RU2805895C1 - System for determining presence and condition of switching conducting elements and storing information about main units of locomotive - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: railway engineering.

SUBSTANCE: system for determining the presence and condition of switching conductive elements and storing information about the main units of a locomotive. The system includes passive rewritable RFID tags and a reader. RFID tags operate in the range of 860-960 MHz. The tags are placed on conductive copper-containing elements and linear equipment of the locomotive. The reader contains a transmitting and receiving device and an additional antenna in the form of a slotted radiating cable. RFID tags are located in the reader operating area. The slotted radiating cable is located in the technical area of the locomotive, at a distance of up to 3 m from the linear equipment of the locomotive and its current-carrying copper-containing parts. The reader is connected to a radio transmitting device with an external antenna. The radio transmitting device connects the reader to a remote server. The server includes a computer with software, a database management system and interacts with the control center of the repair team. The algorithm determines the location of damaged or missing copper-containing conductive elements of the locomotive.

EFFECT: increase in the level of automation in the processes of locomotive maintenance and repair.

1 cl, 1 dwg

Description

Field of technology to which the invention relates

The present invention relates to electrical equipment and can be used to recognize faulty or missing conductive elements of a locomotive and store information about the state of the locomotive's linear equipment.

State of the art

There are known devices for identification using RFID technologies (radio-frequency identification) (http://www.datakrat.ru/technology/7942.html), which make it possible to determine at a distance the presence of objects that require accounting, their location and storing information about this. RFID systems consist of three main components: an RFID reader, RFID tags, and a computer processing system. A passive tag consists of an antenna, a capacitor and a semiconductor integrated circuit integrated with a substrate. Passive tags receive energy for operation from the electromagnetic field induced by the antenna, and the tag accumulates it in a capacitor; its unique number and user information are stored in the RFID tag’s memory. RFID tags transmit information in the form of streams of bits to a reader, which detects the presence of tags in a certain area and reads the information stored in them. Based on the received information, the microprocessor generates signals and initiates other processes.

A known system for monitoring the condition of insulators in hard-to-reach areas of a power transmission line (Patent RU 2771083 published 04/26/2022),

which contains a portable reader with a radio module, to which an external transceiver antenna with a radiation pattern from 15° to 180° is connected by a coaxial cable to amplify the probing and response signals from RFID tags, a tablet or smartphone with software that allows for insulator accounting, entering data on the location of insulators on the supports of a section of a power transmission line, obtaining and storing information on the number of serviceable and faulty insulators.

There is a known system for collecting information about telecommunication devices in railway transport (Patent RU 2549504 published on April 27, 2015), which contains RFID tags, stationary units for receiving and processing information with RFID tag readers connected to them, a memory unit and a controller. Additionally, RFID tags installed on telecommunication devices and personal cards of workers, mobile units for receiving and processing information with an RFID tag reader and navigation and data exchange functions via radio channel, as well as a personal data memory module, a measuring bench module, and a process graph memory module were introduced , device location register, electronic journals and passports register, device identification register, the inputs/outputs of which are connected to the corresponding outputs/inputs of the introduced controlled switching unit. The radio channel is connected to the backbone data network. The switching unit is connected to the memory unit and controller, and through the backbone data transmission network - to the inputs/outputs of stationary units for receiving and processing information, while the outputs/inputs of the hardware and software complexes of a unified automated financial resource management system, automated workplaces for dispatch personnel and a unified monitoring and administration system.

The disadvantage of existing identification devices is that they all work only in open spaces and cannot work inside the metal body of a locomotive. In addition, the use of known solutions in a locomotive is impossible because a huge number of metal partitions are installed in the locomotive and a strong electromagnetic field appears from existing electrical installations. All this interferes with the transfer of information from passive RFID tags to the reading device.

Disclosure of the Invention

The technical problem is aimed at systems for determining the presence and condition of switching conductive elements and storing information about the main units of the locomotive, which reduces the time for detecting defects in the operation of locomotive elements or detects their absence by replacing the manual labor of workers with an automatic inventory of locomotive elements with RFID tags, automation processes for maintaining a database of the state of locomotive linear equipment.

The technical result achieved by using the invention is the guaranteed reading of passive RFID tags placed on the linear equipment of the locomotive and copper-containing conductive elements inside the technical area of the locomotive in its metal body, and an increase in the level of automation in the processes of maintenance and repair of the locomotive.

To solve the technical problem and achieve the specified technical result, the proposed solution uses rewritable passive RFID tags operating in the range 860 – 960 MHz, placed on conductive copper-containing elements and linear equipment of the locomotive. The reader contains a receiving and transmitting device and an additional antenna in the form of a slotted radiating cable, which are installed in the technical area of the locomotive. All passive RFID tags are located in the reader’s operating area, and a slotted emitting cable is located on both sides of the technical area of the locomotive at a distance of up to 3 m from the linear equipment of the locomotive and its current-carrying copper-containing parts. The reader is broadcast via radio with a remote server, including a computer with software, algorithm which determines the location of damaged or missing copper-containing conductive elements of the locomotive, a database management system containing a locomotive condition certificate, and with the control center of the repair team.

The invention is illustrated by the drawing.

The figure shows a functional diagram of the system, where:

1 - passive RFID tags;

2 - radiating slotted cable;

3 - transceiver device;

4 - radio transmitting and receiving device;

5 - external radio antenna;

6 - active frame;

7 - transmitting and receiving cable or radio device;

8 - operator workstations;

9 – database management system;

10 - working area of the locomotive;

11 - radio broadcast;

12 - external radio antenna of the locomotive.

Carrying out the invention

Passive RFID tags 1 are located on all linear equipment of the locomotive and its copper-containing current-carrying parts. One of the passive RFID tags 1 is designed to store the locomotive section number. The radiating slotted cable 2 is located on both sides of the technical area of the locomotive at a distance of no more than 3 m from the linear equipment of the locomotive and its copper-containing current-carrying parts in order to ensure the minimum possible distance from the passive RFID tags 1 to the radiating slotted cable 2, which is a radio antenna. The radiating slot cable 2 is connected on one side to the reader 3 (receiver-transmitter) for reading/writing passive RFID tags 1, and on the other hand it is connected to the radio transceiver device 4. The radio transceiver device 4 is connected by a cable to an external antenna 12, placed on the outside of the locomotive body to allow passive RFID tags 1 to be read from the outside of the locomotive. Through radio broadcast 11, control signals and information from/to RFID tags are transmitted to an external antenna 5 or read by an active frame 6. The active frame 6 and/or an external antenna 5 transmit information to a transceiver radio or cable device 7, which will provide communication with one or more workstations 8 (workstation of the security operator and depot dispatcher, etc.), the workstation of the depot dispatcher has access to the DBMS 9 “locomotive status certificate” for reading/writing information.

Device operation

When the locomotive passes through the “line”, the computer 9 generates a control signal, which is transmitted through the “external” radio broadcast: the operator’s workplace 8, the transmitting and receiving cable or radio device 7, the active antenna 6, the external radio antenna 5, the radio broadcast 11 and the “internal” radio broadcast: external radio antenna of the locomotive 12, radio transmitting and receiving device 4 and cables to the RFID tag reader 3. The reader, through the radiating slotted cable 2, transmits a control signal to read information from all passive RFID tags 1 located inside the locomotive. Read information from all passive RFID tags 1, through the emitting slotted cable 2 and the “internal” receiving/transmitting path: radio transmitting and receiving device 4, external radio antenna of the locomotive 12, transmitted outside, through the “external” receiving and transmitting path, radio broadcast 11, external radio antenna 5, active frame 6, transceiver cable or radio device 7, operator workstations 8. Up to 1000 tags are read per second. In parallel, it is possible to read/write additional information from/to passive RFID tags 1. According to the information received from RFID tags 1 and transmitted through the “internal” transmitting and receiving path: radiating slotted cable 2, transceiver device 3, radio receiving and transmitting device 4, external radio antenna of the locomotive 12, outside the locomotive and through the “external” transmitting and receiving path: radio broadcast 11, external radio antenna 5, active frame 6, transmitting and receiving cable or radio device 7, operator workstations 8, into a computer with the appropriate software software 9, will allow you to determine the presence of copper-containing conductive elements of the locomotive and read information from the RFID tags of its linear equipment, using the numbers of “unresponsive” passive RFID tags, using software, determine the location of damaged or missing copper-containing elements, the received data is displayed on a computer monitor , are transmitted to the “locomotive condition certificate” database and to the control center of the repair team.

If necessary or during the work of crews inside the locomotive, passive RFID tags can be read/written by a hand-held RFID tag scanner with subsequent recording of information in the DBMS “locomotive status certificate”.

The present invention is an effective tool for creating automated systems for monitoring the condition of the linear equipment of a locomotive and its copper-containing current-carrying parts.

Claims (1)

A system for determining the presence and condition of switching conductive elements and storing information about the main units of a locomotive, including passive RFID tags and a reader, characterized in that rewritable passive RFID tags operating in the range of 860-960 MHz are placed on conductive copper-containing elements and linear equipment locomotive, the reader contains a receiving and transmitting device and an additional antenna in the form of a slotted emitting cable, installed in the technical area of the locomotive, while all passive RFID tags are located in the reader operating area, and the slotted emitting cable is located on both sides of the technical area of the locomotive at a distance of up to 3 m from the linear equipment of the locomotive and its current-carrying copper-containing parts, the reader is connected to a radio transmitting device with an external antenna, connecting the reader via radio to a remote server, including a computer with software, the algorithm of which determines the location of damaged or missing copper-containing conductive elements of the locomotive, a database management system , containing a passport of the locomotive’s condition, interacting with the control center of the repair team.