US 3,976,272 A · Control system for railroads

Abstract

A traffic control system for governing from a central office train control equipment such as track switches and track signals which are disposed along a stretch of railroad track. The control system is flexible in that it can operate with either the CTC (unit lever) type of control wherein the operator designates the particular condition or position of track switches and track signals, or in an NX mode wherein the operator merely designates a particular entrance and exit for a particular route. The control system offers still further flexibility in enabling the operator to simply initiate a passing move on a stretch of railroad track which includes a siding. Still further flexibility is built into the control system in that it allows the operator to designate conflicting control requests at the same time. After the particular operator selected control requests have been entered the control system checks the validity of the selected control requests in a predetermined sequence. Those control requests which can be properly executed under the existing traffic conditions are transmitted to the field. Those controls which the control system indicates cannot be validly transmitted at the time of entering are maintained pending and, if conditions in the field change such as to make the previously entered controls valid, then these controls are transmitted for execution in the field.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A control system for operating track switches and signals of a railroad comprising a plurality of railroad elements including:

a central office from which controls are transmitted to a plurality of field stations over a communication channel and at which indications are received from said field stations indicative of field conditions,
means for designating control requests,
digital computer means responsive to said control requests and to said indications, said digital computer means including means for storing and retrieving
a. dynamic data including indications definitive of the condition of the said railroad elements and the controls for said railroad elements, and
b. static data definitive of each of said railroad elements, the relationship between said elements and the location of dynamic data related to each said element,
processor means included in said digital computer means for accepting said control requests and for interrogating said portions of said dynamic data storage in a sequence determined by said control requests and by said static data, said processor means providing updated controls corresponding to said control requests for transmission to said field stations only if said control requests are determined to be valid by said processor means.

3 more elements

In a control system including a central station and a plurality of field stations for operating the track switches and signals of a railroad in which digital computer means at said central station responds to operator entered requests for verifying the validity thereof in light of actual field conditions before transmitting controls corresponding thereto to field locations, apparatus for accepting and operating on conflicting control requests without requiring further operator intervention comprising,

first means responsive to a control request for a first route for determining the validity thereof including means for identifying each separate element in said route, means for determining if each such element is available and for storing data linking each such identified element of a route to another such element, means for storing data indicating said element is included in an active route and for storing appropriate controls for transmission to clear said first route,
said first means responsive to a second request for determining at least one common element of said second route is included in another active route for storing data definitive of said route along with the data definitive of said common element,
indication responsive means responsive to the receipt of indications releasing said common element for retrieving said data definitive of said second route and for conditioning appropriate controls for transmission to clear said second route.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Control system for railroads

Life of this patent

Control system for railroads

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims28