JP2021100831A - Obstacle monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an obstacle monitoring device which can reduce or remove an undetectable region where an occurrence of a train passage obstacle cannot be detected, while increases of installation costs or maintenance costs are suppressed.SOLUTION: An obstacle monitoring device 1 comprises an impedance measuring part 3 to measure an impedance of a track circuit 11, an obstacle detecting part 5 to detect an occurrence of an obstacle of a train passage in a section of the track circuit 11 based on a change of an impedance of the track circuit 11 and a reporting part 7 to report that a train passage is impossible in the section of the track circuit 11 when the obstacle of the train passage occurs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an obstacle monitoring device that monitors the presence or absence of an obstacle in train passage by using a track circuit.

Patent Document 1 describes a technique for braking a railway vehicle by detecting the occurrence of an operation obstacle such as a landslide with an operation obstacle detection sensor. Further, Patent Document 2 describes a technique for detecting the occurrence of a disaster such as a landslide, a debris flow, or an avalanche by using a disaster detection sensor such as a wire sensor or an extensometer.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-320139 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-34874

In order to ensure the safe operation of railway vehicles, it is necessary to reliably detect the occurrence of operational obstacles such as landslides. However, when a disaster detection sensor such as a wire sensor or an extensometer is used as the operation failure detection sensor in Patent Document 1, the detection range of the disaster detection sensor is limited. For this reason, there is a possibility that an undetectable area may occur in which the occurrence of an operation failure due to a landslide or the like cannot be detected. On the other hand, in order to reduce or eliminate the undetectable area, it is necessary to install a large number of disaster detection sensors, and maintenance and maintenance of them are not easy. Therefore, if the installation cost and the maintenance cost are high. I have no choice but to do so.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an obstacle monitoring device capable of reducing or eliminating an undetectable area in which the occurrence of an obstacle in train passage cannot be detected while suppressing an increase in installation cost and maintenance cost.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a fault monitoring device is provided. This fault monitoring device includes an impedance measuring unit that measures the impedance of the track circuit, and a fault detecting unit that detects that a train traffic failure has occurred in a section of the track circuit based on a change in the impedance of the track circuit. Has.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an obstacle monitoring device capable of reducing or eliminating an undetectable area in which the occurrence of an obstacle in train passage cannot be detected while suppressing an increase in installation cost and maintenance cost.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the fault monitoring device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and shows the case where the fault monitoring device is provided on the transmission side of the train detection signal in a track circuit. It is a figure which shows roughly how the impedance of a track circuit changes. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation of the fault detection part of the fault monitoring apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the change of the impedance of the track circuit when a train passage obstruction occurs in the track circuit. It is a figure which shows the case where the fault monitoring device is provided on the transmitting side and the receiving side of a train detection signal in a track circuit.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fault monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The fault monitoring device 1 according to the embodiment is configured to monitor the presence or absence of a train running fault on the railroad track by using a track circuit 11 provided on the railroad track (hereinafter, simply referred to as “railroad track”). There is.

In FIG. 1, the track circuit 11 is formed by two (left and right) rails R divided into predetermined lengths, and constitutes a track circuit device together with a transmitter 12 and a receiver 13. The transmitter 12 is configured to transmit a train detection signal of a predetermined frequency to the transmission end 11a on the train advance side of the track circuit 11, and the receiver 13 is said from the reception end 11b on the train entry side of the track circuit 11. It is configured to receive train detection signals. Reference numerals 14 and 15 in FIG. 1 indicate impedance bonds, respectively, and reference numeral 16 indicates an insulator installed at the boundary between the track circuit 11 and the adjacent track circuit in front of the track circuit in the train traveling direction. Reference numeral 17 denotes an insulator installed at the boundary between the track circuit 11 and the adjacent track circuit behind the track circuit 11 in the train traveling direction. The track circuit device utilizes the fact that when a train enters the track circuit 11, the track circuit 11 is short-circuited by the wheels and axles of the train, and the signal level of the train detection signal received by the receiver 13 is lowered. Therefore, it is configured to detect whether or not a train is present in the section of the track circuit 11.

The fault monitoring device 1 according to the embodiment is provided on the transmission end 11a side of the track circuit 11, that is, on the transmission side of the train detection signal in the track circuit 11. The fault monitoring device 1 includes an impedance measuring unit 3, a fault detecting unit 5, and a reporting unit 7.

The impedance measuring unit 3 measures the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 as seen from the transmission end 11a side in a predetermined sampling cycle Ts. The impedance measuring unit 3 is detected by a voltage detecting unit 31 that detects the voltage value V of the train detection signal transmitted to the track circuit 11 and a current detecting unit 32 that detects the current value I flowing through the track circuit 11. It has an impedance calculation unit 33 that calculates the impedance Z of the orbital circuit 11 as seen from the transmission end 11a side based on the voltage value V and the current value I. The impedance measurement unit 3 outputs the calculation result of the impedance calculation unit 33 for each sampling cycle Ts to the failure detection unit 5 as the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 viewed from the transmission end 11a. However, the configuration of the impedance measuring unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 is only an example. The impedance measuring unit 3 may measure the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 and output the measurement result to the fault detecting unit 5, and its configuration or the like is not particularly limited.

The failure detection unit 5 is configured to detect whether or not a train running failure has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11 based on the change in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 measured by the impedance measurement unit 3. .. The detection of the occurrence of a train running obstacle by the obstacle detection unit 5 will be described later. When the failure detection unit 5 detects the occurrence of a failure in train running, the failure detection unit 5 outputs a failure occurrence signal to the notification unit 7.

Here, in the present embodiment, the "train running obstacle" means an obstacle that interferes with the passage of the train and affects the impedance Z of the track circuit 11, and will be described later. This includes that at least a part of the track circuit 11 is submerged, at least a part of the track circuit 11 is buried in water-containing earth and sand, and at least a part of the track circuit 11 is suddenly buried in a large amount of snow.

When the failure detection unit 5 inputs the failure occurrence signal, the notification unit 7 notifies the train (particularly, the train before entering the track circuit 11) that the section of the track circuit 11 is impassable for the train. Prevents the train from entering the section of the track circuit 11. As a result, it suffices if the train can be prevented from entering the section of the track circuit 11, and the reporting destination and reporting method are not particularly limited. For example, the reporting unit 7 notifies the train that the section of the track circuit 11 is impassable and prompts the train to stop or decelerate by using light, sound, or the like or issuing an emergency signal. It is composed of. Alternatively, the reporting unit 7 notifies the operation command center that the section of the track circuit is impassable for trains by transmitting an alarm signal to the operation command center or the like, and the track circuit 11 is notified via the operation command center. It is configured to inform the train that the section is impassable.

Next, the detection of the occurrence of a train running obstacle by the obstacle detection unit 5 will be described.

It is known that a track circuit can be regarded as a distributed constant circuit. In addition, the impedance of the track circuit, or more accurately, the impedance of the track circuit (that is, the impedance measurement value) that can be observed by a measuring device such as an impedance measuring instrument, is short even if it changes slowly over time. It rarely changes rapidly over time. However, mainly in the following cases (1) to (3), the impingance of the track circuit changes in a relatively short time. This will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of how the impedance of the track circuit is changed.

(1) When rainfall occurs When the trackbed is moistened, the leakage conductance between the rails and between the rails and the ground increases as compared with the case where the trackbed is not moistened (dry). Therefore, when rainfall occurs, the impedance of the track circuit decreases.

When rainfall occurs, the impedance of the track circuit gradually decreases as the rainfall continues, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. For example, when the impedance of the track circuit is about several Ω / km when the trackbed is not contaminated (that is, before the start of rainfall), the impedance of the track circuit is 1.0 Ω / km (that is, due to the continuous rainfall). Or less). However, in such a case, the leakage conductance increases relatively slowly, so that the impedance of the track circuit decreases relatively slowly. It should be noted that the same tendency is obtained when snowfall occurs.

In addition, when the weather becomes fine after rainfall, the leakage conductance gradually decreases as the water-containing trackbed or the like dries. Therefore, the impedance of the track circuit gradually increases.

(2) When a part of the track circuit is submerged or the like When at least a part of the track circuit is submerged or at least a part of the track circuit is buried in water-containing earth and sand, the leakage conductance suddenly changes (increases). .. Therefore, unlike the case of rainfall, the impedance of the track circuit drops sharply.

When at least a part of the track circuit is submerged, the impedance of the track circuit drops sharply after the occurrence of submersion, as shown by the solid line in FIG. Further, when at least a part of the track circuit is buried in the hydrous earth and sand, the impedance of the track circuit drops sharply after the earth and sand is buried, as shown by the broken line in FIG. In these cases, the impedance of the track circuit after the decrease is even lower than the impedance of the track circuit during rainfall (less than 1/10 of that during rainfall). For example, when the impedance of the track circuit in a state where the trackbed or the like does not contain water is about several Ω / km, the impedance of the track circuit becomes "0.5 Ω / km" because at least a part of the track circuit is submerged. → The impedance of the track circuit drops sharply like "0.1Ω / km" and at least a part of the track circuit is buried in the hydrous earth and sand, so that the impedance of the track circuit becomes "0.1Ω / km" → "0.01Ω / km". It drops sharply like "km". Here, the impedance (broken line) of the track circuit when buried in the hydrous earth and sand is smaller than the impedance (solid line) of the track circuit when submerged in the water-containing earth and sand because the hydrous earth and sand contain impurities (electrolytes). Therefore, the leakage conductance increases more when buried in hydrous earth and sand. It should be noted that when at least a part of the track circuit is suddenly buried in a large amount of snow, the tendency is the same as when at least a part of the track circuit is submerged.

(3) When a train enters the track circuit When a train enters the track circuit, the track circuit is short-circuited by the wheels and axles of the train. Therefore, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2, the impedance of the track circuit drops sharply and significantly when the train of the track circuit enters, and remains in a state of being significantly lowered until the train advances from the track circuit. Will be done.

In this way, when rainfall (or snowfall) occurs, at least a part of the track circuit is submerged, buried in hydrous earth and sand, or suddenly buried in a large amount of snow, and when a train in the track circuit enters. Although the impedance of the track circuit decreases, the method of decrease is clearly different. Therefore, by monitoring the change in the impedance of the track circuit, it is possible to detect and detect that at least a part of the track circuit is submerged, buried in hydrous earth and sand, or suddenly buried in a large amount of snow. It is possible. It is possible to improve the reliability of the discrimination result (detection result) by adding the condition that "the train is not present in the target track circuit". And these phenomena are nothing but obstacles that hinder train traffic (train traffic obstacles), and may have been caused by disasters caused by rainfall or snowfall (floods, landslides, avalanches, etc.). high.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the fault detection unit 5, at least a part of the track circuit 11 is submerged and buried in water-containing earth and sand based on the change in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 measured by the impedance measuring unit 3. It is detected that the train is suddenly buried in a large amount of snow, that is, that the train passage obstruction has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11. In other words, the fault detection unit 5 passes the train through the section of the track circuit 11 due to a disaster (flood, landslide, avalanche, etc.) caused by rainfall or snowfall based on the change in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11. Detects that a failure has occurred.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, the fault detection unit 5 inputs train presence information indicating whether or not a train is on the track circuit 11 from the track circuit device, and the impedance measurement unit 3 inputs a sampling period. The impedance Z of the track circuit 11 measured for each Ts is input. Then, the fault detection unit 5 detects that the train passage failure has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11 when the train is not present in the track circuit 11 and the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 drops sharply. To do.

Here, "when the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 drops sharply" means the amount of decrease in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per predetermined time, for example, the amount of decrease in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per sampling period Ts. It means that ΔZ _Ts exceeds a preset threshold value TH. Further, the threshold value TH can be appropriately set according to the characteristics of the track circuit 11, but the predetermined value TH is defined when the train passage obstacle (at least a part of the track circuit is submerged, etc.) does not occur. A value larger than the maximum value of the decrease in impedance Z of the track circuit 11 that can occur per unit time, for example, a value larger than the maximum value of the decrease in impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per unit time _Ts. Set to a value.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the failure detection unit 5.

In FIG. 3, in step S1, the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 is input from the impedance measuring unit 3 for each sampling cycle Ts, and in step S2, the train presence information is input from the track circuit device.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not a train is present in the track circuit 11 based on the train presence information input in step S2. If the train is on the track circuit 11, the process returns to step S1, and if the train on the track circuit 11 is not on the line, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 is lowered by comparing the previous value and the current value of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11. If the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 is lowered, that is, if "the current value <the previous value", the process proceeds to step S5, and if the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 is not lowered, that is, "the current value". If the value ≥ the previous value, the process returns to step S1.

_{In step S5, the decrease amount ΔZ Ts} of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per the sampling period Ts is calculated by subtracting the previous value of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 from the current value of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11.

In step S6, it is determined whether or not the _{amount of decrease ΔZ Ts} of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per sampling period Ts calculated in step S5 exceeds the threshold value TH. If the amount of decrease in impedance Z of the orbital circuit 11 per sampling period Ts ΔZ _Ts exceeds the threshold value TH, that is, if “ΔZ _Ts > TH”, the process proceeds to step S7, and the orbital circuit 11 per sampling period Ts If the amount of decrease in impedance Z ΔZ _Ts does not exceed the threshold value TH, that is, if “ΔZ _Ts ≦ TH”, the process returns to step S1.

In step S7, it is detected that the train passage obstacle has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11. That is, it is detected that at least a part of the track circuit 11 is submerged, that it is buried in hydrous earth and sand, or that it is suddenly buried in a large amount of snow. Then, in step S8, the failure occurrence signal is output to the reporting unit 7.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a change in impedance Z of the track circuit 11 when the train passage obstacle (here, a part of the track circuit 11 is submerged) occurs in the track circuit 11.

As shown in FIG. 4, the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 gradually decreases from the start of rainfall (time t1). After that, when a flood or the like occurs and a part of the track circuit 11 is submerged (time t2), the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 drops sharply. The fault monitoring device 1 (fault detection unit 5) detects that the train passage failure has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11 based on the sudden drop in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 (time t3). Then, when the fault monitoring device 1 detects that the train passage obstacle has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11, the train before entering the track circuit 11 at least indicates that the section of the track circuit 11 is impassable. Report directly or indirectly to.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

The fault monitoring device 1 is configured to detect that a train operation fault has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11 based on the change in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 measured by the impedance measuring unit 3.

If at least a part of the track circuit 11 is submerged, buried in water-containing earth and sand, or suddenly buried in a large amount of snow, that is, if a train passage obstruction occurs in the section of the track circuit 11, the effect is the track circuit. It appears as a change in impedance Z of 11. Therefore, according to the fault monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to install a large number of sensors or the like along the track circuit 11 in order to detect the occurrence of the failure of train passage, and the section of the track circuit 11 It is possible to monitor the presence or absence of train traffic obstructions throughout. Therefore, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the undetectable area while suppressing an increase in installation cost and maintenance cost.

Specifically, in the fault monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment, the amount of decrease in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per predetermined time (here, the sampling period Ts) is the threshold value when the train is not present in the track circuit 11. It is configured to detect that the train passage obstruction has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11 when TH is exceeded. Therefore, the influence of the train on the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 is eliminated, and it becomes possible to stably detect that the obstruction of train passage has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11.

Further, the fault monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to notify that the section of the track circuit 11 is impassable when it detects that the section of the track circuit 11 has an obstacle to train passage. Has been done. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the train from entering the section of the track circuit 11 in which the obstruction of train passage has occurred.

In the above-described embodiment, the fault monitoring device 1 is provided on the transmission side of the train detection signal in the track circuit 11, and the track circuit 11 is based on the change in the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 as seen from the transmission end 11a side. It is detected whether or not a train traffic obstruction has occurred in the section of. However, it is not limited to this. The fault monitoring device 1 may be provided on the receiving side of the train detection signal in the track circuit 11.

Further, when the track circuit 11 is long like a long track circuit or the like, the fault monitoring device 1 provided on the transmitting side of the train detection signal causes the train to pass near the receiving side of the train detection signal. There is a possibility that the failure of the above cannot be detected sufficiently. Therefore, in such a case, as shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable that the fault monitoring device 1 is provided on each of the transmitting side and the receiving side of the train detection signal in the track circuit 11. By doing so, even when the track circuit 11 is long, it is possible to stably monitor the presence or absence of the occurrence of the train passage obstruction over the entire track circuit 11, and the occurrence of the train passage obstruction occurs. It is possible to prevent the train from entering the section of the track circuit 11.

Regardless of the length of the track circuit 11, the fault monitoring device 1 may be provided on each of the transmitting side and the receiving side of the train detection signal in the track circuit 11. By doing so, it is possible to more reliably detect that the train passage obstruction has occurred in the section of the track circuit 11, and for example, the track circuit 11 as seen from the transmission end 11a side when the train passage obstruction occurs. It is also possible to estimate the location of the obstacle in train passage from the difference between the impedance Z and the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 seen from the receiving end 11b side.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the impedance measuring unit 3 calculates the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 based on the voltage value V of the train detection signal transmitted to the track circuit 11 and the current value I flowing through the track circuit 11. doing. However, it is not limited to this. The impedance measurement unit 3 transmits a dedicated signal for measuring impedance (impedance measurement signal) to the track circuit 11, and the track is based on the voltage value of the impedance measurement signal and the current value flowing through the track circuit 11. It may be configured to calculate the impedance Z of the circuit 11. In this case, the impedance measurement unit 3 may be configured to transmit the impedance measurement signal to the track circuit 11 for each sampling cycle Ts to measure (calculate) the impedance Z of the track circuit 11. Further, the impedance measurement signal is set to a frequency different from that of the train detection signal so as not to affect the train presence detection by the track circuit device.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the fault monitoring device 1 (fault detection unit 5) determines whether or not a train is on the track circuit 11 based on the train presence information input from the track circuit device. There is. However, it is not limited to this. The fault monitoring device 1 (fault detection unit 5) may input operation information from an operation management device (not shown) or the like, and determine whether or not a train is present in the track circuit 11 based on the operation information. .. In this case, the fault monitoring device 1 (fault detection unit 5) performs the track circuit 11 in step S3 of FIG. 3, for example, by comparing the current time with the time zone in which the train should be on the track circuit 11. It is possible to determine whether or not the train is on the line.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the fault monitoring device 1 (fault detection unit 5) _{determines whether or not the amount of decrease ΔZ Ts} of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per sampling cycle Ts exceeds the threshold value TH. (Step S6 in FIG. 3). However, it is not limited to this. The fault monitoring device 1 (fault detection unit 5) determines whether or not the average value _{of the decrease amount ΔZ Ts} of the impedance Z of the track circuit 11 per consecutive sampling period Ts exceeds the threshold value TH. May be good.

Although the embodiments of the present invention and modifications thereof have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications thereof, and further modifications and modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. It is possible.

1 ... Failure monitoring device, 3 ... Impedance measurement unit, 5 ... Failure detection unit, 7 ... Notification unit, 11 ... Track circuit, 11a ... Transmission end, 11b ... Reception end, 14, 15 ... Impedance bond, 16, 17 ... Insulation Object, 31 ... Voltage detection unit, 32 ... Current detection unit, 33 ... Impedance calculation unit

Claims (5)

Impedance measuring unit that measures the impedance of the track circuit,
An obstacle detection unit that detects that a train traffic obstacle has occurred in a section of the track circuit based on a change in the impedance of the track circuit.
A fault monitoring device that has. The fault detection unit detects the occurrence of a train traffic fault when a train is not present in the track circuit and the amount of decrease in impedance of the track circuit exceeds a threshold value per predetermined time. The fault monitoring device according to 1. The fault monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a reporting unit for notifying that a section of the track circuit is impassable when a train traffic fault occurs. The fault monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is provided on at least one of a train detection signal transmitting side and a receiving side in the track circuit. The obstacles to train passage were that at least a part of the track circuit was submerged, at least a part of the track circuit was buried in water-containing earth and sand, and at least a part of the track circuit was suddenly buried in a large amount of snow. The fault monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which comprises at least one of the above.

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