A.A.R. compliant electronic braking system
First Claim
1. A system for reliably communicating a brake command from a master controller on a locomotive to brake equipment on each rail vehicle of a train, said system comprising:
- (a) a means for detecting whether said brake command is being successfully communicated over a communications channel from said master controller to said brake equipment on said rail vehicles, said means for detecting using at least one of the following techniques to determine whether communication has failed;
(I) a preset number of successful communications have failed to occur over said communications channel within a prespecified time period;
(II) communication over said communications channel fails to fall within preset tolerances; and
(III) said brake equipment on at least one of said rail vehicles disruptively transmitting on and thus preventing valid communications over said communications channel;
(b) a means, independent of said communications channel, for communicating said brake command from said locomotive to said rail vehicles when said means for detecting determines that communication over said communications channel has failed;
(c) a means, disposed on each said rail vehicle, for receiving said brake command conveyed from said locomotive via said means for communicating; and
(d) a means, disposed on each said rail vehicle, for acting upon said brake command conveyed from said means for receiving so as to enable said brake equipment on said rail vehicle to execute said brake command as if said brake command were communicated to said brake equipment over said communications channel.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system reliably communicates brake commands from a master controller on a lead locomotive to the brake equipment on each rail vehicle of a freight train. The system includes a mechanism for detecting whether the brake commands are being successfully communicated over a communications channel that is normally used to convey such commands from the master controller to the brake equipment on each rail vehicle. The system also includes on each rail vehicle a mechanism for communicating the brake commands that is independent of the communications channel. The mechanism for communicating conveys the brake commands from the lead locomotive to the rail vehicles only when the mechanism for detecting determines that communication over the communications channel has failed. The system further includes on each rail vehicle a mechanism for receiving the brake commands from the lead locomotive via the mechanism for communicating. The system additionally includes on each rail vehicle a mechanism for acting upon the brake commands received from the mechanism for receiving so that the brake equipment can execute the brake commands as if they were conveyed to the brake equipment over the communications channel.
83 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for reliably communicating a brake command from a master controller on a locomotive to brake equipment on each rail vehicle of a train, said system comprising:
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(a) a means for detecting whether said brake command is being successfully communicated over a communications channel from said master controller to said brake equipment on said rail vehicles, said means for detecting using at least one of the following techniques to determine whether communication has failed;
(I) a preset number of successful communications have failed to occur over said communications channel within a prespecified time period;
(II) communication over said communications channel fails to fall within preset tolerances; and
(III) said brake equipment on at least one of said rail vehicles disruptively transmitting on and thus preventing valid communications over said communications channel;
(b) a means, independent of said communications channel, for communicating said brake command from said locomotive to said rail vehicles when said means for detecting determines that communication over said communications channel has failed;
(c) a means, disposed on each said rail vehicle, for receiving said brake command conveyed from said locomotive via said means for communicating; and
(d) a means, disposed on each said rail vehicle, for acting upon said brake command conveyed from said means for receiving so as to enable said brake equipment on said rail vehicle to execute said brake command as if said brake command were communicated to said brake equipment over said communications channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
(a) said means for detecting is incorporated into said master controller wherein said means for detecting monitors communication over said communications channel to determine whether said brake command is successfully communicated from said master controller to said brake equipment on said rail vehicles; and
(b) said means for detecting is a device independent of said master controller through which to monitor communication over said communications channel to determine whether said brake command is successfully communicated from said master controller to said brake equipment on said rail vehicles.
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3. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 2 wherein:
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(a) said means for communicating includes a pneumatic trainline through which to communicate said brake command as a pneumatic signal from said master controller to said rail vehicles; and
(b) said means for receiving includes a transducer device through which to convert said pneumatic signal received from said pneumatic trainline to an electrical signal useable by said means for acting.
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4. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 3 wherein said brake equipment on each said rail vehicle includes a car control unit as said means for acting so that said car control unit receives said electrical signal from said transducer device thereby enabling said brake equipment to execute said electrical signal in a manner that said brake equipment would have executed said brake command had said brake command been communicated over said communications channel.
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5. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 3 wherein:
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(a) said brake equipment on each said rail vehicle includes a car control unit to which said brake command is directed over said communications channel and which enables said brake equipment to execute said brake command in absence of failure of said communication over said communications channel; and
(b) said means for acting includes a microprocessor to which said transducer device conveys said electrical signal and which enables said brake equipment to execute said brake command carried by said electrical signal upon failure of said communication over said communications channel.
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6. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 3 wherein said pneumatic signal may embody a command requiring any one of a service brake application, an emergency brake application and any other brake application recognizable by said brake equipment on said rail vehicles.
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7. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 5 wherein said microprocessor is programmed to execute, in response to said electrical signal received from said transducer device, any one of a service brake application, an emergency brake application and any degree of brake application between a brake release and said emergency brake application.
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8. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 2 wherein:
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(a) said means for communicating includes a radio frequency channel through which to communicate said brake command as a radio signal from a transmitter controlled by said master controller; and
(b) said means for receiving includes a receiver through which to convert said radio signal received from said transmitter to an electrical signal useable by said means for acting.
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9. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 8 wherein said brake equipment on each said rail vehicle includes a car control unit as said means for acting so that said car control unit receives said electrical signal from said receiver thereby enabling said brake equipment to execute said electrical signal in a manner that said brake equipment would have executed said brake command had said brake command been communicated over said communications channel.
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10. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 8 wherein:
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(a) said brake equipment on each said rail vehicle includes a car control unit to which said brake command is directed over said communications channel and which enables said brake equipment to execute said brake command in absence of failure of said communication over said communications channel; and
(b) said means for acting includes a microprocessor to which said receiver conveys said electrical signal and which enables said brake equipment to execute said brake command carried by said electrical signal upon failure of said communication over said communications channel.
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11. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 8 wherein said radio signal may embody a command requiring any one of a service brake application, an emergency brake application and any other brake application recognizable by said brake equipment on said rail vehicles.
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12. The system for reliably communicating said brake command as recited in claim 10 wherein said microprocessor is programmed to execute, in response to said electrical signal received from said receiver, any one of a service brake application, an emergency brake application and any degree of brake application between a brake release and said emergency brake application.
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13. A network control system for preventing shutdown of communication over a communications network of a train, said communications network including communication between a master controller on a locomotive and a car control unit on each rail vehicle of said train, said network control system comprising:
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(a) a means for sensing, on each said rail vehicle, whether said car control unit is transmitting aberrantly over said communications network so as to cause disruption of said communication over said communications network of said train; and
(b) a means, on each said rail vehicle, for cutting off said car control unit from said communications network when said means for sensing determines that said car control unit has caused said disruption of said communication over said communications network. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
(a) said means for sensing is incorporated into said car control unit; and
(b) said means for sensing is a device independent of said car control unit.
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15. The network control system as recited in claim 14 wherein said means for sensing determines that said car control unit has caused said disruption if a transmitter of said car control unit has transmitted more than a preset number of communications within a predetermined time period.
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16. The network control system as recited in claim 15 wherein said means for cutting off includes a switch that deactivates said transmitter when said means for sensing determines that said transmitter has transmitted more than said preset number of communications within said predetermined time period.
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17. The network control system as recited in claim 14 wherein said means for sensing determines that said car control unit has caused said disruption if a transmitter of said car control unit has consumed more than a predetermined amount of power within a prespecified time period.
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18. The network control system as recited in claim 17 wherein said means for cutting off includes a switch that deactivates said transmitter when said means for sensing determines that said transmitter has consumed more than said predetermined amount of power within said prespecified time period.
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19. The network control system as recited in claim 14 wherein said means for sensing is a duty cycle monitoring circuit that monitors a duty cycle of a transmitter of said car control unit.
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20. The network control system as recited in claim 19 wherein said means for cutting off includes a cutoff circuit that deactivates said transmitter when said duty cycle monitoring circuit indicates that said duty cycle of said transmitter has exceeded a prespecified percentage.
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21. The network control system as recited in claim 14 wherein said means for sensing is a power monitoring circuit that monitors how much power is being consumed by a transmitter of said car control unit.
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22. The network control system as recited in claim 21 wherein said means for cutting off includes a power cutout circuit that deactivates said transmitter when said power monitoring circuit indicates that said transmitter has consumed more than a predetermined amount of power within a prespecified time period.
Specification