RU2457135C2 - Rail haulage safety monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transport.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to railway transport, in particular to rail line and wheel pairs condition monitoring facilities. Device contains rail line and wheel pair condition sensor where condition is evaluated by means of analysing acoustic rail line signals spread by train which sensor includes spectrum analyser, signal generating unit with antenna, and piezoelectric cell with accumulator. Piezoelectric cell converts mechanical impacts of rail into electric energy to supply power to spectrum analyser, generating unit and antenna. Piezoelectric cell generating electric energy when sleeper and rail act on it is accommodated under sleepers and in sleepers installed under end sections of rails. In the same place in modular configuration with piezoelectric cell, energy accumulator, spectrum analyser and signal generating unit with antenna each being electrically connected with piezoelectric cell are located. Signal receiver provided with alarm indicator is located on rail line unit e.g. on intermediate pole, or on locomotive being capable to transmit data on failure to dispatcher.

EFFECT: simplification of rail haulage safety monitoring device structure.

1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of railway transport, in particular to means for monitoring the condition of the rail track and wheelsets.

A known system and method for detecting changes in the rail track or obstacles on it (PCT Application US 2006/02997720060801, M. Bartonek). The system allows you to determine the ability of the rail track to ensure the safe passage of the train along it by detecting changes in the environment, namely the magnetic field, near the rail track.

The system contains a sensor for detecting a magnetic field near the path and a unit for generating data characterizing this magnetic field, with a processor and a communication device with a locomotive, with a barrier, etc. for reporting field characteristics and stopping locomotive movement.

Sensors are located, for example, on a railroad tie, on a rail, near a rail, in ballast material, etc.

Sensors allow you to establish the presence of a foreign object on the rails also by changing the magnetic field.

The disadvantages of the known device are the structural complexity, price characteristics and the need for power for each sensor.

A fully automated multifunctional device for maintaining and maintaining a railway bed and a method for using it are known (application for invention No. 97106809/28, 04.24.1997, RF, Ulyam D. Straut (US), etc.).

The device includes a movable remotely controlled trolley with sensors and repair modules. The device provides for the identification of a defect, for example, defective fastening of the rail to the sleepers.

The disadvantage of this device is the structural complexity and the presence of the trolley, which blocks the rail track for the time of inspection and repair.

To control the serviceability of the wheelset and sorting the wagons, the well-known system for monitoring the rolling surface of the wheels of a railway wheelset can be used (utility model patent, application No. 2009142448/22 of 11/18/2009, B61L 27/04).

The system contains dynamic load sensors made in the form of fiber-optic pressure sensors mounted on a rail on the measuring section of the track in the control zone, a wagon identification unit, an input, processing and storage unit for information, a decision-making unit and an electric power unit connected via a wired connection between yourself and with the personal computer of the dispatcher.

The disadvantages of the system include the need for stationary power supply in the control zone and the inability to control the rail and wheelset along the entire route of the car.

There is an acoustic method for detecting a rail track malfunction arising from crack formation during the movement of a train along a railway, in which an acoustic signal is transmitted to the rails, a reflected signal is received, and its coordinate is determined from the propagation time of the acoustic signals to the fault location, and the reflected signal is received by piezoelectric transducers of acoustic vibrations into electrical signals mounted on bearings mounted on a shaft of a pair of wheels, while before chu and receiving acoustic signals are alternately (RF patent №2126339, FI Kogan et al., BE №5, 20.02.99).

The disadvantages of this method include the need for feeding into the rails of acoustic vibrations, which leads to the presence of an acoustic generator and stationary power supply and, secondly, acoustic vibrations in the rail arise (page 7 of the description of the known invention) in the process of occurrence and development of a crack, i.e. the fact of the presence of an existing crack is recorded.

A device is known for transmitting information from the path to a locomotive (RF patent No. 1792859 A1, V.F. Belyaev et al., B61L 23/06, BI No. 5, 09/07/93).

The device contains sensors about the state of the track, a block for generating an informative package, a communication line, an information receiver, a stationary radio station, a control unit, and an alarm block.

The disadvantage of this device is the need for a communication line and a stationary wiring of power to the sensors or the installation of an autonomous power supply for each sensor, which determines the complexity of the device and its high cost.

A technical solution is known for creating an autonomous axle counting station (train) installed under the rail (RU No. 65849, A. Trifonov et al., B61L 25/00, 08/27/2007)

On the one hand, it is attached to the sole of the rail, and the other side is deepened and anchored into the ground of the railroad track. The axis counting station has a built-in piezoelectric generator and an energy storage device for its operation due to rail deflection and a data exchange controller with a network transceiver.

The disadvantages of the known device is the inability to monitor the rail and train, as well as the continuity of the installation of an autonomous point at large distances of railway lines due to the need to dismantle the rails.

The closest in purpose and design to the claimed one is the well-known rail and train monitoring system (patent RU No. 2365517, Davenport D.M. et al., B61L 1/06, 08/27/2009) for determining at least one parameter related to the train, passing along the rail track.

The system comprises a sensor associated with the detection location and designed to detect acoustic signals at the detection location on the rail, and a processor coupled to the sensor for analyzing the spectrum of acoustic signals on the rail distributed by the train.

A disadvantage of the known device is the need for a stationary power supply of the rail and train monitoring sensor and the frequency noise analyzer from the running train, as well as the electrical connection between them.

The technical result obtained by the implementation of the proposed device is to simplify the design and reduce the cost of the device for monitoring the health of the rail and its fastening, as well as the wheelset during the movement of the train.

This result is achieved due to the fact that in the device for monitoring the safety of railway transportation containing a sensor of the state of the railway track and the wheelset by analyzing the spectrum of acoustic signals in the rail track distributed by the train, including a spectrum analyzer, a signal conditioning unit with an antenna and a piezoelectric element with a drive that converts the mechanical effects of the rail into electrical energy for powering the spectrum analyzer, signal conditioning unit and antenna, piezo an element that generates electricity when exposed to sleepers or rail, is located under the sleepers or in sleepers installed under the end sections of the rail, there is also a modular design with a piezoelectric element and the electric power storage device, a spectrum analyzer and a signal conditioning unit with an antenna are electrically connected to it, and the signal receiver, equipped with an alarm indicator, is located either on the rail track object, for example, on an intermediate support, or on a locomotive with the possibility of transmitting information about a malfunction petcher.

The device diagram is shown in figure 1.

The device contains a sensor that generates electricity 1, the energy storage device is a battery 2, a frequency spectrum analyzer 3, a signal conditioning unit 4, a radiating antenna 5 and a signal receiver 6 with an alarm indicator 7.

Parts of the device 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are electrically interconnected, structurally combined and are located under the sleepers 8 or in sleepers 8 at the level of their surfaces under the ends of the rail 9 with the possibility of mechanical action of the sleepers 8 or rail 9 on the piezoelectric element of the sensor 1.

The operation of the device is as follows.

A sensor 1, an energy storage device 2, a spectrum analyzer 3, a signal conditioning unit 4 and a radiating antenna 5 are installed at the ends of the sleepers 8 rail closest to the ends of the rail. Sensor 1 is installed in the upper part of the sleepers with the possibility of a rail acting on it. Then the sleepers from above are pressed against the rail 9, which is attached through the lining to the sleepers 8 using a crutch. While the locomotive is moving along sections of the track on which these modules are installed to control traffic safety, the wheelset of the train mechanically acts on the rail 9, the rail, in turn, acts on the piezoelectric element of the sensor 1, which converts mechanical stresses into electrical energy. As a result, pulses of electricity are generated that enter the drive 2, and power is supplied to the spectrum analyzer 3, the forming unit 4, and the antenna 5.

The operation of the device when installing the module with the sensor 1 under the sleepers with the possibility of the effects of sleepers on the piezoelectric element is similar. With a serviceable rail that does not have cracks and is normally mounted on a railroad tie, with serviceable wheels of locomotive wheelsets and wagons, the frequency spectrum of noise from the running train has certain frequency characteristics, usually uniformly monotonous. Spectrum analyzer 3 captures the noise spectrum in normal motion mode.

In the presence of cracks in the rails and wheels, with a loose, faulty fastening of the rail to the railroad tie, the noise spectrum specifically changes and the analyzer generates and sends a deviation signal from the normal mode to the generating unit 4, which, depending on the parameters of the analyzer signal, generates a control signal coming through the antenna 5 via remote wireless communication, for example via a bluetooth, to a receiver 6 located on a locomotive or on an object of a rail track, for example, on an intermediate support, and to an alarm indicator 7 for subsequent boiling reaction driver or corresponding road services.

During the electrification of railways, the ends of the rails are sewn together with a thick wire harness of the ground loop, and during the construction of the high-speed track, rail joints are sewn together with iron strips to create a “velvet track”. At the same time, the rails conduct acoustic vibrations well over a long distance and the use of the proposed device will allow in advance to identify a malfunction and prevent a train accident.

Claims (1)

A device for monitoring the safety of railway transportation, containing a sensor of the state of the railway track and the wheelset by analyzing the spectrum of acoustic signals in the rail track distributed by the train, including a spectrum analyzer, a signal conditioning unit with an antenna and a piezoelectric element with a drive that converts the mechanical effects of the rail into electrical energy for power supply of the spectrum analyzer, the formation unit and the antenna, characterized in that the piezoelectric element that produces electricity when exposed to sleepers or rails, it is located under the sleepers or in sleepers installed under the end sections of the rails, in the same place in a modular design with a piezoelectric element there is an electric storage device, a spectrum analyzer and a signal generation unit with an antenna, electrically connected to the piezoelectric element, and a signal receiver equipped with an alarm indicator is located either on the track object, for example, on an intermediate support, or on a locomotive with the possibility of transmitting information about the malfunction to the dispatcher.