ES2661126T3 - Discrimination procedure for the presence of a railway vehicle on a canton, procedure for calculating a safety interval and associated device - Google Patents

Abstract

Procedure for calculating a safety interval (S2) around a vehicle traveling on a railway track (4), the safety interval (S2) being formed by a segment that has a front end (A2) and a rear end ( Z2), which uses a procedure for discriminating the presence of the railway vehicle (2) on a particular block (6B; 6C) of the railway (4) consisting of the steps of: - transmission, from a computer (14) shipped on board the rail vehicle (2) to a computer on the ground (12), of information relating to the number of axles of the rail vehicle (2); - transmission, over time, by sensors to the track (8B; 8C) associated with said block (6B; 6C) and adjacent blocks (6A, 6C; 6B, 6D) to said block (6B; 6C) , towards a grounded computer (12), of information relative to the number of axes present in the corresponding block (6A, 6B, 6C, 6D); - discrimination by the ground computer (12) of the presence of said rail vehicle (2) on said block (6C) if the number of axles present on said block (6B; 6C) is equal to the number of axles of said rail vehicle (2) and if the number of axes present on each of the cantons (6A, 6C; 6B, 6D) adjacent to said canton (6B; 6C) is null and characterized in that it consists of the additional steps of: - identification between the or the occupied cantons (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) by the railway vehicle (2), of a front occupied canton (6B; 6C; 6C), which is the occupied canton (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) located more down with respect to the direction of travel of the railway vehicle (2); - identification, between the occupied block(s) (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) by the railway vehicle (2), of a rear occupied block (6B; 6B; 6C), which is the occupied block (6B; 6B, 6C 6C) located higher with respect to the direction of travel of the rail vehicle (2); - identification of a forward vacant block (6C; 6D; 6D), which is the vacant block (6) situated below the forward occupied block (6B; 6C; 6C), adjacent to the forward occupied block (6B; 6C; 6C) ; - identification of a rear vacant block (6A; 6A; 6B), which is the vacant block (6) located above the rear occupied block (6B; 6B; 6C), adjacent to the rear occupied block (6B; 6B; 6C) ; - assignment to the front end (A2) of the security interval (S2) of a point located on the front vacant block (6C; 6D; 6D) and located at a predetermined distance (LA) from the border between the front occupied block (6B; 6C; 6C) and the front vacant canton (6C; 6D; 6D); - assignment to the rear end (Z2) of the security interval (S2) of a point located on the rear vacant block (6A; 6A; 6B) and located at a predetermined distance (LZ) from the border between the rear occupied block (6B; 6B; 6C) and the rear vacant corner (6A; 6A; 6B); - transmission, from the on-board computer (14) to the ground computer (12), of information relating to the position of the rail vehicle (2) and to an interval of positions (S1) of the rail vehicle (2), the position being of the rail vehicle (2) a segment comprised between the front and the rear of the rail vehicle (2), the range of positions (S1) being a segment having a front end (A1) and a rear end (Z1), the position of the railway vehicle (2) being included in said range of positions (S1); - if the front and rear of the rail vehicle (2), obtained from the position of the rail vehicle (2) are included in the limits of the same block (6B; 6C), assignment by the ground computer ( 12) from the range of positions (S1) to the safety range (S2); - otherwise, preservation of the safety interval (S2) calculated.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Discrimination procedure for the presence of a railway vehicle over a canton, procedure for calculating a safety interval and associated device 5

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of calculating a safety interval based on a method of discriminating the presence of a railway vehicle on a canton of a railway track.

[0002] "Discrimination against the presence of a railway vehicle over a canton" means, in the sense of the present invention, the fact that said railway vehicle is the only vehicle that

occupies said canton.

[0003] The invention applies to the field of railway safety, in particular to automatic rail traffic control systems. Such systems are, for example, systems called "for the management of

15 trains based on communication »or CBTC (from English« Communication Based Train Control »).

[0004] For a railway vehicle that circulates on a railroad, classically segmented into a plurality of successive cantons, a calculator on board the vehicle calculates a range of vehicle positions on the railroad.

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[0005] "Range of positions" means, within the meaning of the present invention, a segment of the railway track on which the railway vehicle is located.

[0006] The on-board calculator determines the position of the vehicle along the railway track, based, for example, on beacons arranged on the railway track and whose locations are known. More precisely, the

on-board calculator determines the range of positions of the railway vehicle from the location of the last beacon found and the displacement of the vehicle from this last beacon (this displacement being measured, for example, by an odometer) and taking into account the length of the rail vehicle and safety distances on both sides of the head and tail ends of the rail vehicle.

30

[0007] The range of positions of the vehicle is then sent, for example, by radio waves, to a central computer, to ground. The ground computer is adapted to receive the range of positions associated with each vehicle of a plurality of rail vehicles authorized to travel on the considered road.

35 [0008] The grounding computer is also suitable for receiving information from

so-called secondary detection devices, associated with each canton of the railway, each secondary detection device being appropriate to determine whether the corresponding canton is occupied or empty.

[0009] "Occupied" means a canton on which the railway vehicle is at least partially engaged.

[0010] The ground computer is suitable for controlling the running or stopping of each vehicle depending on the range of positions of the vehicle considered, the range of positions of each of the other vehicles and information received from the detection devices secondary as well as eventually

45 other operating limitations.

[0011] The realization of the discrimination of the presence of a railway vehicle on a canton is known according to the following procedure:

50 - the range of positions of the vehicle is transmitted to the central computer, to ground;

- for the canton on which the segment that forms the range of positions is located entirely, if the distance between each end of the segment that forms the range of positions of the vehicle and the nearest adjacent canton is less than the length of the smallest vehicle authorized to move on the railroad, while the computer on the ground determines that said railway vehicle is the only vehicle that occupies the canton 55 considered.

[0012] Such a procedure is called "sweeping".

[0013] However, such a procedure is not entirely satisfactory.

[0014] Indeed, in the case where small vehicles, such as maintenance vehicles (whose length is generally a few meters only), are allowed to travel on the railway, this procedure does not generally allow discrimination of the presence of a single railway vehicle

5 on a canton, since the distance between one end of the range of positions of said vehicle and the nearest adjacent canton is often greater than the length of said maintenance vehicles.

[0015] In this context, several options are offered to the operator of the rail network.

[0016] A first option is to ignore small vehicles in the management system of the

traffic. Such choice is evidently translated by security problems.

[0017] A second option is to have an operator intervene to discriminate. Such an option does not therefore allow automatic operation of the rail network and is capable of generating some

15 safety problems in case of non-respect of the intervention procedures by the operator.

[0018] It is also known from WO 2014/048708 A2 a procedure for discriminating the presence of a railway vehicle on a canton of a railway track consisting of the stages of:

20 - transmission of information relating to the number of axles of the railway vehicle from a computer on board the rail vehicle to a grounded computer;

- transmission, during the time, by some sensors to the track associated to said canton and to some cantons adjacent to said canton, to a computer to ground, of information relative to the number of axes present in the corresponding canton;

25 - discrimination by the computer to ground of the presence of said railway vehicle on said canton if the number of axles present in said canton is equal to the number of axles of said railway vehicle and if the number of axles present on each of the cantons adjacent to said canton is null.

[0019] By such a procedure, it is possible to determine unambiguously that, if the number of axles present on the canton considered is equal to the number of axles of said railway vehicle and if the number of axles

present on each of the cantons adjacent to said canton considered is void, then said railway vehicle is the only vehicle present on the considered canton and this regardless of the length of the smallest vehicle authorized to circulate on the rail network.

35 [0020] In addition, such a procedure is fully automatic and does not require the presence of an operator

to carry out the operation of discrimination of the presence of said vehicle on the canton considered.

[0021] The object of the invention is then to propose a procedure for calculating a safety interval based on such discrimination procedure.

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[0022] The object of the invention is a method of calculating a safety interval and a device according to the claims.

[0023] The invention will be better understood with the help of the description that follows, given only by way of non-limiting example and made in reference to the attached drawings in which:

- Figures 1 to 3 are schematic representations of the successive stages of the discrimination procedure with a first initial situation; Y

- Figures 4 to 7 are schematic representations of the successive stages of the discrimination procedure with a second initial situation different from the first initial situation.

[0024] A rail vehicle 2 running on a railroad track 4 is shown in figure 1. In the example, the traffic on track 4 is carried out from left to right in the figures.

55 [0025] The discrimination of the position of the railway vehicle 2 is carried out by a device of

Discrimination 5 consisting of a grounded component and a shipped component.

[0026] For the ground component, the railroad 4 is subdivided into a plurality of cantons 6

successive Each canton 6 is identified by an identifier, which is associated with the geographical position of the canton.

[0027] For example, the railroad 4 consists of a first canton 6A, a second canton 6B, a third canton

6C and a fourth canton 6D.

[0028] Track sensors are arranged along the track to detect the presence of a vehicle.

Track sensors are of the axis counter type.

[0029] More precisely, the railroad 4 consists of a plurality of sensors 7. A sensor 7 is disposed on the border between two adjacent cantons 6. For example, a first sensor 7A is arranged at the border between

10 cantons 6A and 6B, a second sensor 7B is disposed on the border between cantons 6B and 6C and a third sensor 7C is disposed on the border between cantons 6C and 6D.

[0030] Each sensor 7 is suitable for detecting the passage of an axis of a railway vehicle at the border between the corresponding cantons 6.

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[0031] In addition, a plurality of secondary detection devices 8 are arranged in proximity to the railroad 4.

[0032] Each canton 6 is associated with a corresponding secondary detection device 8. In particular, and as it appears in the figures, cantons 6B, 6C and 6D are associated respectively with the

secondary detection devices 8B, 8C and 8D.

[0033] Each secondary detection device 8 is connected to the two sensors 7 arranged at each of the ends of the corresponding canton 6, to receive information regarding the detection of the passage of a

25 axis of a railway vehicle from the corresponding canton 6 towards an adjacent canton or from an adjacent canton towards the corresponding canton 6.

[0034] For example, the secondary detection device 8B is connected to the sensors 7A and 7B and the secondary detection device 8C is connected to the sensors 7B and 7C.

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[0035] Each secondary detection device 8 is appropriate for determining the number of axes present in the corresponding canton 6. In particular, each secondary detection device 8 is suitable for determining the number of axes present on the corresponding canton 6 from the information supplied by each of the corresponding sensors 7. Each secondary detection device 8 is

35 suitable for positively counting an axis detected by the sensor 7 disposed on the boundary between the canton 6 corresponding to said secondary detection device 8 and the canton 6 located higher with respect to the direction of movement on the railway 4, which corresponds to the situation in which said axis fits in the canton 6 corresponding to the secondary detection device 8.

[0036] In addition, each secondary detection device 8 is suitable for negatively counting an axis

detected by the sensor 7 disposed on the border between the canton 6 corresponding to said secondary detection device 8 and the canton 6 located lower with respect to the direction of movement on the railway 4, which corresponds to the situation in which said axis leaves canton 6 corresponding to said secondary detection device 8.

Four. Five

[0037] Each secondary detection device 8 is further connected to a grounded computer 12, for example, by a radio connection. Each secondary detection device 8 transmits to the computer to ground 12 an information relative to the number of axes present in the corresponding canton 6. In addition, each secondary detection device 8 is suitable for transmitting to the computer to ground 12 the identifier of the canton 6

50 corresponding.

[0038] For the embarked component, a plurality of beacons 9 are arranged along the railroad track 4. The beacons 9 are arranged successively along the railroad track 4, at predetermined geographical locations. For example, a beacon 9 is placed in the center of each canton 6. Each beacon 9

55 is identified by a unique beacon identifier.

[0039] The railway vehicle 2 consists of at least one antenna associated with an appropriate embarked beacon sensor to detect the presence of a beacon 9 when it is in proximity to it and to capture information related to this detected beacon 9. Preferably, the beacon 9 is appropriate for communicating its

identifier to the beacon sensor of the rail vehicle 2.

[0040] The railway vehicle 2 also consists of measuring instruments for the displacement, speed and / or acceleration of the railway vehicle 2. The measuring instruments are, for example, about

5 odometers and / or accelerometers.

[0041] In addition, the rail vehicle 2 consists of a on-board calculator 14.

[0042] The calculator 14 comprises a memory consisting of a table that associates, with the identifier of every 10 beacon 9 of the track 4, the position of this beacon 9 along the railroad 4.

[0043] The measuring instruments and the beacon sensor are connected to the on-board calculator 14.

[0044] Classically, the on-board calculator 14 is suitable for calculating, from the information received from the measuring instruments and the beacon sensor, the position of the railway vehicle 2,

as well as a range of positions S1 of the rail vehicle 2.

[0045] The position of the rail vehicle 2 is given by the position of the front end of the rail vehicle 2, even called the "front part of the rail vehicle 2" and by the position of the rear end of the

20 railway vehicle 2, even called "rear of railway vehicle 2". More precisely, the position of the rail vehicle 2 is the segment between the front of the rail vehicle 2 and the rear of the rail vehicle 2. This segment corresponding to the length of the rail vehicle 2.

[0046] As illustrated by Figure 2, the range of positions S1 corresponds to a segment that extends between a leading end A1 and a trailing end Z1. The length of segment S1 is greater than or equal to

length of the rail vehicle 2, to take account of location errors, for example, due to the odometer system of the rail vehicle 2. The rail vehicle 2 is thus always in the interval S1, or, in other words, the position of the vehicle rail 2 is always in the range of positions S1.

[0047] The front part of the rail vehicle 2 and the front end A1 of the interval S1 are distant from

a distance Da. In addition, the rear part of the rail vehicle 2 and the rear end Z1 of the interval S1 are distant from a distance Dz.

[0048] The distance Da is, for example, equal to the maximum distance that the railway vehicle 35 2 can travel forward during a cycle of calculation of the interval S1 by the on-board calculator 14, given the current speed

of the rail vehicle 2 and the maximum forward acceleration that said rail vehicle 2 can reach. In the example described below, the current speed is zero.

[0049] In addition, the distance Dz is, for example, equal to the maximum distance that the railway vehicle 40 can travel backwards during a cycle of calculation of the interval S1 by the on-board calculator 14, given the

current speed of the rail vehicle 2 and the maximum backward acceleration that said rail vehicle 2 can achieve. In the example described below, the current speed is zero.

[0050] Thus, between two successive calculation cycles, the rail vehicle 2 never leaves the range of 45 positions S1.

[0051] The on-board calculator 14 is suitable for communicating with the grounded computer 12. The on-board calculator 14 and the grounded computer 12 are for example suitable for communicating with each other by radio waves.

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[0052] The on-board calculator 14 is suitable for issuing, for the computer to ground 12, information relating to the number of axles of the railway vehicle 2. This information is loaded into the memory of the calculator 14 during the composition of the railway vehicle 2.

55 [0053] The on-board calculator 14 is equally suitable for issuing, for the computer to ground 12,

the last position range S1 of the railway vehicle 2 calculated by the on-board calculator 14. The on-board calculator 14 is also suitable for issuing, towards the computer to ground 12, the last position of the railway vehicle 2 calculated by the on-board calculator 14.

[0054] The ground computer 12 consists of a memory (not shown) in which the identifier of each canton 6 is associated with the geographical position of said canton 6.

[0055] The ground computer 12 is suitable for calculating a range of positions of the rail vehicle 5 2, called "secondary interval" S2, from the information received from the devices of

secondary detection 8.

[0056] As shown in Figure 1, the secondary interval S2 corresponds to a segment of the front end A2 and the rear end Z2. By construction and as will be described later, the length of the interval

Secondary S2 is greater than or equal to the length of the interval S1, so that the interval S1 is always included in the secondary interval S2.

[0057] The front end A2 of the secondary interval S2 is placed in front of the railway vehicle 2, more precisely at a point of a canton 6 which is the first vacant front canton, that is to say from the part

15 front of the rail vehicle 2, in the direction of the rail vehicle 2 running.

[0058] The front end A2 is located at a distance from the border between this first vacant front canton and the adjacent canton that is occupied by the rail vehicle 2.

[0059] The distance La is, for example, equal to the distance between the front of the rail vehicle 2 and

the axis of the railway vehicle closest to the front of the railway vehicle, to which the distance that the railway vehicle 2 can travel at its maximum forward speed is added, for the maximum time necessary to the discrimination device 5 to detect the entry of an axis in a canton 6. Preferably, the distance La is greater than or equal to the distance Da.

25

[0060] The rear end Z2 of the secondary interval S2 is located behind the rail vehicle 2, more

particularly at a point in a canton which is the first canton 6 rear vacancy, that is, from the rear of the railway vehicle 2, in the opposite direction to the march of the railway vehicle 2.

[0061] The rear end Z2 is located at a distance Lz from the border between this first vacant canton

rear and the adjacent canton that is occupied by the rail vehicle.

[0062] In addition, the distance Lz is, for example, equal to the distance between the rear of the railway vehicle 2 and the axis of the nearest railway vehicle from the rear of the vehicle 2, to which the

35 distance that the railway vehicle 2 can travel at its maximum speed backwards, for the maximum time necessary to the discrimination device 5 to detect the entry of an axle in a canton 6. Preferably, the distance Lz is greater than or equal to the distance Dz.

[0063] The location device 5 is suitable for discriminating the presence of the rail vehicle 2 40 over the canton 6 which it occupies based on the data emitted by the secondary detection devices 8 and by the

on-board calculator 14.

[0064] The operation of the location device 5 will now be described. In particular, the operation of the location device 5 when the railway vehicle 2 is stopped, for example, after

45 of a waking period, it will be described now.

[0065] Throughout the procedure of discrimination of the railway vehicle 2 over the cantons 6 of the railway track 4, the on-board calculator 14 periodically issues, with destination to the ground computer 12, information regarding the total number of axles of said vehicle railway 2. In addition, throughout this procedure, the

50 on-board calculator 14 periodically calculates the range of positions S1 and the position of the rail vehicle 2 and transmits them to the computer to ground 12.

[0066] According to a first example, illustrated by Figures 1 to 3, the rail vehicle 2 is stationary and occupies a single canton 6B, that is, that neither the front nor the rear of the rail vehicle 2 exceeds the limits.

55 of the current canton 6B. In addition, adjacent cantons 6A and 6C are vacant.

[0067] During an initial stage of the discrimination procedure, illustrated by Figure 1, the detection devices 8 send information about the occupation of the cantons 6 of the railway track to the computer 12. More precisely, the devices of detection 8 send the number of axes present on each one

of the corresponding 6 cantons. Here, cantons 6A and 6C are vacant, that is, they are not occupied by any axis. In addition, only canton 6B is occupied by at least one vehicle. In this case, four axes are present on canton 6B.

5 [0068] The ground computer 12 identifies the vacant cantons and then calculates the position of the

ends A2, Z2 of the secondary interval S2.

[0069] The leading end A2 of the secondary interval S2 is located on canton 6C, at a distance from that of the boundary between canton 6B and canton 6C.

10

[0070] The rear end Z2 of the secondary interval S2 is located on canton 6A, at a distance Lz from the border between canton 6B and canton 6A.

[0071] Then the grounding computer 12 assigns the secondary interval S2 to the position of the 15 railway vehicle (s) present on the canton 6B. Indeed, at this time of the procedure, the vehicle

Rail 2 is not discriminated yet. The number of vehicles present on canton 6B is not known, therefore.

[0072] During a following stage, illustrated by Figure 2, the on-board calculator 14 calculates the position of the rail vehicle 2, as well as the range of positions S1. The on-board calculator 14 transmits to

20 then, with reference to the ground computer 12, information regarding the position of the railway vehicle 2, as well as the range of positions S1.

[0073] The on-board computer 14 also transmits the number of axles of the rail vehicle 2, in this case four axes, to the ground computer 12.

25

[0074] The front and rear of the railway vehicle 2, obtained from the position of the railway vehicle 2 calculated by the on-board calculator 14, are contained in the current canton 6B; furthermore, the number of axles detected by the secondary detection device 8 associated with the current canton 6B is equal to the number of axles of the railway vehicle 2. Therefore, during a next stage, illustrated by Figure 3, the

30 computer to ground 12 determines that railway vehicle 2 is the only vehicle that occupies canton 6B.

[0075] The ground computer 12 retains only the range of positions S1 and assigns it to the secondary interval S2 for the regulation of traffic on the railroad 4.

35 [0076] The ground computer 12 considers that the railway vehicle 2 is the only vehicle present in the

canton 6B. The ground computer 12 then emits a discrimination signal, for example, to an operator or a rail traffic management system.

[0077] Rail vehicle 2 is then authorized to move automatically.

40

[0078] According to a second example, illustrated by Figures 4 to 7, the rail vehicle 2 is stationary and occupies two adjacent cantons 6B and 6C. In this case, the front part of the railway vehicle 2 is located in canton 6C and the rear part of the railway vehicle 2 is located in canton 6B. Such an example corresponds to a degraded mode of operation.

Four. Five

[0079] In addition, adjacent cantons 6A and 6D are vacant, counting devices 8A and 8D respectively 0 axes on the associated canton.

[0080] During an initial stage of the discrimination procedure, illustrated by Figure 4, the detection devices 50 send information about the occupancy of the cantons 6 to the ground computer 12

corresponding of the railway track 4. More precisely, the detection devices 8 send the number of axes present on each of the corresponding cantons 6. Here, cantons 6A and 6D are vacant and cantons 6B and 6C are occupied by at least one vehicle. In this case, the secondary detection device 8B, associated with canton 6B, detects three axes present on canton 6B. In addition, the secondary detection device 55 associated with canton 6C detects an axis present on canton 6C.

[0081] The ground computer 12 identifies the vacant cantons and then calculates the position of the ends A2, Z2 of the secondary interval S2.

[0082] The leading end A2 of the secondary interval S2 is located on canton 6D, at a distance from that of the boundary between canton 6C and canton 6D.

[0083] The rear end Z2 of the secondary interval S2 is located on canton 6A, at a distance Lz from the boundary between canton 6B and canton 6A.

[0084] Then the ground computer 12 assigns the secondary interval S2 to the position of the railway vehicle (s) present on cantons 6B and 6C. Indeed, at this moment of the procedure, the rail vehicle 2 is not yet discriminated. The number of vehicles present on cantons 6B and 6C is not

10 knows, therefore.

[0085] During a subsequent stage, illustrated by Figure 5, the on-board calculator 14 calculates the position of the rail vehicle 2, as well as the range of positions S1. The on-board calculator 14 then transmits, for the computer to ground 12, information regarding the position of the railway vehicle

15 2, as well as the range of positions S1.

[0086] The front and rear part of the rail vehicle 2 being located in two different cantons 6B, 6C, the ground computer 12 is not able to discriminate the rail vehicle 2.

[0087] Thus, during a next stage, illustrated by Figure 6, an operator manipulates the railway vehicle

2 to make it progress along the railroad 4, until the front and rear of the rail vehicle 2 are located in the same canton 6, in this case, the canton 6C. For example, the operator handles the rail vehicle 2 in sight.

[0088] When the position of the railway vehicle 2 is such that the front and rear of the

Rail vehicle 2 is located in the same canton 6C, the secondary detection device 8C associated with the canton 6C detects four axes present on the canton 6C, while the secondary detection device 8B associated with the canton 6B does not detect any. In addition, the secondary detection device 8D associated with the canton 6D also does not detect any axis on the canton 6D.

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[0089] The ground computer 12 then recalculates a new position of the ends A2, Z2 of the secondary interval S2.

[0090] The leading end A2 of the secondary interval S2 is located on the canton 6D, at a distance La from the boundary between the canton 6C and the canton 6D.

[0091] The rear end Z2 of the secondary interval S2 is located on the canton 6B, at a distance Lz from the boundary between the canton 6C and the canton 6B.

[0092] The ground computer 12 is then able to discriminate the rail vehicle 2, in a similar manner

to the previous example.

[0093] More precisely, during a next stage, illustrated by Figure 7, the ground computer 12 compares the number of axes detected by the secondary detection device 8 associated with the current canton 6C

45 with the number of axles of the railway vehicle 2.

[0094] The secondary detection device 8C associated with the canton 6C detects four axes present on the canton 6C, while the secondary detection devices 8B, 8D associated with the cantons 6B, 6D respectively do not detect any.

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[0095] The cantons 6B and 6D being vacant and the number of axes detected by the secondary detection device 8 associated with the current canton 6 equal to the number of axles of the railway vehicle 2, ie four axes, the ground computer 12 determines that Rail vehicle 2 is the only vehicle that occupies canton 6C.

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[0096] The ground computer 12 retains only the range of positions S1 and assigns it to the secondary interval S2 for the regulation of traffic on the railway 4.

[0097] The ground computer 12 considers that the rail vehicle 2 is the only vehicle present on the

canton 6C. The ground computer 12 then emits a discriminating signal, for example to an operator or a rail traffic management system.

[0098] Rail vehicle 2 is then authorized to move automatically.

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[0099] During the operation of the discrimination device 5, the secondary interval S2 corresponds to a safety interval from the point of view of a rail traffic management system, on land. The construction of the secondary interval S2 guarantees, with a high level of safety, for example level 4 of the SIL standard commonly used in the railway field, the absence of vehicle in cantons 6 that are not

10 covered by the secondary interval S2.

[0100] In the case of a railway convoy composed of at least two railway vehicles linked between them, the calculator 14 on board each of the railway vehicles of the railway convoy transmits information relating to the number of axles of the corresponding railway vehicle with destiny to

15 computer to ground 12.

[0101] As a variant, a single on-board calculator transmits information relating to the number of axes of the railway convoy assembly destined for the ground computer 12.

Claims (2)

1. Procedure for calculating a safety interval (S2) around a vehicle that circulates on a railway (4), the safety interval (S2) being formed by a segment that has an end 5 front (A2) and a rear end (Z2), which uses a procedure for discriminating the presence of the railway vehicle (2) over a particular canton (6B; 6C) of the railway track (4) consisting of the stages of : - transmission, from a calculator (14) on board the rail vehicle (2) to a ground computer (12), of information relating to the number of axles of the rail vehicle (2); 10 - transmission, over time, by track sensors (8B; 8C) associated with said canton (6B; 6C) and adjacent cantons (6A, 6C; 6b, 6D) to said canton (6B; 6C ), towards a computer to ground (12), of information relative to the number of axes present in the canton (6A, 6B, 6C, 6D) corresponding; - discrimination by the computer to the ground (12) of the presence of said railway vehicle (2) on said canton (6C) if the number of axles present on said canton (6B; 6C) is equal to the number of axles of said vehicle 15 railway (2) and if the number of axes present on each of the cantons (6A, 6C; 6B, 6D) adjacent to said canton (6B; 6C) is null and characterized because it consists of the supplementary stages of: - identification between the occupied canton (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) by the rail vehicle (2), of a busy front canton (6B; 6C; 6C), which is the occupied canton (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) located lower with respect to the direction of travel of the railway vehicle (2); 20 - identification, between the occupied canton (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) by the railway vehicle (2), of a rear occupied canton (6B; 6B; 6C), which is the occupied canton (6B; 6B, 6C; 6C) located higher with respect to the direction of travel of the railway vehicle (2); - identification of a vacant front canton (6C; 6D; 6D), which is the vacant canton (6) located below the front busy canton (6B; 6C; 6C), adjacent to the front busy canton (6B; 6C; 6C) ; 25 - identification of a vacant rear canton (6A; 6A; 6B), which is the vacant canton (6) located above the rear occupied canton (6B; 6B; 6C), adjacent to the rear occupied canton (6B; 6B; 6C ); - assignment to the front end (A2) of the safety interval (S2) of a point located on the vacant front canton (6C; 6D; 6D) and which is at a predetermined distance (La) from the border between the front occupied canton (6B; 6C; 6C) and the vacant front canton (6C; 6D; 6D); 30 - assignment to the rear end (Z2) of the safety interval (S2) of a point located on the vacant rear canton (6A; 6A; 6B) and which is at a predetermined distance (Lz) from the border between the occupied canton rear (6B; 6B; 6C) and rear vacant canton (6A; 6A; 6b); - transmission, from the on-board computer (14) to the ground computer (12), of information regarding the position of the railway vehicle (2) and a range of positions (S1) of the railway vehicle (2), the position being 35 of the railway vehicle (2) a segment between the front and the rear of the railway vehicle (2), the range of positions (S1) being a segment that has a front end (A1) and a rear end (Z1) , the position of the railway vehicle (2) being included in said range of positions (S1); - if the front and rear of the railway vehicle (2), obtained from the position of the railway vehicle (2) are within the limits of the same canton (6B; 6C), assigned by the computer to ground 40 (12) from the range of positions (S1) to the safety interval (S2); - otherwise, preservation of the calculated safety interval (S2). 2. Device (5) for discriminating the presence of a railway vehicle (2) on a canton (6C) of a railway track (4), consisting of: Four. Five - a ground computer (12) suitable for applying the calculation method according to claim 1 for calculating a safety interval (S2); - a calculator (14) shipped on board the railway vehicle (2), suitable for transmitting, in the course of time, to the computer on the ground (12), information relating to the number of axles of the railway vehicle (2); 50 - track sensors (8) associated with said canton (6C) and adjacent cantons (6B, 6D) to said canton (6C), suitable for transmitting, over time, to the computer to ground ( 12), an information relative to the number of axes present in the corresponding canton (6B, 6C, 6D); the grounding computer (12) being appropriate to discriminate the presence of said railway vehicle (2) on said canton (6C) if the number of axles present on the canton (6C) is equal to the number of axles of the railway vehicle (2 ) and if the number of axes present on each of the cantons (6B, 6D) adjacent to said canton (6C) is null.