EP2269888A1 - Method and system for obtaining process information along a railway - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves arranging a data source (Q) along a railway line (1) formed by a threshold (10) and a rail (11), and forming energy converters (E, P) longitudinally along the railway line. A data transmitter (S) is arranged longitudinally along the railway line, and is connected with the energy converters and the data source. Data detected by the data source is transmitted from the data transmitter to a receiving device of a rail vehicle. The data received by the receiving device of the rail vehicle is processed to process information in a post processing process. An independent claim is also included for a system for obtaining process information of data along a railway line.

Description

The present invention relates to a method and system for obtaining process information along a railroad track according to the preamble of patent claims 1 and 10, respectively.

There are various unsolved or inadequately solved tasks in the rail area of rail-bound transport. This means in particular the access to data in the track area outside the tasks of the actual train control and train control. This data is of particular importance for the assessment of the deterioration of the railway infrastructure and the resulting maintenance of this railway infrastructure

in EP 1 213 202 B2 [1] discloses a method for mapping the track condition and / or the mechanical performance of rail vehicles that indirectly detects the track condition. For this purpose, sensors are arranged on the rail vehicle. It is intended to arrange these sensors not on special measuring trains, but in the vehicles for regular traffic. The collected data is transmitted to a control center. By postprocessing with statistical methods, it is possible to largely eliminate scattering during the acquisition. However, this method is not suitable for detecting all the resulting physical effects of driving in or next to the immediate track area.

Thus, what is desired is a method and apparatus that allows easy access to such data for appropriate and widely-used facilities.

The arbitrary scalability and the universal use of these devices in addition to a good economy and the tolerance for failures and their detection form advantageous, important properties.

Such solutions have not yet been described, not considered resp. not yet realized and therefore not yet operated. Above all, the reasons for the effort involved in the realization and the lack of suitable technology are crucial.

On the other hand, information technology tasks are becoming more and more essential due to the pressure for the increasingly intensive use of rail tracks and simultaneous use by many different companies according to criteria of optimized efficiency. The increasingly necessary weighting of the economy, such as ecology, which, however, has generally not yet taken a general approach in the existing rail networks, must be tackled and taken into account through solutions.

In the control of rail transport, functional units such as switches, signals, balises and, in most cases, also country-specific train safety devices, such as switches, signals and balancing devices, are required to ensure operational reliability and, associated with this, safety directly in the track and in the track area. Zub [1] required. These have a well-defined function, are directly or indirectly connected to a signal box.

In the interlockings, the entire function is formed by a Innenanlagen- and an external system part. The required power supply of the plant components is precisely adapted to the respective functional unit in the outdoor plant and is in terms of power consumption for a short time to permanently mostly in the two-digit to three-digit watt range [W].

Due to the supply question itself and the operating location, these functional units are self-contained and unable to take on further comprehensive tasks. An extraction of energy for other functional units is usually not permitted for reasons of availability and above all for security reasons, e.g. no interventions on safety devices to tap a DC or AC voltage for supply purposes from so-called auxiliary devices.

The present invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and system for obtaining process information along a railway track that is based on autonomous functional units, compatible with the along a track rail safety devices and a universal use of incurred in the track area further operating data allows.

This object is achieved by the features specified in the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in further claims.

The basic idea of the invention is based on the following functions of the units located in the track area:

Today's technology makes it possible to use the energy generated by the vehicles when driving on the rail network and thus to supply electrical circuits. This means that almost any number of data sources along a track can be supplied and thus a large number of data transmitters can be operated at short intervals.

Power can be supplied by the H-field of the ETCS system or by piezo energy converters. It is therefore converted with a converter mechanical or electromagnetic energy into electrical energy and this energy is used for the supply of the associated data transmitter. The RF power of the data transmitter can, due to the very short transmission distance to be very small, significantly below one milliwatt [mW]. The overlying vehicle receives the information with a selectively directed antenna over a short air gap.

Advantageously, data transmitters are mounted at regular intervals along a track. These data transmitters generate a data transmission of the data collected by a data source when the relevant body is visited. In this case, at least one absolute identification and / or an indication of the localization is sent out.

If required, the data transmitters also have an additional connection for the supply of data of a technical unit which measures or determines a state or a physical size. This is then transmitted to the overpass in addition to the identification and thereby also clearly identified.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing, for example. The only figure shows:

FIG. 1
Various alternative arrangements of the functional units along a rail track.

FIG. 1 shows left a railroad tie 10 with rails mounted thereon 11. The attachment is done in the usual way. The rails 11 rest on an elastic intermediate bearing 12. This is also called support plate 12. The mounted on the sleepers 10 rails 11 form a track 1 or synonymous a rail 1.

A first embodiment of the energy recovery for data transmitter S and data source Q is realized as follows: At the one elastic intermediate bearing 12 and support plate 12, a piezoelectric energy converter P is attached. When driving over a wheel of a rail vehicle of this rail location is a load and deformation of the intermediate storage, so with the piezoelectric energy converter P electrical energy is generated, which is supplied to the transmitter S and the data source Q. Advantageously, the piezoelectric energy converter P is still provided with an energy storage device, for example a capacitor or a rechargeable battery, in order to store the energy generated by a plurality of wheels traveling over the converter and thus a power supply from the data transmitter S and data source Q in a longer to be able to ensure a functional time interval for the functionality.

A second embodiment of power generation relies on the use of the 27MHz H-field of ETCS systems, also referred to as ETCS telepowering. For this purpose, an energy converter E is arranged according to the arrangement of the antennas on the vehicle in the threshold center, cf. in Fig. 1 the two arrangements on the right, this energy converter E is also referred to as H-field energy converter.

A third embodiment is based on the use of the H-field generated by the traction current flowing in the rails. This usage is in Fig. 1 not shown.

The energy production realized according to the first and second embodiments is only very short-term, but for each axis, and is sufficient to generate the electrical energy for a low power transmission signal for transmission of a short data telegram. The position of the axes and the receiving antenna are advantageous in the direction of travel at the same height. As already mentioned above, the plurality of short-term energy pulses can be buffered in an energy store for a quasi-continuous supply.

In practice, such solutions have already established themselves in home installation technology. On actuation, light switches convert the resulting acting mechanical energy into electrical energy by means of piezoelectric conversion, in order to allow a transmitter to transmit a telegram Food. The telegram is very short due to the small data content.

As a particular application of the present invention, it should be noted that due to the defined threshold distance and the transmitted absolute addresses, a grid for odometry is available for the vehicles on the route. In this case, the threshold distance resp. the distance to the next data transmitter S is incorporated in the data packet and thereby given.

The absolute address of the data point, when passed on to the RBC (Radio Bloc Center), allows accurate positioning of the vehicle as it travels over a data point. The transfer density correspondingly generates a latency period until receipt of the next data transmitter S and thus the availability of a current vehicle position information.

These embodiments of the present invention also allow continuous integrity control of a vehicle association (= train). The sequence of individual telegrams received at the top of the train is to be received with an instantaneous speed-dependent delay at the train end. If a part of the train breaks loose - a so-called train separation - and if this part is canceled then the calculated and the actual deceleration is too big.

This continuous integrity check is also advantageous because a wire connection, in particular a radio link between Zugspitze and Zugschluss, directly discloses a separation of the train.

• Piezo-Schwinger für die Erfassung von Daten, die Vibration und/oder Druck- und/oder Zugspannung repräsen tieren;
• Dehnmessstreifen, für die Erfassung von Daten, die Druck und/oder Zugspannung) repräsentieren;
• Temperatursensoren, z.B. für die Erfassung einer extremen Erwärmung der Schienen durch Sonneneinstrahlung.

Zur Klarstellung des Begriffs «Zugspannung»: Dies ist im Sinne einer mechanischen Beanspruchung zu verstehen und nicht etwa mit «Fahrdrahtspannung» oder mit der elektrischen Spannung von üblicherweise 1000V für die Versorgung der Wagen zu verwechseln.The data sources Q may include the following sensors:

• Piezo vibrators for acquiring data representing vibration and / or pressure and / or tension;
• Strain gauges, for data acquisition, pressure and / or tension);
• Temperature sensors, eg for detecting extreme heating of the rails due to solar radiation.

To clarify the term "tensile stress": This is to be understood in the sense of a mechanical stress and not to be confused with "contact wire voltage" or with the electrical voltage of usually 1000V for the supply of the car.

The above-mentioned data, which represent certain physical quantities, are transmitted by the data transmitter S to a receiving device of the rail vehicle during the passage, and if necessary intermediately stored there. In a later process step, these data are transmitted to a central point. In this case, even the rail vehicle identifying identifiers can be given. This central place - cf. above Radio Bloc Center RBC - now converts this data in a post-processing to so-called process information, for example, from the data of the load of the track 1 by the train:

1. Determining the mechanical stress effects when driving on the track by a vehicle type.

2. Determination of the wear phenomena of the track body 1 caused by the mechanical stress effects when driving on the track by a vehicle type.

3. Recording of the wear by means of the respective vehicle for the calculation of a load-dependent user fee.

4. Since the exact location at which a variable is detected by the data source Q is known, changes in that location can also be detected by the subsequent evaluation of the data, e.g. a slowly approaching shift of the track body 1 due to a tectonic or meteorological action. As a tectonic effect earthquakes are not in the foreground, but slow shift, e.g. in a tunnel caused by the so-called mountain pressure.

For example, how the structured data is structured and how postprocessing can be configured is the font EP 1 213 202 B2 [1].

In a particular further development of the present invention, the data transmitters S also have a receiving device via which remote programming can be carried out by means of an overpass. Specific procedures such as coding, encoded sequences, CRC, etc. prevent inadvertent programming.

In summary, the present invention has the following significance:

i) Obtaining process information from the route traveled by a train is becoming increasingly important. The route guards used in the classical railway time of the last century, who have regularly committed the open track of the track as well as in the stations and have paid attention to irregularities and damage of all kinds have disappeared for safety and economic reasons. The intense traffic and the associated risks for the people as well as the costs and other factors have caused this information source to dry up by the human eye in many countries.

ii) Thus, e.g. The risks to rail operations have risen due to climate change and, as a consequence, the increase in meteorological extreme events, especially during rainfall with possible flooding and under-washing of the route.

iii) A demand-oriented aligned along the railways data communication network, which consists of a plurality of individual discrete and independent transmission units has a high priority. This plurality of transmitting units is capable of transmitting information to the vehicle that is currently passing by rail. The method and the embodiment are modular in every respect.

List of reference numerals used in the figures

1

Rails, railway track, track body

10

threshold

11

rail

12

Support plate, elastic intermediate bearing

e

Energy converter H-field 27 MHz ETCS; H-field energy converter

P

Energy converter piezo; Piezo-energy converter

Q

Source, data source

S

Transmitter, data transmitter

List of acronyms used in the figures

ETCS

European Train Control System

CRC

Cyclic Redundancy Check

RBC

Radio Bloc Center

referenced documents

[1]

EP 1 213 202 B2
«Method for mapping the track condition and / or the mechanical performance of rail vehicles» Siemens Schweiz AG, 8047 Zürich (CH)

Claims (11)

Method for obtaining process information by means of data sources (D), wherein the data sources (Q) are arranged along a rail path (1) formed by sleepers (10) and rails (11); - Energy converter (E, P) are arranged along the rail path (1), which convert by the driving through a rail vehicle emitted by this rail vehicle energy into electrical energy, characterized in that i) along the rail path (1) data transmitters (S) are arranged, which are each connected to an energy converter (E, P) and a data source (Q) and when crossing a rail vehicle from the data source (Q) recorded data from the data transmitter ( S) are transmitted to a receiving device of the rail vehicle; ii) the data received by the receiving device of the rail vehicle are processed in a postprocessing process information. Method according to claim 1,
characterized in that
in method step i) piezoelectric energy converters (P) are provided as energy converters which are attached to an elastic intermediate bearing (12) which lies between the threshold (10) and the rail (11). Method according to claim 1,
characterized in that
in method step i) H-field energy converters (H) are provided as energy converters which convert an H-field emitted by the rail vehicle into electrical energy. Method according to claim 1,
characterized in that
in process step i) H-field energy converters (H) are provided as energy converters which convert the H-field generated by the traction currents flowing in the rails (11) into electrical energy. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4,
characterized in that
the energy converters (H, P) include a capacitor or accumulator for storage to store the converted electrical energy. Method according to one of claims 1 to 5,
characterized in that
the data received by the receiving device of the rail vehicle are buffered and transmitted in step ii) to a central point for post-processing. Method according to one of claims 1 to 6,
characterized in that
the data sources (D) alternatively contain: - Piezo vibrators for the acquisition of data representing vibration and / or pressure and / or tension; - Strain gauges, for the acquisition of data representing pressure and / or tension; - Temperature sensors, for the detection of a temperature. Method according to one of claims 1 to 7,
characterized in that
in method step i), the data acquired by the data source (Q) additionally contain an identifier which contains the origin of the data acquired by the data source (Q). Method according to one of claims 1 to 8,
characterized in that
in method step ii), an identification of the relevant rail vehicle is additionally used in the preparation for process information in order to be able to unambiguously assign the process information to the rail vehicle. The method of claim 8;
characterized in that
the identification of the data sources in the track body is used for a determination of an instantaneous speed of the association of rail vehicles and these identifications of the data sources in the track body are used for a quasi-continuous integrity control of this association of rail vehicles. System for carrying out the method according to one of claims 1 to 9 for obtaining process information by means of data sources (D) data, wherein the data sources (Q) are arranged along a rail path (1) formed by sleepers (10) and rails (11); - Energy converter (E, P) are arranged along the rail path (1), which convert by the driving through a rail vehicle emitted by this rail vehicle energy into electrical energy, characterized in that i) along the rail path (1) data transmitters (S) are arranged, which are each connected to an energy converter (E, P) and a data source (Q) and when crossing a rail vehicle from the data source (Q) recorded data from the data transmitter ( S) are transmitted to a receiving device of the rail vehicle; ii) the data received by the receiving device of the rail vehicle are processed in a postprocessing process information.

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