Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B61—RAILWAYS
  • B61L—GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC
  • B61L23/00—Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains
  • B61L23/34—Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains for indicating the distance between vehicles or trains by the transmission of signals therebetween
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S367/00—Communications, electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices
  • Y10S367/909—Collision avoidance

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for keeping spaced-apart vehicles with light transmitters radiating in the opposite direction to the direction of travel and with light receivers receiving from the front in the direction of travel, which device uses a drive control to reduce the speed of a vehicle with decreasing distance to the direct one vehicle in front is reduced, the distance being determined on the basis of the received light signals.
• DE-OS 26 46 587 discloses such a device for vehicles which can be steered automatically by means of a guide cable.
• the guide cable is laid in the roadway and is supplied with a control pulse at regular intervals to keep the vehicles at a safe distance.
• the control pulse spreads along the guide cable and causes a light pulse to be emitted against the direction of travel when a vehicle is reached.
• the control pulse and the light pulse originating from the preceding vehicle are detected in the following vehicle and the distance is determined on the basis of the time between the pulses.
• the device requires elaborate, fixed installations to keep the distance.
• the fixed installations consist of the guide cable laid in the carriageway and the associated control devices.
• the control devices must be provided in such a way that the control impulse with respect to the direction of travel of the vehicles propagates in the same direction on each lane section, because the transit times of the impulses in the guide cable and in the air are to be added or subtracted depending on the direction.
• the parts of the device arranged on the vehicles * are complex because the times to be evaluated between the impulses are short due to the very high reproductive speeds.
• the device does not reliably evaluate the short times between the pulses if the pulses are distorted or if the times are very short, the distortions of the pulses increasing with increasing roadway length or guide cable length and the times between the pulses with decreasing distance lose weight.
• the invention has for its object to provide a relatively simple device for keeping track-bound to propose those vehicles which function reliably on roads of any length, which can be operated without fixed installations and whose reliability increases with decreasing distance.
• the object is achieved in that a light transmitter, which works with modulated light and emits uniformly in any direction to the side and rearward, is arranged on the rear of the vehicles, in that the vehicle has a front and rear side in any direction from the sides and from the front receiving, light-producing light receiver is arranged and that the drive control reduces the speed of the vehicle with increasing received light intensity.
• 1 is a forward and backward movable vehicle with light transmitters and light receivers provided on both sides in side elevation,
• FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a light transmitter arranged at a vehicle end and a light receiver arranged at the same vehicle end
• 3 is a schematic representation of two vehicles on a straight route in the plan
• Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of two vehicles on a curved route in plan
• Fig. 6 is a schematic representation of three vehicles on adjacent straight lines in the floor plan.
• FIG. 1 denotes a battery-operated vehicle of an industrial truck, which can move forwards and backwards on a road 2 by means of wheels 3, 4.
• a guide cable 5 can, for automatically steering apparatus 1 to be moved, which not shown in detail L 'enk Nuren cooperates the vehicle.
• load suspension devices 6 On the top of the vehicle 1 there are load suspension devices 6, which can be designed differently depending on the type of loads to be transported.
• light transmitters and light receivers for both directions of travel are arranged in dustproof glass housings 7, 8.
• Metal housings 9, 10 are provided directly under the glass housings 7, 8, and describe the structures in more detail using the block diagram in FIG.
• OMPI include electrical devices of the light transmitter and the light receiver. Under the metal housings 9, 10 there are safety contacts embedded in rubber beads 11, 12, which switch off the drive of the vehicle 1 in the event of a collision.
• FIG. 2 denotes a control circuit, to which four items of information AHE, AHL, AHR, AHT originating from a drive control of the vehicle 1, which is not explained in greater detail, are present and which • five output signals EL, ER, SL, SR, ST generates.
• the output signals EL, ER are fed to a light receiver denoted by 22, while the output signals SL, SR, ST are fed to a light transmitter denoted by 23, the light receiver 22 and the light transmitter 23 being arranged at the same vehicle end,
• the output signals EL, ER are present in the light receiver 22 on the one hand both on a first display device 24 optically indicating the operating mode of the light receiver 22 and on the other hand individually on the control inputs of a first and a second electronic switching device 25, 26, with the aid of the Contacts of the first and the second switching device 25, 26 two infrared light-sensitive diodes 27, 28 can be connected in parallel to a capacitor of a resonant circuit 29.
• the two light-sensitive diodes 27, 28 are at the same angle in a horizontal plane arranged opposite the direction of travel such that the light receiver 22 receives light from the sides and from the front in any direction.
• the resonance circuit 29, consisting of a parallel connection of a capacitor, a coil and a resistor, is connected to an amplifier 30.
• the output of the amplifier 30 is connected to the input of a demodulator 31.
• the output signal denoted by AH of the demodulator 31 is proportional to the received light intensity and is supplied to the drive control 21 for influencing the travel
• the output signals SL, S ⁇ , ST of the control circuit 20 are supplied in the light transmitter 23 on the one hand to a second display device 32 optically indicating the operating mode of the light transmitter 23.
• the signal ST is present at the control input of a controllable current source 33, the signal SL at the control input of a third electronic switching device 34 and the signal SR at the control input of a fourth electronic switching device 35.
• the controllable current source 33 feeds a series circuit 36 of twelve infrared light-emitting diodes, only four of the twelve light-emitting diodes being shown.
• the light-emitting diodes are arranged in a fan-shaped manner in a horizontal plane in such a way that the light transmitter 23 emits light uniformly in any direction sideways and backwards.
• the contact of the third switching device 34 is parallel to the six light-emitting diodes shining to the left
• OMPI of the series circuit 36 is connected, while the contact of the fourth switching device 35 is connected in parallel to the six light-emitting diodes of the series circuit 36 which shine to the right.
• AHE an information generated by the drive control 21, which information when driving forward
• AHL is information generated by the drive controller 21, which generates the value when there is an adjacent road to the left of the vehicle 1
• AHR is information generated by the drive control 21, which generates the value when there is an adjacent road to the right of the vehicle 1
• the LEDs of the series circuits 36 are by means of the third and fourth
• Switching devices 34, 35 are not short-circuited, whereby both partial angles of the light transmitter 23 arranged at the rear are released.
• the signals ST like the information AHT, change with a frequency of about 20 kHz from I "I ⁇ 0-_» 1 to "1" and vice versa, which is why the controllable current sources 33 match the LEDs of the series circuits 36 with one another
• the light transmitters 23 emit modulated infrared light according to the transmission characteristics 44 shown schematically, the intensity of the light being proportional to the reciprocal of the distance square.
• the light-emitting diodes of the series circuits 36 are short by means of the third and fourth switching devices 34, 35. closed, whereby both partial angles of the light transmitter 23 arranged at the front are switched off.
• the light-sensitive diodes 27, 28 are connected in parallel with the capacitors of the resonance circuits 29 by means of the first and second switching devices 25, 26, whereby both partial angles of the light receivers 22 arranged at the front are switched on, as is also the case with receiving characteristics 45 is shown schematically.
• Voltages are present at the light-sensitive diodes 27, 28, which consist of direct voltage components and • alternating voltage components.
• the resonant circuits 29 detuned with respect to the modulation frequency by a certain amount also guide them.
• the AC voltage components decrease due to the reduced sensitivity of the diodes 27, 28.
• the direct voltage components at the diodes 27, 28 decrease, the barrier layer capacitances of the diodes 27, 28 increasing.
• the increasing barrier layer capacitances of the diodes 27, 28 cause the detuning of the resonant circuits 29 to decrease, as a result of which the decreasing sensitivities of the diodes 27, 28 are compensated for by decreasing signal attenuations of the resonant circuits 29.
• the received signals are amplified by the amplifiers 30 and demodulated by the demodulators 31.
• the at the exits of the Demodula- gates 31 occurring signals AH are dependent on the distances d.
• the drive control 21 determines one AH1 or AH2 of the signal AH
• Vehicle 41, 42 has a distance value d1 or d2 according to the course of curve 46 shown in dash-dot lines in FIG.
• the determined value d1 or d2 can deviate from the existing distance d, the limits of the possible deviation range ⁇ d1 or ⁇ d2 being represented by curves 47, 48. It can be seen from the curves 46, 47, 48 that the range ⁇ d, ⁇ d2 becomes narrower with a decreasing distance value d1, d2 because the curves 46, 47, 48 are steeper with a decreasing distance d. Consequently, the reliability of the device increases with decreasing distance d.
• the determined distance value d1 or d2 is used by the drive control 21 to control the travel speed.
• FIG. 5 two vehicles driving forward on a curved route 51 are designated 52 and 53. Since there are no adjacent lanes, the information and the signals have the same values as for the vehicles 41, 42 in FIG. 3.
• reception characteristics 54 and transmission characteristics 55 which are unchanged from FIG. 3, show that the device can also be used on the curved path worked.
• FIG. 6 two vehicles driving forward on a straight line 61 are identified by 62 and 63.
• the device according to the invention it is advantageous to provide the same devices on the front and rear of vehicles moving forwards and backwards, the information AHL and AHR being interchanged for the rear devices and the information AHE for the rear devices via one optionally switchable NOT element provided in the devices is supplied.

Landscapes

• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Train Traffic Observation, Control, And Security (AREA)
• Traffic Control Systems (AREA)
• Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)
• Electric Propulsion And Braking For Vehicles (AREA)
• Lighting Device Outwards From Vehicle And Optical Signal (AREA)
• Medicines That Contain Protein Lipid Enzymes And Other Medicines (AREA)
• Replacement Of Web Rolls (AREA)
• Vehicle Cleaning, Maintenance, Repair, Refitting, And Outriggers (AREA)
• Automobile Manufacture Line, Endless Track Vehicle, Trailer (AREA)
• Peptides Or Proteins (AREA)
• Medicines Containing Material From Animals Or Micro-Organisms (AREA)
• Road Signs Or Road Markings (AREA)
• Road Paving Structures (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=4340680

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

Families Citing this family (26)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 1980
  • 1980-11-14 CH CH8458/80A patent/CH650738A5/de not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1981
  • 1981-10-14 FI FI813197A patent/FI813197L/fi not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1981-10-16 US US06/395,033 patent/US4473787A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1981-10-16 WO PCT/CH1981/000114 patent/WO1986003612A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 1981-10-22 GB GB8131868A patent/GB2089085B/en not_active Expired
  • 1981-10-26 AT AT81108920T patent/ATE17285T1/de active
  • 1981-10-26 DE DE8181108920T patent/DE3173399D1/de not_active Expired
  • 1981-10-26 EP EP81108920A patent/EP0052263B1/de not_active Expired
  • 1981-10-30 CA CA000389161A patent/CA1196076A/en not_active Expired
  • 1981-11-12 ES ES507085A patent/ES8206875A1/es not_active Expired
  • 1981-11-12 JP JP56181704A patent/JPS57110559A/ja active Granted

Patent Citations (6)

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