Method and apparatus for limiting in-train forces of a railroad train
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for controlling a railway system, comprising:
- a first element configured to determine slack between segments of the railway system as the railway system travels along a track the segments including one or more powered units or non-powered units, the slack determined from a comparison between a maximum natural acceleration and a minimum natural acceleration of one or more of the non-powered units of the railway system and with a common acceleration of the railway system, the common acceleration of the railway system determined from acceleration of a lead powered unit of the one or more powered units in the railway system; and
a second element configured to control application of one or more of tractive effort or braking effort based on the slack that is determined such that actual coupler forces that actually occur between the segments of the railway system during travel of the railway system along the track are within designated limits.
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Abstract
An apparatus for operating a railway system, the railway system comprising a lead vehicle consist, a non-lead vehicle consist and railcars, the apparatus including a first element for determining a slack condition of railway system segments, wherein the segments are delineated by nodes, and a control element configured to control an application of tractive effort or braking effort of the lead vehicle consist or the non-lead vehicle consist.
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Citations
76 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling a railway system, comprising:
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a first element configured to determine slack between segments of the railway system as the railway system travels along a track the segments including one or more powered units or non-powered units, the slack determined from a comparison between a maximum natural acceleration and a minimum natural acceleration of one or more of the non-powered units of the railway system and with a common acceleration of the railway system, the common acceleration of the railway system determined from acceleration of a lead powered unit of the one or more powered units in the railway system; and a second element configured to control application of one or more of tractive effort or braking effort based on the slack that is determined such that actual coupler forces that actually occur between the segments of the railway system during travel of the railway system along the track are within designated limits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. An apparatus for controlling a railway system, comprising:
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a first element configured to determine a slack condition between segments of the railway system, each of the segments including one or more powered units or non-powered units, the first element configured to determine the slack condition from a comparison between a maximum natural acceleration and a minimum natural acceleration of one or more of the segments with acceleration of a lead powered unit of the one or more powered units; a second element configured to control movement of the railway system based on the slack condition based on the slack condition such that actual coupler forces that actually occur between the segments of the railway system remain within designated limits; and a third element configured to control application and a rate of change of one or more of tractive effort or a rate of change of tractive effort provided by one or more of the powered units of the railway system based on the slack condition, the third element configured to control the application and the rate of change of the one or more of the tractive effort or the rate of change of tractive effort in order to maintain the actual coupler forces within limits. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76)
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Specification