B61L15/0062

Apparatus for warning of exceeding speed limit in railway vehicles
09718485 · 2017-08-01 · ·

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for warning of exceeding speed limit in railway vehicles, wherein a train speed is estimated after a predetermined time, a remaining time is calculated until a train reaches a speed limit based on the estimated speed, and when the calculated time is smaller than a preset reference value, a warning signal is generated. Thus, an adequate warning can be given to cater to a train operation situation because a TTSLC indicator is used that notifies when an emergency braking will be activated by exceeding a set speed limit value after a certain time lapses, resultantly increasing the train operation frequency and the availability of trains.

FLUORINATED CARBONATES COMPRISING TWO OXYGEN BEARING FUNCTIONAL GROUPS
20170214088 · 2017-07-27 · ·

Fluorinated carbonates comprising two oxygen bearing functional groups, methods for the preparation thereof, and their use as solvent or solvent additive for lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors are disclosed.

Railway Vehicle Operations Monitoring

A solution for monitoring a railway vehicle is provided. A vehicle node and one or more sensor nodes are deployed on the railway vehicle. Each sensor node is configured to acquire data and communicate with the vehicle node only when certain conditions are met. The sensor node(s) and vehicle node can evaluate operating conditions to determine whether an alert should be sent to initiate action. In an illustrative application, the alert can correspond to excessive hunting by a wheelset of the rail vehicle which is posing a danger for derailment.

VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM
20170210404 · 2017-07-27 ·

A system includes a locator device, a communication circuit, and one or more processors, all disposed onboard a trailing vehicle system that travels along a route behind a leading vehicle system. The locator device determines a location of the trailing vehicle system. The communication circuit periodically receives a location of the leading vehicle system in a message. The processors monitor a trailing distance between the trailing vehicle system and the leading vehicle system based on the respective locations of the leading and trailing vehicle systems. Responsive to the trailing distance being less than a first proximity distance relative to the leading vehicle system, the processors set an upper permitted power output limit for the trailing vehicle system that is less than an upper power output limit of the trailing vehicle system to reduce an effective power-to-weight ratio of the trailing vehicle system.

Train control system and method

A control system for a train having at least one locomotive or control car and, optionally, at least one railroad car, operating in a track network, wherein an on-board computer determines or receives movement data and location data and generates stopping data representing an amount of force for stopping the train at a distance from a target and/or predictor data representing an estimated or predicted location or position of the train in the track network based on the movement data and the location data. A train control method is also provided.

TRAIN BRAKE SAFETY MONITORING AND FAULT ACTION SYSTEM WITH PTC BRAKE PERFORMANCE ASSURANCE
20170203745 · 2017-07-20 · ·

An intelligent, on-board, train brake safety monitoring and fault action system is disclosed. The system compares measured dynamic train brake performance using on-board train control system, such as a LEADER system. Using the measured dynamic train brake performance, the brake monitoring system can determine whether the train is capable of stopping within a particular required distance, such as a stop distance set by a positive train control system in which the train is participating. The ongoing ability to meet external braking criteria, such as compliance with positive train control stop distances, may be used to extend the interval between any mandated train brake inspections and tests.

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REDUCING DRIVE DELAY OF ROLLING STOCK TO REACH DESTINATION
20170197645 · 2017-07-13 · ·

The present invention concerns a method for reducing the drive delay of a rolling stock to reach a destination, the rolling stock being driven by a driver to follow a running profile that defines the speeds and positions of the rolling stock at different timings. The method comprises the steps of: determining a current timing, getting a nominal acceleration of the rolling stock, the nominal acceleration being determined by the driver of the rolling stock to follow the running profile at the current timing, determining the speed error of the rolling stock with the rolling profile, determining the position error of the rolling stock with the rolling profile, determining an estimate of the time to reach the destination, determining a marginal acceleration from the speed error, the position error and the estimated time to reach the destination, accelerating the rolling stock with the sum of nominal and determined marginal accelerations.

METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PATH CONTROL IN UNMANNED VEHICLES

A system for path control for a mobile unmanned vehicle in an environment is provided. The system includes: a sensor connected to the mobile unmanned vehicle; the mobile unmanned vehicle configured to initiate a first fail-safe routine responsive to detection of an object in a first sensor region adjacent to the sensor; and a processor connected to the mobile unmanned vehicle. The processor is configured to: generate a current path based on a map of the environment; based on the current path, issue velocity commands to cause the mobile unmanned vehicle to execute the current path; responsive to detection of an obstacle in a second sensor region, initiate a second fail-safe routine in the mobile unmanned vehicle to avoid entry of the obstacle into the first sensor region and initiation of the first fail-safe routine.

SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING SPEED OF RAILWAY VEHICLES BY CONSIDERING BRAKING CHARACTERISTIC
20170190340 · 2017-07-06 ·

The present disclosure relates to a speed control system of a railway vehicle in consideration of a braking characteristic, and more particularly, to a speed control system of a railway vehicle in consideration of a braking characteristic, which calculates in real time a time-to-target-speed-crossing (TTTSC) that is a time required for a speed of a train to exceed a speed of an automatic train operation (ATO) profile through a future speed estimation of the train, and controls the speed of the train to be interlocked with the TTTSC.

SENSOR SYSTEM
20170174236 · 2017-06-22 ·

A sensor system senses one or more characteristics of vehicles in a vehicle system with sensors disposed onboard the vehicles and communicate data representative of the one or more characteristics from the sensors to one or more of a controller or a control system of the vehicle system. The data communicated from the sensors onboard the same vehicle can be synchronously communicated with respect to the sensors onboard the same vehicle and asynchronously communicated with respect to the sensors disposed onboard one or more other vehicles in the vehicle system. The systems and methods can direct components disposed onboard a vehicle system to change operations, monitor data output by sensors operatively connected with the components, and determine which of the sensors are operatively connected with which of the components based on the operations of the components that are changed and the data that is output by the sensors.