Lamp driver card to control lighting of a lamp load or a LED on a wayside of a railway system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10349503-B2
Application number	US-201715431882-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2017
Priority date	Feb 14, 2017
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A lamp driver card to control lighting of a lamp load located on a wayside of a railway system is provided. The lamp driver card comprises a light source controller module including at least one channel having a semiconductor switch or a relay to receive power on a copper cable sized at a selected gauge size from a power source to turn ON or OFF the lamp load. The light source controller module is configured to support a multi-voltage rating range operation extended from a limited voltage to an extended operating voltage and a current rating to light the lamp load such that the light source controller module is compatible with relatively higher DC/AC voltages. The copper cable is sized at the selected gauge size of a first size to a second size based on a selected voltage rating of a first voltage system or a second multi-voltage ranges system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A DC lamp driver card to control lighting of a traffic signal lamp or a LED located on a wayside of a railway system, the DC lamp driver card comprising:
a light source controller module including at least one channel having a semiconductor switch or a relay to receive power on a copper cable sized at a selected gauge size from a power source to turn ON or OFF the traffic signal lamp or the LED,
wherein the light source controller module is configured to support a multi-voltage rating range operation extended from a limited voltage 12V DC (9.5V DC to 16.6 VDC) to an extended operating voltage 9.5V-60V DC and a 2.5 A current rating to light the traffic signal lamp or the LED of 18 W 25 W such that the light source controller module is compatible with higher DC voltages of 24V, 48V or 60V,
wherein the copper cable is sized at the selected gauge size of #9 AWG or #6 AWG to #12 AWG or #14 AWG based on a selected voltage rating of a legacy 12V system or a newer 24V, 48V or 60V from the multi-voltage rating range operation.

2. The DC lamp driver card of claim 1 , wherein the light source controller module is a single lamp module that includes either 6 or 8 or 16 channels.

3. The DC lamp driver card of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor switch is a wide voltage and current power field effect transistor (FET).

4. The DC lamp driver card of claim 1 , wherein the light source controller module further comprises:
a control electronics logic to direct applying power to the traffic signal lamp or the LED.

5. The DC lamp driver card of claim 1 , further comprising:
a logic processing module coupled to the light source controller module to direct applying power to the traffic signal lamp or the LED.

6. The DC lamp driver card of claim 1 , wherein the light source controller module further comprises:
current measurement circuitry and voltage measurement circuitry for a cold/hot filament detection.

7. The DC lamp driver card of claim 1 , wherein the light source controller module further comprises:
circuitry for detecting voltage regulation and over current limit malfunctions with the traffic signal lamp or the LED.

8. A lamp driver card to control lighting of a lamp load located on a wayside of a railway system, the lamp driver card comprising:
a light source controller module including at least one channel having a semiconductor switch or a relay to receive power on a cable sized at a selected gauge size from a power source to turn ON or OFF the lamp load,
wherein the light source controller module is configured to support a multi-voltage rating range operation extended from a limited voltage to an extended operating voltage and a current rating to light the lamp load such that the light source controller module is compatible with DC/AC voltages higher than the limited voltage,
wherein the cable is sized at the selected gauge size of a first size to a second size based on a selected voltage rating of a first voltage system or a second multi-voltage ranges system.

9. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the light source controller module is a single lamp module that includes either 6 or 8 or 16 channels.

10. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the semiconductor switch is a wide voltage and current power field effect transistor (FET).

11. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the light source controller module further comprises:
a control electronics logic to direct applying power to the traffic signal lamp or the LED.

12. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , further comprising:
a logic processing module coupled to the light source controller module to direct applying power to the traffic signal lamp or the LED.

13. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the light source controller module further comprises:
current measurement circuitry and voltage measurement circuitry for a cold/hot filament detection.

14. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the light source controller module further comprises:
circuitry for detecting voltage regulation and over current limit malfunctions with the traffic signal lamp or the LED.

15. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the cable is sized at the selected gauge size of the first size of #9 AWG or #6 AWG.

16. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the cable is sized at the selected gauge size of the second size of #12 AWG or #14 AWG.

17. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the light source controller module is configured to support a multi-voltage rating range operation extended from the limited voltage of 12V DC (9.5V DC to 16.6 VDC).

18. The lamp driver card of claim 8 , wherein the light source controller module is configured to support a multi-voltage rating range operation extended from the limited voltage to an extended operating voltage of 9.5V-60V DC.

19. A method of controlling lighting of a lamp load located on a wayside of a railway system, the method comprising:
providing a light source controller module including at least one channel having a semiconductor switch or a relay;
receiving power on a copper cable sized at a selected gauge size from a power source to turn ON or OFF the lamp load;
supporting a multi-voltage rating range operation extended from a limited voltage to an extended operating voltage and a current rating to light the lamp load such that the light source controller module is compatible with DC voltages higher than the limited voltage; and
sizing the copper cable at the selected gauge size of a first size to a second size based on a selected voltage rating of a first voltage system or a second multi-voltage ranges system.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the light source controller module is a single lamp module that includes either 6 or 8 or 16 channels.

Assignees

• Siemens Industry Inc
• Siemens Mobility Inc

Inventors

• Hogan Brian Joseph
• Schmidt Holger

Classifications

• B61L5/1881 Primary

  Wiring diagrams for power supply, control or testing · CPC title

• B61L7/103

  Electric control of the setting of signals · CPC title

• B61L2207/02

  using light-emitting diodes [LEDs] · CPC title

• H05B37/03 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H05B47/25

  Circuit arrangements for protecting against overcurrent · CPC title