicle will not have to slow down or stop in front of a switch gate. In addition the spacing of vehicle trains is regulated in relation to the plurality of stations.
81 Citations
16 Claims
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1. In apparatus for determining the route of a train including at least one vehicle moving along a roadway track having a known track plan, with said track including a plurality of stations and including at least one switch having a signal gate operative in response to movement of said train through one of said stations, the combination of
first means responsive to the train'"'"'s being positioned at a predetermined location ahead of said one station and established by the movement time of said train to said one station, second means storing available routes determined in accordance with said track plan for said train to move to said one station from a second station positioned ahead of said one station, third means coupled with said first means and coupled with said second means for selecting one of the available routes to said one station and for clearing said one route including the signal gate such that the movement of the train to said one station along said one route from said second station is permitted by said gate.
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13. In a method of controlling the movement of a train including at least one vehicle along a track having a known track plan, and which track includes at least two stations and a signal gate, the steps of
determining available routes from a first to a second of said stations in relation to said track plan, responding to the train'"'"'s arriving at a predetermined location ahead of the second station such that a desired time period is available at that location to clear a route to the second station before the train will have to slow down or stop in front of said signal gate when the train is moving at a known maximum permitted speed, selecting one of the available routes to the second station for the train to move to said second station, and clearing said one available route including said signal gate to the second station.
Specification