SENSOR ARRANGEMENT FOR A RAILWAY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING A RAILWAY SYSTEM

Abstract

A sensor arrangement for a railway system may include a rail claw that is connectable to a rail of the railway system, and a sensor that is configured to measure a spatial position of at least a segment of a movable railway element of the railway system by a contactless measurement and to differentiate between at least two different spatial positions of the segment of the movable railway element. The sensor may be mechanically connected with the rail claw. Furthermore, a method for monitoring a railway system is provided.

Claims

1. A sensor arrangement for a railway system, the sensor arrangement comprising: a rail claw that is connectable to a rail of the railway system; and a sensor that is configured to measure a spatial position of at least a segment of a movable railway element of the railway system by a contactless measurement and to differentiate between at least two different spatial positions of the segment of the movable railway element, wherein: the sensor is mechanically connected with the rail claw.

2. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the movable railway element comprises a tongue rail.

3. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one contactless position sensor.

4. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one metal sensor.

5. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one inductive sensor.

6. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least one capacitive sensor.

7. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a two-channel sensor.

8. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor arrangement comprises a further rail claw that is connectable to a rail of the railway system, and the sensor arrangement comprises a further sensor that is configured to measure a spatial position of at least a further segment of the movable railway element of the railway system by a contactless measurement and to differentiate between at least two different spatial positions of the further segment of the movable railway element, and wherein the further sensor is mechanically connected with the further rail claw.

9. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is configured to differentiate between at least three different spatial positions of the segment of the movable railway element.

10. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is configured to differentiate between a plurality of different spatial positions of the segment of the movable railway element.

11. The sensor arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises an output, and the sensor is configured to provide the measured spatial position at the output.

12. A method for monitoring a railway system, the method comprising: connecting a rail claw to a rail of the railway system; and measuring a spatial position of at least a segment of a movable railway element of the railway system by a contactless measurement by a sensor, wherein: the sensor is configured to differentiate between at least two different spatial positions of the segment of the movable railway element; and the sensor is mechanically connected with the rail claw.

13. The method according to claim 12, the method further comprising arranging the sensor below the movable railway element.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the sensor is arranged below the movable railway element without mechanical contact to the movable railway element.

15. The method according to claim 12, the method further comprising providing the measured spatial position at an output of the sensor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The following description of figures may further illustrate and explain example embodiments. Components that are functionally identical or have an identical effect are denoted by identical references. Identical or effectively identical components may be described with respect to the figures where they occur first. Their description is not necessarily repeated in successive figures.

[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a sensor arrangement.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows a top view on an example embodiment of the sensor arrangement.

[0046] FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show cross sections through an example embodiment of the sensor arrangement.

[0047] FIG. 6 shows a further example embodiment of the sensor arrangement.

[0048] FIG. 7 illustrates an example embodiment of the method for monitoring a railway system.

[0049] FIG. 1 shows an example embodiment of the sensor arrangement 20 for a railway system 21. In a top view the railway system 21 which is a railway switch is shown. The railway switch comprises a movable railway element 25. In FIG. 1, a front part 38 of the movable railway element 25 is not in direct contact with a rail 23 of the railway switch. The rail 23 is a stock rail. The movable railway element 25 comprises a tongue rail 26. The movable railway element 25 is arranged spaced apart from the rail 23. In this arrangement rail vehicles can move from the left to the top right position in FIG. 1 or the other way around. In another state, the movable railway element 25 can be in direct contact with the rail 23 at a contact position 27. In this arrangement a rail vehicle can move from the left to the bottom right position in FIG. 1 or the other way around. For a safe railway traffic it is necessary to monitor the position of the movable railway element 25.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] The sensor arrangement 20 comprises a rail claw 22 that is connectable to the rail 23 of the railway system 21. In FIG. 1 the rail claw 22 is shown in its position when it is mounted to the rail 23. The rail claw 22 is arranged below the rail 23. This means, that the rail claw 22 is arranged at a side of the rail 23 which faces away from a side of the rail 23 at which wheels of a rail vehicle can pass over the rail 23. The rail 23 can be a stock rail.

[0051] The sensor arrangement 20 further comprises a sensor 24 that is configured to measure a spatial position of at least a segment 34 of the movable railway element 25 of the railway system 21 by a contactless measurement and to differentiate between at least two different spatial positions of the segment 34 of the movable railway element 25. The sensor 24 is mechanically connected with the rail claw 22. The sensor 24 can comprise at least one contactless position sensor, at least one metal sensor, at least one inductive sensor or at least one capacitive sensor. The sensor 24 can be a two-channel sensor. The two channels can be redundant. It is also possible that the sensor arrangement 20 comprises two redundant sensors 24.

[0052] The sensor 24 can be configured to differentiate between at least three or a plurality of different spatial positions of the segment 34 of the movable railway element 25. The sensor 24 can comprise an output 30 and the sensor 24 can be configured to provide the measured spatial position at the output 30.

[0053] FIG. 2 shows an example embodiment of the sensor arrangement 20 mounted to the rail 23 of the railway system 21. The sensor arrangement 20 comprises the rail claw 22 that is connected to the rail 23 of the railway system 21. FIG. 2 shows a top view on the rail 23. The rail claw 22 is arranged below the rail 23. Thus, only parts of the rail claw 22 are visible in FIG. 2. The sensor 24 is mechanically connected with the rail claw 22. Adjacent to the rail 23 the movable railway element 25 is arranged. The sensor 24 is arranged below the movable railway element 25. Therefore, the sensor 24 is not visible in FIG. 2.

[0054] In FIG. 3 a cross section through another example embodiment of the sensor arrangement 20 is shown. The sensor arrangement 20 can have the same setup as shown and described with FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 shows a side view where a cross section through the rail 23 is shown. The rail claw 22 is arranged below the rail 23 and fixed to the rail 23 with two clamp parts 31. The different parts of the rail claw 22 are connected with each other by screws 32. The sensor 24 is arranged adjacent to the rail claw 22 and mechanically connected with the rail claw 22. Above the sensor 24 and adjacent to the rail 23, the movable railway element 25 is arranged. The sensor 24 is arranged spaced apart from the movable railway element 25. This means, the sensor 24 and the movable railway element 25 are not in mechanical contact. The movable railway element 25 is configured to be moved along a lateral direction x. The lateral direction x is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3.

[0055] In FIG. 3 a situation is shown, where the movable railway element 25 is not in direct contact with the rail 23. The movable railway element 25 is positioned spaced apart from the rail 23. However, a top part 33 of the movable railway element 25 has a shape which fits to the shape of the top part 33 of the rail 23. At the side facing the movable railway element 25, the rail 23 comprises a region whose shape is adapted to the shape of the movable railway element 25. This means, the top part 33 of the rail 23 comprises a surface which faces the top part 33 of the movable railway element 25 and which extends parallel to a surface of the movable railway element 25 which faces the rail 23. This shape of the rail 23 and the movable railway element 25 enables the closed position of the movable railway element 25 where it is in direct contact with the rail 23. Because of the two surfaces extending parallel to each other a slit between the rail 23 and the movable railway element 25 in the closed position is avoided.

[0056] The sensor 24 can comprise a plurality of sensor components as for example coils. The sensor components can each be configured to detect the movement of electrically conductive material within a sensing range of the respective sensor component. By employing a plurality of sensor components the sensing range of the sensor 24 can be increased. The movable railway element 25 can comprise an electrically conductive material.

[0057] FIG. 4 shows the example embodiment of FIG. 3 in another state. In FIG. 4 the movable railway element 25 is in direct contact with the rail 23. In a calibration step the spatial position measured by the sensor 24 for this situation can be saved. This measured spatial position can be employed as a reference value for the furthest position in one direction that the movable railway element 25 can reach. This measured spatial position is also the reference value for the closed position of the movable railway element 25. This means, if this spatial position is measured for the movable railway element 25, the movable railway element 25 is in direct contact with the rail 23. Therefore, a rail vehicle can safely pass the railway switch. The other spatial positions that are measured by the sensor 24 can be given with respect to this reference value. Thus, it can be measured how far the movable railway element 25 is arranged from the closed position. This information can be employed for deciding if it is safe for a rail vehicle to pass the railway switch.

[0058] In FIG. 4 a first edge 36 of the movable railway element 25 is arranged above the sensor 24 and a second edge 37 is not arranged above the sensor 24. The second edge 37 is the edge which is arranged close to the rail 23. The first edge 36 is arranged opposite to the second edge 37. The sensor 24 can detect the movement of the first edge 36.

[0059] If the sensor 24 comprises a plurality of coils, each coil has a sensing range within which it is configured to sense the movement of electrically conductive material. This means, if the movable railway element 25 enters the sensing range of a coil, the coil is partially damped. Thus, this movement of the movable railway element 25 can be detected. Once the movable railway element 25 extends over the whole sensing range of a coil, the coil is fully damped and a further movement of the movable railway element 25 does not change the state of the coil. This means, in this situation a further movement of the movable railway element 25 cannot be detected by the coil. A further movement of the movable railway element 25 can only be detected once the movable railway element 25 does not extend over the whole sensing range of the coil anymore. By evaluating the signals of the plurality of coils, the position of the movable railway element 25 can be determined.

[0060] FIG. 5 shows the example embodiment of the sensor arrangement 20 of FIG. 3 in a different state in comparison to FIGS. 3 and 4. The movable railway element 25 is in its position where it is arranged at the maximum possible distance from the rail 23. Also the measured spatial position of this arrangement can be saved in a calibration step as a further reference value. The further reference value can be employed in the same way as the reference value for providing the spatial position of the movable railway element 25.

[0061] FIG. 6 shows a top view on another example embodiment of the sensor arrangement 20. In comparison to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the sensor arrangement 20 further comprises a further rail claw 28 that is connected to the rail 23 of the railway system 21 and the sensor arrangement 20 comprises a further sensor 29 that is configured to measure a spatial position of at least a further segment 35 of the movable railway element 25 by a contactless measurement and to differentiate between at least two different spatial positions of the further segment 35 of the movable railway element 25. The further sensor 29 is mechanically connected with the further rail claw 28. The further sensor 29 is arranged below a different position of the movable railway element 25 in comparison to the sensor 24. The further sensor 29 is arranged below the further segment 35. With this sensor arrangement 20 different segments 34, 35 of the movable railway element 25 can be monitored.

[0062] With FIG. 7 an example embodiment of the method for monitoring a railway system 21 is described. In a first step S1 of the method the rail claw 22 is connected to a rail 23 of the railway system 21. Furthermore, the sensor 24 is arranged below the movable railway element 25 without mechanical contact to the movable railway element 25. In a second step S2 of the method a spatial position of at least a segment 34 of the movable railway element 25 is measured by a contactless measurement by the sensor 24. In an optional third step S3 of the method the measured spatial position is provided at an output 30 of the sensor 24.

[0063] This patent application claims priority from European patent application 21203952.3, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0064] 20 sensor arrangement [0065] 21 railway system [0066] 22 rail claw [0067] 23 rail [0068] 24 sensor [0069] 25 movable railway element [0070] 26 tongue rail [0071] 27 contact position [0072] 28 further rail claw [0073] 29 further sensor [0074] 30 output [0075] 31 clamp part [0076] 32 screw [0077] 33 top part [0078] 34 segment [0079] 35 further segment [0080] 36 first edge [0081] 37 second edge [0082] 38 front part [0083] x lateral direction [0084] S1-S3 steps