Electrical model railway set

• US 6,179,105 B1
• Filed: 05/27/1998
• Issued: 01/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Adolf Haass
• Original Assignee: Adolf Haass
• Inventors: Haass, Adolf
• Primary Examiner(s): Basinger, Sherman
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCarry, Jr., Robert J.
• Application Number:
  US09/085,695
• Time in Patent Office: 979 Days
• Field of Search: 104/DIG.1, 191/22.R, 191/23.R, 191/29.R, 191/23.A
• US Class Current: 191/22.00R
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 19/24 Electric toy railways; Systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 104/01 Toy railroad

Abstract

In an electrical model railway set, increased electromagnetic compatibility is achieved by using AC motors without commutator and slip ring as drive motors for the model vehicles, wherein a simple structure of drive and drive control is attained by performing pulse control of polyphase stator windings of the AC motors of the model vehicles while employing the multi-channel control which is moreover customary in model railway sets.

Claims

1. An electrical model railway set comprising

a current source (5) connected to tracks or to an overhead line (1),

a stationary central station (6) for generating control signals which are capable of being coupled to the tracks or to the overhead line,

a plurality of model vehicles (2, 3) movable on the tracks (1), each drawing electrical current from the tracks or from the overhead line (1) and capable of being driven by electrical torque motors (4), and

control signal receivers (8, 13) located on said model vehicles, for extracting the control signals intended for a model vehicle (2, 3) and for supplying an adjustable electrical drive energy for the respective electrical torque motor, to control the rotary speed thereof,

characterised in that

the electrical torque motor is an AC motor (4) without slip ring or commutator, a stator of which presenting several windings is formed such as to generate a rotary magnetic field, and

said control signal receiver (8, 13) contains a pulse generator unit (13) which applies to the stator windings of the electrical torque motor (4) pulses, the relative phase position of which is adjustable by means of the control signals of said central station (6) supplied to said pulse generator unit (13) in such a way that the rotary speed of the rotary field can be controlled.

2. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the pulses supplied by said pulse generator unit (13) are adjustable with respect to their relative phase position as well as their duration by means of the control signals of said central station (6) which are conveyed to the pulse generator unit.

3. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the control signals emitted by said central station (6) are coupled to the tracks or to the overhead line (1) via a multiplexer and encoder (7), and that said pulse generator unit (13) is fed by a demultiplexer and decoder (8).

4. The electrical model railway set according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that said current source (5) is an AC current source, and that on each respective one of said model vehicles (2, 3) a rectifier circuit (24) for feeding a DC/AC converter (14) controlled by said pulse generator unit (13) and connected to the stator winding of said AC motor (4).

5. The electrical model railway set according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that said current source is a DC current source (5), the voltage of which can be drawn from said tracks or from said overhead line (1) in said model vehicles (2, 3) via sliding contacts and is supplied to a DC/AC converter circuit (14) controlled by said pulse generator unit (13).

6. The electrical model railway set according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that said pulse generator unit (13), in dependence on control signals determining the rotary speed of the rotary magnetic field of the stator winding of said AC motor (4), supplies to a, or the, DC/AC converter circuit (14) a number of pulse sequences corresponding to the number of phases of the stator winding, which are electrical phase-shifted relative to each other in correspondence with the geometrical position of the phase conductors of the stator winding, with the pulse time periods in the pulse sequences being modulated in the respective phase conductor to approximate the respective phase current to a sinusoidal current development in accordance with the time integral over the pulse sequence in relation to the respective direct current mean value.

7. The electrical model railway set according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is a synchronous motor (4).

8. The electrical model railway set according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is an asynchronous motor.

9. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) arranged at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which are surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively flat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

10. The electrical model railway set according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase condustors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energised at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

11. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the stator windings of said AC motor (4) contain axially extending conductor bars (36) in equal distribution at the periphery, of which one group located on one stator side may be connected to a DC potential of one sign and the opposite group may be connected to a DC potential of the opposite sign (37), and diametrically opposed conductor bars are exchangeable with respect to their connection to different potential progressing in the direction of revolution, such that a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) allocated to the stator is synchronously entrained by the magnetic field generated by said energised conductor bars (36) and progressing in the direction of rotation (FIG. 7).

12. The electrical model railway set according to claim 3, characterized in that said current source (5) is an AC current source, and that on each respective one of said model vehicles (2, 3) a rectifier circuit (24) for feeding a DC/AC converter (14) controlled by said pulse generator unit (13) and connected to the stator winding of said AC motor (4).

13. The electrical model railway set according to claim 3, characterized in that said current source is a DC current source (5), the voltage of which can be drawn from said tracks or from said overhead line (1) in said model vehicles (2, 3) via sliding contacts and is supplied to a DC/AC converter circuit (14) controlled by said pulse generator unit (13).

14. The electrical model railway set according to claim 3, characterized in that said pulse generator unit (13), in dependence on control signals determining the rotary speed of the rotary magnetic field of the stator winding of said AC motor (4), supplies to a, or the, DC/AC converter circuit (14) a number of pulse sequences corresponding to the number of phases of the stator winding, which are electrical phase-shifted relative to each other in correspondence with the geometrical position of the phase conductors of the stator winding, with the pulse time periods in the pulse sequences being modulated in the respective phase conductor to approximate the respective phase current to a sinusoidal current development in accordance with the time integral over the pulse sequence in relation to the respective direct current mean value.

15. The electrical model railway set according to claim 4, characterized in that said pulse generator unit (13), in dependence on control signals determining the rotary speed of the rotary magnetic field of the stator winding of said AC motor (4), supplies to a, or the, DC/AC converter circuit (14) a number of pulse sequences corresponiding to the number of phases of the stator winding, which are electrical phase-shifted relative to each other in correspondence with the geometrical position of the phase conductors of the stator winding, with the pulse time periods in the pulse sequences being modulated in the respective phase conductor to approximate the respective phase current to a sinusoidal current development in accordance with the time integral over the pulse sequence in relation to the respective direct current mean value.

16. The electrical model railway set according to claim 5, characterized in that said pulse generator unit (13), in dependence on control signals determining the rotary speed of the rotary magnetic field of the stator winding of said AC motor (4), supplies to a, or the, DC/AC converter circuit (14) a number of pulse sequences corresponding to the number of phases of the stator winding, which are electrical phase-shifted relative to each other in correspondence with the geometrical position of the phase conductors of the stator winding, with the pulse time periods in the pulse sequences being modulated in the respective phase conductor to approximate the respective phase current to a sinusoidal current development in accordance with the time integral over the pulse sequence in relation to the respective direct current mean value.

17. The electrical model railway set according to claim 3, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is a synchronous motor (4).

18. The electrical model railway set according to claim 4, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is a synchronous motor (4).

19. The electrical model railway set according to claim 5, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is a synchronous motor (4).

20. The electrical model railway set according to claim 6, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is a synchronous motor (4).

21. The electrical model railway set according to claim 3, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is an asynchronous motor.

22. The electrical model railway set according to claim 4, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is an asynchronous motor.

23. The electrical model railway set according to claim 5, characterized in that said AC motor of said model vehicles is an asynchronous motor.

24. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) arranged at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which are surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively flat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

25. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 4, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) arranged at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which are surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively flat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

26. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 5, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) arranged at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which are surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively fiat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

27. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 6, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) arranged at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which arc surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively flat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

28. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 7, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) attained at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which are surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively flat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

29. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 8, characterized in that the stator is constituted by two identical stator parts (30a, 30b) arranged at a distance in the axial direction, the poles of which are surrounded by the phase windings, extend in the axial direction, originate from respective stator yoke parts, are arranged in opposition to each other or staggered in the peripheral direction, define a relatively flat cylindrical spacing wherein a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) or an asynchronous machine cage rotor (33) is mounted rotatably on a motor shaft (31) axially extending through said stator parts.

30. The electrical model railway set according to claim 3, characterized in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase conductors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energized at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

31. The electrical model railway set according to claim 4, characterized in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase condustors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energized at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

32. The electrical model railway set according to claim 5, characterized in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase conductors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energized at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

33. The electrical model railway set according to claim 6, characterized in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase conductors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energized at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

34. The electrical model railway set according to claim 7, characterized in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase conductors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energized at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

35. The electrical model railway set according to claim 8, characterized in that the phase conductors of the polyphase stator windings of said AC motor (4) of said model vehicles (2, 3) are concentrated on diametrically opposed peripheral regions of the stator inner periphery, such that with respect to a radial cross-sectional plane the transverse dimension (A) of r periphery respective AC motor is reduced, and that the single phase conductors in accordance with their geometrical radial angular position are energized at a relative phase-shift relative to each other for generation of a substantially homogeneous rotary magnetic field (FIG. 6).

36. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the stator windings of said AC motor (4) contain axially extending conductor bars (36) in equal distribution at the periphery, of which one group located on one stator side may be connected to a DC potential of one sign and the opposite group may be connected to a DC potential of the opposite sign (37), and diametrically opposed conductor bards are exchangeable with respect to their connection to different potential progressing in the direction of revolution, such that a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) allocated to the stator is synchronously entrained by the magnetic field generated by said energized conductor bars (36) and progressing in the direction of rotation (FIG. 7).

37. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 4, characterized in that the stator windings of said AC motor (4) contain axially extending conductor bars (36) in equal distribution at the periphery, of which one group located on one stator side may be connected to a DC potential of one sign and the opposite group may be connected to a DC potential of the opposite sign (37), and diametrically opposed conductor bards are exchangeable with respect to their connection to different potential progressing in the direction of revolution, such that a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) allocated to the stator is synchronously entrained by the magnetic field generated by said energized conductor bars (36) and progressing in the direction of rotation (FIG. 7).

38. The electrical model railway set in accordance with claim 5, characterized in that the stator windings of said AC motor (4) contain axially extending conductor bars (36) in equal distribution at the periphery, of which one group located on one stator side may be connected to a DC potential of one sign and the opposite group may be connected to a DC potential of the opposite sign (37), and diametrically opposed conductor bards are exchangeable with respect to their connection to different potential progressing in the direction of revolution, such that a synchronous machine magnet wheel (18) allocated to the stator is synchronously entrained by the magnetic field generated by said energized conductor bars (36) and progressing in the direction of rotation (FIG. 7).