JPH05157515A - Detecting method and apparatus of running position of moving machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the position of a moving apparatus at low cost and with high reliability and high accuracy. CONSTITUTION:Light switching circuits 13A-13C for selecting ground controllers 11A-11C and a position detecting circuit 30 are placed at fixed points. Optical cables 14 of three fibers are connected to the light switching circuits. The other ends of the optical cables 14 are wound around winding devices 10A-10C of moving machines 1A-1C. Heaters 20A-20C as a temperature controlling means are placed in front of the winding devices 10A-10C. An area of peculiar temperatures which is distinguishable from the others is formed in each optical cable 14 by the heaters. The position detecting circuit 30 is provided with an optical multiplexer 31 connected to the light switching circuits 13A-13C, a demultiplexer 32, a semiconductor laser 33, a high-speed averaging device 37, a distance operating device 38, a position calculating device 39, etc. The position detecting circuit 30 operates the distance from the delay time of the Raman back scattering light of laser pulses incident upon the optical cables 14, and moreover calculates the temperature from the intensity ratio of the component of Stakes' light and the component of anti-Stokes' light, thereby to calculate the distance of the area of peculiar temperatures to obtain the running position of the moving machine.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for detecting a traveling position of a moving machine for detecting the traveling position from a fixed point of the traveling machine such as various transport carriages of a steel mill, a railroad machine of a raw material yard, etc. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a raw material yard of a steel mill, in order to load and discharge raw materials such as coking coal, ore, and auxiliary raw materials, a large number of railroad machines that perform, for example, three operations of running, turning, and lying down are grounded. It is arranged so that it can run on the rail line laid in the. As shown in FIG. 6, these railroad machines 1 are a traveling carriage 2 that travels while being guided by a railway R that is laid in a straight line or a curved line in a desired direction from a fixed point, and a turn that can be turned on the traveling carriage 2. A cab 4 on which a trolley 3 is placed, and a cab 4 arranged at the top of the trolley 3, and a boom 5 provided with a boom conveyor 5a laid on the trolley 3 so as to be raised and lowered,
A lift device 6 and a balance device 7 for controlling the elevation of the boom 5, a tripper 9 attached to an auxiliary carriage 8 integrally connected to the traveling carriage 2 to transfer raw materials to the base end of the boom conveyor 5a, and an auxiliary carriage. A power cable for receiving power supply from the ground controller 11 mounted at a fixed point and a control cable C for interface of control signals are individually wound or rewound with the movement of the mobile machine. And a winding device 10 for

The operation of these railroad machines has hitherto been
It was operated by manned operation in the operator's cab 4 on each aircraft, but in recent years, there has been a strong demand for labor-saving automation, and centralized remote automated operation on the ground side has been promoted. This centralized remote autonomous operation requires optical transmission through the use of optical fiber in the control cable as the amount of information between the ground and the aircraft increases significantly, and advanced sensing technology for various drive parts of the railway machine is required. The running position of the machine is difficult to detect, and we are still in a situation where we cannot find an excellent measurement method.

As this running position detecting device, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-108629 (hereinafter referred to as a first conventional example) previously proposed by the present applicant and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-302 have been proposed.
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 602 (hereinafter referred to as a second conventional example). In the first conventional example, the rotation of the wheels is transmitted to the ground side through the synchro transceiver in response to the traveling of the yard machine, and the rotation is supplied to the pulse generating means to form a forward / reverse pulse signal according to the rotation. Together with the position measuring potentiometer that continuously generates the current position signal corresponding to the entire traveling length of the yard machine via the clutch, and the correction position signal is continuously output every time the reference position is started in synchronization with the position measuring potentiometer. Transmitted to the correction potentiometer that is generated, and the absolute position signal is generated by the absolute position signal detecting means each time the yard machine reaches a plurality of predetermined reference positions, and the positive position is generated according to the movement of the yard machine. The reverse pulse is counted by the reversible counter and the count value of the reversible counter is measured by the potentiometer for position measurement when the yard machine reaches the reference position. The position measurement potentiometer is preset by setting the absolute position correction value based on the current position signal, comparing the detected value of the correction potentiometer with the reference set value, and rotating both potentiometers so that the deviation becomes zero. It is configured to measure the accurate position of the yard machine by correcting the position detection deviation of.

The second prior art example is a mobile machine in which power is supplied through a cabtire cable whose one end is wound around a reel. In the mobile machine, a rubber optical cable in which the cabtire cable is folded back at approximately the center and both ends are taken out in the same direction. It is constructed so that light is transmitted from one end to this optical cable, and the position of the mobile machine is detected from the change in the amount of light caused by winding or unwinding the captyre cable on a reel.

[0006]

However, in the first conventional example described above, the pulse signal, the current position signal and the corrected position signal are generated in synchronization with the rotation of the wheel or the like according to the traveling of the mobile machine. Since the absolute position signal is generated every time the yard machine reaches the reference position and the error is corrected at the generation timing of the absolute position signal, the traveling position at the reference position can be accurately measured. However, since the position measurement is performed using the signal synchronized with the rotation of the wheel between the adjacent reference positions, the position measurement error due to the slip of the wheel, the friction loss in the rotation transmission path, etc. cannot be excluded. There is an unsolved problem that the structure of the measuring device becomes complicated and the cost increases.

Further, in the second conventional example, the fact that the attenuation factor is different between the straight state of the optical cable and the curved state due to the captyre cable being wound on the reel is utilized to make the light incident from one end Since it is detected on the edge side and the position of the moving machine is measured from the amount of light attenuation,
Although it is not affected by wheel slip, the attenuation factor of the optical cable changes with temperature, and since the bending factor of the optical cable changes with the reel winding diameter, the attenuation factor also changes. There is an unsolved problem that measurement cannot be performed.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the unsolved problems of the above-mentioned conventional example, and a traveling position detecting method of a mobile machine capable of accurately detecting the traveling position of the mobile machine with a simple structure. And its device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for detecting a traveling position of a mobile machine according to a first aspect of the present invention is a mobile machine for detecting a traveling position from a fixed point of a mobile machine whose traveling path is restricted. In the traveling position detecting method, an optical cable is laid along the traveling path between the fixed point and the moving machine, and one end of the optical cable is moved along with the movement of the moving machine disposed at one of the moving machine and the fixed point. Connected to a winding device for winding and rewinding, and locally heating or cooling the optical cable in the vicinity of the winding device to form a temperature singular region, and a laser pulse is incident from the other end of the optical cable. Then, by receiving the Raman scattered light in the temperature singular region of this laser pulse, by measuring the time from the incident time to the reception time of the Raman scattered light, the traveling position from the fixed point of the mobile machine It is characterized in that it has to be out.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a traveling position detecting device for a mobile machine, wherein the traveling position detecting device for a mobile machine detects a traveling position from a fixed point of the mobile machine whose traveling path is restricted. An optical cable laid along the traveling path in between, and a winding device that winds and rewinds one end of the optical cable according to the movement of the mobile machine, which is disposed on one of the mobile machine and a fixed point. , A temperature control means for locally heating or cooling the optical cable arranged on the output side of the winding device to form a temperature singular region, and a laser pulse to the optical cable arranged at the other end of the optical cable. And a traveling position detecting means for detecting a traveling position from a fixed point of the mobile machine by measuring the distance to the temperature singular region by measuring the Raman scattered light in the temperature singular region which is incident. It is characterized by a door.

Here, the optical cable may be provided for distance measurement only, or may be used for information transmission in a time-division manner. If there are a plurality of mobile machines with a fixed point as the center, each movement may be performed. The selecting means may be arranged between the optical cable of the machine and the traveling position detecting means, and the traveling position of each mobile machine may be measured in a time division manner by one traveling position detecting means.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a winding position device for winding an optical cable is provided on either one of a mobile machine having a fixed point and a traveling path regulated, and the other is a traveling position detecting means connected to the other end of the optical cable. The optical cable length between the fixed point and the mobile machine is changed by disposing the optical fiber cable and disposing the optical cable in the winding machine or rewinding the optical cable from the winding machine as the mobile machine moves. At this time, the temperature control means arranged near the winding device locally heats or cools the optical cable to form a temperature peculiar region in the optical cable. In this state, a laser pulse is incident on the optical cable from the traveling position detecting means,
Raman scattered light by this laser pulse is measured, the distance to the temperature singular region is measured, and the traveling position of the mobile machine is detected.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11A, 11B and 11C are railroad machines 1 shown in FIG. 6 as a plurality of mobile machines arranged at fixed points.
A ground controller for individually controlling A, 1B, and 1C, wherein each of the ground controllers 11A to 11C sends and receives control information when operating the rail machines 1A to 1C.
Transmission and reception of image information for displaying images of ITV cameras mounted on the railroad machines 1A to 1C and the railroad machine 1A
1C has three optical data modems for exchanging telephone information with each other. From these three optical data modems, three-core optical cables 12A to 12C composed of individual optical fiber cores 12a to 12c are derived. When a position detection start request is issued from the position detection circuit 30 which will be described later, after the switching request of the optical switching circuits 15A to 15C is sent as control information to the onboard controllers 21A to 21C which will be described later, The switching control signal SS ₁ having the logical value “1” is output to the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C described later.

The other ends of the optical cables 12A to 12C are connected to the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C as selecting means. Each of the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C includes an optical fiber core wire 12a to 12c of the optical cable 12A to 12C.
Has three optical switches 13a to 13c respectively connected to one fixed contact t _A side, and each optical switch 13a to 13c
movable contact t _C of c is connected to one end of the three optical fiber 14a~14c of the transmission cable 14A to 14C, a running position where the other fixed contact t _B of the optical switch 13a will be described later via the optical fiber 30a The other fixed contact t of the optical switches 13b and 13c is connected to the detection circuit 30.
_B is configured to be optically connected to each other. here,
Each of the optical switches 13a to 13c includes the ground controller 11
When the switching control signal SS ₁ from A to 11C has the logical value “0”, the movable contact t _C is on the fixed contact t _A side, and when it has the logical value “1”, the movable contact t _C has the fixed contact t _B. It is switched to each side.

The other end of the transmission optical cables 14A to 14C connected to the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C has the other end shown in FIG.
Is wound around the winding devices 10A to 10C arranged in the railroad machine 1 as the moving machine shown in FIG.
The total length of 14C is selected to be slightly longer than the maximum moving distance from the fixed point of the railway machine 1. Here, the winding device 10
In A to 10C, a rotating shaft 10b of a cable reel 10a around which optical cables 14A to 14C are wound is connected to a torque motor 10d via a power transmission mechanism 10c such as a gear, and the torque motor 10d travels in the railway machines 1A to 1C. The optical cable 14A to
14C is tensioned to a fixed point with a constant torque.

The winding device 10 includes an optical cable for transmission.
The optical fiber core wires 14a to 14c of the cables 14A to 14C are in contact with each other.
It has substantially the same configuration as the continued optical switching circuits 13A to 13C.
Optical switching circuits 15A to 15C are provided. this
Each of the optical switching circuits 15A to 15C includes an optical switching circuit 13
Similar to A to 13C, three optical switches 15a to 15c
The movable contact point t of each of the optical switches 15a to 15c_CGaden
Optical fiber core wire 14a of transmission optical cables 14A to 14C
~ 14c and fixed contact t _ABut Lee
Optical fiber core wire 16a of the optical fiber cables 16A to 16C
To 16c, and optical switches 15a and 15b, respectively.
Fixed contact t_BAre connected to each other, and the optical switch 15c
Fixed contact t_BIs open. Where each optical switch
15a to 15c are on-board controller 18A to be described later.
Switching control signal SS from 18C₂Is a logical value "0"
Sometimes movable contact t_CFixed contact t_ASwitch to side, switching control
Signal SS₂Is a logical value "1", the movable contact t_C
Fixed contact t_BSwitch to the side.

The optical cables 16A to 1 in the reels are provided.
The other end of 6C has at least the optical fiber core wires 16a to 16c.
The optical fiber core wire 16a for control information in c is an optical fiber core wire of the on-board optical cables 17A to 17C via a predetermined optical coupling means at one end of the hollow rotation shaft of the winding reel constituting the winding device 10. 17a and the remaining ITV
The optical fiber core wires 16b and 16c for video information and telephone lines are connected to one optical fiber core wire by, for example, a directional coupler, and the optical fiber is predetermined at the other end of the hollow rotary shaft of the winding reel. Is connected to the fixed-side optical fiber core through the optical coupling means, and the fixed-side optical fiber core is connected to the directional positive coupler to be separated into ITV image information and telephone line information, and the on-board optical cables 17A to The same-wavelength bidirectional transmission system is configured by two directional couplers and one optical fiber that connects them to the optical fiber cores 17b and 17c of 17C and connects them.

The other end of the on-board optical cable 17 is connected to the on-board controllers 21A to 21A arranged in the cab 4, for example.
It is connected to C. This onboard controller 21A-2
1C receives control information such as the amount of movement of the railroad machines 1A to 1C transmitted from the optical fiber core wire 17a of the optical cable 17, the depression and elevation angles of the boom 5, and the like, and the railroad machine 1A receives the control information.
〜1C drive control and ITV camera 19A〜
Image information indicating the loading or dispensing status of the raw material imaged at 19C is sent to the optical fiber core wire 17b, and the voice information of the telephone line is bidirectionally controlled via the optical fiber core wire 17c. Optical switching circuits 15A to 15C indicating start of position detection processing from 11A to 11C
When the switching request is received, the switching control signal SS ₂ having the logical value “1” is sent to the optical switching circuits 15A to 15C only for the time required for the position detection processing described later.

On the other hand, the winding device 1 on the rail machines 1A to 1C
Optical cables 14A-1 at positions near fixed points of 0A-10C
Cylindrical heaters 20A to 20C constituting a temperature control means for slidably inserting 4C are provided.
At A to 20C, the optical fiber cores 14a to 14c inside the optical cables 14A to 14C are heated to a temperature higher than the maximum temperature in the traveling path of the railroad machines 1A to 1C, for example, by about 10 ° C to form a temperature singular region.

Further, the ground controller 11 at the fixed point position
A position detection circuit 30 is arranged near the positions A to 11C. This position detection circuit 30 is provided with each optical switching circuit 13
The optical multiplexers 31 to which the other ends of the optical fibers 30a connected to the fixed contacts t _B of the optical switches 13a of A to 13C are respectively connected, the optical demultiplexer 32 connected to the optical multiplexer 31, and the optical demultiplexer 32 A pulse semiconductor laser 33 that supplies a laser pulse of a predetermined width to the wave multiplexer 32, a pulse drive circuit 34 that controls the oscillation of the laser pulse of the pulse semiconductor laser 33, and a Raman connected to the output side of the optical demultiplexer 32. A filter 35a for extracting the Stokes light component of the backscattered light and a filter 35b for extracting the anti-Stokes light component, avalanche photodiodes 36a, 36b for photoelectrically converting the light components extracted by these filters 35a, 35b, and their photoelectric outputs. After A / D conversion of each, it corresponds to each delay time starting from the pulse drive signal of the pulse drive circuit 34 And stores by adding in memory, a high speed averaging processing apparatus 37 for performing divided by M averaged after adding a predetermined number of times M times, the high speed averaging processing apparatus 3
A distance calculation device 3 for calculating the intensity ratio of the average values of the Stokes light and the anti-Stokes light corresponding to each delay time 7 to measure the temperature distribution at each point, and calculating the distance representing the maximum value.
8 and a position calculation processing device 39 that calculates the traveling positions of the railroad machines 1A to 1C by averaging the distances representing the maximum values calculated by the distance calculation device 38. The position calculation processing device 39 calculates The position information of the railroad machines 1A to 1C and the position detection start request to be output at the position detection timing of a predetermined cycle are sent to the ground controllers 11A to 11C, and the position detection start request is sent to the pulse drive circuit 34, and 1 When the completion of travel position detection of the platform of the railway machine 1A-1C, outputs a switching signal SS ₃ to switch to the rest of the railway machine side travel position detection with respect to the optical multiplexer 31 has not been completed.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. Each ground controller 11A to 11C and onboard controller 2
1A to 21C are switching control signals SS _{1 in the} normal control state.
And SS ₂ as a logical value “0”, the optical switching circuits 13A to
Optical cable 14 for transmitting 13C and 15A to 15C, respectively
The optical fibers 14a to 14c of A to 14C are connected to the optical cables 12A to 12C of the ground controllers 11A to 11C.
And, as the switching position connected to the in-reel optical cables 16A to 16C connected to the onboard controllers 21A to 21C, control information, ITV image information, and telephone line information between the ground controllers 11A to 11C and the onboard controllers 21A to 21C are set. Sending and receiving audio information, rail machine 1A ~
The traveling control of 1C, the stowage of the raw material by the boom 5, or the dispensing control is performed.

In this normal control state, when a position detection start request is sent from the position calculation processing device 39 of the position control circuit 30 to each of the ground controllers 11A to 11C, these ground controllers 11A to 11C are used.
A switching request of the optical switching circuits 15A to 15C is sent to A to 21C as control information, and then a switching control signal SS ₁ of logical value "1" is sent to the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C. On the other hand, the onboard controller 21A that received the switching request
Transmits a switching control signal SS ₂ having the logic value "1" to the ~21C any optical switching circuit 15A to 15C.

Therefore, the movable contact t _{C of} each of the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C and 15A to 15C is switched to the fixed contact t _B side, whereby each of the transmission optical cables 14A to 1C.
4C, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the optical switching circuits 13A to 13C and 15A to 15C arranged at both ends connect the respective optical fiber core wires 14a to 14c as one optical fiber core wire. The optical switching circuits 13A to 13C of the optical fiber core wire 14a are connected to the optical multiplexer 31 of the position detection circuit 30, and the optical switching circuit 15A of the optical fiber core wire 14c.
The ~ 15C side is opened by the fixed contact t _B of the optical switch 15c.

First, the position calculation processing device 39 outputs a selection signal for selecting the optical cable 14A to the optical multiplexer 31, whereby the optical cable 14A is selected by the optical multiplexer 31 and this is sent to the demultiplexer 32. Connected. In this state, the pulse drive circuit 34
A drive signal is output from the pulse semiconductor laser 33 to the high-speed averaging processor 37. Therefore, a laser pulse having a predetermined width, for example, about 50 cm to 1 m is generated from the pulse semiconductor laser 33, passes through the demultiplexer 32, and is transmitted via the optical multiplexer 31, the optical fiber 30a, and the optical switch 13a of the optical switching circuit 13A. The optical fiber 14 is made incident on the optical fiber 14a of the optical cable 14 for use.
heater 20A of railway machine 1A by propagating in a
To reach the optical switch 15a of the optical switching circuit 15A in the winding device 10A through the movable contact t _C and fixed contact t.
Fixed contact t _B and movable contact t _C between _B and the optical switch 15b
The light enters into the optical fiber core wire 14b through and and propagates in the optical fiber core wire 14b to again pass through the position of the heater 20A to reach the optical switch 13b of the optical switching circuit 13A. The light enters the optical fiber core wire 14c through the switch 13c, and the optical fiber core wire 14c
By propagating in c, it again passes through the heater 20A position and reaches the optical switch 15c.

As described above, when the laser pulse propagates in the optical fiber core wires 14a to 14c of the transmission optical cable 14A, scattering occurs at each propagation position as shown in FIG. 3, and the backscattered light is generated. It returns to the position detection circuit 30 through the optical switching circuit 13A. Here, in the backscattered light,
In addition to Rayleigh scattered light (the same wavelength as the incident light) that is generated when the incident light is elastically scattered by the lattice vibration of the glass that forms the core of the optical fiber, it also includes Raman scattered light that is inelastically scattered. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, this Raman scattered light has a Stokes light component with a wavelength longer than that of the incident light,
It is composed of two components, an anti-Stokes light component having a shorter wavelength than the incident light, and its intensity is extremely weak, about 10 ^{−3 of} Rayleigh scattered light. However, these intensity optical fibers are sensitive to temperature changes. The intensity ratio between the Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component is a function of temperature as shown in FIG. By using these two wavelengths, it is possible to remove the influence of the fluctuation of the light source and the disturbance applied to the optical fiber.

Therefore, in the position detection circuit 30, the returned backscattered light reaches the filters 35a and 35b via the optical multiplexer 31 and the demultiplexer 32, and these two components of the Raman backscattered light are passed through the filters 35a and 35b. The Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component are extracted and separated, and the extracted Stokes light component and anti-Stokes light component are avalanche photodiodes 36a and 36, respectively.
The photoelectric conversion is performed in b, and the photoelectric conversion outputs are input to the high speed averaging processing device 37. Therefore, the high-speed averaging processor 37 A / D-converts the photoelectric conversion output of the Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component, and delays the digital value of each delay from the time when the drive signal from the pulse drive circuit 34 is input. It is added to the storage area of the memory corresponding to time and stored. Then, after all the backscattered light from the transmission optical cable 14 has returned, the pulse semiconductor laser 33 is again provided.
Laser pulse is generated from the laser beam and is incident on the transmission optical cable 14, and the Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component of the Raman backscattered light are repeatedly detected in the same manner as above, and this is repeated many times (for example, several thousand times). After repeating
Averaging is performed by dividing the cumulative value of the Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component stored in each storage area for each delay time by the number M of repetitions thereof. This averaging process is performed to prevent a measurement error because the Raman backscattered light is very weak.

In this way, when the average value of the Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component for each delay time is calculated, these are output to the distance calculation device 38, and this distance calculation device 38 calculates each delay time. t and optical cable for transmission 1
Propagation velocity of laser pulse within 4 (about 200 m / μs) v
Based on and, the backscattered light generation position x (= v · t / 2)
And the intensity ratio I _a / I of the Stokes light component I _s and the anti-Stokes light component I _a at each generation position x.
to calculate the temperature of the optical fiber core wire 14a~14c from _s. For the calculation of this temperature, for example, a map shown in FIG. 4 which is created in advance based on experiments and calculations is stored in a memory, and the map is referred to based on the calculated intensity ratio I _a / I _s. Calculate the temperature. In this way, when the relationship between the generation position x of each backscattered light and its temperature is graphed, FIG.
It becomes as shown in (b). As is apparent from FIG. 3 (b), since the optical fiber core wires 14a to 14c are connected in series, the temperature maximum value occurs at the heater 20A position, and the position of this temperature maximum value is the rail machine 1A. Represents the position of. Here, in order to search for the temperature maximum value, the peak point (+ 10 ° C. with respect to the ambient temperature) is detected while comparing the temperature at each position with the ambient temperature, and the distance from the fixed point (optical multiplexer 31) is detected. Ask for.

That is, the total length of the transmission optical cable 14 is L, the distance from the optical multiplexer 31 to the heater 20A, that is, the running position of the railroad machine 1A to be obtained, is a, and the remaining reel device 10 is wound around the cable reel 10a. Assuming that the distance of the optical cable 14 is b (La),
As shown in the equations (2) to (4), the distance x corresponds to the distance a in the total distance, and the distance y corresponds to the distance a + 2b, 3a + 2.
A distance z corresponding to the distance b can be obtained.

A + b = L (1) a = x (2) a + 2b = y (3) 3a + 2b = z (4) The calculated temperature maximum value By outputting the distances x, y, and z representing the position calculation processing device 39, the position calculation processing device 39 calculates the position a of the railway machine 1A.

That is, a = 2L−y (5) is obtained from the equations (1) and (3), and a = z−2L is obtained from the equations (1) and (4). …… (6) is obtained.

Then, by averaging the equations (2), (5) and (6), a = (x−y + z) / 3 (7) is obtained, and the operation of the equation (7) is obtained. By performing the position calculation processing device 39, it is possible to calculate the position a of the railway machine 1A. Then, the railroad machine 1 is moved to the position calculation processing device 39.
When the detection of the position a of A is completed, a switching signal is sent from the position calculation processing device 39 to the optical multiplexer 31,
The optical multiplexer 31 is switched to the optical cable 14B side, the same operation as described above is repeated to detect the position of the railway machine 1B, and after the position detection is completed, the optical multiplexer 31 is switched again to the optical cable 14C side to shift the position of the railway machine 1C. When it detects and the position detection of each railroad machine 1A-1C is completed, the positional information on the detected railroad machine 1A-1C is sent to the ground controllers 11A-11C.

In the ground controllers 11A to 11C, when the position information of the corresponding rail machines 1A to 1C is received from the position calculation processing device 39 of the position detection circuit 30, the switching control signal SS _{1 is changed} to the logical value "0" according to the position information. The optical switching circuits 13A to 13C to the ground controllers 11A to 11C.
Along with switching to the C side, the onboard controllers 21A to 21
After the optical switching circuits 15A to 15C are restored by C, the normal control state is restored. Then, the position detection process described above is repeated at predetermined time intervals.

Although the position detection circuit 30 has a structure of a distributed temperature sensor using Raman scattered light, due to the nature of position detection, distance resolution, response distance, and measurement time are prioritized over temperature resolution and temperature accuracy. System configuration is desirable. As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the temperature peculiar region can be formed in the optical cable 14 by heating the optical cable 14 with the heaters 20A to 20C, and the temperature of this temperature peculiar region can be changed to the Stokes light of Raman backscattered light. The positions of the railroad machines 1A to 1C can be accurately detected by calculating from the intensity ratio of the component and the anti-Stokes light component and obtaining the distance of the temperature maximum value corresponding to the temperature singular region. Moreover, by performing position detection using the optical cable for transmitting control information as in the above embodiment, the existing optical cable can be used as it is, and the optical cable laying cost can be significantly reduced. Since the position detection of the plurality of railroad machines 1A to 1C is performed by the single position detection circuit 30, the equipment cost can be reduced, and the optical fiber core wires 14a to 14c of the transmission optical cable 14 are connected in series. Since the backscattered light is obtained by connecting the laser pulses, a plurality (three in the above embodiment) of temperature maximum values can be obtained, and therefore, the position of the heater 20A serving as the same heat medium is measured in series a plurality of times. It will be. The S / N can be improved and the position can be measured with high accuracy by calculating and averaging the results and averaging the results.

In the above embodiment, the case where the position detection of the plurality of railroad machines 1A to 1C is time-divisionally performed by the single position detection circuit 30 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. , Individual rail machines 1A-1C
Alternatively, the position detection circuit 30 may be provided for each. Moreover, in the said Example, although the case where three optical fiber core wires 14a-14c were connected in series at the time of position detection, and the temperature maximum position was measured, it is not restricted to this, but one optical fiber core wire. Alternatively, only two or four or more optical fiber cores may be connected to measure the temperature maximum position.

Further, in the above embodiment, for control,
Three-core optical cable 14A for ITV image and telephone line
Although the case where 14C is applied has been described, it is needless to say that the information can be transmitted using one optical fiber core by frequency-multiplexing individual information without being limited to this. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the cable reel 10a of the winding device 10A to 10C.
The case where the optical switching circuits 15A to 15C connected to the ends of the optical cables 14A to 14C wound around and the on-board optical cables 17A to 17C on the fixed side are coupled using the bidirectional transmission method has been described. However, the photoelectric conversion means and the electro-optical conversion means are arranged on the output side of each of the optical switches 15a to 15c via a demultiplexer, and the demultiplexing is performed on the on-board optical cables 17A to 17C on the fixed side. It is also possible to arrange the electro-optical conversion means and the photoelectric conversion means via a device, and to perform information transmission or wireless transmission between these conversion means by an electric signal using a slip ring.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the railroad machines 1A to 1C are applied as the moving machine has been described, but the moving machine is not limited to the one running on the rail, and the moving road is restricted from a fixed point to move. If it is a machine, the position of any mobile machine can be detected. Moreover, in the said Example, the case where a torque motor was applied to the winding devices 10A-10C which wind the transmission optical cables 14A-14C to control the tension of the transmission optical cables 14A-14C constant was explained. Alternatively, the optical cable may be wound or unwound without tension.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the heaters 20A to 20C are applied as the temperature control means has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other heat medium can be used, and further refrigeration. A refrigerant such as a device or a refrigerating device can also be applied, and the point is that it can be distinguished from other ambient temperatures as a maximum value or a minimum value when the temperature distribution is measured.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the winding devices 10A to 10C for the optical cable are provided on the rail machines 1A to 1C has been described, but the winding devices 10A to 10C are described.
May be arranged on the fixed point side.

[0039]

As described above, according to the position detecting method and apparatus for a mobile machine according to the first and second aspects,
The fixed point and the moving machine are connected by an optical cable, the temperature control means of the optical cable is arranged in the vicinity of the winding device of the optical cable, a temperature singular region is formed in the optical cable, and a laser pulse is incident on the optical cable. By receiving the Raman scattered light in the temperature singular region of the laser pulse, by measuring the time from the incident time to the reception time of the Raman scattered light, to detect the running position from the fixed point of the mobile machine Therefore, it is possible to obtain the effect that the traveling position of the mobile machine over a long distance can be detected with low cost and high reliability and high accuracy.

Further, according to the position detecting device of the mobile machine of the third aspect, the optical information transmitting device is arranged at the fixed point and the mobile machine, and the optical information transmitting device and the traveling are provided at the other end of the optical cable. Since the selection means for selectively connecting the position detection means to the optical cable is provided, the existing optical cable can be used for position detection in a time division manner, and the installation cost of the optical cable can be significantly reduced. The effect that can be obtained is obtained.

Further, according to the position detecting device for a mobile machine of the fourth aspect, the traveling positions of a plurality of mobile machines can be detected by one position detecting means, so that the cost can be further reduced. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the present invention,
(a) is explanatory drawing which shows the connection state of the optical fiber core wire in an optical cable, (b) is a graph which shows the relationship between distance and temperature distribution.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a generation state of backscattered light by a laser pulse.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of spectroscopic measurement of scattered light.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the temperature and the intensity ratio of the Stokes light component and the anti-Stokes light component.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a railway machine to which the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1A to 1C Railway machine 10 Winding device 11A to 11C Ground controller 13A to 13C Optical switching circuit 14 Transmission optical cable 14a to 14c Optical fiber core wire 15A to 15C Optical switching circuit 16A to 16C In-reel optical cable 17A to 17C Onboard machine Optical cable 20A to 20C Heater 21A to 21C Onboard controller 30 Position detection circuit 31 Optical multiplexer 32 Demultiplexer 33 Pulse semiconductor laser 35a, 35b Filter 37 High-speed averaging processor 38 Distance calculation device 39 Position calculation processing device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for detecting a traveling position of a mobile machine, which detects a traveling position from a fixed point of a mobile machine whose traveling path is restricted, wherein an optical cable is laid along the traveling path between the fixed point and the moving machine, One end of the optical cable is connected to a winding device that winds and unwinds in accordance with the movement of the moving machine and the moving machine disposed at one of the fixed points, and the optical cable is locally located near the winding device. To form a temperature singular region by heating or cooling, a laser pulse is incident from the other end of the optical cable, the Raman scattered light in the temperature singular region of the laser pulse is received, and the Raman scattered light starts from the time of incidence A traveling position detection method for a mobile machine, wherein the traveling position of the mobile machine from a fixed point is detected by measuring the time until the reception time. 2. A traveling position detection device for a mobile machine for detecting a traveling position from a fixed point of a traveling machine whose traveling path is regulated, wherein an optical cable laid along the traveling path between the fixed point and the moving machine, A winding device that winds and rewinds one end of the optical cable according to the movement of the moving machine and one of the fixed points, and an optical cable that is provided on the outlet side of the winding machine. Temperature control means for locally heating or cooling a temperature-specific region and a laser pulse incident on the optical cable arranged at the other end of the optical cable to measure Raman scattered light in the temperature-specific region And a traveling position detecting means for detecting a traveling position from a fixed point of the mobile machine by measuring a distance to the temperature peculiar region. 3. An optical information transmission device is provided at the fixed point and the mobile machine, and a selection means is provided at the other end of the optical cable for selectively connecting the optical information transmission device and the traveling position detection means to the optical cable. The traveling distance measuring device for a mobile machine according to claim 2, which is provided. 4. A traveling position detecting device for a mobile machine, which detects traveling positions from a fixed point of a plurality of mobile machines whose traveling paths are restricted from a fixed point as a starting point, wherein the traveling position is between the fixed point and each moving machine along the traveling path. Multiple optical cables laid by
A plurality of winding devices for winding and rewinding one end of the optical cable according to the movement of the mobile machine and one of the fixed machines arranged at one of the fixed points, and a plurality of winders arranged on the outlet side of the winder. A plurality of temperature control means for locally heating or cooling the installed optical cable to form a temperature peculiar region, a selecting means for selecting each optical cable arranged at the other end of the optical cable, and a selecting means by the selecting means And a traveling position detecting means for detecting a traveling position from a fixed point of the mobile machine by measuring the distance to the temperature singular region by measuring the Raman scattered light in the temperature singular region by injecting a laser pulse into the optical cable. A traveling position detecting device for a mobile machine, comprising: