METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT AN EMERGENCY STOP FOR A TRAIN

Abstract

A method carries out a requested emergency stop for a train in order to bring the train to a stop at a suitable point on the route travelled by the train. On the train side, a list is provided in which, for the route to be travelled by the train, zones are defined where the train is allowed to stop and/or is not allowed to stop in the event of a requested emergency stop. When the train is travelling, a request for an emergency stop is automatically recorded and analyzed by the train without the involvement of the driver. The train carries out an automated determination of the position of the train in relation to the route being travelled, which is carried out independently of route-side apparatuses. Depending on the position of the train, a suitable zone where the train can be brought to a standstill for the emergency stop to be carried out is automatically selected from the list.

Claims

1-11. (canceled)

12. A method for carrying out a requested emergency stop for a train in order to bring the train to a stop at a suitable point on a route traveled by the train, which comprises the steps of: making available a list on a train side in which zones are defined for the route to be traveled by the train in which the train is allowed and/or is not allowed to stop in an event of the requested emergency stop; during travel automatically recording and analyzing a request for the emergency stop by the train without an involvement of a driver; determining automatically, via the train, a position of the train in relation to the route being traveled, independently of trackside equipment; automatically selecting a suitable zone from the list for the emergency stop to be carried out depending on the position of the train, in which the train can be brought to a standstill after reaching the suitable zone; automatically notifying a fixed operations control center of the request for the emergency stop; and performing a coordination with the operations control center in order to give the operations control center an option of releasing an automatic emergency stop by transmitting a command to the train in order to cause the train to continue its journey and in order to bring it to a stop at a suitable other location.

13. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises defining the zones with an aid of a geographical map, so that the zones are geographically defined with an aid of coordinates.

14. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises storing the list in a vehicle control system of the train.

15. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises triggering the request for the emergency stop by a passenger or by an internal train control system.

16. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises communicating the request for the emergency stop to a driver of the train to enable the driver to influence the requested emergency stop depending on a situation.

17. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises determining the position of the train with an aid of a satellite-based positioning system provided in the train.

18. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises replacing satellite-based position determination in an event of malfunctions with path detection provided in the train, the path detection is based on a determination of a number of wheel revolutions.

19. The method according to claim 12, which further comprises basing a selection of the suitable zone for the emergency stop on at least one of a following items of information: distance of the train to the suitable zone; current position of the train; total length of the train; position of one front and one rear end of the train; minimum zone length required for the emergency stop; and/or position of a satellite antenna in the train.

20. The method according to claim 12, wherein after reaching the suitable zone for the emergency stop on the train, initiating and carrying out braking automatically such that the train comes to a standstill in the suitable zone for the emergency stop and the train is completely stationary therein.

21. The method according to claim 20, which further comprises carrying out the braking in such a way that the standstill within the suitable zone for the emergency stop takes place with an ideally short time delay, taking into account a braking capability of the train.

Description

[0078] The invention is explained in greater detail below with the aid of a drawing, in which:

[0079] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the present invention, and

[0080] FIG. 2 with reference to FIG. 1 shows a block diagram for position calculation.

[0081] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the present invention.

[0082] In a block 11, before the train starts its journey, the route it is to travel is analyzed with regard to suitable stopping points or stopping zones that are suitable for stopping the train in the event of an emergency stop. These locations are defined as emergency stop zones.

[0083] Alternatively or in addition to this, so-called emergency stop prevention zones are defined in which the train is not allowed to stop in the event of an emergency stop.

[0084] These zones are made available as a list on board the train for automated use before the start of the journey.

[0085] In a block 12, the position of the train is automatically detected or determined. The position is preferably determined by the train and therefore independently of the land side.

[0086] In a preferred development, a GPS positioning system is used to determine the position.

[0087] The position is continuously determined throughout the train's journey so that the current position is available at all times.

[0088] In a block 13, an emergency stop request is made by the train during its journey. This is triggered by a passenger or by an internal train control system.

[0089] In a block 14, this request is received, evaluated and processed by an automatic emergency stop function provided for this purpose.

[0090] By requesting an emergency stop, a distance of the train to one end of an emergency stop prevention zone is calculated in a block 17 on the basis of the position of the train (see block 11) and the zones specified in the list (see block 11) and transmitted to the emergency stop function (see block 14).

[0091] The emergency stop request (see block 13) is also communicated to the driver in a block 16. The driver then has the option of resetting the emergency stop request or manually postponing the execution of the emergency stop or suppressing it altogether depending on the situation.

[0092] For this purpose, the train driver can act on a block 15, which is intended to influence a train brake or a train drive.

[0093] The emergency stop function (see block 14) accesses block 15 to perform the emergency stop in order to bring the train to a standstill when the train has reached the end of the emergency stop prevention zone or when the train has reached an emergency stop zone and is completely inside it.

[0094] The automatic emergency stop function (see block 14) also notifies an operations control center of the request for an emergency stop. The operations control center is addressed in block 18.

[0095] The land-side operations control center is given access to the emergency stop function (see block 14) via block 19.

[0096] With reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 shows a block diagram for determining the position of the train.

[0097] A train length is stored in a block 23 and is transferred to block 26 for position calculation and is used there.

[0098] The position of the train and its ends is calculated in block 26. To do this, the position of a front and rear end of the train is used in block 26 to precisely record the train dimensions.

[0099] In block 21, the position of the train is defined or determined automatically. A GPS positioning system is used to determine the position. The position of the train is then transmitted to block 26 and used there.

[0100] In block 22, the position of the train is determined with the help of a path detection system in order to safeguard against disrupted satellite reception. The path detection is installed in the train and is based on the determination of wheel revolutions. This position of the train is also transmitted to block 26 and used there.

[0101] On the train side, block 25 contains a train sequence or information on the train composition, which is transferred to block 24.

[0102] In block 24, an installation location or a position of the satellite antenna in the train is known, so that information from block 25 can be used to calculate the positions of the two ends of the train for block 26.