Managing wheel slip in a locomotive
First Claim
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1. A locomotive, comprising:
- a plurality of series connected DC traction motors, each of the plurality of series connected DC traction motors being independently coupled to and driving at least one wheel;
a plurality of sensors operable to sense an operating characteristic, wherein each of the sensors corresponds to a series connected DC traction motor; and
a controller operable to (a) determine, based on the sensed operating characteristic, that at least one wheel corresponding to a first series connected DC traction motor is experiencing wheel slippage and (b) in response thereto incrementally reduce power supplied to the first series connected DC traction motor for a selected period of time while continuing to provide power in excess of the reduced power to at least one other of the plurality of series connected DC traction motors, wherein the reduced power continues to drive the at least one wheel experiencing wheel slippage, wherein the power is supplied to the first traction motor in a series of pulses, wherein at least one of the amplitude and pulse width of the pulses is incrementally reduced, and wherein, after each incremental power reduction, the reduced power is maintained for a predetermined time interval to determine whether wheel slippage has been reduced to a predetermined acceptable level as a result of the respective incremental power reduction.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to the termination of the occurrence of wheel slip/skid and prediction and prevention of the onset of wheel slip/skid in a locomotive. In one configuration, a lookup table of adhesion factors is used to predict the occurrence of wheel slip/skid.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A locomotive, comprising:
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a plurality of series connected DC traction motors, each of the plurality of series connected DC traction motors being independently coupled to and driving at least one wheel; a plurality of sensors operable to sense an operating characteristic, wherein each of the sensors corresponds to a series connected DC traction motor; and a controller operable to (a) determine, based on the sensed operating characteristic, that at least one wheel corresponding to a first series connected DC traction motor is experiencing wheel slippage and (b) in response thereto incrementally reduce power supplied to the first series connected DC traction motor for a selected period of time while continuing to provide power in excess of the reduced power to at least one other of the plurality of series connected DC traction motors, wherein the reduced power continues to drive the at least one wheel experiencing wheel slippage, wherein the power is supplied to the first traction motor in a series of pulses, wherein at least one of the amplitude and pulse width of the pulses is incrementally reduced, and wherein, after each incremental power reduction, the reduced power is maintained for a predetermined time interval to determine whether wheel slippage has been reduced to a predetermined acceptable level as a result of the respective incremental power reduction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification