Vehicle speed control apparatus and method
First Claim
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1. In apparatus for controlling the speed of a vehicle having a propulsion motor and moving along a track providing to the vehicle an input speed command having first and second information components, the combination of:
- means responsive to the actual speed of the vehicle along said track;
first means responsive to the first information component to provide a first speed command;
second means responsive to the second information component to provide a second speed command;
means including a dynamic serial link for providing the first speed command to the second means and for providing the second speed command to the first means;
said first means establishing a predetermined relationship between the first speed command and the second speed command to provide a first output signal to control the energization of the propulsion motor when said predetermined relationship is present between the first and second speed commands; and
said second means establishing a predetermined relationship between the second speed command and the first speed commond to provide a second output signal to control the energization of the propulsion motor when said predetermined relationship is present between the second and first speed commands.
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Abstract
A passenger vehicle speed control apparatus operative with a track providing an input speed command having ONE and ZERO information components. Two programmed microprocessors operate through dynamic serial link apparatus for comparing a speed command signal from each information component and for comparing a speed error signal from each information component to provide a vital enablement of the vehicle propulsion motor apparatus.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. In apparatus for controlling the speed of a vehicle having a propulsion motor and moving along a track providing to the vehicle an input speed command having first and second information components, the combination of:
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means responsive to the actual speed of the vehicle along said track; first means responsive to the first information component to provide a first speed command; second means responsive to the second information component to provide a second speed command; means including a dynamic serial link for providing the first speed command to the second means and for providing the second speed command to the first means; said first means establishing a predetermined relationship between the first speed command and the second speed command to provide a first output signal to control the energization of the propulsion motor when said predetermined relationship is present between the first and second speed commands; and said second means establishing a predetermined relationship between the second speed command and the first speed commond to provide a second output signal to control the energization of the propulsion motor when said predetermined relationship is present between the second and first speed commands. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. The method of controlling a vehicle having a propulsion motor and moving along a track providing to the vehicle a desired speed signal having first and second information components, including the steps of:
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determining the actual speed of the vehicle; providing a first speed command in a first information component channel; providing a second speed command in a second information component channel; sending the first speed command dynamically to the second information component channel for comparison with the second speed command to provide a first output signal when a predetermined relationship is established between the first and second speed commands; sending the second speed command dynamically to the first information channel for comparison with the first speed command to provide a second output signal when said predetermined relationship is established between the first and second speed commands; and controlling the operation of said propulsion motor in response to the first and second output signals. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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Specification