GB1170410A - Means, for Electric Toy and Model Railways, for Automatic Running in Block Section Operation - Google Patents

Abstract

1,170,410. Electric model railways. M. ERNST. 24 July, 1968 [25 July, 1967], No. 35214/68. Heading A6S. Means for running two toy electric trains automatically in block section operation are characterised in that there is preceding each block section an isolated section, which is normally isolated from the traction voltage and which is sufficiently long for a train arriving on it at full speed to come to a halt before the end of it, each isolating section being able to be connected to the traction voltage through a contactless electronic switch having a control electrode connected` through a resistor to the preceding isolated section and also, in the case where there are more than three block sections, to the next but one isolated section, the resistor being such that when a locomotive is standing on an isolated section connected to the control electrode, the control current flowing through the motor windings of the locomotive to the electrode is sufficient to switch on the electronic switch but is not sufficient to cause actuation of the motor of the locomotive. The electronic switches are preferably transistors. Each block section may be provided at its beginning with a signalling device which is operated by contactless switches and has a red and a green light. The lights are provided by filament bulbs connected to a transistorised monostable multivibrator, the red bulb being in the stable branch and the green in the unstable branch. The signal immediately following one isolated section is changed from red to green by a train standing on the preceding isolated section which allows a control current to pass through the motor windings of the train, then through a resistor, to the multivibrator. An override switch may be provided which causes all the isolated sections to be connected to the traction power and all the signals to be red.