US2967970A

US2967970A - Track installation indicating system

Info

Publication number: US2967970A
Application number: US676582A
Authority: US
Inventors: Liewald Fritz
Original assignee: Werk fuer Signal und Sicherungstechnik Berlin VEB WSSB
Current assignee: Werk fuer Signal und Sicherungstechnik Berlin VEB WSSB
Priority date: 1956-08-06
Filing date: 1957-08-06
Publication date: 1961-01-10
Anticipated expiration: 1978-01-10

Description

- Filed Aug. 6, 1957 I INVENTOR [12; lien 0Z0 United States Patent TRACK INSTALLATION INDICATING SYSTEM Fritz Liewald, Berlin-Mahlsdorf, Germany, assignor to VEB Werk fiir Signalund Sicherungstechnik Berlin, Berlin-Treptow, Germany Filed Aug. 6, 1957, Ser. No. 676,582

Claims priority, application Germany Aug. 6, 1956 5 Claims. (Cl. 315-9) The present invention relates to a track diagram arrangement for the representation of the instantaneous operating conditions on tracks in track boards, desks, etc.

It is customary to form track diagrams for diagrammatic control boards by means of track diagram elements which abut each other without any gap therebetween. The illumination of such diagrams is accomplished in different ways, for instance, by flood lighting, by light projections, etc., but always using for this purpose, incandescent lamps. The removal of the heat from the lamps is necessary in all cases, for the heat has a detrimental effect on the shape and size of the track diagram elements and thus on the other structural parts of the track diagram table. In addition to the above mentioned defects, the shape and number of symbols which can be represented are limited. The prior systems also require a large number of structural parts, some of which are difiicult to manufacture. Among the above mentioned defects, one may particularly note the still persisting problem of inadequate removal of the large amount of accumulated heat and the detrimental result thereof, such as the deformation and jamming of the structural elements of the system.

It is an object of the invention to provide a substantially simplified track diagram indicating arrangement.

Another general object of the invention is to avoid the above mentioned defects of the prior art. This re sult is achieved in accordance with the invention by the indication of the instantaneous operating conditions of the track system, including the tracks, switches, signals, etc., using one or more cathode ray tubes preferably having a square glass fluorescent screen. The deflecting voltages of the tubes are controlled by switches which are dependent on the train and/or interlocking installations by applying voltages of diflerent wave forms and values one after another and/or simultaneously so as to form predetermined indications or symbols on the fluorescent screens.

It will be evident that the system according to the invention has the advantage, first of all, that there is no great production of heat in very small spaces and thus, structural means for the removal of the heat are not needed.

Another advantage of the present system is that structural parts of complex construction are not needed for the deflection and guiding of the light, and the previously customary track diagram elements themselves and the structural supports therefor are not required. Another advantage over the prior systems is, that the quality of the illumination is increased since direct illumination is used. Furthermore, in view of the known multiple possibilities of representation of curves and symbols by cathode ray tubes, the shape and number of the symbols to be reproduced can be increased and made more logical without substantially any additional technical provisions.

It will be evident that with the present system it is possible to provide a continuous indication of train movement by presently known means, such as changes in in- Patented Jan. 10, 1961 ductance in the track circuit. By the use of cathode ray tubes, the size of the track diagram is for the first time made independent of the size of the individual structural parts such as the lamps, sockets, etc. and only the ease of viewing as a function of the position of the observer are determinative of the size of the track diagram and therefore, of the screens of the cathode ray tubes.

The invention will be described in detail hereinafter in connection with the drawings in which the figure is a diagrammatical representation of one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the track diagram is formed by a plurality of cathode ray tubes KR having preferably square screens contiguous with one another as indicated by S --S Over these screens there is placed a mask G1 having a cut-out portion 11 corresponding to the tracks. The screens are preferably flat and in abutment with the mask. The mask and tubes may be suitably mounted and arranged to form a display board, table or desk. A plurality of operating keys of known type (not shown) may be arranged alongside of the cathode ray tubes in the usual manner. It is seen that the track diagram is divided among the several cathode ray tube screens. It will be understood that only a few of the cathode ray tubes are indicated and that in practice the mask or stencil G1 may have a track layout 11 extending over a very large number of cathode ray tubes.

Each cathode ray tube is provided with a cathode 13, control grid 14, an anode 15 and a deflection system 16 The constant voltages for the cathode ray tube electrodes are supplied by a high voltage circuit 20 which is energized by an alternating current supply circuit N. The grid voltage is preferably made variable by means of a variable resistor or potentiometer 21. Suitable control voltages, which may be sawtooth or sinusoidal voltages U U are fed to the vertical and horizontal deflecting plates 17 and 18 through capacitors C and C Another control voltage U; is fed to control grid 14 through capacitor C The control voltages are fed to the cathode ray tube electrode through contacts a b, c, d. These contacts may be the usual contacts placed along railroad tracks and operated in accordance with various conditions occurring along the tracks dependent on a train or interlocking installation. In order for instance to show a dotted line on the cathode ray tube screens a square voltage U; is app-lied to grid 14. The frequency of voltage U applied to deflection plate 18 for horizontal deflection is then made sufliciently high so that a solid line is preceived by the eye. It will be understood that each of the other cathode ray tubes is similarly operated by control voltages applied to their electrodes through control contacts a, b, c and d adapted to be opened and closed as is well known in accordance with the various conditions along the tracks. The contacts associated with the various tubes may be arranged so as to apply voltages thereto successively and/or simultaneously.

A signal may be indicated on the fluorescent screen with three dliferent meanings. The three different color indications may be provided by means of cathode ray tubes generally similar in construction to the tubes CR, but having tri-color screens. As is known from color television, upon a corresponding deflection of the cathode ray, the individual areas of the screen may be caused to fluoresce in any one of these three different colors. One or more of the tubes may be formed to provide particular colored signals in response to deflection voltages selectively applied in the manner described above. For this purpose, the screen may be arranged to provide signals of three different colors, for example, green, red and yellow as indicated on screen S.

Small track diagrams utilizing only a few symbols can advantageously be formed with a single large cathode ray tube having a plurality of deflection systems for a like plurality of electron beams. In such an arrangement, the screen G1 may be masked in the same manner as that illustrated in the drawings.

By the use of very small cathode ray tubes with screen sizes of 20 x 20 mm, central control boards and track diagrams for central supervision can be made according to the invention in considerably smaller sizes than has been previously customary.

The representation of operating conditions according to the invention is not limited merely to use for track diagrams but can be used analgously for visual boards in other pertinent fields, such as for instance, belt conveyor installations.

Although I have shown and described my invention in connection with one embodiment thereof, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention may be made, and accordingly the invention is limited except as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An arrangement for representing a railroad track installation and train movements and operating conditions along the track, comprising cathode ray tube means including a plurality of cathode ray tubes arranged in juxtaposed horizontal and vertical rows having contiguous screens constituting a flat extended fluorescent screen surface and means for projecting a plurality of electron beams onto separate adjacent portions of said fluorescent screen surface, said cathode ray tube means further including deflection means and a control grid for each electron beam; means for representing a single extended track layout on said surface including cover means for masking substantially all of said fluorescent surface except the portions representing the track, a plurality of sources of voltage of different wave forms and amplitudes; and switching means including train responsive switches disposed along the track for selectively connecting'said voltage sources to said deflection means and control grids of the several cathode ray tubes in response to predetermined operational conditions along said track for modulating the electron beams and deflecting them along said track representing portions.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said cathode ray tubes have rectangular fluorescent screens forming said flat extended surface.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, including cathode ray tube means for selectively producing a plurality of signals of different colors in response to different operational conditions along said track.

4. An arrangement for representing a system of vehicle tracks and indicating the positions of vehicles and other operating conditions along the tracks, comprising cathode ray tube means having a two-dimensional array of contiguous fluorescent screen portions forming a flat extended fluorescent screen surface and means for projecting a plurality of electron beams individually onto said contiguous portions of said fluorescent screen surface, individual control means for each beam in said tube means, said control means including a control grid and means for deflecting each electron beam in mutually orthogonal directions, masking means covering substantially all of said fluorescent surface except the portions representing the tracks for forming a single extended track layout upon said extended screen surface, a plurality of sources of voltages of different wave forms and amplitudes, a plurality of switching means positioned along said tracks for response to the passage of vehicles and to other operating conditions of the track system, each of said switching means being electrically connected between one of said voltage sources and the one of said control means controlling that beam which impinges upon the portion of screen surface corresponding to the switch means position on the single extended track layout, for selectively connecting said voltage sources to said control means for modulating the individual electron beams and deflecting them along said track representing portions of the fluorescent screen surface in response to the actuation of the voltage sources by the vehicles and other operational conditions along said track system.

5. An arrangement according to claim 4, wherein said cathode ray tube means includes means for selectively producing a plurality of signals of different colors in response to different operational conditions along said track system.

Great Britain Feb. 6,