Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B61—RAILWAYS
  • B61H—BRAKES OR OTHER RETARDING DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR RAIL VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR DISPOSITION THEREOF IN RAIL VEHICLES
  • B61H13/00—Actuating rail vehicle brakes
  • B61H13/02—Hand or other personal actuation
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60T—VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL; ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES
  • B60T15/00—Construction arrangement, or operation of valves incorporated in power brake systems and not covered by groups B60T11/00 or B60T13/00
  • B60T15/02—Application and release valves
  • B60T15/04—Driver's valves
  • B60T15/048—Controlling pressure brakes of railway vehicles

Definitions

• the present invention relates to locomotive braking systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for incrementally reducing brake pipe pressure.
• Brake control levers positioned on a locomotive mounted brake controller are used as the man machine interface for brake pipe control. These levers typically have set positions for a defined reduction of equalizing reservoir (ER) pressure, which is the pilot pressure for the brake pipe relay and thus provides the target level for the brake pipe (BP) pressure.
• ER equalizing reservoir
• BP brake pipe
• the handle position typically labelled 'minimum' allows for the minimum amount of brake which can be applied, while the position referred to as 'full service' provides for a normal, full brake application.
• 'set' positions such as 'minimum' or 'full service'
• the operator would like to have a reduction of brake pipe (BP) pressure just slightly greater than afforded by the 'minimum' position to operate the train in certain conditions.
• the operator often must carefully manipulate the lever beyond the 'minimum' position toward the 'full service' position with caution so as not to over-brake the train.
• control levers are good at giving the operator quick intuitive control of the brake level, they do not allow an operator to control the brake pipe (BP) pressure between the preconfigured 'set' positions as precisely as they desire in some situations.
• the present invention comprises an incremental brake pipe reduction system that allows an operator to create an equalizing reservoir (ER) target value without having to manually move the handle to an imprecise position.
• ER equalizing reservoir
• the operator can request incremental reductions in brake pressure to more accurately select the desired level of braking. For example, once an operator has requested a 'minimum' brake application, the operator may then reduce brake pipe pressure in small, predetermined increments to provide for more precise control over brake pressure without having to move the brake handle to a position that the operator guesses will accomplish the desired decrease in desired brake pressure.
• an amount of BP reduction within the service zone between 'minimum' and 'full service' could also be enabled to allow for this incremental reduction to occur.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a brake controller for implementing incremental brake pressure reduction according to the present invention
• Figure 2 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a method of implementing incremental brake pressure reduction according to the present invention
• Figure 3 is a graph of the effect of incremental brake pressure reduction on the service zone without adjustment according to the present invention.
• Figure 4 is a graph of the effect of incremental brake pressure reduction on the service zone with adjustment according to the present invention.
• a brake controller 10 including a system 12 for incrementally adjusting brake pressure.
• system 12 is made available to an operator by a single button 14 that allows operator to incrementally reduce brake pressure without having to move brake handle 16.
• button 14 may instead comprise a switch, a touchscreen, or a combination thereof on brake controller 10, and that incremental reductions may be accomplished by depressing button 14 a series of times to accomplish a series of individual, predetermined reductions or holding button 14 down while a keystroke buffer gradually and periodically cycles through a series of incremental reductions until the appropriate level is reached and the operator releases button 14.
• System 12 further comprises a controller 22 responsive to button 14 that implements the desired incremental reduction in brake pressure in the locomotive braking system.
• controller 20 is programmed to implement the activities seen in Fig. 2.
• Controller 22 receives signals 24 and 26 representing the state of button 14 and the position of handle 16, respectively.
• signal 26 indicates that handle 16 is in the desired position, such as 'minimum
• controller 22 reads the state of button 14 from signal 24, updates the ER target pressure 28 and calculates the desired ER target pressure 30, and then outputs a command 32 to accomplish the desired pressure reduction.
• controller 22 may also reconfigure the service zone range 34 to account for the incremental reductions selected by an operator using button 14.
• the service zone is reset 36 and the existing brake pressure action 38 is released.
• Fig. 2 depicts controller 22 programmed to implement system 12 when handle 16 is in the 'minimum' position, other appropriate positions may be used.
• System 12 may be programmed to implement various incremental reduction scenarios.
• button 14 can be depressed once for each increment desired, with a predetermined increment level such as individual steps of between 0.5 and 3 psi.
• button 14 can be pressed as above or can also be held down with the feedback on a display 18 showing the ER target as it changes on an incremental basis. Button 14 could be released at any time resulting in the incremental reduction ceasing and the desired level shown on display 18.
• system 12 may be programmed to restrict the amount of brake pipe reduction allowed by the pressing of button 14, such as by having a maximum amount of reduction that is possible using button 14, such as only allowing 1 psi of additional reduction, or limiting the reduction to the full service brake pipe level.
• button 14 may include illumination, such as LEDs that are positioned internally behind button 14 or externally and directed at button 14, to illuminate button 14 when system 12 is available for use, such as when handle 16 is moved to the 'minimum' position. Illumination may be turned off when system 12 is disabled, such as by further motion of handle 16 or when a predetermined maximum amount of incremental reduction is reached.
• illumination such as LEDs that are positioned internally behind button 14 or externally and directed at button 14, to illuminate button 14 when system 12 is available for use, such as when handle 16 is moved to the 'minimum' position. Illumination may be turned off when system 12 is disabled, such as by further motion of handle 16 or when a predetermined maximum amount of incremental reduction is reached.
• system 12 may optionally be programmed, such as in software running in controller 22, to adjust the amount of reduction associated with the movement of handle 16 to account for incremental reductions made via button 14, thereby eliminating any "dead zone.”
• the service range may be adjusted to change the amount of pressure reduction associated with the movement of handle 16 so that the entire range of movement of handle 16 will accomplish a reduction in pressure relative to the decremented starting pressure and the full service pressure.
• movement of handle 16 will reduce brake pipe pressure throughout its entire range of movement, albeit at a slower rate of reduction, thereby compensating for the fact that pressure when handle 16 is first moved from the 'minimum' is less than the non-decremented minimum pressure level.
• the present invention may optionally allow for automatic bail off of the locomotive brakes similar to that in conventional systems that allow for bail off of an initial application of the brakes.
• an operator having bailed off an initial application for a defined period of time (with the timing adjustable to customer
• controller 22 may be programmed to respond to signals 24 received from button 14 to actuate a bail off operation for
• System 12 may additionally be programmed to provide an automated bail off of a brake application according to prior bailing off performed historically, such as in one or more prior manual brake applications using handle 16. Any automated bail off may also be cancellable by programming system 12 to cancel any automated bail off in the event that handle 16 is moved by the operator.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Braking Systems And Boosters (AREA)

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• 2014
  • 2014-06-06 CN CN201480079609.0A patent/CN106458234B/zh active Active
  • 2014-06-06 CA CA2950885A patent/CA2950885C/en active Active
  • 2014-06-06 BR BR112016027960-3A patent/BR112016027960B1/pt active IP Right Grant
  • 2014-06-06 WO PCT/US2014/041319 patent/WO2015187177A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2014-06-06 AU AU2014396183A patent/AU2014396183B2/en active Active

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