Brake energy balancing system for multiple brake units

A brake energy balancing system for a vehicle having a plurality of trucks carrying a plurality of cars each truck having a group of wheels, for applying and controlling a plurality of brakes of each said group of wheels of said vehicle independently of operator brake application, comprising:

• wheel velocity signal generating means for producing wheel velocity signals that are a function of the rotational speed of each said wheel;
• wheel velocity averaging means for generating an average velocity signal based upon said wheel velocity signals for each said group of wheels for each said;
• command brake torque signal generating means for generating a command brake torque signal in response to a deceleration command;
• autotorque reference generating means for generating a reference torque signal for limiting said command brake torque signal;
• torque comparison means for comparing said brake torque signals with said command brake torque signal for generating brake torque difference signals indicative of the difference between said brake torque signals and said command brake torque signal;
• autobrake velocity reference generating means for generating a reference velocity signal in response to a deceleration command;
• average velocity comparison means for comparing said average velocity signal for each said group of wheels with said reference velocity signal for generating average velocity error signals indicative of the difference between said average wheel velocity signals and said reference velocity signal;
• torque signal generating means for producing brake torque signals that are a function of the braking torque applied to each said wheel;
• wheel velocity comparison means for comparing said wheel velocity signals with said reference velocity signal for generating individual wheel velocity error signals indicative of the difference between said wheel velocity signals and said reference velocity signal;
• brake application means for applying brake pressure to said wheel independently of operator brake application;
• and
• control means for providing an energy balancing brake application energy balancing control signal to said brake application means to control said brake application means independent of operator brake application, in response to said average velocity error signals, said individual wheel velocity error signals, and said brake torque difference signals.

A method of balancing brake energy for a vehicle having a plurality of trucks carrying a plurality of cars each having a group of wheels, for applying and controlling a plurality of brakes of each said group of wheels of said vehicle independently of operator brake application, comprising the steps of:

• measuring brake torque of each said wheel, and generating brake torque signals that are a function of the braking torque applied to each said wheel;
• generating a command brake torque signal in response to a deceleration command;
• comparing said brake torque signals with said command brake torque signal and generating brake torque difference signals indicative of the difference between said brake torque signals and said command brake torque signal;
• applying brake pressure to said wheel independently of operator brake application;
• and
• providing an energy balancing brake application energy balancing control signal to said brake application means to control said brake application means independent of operator brake application, in response to said brake torque error signals.