Braking installation for a railway train including a plurality of wagons for transporting goods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9421960-B2
Application number	US-201314385369-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Mar 16, 2012
Publication date	Aug 23, 2016
Grant date	Aug 23, 2016

Abstract

A braking installation ( 1 ) includes a pneumatic brake pipe (BP) which extends along the train, and wherein the pressure is controlled by a braking control apparatus (BCA) in the locomotive (L), an electrical power supply and communication line (EL) which extends along the train, and which is coupled to an electronic control unit (ECU) in the locomotive (L); and in each wagon (W) or in each group of wagons (W), an electronic module (EM) coupled to the electrical line (EL) through power supply and communication interface devices (I, I 1 ), and further connected to an electro-pneumatic control assembly (EPC) designed for driving pneumatic brake valve means (ELV).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Braking installation for a railway train including a locomotive and a plurality of wagons for transporting goods, comprising
a pneumatic brake pipe which extends along the train, and wherein the pressure is controlled by a braking control apparatus in the locomotive,
an electrical power supply and communication line which likewise extends along the train, and which is coupled to an electronic control unit in the locomotive; the installation further comprising, in each wagon or in each group of associated wagons:
an electronic module coupled to said electrical power supply and communication line through power supply and communication interface means, and further connected to an electro-pneumatic control assembly designed for driving pneumatic brake valve means which are coupled to the pneumatic brake pipe and are adapted to apply to brake cylinders of the wagon or a group of wagons a braking pressure variable in a controlled manner;
the electronic module being further connected to electrical sensor means associated with the electro-pneumatic control assembly and/or the brake valve means for acquiring signals or data relating to values or states of predetermined quantities;
the interface means comprising electronic processing and control means and transceiver means adapted to allow an exchange of information and/or data with said electronic control unit of the locomotive through said power supply and communication line, for controlling the braking of the wagon or group of wagons; the installation being characterized in that, in each wagon or group of wagons,
a local communication network or bus is positioned between the interface means and the electronic module, and
additional transceiver means are provided, which are coupled to said electrical power supply and communication line, and which operate in a frequency band which is different from, possibly overlapping but broader than, that of said transceiver means;
said processing and control means being designed for driving the additional transceiver means when said transceiver means are active and/or inactive, and for communicating to the electronic control unit of the locomotive information derived from the signals provided by said electrical sensor means to the electronic module and transferred by the electronic module to the interface means through said local communication network or bus.

2. Braking installation according to claim 1 , wherein said transceiver means and the additional transceiver means are included in a same interface means and are driven by the processing and control means, also included in said same interface means.

3. Braking installation according to claim 2 , wherein there are a plurality of said interface means and a plurality of said processing and control means and said transceiver means and the additional transceiver means are respectively included in said plurality of interface means distinct from one another, both coupled to said electrical supply and communication line and said local communication network or bus, and respectively provided with said plurality of processing and control means.

4. Braking installation according to claim 3 , wherein said interface means in each group of associated wagons are installed on the same wagon, or on different wagons.

5. Braking installation according to claim 1 , wherein said local communication network or bus comprises a serial line.

6. Braking installation according to claim 1 , further comprising accelerometer means adapted for supplying signals indicating the running stability conditions of the wagon.

7. Braking installation according to claim 6 , wherein said processing and control means are adapted for processing the signals supplied by the accelerometer means for computing an actual running speed of the wagon or group of wagons.

8. Braking installation according to claim 1 , including a gyroscope adapted for supplying signals indicating the angular speeds of the wagon or group of wagons relative to three orthogonal axes.

9. Braking installation according to claim 1 , wherein said processing and control means are configured to provide an anti-skid function.

Assignees

• Faiveley Transport Italia Spa

Inventors

• Grasso Angelo
• Demaria Francesco
• Wynd David

Classifications

• B60T13/665 Primary

  the systems being specially adapted for transferring two or more command signals, e.g. railway systems (B60T13/662 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60T15/021 Primary

  Railway control or brake valves · CPC title

• B60T17/228

  for railway vehicles · CPC title

• B61H13/20

  Transmitting mechanisms · CPC title

• B60T15/027

  in pneumatic systems · CPC title