US1771149A - Apparatus for controlling the movement of vehicles on railroads - Google Patents

Description

July 22,-1930. F, .1. SPRAGUE 1,771,149 APPARATUS FOR coumommc m: uovsum- 9F vsarcnss' on numolms ori inal Filed ApriI-IZ. 192'! A TTO NEYSJ Patented July 2 2, 1930 V rorrrcs FRANK J. sPRAGUE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUSFOR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT or vEHroLnsoN RAILROADS" Original application filed. April 12, 1927, Serial, No.

' 1 1929. Serial This application isfiled as a division of my prior application, Ser. No. 183,193 of April 12,1927, for apparatus for-controlling movement of vehicles on railroads, and the subject hereof forms part ofthe apparatus disclosed in the aforesaid application.

. a My inventionv relates to an improvement in automatictrain controlsystems, and particularly to the features. known as'forestalling g and resetting, the former being .an operation by which the engineer may, by the performance of a suitable manual act, prevent the coming on of an automatic brake application, and the latter an operation by Which the brake controlling apparatus may be restored to normal condition, afterwhich the 1 brakes. (if applied) may be released and free runningconditions established.

In much of present practice the forestallingand resetting operations are effected by mechanisms differently placed, the forestalling being done in, the cab, and the resetting through a switch or other device situated at such inconvenient point as will require the train to be stopped before it can: be used, so as to prevent release of the brakes,appl1ed inresponse to a track, initiated impulse, be fore: the train has come to rest, although sometimes this reset switch is made inconvenient but possibly accessible when moving at slow speeds. I

To place some restriction upon the act of forestalling, which unless limited by the condition that a train must be actually braked or has had its speed reduced to some predetermined ratealthough present practice 1 and rules actually permit forestalling at any speed and without any pre-application of the brakesit has been proposed to limit the time period in which the engineer may forestall an automatic brakeapplication when receiving a track impulse. This is done in. certain electrically controlled systems by com necting a forestalling switch and circuits so that atterimanual operation of the switch by the engineer the forestalling circuit will be closed, and the essential circuit will be maintained for only a limited time, the movement of the switch handle initiating a motive force which after a short interval W-lll open the 7 second, if he forestalls toozsoon; and, finally,

183,193. Dividedamr this application filed m 6, No. 376,399. Q 1

essential circuit, just as the pilotvci-rcuits are made and opened in my LettersPatent No. 660,065 on the multiple-unit system of train a control.

With this arrangement, thehengineen, on

approachinga stop indication point within a distance less than he will covenin. termined time, a hundred to a thousandfeet or more, accorda= predeing to the speed of a'train, moves hisswitch totheforestalling position,,closes the forestallmg c 1rcu1t andinitiatesthe motive force, WlllCh Wlll open the essential circuit auto-.

matically in a predetermined time-say 15' seconds. After passing-the stop indication point, if he returns theswitch to the normal position within the time period there; will be no automatic braking, although someipart of the equipment may be responsive. But if the switch is held in the forestalling positionffor longer than the time period the. brakes will 7 come on. 7

Thus there are three conditions in which the automatic brake application may take j; place as a result of passing a stop indication point. First,. if the engineer does nothing;

he holdson too long. Anyofthese conditlons may possibly act adversely as regards train movements.

With the automatic brakeapplicationin effect, the amount of brakinghis made such as to bring the train to a stop, after. which the engineer, or fireman must get. down 'from. the cab, or climb out toa position diflicult. of access when the locomotive ismoving, to reset the brake initiating apparatus, so that the engineer may release the brakes manually.

I The main object of thus separating the forestalling and resetting actions, and providing for a time limit. is to induce some measure of alertness on the part of the engineer, under. possible penalty, and; to insure that once the brakes have actually come on automatically the train shall be stopped before the engineer can. release them.

which may be anything, from r There are serious objections to both pracoperations,

enable the brakes to be released. This latter act cannot be performed at times without serious danger, as in tunnels, snow-sheds and on trestles, or in proximity to passing trains and under conditions of poor visibility.

I desire, therefore, to provide definite limitations upon the act of forestalling, as well as upon the act of resetting, while the timing mechanism for opening the forestalling circuit may be omitted entirely. I plan, also, to combine in a single mechanism-operated in the cab-both the forestalling and resetting and for compelling, under possible penalty, acknowledgment of the receipt of a brake initiating impulse from the track. This mechanism may conveniently be referred to as an acknowledging device.

My invention will conduce to safety and convenience, and eliminate delays, while making it possible to impose upon the engineer such precautionary conditions as are essential to safe operation and the maintenance of the fundamentals of automatic train control systems.

The accompanying drawings and specification illustrate my invention as applied to a system of automatic train control which cooperates with the usual type of air brake equipment in whole or in part. It is of course applicable not only to vehicles propelled by steam but to vehicles otherwise propelled. It should be noted that the mechanic, electric and pneumatic devices shown in these drawings serve merely to illi'istrate the nature of the invention, and thus do not limit it to the construction shown.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this application- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the electric circuits of the vehicle-carried equipment of a train control system which incorporates my invention, also indicating in aschematic Way the cooperating track elements.

Relay R represents the governing element of the circuits. This relay is normally energized, its maintaining circuit being the following: plus of battery H, armature A, contacts 7 6, armature 2, and coil of relay and back to the negative of the battery. As the maintaining circuit of relay R includes its own armature 2 it is a stick relay which, when once de-energized, cannot be re-energized by way of its normal maintaining circuit.

The armature A represents an element for changing the electrical condition of the governing element of the circuits, which element is herein illustrated as a stick relay. The armature A is for convenience illustrated as biased by a spring 18 and is intended to be controlled by track elements. In the specific illustration it is normally held by its spring against its cooperating contact so as to close the maintaining circuit of relay R. However, if an active application track element is passed this armature A is so afiected as to open the maintaining circuit of relay R at contact 7. The word active in this connection refers to the condition of the track element which is intended to initiate automatic braking and does not refer to the inherent condition of the track element itself. The term track element is likewise employed inits'bloadest sense irrespective of the type of system, whether continuous or intermittent, to which my invention is applied. V

For illustrative purposes I have indicated in a schematic way an intermittent inductive type of system, such being fully described in my British Patent No. 149,922, or my United States Patent No. 1,669,165 of May 8, 1928.

The track element is represented by an application magnet of the compound type vhich consists of a permanent magnet m provided with soft iron poles m m surrounded by neutralizing coils H. The neutralizing coils a are energized from a battery 150 for clear traffic conditions in which case their field neutralizes or deflects he field of the permanent magnet. For restricted trafiic conditions, however, the neutralizing coils are de-energized in which case the flux of the permanent magnet is effective and the track element active. The trafiic control is shown in a conventional way. The receiver of the locomotive is represented by plates p which collect the flux when passing over an active magnet, whereby the armature A. magnetically attracted by the plates 1? and breaks the circuit of which it forms part.

The stick relay R normally maintains an armature 1 against a contact 1 in the normally closed circuit of an electro-pneumatic vent valve V.

The vent valve represents the connecting member between the electric and pneumatic parts of the vehicle-carried equipment, deenergization of which member initiates an automatic brake application. Various pneumatic equipment may be used in connection with my inventionfor instance, the one described in my previously referred to application, Ser. No. 183,193 of April 12, 1927.

The circuit for V process through the plus end 'of battery H, and speed controlled contacts 130 and 131which are normally electrically connected by a cylindrical contact 133, to contact 14, contact 123 and contact of an acknowledging device, F through coil of the vent valve, front contact 4i and armature 1 of relay R, back to the negative end of battery H. The contact 123 of the acknowledging device F is normally held by a spring 12 1 in its upper position so as to bridge contacts 1 1 and 15 and the speed controlled contacts are also electrically connected through contact 138providcd the speed of the train does not exceed a predetermined maximum value. The circuit of-the coil 20 V is thus normally closed and the vent valve energized. v

- Asmentmned' 'prev1ously, when the stlck "gizing circuits. prise contacts of a manually operated acknowledging'device, as well asspeed con- 7 contacts will now be described.

relay P. is die-energized, as happens when passing over an active application track elemcnt,*it cannot here-energized by way of its normal maintaining circuit, even after such track element is passed and armatureA has assumed 1ts normal position; such re-energination can only take place by way of re-ener- These circuits which comtrolled and inertia controlled The acknowledging device F here illustrated comprises the contact 123, which, as

already stated, due to the action of spring 12 1, 'normallybridges the contacts 14 and 15. Upon manual actuation of the acknowledging device, electric connection between the upper contacts 14 and 15 is broken and connectionbetween the lower contacts 12 and 13 is established. The speed contacts are controlled by a cen- 'trifugal speed governor M, which is provided with a battery brush 130, always connected with the positive end of the battery H, with a high-speed brush 131, and a low-speed brush 132. A rotating contactcylinder 133 electrically connects brushes 130' and 131 unless the train exceeds a high or maximum speed limit, which may be of the orderof 50 to 7 M. P. H.; the electrical connection 'between the battery brush 130 and the low speed brush 132 is only maintained'provided the speed of the train is below a so-called low speed limit which may be of the order of to M. P. TL, the values-given being only for the our os'e of illustration.

The pendulum device P comprises a weight iadjustably supported on'a pendulum arm 127 which latter is normally retained against" a contact 10 by an adjustable spring 126.

The pendulum arm is of conductive material and is connected with the positive pole of battery H. This pendulum gives a measure of the rate and consequently of the amountof braking required to break the contact 10 and to make a contact 9, matters for determination by suitable adjustment to suit the re-' quirements of the road adopting the system.- 'The suggestion is made for the purpose ofillustration that contact 10 be broken at the commencement of automatic braking and ing.

that contact'9 be made on full service brak- There are three re-energizing circuits for the relay R, all of which go through the back contacts 12 and 13 of the acknowledging de-- vice F Of these three circuits the one is the forestalling circuit which goes from plus battery through pendulum arm 127, pendulum conmatic braking has started. Thus, to forer stall an automatlc brake application the engineer has to close the acknowledging device before the automatic brake application has taken place.- i

The second re-energizing circuit is the reset circuit which is closed 1f the braking exceeds a certain rate-thus if ascertain amount of braking has taken placeand the pendulum arm 127 contacts with contact 9. By

-manually depressing the acknowledging device the reset circuit is .closed as follows: plus battery, pendulum arm 127, pendulum contact 9, contact 12, contact 123 and contact 13of the acknowledging device, relay R i and back to negative battery.

The third 're-energizing circuit goes through the low-speed contact 132 of the speed governor and is closed upon operation of the acknowledging device F provided the speed of the train is below the low-speed limit. This re-energizing circuit can be traced as follows: plus battery, speedcontact 130,

contact segment 133, speed contact 132, contact 12, armature 123 and contact 13 of the acknowledging device, relay R back to nega-' tive batter A warning device, audible, visible or both and represented in the drawing by the audible signal K, is provided; This alarm is energized whenever the relay R is de-energized as dropping of armature 1 closes the circuitof alarm K as-follows: I

-Plus battery, audible signal K, contact 5, armature 1 and back to negative battery.

" "It should also be noted thata time delay should be provided between the de-energizingof the vent valve and the automatic application of the brake. This time delay may be varied'from 'the fraction of a second to several seconds, depending on the requirements. There are many known ways of introducing such a time delay between the deenergization of the vent valve and the application of the brakes, for instance, the one described inmy above-referred to application #183,193 of April 12, 1927.

Under normal conditions the stick relay is energized'and its armatures 1 and 2 are attracted. The acknowledging device F is contacting with its contact 123 with the con- The speed contact 131- unless'the speed exceeds the maximum speed tacts 14 and 15.

limitis connected with the brush through K contact ring 133 and thus the coil 20 of the vent valve is energized. If the an A u .train exceeds the maximum speed limit the vent valve is tie-energized with a consequent application of the brakes. However, as soon as the train reduces its speed below the maximum speed limit the vent valve is automatically re-energizedthe relay R not having been de-energizedand the brakes can ,neer of the danger conditions ahead, and

that an automatic brake application will be efi'ected unless forestalling action is taken by him.

Assume now that the engineer is not prepared to heed such warning or is incapacitated, an automatic brake application will then occur.

However, if the engineer is alert and wishes to take advantage of the iorestalling privilege upon the receipt of the warning given by the audiblesignal K, he will move the acknowledging device F into its operating position and immediately release it thereafter. This first breaks the circuit of the coil'20 of the vent valve at contacts 14: and 15 and bridges the forestalling circuit of the relay R at contacts 12 and 13, provided that the forestalling contact 10 is closed by the pendulum arm 127 or that the low speed brush 132 is contacting with the cylinder segment 133. The first condition assumes that retardation due to automatic braking has not yet started and the second condition assumes that the train is below the low-speed limit. Releasing of the acknowledging device by the engineer returns contact 123 to the upper contacts 14: and 15, and as in the meantime the relay R has been re-energized the whole equipment is restored to normal condition.

It has been stated above, that there is a time delay provided between de-enejrgization of the vent valve and the automatic application of the brake, also that after a track element is passed, armature A assumes its normal closed position. Thus it will appear that when contact 123, after having completed the forestalling circuit, is released and again bridges the upper contacts 14: and 15, normal condition of the equipment is restored without an automatic brake application taking place.

If, on the other hand, the engineer fails to forestall the automatic brake application,

he may re-energize relay B through the reset circuit by operating the acknowledging device, after sufficient retardation of the train has taken place to bring the pendulum arm 27 into contact with contact 9. energizing relay I the equipment can be restored to normal by releasing the acknowledging device.

As illustrated in the drawing, both the torestalling and the resetting can be efiected irrespective of the position of the pendulum contacts (and thus of the retardation of the train) provided the train is below the lowspeed limit. It should be understood, however, that my invention does not necessarily require the use of the low-speed contact. In the same way the maximum-speed contact may also be omitted.

Various modifications both in regard to the circuits as well as the physical embodiment of the devices may be employed without deviating from the spirit of the invention, and no undue limitation should therefore be deduced from the specific illustration given, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

WV hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automatic train control system of the permissive type, brake-setting apparatus, a combined forestalling and resetting device, and two pendulum-controlled contactors, said forestalling and resetting device permitting, by its identical manual operation, prevention of an automatic application of the brakes when operated prior to such application provided one of the pendulum-controlled contactors is closed, and restoration of the apparatus to normal in case an automatic application of the brakes has already been started provided that the other pendulum-controlled contactor is closed.

2. In an automatic train control system of the permissive type, brake-setting apparatus, a device to detect deceleration and contacts closed by said device, an acknowledging mechanism permitting, by identical manual operation, prevention of an automatic application of the brakes when operated prior to such application provided that one of the contacts of the device to detect deceleration is closed, and restoration of the apparatus to normal after an automatic application of the brakes provided that another contact of said device is closed.

3. In a system for automatically controlling a train, train carried equipment comprising brake-applying means, a combined forestalling and resetting device, said device permitting, by identical manual operation, prevention of an automatic application of the brakes provided no deceleration of the train exceeding a certain rate has occurred,

After reand the release'of an automatic application provided the deceleration of the train has attained a predetermined rate.

v 4. In an automatic train control system comprising a normally active relay de-energized when a receiver on the locomotive reg.- isters inductively to form a magnetic couple with a traiiic controlled element, a brake initiating circuit controlled thereby, and a restoring circuit for said relay including a manually operated switch normally retracted from the operating position and control ling normally open contacts in series with inertia controlled contacts.

5. In an automatic train control system comprising a normally active relay deenergized when a receiver on the locomotive registers inductively to form a magnetic couple with a trafiic controlled element, a brake initiating circuit controlled thereby, and a restoring circuit for said relay including a manually operated switch normally retracted from the operating position and controlling normally open contacts in series with inertia controlled contacts paralleled by speed controlled contacts.

6. In an automatic train control system comprising a normally active relay de-energized when a receiver on the locomotive registers inductively to form a magnetic couple with a traffic controlled element, a brake initiating circuit controlled thereby, a restoring circuit for said relay including a manually operated switch normally retracted from the operating position and controlling normally open contacts in series with inertia controlled contacts and means for opening the brake initiating circuit when-the restoring circuit is closed.

7. In a automatic train control system comprising a normally active relay de-energized when a receiver on the locomotive registers inductively to form a magnetic couple with a traflic controlled element, a brake initiating circuit controlled thereby, a restoring circuit for said relay including a manually operated switch normally retracted from the operating position and controlling normally open contacts in series with inertia controlled contacts paralleled by speed controlled contacts, and means for opening the brake initiating circuit when the restoring circuitis closed.

8. In an automatic train control system comprising a normally active relay de-energized when a receiver on the locomotive registers inductively to form a magnetic couple with a traiiic controlled element, a brake initiating circuit controlled thereby, and a restoring circuit for said relay including a manually operated switch normally retracted from the operating position and controlling normally open contacts in series with inertia controlled contacts, said initiating circuit comprising contacts bridged by said switch when in normal position.

9. In an automatic train control system comprising a normally active relay de-energized when a receiver on the locomotive registers inductively to form a magnetic couple with a trafiic controlled element, a brake initiating circuit controlled thereby, and a restoring circuit for said relay including a manually operated switch normally retracted from the operating position and controlling normally open contacts in series with inertia controlled contacts paralleled by speed controlled contacts, said initiating circuit comprising contacts bridged by said switch when in normal position.

New York, N. Y., July 3d, 1929.

FRANK J. SPRAGUE.

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