METHOD, RAILROAD CAR AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR OPERATING A RAILROAD CAR GROUP

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of European Patent Application EP 24154233.1, filed Jan. 26, 2024; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for operating a railroad car group, which is delimited by a front car and a rear car.

International patent disclosure WO 2011/095429 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 9,221,478, discloses a method for operating a railroad car group, in which monitoring for completeness or separation of the car group takes place during travel. For this purpose, so-called train integrity modules communicate directly with one another.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to further improve a method for operating a railroad car group.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by a method having the features in accordance with the independent method claim. Advantageous embodiments of the method in accordance with the invention are specified in subordinate claims.

In accordance with the invention, it is provided that in at least one of the two mentioned cars, a status indication is determined that indicates the position and/or the speed of this car. The status indication is transmitted to a track-side communication facility, the track-side communication facility relays the status indication to the other of the two mentioned cars, and in each case the other of the two mentioned cars, the received status indication and another status indication that indicates the position and/or the speed of this other car are subjected to a plausibility check. A safety measure is triggered in the other car if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.

A significant advantage of the method in accordance with the invention can be seen in the fact that the transmission of the status indications takes place with the involvement of the track-side communication facility, as a result of which it is possible for a particularly rapid data transmission to take place, even in the case of particularly long trains such as freight trains, for example, with few errors, that is to say very reliably, even in areas with difficult transmission conditions such as, for example, in tunnels.

A further significant advantage of the method in accordance with the invention is that middle cars of the railroad car group do not have to be equipped with radio components or the like, since it is sufficient for the implementation of the method to equip only the front and rear cars of the railroad car group with suitable hardware and/or software. The latter aspect is of great importance, especially for freight trains, since the equipment of freight cars can be very different and any necessary retrofitting of individual cars can be disproportionately expensive.

It is considered advantageous if a plausibility check takes place both at the front and at the rear. Accordingly, it is considered advantageous if in each of the two mentioned cars a status indication is determined that indicates the position and/or the speed of the respective car, namely in the front car a front status indication and in the rear car a rear status indication. The front status indication is transmitted from the front car to the track-side communication facility that relays the front status indication to the rear car. The rear status indication is transmitted from the rear car to the track-side communication facility that relays the rear status indication to the front car. In the front car the front and rear status indication are subjected to a front plausibility check and the safety measure in the front car is triggered if the front plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group, and in the rear car the front and rear status indication are subjected to a rear plausibility check and the safety measure in the rear car is triggered if the rear plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.

The generation of the status indication and/or the plausibility check is controlled by a computer program product, which is executed in a computing system of the respective car in which the status indication is formed and/or the plausibility check is performed.

The railroad car group preferably forms a complete freight train, the front train end of which is formed by the front car and the rear train end of which is formed by the rear car.

The front car is preferably formed by a front locomotive of the railroad car group.

The rear car of the railroad car group can also be a locomotive or, alternatively, another type of car having suitable equipment.

For example, it can be provided that the front and rear cars are each locomotives and a plurality of freight cars is present in the car group between the front locomotive and the rear locomotive.

In the latter embodiment variant, it can be provided in an advantageous manner that the generation of the front status indication and the front plausibility check is controlled by a computer program product, which is implemented in locomotive control software of the front locomotive and is executed by a computing system of the front locomotive.

If the rear car is also a locomotive, it is advantageous if the generation of the rear status indication and the rear plausibility check is controlled by a computer program product, which is implemented in locomotive control software of the rear locomotive and is executed by a computing system of the rear locomotive.

The implementation of the safety measure preferably includes the braking of the respective car in which the safety measure is triggered. However, it is particularly advantageous if the implementation of the safety measure takes place throughout the train, i.e. the implementation of the safety measure includes the braking of all cars of the railroad car group and, if available, also the braking of further cars coupled to the railroad car group.

The safety measure is preferably triggered, independently of the car, in each case in the car or from the car in which the plausibility check recommends the triggering of the safety measure, to be precise without the involvement of a track-side safety facility, in particular without the involvement of a track-side signal box; conversely, the safety measure is performed as mentioned above, preferably throughout the train.

The plausibility check preferably includes a check as to whether the speeds of both cars, which are indicated in the status indications, correspond, taking into account a predetermined differential speed tolerance range, wherein a separation of the railroad car group is inferred if the differential speed tolerance range is departed.

Alternatively or in addition, the plausibility check can advantageously comprise a check as to whether the positions of the cars, which are indicated in the status indications, indicate a car spacing that corresponds to an expected car spacing, taking into account a predetermined spacing tolerance range, wherein a separation of the railroad car group is inferred if the spacing tolerance range is departed.

In addition, the invention relates to a railroad car having a car-specific status determining facility for determining a car-specific status indication that indicates the position and/or the speed of the respective car.

In accordance with the invention, with regard to the railroad car in accordance with a first variant of the invention, it is provided that the railroad car is equipped with a car-specific communication facility, which is suitable for communication with a track-side communication facility, and the status determining facility is configured so as to transmit the car-specific status indication to a plausibility check facility of another car via the car-specific communication facility and the track-side communication facility.

It is advantageous if the railroad car in accordance with the first variant of the invention is suitable for implementing a method as has been described above.

In accordance with the invention, with regard to the railroad car in accordance with a second variant of the invention, it is provided that the railroad car is equipped with a car-specific communication facility that is suitable for communication with a track-side communication facility, and the railroad car has a plausibility check facility that is configured so as to subject to a plausibility check the car-specific status indication of the car-specific status determining facility and a status indication from another car that the plausibility check facility receives from the track-side communication facility via the car-specific communication facility, and so as to trigger or initiate a safety measure if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the train group.

It is advantageous if the railroad car in accordance with the second variant of the invention is suitable for being used so as to implement a method as has been described above.

In the second variant of the invention, it is also particularly advantageous if the status determining facility is configured so as to transmit the car-specific status indication to a plausibility check facility of another car, for example of another railroad car of the second variant of the invention, via the car-specific communication facility and the track-side communication facility.

In addition, the invention relates to a railroad car group, which is delimited by a front car and a rear car. In accordance with the invention, with regard to the railroad car group, it is provided that one of the two mentioned cars is a railroad car in accordance with the first variant of the invention and the other of the two mentioned cars is a railroad car in accordance with the second variant of the invention, or both of the mentioned cars are each railroad cars in accordance with the second variant of the invention.

The railroad car group preferably forms a complete freight train, the front train end of which is delimited by the front car and the rear train end of which is delimited by the rear car.

The front car is preferably formed by a front locomotive. The rear car can be formed by a rear locomotive.

In addition, the invention relates to a computer program product. With regard to the computer program product, it is provided in accordance with the invention that the computer program product is intended for installation on a computing system of a railroad car, in particular one as described above, and is in particular suitable for integration into locomotive control software of a locomotive, and is configured so as to generate, when executed by a computing facility of the computing system, a status indication that indicates the position and/or the speed of the respective railroad car. The computer program product is also configured:

• • so as to transmit the status indication by means of a car-specific communication facility to a track-side communication facility for the purpose of relaying to a corresponding computer program product of another railroad car of the same railroad car group, and/or
  • so as to subject to a plausibility check the status indication and a received status indication from another car, which indicates the position and/or the speed of the other railroad car, and so as to trigger a safety measure if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.

In other words, it is advantageous if the computer program product is configured so as to form a railroad car in accordance with the first variant of the invention and/or in accordance with the second variant of the invention, or to be used in the front or rear car in order to implement the method described above.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method, a railroad car and a computer program product for operating a railroad car group, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1-4 are illustrations showing exemplary embodiments of railroad car groups in accordance with the invention, which are equipped with exemplary embodiments of railroad cars in accordance with the invention and on the basis of which exemplary embodiments of methods in accordance with the invention are explained; and

FIGS. 5-6 are illustrations showing exemplary embodiments of components of railroad cars in accordance with the invention in more detail.

For the sake of clarity, the same reference characters are always used for identical or comparable components in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown an exemplary embodiment for a railroad car group 10, which is delimited by a front car (railroad car) 11 and a rear car (railroad car) 12. The railroad car group 10 can form a complete freight train, as illustrated by way of example in FIG. 1, or alternatively only a component of such a freight train.

The railroad car group 10 is located on a railroad track system 20 and moves from the left-hand side to the right-hand side in a direction of travel F in FIG. 1. The railroad track system 20 is equipped with a track-side communication facility 30, which includes a communication management facility 31 and a plurality of communication modules 32 connected thereto, which are arranged along the route travelled by the railroad car group 10 and enable continuous communication of the railroad car group 10 with the track-side communication facility 30. The track-side communication facility 30 can operate, for example, a WLAN or mobile radio network, for example a CBTC (Communications-Based Train Control)-compatible radio system. For this purpose, the communication management facility 31 can comprise one or more processors or controllers or comparable electronic components that handle, i.e. process or can generate, data signals in the form of data packets, for example, and are preferably equipped with corresponding software for this purpose.

The front car 11 and the rear car 12 of the railroad car group 10 are each equipped with a status determining facility 101, which is used to determine a car-specific status indication SA. The status indication SA in each case indicates at least the position and/or the speed of the specific car.

For the purpose of determining the status, the status determining facilities 101 are connected to sensors that are not shown in more detail in FIG. 1 for reasons of clarity, which can be speed or radar sensors such as hodometers or acceleration sensors. The status determining facility 101 of the front car 11 and that of the rear car 12 can be structurally identical.

In addition, the front and rear cars 11 and 12 of the railroad car group 10 each comprise a car-specific communication facility 102, which is suitable for communication with the track-side communication facility 30. The communication facility 102 of the front car 11 and that of the rear car 12 can be structurally identical.

In contrast to the front car 11, the rear car 12 is additionally equipped with a plausibility check facility 103.

The front car 11 is thus a car that can transmit the car-specific status indication SA only to the plausibility check facility 103 of another car, in this case the rear car 12, via the car-specific communication facility 102 and the track-side communication facility 30. The front car 11 does not perform its specific plausibility check.

The plausibility check facility 103 that is additionally provided in the rear car 12 serves to subject to a plausibility check the status indication SA of the status determining facility 101 of the specific rear car 12 and the status indication SA of the status determining facility 101 of the front car 11; the status indication SA of the front car 11 is received by the plausibility check facility 103 from the communication facility 102 of the front car 11 via the car-specific communication facility 102 and the track-side communication facility 30.

The two cars preferably operate together as now described.

The status determining facility 101 of the front car 11 detects the position and/or the speed of the front car 11 and generates a status indication SA that indicates at least the position and/or the speed and preferably also the time T of the measured value acquisition. By means of the car-specific communication facility 102, the status determining facility 101 sends the status indication SA to the track-side communication facility 30, for example in the context of a data signal, in particular data telegram DT1.

Such a data telegram DT1 can comprise, for example: a receiver indication EA that designates the track-side communication facility 30 as the receiver of the data telegram DT1, a transmitter indication SS that designates the front car 11 as the transmitter, and a user data section N that designates the rear car 12 as the final receiver of the user data section N and contains the status indication SA of the front car 11 at the time T of the measured value acquisition.

The track-side communication facility 30 receives the data telegram DT1 of the front car 11 and relays the useful data section N unchanged in its specific data telegram DT2 to the communication facility 102 of the rear car 12.

The latter data telegram DT2 can comprise, for example: a receiver indication EA that designates the rear car 12 as the receiver, a transmitter indication SS that designates the track-side communication facility 30 as the transmitter of the data telegram DT2, and the mentioned user data section N that indicates the rear car 12 as the final receiver of the user data section N and contains the status indication SA of the front car 11 at the time T of the measured value acquisition.

The status determining facility 101 of the rear car 12 detects the position and/or the speed of the rear car 12 and generates a status indication SA that indicates at least the position and/or the speed of the rear car 12 and preferably also the time T of the respective measured value acquisition. The status determining facility 101 of the rear car 12 transmits its status indication SA to the plausibility check facility 103 of the specific car. A transmission of the status indication SA of the rear car 12 to the front car 11 via the track-side communication facility 30 does not take place and is also not necessary since the front car 11 does not have its specific plausibility check facility 103.

By means of the car-specific communication facility 102, the plausibility check facility 103 of the rear car 12 also receives the track-side data telegram DT2 having the user data section N from the track-side communication facility 30, which contains the status indication SA of the front car 11 and the time T of its measured value acquisition.

The plausibility check facility 103 of the rear car 12 thus has two status indications, namely the received status indication SA (11) and the specific status indication SA (12), so that the plausibility check facility 103 can perform a plausibility check.

With a view to detecting a separation of the train group, the plausibility check preferably includes a check as to whether the speeds of the front car 11 and the rear car 12, which are indicated in the status indications, correspond, taking into account a predetermined differential speed tolerance range. If the differential speed tolerance range is departed, a separation of the railroad car group 10 is inferred.

Alternatively or in addition, a check can advantageously be performed as to whether the positions of the cars, which are indicated in the status indications, indicate a car spacing that corresponds to an expected car spacing, taking into account a predetermined spacing tolerance range. If the distance tolerance range is departed from, a separation of the railroad car group 10 is inferred.

If the plausibility check indicates a separation of the train group, then the status determining facility 101 initiates a safety measure or triggers such a measure by means of a trigger signal AUS. The trigger signal AUS is implemented, for example, by a vehicle control unit 300 (see FIG. 6) of the rear car 12, which is not shown in FIG. 1.

If such a safety measure is triggered, its implementation is preferably not limited to the rear car 12, but extends to the entire railroad car group 10 or train-wide. If further cars are coupled to the railroad car group 10, that is to say further cars that do not belong to the railroad car group 10 are present (see FIG. 2), then these are preferably likewise integrated into the safety measure.

The safety measure preferably comprises the braking of the respective specific car, the braking of all other cars of the railroad car group 10, and, if available, the braking of further cars 13 coupled thereto (see FIG. 2). For example, the plausibility check facility 103 can open or have opened an emergency brake compressed air line of the railroad car group 10 or of the entire train in order to trigger a train-wide braking.

The plausibility check facility 103 triggers the safety measure preferably without the further involvement of a track-side safety facility, that is to say, for example, without the involvement of a track-side signal box or without a query in the case of a track-side signal box. The safety measure is therefore preferably triggered independently of the car and the safety measure is preferably performed independently of the train and thus with a minimum delay.

FIG. 2 illustrates a variant of the railroad car group 10 in accordance with FIG. 1. In the variant in accordance with FIG. 2, the freight train comprises further cars 13, which are arranged outside the railroad car group 10, which is delimited by the front car 11 and the rear car 12.

In the variant in accordance with FIG. 2, the possibility of detecting a separation of the train group thus does not relate to the entire train, but only the part having the railroad car group 10. In all other respects, the above explanations in connection with FIG. 1 apply correspondingly to the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates a further variant of the railroad car group 10 in accordance with FIG. 1. In the variant in accordance with FIG. 3, the plausibility check facility 103 is arranged in the front car 11 of the railroad car group 10.

The plausibility check thus takes place in the front car 11 on the basis of a status indication SA of the rear car 12, which the plausibility check facility 103 receives from the status determining facility 101 of the rear car 12, with the inclusion of the track-side communication facility 30. The status indication SA is transmitted, for example, via a data telegram DT3, which the rear car 12 transmits to the track-side communication facility 30, and a data telegram DT4, which the track-side communication facility 30 transmits to the front car 11.

The data telegram DT3 can comprise, for example: a receiver indication EA that designates the track-side communication facility 30 as the receiver of the data telegram DT3, a transmitter indication SS that designates the rear car 12 as the transmitter, and a user data section N that designates the front car 11 as the final receiver of the user data section N and contains the status indication SA of the rear car 12 at the time T of the corresponding measured value acquisition.

The data telegram DT4 can comprise, for example: a receiver indication EA that designates the front car 11 as the receiver, a transmitter indication SS that designates the track-side communication facility 30 as the transmitter of the data telegram DT4, and the mentioned user data section N, for example in unchanged form.

In all other respects, the above explanations in connection with FIG. 1 apply correspondingly to the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates a further exemplary embodiment for a railroad car group 10, which is delimited by a front car 11 and a rear car 12. The railroad car group 10 can form a complete freight train, as illustrated by way of example in FIG. 4, or alternatively only a component of such a freight train.

In the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 4, the front car 11 and the rear car 12 are each equipped with both a status determining facility 101 as well as a plausibility check facility 103.

In the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 4, a dual monitoring operation is thus possible in which both the front plausibility check facility 103 as well as the rear plausibility check facility 103 perform monitoring with regard to train separation.

The components that are illustrated in FIG. 4 preferably operate as now described.

The status determining facility 101 of the front car 11 determines its status indication SA and relays it directly to the plausibility check facility 103 of the specific front car 11 and, with the inclusion of the track-side communication facility 30, to the plausibility check facility 103 of the rear car 12. The two data telegrams DT1 and DT2, which have already been explained in connection with FIG. 1, are used for this purpose.

The status determining facility 101 of the rear car 12 also determines its status indication SA and relays it directly to the plausibility check facility 103 of the specific rear car 12 and, with the inclusion of the track-side communication facility 30, to the plausibility check facility 103 of the front car 11. The two data telegrams DT3 and DT4, which have already been explained in connection with FIG. 3, are used for this purpose.

The status indications SA of both cars are thus in each case available to the plausibility check facility 103 of the front car 11 and the plausibility check facility 103 of the rear car 12, so that each plausibility check facility 103 can independently perform a plausibility check, as has been explained above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates in more detail components of an exemplary embodiment for a railroad car 500, which can be used as the front car 11 in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2 or rear car 12 in accordance with FIG. 3. The railroad car 500 contains a computing system having a computing facility 200 and a storage device 210 in which a computer program product CPP is stored.

The computer program product CPP contains a status determining module M101, which, when executed by the computing facility 200, forms the above-described status determining facility 101, that is to say performs the status determination and generates the status indication SA, as has been described above, for example, in connection with FIG. 1 and the front car 11.

If the railroad car 500 is a locomotive, the computing facility 200 can also simultaneously form the vehicle control facility 300 of the locomotive, if suitable locomotive control software 310 is installed in the storage device 210. The computer program product CPP can form a component of this locomotive control software 310, as illustrated by way of example in FIG. 5.

The computing facility 200 is connected to the car-specific communication facility 102, which is activated by the computing facility 200 and, upon request by the computing facility 200, relays the status indication SA that is generated by the status determining module M101 to the track-side communication facility 30 and relays data telegrams that are received from the track-side communication facility 30 to the computing facility 200.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a railroad car 510, which can be used as the front car 11 in accordance with FIGS. 3 and 4 or rear car 12 in accordance with FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, in more detail. The railroad car 510 corresponds to the railroad car 500 in accordance with FIG. 5, with the difference that the computer program product CPP also comprises, in addition to the status determination module M101, a plausibility check module M103, which, when executed by the computing facility 200, forms the plausibility facility 103 and performs the plausibility check, as has been described above, for example, in connection with FIG. 1 and the rear car 11.

In the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 6, the computing facility 200 can also form a component of a vehicle control facility 300 of the car and the computer program product CPP can form a component of the locomotive control software 310.

In all other respects, the above statements in connection with FIG. 5 apply correspondingly to the exemplary embodiment in accordance with FIG. 6.

In connection with FIGS. 1 to 6, it is assumed, by way of example, that the track-side communication facility 30 reads out and processes data telegrams DT1 and DT3 that are received and generates specific data telegrams DT2 and DT4 in order to relay the status indications within the car group 10. Alternatively or additionally, it can be provided that the track-side communication facility 30 only distributes received data telegrams and outputs them again to its communication modules 32 without any changes of its own, operating as a simple relay station, so to speak.

In conclusion, it should be mentioned that the features of all the exemplary embodiments described above can be combined with one another in any desired manner in order to form further other exemplary embodiments of the invention.

All features of the subordinate claims can also be combined in each case individually with each of the secondary claims, in each case individually or in any combination with one or more other subordinate claims, in order to obtain further other exemplary embodiments.

Independent of the grammatical term usage, individuals with male, female or other gender identities are included within the term.

The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: