Cable car and method for operating a cable car

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11858538-B2
Application number	US-201816627880-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2018
Priority date	Jul 4, 2017
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

In order to be able to more reliably assess and react to the potential hazard when a vehicle of a cable car enters a station of the cable car, it is provided that the deflection of the vehicle before the station entrance is measured by the sensor and transmitted to the cable car control unit, that at the same time the occurrence of a wind gust before the station entrance is detected by the cable car control unit and that the cable car control unit controls a cable car drive as a function of the transmitted deflection and of the detected wind gust.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for operating a cable car with which a number of vehicles hanging on a hoisting cable are moved between at least two stations and on at least one vehicle of the cable car, the deflection of the vehicle from the vertical is measured with a sensor, wherein the deflection of the vehicle is measured with the sensor before the station entrance and transmitted to the cable car control unit, at the same time the occurrence of a wind gust as temporal change of the wind speed is detected by the cable car control unit with a wind sensor arranged on a cable car tower before the station entrance the cable car control unit combines the transmitted deflection of the vehicle and the detected wind gust for controlling a cable car drive as a function of the transmitted deflection and of the detected wind gust.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the direction of the wind gust is detected by the cable car control unit and is taken into account when controlling the cable car drive.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein only wind gusts from a defined direction are taken into account in the cable car control unit.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein wind gusts from different directions are taken into account in different manners in the cable car control unit.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deflection of the vehicle and the occurrence of the wind gust is detected by the cable car control unit at a distance before the station entrance, which is larger than the braking distance of the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the direction of the wind gust is detected by the cable car control unit at a distance before the station entrance, which is larger than the braking distance of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deflection of the vehicle is transmitted to the cable car control unit by means of a radio transponder on the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a passive radio transponder is used and the passive radio transponder obtains the electrical energy for transmitting the deflection from a polling signal received by the radio transponder.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle obtains the electrical energy for reading out the sensor from the passive radio transponder.

10. A cable car with a number of vehicles hanging on a hoisting cable, which are movable between at least two stations, wherein a sensor for detecting the deflection of the vehicle from the vertical is arranged on at least one vehicle of the cable car, wherein a cable car control unit is provided, which is connected to a cable car drive and controls the cable car drive, and a transmitting device is arranged on the vehicle in order to transmit the deflection of the vehicle measured by the sensor before the station entrance to a receiver in the area of the station, the receiver connected to the cable car control unit and the receiver transmitting the deflection to the cable car control unit, on a cable car tower before the station entrance a wind sensor is arranged which is connected to the cable car control unit and which detects the occurrence of a wind gust, as temporal change of the wind speed, before the station entrance and transmits the detected occurrence of a wind gust to the cable car control and that the cable car control unit combines the transmitted deflection of the vehicle and the detected wind gust for controlling the cable car drive as a function of the transmitted deflection and the detected wind gust.

11. The cable car of claim 10 , wherein a radio transponder is provided on the vehicle as the transmitting device and the receiver is designed as a reader for the radio transponder.

12. The cable car of claim 11 , wherein a passive radio transponder is provided as the radio transponder, and the reader transmits a polling signal via a transmitting antenna, which is received by the radio transponder and obtains therefrom the electrical energy for operating the radio transponder and the sensor.

Assignees

• Innova Patent Gmbh

Inventors

• Hofmayr Christoph
• Pfeifer Daniel

Classifications

• B61B12/06 Primary

  Safety devices or measures against cable fracture · CPC title

• B61B7/00

  Rope railway systems with suspended flexible tracks · CPC title

• B61B12/04 Primary

  Devices for damping vibrations · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• B61B12/00 Primary

  Component parts, details or accessories not provided for in groups B61B7/00 - B61B11/00 (railway brakes B61H; turntables B61J1/06) · CPC title