Method, controller and system for determining the location of a train on a track or of a broken rail of a track
AssigneeAlstom Transport Technologies
InventorJeffrey M. Fries
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for determining the location of a train on a track or of a broken rail of a track, the track including a first section having a first end and a second end, the method including: injecting a current into the track at one end of the first end and second end; detecting the amplitude of the injected current at the same end at which the current was injected; and determining, based on the detected amplitude, the location of the train on the track or of the broken rail of the track.
Claims13
A method for determining a location of a train on a track or a location of a broken rail of the track, the track including a first section having a first end and a second end, the train traveling from the first end to the second end of the first section, the method comprising:
- injecting a first current into the track at the first end;
- detecting an amplitude of the first current at the same end at which the first current was injected;
- recording the detected amplitude of the first current at the first end;
- detecting that the amplitude of the first current at the first end drops below a first nominal reception level, the first nominal reception level corresponding to a detected amplitude of the first current at the first end when no train is present on the first section and no rails are broken;
- determining, in a case where the amplitude of the first current at the first end has dropped below the first nominal reception level, that a rail has been broken;
- and
- determining the location of the broken rail, in a case where it has been determined that the rail has been broken, based on the recorded amplitude of the first current at the first end, at a time when or immediately before the amplitude drops below the first nominal reception level.
A controller for determining a location of a train on a track or a location of a broken rail of the track, the track including a first section having a first end and a second end, the train traveling from the first end to the second end of the first section, wherein the controller is adapted:
- to be connected to a first transmitter and first detector, the first transmitter and the first detector being located at the first end of the first section, wherein the first transmitter is adapted to inject a first current at the first end into the track, the first detector being adapted to detect an amplitude of the first current emitted by the first transmitter;
- to receive, from the first detector, the detected amplitude of the first current, which was transmitted at the same end;
- to record the detected amplitude of the first current at the first end, wherein the first current was injected at the first end;
- to detect that the amplitude of the first current at the first end drops below a first nominal reception level, the first nominal reception level corresponding to a detected amplitude of the first current at the first end when no train is present on the first section and no rails are broken;
- to determine, in a case where the amplitude of the first current at the first end has dropped below the first nominal reception level, that a rail has been broken;
- and
- to determine the location of the broken rail, in a case where it has been determined that the rail has been broken, based on the recorded amplitude of the first current at the first end, at a time when or immediately before the amplitude drops below the first nominal reception level.
A system for determining a location of a train on a track or a location of a broken rail of the track, the track including a first section having a first end and a second end, the train travelling from the first end to the second end of the first section, the system comprising:
- a first transmitter at the first end of the first section, wherein the first transmitter is adapted to inject a first current at the first end into the track;
- a first detector at the first end of the first section, wherein the first detector is adapted to detect an amplitude of the first current emitted by first transmitter;
- and
- a controller being connected to the first transmitter and the first detector, wherein the controller is adapted to receive, from the first detector, the detected amplitude of the first current, which was transmitted at the same end, to record the detected amplitude of the first current at the first end, to detect that the amplitude of the first current at the first end drops below a first nominal reception level, the first nominal reception level corresponding to a detected amplitude of the first current at the first end when no train is present on the first section and no rails are broken, to determine, in a case where the amplitude of the first current at the first end has dropped below the first nominal reception level, that a rail has been broken, and to determine the location of the broken rail, in a case where it has been determined that the rail has been broken, based on the recorded amplitude of the first current at the first end, at a time when or immediately before the amplitude drops below the first nominal reception level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.