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| Summary / Description | A controller determines that an end of train (EOT) has passed a point through the use of positioning systems at the head of the train (HOT) and the EOT. |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | US20040236482 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | ?? Quantum Engineering?? |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | |
| URL | |
| Filing Date | November 25, 2004 |
| Additional Information | N.B. Above date is PUBLICATION date, NOT FILE date. |
| Notes | |
Excerpt A controller determines that an end of train (EOT) has passed a point through the use of positioning systems at the head of the train (HOT) and the EOT. In a first method, the controller obtains the HOT position at a point of interest from the HOT positioning system. The controller then determines when the train has traveled a distance equal to the length of the train and then interrogates the EOT positioning system. If the difference between this position and the position reported by the HOT positioning system at the point of interest exceeds a threshold, then the EOT has passed the point. In a second method, when the HOT positioning system reaches a point of interest, the position reported by the EOT positioning system is integrated until the total distance traveled by the EOT equals the length of the train. |
A method for monitoring integrity of a railroad train (10) and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track (54) over which the train travels, with said virtual blocks providing safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track, said method comprising:
identifying a plurality of failure modes that may lead to an erroneous determination that the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks; collecting data at an end-of-train location, said data being collected from multiple sensing devices (14), wherein each of said sensing devices monitors a different parameter and generates data useful for evaluating whether at least one of said failure modes has occurred;
collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location;
storing (40) a plurality of rules for relating the data collected at the head-of-train location to the data collected at the end-of-train location for reducing a probability of making an erroneous determination as to whether the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks;
processing (42) the data collected at said end-of-train and at said head-of train location using the stored rules to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of said virtual blocks;
in the event said determination indicates clearance of said respective block, declaring said virtual block as being unoccupied and thus available for another train to enter the block; and
in the event said determination indicates a lack of clearance of said respective block, declaring said virtual block as being occupied and thus unavailable for another train to enter the block.
| Relevance | Head of train and end of train positioning systems supply position and/or speed of the train to control module. (See para 21) Failure mode information is included in map database, which records various points of interest. Separation of head of train and end of train is viewed as a possible failure mode since a warning device is provided to alert operator to that condition (see para 22 and 24). Control module, which has been point of collection for data (see above) processes the received data and determines whehter the train has cleared particular points of interest ... applying stored rules (see para 26+)in making the determination. In the event the date suggests a train separation, the control model warns the train operator of the possibility. Wireless operation is also mentioned (see para 23) |
United States